Chapter 20
Viscount Hamkin must have had quite a headache over the refugee problem. When I asked about their location, he didn't hesitate to provide a knight escort.
"The Viscount didn't act alone."
Even as he guided us to the refugees' shelter, Knight Dens, seemingly worried about the Viscount, offered unsolicited excuses in his defense.
Unfortunately, his eloquence wasn't quite up to par with his loyalty, so it didn't have much effect.
I had neither the right nor the intention to judge the Viscount in the first place, so it was all pointless.
But I could see his loyalty.
I also heard more than enough about how generously Viscount Hamkin had treated others.
"...Those are the ones driven away from the gate this morning."
We stopped walking and hid, watching them from afar in the light of distant campfires.
Those who fled the war were generally in poor shape, mostly women, children, and the elderly—people who couldn't be conscripted.
Occasionally, there were men, but they all seemed too severely injured or disabled to possibly stand on the front lines.
Now I somewhat understand why they abandoned the refugees when even a single person is precious on the front lines.
In King Germis's judgment, they were livestock not worth raising—better to slaughter than waste feed on them.
What a piece of shit...
Roughly counting, there were about 50 people.
So, under this Baron David, there are currently about 3,050 refugees gathered?
No, that's just a guess. In reality, there could be far more.
"What will you do?"
It wasn't Knight Dens who asked this, but Ivanna, who had been constantly questioning me since we left the Viscount's mansion.
When she first asked me at the mansion, I didn't answer.
I thought it wasn't an issue to be addressed lightly based on my mood at the time.
She, too, was once in their position.
So she must empathize and have a strong desire to help them.
"Miss Ivanna."
This time, I turned the question back to Ivanna, who had been persistently questioning me.
"Do you think those people want my help?"
"......"
Honestly, I'm not confident in myself as a person.
Am I really capable of embracing so many people? Would they even want my help?
I can't say with certainty that they'd be happy becoming my subjects.
"I've never managed a territory before. Frankly, I don't know much about politics. All I can do is magic. Do you really think they'd want help from someone like that?"
"Your Excellency... That's—"
"What? You've been worrying about that all this time?"
As Ivanna was about to say something, Dens, who had been quietly listening, cut in with an incredulous tone.
"You weren't worried about food or anything like that, but just this trivial stuff?"
"No, it's not trivial..."
"Pardon me, Count, but you must have been raised too preciously to understand. Those people literally have no tomorrow. They don't have the luxury to worry about uncertain futures or anxiety about their ruler. It's like someone on the brink of starvation worrying about what they'll eat tomorrow."
"Uh, um..."
"Besides, what good would it do them to worry about such things? Whether the ruler is a novice or whatever, they don't even have the right to participate in politics—oof!!"
It was Ivanna who silenced Dens, who would have probably gone on until dawn if left unchecked.
After slapping Dens' lips, Ivanna wiped her hand with a handkerchief and spoke to him with sharp eyes.
"...I was about to say that first."
"......"
"And don't speak to His Excellency in that tone. If this were the royal palace, you'd be facing execution."
Dens couldn't utter a single word as Ivanna made a throat-slitting gesture.
It wasn't just Dens who was stunned into silence by Ivanna's unexpected side.
Even I felt intimidated by her appearance, which suggested she might actually behead him if she had the power.
"Ahem..."
Ivanna cleared the air with a fake cough and continued speaking as if nothing had happened.
"Your Excellency. What you're saying now is like someone who can't guarantee today worrying about tomorrow. I didn't mention it before, but I once wandered around with my parents, fleeing from the demon race."
Ivanna was originally the daughter of a knight family. Her father died fighting against the demons.
When the front lines were pushed back and they lost the territory they served, her mother fled alone with young Ivanna.
Ivanna's mother would do anything for her beloved daughter, and in the end, she collapsed on the street without seeing her daughter's future.
"I couldn't even bury my mother and had to flee from the demons. There was a rationing system at the time, but a child like me had my share taken by adults."
"......"
"As I rummaged through leftovers and ate insects crawling on the ground, the thought in my head wasn't about wanting to see my mother and father. It was 'I want to live.' Even if just for a minute, a second longer. Even if I had to crawl on the ground, do anything, please, I just wanted to live."
The future didn't matter at all.
Her life wasn't comfortable enough to have the luxury of thinking about such things.
Seeing Ivanna laugh self-deprecatingly, saying she can't even remember her mother's face now, neither Dens nor I knew what to say.
Any words would seem insincere.
I could sympathize with her pain and pity her, but I couldn't truly empathize.
There are certainly things in this world where only those who have had the same experience have the right to comfort others.
"Don't you think those people are the same? They probably don't even worry about who's going to be in charge of them. Their first thought is probably just 'I want to live.'"
"...Miss Ivanna."
"So please, save those people. If you still can't find confidence, then believe in yourself. Who are you, Your Excellency?"
"What?"
"You're the one who spent three years dealing with that vulgar Hero and her lovers, cleaning up after them. And you're saying you can't handle just three thousand refugees?! No, even thirty thousand?!"
"...?!!"
"Wait, what did you just—"
"Shut up."
"Ow!"
Why did I agonize over this?
For helping people in need, who could be more suitable than me?
Who am I?
I'm the mage who guided those bastards to the Demon King's castle while cleaning up after them for three years.
Three thousand refugees.
No, even if it were tens of times that number, I'm sure I could handle it.
I can do it. If it's me...!!!
Confidence overflows.
Right now, I feel like I could do anything except travel with the Hero's party again.
That confidence began to materialize as mana, visible to everyone's eyes.
"Your Excellency's spirit...!! It's as if light is gushing forth!!"
"No, it's actually gushing forth..."
I can do it. If it's me!
*****
"How many this time?"
"I counted roughly, it seems to be about 50 people. If it increases any more, even our food..."
"...I got it, you can go."
David frowned and sighed, feeling a headache as if his skull was being split with an axe.
He wanted to drink until he passed out if there was any alcohol, but he didn't even have that luxury now.
He reached for water to quench his thirst a little, but thinking of the 50 new arrivals today, he couldn't swallow it.
Adding the 50 who came today, that makes 3,500 people.
With numbers this large, even securing drinking water was a struggle. From tomorrow, they might not even be able to drink water freely.
There's a limit to the secret support from the Viscount, and the country is also keeping an eye on them, so they can't stay here for long.
But where could they go?
In these times, there's nowhere that would accept thousands of refugees, especially ones that can't even help much.
"...Fuck."
He wanted to run away.
He wished someone would just kill him.
To be honest, he never intended to save refugees from the start.
He only did it expecting that the more people there were, the more support the royal palace would provide.
David wasn't a villain, but he wasn't such a good person that he'd save people without any calculation.
It might have been like that at first, but as more people gathered, he couldn't see them as strangers anymore.
His reason knew it would be better to abandon these people and become a vassal in some territory, but his heart just couldn't do it.
If his past self, when he first decided to accept refugees, knew about this situation, what would he think?
Wouldn't he laugh and call himself an idiot?
That's right...
He had to do something.
His mind thought so, but his body just wouldn't move, and his eyes gradually began to close.
That's when it happened.
A kind of instinct different from mana sensing ability.
The sense of crisis, as if a huge storm had descended upon his head, made his half-closed eyes snap open.
Anyone who had been on the battlefield and survived close calls would have felt this sensation at least once.
This terror that freezes everything from the toes up, stopping not just the body but even thought.
"B-baron... O-Outside..."
The binding that constricted his whole body was released only after hearing the voice of a refugee who came from outside.
Walking out with slow steps as if crawling, he saw a massive surge of mana gushing forth.
Was it because he had been away from the battlefield for too long?
Even if he was drowsy, how could he not have sensed such an enormous flow of mana?
As his face reddened with shame, his subordinate spoke.
"...Master. What should we do?"
"...We'll have to meet them, I suppose."
In David's judgment, trying to escape wouldn't amount to much of a struggle.
With that much power, they could turn this whole area into a sea of fire with just a wave of their hand.
"Let's go..."
There was no choice but to go.
Emitting mana so ostentatiously must surely be an invitation.
David approached that massive surge of mana, half resigned to everything, feeling a sense of liberation in a way.
And then...
"I will take in all the refugees, including you."
"...Pardon?"
And he met Elang.