🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter : 34 The Lord’s Duty and Responsibility (2)
The name the soldier suddenly mentioned—Adrian.
“Brother?”
Seraphia tilted her head in confusion.
Naturally so, since Adrian wasn’t even in the county at the moment.
Adrian had left the estate to lead a merchant caravan. She knew this well, and it hadn’t even been long since he’d left.
In other words, there hadn’t been nearly enough time for him to make the trip and return.
Above all, due to the heavy snowfall, the county had been completely cut off from the outside world.
Even if he wanted to return, it would’ve been impossible.
And yet—Adrian?
Unless something had happened to him…
“What do you mean, what about my brother?!”
Seraphia urgently questioned the soldier.
But perhaps even the soldier couldn’t find the right words to explain.
“Y-You have to see it for yourself!!”
The soldier shouted desperately.
An unshakable anxiety gripped Seraphia.
Ominously…
The sky was covered in ashen clouds.
The ground was frozen solid, crunching loudly beneath every step.
Seraphia’s pace quickened.
How long had she been walking?
The first thing she saw was a distribution center—solidly built out of tents.
“What… is this?”
“When did they build something like this…?”
Kai and Bernard, who had followed her, widened their eyes in shock.
In front of the distribution center was a long line of territory residents.
They waited in the cold, bundled in tattered coats and fur clothing, warming their hands with their breath.
Inside, supplies were piled high.
Large wooden crates and burlap sacks were filled with dried meat, salted fish, processed grains, and warm winter clothing.
Food, clothing, firewood, medical supplies—all the things most desperately needed in the county, and enough to immediately resolve many of its current crises.
Those who had already received supplies quickly hurried home.
To their families, friends, or lovers—shivering in the cold and hunger. But just imagining the joy on their loved ones’ faces brought wide smiles to their own.
Seraphia stepped further inside the distribution center.
The soldiers who had followed Adrian on his journey were handling the distribution.
Despite the frigid cold, they moved as if unaffected.
“There’s plenty, so take as much as you need.”
“Don’t skip meals just to share with others.”
They handed out supplies with strong posture and fiery expressions.
Adrian was no exception.
He moved about the area, checking to ensure no supplies were missed, and that people were receiving their fair share.
The merchant caravan members followed Adrian around, taking notes and checking records.
Perhaps that’s why…
…it felt warm.
Even in the depths of winter, this place hadn’t frozen. It was filled with life.
Small campfires had been lit. People chatted quietly around them.
Children ate warm soup. The elderly received help from soldiers to carry supplies home.
Here and there, the sound of children crying from the cold could be heard—causing some to tear up themselves.
But those weren’t tears of fear or sadness.
They weren’t because of hunger or cold.
“Thank you… thank you so much…”
“I don’t know how we can ever repay this kindness…”
It was gratitude.
And what bloomed on the faces of the territory’s people was not despair—
—it was hope.
Seraphia’s red eyes wavered as she watched their faces.
…She didn’t understand.
She didn’t know how to accept this.
Nor how to interpret it.
She just… didn’t know.
“……”
Emotion suddenly surged up inside her, and she bit her lip tightly. But even so, she couldn’t stop her trembling.
She took a deep breath.
Clenched her dress tightly in both hands.
Even so, her shoulders trembled.
Seeing this, Kai asked worriedly,
“Are you alright?”
“I-I’m fine… I just… need to be alone for a moment.”
Seraphia fled the scene.
Kai tried to follow, but Bernard stopped him.
“It’s best to leave her alone for now.”
Following Bernard’s gaze, they saw Seraphia staggering slightly.
She looked as fragile as a flower petal blown in the wind.
In the end, Kai stepped back.
There was something heartbreaking in her attempt to isolate herself from the world and her emotions.
And Kai… he knew exactly why.
Seraphia wandered aimlessly.
She had no destination in mind.
She just walked. And walked. And walked.
Eventually, she reached an alley where no one could see her—a hidden corner beyond anyone’s gaze.
At some point, her long black lashes had become wet, tears welling beneath her eyes.
Her tears kept rising. She didn’t even know why.
It was just… she was so happy.
This moment—was so happy.
And yet she didn’t know why she felt that way.
Maybe that’s why—
“…Hic.”
—she couldn’t stop the sob that escaped.
Why she couldn’t hold back the overwhelming emotions.
She shouldn’t cry. She shouldn’t let her heart weaken.
She had to be strong. She had to become stronger.
And yet…
Her legs gave out beneath her.
“Hnnngh…!”
Her sobs finally burst forth.
She didn’t know the reason.
She just thought—her heart had weakened.
Her tear-streaked face—
If she looked in the mirror, she’d probably look like a complete mess.
But even then, her tears wouldn’t stop.
And she made no effort to hold them back.
So she sat there, on the ground.
“Huuu… Huh-huhhh…”
She must have cried for hours.
Across the continent, there were more Free Cities beyond Prece.
These cities were often built around specific industries like mining, agriculture, or livestock.
Prece was known for commerce.
But there were also cities built around culture—arts, academics…
One such place was the cultural city of Orpheum.
Surrounded by high mountains and flowing rivers, Orpheum was a city built in harmony with nature.
It was a place where lovers of knowledge and the arts had gathered.
Over time, it became a hub of academic discussion and artistic collaboration.
Now, it was known as a cultural center where scholars and artists from various nations met and exchanged ideas.
Next to Orpheum’s central plaza stood a bookstore the size of a library.
Upon entering, you’d be greeted by soaring ceilings and endless shelves—like a temple of knowledge.
Bookshelves were organized neatly by genre and subject.
At the center stood a spiral staircase that connected the floors.
Movable ladders were placed in each section.
“Upsy-daisy!”
A young woman darted up and down the ladders with practiced ease.
She wore a sophisticated robe of blue and silver. Her long, pale blue hair shimmered like silk. Her deep blue eyes shone with calm clarity.
With a slender nose, thin lips, and delicate, porcelain-like skin, she looked like a living sculpture.
Though petite, she carried a heavy stack of books and carefully descended the ladder.
Whining like a little puppy, she placed the books one by one on the counter.
[Everything About All Monsters], [Advanced Magic Studies], [In-Depth Alchemy], [Introduction to Curse Theory], [Transformation Magic], [The Evolution of Classical Magic], [Evolutionary Biology]…
A towering pile in seconds.
The bookstore owner’s glasses slid down his nose as he stared.
And from behind the towering pile, the small blue-haired woman peeked up with sparkling eyes.
“I’d like to purchase all of these, please!”
“All of them?”
“Yes!”
“You bought a mountain of books a few months ago. Don’t tell me you’ve read them all already?”
“They were so fun I stayed up all night reading!”
“Fun…?”
Those dry, complicated, headache-inducing tomes, each over 1,000 pages thick?
“Yes! They’re incredibly interesting!”
“You’re the only one on the entire continent who would say that, Illyana.”
The shopkeeper started sorting the books with a resigned look.
Illyana, the small blue-haired woman, tilted her head and asked,
“By the way, mister—why is the whole city so noisy today?”
“Hmm? Ah, there’s something called ‘monster meat’ that’s been brought in from a commercial city recently.”
“…Excuse me? Monster meat?”
“Someone was selling it recently. They claimed the madness had been removed.”
“That’s impossible!!”
Illyana slammed her hands on the counter.
“The madness encoded into monster genes cannot be removed!”
“Well, um—”
“Even if you target the gene sequence, the core energy is embedded in the DNA itself! You can’t sever that link!”
“Right, but—”
“So even if you cast a gene-targeting eradication spell, the energetic trace won’t disappear! Unless you completely deny or delete the gene’s existence, it’s absolutely—completely impossible!!”
With her mouth clamped shut and her fists clenched tight, her blue eyes blazed with unwavering conviction.
“Well… Illyana? I can’t really follow all that, but I’m just a simple shopkeeper.”
“B-But…! That’s fraud!”
“Complicated magic aside, people have eaten monster meat—and they haven’t gone mad.”
“W-What? That can’t be right! You must’ve seen it wrong!”
“It’s true. People ate it—and stayed sane.”
“T-That’s ridiculous…!!”
Illyana’s blue eyes shook violently.
“Who did this? Who distributed monster meat…?”
“A merchant group called Predator.”
“Predator… A merchant group?”
Not a mage or a scholar?
So—not the Mage Tower?
Illyana searched her memory intensely.
But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t recall anything about a group named Predator.
Despite learning from books, Illyana had memorized the names of nearly all kingdoms, noble houses, and merchant guilds on the continent.
If she didn’t know them, there could only be one explanation.
“It’s a newly established merchant group.”
“Ahh…”
No wonder she hadn’t heard of it.
“They’re based in the Whitewolf County.”
“Whitewolf County…?”
Illyana fell into thought once again.
But this time, it didn’t take long.
A sudden flash of memory returned to her.
If it’s the same Whitewolf County she was thinking of…
“Wait… Do you mean the estate in the northernmost part of the continent?!”
