Chapter 12
Chapter 12
As I closed my eyes and leaned back against the chair, one of the maids spoke uneasily.
"Um, my lady. The situation must be serious, right? Will food really become scarce?"
So she had only just realized it.
"Yes, somewhat."
When I nodded, another maid cut in, her eyes sparkling.
"But we have horses too, don't we! The horses the knights brought with them!"
In fact, Alpheus's knights had brought along a number of horses.
"We thought they were completely useless, but we should sell them quickly. If we buy a dairy cow as Lady Dalia said, we can get milk, and......"
"Absolutely not."
I cut her off sharply.
If Dalia's boasting was true, Hawin was plainly going to ruin itself over dairy cows.......
"But it's true that we do need more food."
I finished the thought and opened my eyes. Then I spoke resolutely.
"We need to prepare to take back Jejel Street. Let's go."
"What? Are you going to the potato field again?"
"No."
Unexpectedly, Philip was already familiar with potato farming. So it seemed that field could now be left to the Potato Squad.
"I'm going to Erenta."
The beautiful riverside village that my uncle had so coveted.
"So you'd just scrape by for a month eating little fish?"
Fish weren't the only things in the river that could be eaten.
To move beyond simple hunting and gathering, there was a great deal to prepare in advance.
"I need to take a few knights who are quick with their hands. Let's stop by the training grounds first."
* * *
And so I spent the whole afternoon by the riverside at Erenta.
I had given the knights several instructions and was on my way back to the marquess's residence.
"Ahem, ahem."
An old man in shabby clothes was sitting with a fishing rod cast into the river.
"Why aren't the fish biting? It's already been hours......."
He was clearly talking to himself for someone else to hear.
"Goodness, how can I not catch a single one......."
His empty bucket was even filthy.
The maids recoiled in disgust and stepped backward.
I stopped walking and answered him.
"Not catching a single fish is a little strange."
"It certainly is, isn't it? Oh my, you must be a young lady from a noble house."
The old man replied, brightening.
I tilted my head and asked.
"Could it be that your bait has Pojion Grass mixed in?"
"Pojion Grass? What's that? I know Jion Grass."
"Ah, it's the same as Jion Grass. Fish absolutely hate it. Everything except Marang Fish hates it."
The maids following behind me frowned. They disapproved of me exchanging words with such a filthy old commoner.
But inwardly, I smiled.
'This man is Baron Forman.'
First, no local of this region would fish this way in this season.
Second, with my cold expression and haughty gait, I looked like the typical arrogant young noblewoman. I did not look like someone an old commoner would find easy to approach.
Third, after grasping that something was off, I had immediately cast out bait.
"The 'po' sound needs to be drawn out a little longer. Proper nouns from the western region are pronounced a bit more like the ancient language."
There was no such thing as Pojion Grass. As this old man had said, "Jion Grass" was the correct name.
I had simply wanted to hear the "po" sound that came out of the old man's mouth.
'He tried to hide it, but that's clearly a western pronunciation.'
An old man from the west who had approached me while skillfully concealing his identity.
It had to be Baron Forman, who was adept at intelligence work.
"Ah...... I didn't know that much. Thank you for telling me."
The corners of the old man's eyes curved slightly.
It suddenly struck me that his eyes looked a little like Leopold's.
Baron Forman asked another question.
"But who might you be, young lady?"
Before I could answer, the maids stepped in.
"Stand up and greet her at once! This is Lady Brisa of House Sears!"
"Will you not quickly apologize for your rudeness? Be grateful for my lady's mercy!"
"However lowborn you are, how can you be so ignorant of manners?"
The rebuke was like a blast of frost.
Baron Forman's eyes went wide, and he hastily rose and bowed his head.
"I-I offer my greetings!"
"Bend lower!"
At the maid's scolding, Baron Forman bowed even lower.
"I'm Oliver Hanson. I came to stay with a nephew who lives over toward Jejel Street!"
With his eyes darting around as he groveled, he looked every inch the country old man.
Watching him, I thought.
'Right...... everyone is struggling to make a living.'
He was working hard to play a commoner in order to hide his identity. He probably already knew who I was.
I admired that noble effort.
'To make a living, he even bows his head to a child more than half a century younger than him.......'
I looked at him with pitying eyes. I meant it.
* * *
'Those maids from Liente really do seem mad.'
Baron Forman sighed inwardly.
He was an intelligence agent for the Grand Duke of Nozen. Though he had retired several years ago.
'It's been far too long since I've done this sort of thing. At least I wasn't found out.......'
When had he last disguised himself as a commoner?
Still, deceiving one young lady he had never seen before was no trouble at all.
Of course, that wasn't the problem. From the way the situation was developing, he seemed to be stranded in the central region. He had only meant to stay for about three days and then return!
'No, at my age, what kind of hardship is this!'
Baron Forman was frustrated. He truly had not expected to fall into this sort of difficulty.
"Aren't you bored? Why not take a trip and have a look around."
Not long before, Hilbury, the Grand Duke of Nozen and his in-law, had summoned him.
Baron Forman answered in the western noble style.
"Heh heh, serving as Your Highness's eyes is always my humble pleasure, but I am far too old......."
At most, he meant that he was willing to go look at something; he absolutely would not get involved in anything like a Monster Wave.
Hilbury laughed heartily and said.
"What if it's a matter of going to see a candidate for grand duchess? Leopold sent that girl a bouquet in secret not long ago."
And so Leopold's secret became known even to his maternal grandfather.
In any case, Leopold's match, was it.
Leopold was the heir of House Nozen, but to Baron Forman he was also a beloved maternal grandson whom he doted on completely.
That boy had done something behind his paternal grandfather's back? He had been caught, of course, but.......
His interest was piqued at once.
"In that case, I shall go and see first, even if only with my foolish eyes. Who in the world is it?"
Hilbury raised his eyebrows for a moment, then answered in a low voice.
"Brisa Sears. The young lady of...... House Sears."
No longer the heir of Sears, but an ordinary marquess's daughter.
Baron Forman was silent for a moment, then answered immediately.
"I shall depart at once."
And so Baron Forman took a Warp in high spirits.
The central region was an area where monsters rarely appeared, so he did not even bring attendants.
As befitted a former intelligence agent, Baron Forman grasped the entire situation as soon as he arrived in the central region.
He was just about to take a Warp back west to report that there still seemed to be nothing of note.
"Blaaargh! Blaaaaaargh!"
Everyone who took the Warp emerged vomiting.
When he asked the administrator, he was told that the Warp was currently far too unstable for the elderly and infirm to use. The Magic Tower was even discussing shutting the Warp down for now.
Word spread quickly that Monster Wave phenomena had appeared not only in the west but throughout the empire.
Mountains lay between the central region and the surrounding territories, and monsters had begun appearing along those boundaries.
The first problem had arisen with food procurement.
'The central region hasn't had monsters until now, so its distribution network is well developed, but it doesn't produce much grain. In other words, it can't easily support itself!'
That was how Baron Forman had become stranded in the central region.