Chapter 13
The Male Lead Went Crazy for the Troublesome Villainess — Episode 13
It was one of the countless thorny paths laid out before Kael. Seeing it like this, his life really was pitiful. How could every single one of them be so useless?
"If that isn't coercion, then what is it? If it isn't violence, what else could you call it? Can you behave like that and still hold your heads high before your own descendants? You threw other people's lives to monsters and made money off it—does food bought with that money really go down so easily?"
The merchants bit their lips. I could see them take a step back under the pressure of my tirade.
"If you can't even face your own descendants after this, you shouldn't act so brazen. If the expedition knights eat this, get sick, and the expedition fails, your names will go down in history. Don't worry. I'll make sure to put every one of your names in my will!"
At my relentless barrage, the merchants' faces went pale. Ordinary merchants like these had to be handled differently from the people I dealt with in the black market. Why were they all so utterly shameless?
But I wasn't done yet.
"And actually, if it weren't for us, you wouldn't have anyone else to sell to."
The merchants flinched at that. According to the original novel, the number of people traveling to Greystone had been steadily dwindling, and the merchants in the village were withering away. That was why they had resorted to price gouging.
"For years now, the number of people coming and going must have kept shrinking. So you couldn't move that stock. And that's why you're trying to dump it on us, isn't it?"
Even clearance stock should be sold at a discount, you shameless bastards! I grinned at their ashen faces.
"I'll set the price. If you don't accept it—"
I shrugged and added,
"—then I won't buy anything. We'll detour to another village. That'll cost us less."
I opened my mouth to press them further, but the other side raised the white flag first.
"......What do you want?"
* * *
Kael took in the sight of Rosana, who had far surpassed his expectations.
"......Is that really a negotiation? To my eyes, it looks like a threat."
Millus said with a stunned expression. The villain was clearly on the other side, yet some strange magic made Rosana look like the villain.
Kael's lips curved upward. What did it matter one way or the other?
What mattered was that, in the current situation, there was no one who could produce a better result than Rosana.
"If you can carry out the task in place of Lady Rosana, I won't stop you. I want to buy proper food for my knights and pay a proper price for it."
At those words, Millus shut his mouth. Rosana was already paying for the goods at a reasonable price. Register had somehow moved to Rosana's side and was practically wagging his tail as he did exactly what she told him.
The merchants, swayed by Rosana's words, began pulling out the good items they had hidden away, one by one. Thanks to that, the expedition was able to secure proper supplies.
Kael and his close aides were mostly knights of noble birth. It wasn't that they didn't understand the importance of supplies, but they weren't accustomed to personally identifying sprouted potatoes or old flour.
Normally, a supply officer would procure goods from designated vendors, and the knights would simply receive the report and decide on the items and quantities.
But this time, circumstances were different. The village merchants had taken advantage of the expedition's urgent situation to jack up prices outrageously, and they had hidden away the quality goods while putting out only shabby items. In the end, even Kael and the knights had to come out to the market themselves and inspect the goods.
They weren't used to haggling with local merchants and selecting supplies one by one, either.
Rosana had rescued them from being swindled. It was only natural that the way people looked at her had changed.
"Your Highness. I have completed the assigned task."
Rosana smiled awkwardly as she spoke to Kael.
"Well done."
Kael praised Rosana sincerely.
"Then, about that matter of my leaving—"
"I never saw you in Rainford."
"Thank you."
"In exchange."
Rosana stared at Kael, puzzled. Kael himself hadn't expected to add a condition like this. But capable people were in such short supply that he couldn't simply let Rosana go.
Kael had a strong premonition that he would need Rosana's help going forward.
Just from the way she'd drawn the non-combat personnel into training, she clearly had an unusual knack for mobilizing people.
Kael had begun to distinguish the Rosana he knew in the past from the Rosana standing before him now.
"I would like for you to stay by my side."
At those words, Rosana's face slowly went pale. It was a reaction clear enough to make Kael frown.
"......By your side...... do you mean...... perhaps...... sh-sharing a b-bed......?"
Kael, rather, was the one left speechless by her thoroughly modern, media-soaked remark. He gritted his teeth and raised his voice, red all the way to his cheekbones.
"Absolutely not! I simply value your abilities highly! I only made the offer because I thought you could help lead the expedition!"
His subordinates all turned to stare when Kael, who rarely raised his voice, suddenly did so. Kael roughly swept his hair back. Rosana apparently had yet another peculiar talent.
"Ah, so that's what you meant."
Indeed, acquiring a capable subordinate was difficult. Kael let out a sigh.
"......Hah. Will you help me?"
"How much will you give me?"
Rosana asked with a bright smile. Kael frowned, wondering if he had misheard.
"What did you just say?"
"Annual salary. Hmm, monthly pay? Wages? I don't know how you say it here. Anyway, when you work, you need compensation, don't you?"
"......How can you say such a thing in times like these? This world may be doomed."
Kael asked, sounding genuinely baffled. Rosana opened her eyes wide and replied.
"The expedition will definitely succeed. And we will return home."
Kael was the one left speechless by how matter-of-factly Rosana said it.
She wore a clear-eyed expression without the slightest hint of doubt. What could he possibly say in the face of that?
For a while, Kael couldn't recover from the ripples her words sent through him.
Rosana was poison, in a different sense.
* * *
'Do you truly believe that we have hope?'
'It's not a matter of believing. We are the hope.'
'......It would just be false hope.'
'Isn't having no hope at all even more futile and empty, Your Highness? And we will definitely succeed. I think you need to believe in yourself a little more.'
It had been a very short conversation, and an absurd one at that. Believe in himself? Even Kael couldn't guarantee how things would turn out. When he didn't even know whether they would make it out of monster-overrun Greystone alive, Rosana was far too hopeful and optimistic.
Believe in himself, she said.
Kael rubbed his face.
Would it be strange if the words he'd heard from Rosana—that faith without a single trace of doubt—felt more reassuring than burdensome?
No one had ever said such a thing to him.
Even the emperor, who had pushed him into forming the expedition, had been predicting failure.
'If that happens, kill as many monsters as you can and return.'
No one had believed in Kael. This was when he realized that while excessive faith could be a burden, excessive worry and distrust could dishearten a person too.