Chapter 307 – 307. The Collapsed Home (1)
After hearing the innkeeper’s brief story from Eunhyeon, Erin put on a puzzled expression.
“Are the young people leaving the manor?”
“Huh.”
While she was unpacking her luggage and walking through a small square to find a restaurant to eat, the reason why her street was not lively was explained, but the expression of Eun-hyun nodding her head was slightly different from usual.
The expression of thinking deeply about something is always the expression Eunhyun makes when she is focused on something.
“For the master… Does that bother you?”
“Huh.”
“However, it is not uncommon for rural people to leave their homes and migrate to other places. Just looking at the Adventurer’s Guild, there were people from various backgrounds, right?”
From the point of view of Erin, who had heard of an unfamiliar place name that she had never heard of, she did not understand what Eun-hyeon was reluctant about.
“That’s right. In a way, if you think that she leaves a small, featureless country estate to achieve a big success like a fortune, she’s not so strange. Still, it should be one or two. Besides, the timing is strange.”
It was about a year ago that the size of the young residents had noticeably decreased, she said.
At least it means that this territory was not like this until then.
“Lily, from your point of view, considering the situation in Yeongji about five years ago, does it seem natural that the economy has deteriorated to such an extent that the atmosphere has become depressed like this in a year or two?”
“It is not so…”
The plaza, which should have the most active floating population in the territory, was filled with only the cold wind.
There were no stalls to be seen above the sight of garbage on the floor being pushed and rolled by the wind.
Since the customers who need to buy food or goods do not roam the streets, the stalls are also not active.
Literally, there is no vitality itself inside.
“For now, let’s walk around and look around slowly. The situation in this estate is nerve-wracking, but our goal is to find out where Lily’s parents are.”
“Master…”
Lily made an emotional expression at the words of Eunhyun who took care of herself as a priority.
“Sister. I’m hungry. Let’s go find a restaurant quickly!”
“Huh. Okay.”
Watching her Erin walk ahead of her as she grabbed her own hand and pulled it, Lily smiled at her.
Happy.
It felt like a hand pulling herself out of the swamp of her painful childhood experiences.
By Eunhyeon and his people, Lily was now being saved.
With her heart full of joy in her heart, she wandered around with Eunhyeon and Erin moderately, then she chose a restaurant and went inside.
It wasn’t that there were no customers eating, but the atmosphere inside was mostly quiet.
“Welcome.”
The four of us chose a place to sit, and as soon as we sat down, we looked at the menu board handed to us by the clerk and ordered the menu.
Emilia said that she wanted to adjust the artifacts stored inside her inventory and that she wanted to stay in the inn room, so only three of them came out to eat.
“Eh… That too?”
“Is that so?”
I overheard the conversation at the table next to me, where we sighed heavily and continued a draining conversation.
“You are fortunate that you have two sons. I have no news that my one and only son went out half a year ago. It would be nice if you could write me a letter from time to time saying that I’m doing well… I don’t know if he’s dead or alive.”
“… Mister?”
“Ok?”
“Huh?”
A familiar voice in her ears brought back memories from Lily’s past.
Realizing that the words were addressed to them, the two middle-aged men looked around and found Eun-hyeon’s table.
Then, they stared blankly at Lily’s face, who was looking at them with a surprised expression.
As time passed, she became a completely different person, but the expression and features of her face left a lot of impressions from when she was a girl in the past.
The middle-aged men who recalled that impression finally opened their mouths with expressions of disbelief.
“No way… Is it Lily?”
“… Yes.”
“Unbelievable…”
One middle-aged man let out a small sigh as he dropped his spoon.
The other middle-aged man came to his senses belatedly and looked at Lily’s whereabouts and the people around her.
Lily’s appearance in her very neat maid uniform radiated her natural formality and elegance.
“At that time… I heard she was sold into slavery along with your mother… What happened?”
“Somehow, I met a really good person and was saved. This person is…”
Before long, Lily looked at Eun-hyeon and started introducing him.
“He is the master I am serving. Name is…”
“My name is Albert.”
“… ?”
The moment she tried to put Eun-hyeon’s name in her mouth, Lily was a bit taken aback by Eun-hyeon’s behavior of introducing herself by hitting the ball first.
“Ah.”
Lily belatedly sighed when she realized Eunhyun’s intention to convey her thoughts through her eyes.
Although this is her hometown, Lily has been unable to hide her identity.
Since she does not want to reveal her identity to other countries, not even the Kingdom of Pernias, her intention was to use her pseudonym in case something happened.
“This child is Eri.”
“Oh, hello.”
Erin was equally taken aback by the sudden hint of hidden tongue, but she hid it from the outside as much as possible and responded straight away.
“… Judging by the way you look, you don’t look like an aristocrat, do you?”
“No. She also carries her exclusive maid. Aren’t you noble then? But why does a young man from such a noble family farm like that?”
That was the impression the two middle-aged people gave after looking over Eunhyeon.
For a commoner, he has never done anything dangerous.
However, the clothes he was wearing were very frugal to be called aristocrats.
It was not a luxurious fabric, but an ordinary black coat that was unmatched, and no aristocratic accessories or luxuries were worn at all.
There was a big difference between the lord of this territory and the nobles who stopped by this place from time to time.
“…”
Normally, Erin would have been angry at those who judged Eunhyeon’s behavior without permission, but she didn’t step forward this time.
The expressions of the middle-aged men looking at Eunhyeon were not because they were ignoring him, but because they were confused and did not have a good judgment about Eunhyeon.
‘Surely…’
Erin also slightly sympathized with that part.
Even when she first met her as a ghost, Eun-hyeon’s first impression of Erin was that of a dubious impostor.
If it’s personal property, there’s no doubt that it’s more than the duke’s family that runs a large-scale estate, but I couldn’t understand why they insisted on such an appearance without being extravagant.
And yet he spares no expense in either himself or her wives.
‘I want Hyun-i to become a little cooler and be recognized by many people…’
Erin let out a small sigh and focused on the conversation again.
“This outfit is super comfortable when traveling.”
“… Is that the price?”
“Yes. What about it?”
After her succinct introduction of herself, her two middle-aged men left her speechless.
She then turned her head to Lily, the only person she knew.
The two middle-aged men knew how Lily and her mother had been sold into slavery.
“Anyway… I’m so glad.”
“Okay. Thank god. You grew up really well.”
“Thank you.”
“If… Did you come to settle down in this estate?”
“No. That…”
In the current situation where young people in the estate are going out en masse, Lily, who received the gaze of the two middle-aged men mixed with strange anticipation, put on a puzzled expression.
Even though she knew that a maid who already served her aristocrats could not settle down in such a distant estate, her expectations and regrets did not disappear.
“By the way… The story you guys told me earlier. Can you elaborate a bit?”
“Hmm?”
“That… It is a story of young people leaving the manor.”
“Ahhh. Is that the story Whew.”
Realizing that Lily and her party were listening to them at the next table, she sighed.
“Since last year or so, a large number of young people from the territory have gone to the Duchy of Saviros.”
“The Duchy of Saviros?”
“Okay. There. It started when five or six people suddenly left the territory.”
It was only a matter of time before the number of people who left became double digits and triple digits over time, regardless of gender or age.
“Can I just ask you two questions?”
“Huh? What are you drawing?”
When Eunhyeon broke into the conversation between Lily and the middle-aged men, the middle-aged men opened their eyes wide and asked.
“Summarizing, in a short period of about a year, is it true that you coaxed hundreds of people into the Duchy of Saviros?”
“Yes.”
“What words did you coax?”
“Well… I haven’t heard it myself… According to his son, he found a way to become rich and successful by earning a lot of money or something. And then, without even stopping, he left the house half a year ago.”
“Big money, success.”
These are very easy things to seduce people.
Eunhyun, who finished thinking in her head, brought up her second question.
“Why is the lord of this territory not taking any action against the young people escaping in large numbers?”
The young people and children of the manor are all the next generation that will contribute to the management of the manor after the middle-aged men in this position.
If the current adults who are making various contributions to the management of the estate, including agriculture, become old and senile, it means that the children of those adults will have to take over the work and continue to live.
It sounds harsh, but it’s akin to a worn-out cogwheel that’s been replaced by a new part.
Only the scale is different, the management of the territory is carried out by the activities of these people under the judgment and choice of the lord.
“Well… How can we know the thoughts of the lords who are above us?”
“We are people who are busy earning and eating every day, so we don’t know complicated things like that.”
“…”
Seeing the faces of the middle-aged men with disapproving expressions, Eunhyeon thought about it again.
There are two things you can think of.
Either an incompetent idiot who didn’t even foresee that this would happen.
Or received something comparable to the current damage to the territory.
As Eunhyeon was lost in her thoughts, Lily rejoined the three of them.
“Uncles.”
“Huh?”
“Now my father… Do you know where it is?”
“Ah, that…”
In the end, the middle-aged man, who had an expression that had come, had come, evaded his words and glanced at the person next to him.
“Oh, why are you looking at me? Her daughter says she’s going to see her baby and her father. Besides, on her part, Lily, doesn’t she have the right to pull out all her hair and say why she abandoned her and her mother?”
“What… That’s but…”
Unable to erase his confused expression, the middle-aged man eventually opened his mouth.
