Chapter 51

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 51

Chapter Title: The Dead Forest and the Fairy's Garden (8)

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Arsen furrowed his brow slightly.

"Lion?"

"That's this child's name."

Nice name, Arsen thought.

"Lion, huh."

Arsen pointed at Lion with a bone, then realized he was acting without decorum and set it down on the floor. Throughout it all, Roxiana stood without changing expression once.

Like a doll of a woman, Arsen thought as he spoke.

"Lion isn't growing."

"Does it really look that way to you?"

"You were aware of it, then. So why leave it be?"

"It eats well and plays well, so there don't seem to be any major health issues. I'm just watching for now."

"Doesn't it strike you as a major problem that it's not growing despite eating and playing well?"

"Seeing how sensitive you're being about it, Sir Chetek, I suppose it is a major problem."

Arsen wasn't fool enough to miss that she was gently pointing out his attitude, so he clamped his mouth shut, displeasure plain on his face. Roxiana met his gaze steadily and spoke calmly.

"Everyone's busy with all sorts of issues, and I couldn't burden them with my worries too, so I've been waiting a bit. Besides, this child doesn't take to just anyone, so it hasn't been easy to call in someone to examine it on a whim."

For some reason, looking straight into her eyes made Arsen uncomfortable, so he dropped his gaze—only to lock eyes with Lion. The creature, which had been nestled innocently in Roxiana's arms like the gentlest lamb, wrinkled its nose the moment it met Arsen's gaze.

Seeing its attitude, Arsen could believe it wouldn't be easy to take it to an animal healer.

"I've been too rude. My apologies."

Roxiana dipped her head slightly at Arsen's frank apology.

"Yes, understood. I'll accept your apology."

Most people would say, "It's fine," but this was the first woman to display such an attitude of "You were wrong, but I'll graciously accept your apology anyway." Arsen was flustered. At the same time, irritation welled up at his own rashness in apologizing to someone branded as a slave.

"That said, Sir Chetek, I have one question."

Roxiana was a strange woman, but there was nothing to fault in her words or actions. She seemed to grasp her own position well despite receiving the Grand Duke's interest and favor, and Arsen didn't dislike people who acted in accordance with their station.

"What is it?"

"Where is the forest that was burned in the recent Magical Beast subjugation? And how large an area was damaged?"

Arsen narrowed his brow at the unexpected question.

"Why do you want to know that?"

"Because I'm going to try reviving it."

"......More nonsense."

"You called it nonsense, sir, but I healed the patients. Don't you remember?"

Unable to retort with words catching in his throat, Arsen watched as Roxiana took a step closer.

"How about betting that this nonsense won't end as just nonsense either?"

Her voice was soft and thin, yet it carried a strange power. Sweet like a witch's whisper, it caressed his ear and burrowed deep, shaking his brain.

For a moment, Arsen was seized by the thought that Roxiana might actually be able to do it.

"I'll ask the liege and see if he permits it......"

"Keep it secret from His Grace the Grand Duke."

Those words doused Arsen like cold water, snapping him back to his senses.

"You have ulterior motives. What are you planning?"

"Ulterior motives? I just want to repay His Grace the Grand Duke, who saved me and has treated me well. But he treats me like fragile glass that could shatter at any moment. He won't let me do anything. You're different, though, Sir Chetek. You'll let me do it once you know I can—for Torkan's sake."

Deep wrinkles formed between Arsen's brows. Looking down into her green eyes, devoid of deceit or resentment, he recalled what had happened after she healed the patients.

Roxiana had healed them all, but she herself stood in the middle of the treatment room looking half-dead. Her pallid skin and blue lips didn't seem due to mere exhaustion.

No one said it, but everyone knew.

She had shaved away her own life force to save her patients.

"Just because I view you unfavorably doesn't mean I want you dead."

Arsen immediately grasped the implication in her words, "You're different, Sir Chetek." Roxiana was saying, "Unlike the Grand Duke, who worries I'll die, you don't care if I live or die."

If so, she had badly misjudged him. Arsen didn't want her to die.

"Your very existence is a threat to Torkan. If Gania learns you're here, the crown prince—who's dying to get his hands on my liege—won't sit idle. If he tries to kill you, we'll have to fight to protect you, the one our liege decided to save. Do you understand what that means?"

Roxiana's eyes wavered. Watching the ripple in them, Arsen thought they looked like trees swaying in the wind deep within a forest.

"I won't stand by and watch you die. So."

Arsen hesitated a moment before continuing.

"If you're looking for a place to die, leave Torkan and do it elsewhere. Death won't reach you here."

"I'm not trying to die!"

"You nearly did. You almost died just purging contamination from a handful of patients, and now you want to revive that forest? Doesn't that mean staking your life? My liege doesn't like the lives he saved leaping into fires to repay favors, so let's end this conversation here."

Arsen brushed past Roxiana as if he wanted no more talk. Only after he left did Lion slip from her arms and snatch up the bone on the floor in its mouth.

Roxiana crouched beside Lion, watching it, then said,

"Everyone's just as stubborn as His Grace, aren't they?"

Time flew by, and February was already upon them.

The cold winds gradually warmed, and the time spent lighting fireplaces dwindled.

In Torkan's capital, Selsar City, a settlement had been prepared for the disaster victims, who were each striving to adapt to new lives. But with insufficient jobs for them yet, the national treasury was steadily emptying to support them.

The early morning meeting room gathered officials from each department. They all reported the current situation to the Grand Duke with worried expressions.

"Your Grace, this year's finances are dire. We may need to cut security expenses."

Security Minister Conrad quickly rebutted Finance Minister Milro's words.

"Cutting security funds is out of the question. The rift in northern Torkan remains active, requiring constant knight deployments. No one wants to fight Magical Beasts, and skimping on rewards will only breed discontent."

Unlike other nations training knights to protect their lords, Torkan's knights trained solely to battle Magical Beasts—and rifts still dotted the land abandoned due to them.

Floyd rubbed the bridge of his nose with his thumb.

"What about the road construction?"

"Preparations are underway, but surveying alone takes considerable time. It'll be at least another month before it's done."

"Assign more surveyors to finish faster. Weather's warming, so launch more fishing boats too."

"But seafood exports aren't booming yet......"

"Dry and sell it anyway. We'll figure out buyers somehow—make it happen. Farm work should start soon too, no?"

"Some places have begun, but laborers are overflowing there......"

Villages that once lived off the forests had suffered greatly, flooding the city with nearly a thousand refugees at once. Problems arising in various sectors was only natural.

Especially the urgent issue of jobs.

They needed to create work fitting people who'd lost their lifelong trades. For now, the treasury fed them, but that couldn't last forever.

"Any requests for Magical Beast subjugations?"

Floyd decided to tackle the most pressing issues first. The treasury had emptied funding settlements and living stipends for the refugees.

Arsen answered.

"One from Hoben Archipelago."

Floyd recalled how Roxiana had nearly been sold to Hoben Archipelago.

"Skip that one."

"Enilta Kingdom has a request too. A rift near Alkena City has reactivated, spewing Magical Beasts."

"Why not ask the Empire?"

"The Empire sent holy knights to Gania, so no troops available—they're told to wait."

Floyd twisted the corner of his mouth upward.

"So the Empire's backing Gania. Once Kanta's Magical Beasts are cleared, Lucas's nose will be sky-high."

Milro hastened to add,

"With access to Kanta's fertile lands and resources, Gania will grow richer. Especially the vast coal reserves in southern Kanta's mines. As coal use spreads, developing those and exporting it will fill Gania's coffers."

Floyd, listening with a bored expression, waved him off.

"Whatever—let them be. We solve our own problems. I'll depart for Enilta next week, so ready the troops. Bring the Eagles and Spiders."