Chapter 55
Chapter 55
…….
Ibelin's eyes spun around, unable to settle anywhere.
I had no clue why she'd suddenly broken down.
But only for a moment.
Tap.
She squeezed her eyes shut, opened them again, and instantly wiped her expression clean.
She switched off the meek, hesitant daughter-in-law mode from just a moment ago and put her usual frost-bitten mother-in-law mode back on.
"......Don't misunderstand."
"Pardon?"
"I was only worried because if you collapsed, the empire would lose combat power. As a princess, I merely felt pity for a member of the social elite who truly cares for the people. Nothing more, nothing less."
Her voice was firm again.
"I’ll forgive that slip of the tongue this once, when you presumptuously implied I was watching your mood. You have today's achievement to thank. Still, setting aside your freewheeling remarks, you'd do well to be careful of such rudeness from now on."
Is she bipolar or something?
What the hell was that just now?
Stop confusing people.
"Ah, yes. Sure, let's go with that."
I decided not to press the matter.
Whether it was bipolar disorder or some temporary short-circuit from eating something bad, I decided to stop caring.
If I poked at it with, "Why were you like that earlier?" I knew I'd just come out empty-handed.
"Then I'll be taking my leave."
"Where are you going?"
"I'm going to check on the village situation. I started this mess, so I should make sure it's being wrapped up properly."
Then Ibelin nodded with a solemn expression.
"I see. I can commend such a responsible attitude."
"Thank you."
"I'll go too."
"......Pardon?"
No, why are you going too?
You should go rest.
Picking up on my sour expression, Ibelin cleared her throat and added,
"As a princess, it is my duty to look after the well-being of my people. I can't let you take all the credit alone."
She said that, but...
Her gaze was strangely intent.
Well, I didn't have any reason to stop her from coming.
It's not like I rented out this road and village.
"Then by all means."
I stepped aside and gestured.
"Please, go ahead."
"Ah, no! There's no need for that... no, right. Let's do that."
"......?"
I shrugged and followed after Ibelin, who had taken the lead.
Tap, tap.
Was it just my imagination?
The cautious footsteps ahead somehow felt oddly deferential.
* * *
The moment I entered the village entrance, I couldn't believe my eyes.
"Wow."
The exclamation escaped me on its own.
Just a few hours ago, this place had been a living hell.
The stench that stabbed at my nose, the slimy filth, and the dead-eyed looks of the people hiding in their homes.
But now...
Murmur, murmur.
"You have to spread it more carefully here! If there are any gaps, we'll have to do it again!"
"Understood!"
Energetic shouts rang out.
Karls and the other noble students were sweating buckets as they finished laying the road.
Where their hands had passed, the surface was coated smooth and gleamed like the path in a noble estate's garden.
It looked like there was no longer any need to worry about mud getting on our shoes.
More than anything, the air had changed.
Bubble, bubble.
"Mom! I ate both bowls! I'm really full!"
A savory smell drifted from somewhere.
Several large pots were lined up on one side of the square, steam rising from them.
Children ran around them, giggling.
"Goodness......"
A small gasp of admiration also slipped from Ibelin, who was leading the way.
Half a day was all it took for hell to turn into heaven.
"Now, eat slowly! Chew well or you'll get indigestion! If it's not enough, I'll make as much more as you want!"
A familiar voice came from far away.
It was Lily.
Before I knew it, she had an apron on and was handing out bread and soup to the people.
Her face was smeared with soot, but her expression shone brighter than ever.
"Thank you, truly thank you!"
"Oh dear, how could we ever repay this kindness......"
The old folks held Lily's hands, tears welling in their eyes.
Lily clasped their hands in return and smiled warmly.
She looked so holy it was as if a halo were shining behind her.
There really was no saint like her.
I watched the scene with satisfaction.
"Nice."
"It's the mage!"
"No, it's an angel!"
It felt like my eardrums were about to burst.
The children, having shaken off their filth, ran at me shouting in a chaotic jumble.
"Wow! It's really an angel, wow!"
In an instant, one kid was hanging off my waist, another was clutching my leg, and another was tugging at my cloak.
So this is what a cat tree feels like.
Seriously, why aren't these kids afraid of me?
This is fucking weird.
The adults nearby also stopped what they were doing and sent me awestruck looks.
This is way too much pressure.
Then, parting the crowd, a bear-like figure approached.
"You seem to be feeling better now."
It was Professor Wilhelm.
He checked my complexion and nodded, seemingly satisfied.
I roughly peeled the children off me and replied,
"I'm a little better, but this finished sooner than I expected?"
"Everyone was working like their lives depended on it."
Wilhelm nodded toward the ground.
On the slick, polished road, the sweat-soaked noble students were strewn about.
If you squinted, they looked like white ash after being burned clean.
I snorted a laugh and asked,
"You must be pleased."
"Bwahahaha!"
Wilhelm burst into hearty laughter.
It was so loud that even the children hanging on me were startled loose.
"Thanks to someone giving them a hard push, the results were far better than planned. That's right!"
He pounded my shoulder.
Ow, you bastard.
Wilhelm clicked his tongue and was just about to launch into some grand lecture.
I struck first, in the spirit of first strike wins.
"Forget the reward. Then please hear out what I want."
"What is it?"
"Please hurry and finish the regional tour schedule."
"Hmm?"
Wilhelm's eyebrows twitched.
He stared at me with a look of interest.
What?
A moment later, he slapped his knee and nodded.
"Though you pity these people out of compassion for the common folk, you don't want to spend a long time here?"
Of course not.
Feeling sorry for someone rolling around in a pit of shit is one thing; me rolling around and sleeping in that same pit is another.
Of course, I had personally ripped up most of the village and turned it into a road, cleaning everything away.
But decades of stench and pollution had seeped deep into every house and even the whole neighborhood.
I replied with feigned seriousness.
"What's unpleasant is unpleasant, and what's not isn't."
If I slept here, I felt like my lungs would rot.
"Because I have standards like that, I can also feel sorry for those who have to live in environments that would be unbearable to me. And for that same reason, I can also strongly feel the need to improve their homes and surroundings."
What I dislike, others are bound to dislike too.
Put yourself in another's shoes.
What a perfect line of reasoning.
Wilhelm seemed deeply moved by my words and nodded solemnly.
"I understand. In any case, after the regional tour, a separate support team was supposed to arrive and carry out a full renovation of the village, so stepping back at this point is fine."
I guess so.
So that's why they had brought all those supplies.
The reason I thought roadwork should come first was ultimately because I knew the housing-related parts would be handled by professional construction workers.
Wilhelm said cheerfully.
"Good. Originally, we were supposed to stay here for a week, but I'll move the schedule up and have us camp in the forest tonight, then start monster-combat training first thing tomorrow."
Even in the original story, they spent a whole week here making a mess and stirring things up.
Of course, even in the original story, this went against Wilhelm's original intention of, "The noble riffraff probably can't do anything, but at least I should shock them a little."
Lily, however, threw herself into relief work all week and opened the villagers' hearts.
I'm not Lily.
A day of saint cosplay is enough.
Still, camping in the forest is a huge relief.
At least the forest won't smell like shit.
I'll wash in the nearby stream, change clothes, and sleep while listening to the chirping insects.
Just thinking about it felt soothing.
......Hm?
Wait a second.
I realized something was off.
'Fuck, I left home knowing I'd suffer anyway, and I'm relieved just because I'm avoiding a shit pit?'
Does that even make sense?
Normally, I'd be whining, "Get me a hotel!"
I was creeped out by myself for feeling relieved at the words "sleeping outdoors."
Is this the slave DNA deeply rooted inside me?
Fuck.
I suddenly felt like I might cry.
When I suddenly made a sad face, Wilhelm interpreted it in his own way again.
He looked at me with a deep gaze and said,
"Please never forget that compassion for the suffering. For as much as you suffer, that many more people will be able to find happiness."
What kind of bullshit is that now?
I was suffering because my own lot in life was pathetic.
Ah, replying probably wouldn't mean anything, so I'll just tune it out.
"......I will keep that in mind."
I gave a perfunctory nod.
Then Ibelin, who had been quietly watching from behind, murmured softly,
"It's so different......"
"Pardon?"
"No, it's nothing. You said we're going into the forest, right? Let's go prepare."
Ibelin nodded at me with a strangely flushed face.
Ibelin's really gotten weird.
Good grief, why is there not a single sane person anywhere?
* * *
Clatter, clatter.
The carriage wheels rolled over the dirt road.
The lush green freshness pouring from the dense trees filled my field of vision.
Even the air inside the two-and-a-half-ton wagon was different; everyone had the windows thrown wide open and was breathing in the forest air as if it were some kind of magical tonic.
"Ha. So fresh air isn't free after all."
"Right? I didn't expect it to feel this refreshing."
What were they spouting, like some outdated scam ad for negative ions?
But I kind of get what they mean.
Maybe because we'd just come from the absolute worst stench imaginable.
The forest air really was unbelievably refreshing.
I turned my head, savoring the phytoncide scent deep in my lungs.
Lucius, sitting beside me, had been bent over a notebook, scribbling away furiously.
Scratch, scratch.
His pen was moving with unusual intensity.
It was like the hand of a predatory loan shark checking an invoice.
I asked casually,
"Are you sorting out the expenses?"
"How did you know?"
Lucius stopped writing and widened his eyes.
I chuckled and replied,
"You seemed like that sort of dry, calculating person."
"Oh dear. That's a rather harsh assessment for an alchemist who took such a spectacular loss."
"I'm kidding."
"I know. A joke like this is best met with shamelessness."
......He really is kind of exhausting.
Lucius continued the tally with easy nonchalance.
But I hadn't spoken to him just to make small talk.
It was because the smile at his mouth was somehow annoyingly smug.
"Why do you seem so happy while calculating the losses?"
Normally, shouldn't you look miserable when it's your own money that's getting burned?
But this guy was grinning like someone who'd just hit the lottery numbers.
Lucius snapped the notebook shut and replied,
"Can't we just pass it all on to the meal cost?"
"......"
Ugh, fuck.
That's fucking scary.
It felt like a blade was flashing behind that smile.
So this is how it comes back to bite me for bragging that I'd buy a meal.
"......So?"
"The problem is, it's not a price I can exactly burn through on one meal."
Lucius made a troubled expression.
"That said, you wouldn't want to eat with me every day for a whole year either, would you? I don't exactly have the hobby of sharing meals with a man every day either."
What was he trying to say?
When I looked at him suspiciously, Lucius made a clandestine proposal.
"If the person joining the meal were changed from me to someone else, I'd be willing to make a rather dramatic compromise."
"Who is it?"
"My younger sister."
"Pardon?"
I doubted my ears.
Younger sister?
Why is your younger sister suddenly here?