Chapter 742 – 742. The Master and the Phantom Beast (1)
The county of Ephrate, which had been devastated by the rampage of the basilisks, was very quiet.
Half of the walls protecting the territories collapsed, and the buildings that were the foundation of life lost their form and lost their function.
Some have lost their homes, some have lost their businesses, some have lost their families.
The night that came to such a county was so quiet.
Although each of them was immersed in anger, grief, and sadness due to their own circumstances, his stamina would follow despite the consumption of those emotions.
Now, the young people were busy finding their own way to live.
As the suspicion of collusion with the devil, which was the main cause of the Basilisk summoning, was revealed to be true, the rule of the county became vacant as a punishment of Count Ephrate.
Ironically, it was Eira who was in charge of the territory on behalf of Count Eprate.
“For now, residents who have lost their place due to this incident should be accommodated at an inn or hotel.”
Eira is an Artia knight who came directly from Pernin to arrest Count Eprate.
And as she had received basic education as a daughter of the Marquis of Olivion, there was no one more qualified than Eira to deal with this messy situation in terms of her status and abilities.
In addition, I couldn’t say I didn’t know this territory unless I properly figured out how far the people on Count Eprate’s side were involved in the corruption of this territory.
“But handling all that many people…”
“Push it as far as you can. As of the current situation, just being able to sleep without being hit by the cold wind of dawn is a good thing.”
Ayra, with an expression that seemed to be serious, she stared at my crown of Countess Ephrathe.
In Eira’s opinion, this territory is a territory that lives on the luxury and pleasure of nobles.
Prostitutes who have become slaves casually sell their bodies for financial gain and provide the best facilities and services to satisfy their guests, the wealthy.
Eido, when she and Cha Han-seong, Erin, and Lily were investigating the estate, she checked out the facilities of the hotel, which were often used by male aristocrats with great wealth.
The size of the hotel’s VIP room provided for only one guest is enough to accommodate 20 people.
If all of these hotel rooms are mobilized, the victims who have lost their place and are on the streets will be able to accommodate them.
“Ah, I see…”
Of course, whether or not this unprofitable order is acceptable is another story altogether.
However, the courtier had no justification for rejecting Eira’s instructions, who had the authority to deal with this commotion on behalf of Count Ephrate.
Her judgment is correct, but more than that, she is a member of the Knights of Artia and the daughter of Riod Olivion.
She was not a woman that the magistrate of a province could touch carelessly.
Upon receiving Eira’s gaze, my vassal trembled at her and bowed her head.
“And…”
Afterwards, Rodoeira took appropriate measures regarding the rations to be returned to her subjects and her future treatment, and her statutes were dismissed.
“Whoa…”
“Thank you for your effort.”
“Ah, thank you.”
Eira smiled bitterly at the black tea placed on her desk.
It was black tea made by Lily, who assisted her.
“Whoa, I put out the urgent fire right away with this…”
Aira sipped the tea Lily had prepared for her and thought about her future prospects.
It’s fine right now, but this is just to buy time.
The internal affairs of the county of Ephrate were quite serious.
Finances were quite solid, befitting Yeongji, where wealthy rich people from chaebols full of vulgar desires and pleasures often came to prostitutes casually to scatter gold coins and show off their riches.
On the contrary, while actively pushing forward with the establishment business, there was enough money left over to pay huge amounts of bribes to those in need.
However, just because the financial situation is very good does not mean that the internal affairs of this territory are stable.
“What kind of crappy estates are there…”
When she was first briefed on the internal affairs of the Earl of Eprate by the chief of staff, Eira frowned.
There was really only one business in this estate.
There was no agricultural land or other business base, and all food and daily necessities needed for the lives of the people were procured by merchants who came from outside.
Normally, these territories, which had no concept of self-sufficiency at all, would have been perfect prey for merchants by fixing prices and selling them at high prices, but the Earl of Eprate was not the object of their desire.
“I wonder if it was only possible because there was a demon behind it…”
Behind Count Ephrate was a succubus who manipulated and brainwashed people’s minds.
That is why it would be so easy to make even merchants spend their money extravagantly by stimulating their sexual desires, rather than making a profit.
But in the present situation, that is the problem.
Money is overflowing, but in this manor, farmland itself for the people to live and eat did not exist at all.
In this place where there is no concept of self-sufficiency at all, food is limited, and it is procured from outside using the budget of the county that has been accumulated, but someday the limit will come.
“Ha. I’m tired…”
Eira lay face down on the desk, revealing an expression full of hard work.
While lamenting why he was the only one who had to deal with this situation, the thought that he could not help it was revealed on his face.
After a while, he came back to his senses and looked at Lily and asked.
“Still, I’m really glad that Lily and Erin are here. Thank you.”
“No. I felt fortunate to be able to help. Even so, I didn’t want to burden Eira-sama too much. Erin thought so too.”
Lily laughed and shook her head like she was really no big deal.
In fact, the part where Lily helped her Eira was only similar to what she had been doing in the Duchy of Armitas.
“But it really helped me a lot. A normal maid can’t do that.”
Ayra was genuinely impressed.
Lily assisted Eira in many ways in solving her case.
By checking the number of victims and the amount of damage, they quickly grasped the situation.
Selecting those who can and cannot be mobilized for restoration of damage to the territory that can be carried out immediately, calculating the number of rooms in hotels and inns that can accommodate victims, and calculating the amount of food that the inhabitants of the territory can endure.
While Ayla took on the role of an administrator who could give appropriate instructions after dealing with her situation, Lily was working on creating a basis for giving those instructions and judgments.
This was something she was able to do because of her great experience helping Eleanor when she was in charge of the management of her estate as her lord’s deputy in the Duchy of Armitas.
Lily’s skill, in fact, simply exceeded the level of her one virtuoso.
“But I can only do this much. In fact, Erin and Cha Han-sung are suffering more than me.”
“… Yes.”
Ayra smiled bitterly and nodded her head in agreement with her words.
The two were currently using their bodies to help restore the site.
◆ ◆ ◆
“… “
Krrrr.
Cha Han-seong stared blankly at the two, who were glaring at each other and eager to fight at any time.
Helping with the construction site of the restoration work, and returning to the accommodation, this is the situation.
I couldn’t understand the situation when I saw the fox, who stood up all over her body and spread her alert posture, and her Erin, who was fighting her own phantom beast with all her nerves on edge as well. .
“Do not talk to me. Because this is an important moment.”
Erin didn’t even have time to answer Cha Han-sung’s question.
If she caught the slightest glimpse of her carelessness, this unruly phantom beast would surely claw at her own face mercilessly.
“… Ah yes.”
Cha Han-seong answered appropriately, as if even trying to understand the situation had become an annoyance.
And then I lay down on the sofa.
After washing his dirty body with sweat and dust, accumulated fatigue overtook his whole body and his body sagged from fatigue.
I glanced at the phantom beast fighting with Erin.
‘That’s interesting.’
It was strange to me that the fox phantom beast, now reduced to the size of her own upper body, would grow to the size of the basilisk that would have devastated the entire county of Ephrathe.
According to Erin’s explanation, this phantom beast can grow and shrink her body based on her Erin’s magical power, and then control it at will.
The current state of that little fox is close to the state where the consumption of the magical power that constitutes her substance is kept to a minimum.
Maybe it’s because the first impression of her queer scratching the basilisk’s scales and biting her teeth into her teeth was too strong.
Cha Hanseong felt awkward seeing that phantom fox.
It may be because she knows the power of phantom beasts stronger than herself.
Kreuk!
Finally, after meeting Erin’s eyes, the phantom beast, who was in a fight with her, couldn’t stand it and rushed at Erin.
“This guy!”
However, as if aware of her preemptive strike, Erin immediately responded to her phantom beast’s charge.
Although her front legs are small and compact, she had a history of being scratched by the sharp claws hidden inside them, so she grabbed both of her phantom beast front legs with both hands and blocked their movement.
Growl!
“Profit! I’m the owner! Hear me!”
However, despite Erin’s admonition, the phantom fox didn’t listen to her at all.
Far from listening, the fox phantom beast’s attitude is not the attitude towards the owner who created it.
For Erin, this was too much stress.
She somehow tried to tame the fox phantom beast, but her ferocious spirit did not subside at all and she resisted even more fiercely.
“Ooh! Really! It’s worse than Miho said!”
Originally born with the power of divine beasts, phantom beasts are gifted with ingenuity and are well aware of their origins.
[The phantom beast instinctively senses what kind of existence the being that created it is.]
He explained that if the owner was a gifted being, he would treat him respectfully, and if not, he would look down on him and snort at him.
However, Erin’s phantom beast looked down on Erin more severely than the explanation she had heard from Gumiho.
The reason why the phantom beast looked down on Erin was very simple.
The fox phantom beast was born because of her Erinn’s magical power, but Errin can’t properly handle her magic that handles her magical power.
Most of her complex work was the result of a nine-tailed fox inside Erin’s mind.
Erinn’s phantom beast accurately saw through the level of Erinn, who possessed the magical power of the divine beast within her body but lacked the knowledge to handle it.
That’s why she doesn’t recognize her as her own master.
However, the appearance of the two was very strange to Cha Han-seong, who had no clue about the complex relationship between the owner and the phantom beast.
“That… Erin.”
“Uh, yes?”
In the middle of a scuffle with the phantom beast, Erin answered Cha Hanseong’s question while suppressing both of the phantom beast’s forepaws.
“By the way, that fox. Did he give you a name?”
“Yes. Did you name it ‘Kreungi’?”
“… Yes?”
Hearing the shocking name, Cha Han-seong asked again with a look on his face as if he had heard it correctly.
Erin, who had been focusing her attention on fighting her fox, her phantom beast, didn’t seem to be aware of her own shocking naming sense yet.
“It’s just the sound of growling and crying. Why?”
“…”
Cha Han-seong did not immediately answer Erin’s question as if asking what was the problem.
Kreureung!
The fox phantom beast ran more wildly to escape from Erinn’s hands.
Cha Han-seong realized that this phantom beast completely understood the words of its owner, Erin.
Although she was born with Erin’s magical power, she noticed one of the reasons why she didn’t respect Erin as her master.
‘Do I have to say this?’
Rather, he slightly turned her head to the side to avoid her gaze, and decided it was best not to intervene in the matter.
“… It’s nothing.”
