♥ Chapter 9 ♥
“Yes. Five hundred thousand people. If I use the authority I have as my father’s representative and cover the cost with the money from the businesses I manage, it should be more than enough. Isn’t that right?”
“Of course it is. There will be no shortage. But…”
“Butler, can you prepare the supplies I mentioned?”
“Yes, I can. But… where do you plan to use such a huge amount of supplies? Five hundred thousand people… That’s far beyond even military supplies.”
I had expected this reaction.
How should I explain it?
After thinking for a moment, I decided to start from another topic.
“Butler, do you know our House Brilloksen’s yearly budget?”
“I only know the rough amount.”
“How much is it?”
“Around one hundred thousand Imperial gold coins.”
“And our yearly income?”
“Around five times that.”
I smiled.
The butler looked at me with a confused expression.
“That’s right. It’s an enormous amount. Considering that the Empire collects around three million gold coins in taxes every year, our income is incredible.”
“But did we earn all of it through our own efforts? No. We simply own the mines in the Gray Mountains behind us. That isn’t our achievement. We were simply lucky. Isn’t that true?”
“The Count of Brilloksen already donates every year to give back to society. Besides that, our family also donates to orphanages and temples throughout the Empire.”
“I know.”
“But I don’t believe only those people deserve help. I want to look at the world more broadly.”
“Hmm…”
The butler let out a troubled sigh.
I looked at him firmly.
“Are the supplies I requested enough to empty our family’s treasury?”
“…No. Honestly, it won’t hurt our finances much. In fact, the Count donates nearly five times that amount every year. The real problem is transporting everything at once.”
He thought quietly for a while before speaking again.
“May I ask where you intend to send these supplies?”
“Hermonia.”
“To Ripton?”
“Yes.”
“I see… If it’s Ripton, then you’re right. They may truly be struggling because of the lack of supplies.”
He closed his eyes and thought for a while before nodding.
“Our House Brilloksen owns a large bank there. I’ll order the supplies to be gathered at that location.”
As expected…
He was a flexible man.
He didn’t ask why I was doing this.
He only thought about whether it was possible and how it could be done.
Since I had often made donations with Father before, there was nothing suspicious about my request.
Besides…
If necessary, I could simply pay for it with my own money.
Money wasn’t the problem.
Gathering the supplies was.
“However, transporting everything at once will be difficult. The mountains of Hermonia are famous for being dangerous. Carrying all these supplies there in one trip is nearly impossible. It would be better to divide them into four or five shipments.”
“I’ll leave that to you.”
“When is the earliest we can send them?”
“If we announce it today, we should be able to gather most of the supplies within three days.”
“Hmm… Good.”
“Please gather everything as quickly as possible.”
“Understood.”
When I told him he could leave, the butler bowed respectfully before walking out.
After he disappeared, I looked out the window.
Buck’s final words from the Thieves’ Guild were still on my mind.
Thinking about what would happen soon…
I slowly smiled.
“The weather is nice.”
Clouds were slowly gathering overhead.
The carriage shook gently as I looked out the window.
The steady rain made climbing the mountain much harder.
I suddenly remembered what the butler had said before I left.
“Are you really going yourself? The rainy season is about to begin. The journey will be difficult. Wouldn’t it be better to send someone else?”
The clear weather from a few days ago had completely disappeared.
Heavy seasonal rain now soaked the mountain range.
The mercenaries I had hired in case monsters appeared…
Along with the knights and soldiers accompanying us…
All looked exhausted.
Even though the road to Ripton had been properly built…
It was still rough and dangerous.
I opened the carriage window.
Cold raindrops splashed inside.
“My lady, you’ll catch a cold. Please close the window.”
The knight named Ripert pulled his rain cloak tighter around himself.
I glanced at him before looking at the mountain road ahead.
“How much longer?”
“If the weather were normal, we’d arrive in half a day. But because of the rain, the road is slippery, and the horses are tired. We’ve been changing them regularly, but… it’ll probably take a little longer.”
Half a day…
I looked up at the sky.
The heavy rain showed no sign of stopping.
“I’m more worried about something else,” Ripert said.
“When the rain falls this heavily, it covers up sounds. It also washes away scents. The real danger is that we may not notice a monster until it’s already close.”
“Doesn’t Ripton regularly hunt the monsters here?”
“They do.”
“But summer is a difficult season for monsters in Hermonia.”
“The number of wild animals decreases because people hunt them.”
“And monsters don’t eat fruit.”
“So when they become hungry, they sometimes come this far and attack humans.”
“Of course, there are many of us, and the monsters are weaker during summer, so they probably won’t attack…”
He smiled.
“But when something is starving…”
“You never know what it might do.”
“To monsters, humans are nothing more than living prey.”
He looked up at the sky and adjusted his rain cloak again.
“Even though it’s summer, the air is cold. Your clothes are thin, so please close the window. We’ll arrive safely.”
I couldn’t refuse after hearing his concern.
“All right.”
I closed the window and quietly leaned back in my seat.
With nothing else to do, I leaned my head back and looked at the carriage ceiling.
The black ceiling reminded me of someone.
A smile spread across my face.
Just imagining Bellietta’s expression twisting in anger made me happy.
Bellietta…
She had always been the one taking things away from me.
This time…
It’s my turn.
I looked outside once more.
Then slowly closed my eyes.
Fortunately…
No monsters attacked us.
By the time we crossed the middle of the mountain, the rain had weakened, so we weren’t delayed too much.
When we entered Ripton’s territory after passing through the hills of Hermonia, a knight who had received our message came to greet us.
Following his guidance, we passed through Ripton’s city walls.
The moment we entered…
I couldn’t hide my surprise.
I immediately opened the carriage window and leaned outside to look at the city.
Then I frowned.
“Sir Ripert.”
“Yes, my lady?”
“Is this really Ripton?”
“Yes.”
“I’ve been here once before. It looks the same.”
The same?
This was Ripton?
The image I had built from all the rumors about its barren land completely shattered.
The city before my eyes looked like a large, clean, and prosperous city.
People looked cheerful.
Although the rain had closed some stores…
Many shops were still open.
Even the restaurants were busy.
“…This is Ripton?”
Wasn’t it supposed to be a ghost town?
Confused, I looked around before turning back to Ripert.
“It’s quite a lively city.”
“No matter what people say, they’ve spent one hundred and fifty years building a place where people can live.”
“Still, the land can’t grow grain, and the mountains isolate the region.”
“So it’s difficult to obtain many goods.”
“Merchant caravans rarely make it this far.”
I glanced at the wagons carrying our supplies and nodded.
“The castle you see ahead is where His Grace, the Grand Duke of Ripton, lives.”
It was enormous.
The castle rose far above the giant clock tower standing in the center of the city.
It was the largest castle I had ever seen.
Even larger than the Imperial Palace where the Emperor lived.
Dark clouds covered the sky.
Rain continued to fall.
The castle looked dark…
Almost like a fortress where a monster lived.
I swallowed nervously and nodded.
Leaning back in my seat, I reviewed what I planned to say to Aden Ripton.
Just then…
The carriage stopped.
Ripert knocked on the window before opening the door.
“My lady, we’ve arrived.”
I carefully stepped down.
A cool breeze brushed through my hair.
The fresh air cleared my mind after the long journey.
Then…
The enormous castle stood before me.
This was Lierg…
The famous castle known as the Heart of Ripton.
I had only seen it in illustrations before.
Seeing it with my own eyes felt completely different.
But I didn’t have time to admire it.
A man walked out of the castle.
He was a neatly dressed middle-aged man.
He approached us and bowed politely.
“Welcome. You must have had a difficult journey.”
“I apologize for arriving so suddenly.”
Even though I had sent a message ahead…
This visit was still unexpected.
Especially with such a large convoy.
Yet the man, who appeared to be the head butler, didn’t look surprised at all.
“It’s quite all right.”
“More importantly, it’s cold outside. Please come in. I’ll take you to His Grace.”
I nodded and followed him inside.
He had probably been ordered to greet me and bring me directly to Aden because His Grace wanted an explanation for all of this.
I quietly followed him into the castle.
Unlike the magnificent exterior…
The inside was surprisingly simple.
Despite the castle’s enormous size, there wasn’t a single painting hanging on the walls.
Not even a decorative vase.
A castle this large should have needed many servants.
Yet I could barely see any.
Were they all working somewhere else?
I looked around while following the head butler.
But even after reaching the office…
I still saw almost no servants.
There were far too few…
