CH 92

When they returned to the mansion, Lucas was already there.

“Evan… What happened to you?”

Lucas looked surprised and asked Evan, who had returned to the mansion.

“Mind your own business.”

“Anyway… Is Riett okay?”

Lucas’ concern quickly shifted to Riett.

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“But… what’s with the oversized clothes?”

Riett was wearing spare clothes from the security chief. The clothes were way too big for Riett and looked ridiculous at first glance.

“My clothes got soaked, so I borrowed someone else’s.”

Lucas approached and touched Riett’s wet hair.

“In that case, you should dry your hair quickly. You don’t want to catch a cold, do you?”

Lucas, who had just returned, looked like a drenched rat as he said that.

“Don’t worry about catching a cold. Did you find anything in the forest?”

“No, I gave up when I reached the snowy region.”

“Snowy region?”

“Yeah, I kept following the compass, and it led me to a snowy region.”

Was the compass really broken? If it was a snowy region, it could be the location where they speculated the Spirit Stone of Perante was. It was too coincidental to be just a chance encounter.

“Lucas, is the compass still not working?”

“…No.”

The atmosphere suddenly turned tense. See, she told him it was broken.

But seeing Lucas’ gloomy expression, Riett decided not to tease him.

“Go take a shower.”

Upon hearing Riett’s words, Lucas nodded weakly and left.

Evan went to ask the knights if they had seen anyone suspicious today.

Alone in the room, Riett changed clothes. After putting on warm clothes and drying her hair, Riett lay down on the bed and recalled what had happened today.

What was that voice?

〈You’re not dead.〉

The voice was androgynous, making it difficult to determine if it belonged to a man or a woman. It kept giving me an eerie feeling.

〈I’m sorry… I wanted to have a little conversation with you…〉

Now that she thinks about it, they spoke as if they knew her from the beginning. Moreover, they saved a stranger without asking for anything in return.

Riett thought she don’t know that existence, but it seems to know her.

Who on earth knew about her?

Then, suddenly, Riett realized that there had been similar supernatural occurrences in the past.

Like when she almost got eaten by a bear, or when an important document almost flew away. The situations were very different, but the feeling was similar.

‘Was the owner of the voice the one who helped me back then?’

Riett wanted to meet the mysterious presence and have a further conversation.

〈I look forward to our next meeting.〉

Having said that, eventually, they’ll appear in front of her again. 

The warmth of the room made her feel drowsy. Riett left behind the eventful day and closed her eyes.

* * *

The next day.

“Riett.”

When she woke up in the morning and went downstairs to the first floor, Evan called out to her. But before Evan could say anything, Riett touched Evan’s hand first.

“Evan, how’s your hand?”

“It’s nothing.”

“That’s nonsense. Let’s go to the village doctor again today and get it checked properly.”

Although emergency treatment was provided at the guardhouse yesterday, it would be better to visit a proper doctor for a thorough examination. It was late yesterday, and the doctor had already closed the clinic.

Evan, the person involved, withdrew his hand as if he didn’t care.

“Riett, there’s something else I want to tell you.”

“What is it?”

“When I asked the knights if they noticed anything suspicious yesterday, they showed me this.”

Evan took out a yellow paper with a strange drawing on it and showed it to Riett. As soon as Riett saw the drawing inside the paper, she asked.

“What is this…?”

She had never seen such a drawing in her life. The twisted lines, like a maze, seemed like an ancient language rather than a drawing. 

It had a similar feeling to Korean talismans.

Evan shook his head and said.

“I don’t know. I’ve never seen anything like this either.”

Riett stared at the paper intently.

“It doesn’t look like anything good, no matter how you look at it.”

Moreover, the red drawing seemed a bit eerie.

Just then, Lucas approached, greeting them.

“Good morning.”

Thinking it was good timing, Riett handed the paper with the drawing to Lucas.

“Lucas, do you know what this is?”

Lucas immediately answered.

“Isn’t it a magic scroll?”

“A magic scroll…?”

Riett demanded an explanation with her eyes.

“Simply put, it’s a paper that can be used for one-time magic. It’s often used when you need to quickly use complex magic.”

“Then can we know what magic is cast on this scroll?”

“Well… The writing here is an ancient language used only by wizards, so I’m not sure.”

Lucas shrugged his shoulders and asked.

“Where did this magic scroll come from?”

“It was attached to the mansion.”

“What?!”

Lucas was taken aback.

“Not a good sign.”

“I think so too. Someone did something in this mansion or intends to do something in the future.”

Could it be that Count Terrator hired an assassin already? She thought he wouldn’t bother someone who was in exile, so she was relieved…

Riett thought, touching her chin, then turned her head towards Evan.

“Evan, when do you think we’ll receive a report on the progress of following the Count?”

“Tomorrow should be the day.”

Since there was no place with a communication device, they had no choice but to wait for a letter. Evan’s expression turned serious as he realized the identity of the paper.

“I’ll tell the knights to reinforce the guards. We should also arm ourselves for the time being.”

“But your hand is injured, and you can’t wield a sword.”

“….”

Evan frowned, seemingly having momentarily forgotten that fact. Not only his fingers but also his wrist was injured, making it impossible for him to swing a sword.

Trying to reassure Evan, Riett smiled and said, 

“It’s okay, Evan. We have knights, and I can fight. You know my swordsmanship, right?”

Though she said that to put Evan’s mind at ease, she couldn’t help but feel anxious herself. If that magic scroll was a precursor to an ambush and armed assassins suddenly appeared, there was no guarantee they would come out unscathed.

The most frightening aspect of the current situation was not knowing how many enemies they would face. 

‘Even though there are knights, the assassins that Count Terrator hires are said to be top-notch.’

The safety of the employees present here was also at risk.

‘For now, we have to be as cautious as possible.’

Trying to shake off her anxiety, Riett recalled the tasks for the day. 

“First, we should go to the village and see the physician. Then, we need to talk to the head of the guards about what to do with the collapsed houses from yesterday. Oh, and I also have to send a letter to His Majesty to inform him about Perante’s status as a spy.”

Lately, she felt busier here than when she was in the capital. 

Riett hurried to the village to handle her tasks.

* * *

Riett and Evan arrived at the village and first went to see the physician. The doctor examined Evan carefully.

“You must not strain yourself for a while. Your wrist seems to be severely injured. How did you endure the pain?”

The doctor’s expression was serious, but Evan, who was hearing the words, seemed indifferent.

The doctor warned him again to be cautious and placed a splint on Evan’s wrist. It was now confirmed that he couldn’t freely use his wrist and arm for some time. Evan remained expressionless, but he appeared somewhat displeased.

Riett refrained from saying much and moved on to their next destination, where the mailman was.

“Oh, you’re here again.”

Having seen the mailman so often, Riett felt that they had become quite familiar with each other.

“Yes.”

Riett smiled as she handed the letter she had written to the Emperor to the mailman.

“Is this all?”

“Yes.”

After handing over the letter, Riett looked up at the sky for a moment. The sky had turned yellow in the meantime.

Each task didn’t take much time individually, but since the buildings were spread out, it took a while to handle them all. Especially with Parman, they had to move quickly because the sun set early.

The last destination was the village’s guardhouse.

“Oh, the Duchess is here!”

The head of the guards greeted Riett with a bow. After exchanging brief pleasantries, Riett asked, “Captain, where are the refugees staying?”

“Most of them are taking shelter with relatives. My family had no relatives, so we stayed here.”

Parman wasn’t affiliated with any lord. It was a place where it snowed almost all year round, and the northern snowy wilderness occupied almost half of Parman’s territory. 

Due to these circumstances, not many people wanted to claim it, and as a result, it was much less managed compared to other territories with lords.

‘What should I do?’

When they tried to find a new place for the refugees to stay, it took too much time, and the cost was also high. Riett pondered and remembered the empty cabin where she and Evan stayed briefly yesterday.

“There was an empty cabin nearby. Do you know who used to live there?”

“Recently, some families migrated, and it remained vacant after they left.”

If some families had migrated recently, it meant there might be more empty cabins like that. Thinking it was fortunate, Riett became curious.

“But why did people suddenly migrate?”

In rural villages like this, the majority of the population would be locals.

“Lately, there have been consecutive strange natural phenomena in this area, causing anxiety among the people.”

“Strange natural phenomena?”

“Yes. Didn’t it rain suddenly like a torrential downpour yesterday? It caused landslides as well. It was the first time I experienced such heavy rain and landslides in my entire life living here.”

The head of the guards sighed deeply as if he disliked thinking about it.

“Not long ago, there was a major earthquake too. It was brief, but some houses collapsed.”

Indeed, it was an uncommon occurrence. If it rained a few more times like yesterday, the village would be in ruins.

A thought crossed Riett’s mind.

‘Could these natural disasters be related to the spirit stone here?’

Perante mentioned that there was a spirit stone in this area, but the recent expedition by the Haren Empire’s explorers seemed to have found nothing.

‘If the spirit stone is sealed and its power occasionally goes out of control..’

And it causes natural disasters.

It was a rough deduction, but she had to consider various possibilities. Lost in thought, Riett’s eyes narrowed.

“Duchess, why did you ask about the empty cabins?”

Riett focused on the current issue at the sound of the guard captain’s voice. The spirit stone is important, but for now, finding shelter for the refugees took priority.

“Oh, if there are many vacant cabins, what if we repair them and let the refugees stay there?”

“Well, that method is the best, but those vacant cabins have been neglected for a long time, so they would need repairs if people were to live there. But most of the refugees have lost everything and are destitute…”

“Don’t worry about that. I will cover the repair costs.”

The guard captain jumped in surprise.

“What?! No, that won’t do! You already helped us yesterday…”

Riett spoke firmly.

“I have to take care of Truto Empire citizens. Aren’t the people in the Parman region also citizens of the Truto Empire?”

The mister had been involved in charitable activities. Admiring the spirit of noblesse oblige, Riett had wanted to do the same when she had the means.

Although she wasn’t as wealthy as the mister, using her assets as Duchess Marren, was more than enough to repair the vacant houses instead of building a new shelter.

“So please start repairing the cabins as soon as possible.”

“Oh, how should I repay this favor…”

The guard captain’s eyes welled up with tears.

Riett wanted to reassure him but decided to request if he wanted to repay her.

“Well then, Captain, can I ask you for one more thing?”

“Of course!”

The guard captain nodded vigorously. Thinking of Lucas’ compass, Riett spoke up.

“Do the patrols go to the snowy wilderness as well?”

“Occasionally, yes. There are some dwellings there, although not many…”

That worked out perfectly.

“If anything strange is found in the snowy wilderness, could you let me know? Anything will do.”

“Anything? Yes, I will do that.”

The guard captain readily nodded.

Exiting the conversation, Riett looked at the collapsed mountain.

It was purely intuition, but she felt that there was a strong connection between the spirit stone and the sudden natural disasters sweeping through the village.