Chapter 44

The sun, which had taken the middle sky, slowly lowered its head toward the ground.

In the meantime, the crowds filling the entrance to the Vecchia Plain did not decrease but increased.

Vera got worried and stomped her feet.

No matter how incomparable to the eastern plains, plains are plains.

A dry land with open wounds stretching out endlessly as if the roots of the huge world tree that supports the world had been torn away.

The water-colored birds that flew over the distant horizon showed no sign of returning.

“What should be done after the water veins are found?”

“We have to put up a big flag that can be a landmark, and then dig the ground with workers.”

Jonathan replied.

He was worried that one of the processes that should have been preceded for that purpose is not being implemented properly.

“Someone should let the people disperse and organize the situation already, but why is everyone still standing still?”

There was no way of knowing exactly where in the plain the water veins would be found, or how many hours it would take to dig up.

However, once the 2nd Empress showed up, she inspired everyone to the fullest, making them feel like they were dreaming.

Then, she let them go back just like that.

It wouldn’t be a problem at all since they could visit and see the marks of the water veins later, or hold a festival to celebrate the day when the water rushes up.

The Duke’s family, which can be said to be the organizer of today’s event, was watching the expectations of the people and arousing their excitement.

Just like putting air into a leather bag and inflating it. Eventually, the bag will not be able to bear it and explode.

No matter how hard it is, it will happen.

Jonathan tried to evoke his mind by slapping his cheeks with both hands.

Inside the Duke’s carriage, completely separated from the atmosphere outside.

At first, the intense and shocking sight that the 2nd Empress had shown made his heart tremble for a moment.

“Tsk.”

Duke Verdin, who quickly regained his senses, clicked his tongue because of the appearance of his second son, who was seen out of the window.

He said to the first daughter-in-law sitting quietly across from him.

“You did a pretty good job this time.”

“Thank you, Father. However…”

“Yes, I did it.”

“Ah.”

“It is best to make the situation favorable to us, it is best to coordinate the timing. Since we have something that we can use, there is no reason not to use it.”

Anne was not mistaken about the familiar faces that she saw between the common people.

Duke Verdin looked up at the other side of the sky through the window.

“It’s time to stop going back.”

The Duke’s carriage moved as the signal.

As soon as the Duke’s carriage turned, all the other nobles followed him…

The people had to accept that today’s event ended in vain.

For those who were accustomed to being deceived, it may not be difficult.

It’s just that the Duke didn’t want to leave it just like that.

This was because he hoped today’s event will become a stain that will dirty the name of the 2nd Empress.

Then, wouldn’t he be able to ask for the price to erase it?

The Duke was particularly curious as to how she had seduced William of the Western Tower, and what else she had.

As the Duke opened the window slightly and pushed his hand out and flicked his fingertips, the waiting knight of the Duke family approached the driver and gave instructions.

Soon, the carriage jerked lightly and began to move slowly.

Elisha stood alone in the depths of the plain.

She heard the carriage wheels scraping the floor behind her, but didn’t turn around.

Only after the carriage approached her side, the window opened, and the Duke showed his face, did she turn her gaze.

“Your Majesty, why don’t we end this here and leave? Even if the Duke’s Castle is not far away, as the sun goes down, it will be too dangerous to scramble through the darkness with a party of this size mixed with local residents.”

“…”

“There is no way that it will be easy here even if you have done it in Barossa. Don’t be too heartbroken, Your Majesty.”

Elisha opened her mouth, fearing that the Duke would continue to annoy her if she left it like that.

“I’m fine. You can go back first.”

“But-”

Elisha shook her head and cut off the Duke’s words.

If she hadn’t allowed it, he would have said he had no choice but to go because he wasn’t feeling well.

“Without Sir Rohan, I would never have left the 2nd Empress alone, but now that he is there, what do I have to worry about? I will go first, trusting that Your Majesty will follow me soon.”

The Duke said, while stroking his wrinkled lips with his hand to hide his laughter.

The Duke, who had left the responsibility coolly, thought that it was not bad to leave a direct lineage to add to the cause, and left Jonathan to entrust the subsequent work.

As the Duke’s carriage left the entrance to the Vecchia Plain, the other nobles also gave Elisha their own excuses and followed the Duke.

In an instant, at the beginning of the plain, only a huge number of local residents and Elisha and her party were left alone.

“What’s going on? The aristocrats are all pulling their butt out?”

“It will get dark in a little while if they don’t go. Do you think they’d like to spend the night here? Look around. If a crowd of this size were to leave at once, the carriages would be immobile because of the madness.”

How can those noble people be waiting for that?

They’d rather smash the head of one or two commoners with their carriage wheels.

If they split up, it won’t be called a party.

If even one wheel is broken because of a riot, it’s going to be difficult to fix it in a remote place like this.

Therefore, it looked like the nobles pulled out the carriage first before things got complicated.

“Will the 2nd Empress leave now?”

Since the people had been standing under the scorching sun for a long time, complaints started to pop out of their tired minds.

“Even though there hasn’t been any result of the water veins?”

“What does it matter? If the nobles want to do something, they just do it.”

A man who seemed inconspicuous, shrugged and responded.

Then he exhaled exaggeratedly.

“Whew. We’ve waited this long and it’s futile. We’ve been struggling a lot because of the lack of water… On a day like today, I thought it would make me feel better just looking at the cool water spurting out of the ground.”

At that moment, the man next to the man groaned, his face twisted badly.

“Ayy, what an idiot! You still think about feeling better? Is now the time to talk nonsense like that? If there is no water, we will all die. We will all wither to death like this!”

“But isn’t it coming out soon? If you dig in the ground after finding the water veins…”

“And what if it’s not coming any time soon? How can you believe in an invisible walk? What if it turns out to be a mistake?”

“But is there anything we can do?”

Suddenly, everyone around them was listening to their conversation.

If the content was one-sided, someone who opposed it might have broken the mood, but the person attracted attention by controlling the dynamics so well.

They scratched the tickled parts, complained of injustice, and sometimes defended the 2nd Empress, so their conversation seemed fairly fair to the listeners.

As a result, many things that had been suppressed in the past sprung up at the same time.

At that time, the 2nd Empress, who had been staring at the other side of the plain without disruption, turned her body for the first time.

Elisha moved when the procession of the carriage of the nobles disappeared from view.

With every step she took, the disappointment of the people seems to have dug a black hole.

“Would you like to get into the carriage?”

Rohan asked while approaching her.

As instructed by Elisha, riding in the carriage were Leon, Vera, and Benjamin. Besides the 1st Knights and Jonathan, ten knights of the Duke’s family were waiting around the carriage.

Elisha, who shook her head at Rohan, swerved away from him, with thousands of eyes still looking only at her.

The workers Anne had prepared in advance were gathered at the point past Rohan and deviated to the right of the carriage.

It doesn’t make sense to have knights dig the ground like in the Imperial Palace, so they brought in experts who do their job well.

“Hiiiy!”

When the 2nd Empress approached them, the workers inhaled the wind and said they did not know what to do.

The people who were gathering around the workers were still complaining, barely closing their mouths and swallowing with their dry throat.

Elisha stopped in front of them, bent her upper body, and held what was placed on the floor in her hand.

Bung!

After one light turn, a two-metre-long rod, well beyond her height, was erected vertically by Elisha’s hand, a two-metre-long rod.

The lower part is sharply trimmed, so it’s good to fix the rod in place, and there is a big triangular piece of cloth on the upper part of the head.

As the triangular cloth unfolded in the wind, an image of a lion with a purple sphere appeared.

Turning around and looking back at the plain, Elisha turned the direction of her hand holding the rod.

The rod went from vertical to horizontal.

Elisha leaned her upper body back as far as she could.

Elisha then let go of what she was holding in her right arm in a throwing motion.

Swaeeeeegh!

The flag in her hand flew like an arrow.

It soared steeply and gradually lost its strength and began to draw a gentle curve.

Left like that, it would soon land to the ground.

It’s like she was standing in a completely different world from those who were complaining and trying to embarrass her because they didn’t know what the hell was going on.

Elisha casually threw the second and third flags.

Swaegh! Swaeeeegh!

The flags flew through the sky sequentially.

And just before the first flag hits the ground!

Hororong!

The sound of water birds was heard.

“It’s coming! It’s coming!”

“There!”

The water birds that disappeared over the horizon were back.

The water birds covering the cracked ground fluttered in the silvery waves in the falling light.

It was a strange yet beautiful sight.

And one of them caught the first flag just before it hit the floor.

As the bird was too small to bear the weight alone, the water birds flocked to it, and they changed into a new shape.

Hwiik! Hwik!

Becoming a hawk that soars by the flap of its large wings.

A triangular piece of cloth fluttered from the edge of the flag held by its sharp claws.

The image of a lion with a purple sphere twisted and unfolded, as if submerged in the current and sinking.

The remaining water birds also turned into a few hawks and flew into the sky holding flags that were about to hit the ground in their claws.

“Go and leave a mark.”

As Elisha spoke, leaving only the first one, the rest of the birds flew over the horizon again reflecting the sunlight.

Elisha looked at the knights of the Duke.

They were dazed, and only came to their senses when Rohan reminded them.

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

After they bowed their heads, Elisha said.

“Follow those birds and see where the signs are. And it would be better to leave a new mark. The flag is more likely to be swept away by the wind or damaged by monsters.”

The knights of the Duke family were in chaos, perhaps because she was not their master. They did not leave the site immediately, so Elisha narrowed her eyes.

“What is it? You don’t want to go with the horses? Should I ask those birds to bite you by the neck and drop you at the marked sites?”

The knights looked back at Jonathan in a cold mess.

Jonathan nodded and quickly got on his horse and accelerated.

A cloud of dust rose and subsided, and all the knights of the Duke family disappeared.

Elisha wiped the dirt off her hands and patted her clothes, and as she walked towards the carriage, she heard a voice from where the commoners were.

“Is this the end? After all, nothing has been confirmed yet.”

“I heard that in Barossa you made water gushing out of the ground!”

“Did you not want to show it all in front of us because we’re commoners? Then let us beg more earnestly so you may change your mind!”

Elisha leaned her head slowly to the side and made eye contact with the person who made the sound.