Chapter 009
* * *
The Grand Duchy of Nozen in the West.
In the middle of the night, Grand Duke Nozen furrowed his brows.
“What is this?”
Grand Duke Nozen, Hilbury Nozen, was a white-haired old man. Though he had a sturdy build and sharp features, he wore an eyepatch over one eye and had a prosthetic leg.
Holding a dense report, he pointed to a specific item.
“Timber for furniture reconstruction? Olive wood?”
“Ah, it’s nothing to worry much about,” the aide replied respectfully. “It was an unexpected shipment of timber, so we decided to purchase it using the budget for supporting the fief’s residents. The wood is sturdy and beautiful, which sets it apart from usual relief supplies. In a crisis like this, it should help boost the commoners’ morale significantly…”
“Hmm? It came from Sayers.”
Hilbury stroked his beard, his eyes narrowing.
“I thought the new Marquis of Sayers was currently away?”
The Grand Ducal House of Nozen was a historic noble family recognized as a founding pillar of the Empire, much like the Marquisate of Sayers. However, while the House of Sayers had continuously declined until its influence was less than that of a count’s family in the borderlands, Nozen had walked the opposite path.
The Grand Duchy of Nozen had prospered endlessly, sitting on the western granaries. Thus, their wealth, honor, and intelligence-gathering capabilities were beyond comparison.
“I understand it was an order from Lady Brisa. When a grain merchant stormed in demanding debt repayment, she offered to pay with timber.”
“Hmph.”
Hilbury didn’t know the specifics of the relationship between a mere grain merchant and the Marquisate. The purchase of furniture timber for relief work wasn’t an event he would usually care about. Ordinarily, he would have let it pass—if not for the name Sayers, or the fact that a girl named Brisa was behind this unexpected timber.
Hilbury narrowed his eyes and muttered.
“Leopold sent flowers to this child anonymously, didn’t he?”
“…He wished to keep it a secret. He controlled the information thoroughly.”
“There is nothing in this land I do not know. A mere fourteen-year-old cannot blind my eyes.”
Hilbury exposed the boy’s private life.
“Especially when it concerns my only grandson, who will inherit this estate.”
Leopold Nozen.
The fourteen-year-old heir to the Grand Duchy, who looked exactly like Hilbury in his youth.
The Grand Duchy in the West was wealthy, possessing famous granaries and mines. However, a disaster known as the ‘Monster Wave’ struck every year. This year’s Monster Wave was earlier than usual, and its scale was larger than any on record.
Consequently, Leopold was deployed to the field immediately, unable even to attend his academy graduation ceremony. Leopold had inherited a strong manifestation of the Grand Ducal House’s special abilities, making him an essential power against the Monster Wave.
“In the midst of that frantic movement toward the battlefield… flowers…”
It was an unavoidable duty for a Nozen heir. Hilbury had lost an eye and a leg in that very process. Therefore, Hilbury had no choice but to send his grandson to the battlefield, even though his son and daughter-in-law had returned as cold corpses ten years ago.
“Well, um… I’m not sure. Perhaps since he couldn’t attend the late Marquis of Sayers’ funeral due to circumstances, he just reached out as an academy classmate?”
The aide tried desperately to protect the boy’s privacy, especially since this was something Hilbury might find displeasing.
“Anyone could do it, ahahaha! Hahahaha!”
“…”
“Hahahaha.”
“…”
“Haha.”
The effort failed.
Hilbury didn’t laugh it off. Instead, he raised an eyebrow. Usually, he wouldn’t have spared a thought, no matter how many flowers Leopold sent the girl.
‘The House of Nozen is far too busy to care about some mediocre noble family in the Central region.’
However, this incident was somewhat intriguing.
“Sayers’ olives are intertwined with the history of the family. Cutting down those olive trees is not something one can do easily.”
Hilbury combed through his memories. Had Leopold ever mentioned Brisa during his time at the academy? He remembered a conversation they had at the Grand Duke’s mansion during the last winter break.
‘The teacher in charge praised you a lot. He said you have a talent for faces but are objectively good at everything. Hoho, Leopold, since you haven’t missed first place in every exam, being the valedictorian is a given. Who do you expect to be the runner-up?’
‘Since the person in second place is the same for every exam, I expect that person will be the runner-up.’
‘Really? Who is it?’
‘Brisa Sayers.’
‘I understand that child entered two years earlier than the others. Yet she’s second in every exam?’
‘That is what the results show.’
As always, Leopold gave only dry, inscrutable answers. Instead, Leopold’s maternal cousin, Silvia, who was beside him, chirped in brightly.
‘But that girl is in the library all night long. Seeing as she can’t beat Leo despite all that effort, I think her brain is probably just at my level. Right, Leo?’
Then, Leopold had replied:
‘That’s an interesting opinion.’
That was a noble way of saying, ‘That’s nonsense.’ As the heir of the West, Leopold never directly revealed his inner thoughts.
‘She’s so haughty and prickly that she doesn’t even have friends. She looks very pretty, like a porcelain doll, but I’ve never seen her smile or get excited. Her personality must be quite something. Don’t you think so, Leo?’
‘That’s a bit debatable.’
That meant ‘I don’t agree.’ After shooting Leopold a look, Silvia continued her chatter.
‘And her accessories and belongings are all top-tier. Most kids wouldn’t imagine that the Marquisate of Sayers is falling apart. Hmm, maybe she doesn’t even know it herself?’
‘Silvia.’
Leopold spoke without a change in expression.
‘Don’t you think the pepper scent in this duck meat is too strong?’
That meant ‘I don’t want to hear your nonsense anymore.’
At the time, Hilbury had let it go without a thought, but thinking about it now…
“I’ll have to send an informant to Sayers.”
Hilbury gave the order, raising his eyebrow.
“I need to know for myself.”
The old man’s one remaining golden eye glowed calmly.
“It seems Leopold evaluates that girl highly; I want to see if she is a child worthy of my evaluation as well.”
* * *
A few days later, in the Marquisate of Sayers.
“The Marquis will likely arrive today, won’t he?”
It was the day Alpheus was scheduled to return. Philip bustled about while planting the remaining seed potatoes.
“As long as he takes the Warp on time, he’ll be here this afternoon.”
When I didn’t give much of an answer, Philip continued with an awkward laugh.
“As for Wendy… the Marquis will likely scold her severely.”
Wendy was excluded from the potato field labor. No one was taking the punishment I gave her seriously.
“We aren’t exactly guys without common sense.”
Philip seemed to have forgotten how he had confronted me without common sense at first.
“It’s just that she’s a bit like that. She worships Lord Alpheus so much that she crossed the line.”
I let out a faint sigh while looking over the ‘former Olive Plain’ that had become a potato field. Up to this point, I could manage the situation by passing it off as something I did because I was ‘crazy.’
‘I’m just a little crazy, and I really hope Alpheus returns soon.’
I hoped there wouldn’t be the kind of hardship common in the early parts of novels, where everyone begins to starve. However, Alpheus did not return even by that afternoon. Instead, in the middle of the night, one of Alpheus’s elite knights appeared at the mansion, staggering.
“Unexpectedly, the Marquis is going to be quite delayed,” he said with a pained face. “Currently, the Marquis… has suddenly left for the East to save the Second Prince. He sent only me back to report the situation.”
I pressed my hand to my forehead and sighed. As expected, it was exactly the same as the future I had learned about.
Lancie, who was working overtime as usual, came running and asked:
“The East? Why did everyone suddenly go to the East?”
Alpheus’s knight panted heavily as he spoke.
“They say a Monster Wave has started in the Eastern Sea. The patron for the compensation—no, the Second Prince—is stranded there… and the only person who can recognize the Marquis’s merits from the Northern War is the Second Prince.”
It followed the flow of the original story. I decided not to doubt it anymore. I had indeed gained knowledge of the future. Fortunately, I had been preparing accordingly.
“He couldn’t return empty-handed anyway, and the two of them are comrades-in-arms. So, the Marquis had no choice but to go there.”
“No, why did the Second Prince go there in the first place? Shouldn’t he be at a victory banquet? Why would such a high-ranking person go there again?”
According to the original story, the Second Prince—who was capable but the son of a commoner concubine—would be caught in the Crown Prince’s scheme and die in the East at this point in time.
“How should I know? It must be the order of someone even higher up… Still, with the Warp, shouldn’t he be back within three days?”
Three days, my foot. The instability of the Warp is only just beginning.
‘Even this knight is already half a day late…’
The Warp operates on mana. If mana-bearing monsters appeared, the operation was bound to be affected.
The problem arose the very next morning.
