Chapter 8
Meanwhile, at the Ardena Duke’s residence.
On the third day after Rosana left with the expedition, Duke Ardena returned to the estate.
During those days, the Duke had surrounded himself only with people who suited him, staying drugged and drowning himself in pleasure.
The head butler bowed his head in front of Duke Ardena, who had returned with an exhausted expression.
“Your Grace, welcome back.”
The door to the Duke’s study opened for the first time in three days.
The butler stared at the Duke’s back and nervously bit his lip, unable to hide his anxiety.
“What is this?!”
The Duke’s roar echoed throughout the entire mansion.
It had been three days since the safe in his study had been brutally broken open.
Now, the Duke’s anger was about to fall upon the Ardena household for having covered it up and pretended not to know.
“Head Butler! Where are you?! Gather all these damn people! Find out who did this right now!!”
The head butler squeezed his eyes shut.
It was not only the safe in the study that had been robbed.
The drugged Duke’s sanity had also completely fallen apart.
His face was flushed red, his pupils were unnaturally dilated, and the smell of drugs came from his disheveled hair.
“Head Butler!”
The head butler, who had been grabbed by the collar, bowed his head.
“It was you, wasn’t it?! How dare you touch my safe!”
The Duke asked with burning eyes.
Only the Duke and the head butler knew the safe’s password.
Looking at the miserable safe, crushed and twisted open with everything inside exposed, the Duke completely lost his reason.
“I-I would never! Your Grace, I have served you faithfully for thirty years! Your Grace, please believe me! How could I ever dare to do such a thing?!”
The butler fell to his knees.
“Call the captain of the guards immediately! Seal off the mansion and investigate every single person!”
The head butler, who had been sprawled on the floor, hurriedly got up and ran out.
His desperate voice calling for the captain of the Ardena household’s guards echoed throughout the mansion.
The Duke opened his eyes wide and began checking every room.
His bedroom, the reception room, and even the dressing room.
The jewelry that should have been in the dressing room was all gone as well.
“AAAAAH!”
They were treasures Duke Ardena had cherished throughout his entire life.
Duke Ardena believed that only extravagant luxuries could show the dignity and status of the Duke’s family.
All of the pride he had believed in was gone.
Duke Ardena could not shake off the feeling that he had been stripped completely naked.
“Rosana! Where is that damned girl?!”
The Duke shouted in a fit of rage.
Duke Ardena believed that every misfortune that happened to him had originated from Rosana.
He believed that his wife had died because of Rosana, and that darkness had fallen over House Ardena after that.
“L-Lady Rosana has already left, Your Grace. She joined the expedition…”
“Hah!”
Duke Ardena ground his teeth.
He could feel every muscle in his body tightening.
There was no one for him to vent his anger on.
Rosana, who had always received his anger and violence, had already left for the expedition.
The Duke asked in a gloomy voice.
“Gather everyone. Don’t leave out even a single ant.”
The Duke had been unable to properly vent his anger, and murderous intent glimmered in his eyes.
The Duke’s orders spread throughout the entire mansion.
Before long, the spacious lobby was filled with people.
Duke Ardena coldly looked over them.
Every single one of them had terrified faces.
“Who did it? Who dared to touch Ardena’s property?”
Everyone held their breath.
But no one stepped forward.
“Fine. Search everything! Turn every room upside down! Whoever is caught will not escape death! I will cut off the head of whoever dared to bring shame upon Ardena and put it on display!”
A massive search began.
The servants’ rooms, the stables, the storage rooms, and even the dirt in the garden were dug up.
Of course, even after all that, the culprit was not found.
Not a single one of the missing treasures was recovered either.
Duke Ardena sent people throughout the markets, and it was another week before they discovered what had happened to the jewels he had been desperately searching for.
They had entered circulation through the black market.
Those who tried to trace their source to the very end always met an unpleasant fate.
And so, Duke Ardena lost his chance to ever recover his treasures.
The screams of Duke Ardena occupied the capital for quite some time.
Of course, not even the slightest bit of those screams reached Rosana’s ears as she headed north.
And at that time.
We diligently continued moving north toward our first destination, Greystone.
Every day, we marched from early dawn until sunset, set up camp, and then set off again at dawn the next day.
Now, according to our assigned groups, we also took turns standing guard every night.
At first, even the young noblewomen and children who complained that they could not walk anymore and begged to be sent home gradually became quieter.
Their tears dried up, and they closed their mouths as if accepting reality.
The combat personnel and non-combat personnel were clearly divided.
The combat personnel continued training, preparing for the struggle to survive, while the non-combat personnel were left to themselves.
Actually, I could understand Kael’s choice.
There was a limit to how many soldiers could be trained with limited time, limited manpower, and limited resources.
To fight monsters, they needed people with excellent skills.
It made more sense to invest heavily in those people to increase their chances of victory.
I couldn’t help but sigh.
“Tsk.”
I could understand Kael’s feelings too…
How on earth was he supposed to fight monsters while taking people like these along?
It’s already impressive that he hasn’t abandoned them and left.
There was only one reason Kael could not abandon them.
They had also come here as representatives of their respective families.
They were people who had the duty to prove and leave a record that they had stayed with the expedition on behalf of their families until the expedition ended, or until the moment they lost their lives.
If they were removed from the expedition without fulfilling that duty, their families would be branded as traitors.
That was not something the representatives of those families wanted.
Most of the people here had probably received money in exchange for taking their place.
If they were abandoned or gave up, their precious families or loved ones might be killed, or they might have to pay an even greater price.
Kael knew that as well, which was why he was trying somehow to lead them forward.
It was such a frustrating part of the novel.
And it’s just as frustrating seeing it in person.
And I was also one of those “useless non-combat personnel.”
I had been doing small exercises to recover my combat senses along the way, but I did not think they would fully return until I actually entered real combat.
At least one thing was fortunate.
My strength wasn’t as terrible as it had been when I first possessed Rosana’s body.
Recently, I had found myself a training partner who would stay with me.
“Vanessa! Get up! We need to exercise before we leave!”
Vanessa groaned from inside her issued sleeping bag.
“Ugh… Rosana… Can’t I rest just for today…?”
“You said that yesterday too.”
“…I couldn’t rest yesterday either. You wouldn’t let me rest, Rosana.”
Vanessa raised her head with tears in her eyes.
This young lady, who had been crying nonstop since the beginning of the expedition, had one fatal problem.
She didn’t know how to run.
Just like most noble ladies.
She considered walking for thirty minutes a day to be a lot of exercise.
For people like them, whose only real exercise had been taking tiny steps in small, uncomfortable shoes, marching dozens of kilometers was extremely difficult.
They were no different from Rosana’s body when I first possessed it.
So of course this march felt like hell to her.
There had been many times when I had practically dragged her along because she could barely walk.
“I really… feel like I’m going to die just from walking all day… My feet are covered in blisters…”
“That’s why you need to exercise more. Do you want to be torn apart by monster teeth? You need to at least know how to run away, Vanessa.”
I lightly pulled on the sleeping bag, and Vanessa got up while trembling.
“I’m more afraid of Rosana now than I am of monster teeth…”
That’s only because you haven’t met a monster yet.
Thanks to the fact that we still hadn’t encountered any monsters, some of the people in our group had even begun to think that monsters were just a fantasy.
It’s just denial. Nothing more.
