Chapter 19
Count Moro’s bold statement immediately made Tepe and Gorgo’s faces turn cold.
“Count Moro.”
“Of course, everyone here knows that Your Grace is a hero worthy of admiration.”
As the count spoke, he looked around at the crowd.
Edward watched him without showing any emotion.
The count clearly enjoyed having everyone’s attention.
“Gasp!”
“H-How could you speak to our heroic Duke like that…?”
Even some of the nobles who said those words wore faint, mocking smiles behind their hands.
This scene was familiar to Edward.
‘It happens sometimes.’
A hero is not always loved by everyone.
The more admired someone is, the more people want to see them fall.
Others become determined to find even the smallest flaw.
Count Moro, whose face was full of jealousy, was clearly one of those people.
Besides, monsters rarely appeared at this checkpoint.
He probably believed Edward’s work was nothing special.
The count shook his head.
“But as the lord of this territory, I couldn’t possibly send my people somewhere so dangerous.”
While speaking so politely, he hid the irritation rising inside him.
‘Hmph. So what if he’s the Dragon Incarnation?’
He wasn’t particularly grateful that Edward had defeated the monsters.
After all, that was the Dragon Incarnation’s job.
What annoyed him was that Edward had dared give orders to his soldiers.
‘This is my territory, officially granted by His Majesty the Emperor!’
In truth, the count cared little about his land beyond the money the checkpoint brought in.
But opportunities to challenge Edward de Tesseron were rare.
‘My cousin was humiliated not long ago.’
“Haha! Your Grace! Thanks to you, our business has been thriving…”
“Business? You mean fraud.”
“What?!”
“Monster materials don’t cure baldness or grant eternal youth.”
“…”
“Go ahead. Keep talking if you want.”
His cousin had bought monster materials taken from creatures Edward defeated.
Then he sold them with fake stories attached.
Edward exposed him as a fraud, ruining both his reputation and business.
His cousin had even planned to share some of the profits with Edward.
Naturally, he felt terribly wronged.
Edward’s terrible personality was already famous.
Many nobles had suffered because of him.
‘Still… this is my chance for revenge!’
Using his cousin’s humiliation as an excuse, Count Moro wanted to defeat the famous hero, at least once.
“A silver mine? Even if it’s an abandoned mine now, how could I evacuate my people to such a dangerous place?”
“…”
“It’s narrow, and there’s only one exit. If the monsters caused the tunnels to collapse, everyone inside would die.”
Several nobles nodded after hearing the count’s reasoning.
“…That’s true.”
“Why would His Grace give such an order?”
Their reactions only made the count feel even more proud.
He patted his chest confidently.
“If we’re talking about evacuation, surely the academy or the Temple would be the proper choice.”
“…”
“They’re much larger, more comfortable, and it’s easier to care for everyone there.”
In other words…
He couldn’t obey Edward’s order.
The count smiled confidently.
Anyone would think his reasoning made perfect sense.
The nobles quietly whispered while looking back and forth between the two men.
Some even looked at the count with newfound respect.
“Was Count Moro always this intelligent?”
“It feels like he suddenly became much smarter…”
“Maybe his intelligence rubbed off from standing near our hero.”
Whether it was praise or an insult was hard to tell.
Still, the count grew even more confident.
“Of course, I understand that Your Grace is busy saving the world…”
“…”
“But surely this is just common sense.”
“…You just told His Grace…”
Tepe’s hand immediately gripped the handle of his sword.
Gorgo’s face also became stiff.
Just thenā
“C-Count! No… Your Grace! No… Count…!”
A soldier rushed into the inn’s courtyard, completely pale.
The count frowned.
“What is it? Can’t you see important people are talking?”
“T-The academy!”
“What about the academy?!”
“The academy we used as a shelter…”
“…”
“It collapsed!”
The nobles gasped.
“What?! How?!”
“It was fine earlier, but… the monsters must have cracked one of the support pillars during the attack…”
“…!”
“The rescue teams managed to save most people…”
“…But there were still casualties.”
“Impossible…”
“And many people left the shelter because they wanted to watch His Grace fight the monsters…”
“…So many of them were struck by the falling debris.”
Count Moro’s face instantly turned white.
Edward calmly spoke.
“Monsters have poor eyesight.”
“…”
“They dislike dark tunnels like those in mines.”
“…”
“But a huge building standing proudly in the middle of a city…”
“…”
“That’s something worth trampling.”
“…”
“If everyone had stayed underground…”
“…”
“They wouldn’t have come outside just to watch me.”
His voice remained calm.
He merely stated the facts.
That only made the count feel even more ashamed.
“So?”
“…”
“How does it feel…”
“…”
“…to have your precious citizens injured because of your decision?”
The count and the surrounding nobles all turned pale.
Thenā
“Take responsibility!”
A crowd of townspeople rushed into the inn’s courtyard.
Many had family members who had taken shelter in the academy.
They were so angry they no longer cared whether the people before them were nobles or heroes.
“You told us to evacuate!”
“The building collapsed!”
“What were you people doing?!”
“My son…”
“My son is crippled now…!”
“You insolent fools!”
The count ordered the soldiers to drive them away.
But many soldiers had family and friends among the crowd.
They hesitated.
Especially since…
This had been the count’s mistake.
Everyone quietly avoided helping him.
Then someone suddenly shoutedā
“It’s your fault!”
“…”
“If you had killed the monsters sooner…”
“Hey! Calm down!”
“…the academy would never have collapsed!”
The blame suddenly shifted toward Edward.
A middle-aged woman, crying for her injured son, glared at him.
Others hurried to stop her.
But some people looked at Edward with the same expression.
If only you’d arrived sooner.
You’re the Dragon Incarnation.
You’re supposed to protect us.
Tepe and Gorgo clenched their teeth again.
Edward simply looked at them calmly.
The innkeeper and several townspeople who still had their senses hurriedly restrained the woman.
“W-We are so sorry, Your Grace!”
“She isn’t thinking clearly!”
“Please show mercy!”
“O great hero!”
“O Dragon!”
“Please have mercy!”
Edward could clearly read the thoughts in their eyes.
Surely a great hero wouldn’t punish an ordinary woman who had lost control after her child was hurt.
Surely the Dragon Incarnation, who stayed in the human world because he loved humanity, would forgive something like this.
Several nobles, remembering Edward’s sharp tongue from earlier, secretly waited to see what he would do.
But Edward said nothing.
He wasn’t even angry.
‘How tiring.’
This scene had become painfully familiar.
He already knew why they blamed him instead of the count.
Most of them didn’t know he had originally ordered everyone to evacuate to the mine.
Besides…
Count Moro was the ruler they had to live under for the rest of their lives.
If they angered him, they could easily be driven out of his territory.
Edward, on the other hand, was a hero who constantly traveled across the continent wherever monsters appeared.
He often humiliated nobles…
But he had never harmed ordinary civilians or punished them without reason.
Blaming a hero who would soon leave was much easier.
“…”
Crunch.
Edward heard Tepe and Gorgo clench their fists.
Their faces were red with anger.
But Edward hardly cared.
The only thing on his mind was whether the little mouse he had left behind was sleeping well.
Thenā
“Did you leave your brain somewhere?!”
A small figure dressed in white suddenly came running toward the crowd, pointing angrily at them.
