episode_0253

The first to react were the permanent residents living below Kelstein Castle.

Most of them were people living in the current areas of Calinz and Zell counties.

“Is it true that the Northern Serpina County is carrying out relief work?”

“They say you have to have family there?”

“I have relatives in Eutiner Castle! If you go there, you will definitely get help.”

From the perspective of people who were devastated by the disease, the news of the operation of a relief camp could not help but feel like a welcome rain in the midst of a drought.

Neither Kalintz nor Chell did anything to help them.

Of course, not everyone received the news optimistically.

“Wait a minute. That witch is doing relief work? Does that make sense?”

“Did you forget that there was a rumor going around a while ago? You said it was that damn bitch who used magic to spread the disease.”

but.

Because the situation was different from usual, there was no way that sentences spoken in the usual sense would be accepted by the people.

“So, what is that proud woman called Yuuri doing for Young Jimin?”

“Whether it’s a trap or not, it’s definitely worth a visit. If you keep going like this, you’ll either starve to death, get sick, or die!”

The person who helps Young Ji-min without saying a word.

And, the person who claims that ‘there is something up to something’ but does not help Young Ji-min.

From the perspective of the residents of the territory whose survival was at stake right now, the gap between these two people was bound to be bigger than expected.

How could they not be moved when a monarch who has nothing to do with them offers to help the people of the territory who can’t do anything other than constantly smelling the smell of rotting corpses and hoping that this plague will pass safely?

Of course, the only ones expressing positive opinions were those living in parts of the central continent where the disease was spreading.

The southern continent, which had been spared the disease, and the people in the central and western regions, who had narrowly escaped the plague thanks to Lin’s early locking down, did not easily believe that Serpina was doing a meaningless good deed.

Nevertheless, public opinion at the bottom was on Serpina’s side for the first time in history –

The weight given to that fact began to have consequences beyond what all the feudal lords could have imagined.

* * *

“Thank you so much.”

“I will never forget the grace I received from Serpina.”

Starting from the third day, many people began to visit the camp.

Among the dogs, there were some who had no ties to the northern continent – but we deliberately did not conduct such a thorough search.

In any case, there was a limit to the physical distance of those who could come here, and coming here in the midst of an illness was like preparing to die, so Irian judged that they would not be able to come to the extent that they could not handle it.

In fact, his judgment was correct, and there was no shortage of supplies during the entire camp operation.

From the beginning, our military occupied the entire northern continent and had stockpiled a large amount of supplies.

It was Irian who participated most passionately in this entire process.

“Okay, here it is. Take it.”

“Thank you so much. May I know your name… … ?”

“There is no need to remember our names. However, please remember Serpina’s name. That person is not someone who harms Young Ji-min meaninglessly with magic.”

“Oh my, I know. I will never forget that grace for the rest of my life… … .”

As the castle owner, Irian, was personally in close contact with the permanent residents who came from the central region, giving them words of encouragement and distributing supplies, the soldiers also actively participated in the relief work.

At best, it would have been difficult to change the public opinion that Yuuri had spread if he had been shown to be taking away from the distribution of supplies, but this was enough to overwhelm him.

“I never thought you would be so proactive in giving out.”

I approached Irian and said implicitly.

“Hmm? Is it Swen?”

As soon as he saw me, he smiled as if he was happy to see me.

“Didn’t you say that? It is said that after receiving the blessing magic, you will never contract the plague for at least a week.”

“That’s true, but I think it might actually be hard to believe.”

“No. I’m counting on you, Swen.”

No stray thoughts could be read in Irian’s eyes as he said that.

what… … It’s a story I brought up myself, but if it weren’t for me, the family would have been exterminated, so it’s not strange that they showed me that much trust.

So there is no need to doubt it.

“I just want to thank you for your trust.”

“Okay. I’m going back to work, so you can at least take care of Miss Reika.”

“Reika, you fell asleep just now. So, isn’t it the duty of a human being to go to work now?”

“Really? Well, I won’t stop you, but… … .”

at that time.

Irian was lost in thought for a moment, then looked at me with a very serious expression.

“Swen. I have a question.”

“Please tell me.”

“What is your relationship with Ms. Reika?”

“… … Yes?”

He had such a serious expression on his face that I couldn’t help but hide my nervousness at the question, thinking that he was going to say something extremely serious like ‘I have obtained information about a rebel group that wants to rebel against Serpina.’ I couldn’t do it.

“No, well… … After seeing them for the past few days, they seem to be very friendly.”

“… … Is that so?”

“Swen, I wonder what your relationship is with you. Is it perhaps your mistress?”

“No, it’s not like that… … I am not married yet.”

“Really? Now that I think about it, speaking of marriage… … I don’t think I’ve heard back yet.”

“Yes?”

What does this mean again?

Irian saw my puzzled expression and tilted his head slightly to the side and asked.

“Didn’t you hear from General Irene?”

I didn’t hear it.

But I didn’t want to see Iren in trouble, so I’ll end up being an idiot here.

“Uh… … Because I don’t have a good memory. There are a lot of things I forgot about.”

“Really? This may not sound like you, but… … Well, thinking about it now, deciding what it means to be yourself is ridiculous.”

Irian continued his tone without any playfulness after that.

“I would like to ask you what you think of Ioline.”

Iolina. It’s a name I haven’t heard in a really long time.

The twin sister of my roommate, Janice, and a woman I once spent the night with in the same room.

Because I saw them changing clothes, I was uniquely aware of what kind of underwear they were wearing, along with Iren.

It’s a bit weird to remember people like this, but…

-wait for a sec.

“Yes? As for what you think… … Is it really a marriage issue?”

“That’s right.”

Are you marrying Ioline?

Unlike me, who was briefly stunned by the unexpected story, Irian showed no signs of embarrassment and continued to speak with a very serious face.

“Swen, if you are as good as you, our family would be very welcome. Iolina also misses you very much. It’s funny to even say this myself, but I think Ioline is fair enough to be outdone by most women. Moreover, she took a very long time to learn how to become a chaste bride. I am confident that he will be a good companion who will definitely help you.”

“No, that’s… … .”

“If you have a government in mind, even a spy office is fine. If you want it, I will give you the name Al Kaski, so please think positively.”

I couldn’t answer properly because he was talking so sharply, but Irian interrupted the conversation as if it was okay.

“Well, please answer slowly. Because it’s okay to not feel any pressure. If there is no reply, I will do it. Of course, there will be no disadvantage to you if you refuse, so you don’t have to worry about that. Well then, excuse me first.”

Just like that, after Irian left.

For a moment, I thought of Ioline’s face.

He was definitely a pretty person.

She had a very well-proportioned and beautiful body, and her personality… … It occurred to me that he was quite discreet and that he would probably handle the situation well as Irian said.

but… … I couldn’t get married yet.

Protecting Serpina, and keeping my promise to Luna.

Because my mind was so busy with just these two things, I couldn’t even imagine putting down roots somewhere.

Moreover, my honest feelings were that if I were to get married, the first thing I would want to do would be with Irene.

“Didn’t you hear from General Irene?”

What becomes clear through Irian’s words.

Irene-sama didn’t tell me about Irian’s marriage, or to be more precise, Ioline’s marriage story.

You could pretend not to know and say, “Why?”, but… … I don’t want to do that.

Why didn’t she tell me… …

“… … Haha.”

I let out a small sigh and covered my face with my hands.

hot. It feels hot. Irene’s face comes to mind.

‘miss you.’

… … Anyway, talking about marriage isn’t something to think about right now.

In this world, a man could have a total of four wives, so there was no need to make hasty decisions.

It was a matter that needed to be considered slowly and then decided.

After lightly cooling my face, I followed Irian out.

* * *

The royal castle of Rambow Castle, under the command of the Aceers Army.

“… … A relief camp?”

“Okay. It is said that Serpina’s army settled in the lower part of Kelstein Castle for the residents of the central region and began operating it.”

Yuuri, who was sitting on the throne, snorted in bewilderment at Epinel’s words.

“Ha!”

Then he slowly stood up, trembling, and spoke.

“You seem like an abominable woman. It looks like you just want to cover up the fact that you used magic with that kind of action, right?”

“… … .”

And again, a few days later.

“The camp operation seems to be going very smoothly. It is said that the people of the territory under the nearest Calinz County look up to Serpina like a god.”

“… … it’s okay. It’s probably something that was just made up to get away with it anyway.”

“For the sake of avoiding the problem, they would have just sent supplies rather than going through the hassle of running a camp. No, isn’t it strange that she was exempted in the first place? A person who cares about such things would act like this?”

“What do you want to say, Epinel? Are you really going to claim that Serpina is a good person?”

“… … .”

Epinel would normally have responded with appropriate words, but-

Right now, I couldn’t just ignore it.

Because he thought he had a duty to explain to Yuuri what the current situation was.

“Yuuri. We took a hit.”

“… … What?”

“If she really wanted to use magic to spread the disease, there are so many things she wouldn’t have done.”

“… … .”

Yuuri just lowered his head and said nothing.

actually.

She also vaguely noticed.

Although she said it a lot, if Serpina’s goal was really to kill people, she wouldn’t have forced them to emigrate.

Plus, running a relief camp – if you think about it objectively, what was the need for her to do that?

Even so, there was no place to retreat.

Because I was already talking coolly. She is the culprit in spreading this disease.

“Now… … What should I do?”

Epinel sighed in relief when she saw Yuuri like that.

Even in this situation, I was wondering what to do if he insisted.

Anima, who had not yet fully regained consciousness, might have been able to give a more plausible answer… …

Epinel was a person close to a general. Even though he was confident in defeating the enemy ahead of him, he knew very well that he had weaknesses when it came to looking at the big picture.

So, even though I know that in the end I can only come up with the simplest answer… … Now was the time to open up.

“First of all… … Please do not make any further comments regarding this matter. Just stay still. Serpina has a bad image anyway, so if you just pretend not to know rather than react further, you might be able to get by without any problems.”

“… … Haha.”

“I can’t help it. I have to promise the next time… … All humans make mistakes. I don’t think you know that blaming yourself is a luxury for us these days.”

“I know. I know… … .”

Yuuri closes his eyes and prays to the sky again.

I hope the plague passes as quickly as possible. I hope that the impact of his argument will not be as big as Epinel said.

* * *

However, after a few days.

“They are asking our military to operate a relief camp… … ?”

The soldier had a troubled expression and barely managed to continue reporting to Yuuri.

“I’m very sorry to tell you this, but… … It seems like people are asking why Acious doesn’t do what Serpina does.”

As if my prayers were meaningless, the time to choose came too quickly.

Also, ‘Chuktsbang*’, which unconditionally shakes hands no matter what choice she makes.