episode_0059
by fnovelpia“Hey. Would you sell some soap to our territory first?”
“Hmm. Let me tell you.”
Melania was currently meeting with the dragons and chatting about this and that.
Alpha was mistaken in thinking that just because the dragons didn’t actively participate in the territory meetings, it didn’t mean that they weren’t interested in the territory.
They operate with a feeling similar to an idle game, but even in an idle game, you still have to click on the screen or use the collected goods, right?
Moreover, if a territory war breaks out and the territory you were raising is taken away, you would have to submit to the opposing dragon for several years.
If the territory was in a dangerous situation, it was the territory’s problem that even the troublesome dragons actively got involved.
So now that all territories were in danger due to the Black Death, the dragons were actively struggling to solve the problems in their territories.
Rather, the lords, who can be said to be the masters of the territory more than the dragons, are ignorant of this issue.
“Hahaha. Isn’t it because those lowly bugs have incurred the wrath of God? If it weren’t for the wrath of God, there would be no reason for the priests not to heal them!”
While talking nonsense like this, at some point the perception arose that the Black Death was a disease caused by lowly people making God angry.
There were even many lords in the Viken Territory who did not know that they could prevent the Black Death by washing their bodies with soap…
For the dragons, it was something they had no choice but to stamp their feet.
The party of dragons arranged like that.
The reason on the surface was that the dragons wanted to do the same thing as the human nobles who gathered to hold a banquet, but the reality was that they were struggling to somehow get some soap from Melania.
Because the soap currently produced in the Viken Territory is so abundant that it is not enough to be sold to the surrounding territories.
For that reason, while the meeting was in full swing at the Viken Estate, Melania was at a party.
So what about Melania in the Viken estate now?
It was simply a clone of Melania, one that would only carry out simple commands, but it would be enough to show off her authority during meetings.
‘I came after giving you a warning.’
Wellington has been given a firm warning not to meddle in Alpha’s work any longer, so there shouldn’t be any problems.
I wonder if anything could happen while I’m away.
“Here is a statue made of jade… If you sell me some soap… ”
Melania began to enjoy the party without a care in the world, listening to the other dragons showering her with gifts and sweet words.
Without knowing what was happening in the realm.
*
‘We have to get rid of that Alpha guy now.’
Wellington was plotting an operation to eliminate Alpha.
-Melania leaves the estate.
A letter from the dragon Ignis of Kerens Estate.
Thanks to this letter, Wellington was able to easily figure out that the Melania currently in the estate was not real but a fake.
Wellington, despite being a lord, was a man driven only by revenge against Melania.
This was done to force Melania into a state where she had no choice but to listen to Ignis by deliberately losing to the Kerens man.
The greatest humiliation a human can inflict on a dragon.
That was the transfer of territory.
Wellington, after his defeat, will leave his fiefdom and live as a mere official, but he will not be like Melania.
Because the defeated dragon had to follow the victorious dragon’s orders for 200 years…!
For that revenge, I had to get rid of Alpha as soon as possible.
Because of his useless ability, his territory is developing day by day. If he stays still, the gap with Kerens’ territory will become too large, and he will be in a situation where he cannot defeat them even if he wants to.
“Are you here?”
“Long time no see, Baron Wellington.”
“Thank you for looking. Your Excellency Countess Louis Mina.”
This is the first step towards Alpha’s downfall.
I was angry and couldn’t stand the fact that they were putting in this much effort for a mere breeder, but… I couldn’t help it. Alpha’s influence in the territory was quite high, and given the circumstances, his daughter and Helen Wagner, Elisa Soryu, and Jemel Weiss… children of prominent families were on friendly terms with him.
Helen Wagner and Semel Weiss could be ignored, but Elisa Soryu could not be ignored.
After all, he was a vassal of the Soryu family no matter what happened.
The Biken family is a vassal family that branched off from the Soryu family, rather than being forced to become vassals through a land war.
That’s why Melania didn’t submit to the dragon Ripley of Soryu Territory.
Anyway, the best way to separate Elisa Soryu from the Alpha elimination plan was to call her mother, Ruimina Soryu, the head of the Soryu Count family who had originally sent her.
“Yeah. My daughter is being possessed by some breeder and is teaching magic to worms.”
“Yes.”
“I see.”
But Luimina didn’t immediately believe Wellington’s words because they were so absurd.
To her, it seemed like Wellington’s useless jealousy was all that mattered.
Are you saying that your own daughter is lacking in something that she fell for as a breeder, and that too with an earthworm summoned from another world, and is teaching magic to those insect-like creatures?
“Let’s look into it in a little more detail.”
“Do as you wish.”
That’s why Luimina decided to stay in the territory for a while and find out the truth.
Because it’s probably not true anyway.
It must just be Wellington’s bluster. Thinking so, Luimina began to ask about the most important reason for her visit to the Viken Estate.
“By the way, is it true that soap really doesn’t work?”
“Yes.”
The Black Death is also a headache in the Soryu territory.
But there is something that can prevent this disease.
It wasn’t that I cared much about the commoners dying, but I couldn’t help but care that a disease-preventing item had come out of the neighboring territory, and that too from my family.
Even more so if a large amount of money flowed into the estates of the deceased family.
In the meantime, Luimina couldn’t help but perk up her ears when Wellington said that soap was useless.
Even if they were the lowest class, they would not stop buying the cheap soap sold in the Viken Territory just because it was forbidden. They were insects that would show their teeth even in front of nobles if their lives depended on it.
But if there is evidence, it is different.
“Where is the basis for that? Baron Wellington?”
“Here’s the basis. Let me in!”
“Yes.”
Leona, who was holding back her will to live, brought three men with her at Wellington’s command.
Carl, Johnson, Hanson.
There were three thieves. They were used by Alpha to advertise the effectiveness of the soap.
“Okay. Tell me in detail what Alpha made you do.”
“Yes… Yes!”
The thieves, whose faces were covered in wounds as if they had been tortured, began to tell in detail what Alpha had ordered them to do.
From Alpha getting them out and making them steal from houses where the Black Death was rampant and wash themselves with soap every day to making them spread the rumor that washing themselves with soap would prevent them from getting the Black Death.
They started to explain in as much detail as possible in order to survive.
Knock knock.
Looking at those thieves, Knight Commander Leona clenched her fist as if she was going to draw her sword at any moment.
“Commander of the Knights. Seriously. It is unbecoming of a noble to kill those who tell the truth.”
Wellington thought that this appearance was just Leona’s anger at having been deceived by Alpha all this time.
It was a natural thought for Wellington, who didn’t even know what the nature of the water spirit was. The two had met secretly without being discovered by others, and they didn’t seem to be on good terms until Alpha donated a lot of money to the Knights.
Even now, both of them acted indifferently on the outside, so Wellington thought that Leona hated Alpha for defeating her.
‘These kids dare hit the back of Alpha’s head?’
Of course, contrary to expectations, it was anger towards the thieves who sold Alpha out and tried to save themselves.
“That’s the guy who spread those false rumors. And if you look at the statistics here, you can clearly see that the incidence rate decreased after using a lot of soap. ”
“I see.”
Luimina tilted her head.
After bringing in thieves to prove that Alpha was lying, don’t these statistics suggest that it was definitely effective?
“But I don’t think it’s because of the soap.”
“Why?”
“As you can see, the incidence rate itself was continuously decreasing. Then, it dropped noticeably around the time when soap became widely available.”
“Doesn’t that noticeable drop mean that the soap is effective?”
“I think differently. Look. Here is the population distribution that our administrator has figured out. ”
Wellington pulled out a chart showing the number of people and the rate of infection by area of the city.
“As you can see, places with fewer people have lower rates of infection.”
It was natural. Originally, places with few people were places where the rich and nobles lived. There was no way that the Black Death, transmitted through dirty sewage and rats, could spread widely.
Even these people spent a lot of money on treating people with the Black Death as soon as they found them, so the spread of the disease itself was bound to be low.
Wellington, who leaves out such facts and explains them only with statistics.
“In places where there are many people, the incidence rate is high. And as more and more people die from the Black Death, the incidence rate decreases. And at some point, when the population decreases, it shows a pattern of decline, just like when soap was used! In other words, the period when soap was used was just a coincidence, and to be exact, the incidence rate naturally decreased as the population decreased due to the Black Death! ”
Wellington’s statement, which was interpreted solely as statistics based on numbers, ignoring causality, seemed correct at first glance.
“Oh, I see.”
But whether Wellington’s words were true or not didn’t matter to Luimina.
All that mattered was that there was evidence that soap would not work against the Black Death. Now there was a legitimate reason to ban the purchase of soap.
“How was it?”
“There is a saying that he is definitely a capable person.”
After hearing Wellington’s long speech about soap, Luimina sat in the splendid room given to her and listened to the report of the Sword Master and Knight Airen.
While she was talking to Wellington, Irene went around the estate gathering information.
Although I have never met Alpha in person, he seems to be considered quite popular and capable in the territory.
Among the commoners.
“But the nobles really hated him. It seems like he was at odds with the wizards too”
His reputation among the nobles was absolutely terrible.
“And… it really seemed like the young lady was teaching magic to those commoners.”
“What? No, no. That’s ridiculous. My daughter is teaching the commoners?”
Luimina lay down on the bed, holding the back of her neck.
It felt like all the fatigue from riding the carriage was coming at me at once.
“Yeah. You must have gotten a lot of money. If it was an amount you couldn’t refuse… ”
There was still time. Luimina planned to spend a few days figuring out why her daughter had to do that.
*
“That Wellington bastard is trying to harm you right now.”
“Is that so.”
I nodded after hearing Leona tell me all about Wellington’s plans.
I walked towards the room where Erica was.
It’s a race against time now. Wellington and I.
Whichever one of the two gets ready first will be able to bite their opponent.
To prepare for that, I needed to get Erica on my side.
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