Chapter 21
In fairy tales, wizards are often portrayed as rational and cool-headed characters in any situation.
This is because becoming a wizard requires extensive theory and study, so people generally have the impression that wizards are intellectual and rational.
But in reality, no one is as easily swayed by emotions or as quick to show them as wizards.
Not in their expressions, but in their inner selves.
By looking at their mana, you can somewhat guess what emotions they're feeling.
Emotional changes immediately manifest in mana, which is closely linked to the mind, and this tendency becomes more pronounced as the changes intensify.
It's like a dog's tail, if you will.
When I first heard this from my master, I thought wizards had a cute side to them.
Of course, this is a mistake only novice wizards make.
Skilled wizards maintain their mana calm like a still water surface, undisturbed in any situation.
Naturally, I was no exception.
Until now, at this very moment...
"Ah..."
As my mana, floating around me like air, materialized due to intense excitement, a massive flame gushed forth, brightly illuminating the surroundings.
I'm not some greenhorn who just entered a magic tower, yet my mana got disturbed by mere emotional elevation.
I'd rather have wet the bed in my sleep. This is too embarrassing to even lift my head.
"...Everyone, please consider this a mistake of an inexperienced wizard and kindly forget about it."
"I didn't see anything. I'm sure Sir Dens feels the same?"
"Ah, yes..."
While the two of them were understanding, the refugees seemed to interpret it differently.
Some screamed, others curled up in confusion—each showing their rejection of me in their own way without restraint.
In my excitement, I'd buttoned the first one wrong.
As I was wondering how to salvage the situation, I saw a shadow approaching, parting the crowd.
Ivanna stepped back slightly, on guard, while Dens remained nonchalant as they approached.
Haggard faces worn out by fatigue.
This was especially noticeable in the young man who stepped forward first. His expression was very dark, as if he hadn't slept for days.
Compared to the burly knights, this knight with thinner features and a rather sharp jawline stepped forward confidently, as if he were the leader of them all.
Seeing him lead the knights, I guessed he was Baron David.
"......"
The Baron stood before me silently, drew the sword from his waist along with its scabbard, and threw it at his feet.
When the swords at their feet increased from one to eleven, they all knelt down and closed their eyes like criminals awaiting sentence.
Then, in a voice thinner than I expected, he spoke to me.
"...It's been a while since I left the battlefield, but I'm not so foolish as to not recognize the difference in power. Please, end it with just me."
"No!! It's our fault!!"
The Baron, offering his neck.
And the knights, defending him.
I was momentarily speechless at the Baron's words asking to end it with just him.
I could understand why they misunderstood without having to ask them.
It was just a simple mistake, but to the Baron and his group, it must have seemed like some kind of attack magic or threat.
"Well, um..."
How should I clear up this misunderstanding?
Even if I just said my emotions got intense, I don't know if they'd believe me.
As I was flustered, not knowing what to do, Knight Dens, standing beside me, stepped forward and spoke.
"Ah, Baron... His Excellency the Count isn't that kind of person, so please raise your head."
"...Dens. You're here too."
"Yes, I guided them here. Anyway, it's not what you think, sir. So please, stand up. It's embarrassing to watch."
Thanks to his help, the misunderstanding was slightly cleared, and a calm place for dialogue was established.
Slowly rising, Baron David asked me with eyes still not free of suspicion.
"Aren't you a court wizard who received a royal order?"
"That's correct, but I'm not a court wizard."
"Well, if all court wizards were like you, the war would have ended long ago."
"You flatter me."
"...If it's not too presumptuous, may I ask what that royal order was?"
"...It was an order to subjugate bandits. But I don't see any bandits here, and I can't possibly subjugate what I can't see."
I came here on orders to subjugate bandits, but what I saw weren't petty thieves, but people desperately struggling to survive.
Baron David, having roughly guessed the inside story, let out a deep sigh with eyes full of despair.
His eyes reddened, and he breathed heavily as if he might burst into tears at any moment.
The country had abandoned him.
As someone who once depended on the royal family, his pain and shock must have been greater than anyone else's.
"I've heard everything about what's happened and your circumstances from the Viscount."
"...If you know our situation, why did you come here?"
"I will take in all the refugees here, including you. That's why I came to tell you this."
"...What?"
Baron David and his knights' eyes filled with doubt at these words that sounded too good to be true.
Well, if such a convenient story suddenly came up, even I would be suspicious at first.
After all, even the country they trusted so much had abandoned them.
"...Do you not understand what it means to help us? It means making an enemy of the royal family."
"We've already parted ways."
"No..."
"I understand your concern. It's only natural to be suspicious when an unknown wizard suddenly makes such an offer."
I can't guarantee anything.
Right now, I'm just a Count in name only, given a land that no one wants.
That's why the only trust I could offer them was these words.
"I can't prove anything. But my desire to help you all is sincere."
"......"
"Perhaps there will come a day when you think it would have been better to die here. But if you still want to live, if you're destined to wither away quietly anyway, won't you trust me just this once?"
For words meant to persuade them to follow me, they lacked confidence and weren't very reassuring.
In fact, some of the knights had looks in their eyes that seemed to question if I was in my right mind.
Baron David, with his head bowed, had an expression that couldn't be seen, but he seemed either depressed or dumbfounded.
When he finally raised his head after bowing deeply.
"Ha, really. Your Excellency, shouldn't you be telling us to follow you even if it's a lie?"
He was smiling.
There was nothing funny about the situation, but he was smiling as if something joyful had happened.
"Isn't it more suspicious to say such things without evidence? And I dislike lying."
"Ha, that's true."
He knelt on one knee, picked up the sword he had thrown at his feet, and offered it with both hands.
This ritual, known to all nobles and knights.
Recognizing it, everyone held their breath as Baron David spoke in a solemn tone.
"Your honest words touched me more than irresponsible promises of blind faith. My life. My loyalty. I offer it all to you, Your Excellency. Please accept this sword."
"......"
I nodded and accepted the sword.
It was the moment I gained my first knight.
After accepting the sword, I returned it to him as he stood up.
Baron David asked me with a seemingly very happy expression.
"By the way, where is Your Excellency's territory? It doesn't seem to be around here."
"It's not too far. Have you heard of the El Berg Mountains? That's where it is."
"You crazy bastard."
*****
The infamy of the El Berg Mountains was known to everyone in the kingdom, even those who didn't live nearby.
Its reputation was so bad that there was a joke about how crying children would immediately stop if you threatened to abandon them in the El Berg Mountains.
Upon hearing the name of this notorious mountain range, Baron David shouted in an excited voice, almost going berserk.
"Wait, when you said we might die, did you mean we'd become monster food? Why? Why not just suggest we all commit suicide here?!"
"Please calm down first."
I understood his intense reaction, as I wasn't unaware of its reputation either.
He wasn't the only one who fell into anxiety.
Not only his knights but also the refugees and even Knight Dens were thrown into confusion.
"Miss, you're planning to follow him to such a place?"
"Of course. It's a maid's duty to attend to her master."
"Wow, you've got more guts than me..."
Amidst everyone's various reactions, one of the knights standing behind Baron David carefully raised his hand and asked me.
"Your Excellency, please permit me to speak."
"Yes, go ahead."
"...How do you plan to handle the food issue? With 3,500 refugees, we won't last until we reach the El Berg Mountains."
"I have an idea about that."
I've never tried it on others, but it worked when I tested it on myself.
"And that method is..."
"Magic."
"Pardon? But food created by magic..."
Magic to create food already exists, but it has never improved the food situation on the front lines.
The reason is that food created by magic doesn't satisfy hunger, lacks nutrients, and only looks like food but isn't really food.
This was a fact known to any soldier who had stood on the battlefield with a wizard, and I thought the same before going to the Demon Realm.
'...We don't need food. The Demon Realm is a land rich in mana. We just absorb the mana in the ground to replenish nutrients.'
That thought changed after meeting Izarbella, the Demon Princess.
"I had the opportunity to converse with a demon due to certain circumstances. She said that demons absorb mana from the earth and use it as nutrients."
"...Isn't that only possible because they're demons?"
"No, it's not something only demons can do."
It's not limited to demons.
Demon races accustomed to handling mana absorb it from the earth and use it as nutrients.
In other words, unless all higher demon races have this bodily function, it's evidence that there's magic to convert mana into nutrients.
Once you know it exists, recreating it isn't that difficult.
The experiment has already succeeded.
All that's left is to prove it.