Chapter 223 – 223. Advance Preparation (3)
About two months have passed since Eunhyeon and the others settled down and spent time in the elven forest.
Counting from the time they had their wedding and left the Duchy of Armitas for their honeymoon, nearly three months had passed, and Eun-hyeon regularly exchanged information through Alex and Runan.
-Recently, the situation on the continent is unusual.
“Here is the car.”
“Thank you.”
-…
Eunhyun, who had lunch and drank the tea that Eleanor had made for dessert, looked at the crystal ball that had stopped reporting.
“Keep talking. Because I’m listening How is the situation?”
-… Certain requests are rapidly increasing in the adventurer’s guild in the kingdom of Pernias.
“What kind of requests?”
– Subjugation of demons.
“… Hmm.”
While drinking tea, Eun-hyeon put her cup on the table and stroked his chin, deep in thought.
“Explain in detail.”
-The number of total monster subjugations in Pernin, the capital of the kingdom, and adventurer guilds in other high-ranking noble territories is increasing over time. This…
“It must mean that the number of monsters and dungeons is increasing.”
-Yes.
The rapid increase in requests for subjugation of monsters to adventurer guilds means that the frequency of monsters appearing on the continent is increasing, and this basically means that the number of dungeons where monsters are born is increasing exponentially.
“Is this the same for the Duchy?”
-I understand that, but did the little duke say anything to you?
“No. At all?”
Eunhyun glanced at Eleanor.
Eleanor, who was sitting quietly drinking tea and listening to the conversation between Eunhyeon and Runan, reacted very calmly.
“How is the kingdom responding? The fact that the number of subjugation requests from demon beasts is rapidly increasing means that more and more villages have to shoulder the burden.”
The subject of the request to the adventurer’s guild may be the country or high-ranking nobles, but it is common for the representative of the village to visit the adventurer’s guild and make the request for subjugation of monsters.
Of course, the village had to bear all expenses, including the request money, incurred while requesting the adventurer’s guild.
In other words, the increase in subjugation requests from demonic beasts meant that the burden the villagers had to bear was enormous.
It is uncertain whether or not to unconditionally accept the subjugation of the beasts requested by the adventurers, and even if they do, if the personalities of the adventurers are not wrong, they will not go through the adventurers guild, but directly to the village itself. There are not a few cases.
In the end, depending on various requirements such as the difficulty of the request and the amount of reward, there are cases where the request was not accepted until the end and the village was destroyed.
-The kingdom sends subsidy to the adventurer guild to increase the quality of the request amount, inducing more rewards to the adventurers, and increasing the acceptance rate of the quest to lead the way in solving a lot of subjugation quests.
“It’s not such a bad way to just listen.”
-Are you guessing what’s already going on?
“I always think of the worst handshakes. For example, stealing away part of the subsidy offered to the adventurer’s guild in the middle.”
In particular, the fact that Artia embezzled the national budget in sympathy with Ashton was revealed last time, and it could be a delicious prey for the nobles who have to pay 10 times the amount as a fine.
-… Accurate.
“I am not interested in the situation on Pernin’s side. It’s not like I have the guts to feel the loyalty I have to the Kingdom of Pernias.”
In the first place, at the point of having already moved to the dukedom and became a member of the duke’s side, he had pretended to be with the court nobles of the royal faction of the kingdom of Fernias, so there was no reason to help.
“Are you still not able to come to your senses even after reaching this point? Those are.”
“… I am ashamed.”
Eleanor sighed as if she was ashamed to be a noble of the same country.
-But while it is true that such attempts have been made, the situation is not so bad. You weren’t the only one who thought of the actions of some nobles who had their eyes on stealing subsidies.
“Is it Riod?”
-Yes. The head of Artia, Marquis Olivion, who anticipated the situation, acted directly, and strict monitoring was carried out to ensure that the subsidy was properly delivered to the adventurer’s guild.
“Hmm. So how is Alex doing now?”
-It is said that they scouted various adventurers and brought them to the dukedom, starting with skilled adventurers with a high reputation in the gold ranks, and even newcomers to the silver and equal ranks.
“So?”
– Extensive publicity for the quest to subdue the beasts requested by the adventurer’s guild of the Armitas dukedom so that it can be posted at a relatively cheaper price than Pernin, and the shortfall in the commission payment to the scouted adventurers is covered by the subsidy from the pocket of the duke’s family. That’s doing
“The reason I’ve dared to scout new adventurers is to give them small requests so they can gain experience, and, if possible, the intention of wanting them to continue to settle down and work in the Duchy of Armitas is mixed.”
– There must be no such intention.
At the same time as relieving the burden on the village of the requesters, who had to request subjugation, they brought in adventurers who could solve the case and built a system to solve the case quickly.
The cost incurred there was not formidable, but he had extorted a huge amount of money from the royalty faction aristocrats by selling Manastream’s cure, so in terms of cost, affordability itself was not a problem.
“It was the money he gave to improve Yeongji’s situation, but he couldn’t help it. Alex is working hard too.”
“Iknow, right.”
Listening to the current situation of her brother, who is really working hard as the successor of the ducal family, Eleanor naturally laughed.
-Are you not stepping out of this case?
“Alex hasn’t said anything.”
-If you don’t want to go out, why are you listening to your brother-in-law’s report from behind like this?
“If there is a serious situation, of course I will come out. But for now, I want to watch.”
-…
If something goes wrong on the side of the Armitas Duchy, it might be too late to move after the trouble breaks out.
The living space of the Heilangdan, who succumbed to Eun-hyeon and the duke’s family, begged for their lives, and completely fell under Eun-hyeon’s family, is also on the side of the Duchy of Armitas.
Even though their lives are in Eun-hyeon’s hands, what Runan is worried about is whether Eun-hyeon and Alex’s orphanage, which is being operated as an activity close to charity work, will be operated.
I do not assume that Eun-hyeon will go wrong, but if there is a problem with Alex and the Duchy of Armitas, there is anxiety that the support provided to the orphanage may be cut off.
That’s why Runan hoped that Eunhyeon would quickly step in and resolve the situation to relieve her anxiety before anything went wrong.
“What do you think Eleanor?”
“I will obey your will.”
“I didn’t ask what you meant as my wife. She was the daughter of a ducal family, and as Alex’s younger sister, I asked.”
“…”
Eleanor took a small breath at her Eunhyeon’s question.
A short silence ensued, and Eleanor, who was worried about her, opened her mouth again.
“If my brother didn’t bother to ask you for help, I think it’s right for us to stay still.”
“Why?”
“Your brother might be thinking of this as a test for himself.”
“Test?”
“A test to stand side by side with you.”
Eleanor guessed her own brother’s intentions, thinking that she couldn’t always rely on her eunuch’s help.
“Actually, our family was the family itself that was an obstacle to you and to Erin.”
The relationship between Eun-hyeon and the Duke’s family, which was formed while investigating Erin’s disappearance, was not a good relationship at first.
It’s simple that she didn’t get rid of the ducal family that Ashton was in, who didn’t repent of her own wrongdoing and walked her wrong path to the end.
‘Because it was useful.’
In the end, there was only an intention to encourage the situation around her by laying the plate on her so that the day would come when Erin, who had grown up, would judge Ashton herself.
“The prestige of the ducal family has gone downhill because of Ashton, and her father and brother have decided to take responsibility in their own ways. My father… He made up his mind to withdraw from all family affairs, and his older brother… He wants to have an equal relationship with you.”
In fact, Alex’s feelings for Eun-hyeon are a bit different.
The first time he secretly came to the duke’s mansion and revealed the whole story of Baron Hersha’s case, the impression was also strong.
When Princess Yuria ran away from home and went on an expedition to the Great Labyrinth of Archis, even though she hadn’t formed a proper relationship, she asked Eleanor to go find Eunhyeon if something happened to her.
Yuria, who has her private feelings, has been helping her for a long time. Even though she confided her secret story to her Eun-hyeon, not herself, the reason why she couldn’t hate her Eun-hyeon with feelings like her jealousy was because Alex It was because she had a strong desire to build friendship with Eunhyeon.
“Brother, if I have to borrow your power to solve even this… I think you think you can’t stand on an equal footing.”
“…”
Eunhyun, who heard Alex’s intentions through a rather strange guess, did not say anything with an awkward yet complex smile.
After hearing her own words, Eleanor, wondering what Eunhyun was thinking, unknowingly looked at Belldandi floating in the sky.
[Whoops, the child is now shy.]
I was able to accurately grasp the bewildered expression of not knowing what to say to the one-sided favors, pure competition, and feelings of atonement.
Belldandy stroked Eunhyeon’s hair and explained to Eleanor with a benevolent smile.
“Be quiet…”
[Whoops.]
Her embarrassing Eun-hyeon threw her blow at her own goddess in her low voice, but her goddess didn’t care at all.
“Well, did you get a rough answer anyway? If Alex doesn’t bother asking me for help, I have no intention of stepping out.”
-I couldn’t relieve my anxious feeling, but I understood the reason itself.
“Good. So that’s it for today’s regular report. Because this is not such an idle situation.”
-… I get it.
After the crystal ball’s communication ended, Eun-hyeon stood up from her seat holding the cup she had finished drinking from.
“I’ll clean it up.”
“Thank you.”
“Hyunah.”
Illyana entered the room and called out to Eunhyun with a firm expression.
“Uh.”
“I’m ready.”
“…”
Eun-hyeon quietly closed her eyes and, immersed in her thoughts, recalled her memories of 300 years ago.
A situation similar to that time is being directed, but unlike back then, many things have changed for Eun-hyeon now.
Belldandi released the constraints imposed on her soul.
Illyana and Eleanor are by her side.
She faced a different choice than before, and she was not alone.
“Let’s go.”
“Huh.”
“Yes.”
After leaving the house, I walked towards the ‘forest corridor’ where Regina was to fight for the extermination of the Dark Elves.
