The North Is Just Like That (1)
Aiden knew better than anyone that the First Prince was interested in him and the North—no, that he was actually quite fond of them.
The First Prince wanted Aiden to grow in stature. He desperately wanted Aiden to remain a hidden trump card, safe in a land that no one else paid any attention to.
'He doesn't openly coddle the North, but that actually makes it easier for me to move around.'
If the Prince had poured both wealth and manpower into the region all at once, it would have been great in the short term, but they would have been immediately spotted by the Second Prince’s faction. There was no benefit to being under the spotlight of the establishment just yet.
That didn't mean he hadn't done anything. The fact that Aiden and the North had swallowed Lontes whole without any major issues arising from the center proved this clearly.
Complex political issues, the backlash of the nobility, legal and administrative procedures—the fact that the First Prince had handled all of these headache-inducing, tedious processes was, for Aiden, a massive relief.
Because of this, his to-do list for next year had become very clear. He had built the foundation to grow the Northern economy, consumed Lontes, and expanded into other regions; now, it was time to start gathering the underdogs in earnest.
The underdogs, represented by the Cat-folk, Lapisha, and other wanderers, had been settling in the North for a while now, but it still wasn't enough.
'I should ask Lapisha to hurry up the migration of her companions.'
Since he had purged all the noble factions that existed in Lontes, there was no longer any need to worry about the eyes of other regions like before. The displaced peoples, demi-humans, and abandoned ability-users would all gather in the North. Lontes was no longer an obstacle blocking the North's development, but a rampart that would prevent the outside world from monitoring them.
Therefore, the days of absorbing people by the dozens while looking over his shoulder were over.
"Call in your companions and build up our strength. As I said, we must establish a system and succeed in standardization."
"What is the ultimate goal?" asked Kalisa, who could vaguely sense the blueprint in Aiden's mind.
"The Magic Tower."
"......."
It seemed his talk about the 'Witch's House' hadn't just been a joke.
The conversation with Kalisa became endlessly long. Aiden, for whom work was life, and Kalisa, who was just as obsessed with work—there was no way two workaholics plotting together to discuss the new catchphrase of the North would finish quickly.
The problem was that their conversation didn't take place in front of a crackling fireplace, but in the backyard of the North, where the northern winds howled.
It had already been several years since he settled in the North, but there was no way he could ever build up a tolerance to the endless, biting winter cold.
"Achoo!"
In the end, it meant Aiden had been laid low.
"I told you it would have been better to just wrap it up and come inside to continue the meeting. Ugh."
"...I'm the one who regrets it the most, so why don't you stop talking and bring me the files?"
"Your forehead is burning up, what files? If I bring those in, the Head Butler threatened that he’d just jump off the castle wall. I can't bring them to you."
"......"
After breaking his leg while trying to jog like a madman, the Head Butler had clutched his neck and nearly fainted, but Aiden had simply let it go in one ear and out the other, setting up his office in the bedroom. Even then, his leg bone had healed quickly, and since he was only immobile rather than physically drained, setting up 'Office 2' in his bedroom hadn't made much of a difference in his recovery.
However, this time was different.
According to Jamie, the Head Butler’s eyes while saying that were like those of a knight heading into a battlefield.
'There's no need to go that far...'
He thought it was overprotective, but there was one undeniable fact: the bed, where he could lie down without a single thought for the first time in a while, was truly sweet.
Still, Aiden believed that peace of mind was more important than physical comfort. After just two days, he was so restless that he couldn't stand it, and he eventually called Jamie up.
"Just bring me one thing, the most urgent one."
"Administrative Officer, you know this is an illness in itself, right?"
"If you throw me one, it'll reduce your workload too, so isn't that good?"
"Head Butler, what are you going to do if he really jumps off the castle wall? If you don't want to see the Head Butler's face, just suggest he resign, don't go around in circles like this."
"...Are you really going to come at me like that?"
"I’d help you if I could, but I’m being serious! I was body-searched before I came into this bedroom. They checked to see if I was hiding any files."
"......"
Jamie, Aiden’s right-hand man, whom even the knights couldn't treat lightly. The fact that even his clothes had been searched meant the Head Butler was putting his life on the line.
His bones had healed in an instant, so why on earth was this cold not getting better? Aiden felt annoyed at his own body's recovery rate, which he couldn't fathom.
"Then just talk for a bit before you go."
"If it's just that, sure."
Jamie pulled up a chair and sat by the bed without even trying to hide the expression that said, 'So our Administrative Officer is human too. He knows what it's like to be bored!'
"Right now, the restaurants in the shopping district are competing over spicy flavors. There’s even a rumor going around that you have to be able to eat spicy food to be a true Northerner. Every restaurant is promoting that their food is the spiciest, and ugh. Just passing by that area, the street is so full of spicy scents that outsiders are coughing, tearing up, and running noses—it’s total chaos. Also—."
"Not that."
Jamie looked like he was ready to spill every trivial rumor in the neighborhood if left alone. Aiden managed to calm his adjutant down and asked what he was truly curious about.
"How is Kalisa?"
"...Huh?"
At the mention of Kalisa, Jamie immediately narrowed his eyes like a flounder.
'This guy?'
Aiden, who had no desire to care whether they were dating or having children, let out a dry laugh at the way Jamie was bristling for no reason.
"I'm asking if she's doing the work I entrusted her with well."
"Ah. Hehe..."
"If you’d just confess and then act like this, I wouldn't say a word, ugh."
"I’ll do it soon. Really, soon."
"That’s for you to figure out. Is the work going well?"
"She seems to have found a site for the village. She seems to have planned the budget and the schedule so that construction can begin as soon as the weather warms up."
"And the companions?"
"The witches?"
"Yes."
"Quite a few have already arrived."
"......?"
Jamie scratched his head and said,
"Turns out, most of the people who were running the merchant group with Kalisa are actually witches."
At those words, familiar faces flashed through Aiden's mind. The merchants who had roamed the North with Kalisa. After Kalisa quit the merchant group and became an adjutant, the merchants who followed her were also appointed as officials by default. They were currently struggling with numbers in various places, including the Commercial Development Department, the trading post, and the post office.
But those former merchants...
"...Weren't most of them men?"
Weren't they witches?
"So this land is..."
"*Sniff!*"
"...I can't believe it, Miss!"
In a room at the newly built inn, a dozen or so people gathered, looking at the circled area on the map on the table, wiping away tears as if they were speechless.
"'Miss.' Please, I told you to stop using that cringeworthy title."
Kalisa sat at the head of the table.
"But did the Administrative Officer really accept us while knowing exactly what we are?"
"I can't believe it. I can't believe it..."
"Isn't this what we only dreamed of in our hearts while watching demi-humans like the Cat-folk and Groblins be incorporated as residents of the North?"
"But we are..."
The people gathered in the inn room were moved for a long time, but then their voices trailed off, perhaps feeling a sudden sense of anxiety.
Naturally, their true identities were witches. Since everyone except Kalisa was a man, 'Warlock' might have been the more accurate term if they were to name themselves based on gender ratios, but proper nouns aren't usually decided through such reasonable deliberation, so let's just move on.
Anyway, these were the people who had traveled the harsh environment of the North under the guise of merchants, desperately looking for a land where their brothers and sisters could live with Kalisa. In other words, they were people who knew better than anyone the power of those who hunted them.
"The Sun Church won't just sit still."
"Maybe the Magic Tower will step in, too."
"Our presence might become a burden to the North..."
Words that would have angered Aiden if he had heard them spilled out of the fugitives' mouths. Being weak doesn't necessarily mean being good. However, it is truly tear-jerking that those who are weak are so kind. Perhaps they had remained prey without ever being able to bare their teeth because they were always thinking of others even when they could barely handle their own situations.
"The Administrative Officer said one thing," Kalisa replied with a smile at her companions' worried questions.
"'If anyone causes trouble in the North, I’ll just hang them all on the castle wall.'"
It seemed her superior had become a Northerner to the bone.
"We have to assume the Sun Church has already discovered that we are in the North. So, it will actually be more helpful to be gathered together to prepare countermeasures."
"Hmm-."
"The only ones who have defined us as heretics are the Sun Church. We aren't branded by the Empire, nor are we on the continent's public wanted list, so we need to be a bit more shameless."
"...But I wonder if our neighbors will think so..."
A middle-aged man with completely white hair hesitated as he spoke.
"Accepting someone different from yourself is not an easy thing. Isn't that a fact everyone here knows?"
"The Elder is right about that."
"And if various problems arise because of us, it is obvious that their gazes will not be kind..."
It wasn't as if the witches gathered here hadn't tried to settle down before. They had attempted it several times, even if only for a short period. But whenever their true identities were revealed, the gazes of their neighbors would change, and they would always choose to return to a life of wandering.
Knock, knock.
"Dinner is ready!"
Unlike the room filled with heavy sighs, the cheerful voice of an employee announced dinner time.
"Let's eat dinner first and discuss it again."
They went down to the first-floor restaurant. On their reserved table, a sign was placed all by itself.
"Witch?"
"Yeah. They say Kalisa is a witch."
"Then do they fly around on broomsticks?"
"Isn't that a mage?"
"Then what is a witch?"
"According to Jamie, they do things like emotional sharing and foresight?"
"Whoa. That's cool."
"Sigh-. Should I go and ask them? When I’ll get married?"
"Do you need to ask that?"
"Huh?"
"Look at your face. Do you think marriage is even possible? Hahaha."
"Like there's a big difference between you and me!"
At the sound of the customers chatting as they passed by the sign, Kalisa and her group froze. Their minds went blank, too.
'...They say we're witches, is this the right reaction?'