"I even heard that the guardian corps will go out to subdue it and the knight corps will protect the castle."
"Once Drial takes charge of the territory, the knight corps will naturally become busy, so I wanted them to rest at least until then. So don't be too upset."
"I'm not upset at all, so don't worry. We just follow the wishes of the lady and the lord."
"Thank you for saying that. I called you because of the subjugation case. I'm going to be busy, but it's okay to just go."
Eof looked at the pile of documents on her desk and left the office. As soon as the door was closed, Eof's expression changed.
A body was resurrected in Emur Village.
Tragedies that had only occurred in the northern battlefield were being repeated in Arhon.
Until the wizards entered the war, the human allied forces relied solely on Drial to fight the corpses.
If they touch the corpse and cause even the slightest injury, Shutime's magic transfers and they become the same.
It was a series of days in which the brothers who fought together killed each other, the survivors cried, and their minds were devastated because they could not bear the pain. That tragedy could not be repeated.
The reason the lord and his wife rode the dragon last night was probably to go to Emur Village.
Eof immediately went to Drial.
Drial was chatting leisurely with the people tending the garden. He seemed very carefree as he talked while eating snacks.
"My lord, there is something I would like to discuss for a moment."
Eof's expression was serious, so he moved to a quiet place.
As they moved to a deserted place, Drial handed Eof a snack.
At the gesture for him to eat, Eof took a bite of the cookie. It was a cookie with a nice buttery flavor. Drial looked proud as he was quietly surprised.
"Arhon is not a good place to live because of the monsters, but I think the servants make snacks like this and eat them. I heard that Rune is really amazing. If I had ruled, the residents would have starved three days a week."
Eof munched on his snack and remembered the documents piled up on Rune's desk.
Arhon was busy trying new things. He's not sure, but it seemed like they were expanding into a business that could make money.
The felled trees continued to flow down the river, and hundreds of people and dozens of horses pulled the trees, which had become heavy from drinking water to land.
Downstream, fishermen were busy catching fish. From what Eof remembered, there were quite a few monsters living down the river. It seemed that Rune had even dried up the seeds of the monsters hiding in the water.
Merchant guilds continued to enter and leave the territory escorted by mercenaries, and wheat and meat were traded cheaply in the market.
At the temple, bread was also distributed to the poor. It was said that the money to make the bread would be donated in the name of Rune Drial.
Eof, who was savoring the scent of butter, twitched his chin.
"As you said, my lord, your wife is truly amazing."
"She's amazing. I think I understand why the locals like Rune."
When he reached a place where there were few people, Drial stopped walking.
"So what do you want to discuss? Is this a serious problem?"
"I heard that a body was resurrected in Emur Village."
"Rumors spread quickly."
"Madam told me this herself."
Drial wasn't really surprised. He looked at the snack in his hand and said calmly.
"I met Shutime in Emur Village."
Eof was astonished. He immediately became angry on his wrinkled face.
"Is that son of a bitch here?"
"I think he's hiding in the Arhon Forest. Cookie tried to chase him, but lost."
"This..."
"Even if I worry, there is no way to solve it, and I can't move because I don't know what he is looking for in Arhon."
Drial shrugged, putting a snack in his mouth.
"First, share it secretly with the knights. Everyone should know."
"Do we have to wait until he leads another army of corpses to attack Arhon?"
"Cookie said he found black land near the border. We should focus our search there. Even so, there will be a subjugation of monsters soon. The only way to do that is to search around."
Eof paused.
"Do you plan to lead the subjugation yourself?"
"If I, the lord, don't do it, who will?"
"Ma'am, he said that the guardian corps should go out to subdue monsters and the knight corps should protect the castle. It seemed like she wanted the cavalry to rest a little more."
Eof was a little embarrassed as he relayed the story he had heard from Lares.
Rune did not discuss with Drial about subjugating monsters. Although she was ignoring Drial, he seemed to understand why Rune did so.
The documents piled up on her desk flashed through his mind. Rune read the document while talking to Eof.
The documents will also be full of appeals requesting help from the permanent representative. Originally, It was something that Lord Drial should have done.
After hesitation, Eof advised.
"My lord, there was a lot of work piled up on the lady's desk. It seemed like there was so much work to do that there was no time to eat."
Drial immediately understood what he meant.
"You mean to leave the work to my wife and stop fooling around?"
"Damn, did that sound right to you?"
As Eof sneered, Drial chuckled and took a step forward.
"I'll talk to Rune about having the knights participate in the subjugation. The knight's training starts again tomorrow."
Drial, who was leaving his seat, looked back at Eof.
"Thanks for the advice, Captain Eof. See you tomorrow at training."
Drial just turned into the wind and disappeared. The wind headed straight to the office.
***
Rune confirmed the tax revenue reported by Seri.
As rumors spread that money could be made in Arhon, the number of people coming in increased, which led to an increase in tax revenue.
However, it was not possible to grow a territory just by increasing the number of permanent residents.
In the end, a huge castle and sturdy buildings were needed to transform Arhon, which had not been able to shake off its rural border and to protect the territory from monster waves.
In order to expand the business, Arhon Forest had to be made safe. Rune was lost in thought as she looked at the numbers written on the document.
Should they increase the scale of the summer raids and use the money earned from them to create a workshop?
It wouldn't be a bad idea to give a mercenary a monster hunting license in exchange for money.
If monster hunting permits are granted, the number of inns and restaurants will increase... No, if the number of people increases too much, there may be an epidemic due to the sewage.
Rune, who had been thinking while tapping the desk, paused. A blue-tinged wind was seen.
When she turned around, she made eye contact with Drial, who was knocking on the window.
"Can I come in?"
"Do whatever you feel like. This was originally your office."
"But you are the owner of this space now."
"If you know, come in through the door, not the window."
Drial, who was about to go in through the window, stopped. Drial thought for a moment and then turned into the wind again and disappeared.
Just a few seconds after disappearing, the office door burst open. Rune gave up trying to nag why he forgot to knock.
"What's the matter."
"I came to work."
Surprised, Rune raised her head.
"... What? You're working?"
It was a quite shocked face.
Drial looked embarrassed and sat down next to Rune as if wondering if it was that surprising.
"I have no idea what to do first. Can I read what's here?"
Drial picked up a random document as if he really wanted to work.
Rune looked at Drial, who was seriously reading the document, with puzzled eyes.
Drial Stein sitting at his desk and working.
It was a sight as rare as a wind spiritist buying a house in a big city and settling down there.
"Why is this happening all of a sudden? Have you had the heat?"
"I'm perfectly fine. Oh, do you want some snacks?"
Rune looked at the butter-scented cookie suspiciously. Drial smiled at the suspicious gaze and bit off half of the cookie. The sound of the cookie breaking was cheerful. Drial put the remaining snack to Rune's lips as if to tell her to eat it quickly because it was delicious.
After hesitating, Rune opened her lips and the cookie popped into her mouth. As they shared half of the snacks like drool, she was reminded of old times.
As a child, Rune frequently suffered assassination threats. The vassals who followed the Stein family wanted to make their daughter the daughter-in-law of Phaeton, the head of the Stein family, so they hoped that Rune would disappear.
So, Drial willingly volunteered to look at the signs for Rune, who was anxious.
Whenever they were together, he would break the cookies in half, eat half for himself, and give the rest to Rune.
"If it's poisoned, why do you volunteer to eat it first?"
"I'm not volunteering. I just love cookies like the God of Liberty."
"And if something goes wrong and you die?"
"Then you live up to your share of the burden."
"I feel stupid...”
"I've never thought of myself as an idiot, but now that you say it, I feel like an idiot. Well, a handsome idiot isn't bad either."
"When you die, I will cry and call you an idiot... Okay?"
Young Rune said this to Drial as he ate the sweet and bitter cookie.
The young Drial did not answer that question. He just smiled as he handed her another cookie.
Rune Helid still remembers that smile. It was a smile that she couldn't help but fall in love with.
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