Chapter 331: Bread and Dagger (29)
Chapter 331: Bread and Dagger (29)
The North was a barren wasteland, no matter where you looked.
At best, wheat was cultivated in the southern parts of Yurdina City. In most other places, people barely managed to harvest hardy subsistence crops.
Having been born and raised in a prosperous region, such a life was difficult for me to imagine.
My home was located in the eastern part of the continent. With its temperate climate and abundant rainfall, the East had long been famous as the continent's granary.
As long as they didn't serve a tyrannical lord, even the commoners didn't go hungry. The only concern was that, with such a large population, there were also many orphans.
Of course, as a noble of the East, I felt compassion for those orphans.
Even though the food situation in the East was stable, there wasn't enough surplus to feed every abandoned child. It meant I had no choice but to watch the suffering of countless children.
As a noble, it was something I ought to have been ashamed of.
However, after standing before the coniferous forests of the North, my narrow worldview had to undergo a significant revision. My long-standing worries weren't even considered a problem in the North.
This was because there were hardly any orphans in the North to begin with.
The reason was simple.
"They all die."
The soldier guiding me through the military camp tossed the words out as if they were a joke.
At that single sentence, my companions and I were forced into silence. We didn't know how to react.
Should we express sympathy and compassion, or should we just laugh it off?
The answer was neither.
A child who loses their parents dies.
In the North, this was a premise as natural as common sense, so there was no reason to say it with any particular intent. It wasn't even considered a special occurrence in the first place.
The soldier simply went on to describe life in the North with a calm demeanor.
"The North isn't densely populated. In other words, there's ownerless land everywhere. No one manages it. So, naturally, all sorts of dangers lurk there."
Only then did I understand the soldier's intent.
I felt like I knew what he was going to say next. So, I asked back cautiously, playing along.
"For example, demonic beasts or bandits?"
"Yes, and even Elves."
The soldier nodded with a bitter smile.
It meant my deduction was largely correct.
Including the enemy he specifically pointed out—the 'Elves'—there were far too many dangerous elements in the North. It was not a place where a child who had lost their guardian could survive alone.
Furthermore, there was a lack of food in the North.
So, orphans could never become a social problem.
They starved to death, froze to death, or were murdered.
This was a land where even the majority of children with parents died. Except for a few extremely lucky ones, most orphans were bound to lose their lives.
The soldier said that one could see the corpses of children quite often, especially on the frontlines.
It was then that a faint killing intent began to cloud his eyes.
"Usually, it's the work of the Elves. Those monsters don't distinguish between adults and children... When you live in the North, you learn to hate Elves before you even learn to read."
"Is it like that even in places that aren't the frontlines?"
"As I said, there is a lot of empty land in the North."
With that, the soldier paused for a moment.
Beyond the camp, the road led to the northernmost reaches of the North.
There lay a vast expanse of timber. A procession of tens of thousands of trees stood tall where even moss hesitated to take root.
In the entire continent, there were only two places with this many trees.
The Great Forest of the South and the coniferous forest of the North.
And since this was the North, there could only be one identity for this forest that overwhelmed my vision.
The coniferous forest. It was the final obstacle blocking the path to the permafrost.
Even these trees filling my sight were merely a tiny fraction of it.
"The northern forests hide many things. We cannot look into the forest; we only witness what emerges from it."
And the coniferous forest was far too vast to guard every inch of its boundary.
Even if tens of thousands of elite troops were mobilized, could this place be controlled without a single gap?
It was impossible.
Realizing this, a sigh escaped my lips.
"It's a place that's impossible to blockade from the start."
"It's not like we can just burn the whole forest down, either. If we did, the monsters dwelling inside would come pouring out all at once."
I gazed silently at the coniferous forest while listening to the soldier's explanation.
Avian must have escaped through the shadows of these trees as well.
She wouldn't have dared to let even her breathing falter. If she had, she would have been discovered by demonic beasts and risked a sudden, violent death.
It was a truly paradoxical story.
The soldier referred to both Elves and demonic beasts collectively as 'monsters,' yet one of those very monsters was afraid of the others.
In truth, he wasn't wrong. At least, not from the soldier's perspective.
Whether it was a demonic beast or an Elf, they were the same in that they threatened his life.
However, the impression I held, having spoken with Avian, was different.
Demonic beasts and Elves are different.
Demonic beasts cannot be reasoned with, but Elves can. And unlike demonic beasts, Elves did not express unconditional hostility toward all life.
That was why I felt even more pity.
The Elves of the coniferous forest must also be engaged in a fierce struggle for survival against the demonic beasts. Many of them surely died in the process.
Of course, it was nothing more than cheap sympathy.
The Elves were enemies of the Empire, and coexistence between humanity and Elves was no longer possible.
The aftermath of a war that had lasted for hundreds of years was too great.
Now, they would never be able to stop the hatred and murderous intent directed at each other.
So, I took care not to show even a faint hint of goodwill toward the Elves. I was standing before people who had already lost family or comrades to them.
There was no reason to invite their resentment for no reason.
Instead, I simply offered him a grateful handshake.
"Thank you for your hard work. I'll find my assigned tent on my own, so you may head back now. I'll see you again."
"It was an honor to meet Sir Ian, whose fame rings across the continent. Please, show those devilish Elves your skills..."
With that sincere request, the soldier departed.
He was merely someone sent to temporarily escort me. According to him, a formal vassal dispatched by the Yurdina family would arrive shortly.
There wasn't just one or two military camps surrounding the coniferous forest.
Dozens of camps each housed hundreds of soldiers. This was to control the forest efficiently, and the location of each camp was a secret.
Only the loyal vassals of the Yurdina family knew their locations.
However, I exceptionally needed the locations of every camp.
Not only was it impossible to determine exactly where information was being leaked, but I might also need to move between camps during the process of infiltrating the forest.
Thus, Senior Delphine had decided to dispatch a vassal specifically to assist me. Someone who had offered long-standing loyalty to the Yurdina family and had memorized the locations of all the camps.
It was lamentable that my mission required me to monitor and suspect even such a person.
After finishing my greetings with the key figures of the camp, I headed to my assigned tent.
Perhaps because Senior Delphine had notified the camp in advance, the inside of the tent was cozy and warm.
Even at a glance, the furnishings were of the highest quality.
Then again, weren't Senior Delphine and I in a relationship where we had spent a night of passion together?
Thinking back to our first meeting, it was a truly ridiculous twist of fate.
Back then, Senior Elsie had treated me as if I were Senior Delphine's 'paramour.'
It was to provoke Senior Delphine.
And I had used that as a pretext to launch a surprise attack on Senior Elsie, which became the starting point for the two of them and me becoming comrades who watched each other's backs.
That connection had continued and evolved until, eventually, I ended up sharing a bed with Senior Delphine.
In the end, Senior Elsie's 'prophecy' had come true.
Though, of course, the current Senior Elsie wouldn't want that in the slightest.
Suddenly, a question I had buried deep in my consciousness resurfaced.
Someone had witnessed the relationship between Senior Delphine and me.
But who on earth was it?
Before heading to the frontlines, I had carefully observed the expressions of my companions. Despite that, I had achieved almost nothing.
I had realized only one thing.
Though I didn't know the reason, everyone in the group except for Yuren seemed to have had a restless night.
The Saintess, Senior Elsie, and even the Princess and Emma were the same.
Even when I asked for the reason, no proper answer came back.
Most of them simply replied that they'd had bad dreams.
Emma, at least, gave a plausible reason.
"Well, you see... actually, it was my first time in such a luxurious bed. Ahaha..."
It was a confession made with her cheeks flushed bright red.
Seeing her like that, I resolved once again to place unconditional trust in Emma. I vowed several times that I would never again hurt her fragile heart.
So, excluding Emma, there were three women left.
The Saintess, Senior Elsie, and the Princess.
It was a bad lineup in that two of them weighed heavily on my mind. I had shared a suggestive atmosphere with the Saintess before, and hadn't Senior Elsie even confessed to me?
If I were caught by either of them, I had to be prepared for a total severance of our relationship.
At least it was a relief that Seria hadn't come to the North. If Seria had discovered my relationship with Senior Delphine, I would have actively considered suicide.
At the very least, I should keep my corpse intact, shouldn't I?
It was around the time I was agonizing and lost in thought.
"...Master?"
A girl poked her head in, abruptly pulling back the fabric covering the tent's entrance.
Actually, the term 'girl' was a bit of a misnomer. She was older than me, after all.
But seeing her small stature and lovely features, no one would hesitate to call her a 'girl.'
Senior Elsie.
Since one of the very people I had been worrying about had appeared, I stood up in surprise.
Until then, I had been leaning back in my chair to rest. Now that Senior Elsie had arrived, my short break was over.
I forced a smile to hide my anxious inner thoughts.
"Senior Elsie, what's the matter?"
However, there was no answer from Senior Elsie to my question.
She simply hesitated for a while before tentatively stepping into the tent.
My puzzled gaze fixed on her.
Regardless, she just rambled on with awkward excuses.
"Well, you see... right! The bedding in my tent is uncomfortable. That girl Delphine must have played a prank on my tent, right?"
"...?"
Senior Elsie had come all this way from a distant land to help Senior Delphine.
No matter how bad their relationship was, that seemed unlikely.
While tilting my head in confusion, I decided to take Senior Elsie's side for now.
"Is that so? Then I'll speak to the camp officials..."
"A-Ah! N-No need for that!"
Senior Elsie hurriedly stopped me.
I had no choice but to give up and stare blankly at her again. I couldn't fathom the reason why she had come to see me.
Senior Elsie's strange behavior continued.
With her cheeks flushed red, she daintily sat down on the bed intended for me. Then, glancing at me, she said:
"M-Maybe it's because I didn't sleep well? I'm so tired, I thought I'd borrow your bed for a bit..."
"Hmm," I grunted, scratching my cheek.
It wasn't an entirely unconvincing story.
The relationship between Senior Elsie and the Saintess couldn't be called good even as a polite lie. The Princess would be burdensome, and she'd probably refuse Emma because she's a commoner.
And even if Senior Elsie were okay with it, I would have declined on Emma's behalf. I could already picture the kind-hearted Emma being restless all day in front of Senior Elsie.
It might be better for her to take a short nap in my room instead.
Having reached a conclusion, I nodded readily.
"Go ahead then. I'll go out for a bit of scouting..."
"N-No need for that!"
Senior Elsie hurriedly stopped me again, fanning her bright red face with her hand.
At the same time, she was subtly attempting to shed her outer coat.
"Ah, it's hot, so hot... Is it because the heating is too strong?"
"This is the North. There's no way it would get hot just from running the heater in a tent..."
"N-Now that you mention it, you're right! It's actually so cold... Master, could you just warm up the spot next to me for a moment?"
Even while flustered, Senior Elsie was undoing the buttons of her coat one by one.
I could only look at her now with an expression of sheer disbelief.
"Wait, you just said it was cold..."
"If you're all bundled up when you sleep... it's, it's uncomfortable!"
No matter how dense I was, I had to realize it by this point.
Senior Elsie was trying to seduce me.
Wiping my face with both hands, I couldn't help but seize upon a sudden suspicion.
Did Senior Elsie see us?
Before I could even deal with the Elves, it seemed I had to deal with the women first.