Chapter 529 – 529. Prelude to Change (1)
Through the crystal ball, Eleanor received a brief report of what was happening in the Dwarf village.
Originally, as the current lord, it was Alex’s job as the heir to the Duke of Armitas to manage the internal affairs of the territory.
However, now Alex is not sparing much help in the education of Princess Yuria due to the issue of succession to the throne, so Alex and Eleanor were in fact managing the internal affairs of the territory by dividing each other’s roles.
Alex was representing the ducal family’s will, strengthening Yuria’s support base, and taking care of the internal affairs of the territory at the same time.
Eleanor was having a very busy day as the general manager of the Temple of Vesta, who was currently active in the territory, and the role of backing up the internal affairs of the territory that Alex had not yet taken care of.
In addition, in Eleanor’s case, as her priest, she even takes care of Illyana’s body, who is currently pregnant.
The time of the day is set, and there are so many roles entrusted to her, so even in the midst of distraction, she is performing them all.
“I see.”
[Yes. I think I will probably be here for another month.]
Eun-hyeon is out to teach the dwarves knowledge of technology, such as alchemy and engineering, starting with golem production technology.
Reporting to Eleanor is Lily, who generally supports Eun-hyeon.
After hearing her talk about her stay in the dwarven village, Eleanor murmured softly, lost in her thoughts.
“It’s been one month… Time is running out.”
[If you have a hard time… Shall I tell the owner the situation?]
“No. It’s true that it’s tight, but it’s not impossible. Did you say 10,000?”
What Eleanor is worried about is the preparation to accommodate the new races that will migrate to Eunhyeon separately within the Armitas territory.
[To be exact, 12,000 people.]
“… Okay.”
It wasn’t just a few hundred migrations, it was absolutely not easy to accommodate the entire race of dwarves, numbering more than 10,000.
It is not a problem that can be solved by preparing a space to accommodate them, but a place to live on it, and drinking water to provide them not for a day or for a long time is also absolutely not a small amount.
However, if the initial situation was handled well, they could be sure that the benefit they would bring to the Armitas territory would be more than that.
[Are you okay?]
Lily asked Eleanor with her concern.
Lily was well aware of how tiring and laborious this plan was from the point of view of the ruler who managed the estate.
The most worrisome thing about accepting dwarves into the territory is their own way of life and culture.
The sound of hammers resounding inside the underground village resonates nonstop throughout the day, making your ears noisy, and there are more things that are different than the same, from differences in appearance to eating habits to work and thoughts.
Eleanor understood the differences between races and cultures through her experience of living in the elven forest for a short time, and she can only guess at the context of this, but in Lily’s case, she is the closest to the culture of the dwarves. Was experiencing
That’s why I’m worried if we can reconcile these two races with clear differences within one fence.
Understanding Lily’s concerns, Eleanor also smiled bitterly and nodded her head.
“… Because that person decided.”
She was none other than Eun-hyeon, and if she judged that she could do it, she would only do her best to meet his expectations.
A really sweet husband is not a man who gives impossible, unreasonable tasks and orders.
“You should try it.”
[Okay.]
Hearing Lily’s determined voice again, Lily smiled bitterly and nodded her head.
She deeply sympathized with her heart for trying to live up to expectations.
[How is Iliana-sama?]
“It’s okay. These days, I’m learning various things while talking to Theresia-sama, who is about to give birth.”
In general, Illyana’s current situation, showing her efforts by starting her pregnant woman’s healthful food or medicine, her basic exercise that she thought she would not do for the rest of her life, was rather more fulfilling and healthy than before.
“In the case of Erin, she is still continuing her training while being scolded by Shinsoo-sama.”
As a descendant of her own, the nine-tailed fox, who can never bear to be seen as pitiful, is still being raised strong by pushing Erin through harsh training.
These days, when Eun-hyeon is absent, when she returns home from her practice, it has become a daily routine for her to be comforted in the arms of Illyana and Eleanor after she’s wiped away her dead tears.
If it is a role entrusted to Eleanor and Illyana, it might be a role to soothe Erin, who can’t overcome her loneliness and is full of childishness in the sadness of being bullied in her training.
[I’m glad you seem to be doing well.]
Hearing that she was having a busy yet peaceful day as usual, Lily smiled and was relieved.
“You’re supporting him well, too.”
Even thinking that it was her vacation, Eleanor nodded her head and replied when she saw Lily feeling faithful as a natural duty to assist Eun-hyeon.
However, she soon put on a serious expression.
If Eun-hyeon started the introduction by talking about the dwarves’ relocation plan and the current situation of each other, she was the main body of what Eleanor wanted to do from now on.
“… There is something I want you to talk to that person right away.”
[… Yes.]
Lily also saw Eleanor’s expression, and she immediately nodded her head, intuiting that it was something out of the ordinary.
◆ ◆ ◆
Erin, who had been zazen on her floor, cross-legged, closed her eyes, activating the magic within her body, paused as her concentration was distracted for the moment.
In that moment of pause, her ever-whirling cycle of magic vanished like her smoke, and Erin’s eyebrows twitched.
‘Ah, it’s a big deal.’
After intuition, she immediately reactivated the magic within her body and acted calmly as if nothing had happened.
It wasn’t a nine-tailed fox who couldn’t notice the difference between before, when it kept circulating at a furious pace, and now, when it started anew and didn’t speed up.
Worse!
“Ouch!”
A rod crafted from bamboo hits Erin in the shoulder relentlessly as she relents.
Contrary to the cheerful sound that flowed from her rod, Erin, who was agitated by her sting, let out her scream.
“Again.”
“Chi… !”
“What are you complaining about?”
“Stop hitting me!”
Erin pursed her lips and protested at the nine-tailed fox.
The threshing blow of the nine-tailed fox, which relentlessly flies at you if you lose your concentration even a little bit, isn’t that painful, but every time you get hit, you feel very upset.
However, this practice of concentrating in the state of zazen and maintaining the circulation of her magical power for a long time was not so easy.
“Joy. If you don’t like being hit, you just have to focus as much as you can and fill the time I set for you.”
“Concentrate your mind in this state for 10 hours. That’s ridiculous! My leg hurts! I’m hungry too!”
It was really unreasonable to sit still and keep circulating the magic inside the body continuously for close to 10 hours.
Gumiho’s training method was the worst for Erin, to the extent that it was incomparable to any training she had done with Eunhyeon.
If what Eunhyeon taught Erin was a physical field to learn by moving the body through basic physical strength, skills, and self-discipline accompanied by persistence.
What the gumiho is currently teaching Erin is the improvement of concentration and the development of the senses to freely control the magic within the body, and the mental field is strong.
Eun-hyeon’s training, which involves working hard by moving your body, is better. Gumiho’s training belongs to the comfortable side of the body, but it is very boring and difficult.
This means that although her physical specifications are already perfected enough to rival the knights of the Kingdom of Pernias, her inner spirit is still immature.
Hearing Erin’s complaint, the gumiho snorted and said,
“Joy. It’s just that I can’t do anything like this. When I was only you, I was able to maintain 100 hours through this discipline.”
“That’s because it’s you Miho, it’s possible! I am human! You can’t stay like this while starving for 100 hours!”
“Who told you to keep 100 hours? I can’t even catch up to half of my strength because I can’t even fill 10 hours, which is only 1/10th of that.”
“Really… Seriously, 10 hours is ridiculous…”
Erin muttered, pursed her lips, averting her gaze from the nine-tailed fox, who had no intention of accepting her own opinion.
“Joy. Then how the hell is he going to explain it?”
The nine-tailed fox, refuting her Erin’s words, pointed her finger at her Gerard, who was standing at a distance and approaching her.
“Miho! Dinner is ready!”
The figure of a man close to 40, wearing a pink apron that does not suit him at all and holding a ladle in his hand, is very far from being a hero who saved the continent.
Seeing him as a mere housewife, who on earth could think of him as a hero on the same level as Riod, the strongest knight in the kingdom, Illyana, the eight-digit high-ranking wizard, and Anies, the archbishop of the Temple of Vesta.
“That guy has already been practicing this for 10 hours, even after 20 hours or more, he still shows his composure. He’s human, so excuses like he can’t do 10 hours don’t work.”
“… See.”
Erin, who couldn’t find anything to say in response, kept her resentment to herself, and she only whimpered.
In fact, Gerard had a good understanding of the nine-tailed fox’s practice and achieved it early, and now he was living a fulfilling life by cleaning and managing the inside of the nine-tailed fox’s shrine almost like a full-time housewife.
At first, seeing Gerard voluntarily doing it, the nine-tailed fox also had the thought, ‘What’s with that guy?’
The nine-tailed fox, who had vowed not to trust humans anymore due to Ortas’ betrayal, did not want anything and felt great satisfaction and faithfulness just by being by his side.
It is definitely different from Ortas, who trusted but was betrayed.
“What, Miss Erin? Are you done with your training?”
“Ah, that, that…”
Erin hesitated and hesitated to say her words.
She failed so badly that she was embarrassed to say that she had been beaten by another nine-tailed fox.
Even though he looks like this, Gerard is a hero like Riod and Illyana, and he has a close relationship with Eunhyeon.
When he hesitated to answer because he didn’t want to show his embarrassing ugliness, Gerard quickly figured out his situation.
“Haha! You failed again! It could be! You will be successful in no time. Because I did too!”
“…”
However, Gerard’s words did not comfort Erin at all, as he had already accepted the power of the divine beast later than himself and grew faster than he did.
‘I really don’t notice. This person! I think I know why I’ve been single until now!’
It is as vicious as it is innocent.
“Excuse me.”
Just when the flow of her practice was broken and her heart was a little depressed, Erinn immediately turned her head in response to Eleanor’s voice that had visited her shrine.
“Is it Eleanor? What are you doing here?”
“I came to see Erin.”
“Uh… ? Me?”
“Huh.”
Eleanor immediately turned her head to look at her nine-tailed fox.
“I’m sorry during the performance. Shin Soo. I have something urgent to tell you.”
“Hmm?”
The nine-tailed fox crossed his arms and beckoned us to continue talking.
“I have a place to send Erin for the time being.”
“Yes? But…”
Erin looked at the nine-tailed fox with a puzzled expression.
“Does the fact that you came mean that he ordered you to come?”
The ‘guy’ that the nine-tailed fox is talking about is Eun-hyeon.
Eleanor shook her head slightly and answered the nine-tailed fox.
“It’s not that he did it… To the extent that I received the person’s permission and visited Shinsoo’s shrine like this… This is an urgent matter.”
“… Is there a problem?”
Sensing something serious, Gerard asked, hardening his face while holding onto his ladle.
It was a funny look, close to a housewife that didn’t fit the atmosphere, but nobody laughed, let alone Eleanor.
“The undead… It appeared.”
“… Right.”
The gumiho frowned and nodded slightly.
The war between the beings who were denied death and humans, which Eun-hyeon expected, was finally about to begin.
