The knights chatted for a moment and then surrounded Greta.
“Squad leader, should we take you to the unit first?”
“Wouldn’t it be better to just take the grain and drive them out?”
The knights were whispering among themselves. Greta, who couldn't understand what they were saying but could sense it, shouted at the top of her voice.
“I know where the grain is stored after the harvest! Please take me to the chief!”
The squad leader looked around at the knights and asked.
“Is there anyone here who speaks Etruscan?”
“I’m not very good at it... I think you said grain... Commander...?”
They exchanged glances as the knight spoke, barely able to understand a word or two. 'Grain.' It was a word that struck their ears.
"...She’s a young girl. What could be dangerous about taking her with you?”
“But didn’t the Commander of the Knights tell us to avoid contact with the people here as much as possible because we don’t know what disease they might have?”
“Isn’t it food? If we just do it properly once, there won’t be any more attacks from us. What is this disgrace to the Knights? Instead of fighting, we’re just splitting up into small units and looking around for something to eat!”
The squad leader settled the controversy in one breath.
“Let’s take her for now. The captain will make the decision.”
Greta, who was led before the Commander of the Montpellier Knights of Gallico, gulped in awe at his majesty.
A large, middle-aged man wearing a huge suit of silver armor sat with a group of men of enormous size around him.
Greta was sweating coldly. She was starting to feel feverish. She couldn't tell if it was the sweat from her fever or from being nervous.
She pulled the cape down a little more so that the cold sweat wouldn't be noticeable. Just a little longer, just a little longer.
“So, you were kicked out of town?”
The interpreter relayed the Commander's question.
“Yes, yes! Those damned people! They deserve it! When our father died, they took all of our mother’s property and kicked us out!”
Greta glanced at the Commander-in-Chief as she confessed her completely fabricated story.
“They should be chased out in their underwear too! I will tell you where the village granary is!”
The Knight Commander opened his eyes and glared at Greta.
“What do you gain by doing this? Revenge?”
Greta, who had suffered on the streets, knew very well how to deceive people. In such cases, you have to lie big to get it to work.
“Take me to Gallico!”
Greta put on an enthusiastic expression and shouted loudly.
“I’m sick of the people in this country! I heard that Montpellier is a huge, bustling new city. I want to go there and make a fresh start!”
In fact, it was an appeal that strategically placed elements to stimulate the other person's vanity, but to others, Greta really looked like a young girl who had no idea how the world worked.
The commander of the knights glared at Greta without any change in expression, but the interpreter next to him looked at Greta with an ambiguous expression and a pitiful look.
It wouldn't be easy for a girl to follow the army... The moment the army loosens its reins even a little, it turns into a mob that enjoys looting and arson.
This was especially true because there were not only strict knights but also infantry units.
The Knight Commander had the same thought as the interpreter, but he did not bother to correct Greta's misunderstanding because food was right in front of them.
They promised to take you to Galico safely, and after they received the food, well. After that, you have to take care of yourself.
“How much grain is stored up?”
'I got caught!'
Greta lowered her head to hide her smile.
It was a game of mutual deception. The winner of this game was not the knight commander in silver armor, but Greta with her innocent face.
“50 kantaro is more than enough!”
It was enough to feed the entire Gallico army for three weeks without having to worry about food.
It was hard to give up something that could be obtained without fighting a single battle or paying a single penny. Greed flashed across the Knight Commander’s eyes.
“Lead me.”
Greta, riding on a donkey, led the five hundred knights.
The situation was quite comical, as the Destrier, the first-class military horse ridden by the knights, was three times larger than Greta's donkey, but no one laughed.
The place Greta led them to was the place she had made a promise with Ariadne in advance.
It was an abandoned warehouse that a nearby village used for harvesting.
During the night, Cesare and Ariadne's men had stocked up on grain, and a team of skilled Rambouillet nurses had been at work.
“This is it.”
The commander of the knights smacked his lips as he looked at the wheat piled up in the warehouse. There were fifty kantaros worth of new wheat, which had not been touched at all, filling the grain.
“Take care of everything!”
The warehouse was also equipped with sacks for easy carrying. It looked as if someone had been trying to move the grain but had left it behind in a hurry because they had run out of time.
The Knight Commander was watching the work site with his arms folded and a grin on his face at the unexpected windfall.
The knights were also in a good mood at the thought that they would no longer have to scour the countryside for food for the time being.
Just then, a panicked cry was heard from a corner of the warehouse.
“Captain!”
"Hmm?"
“I think you should check this out...”
As the Montpellier Knight Commander was about to approach the source of the noise, an urgent voice stopped him.
“No, don’t come any closer! Get the captain out of the warehouse right now!”
The Knight Commander sensed that something was wrong and hurried out of the warehouse.
“What’s going on!”
“A corpse... There is a corpse.”
Why should the army make such a fuss over seeing a corpse on enemy soil? The moment the Knight Commander was about to shout, the report was finally completed.
“It’s a corpse whose fingertips and toes have turned black... It looks like the corpse of a plague patient.”
“It’s not just one or two! There are over thirty of them!”
“It’s hidden among the grains!”
“!”
The Knight Commander, who had grasped the situation, looked for Greta with an angry face.
Greta, who was leaning against the warehouse entrance, smiled with excitement when she met the manager's eyes.
'I got hit...!'
Greta stood there, not even hiding her expression. She didn't seem to have any intention of running away.
Ironically, the captain thus realized that Greta had done her part and the trap was complete.
“This little rat...!”
Phew!
It was already too late, but he had to vent his anger.
The longsword that came out of the captain's waist stabbed the girl who was giggling silently in the chest.
“Ugh!”
With the blade still in her chest, Greta vomited a mouthful of blood.
The captain realized once again that something was wrong. When someone gets stabbed in the chest, the blood that comes out is usually bright red.
The blood that this Etruscan girl was spitting out was black and dead. This girl was a human weapon in her own right.
“Damn it! Everybody get out!”
The captain pulled the sword from the girl's chest and nervously rubbed it against the dirt next to him, wiping away Greta's blood.
Greta's body, having lost her support, fell to her knees on the dirt floor, then collapsed like a doll with its strings cut.
“Set fire to the warehouse!”
Although they hastily burned down the grain warehouses filled with the corpses of plague victims, the Gallico Kingdom army did not know how to deal with the Black Death.
The person in contact was the problem.
And of those who came into contact, the one who came into closest contact with the strain was the commander-in-chief of the army, the Montpellier Knight Commander-in-Chief of Gallico.
"Miss!"
At the end of the western corridor of the de Mare mansion, Ariadne's quarters were dark. It was broad daylight, but curtains were drawn everywhere, preventing any ray of sunlight from entering.
There was even a curtain drawn over Ariadne's bed, blocking out even the little bit of light that came in through the crack in the door.
“Miss, let me take off the curtain!”
Boom!
Sancha, who had pulled back the curtain that covered Ariadne's bed, grabbed Ariadne's hand and cried out.
“Good news! The heavy knights of the Kingdom of Galico have begun to retreat!”
Ariadne, who was wearing a nightgown instead of pajamas and had not dressed up at all, looked at the mountain chariot without any disturbance.
“It seems like the entire army is moving north now! The retreat is going so fast that they’ve already reached Manfredo!”
Manfredo was a city in the central-northern Etruscan region, already retreating one-third of the way from San Carlo to the border.
“They held out for three days in a place like the outskirts of San Carlo, but then lost and started to head north! Once they set off, their steps quickened! As expected of the Knights. Hehe.”
Ariadne just looked at the mountain chariot with blank eyes.
But the joyful Sancha did not have time to look at the young lady's expression and continued to babble about the glory of the Etruscans.
"Ah."
Sancha, who noticed Ariadne's expression belatedly, kept her mouth shut. She cautiously began to speak.
“And... there’s something bad. I’m not sure if you should know, Miss...”
“Greta is dead.”
Ariadne blurted out. Sancha's eyes widened in surprise. No, how did you know?
"That's right."
Sancha decided that it was simply because Miss Ariadne was quick-witted.
In fact, it was difficult to think that Greta, who had left like that, would return alive, and the only bad news that Sancha could carefully deliver to Ariadne now was the news of Greta's death.
“In the village of Nargera where we dug a trap... They found Greta.”
“How was she discovered?”
“She was stabbed... They burned down the warehouse, but fortunately, her remains were intact. They couldn’t collect her because of the Black Death... They buried her in a pit.”
“...Thank goodness.”
If she was stabbed to death, it was instant death. It means she died without seeing any serious injuries.
The shepherd died with his skin peeled off from all over his body. Ariadne shivered. Sometimes, enemies are more merciful than their own people.
Sancha said, tying up Ariadne's messy hair.
“I always think about this, but you really are quick-witted, young lady.”
"Yes?"
Sancha also had a desire to cheer Ariadne up a little, for the past few days her young lady had seemed exceedingly melancholic.
“You know what I’m going to say just by seeing me come in! How do you know that?”
Ariadne quietly buried her left hand under the blanket.
Four days ago, her left ring finger started to hurt like it was on fire, and there was a small, bright red dot on it.
It was a sign of Ariadne's sin. She had a gut feeling when she saw the red dot.
'Greta is dead.'
And Ariadne gained one more enlightenment.
'Greta was not destined to die from the Black Death. She was innocent and pure.'
There have been countless people who have become famous through Ariadne's hands.
Without going too far, dear Lucrezia died much earlier than in her previous life due to Ariadne's scheme.
But the 'Golden Rule' did not punish Ariadne for that.
Was it because she deserved to die, or was it because Ariadne had the right to just revenge?
What is certain is that Greta's death this time is neither of the two. Ariadne covered her face in self-loathing.
Ariadne changes the future, and Greta's fate takes a turn for the worse.
If Greta were alive, she would have found a good husband with a sad personality and the two would have lived happily ever after. They would have had rabbit-like children.
A life where she comes home after a hard day plays with the babies by the new kerosene lamp, talks to her husband about the day's events, and lies down in bed feeling the warmth of her family.
A peaceful daily life where she feels joy from a cool breeze in the summer and smiles for a moment at the warmth of a baked potato in the winter.
Where on earth is the value that is worth sacrificing?
Can we really say that the perpetuation of a country called the Etruscan kingdom, ruled by Alfonso de Carlo rather than by Cesare de Como, was worth that much?
Is Queen Ariadne really so important as to be able to end someone's life and then let it slide instead of Queen Isabella?
Ariadne closed her eyes in confusion.
“...Miss? Are you okay?”
Ariadne was suddenly brought back to the present by Sancha's affectionate voice.
She looked up at her red-haired maid, the closest thing to the 'family' she had right now.
She rested her head on Sancha's shoulder. She needed warmth, the scent of people.
“Make sure to write down where Greta’s body is buried. After the Black Death is over, we can retrieve the remains, cremate them, and bring them back to San Carlo.”
Sancha nodded.
“I will do so, Miss. I will take responsibility and take care of it.”
“Send someone to Prince Cesare. Tell him that ‘Greta’ from the Rambouillet Home has done something great, so he can tell His Majesty the King how to receive a medal.”
There must have been some who frowned at the idea of giving a medal to a girl from the slums, but it didn't matter.
She would make it happen somehow. Ariadne was determined to properly grant Greta's last wish.
“I need to leave a record of how this all started.”
The plague was still raging and the Gallico army was still within the borders. It was not the time to release information.
But when all this chaos is over, scholars will compile history books.
Ariadne wanted to carve Greta's name into three letters on a piece of parchment that would last a long time.
“Oh my, Miss. Everyone already knows!”
“Yes? What does that mean?”
Ariadne looked up at the mountain tea.
“The Gallico army began to retreat. Everyone wondered why they were suddenly doing this, but word spread among Cesare’s men and the relief workers who had participated in the Narghera village operation!”
Greta had very wide feet.
Most people liked her, and there were often people who disliked Greta for being a show-off, but there was absolutely no one in the relief home who didn't know Greta.
And as things turned out, Greta became the icon representing the Rambouillet Relief Home.
“Our Greta sacrificed herself to spread the Black Death to those Gallico bastards, and the Rambouillet relief workers, who were always treated like idiots, defeated Gallico’s elite troops that even the Royal Guard couldn’t lift a finger against!”
The excited Sancha swung her fist in the air.
“There’s chaos because the girl saved the capital! Children are singing in the streets!”
“Is there a song with Greta’s name in it?”
Sancha answered.
“Oh, that’s one too. I think there are more songs with your name in them.”
“Squad leader, should we take you to the unit first?”
“Wouldn’t it be better to just take the grain and drive them out?”
The knights were whispering among themselves. Greta, who couldn't understand what they were saying but could sense it, shouted at the top of her voice.
“I know where the grain is stored after the harvest! Please take me to the chief!”
The squad leader looked around at the knights and asked.
“Is there anyone here who speaks Etruscan?”
“I’m not very good at it... I think you said grain... Commander...?”
They exchanged glances as the knight spoke, barely able to understand a word or two. 'Grain.' It was a word that struck their ears.
"...She’s a young girl. What could be dangerous about taking her with you?”
“But didn’t the Commander of the Knights tell us to avoid contact with the people here as much as possible because we don’t know what disease they might have?”
“Isn’t it food? If we just do it properly once, there won’t be any more attacks from us. What is this disgrace to the Knights? Instead of fighting, we’re just splitting up into small units and looking around for something to eat!”
The squad leader settled the controversy in one breath.
“Let’s take her for now. The captain will make the decision.”
***
Greta, who was led before the Commander of the Montpellier Knights of Gallico, gulped in awe at his majesty.
A large, middle-aged man wearing a huge suit of silver armor sat with a group of men of enormous size around him.
Greta was sweating coldly. She was starting to feel feverish. She couldn't tell if it was the sweat from her fever or from being nervous.
She pulled the cape down a little more so that the cold sweat wouldn't be noticeable. Just a little longer, just a little longer.
“So, you were kicked out of town?”
The interpreter relayed the Commander's question.
“Yes, yes! Those damned people! They deserve it! When our father died, they took all of our mother’s property and kicked us out!”
Greta glanced at the Commander-in-Chief as she confessed her completely fabricated story.
“They should be chased out in their underwear too! I will tell you where the village granary is!”
The Knight Commander opened his eyes and glared at Greta.
“What do you gain by doing this? Revenge?”
Greta, who had suffered on the streets, knew very well how to deceive people. In such cases, you have to lie big to get it to work.
“Take me to Gallico!”
Greta put on an enthusiastic expression and shouted loudly.
“I’m sick of the people in this country! I heard that Montpellier is a huge, bustling new city. I want to go there and make a fresh start!”
In fact, it was an appeal that strategically placed elements to stimulate the other person's vanity, but to others, Greta really looked like a young girl who had no idea how the world worked.
The commander of the knights glared at Greta without any change in expression, but the interpreter next to him looked at Greta with an ambiguous expression and a pitiful look.
It wouldn't be easy for a girl to follow the army... The moment the army loosens its reins even a little, it turns into a mob that enjoys looting and arson.
This was especially true because there were not only strict knights but also infantry units.
The Knight Commander had the same thought as the interpreter, but he did not bother to correct Greta's misunderstanding because food was right in front of them.
They promised to take you to Galico safely, and after they received the food, well. After that, you have to take care of yourself.
“How much grain is stored up?”
'I got caught!'
Greta lowered her head to hide her smile.
It was a game of mutual deception. The winner of this game was not the knight commander in silver armor, but Greta with her innocent face.
“50 kantaro is more than enough!”
It was enough to feed the entire Gallico army for three weeks without having to worry about food.
It was hard to give up something that could be obtained without fighting a single battle or paying a single penny. Greed flashed across the Knight Commander’s eyes.
“Lead me.”
***
Greta, riding on a donkey, led the five hundred knights.
The situation was quite comical, as the Destrier, the first-class military horse ridden by the knights, was three times larger than Greta's donkey, but no one laughed.
The place Greta led them to was the place she had made a promise with Ariadne in advance.
It was an abandoned warehouse that a nearby village used for harvesting.
During the night, Cesare and Ariadne's men had stocked up on grain, and a team of skilled Rambouillet nurses had been at work.
“This is it.”
The commander of the knights smacked his lips as he looked at the wheat piled up in the warehouse. There were fifty kantaros worth of new wheat, which had not been touched at all, filling the grain.
“Take care of everything!”
The warehouse was also equipped with sacks for easy carrying. It looked as if someone had been trying to move the grain but had left it behind in a hurry because they had run out of time.
The Knight Commander was watching the work site with his arms folded and a grin on his face at the unexpected windfall.
The knights were also in a good mood at the thought that they would no longer have to scour the countryside for food for the time being.
Just then, a panicked cry was heard from a corner of the warehouse.
“Captain!”
"Hmm?"
“I think you should check this out...”
As the Montpellier Knight Commander was about to approach the source of the noise, an urgent voice stopped him.
“No, don’t come any closer! Get the captain out of the warehouse right now!”
The Knight Commander sensed that something was wrong and hurried out of the warehouse.
“What’s going on!”
“A corpse... There is a corpse.”
Why should the army make such a fuss over seeing a corpse on enemy soil? The moment the Knight Commander was about to shout, the report was finally completed.
“It’s a corpse whose fingertips and toes have turned black... It looks like the corpse of a plague patient.”
“It’s not just one or two! There are over thirty of them!”
“It’s hidden among the grains!”
“!”
The Knight Commander, who had grasped the situation, looked for Greta with an angry face.
Greta, who was leaning against the warehouse entrance, smiled with excitement when she met the manager's eyes.
'I got hit...!'
Greta stood there, not even hiding her expression. She didn't seem to have any intention of running away.
Ironically, the captain thus realized that Greta had done her part and the trap was complete.
“This little rat...!”
Phew!
It was already too late, but he had to vent his anger.
The longsword that came out of the captain's waist stabbed the girl who was giggling silently in the chest.
“Ugh!”
With the blade still in her chest, Greta vomited a mouthful of blood.
The captain realized once again that something was wrong. When someone gets stabbed in the chest, the blood that comes out is usually bright red.
The blood that this Etruscan girl was spitting out was black and dead. This girl was a human weapon in her own right.
“Damn it! Everybody get out!”
The captain pulled the sword from the girl's chest and nervously rubbed it against the dirt next to him, wiping away Greta's blood.
Greta's body, having lost her support, fell to her knees on the dirt floor, then collapsed like a doll with its strings cut.
“Set fire to the warehouse!”
Although they hastily burned down the grain warehouses filled with the corpses of plague victims, the Gallico Kingdom army did not know how to deal with the Black Death.
The person in contact was the problem.
And of those who came into contact, the one who came into closest contact with the strain was the commander-in-chief of the army, the Montpellier Knight Commander-in-Chief of Gallico.
***
"Miss!"
At the end of the western corridor of the de Mare mansion, Ariadne's quarters were dark. It was broad daylight, but curtains were drawn everywhere, preventing any ray of sunlight from entering.
There was even a curtain drawn over Ariadne's bed, blocking out even the little bit of light that came in through the crack in the door.
“Miss, let me take off the curtain!”
Boom!
Sancha, who had pulled back the curtain that covered Ariadne's bed, grabbed Ariadne's hand and cried out.
“Good news! The heavy knights of the Kingdom of Galico have begun to retreat!”
Ariadne, who was wearing a nightgown instead of pajamas and had not dressed up at all, looked at the mountain chariot without any disturbance.
“It seems like the entire army is moving north now! The retreat is going so fast that they’ve already reached Manfredo!”
Manfredo was a city in the central-northern Etruscan region, already retreating one-third of the way from San Carlo to the border.
“They held out for three days in a place like the outskirts of San Carlo, but then lost and started to head north! Once they set off, their steps quickened! As expected of the Knights. Hehe.”
Ariadne just looked at the mountain chariot with blank eyes.
But the joyful Sancha did not have time to look at the young lady's expression and continued to babble about the glory of the Etruscans.
"Ah."
Sancha, who noticed Ariadne's expression belatedly, kept her mouth shut. She cautiously began to speak.
“And... there’s something bad. I’m not sure if you should know, Miss...”
“Greta is dead.”
Ariadne blurted out. Sancha's eyes widened in surprise. No, how did you know?
"That's right."
Sancha decided that it was simply because Miss Ariadne was quick-witted.
In fact, it was difficult to think that Greta, who had left like that, would return alive, and the only bad news that Sancha could carefully deliver to Ariadne now was the news of Greta's death.
“In the village of Nargera where we dug a trap... They found Greta.”
“How was she discovered?”
“She was stabbed... They burned down the warehouse, but fortunately, her remains were intact. They couldn’t collect her because of the Black Death... They buried her in a pit.”
“...Thank goodness.”
If she was stabbed to death, it was instant death. It means she died without seeing any serious injuries.
The shepherd died with his skin peeled off from all over his body. Ariadne shivered. Sometimes, enemies are more merciful than their own people.
Sancha said, tying up Ariadne's messy hair.
“I always think about this, but you really are quick-witted, young lady.”
"Yes?"
Sancha also had a desire to cheer Ariadne up a little, for the past few days her young lady had seemed exceedingly melancholic.
“You know what I’m going to say just by seeing me come in! How do you know that?”
Ariadne quietly buried her left hand under the blanket.
Four days ago, her left ring finger started to hurt like it was on fire, and there was a small, bright red dot on it.
It was a sign of Ariadne's sin. She had a gut feeling when she saw the red dot.
'Greta is dead.'
And Ariadne gained one more enlightenment.
'Greta was not destined to die from the Black Death. She was innocent and pure.'
There have been countless people who have become famous through Ariadne's hands.
Without going too far, dear Lucrezia died much earlier than in her previous life due to Ariadne's scheme.
But the 'Golden Rule' did not punish Ariadne for that.
Was it because she deserved to die, or was it because Ariadne had the right to just revenge?
What is certain is that Greta's death this time is neither of the two. Ariadne covered her face in self-loathing.
Ariadne changes the future, and Greta's fate takes a turn for the worse.
If Greta were alive, she would have found a good husband with a sad personality and the two would have lived happily ever after. They would have had rabbit-like children.
A life where she comes home after a hard day plays with the babies by the new kerosene lamp, talks to her husband about the day's events, and lies down in bed feeling the warmth of her family.
A peaceful daily life where she feels joy from a cool breeze in the summer and smiles for a moment at the warmth of a baked potato in the winter.
Where on earth is the value that is worth sacrificing?
Can we really say that the perpetuation of a country called the Etruscan kingdom, ruled by Alfonso de Carlo rather than by Cesare de Como, was worth that much?
Is Queen Ariadne really so important as to be able to end someone's life and then let it slide instead of Queen Isabella?
Ariadne closed her eyes in confusion.
“...Miss? Are you okay?”
Ariadne was suddenly brought back to the present by Sancha's affectionate voice.
She looked up at her red-haired maid, the closest thing to the 'family' she had right now.
She rested her head on Sancha's shoulder. She needed warmth, the scent of people.
“Make sure to write down where Greta’s body is buried. After the Black Death is over, we can retrieve the remains, cremate them, and bring them back to San Carlo.”
Sancha nodded.
“I will do so, Miss. I will take responsibility and take care of it.”
“Send someone to Prince Cesare. Tell him that ‘Greta’ from the Rambouillet Home has done something great, so he can tell His Majesty the King how to receive a medal.”
There must have been some who frowned at the idea of giving a medal to a girl from the slums, but it didn't matter.
She would make it happen somehow. Ariadne was determined to properly grant Greta's last wish.
“I need to leave a record of how this all started.”
The plague was still raging and the Gallico army was still within the borders. It was not the time to release information.
But when all this chaos is over, scholars will compile history books.
Ariadne wanted to carve Greta's name into three letters on a piece of parchment that would last a long time.
“Oh my, Miss. Everyone already knows!”
“Yes? What does that mean?”
Ariadne looked up at the mountain tea.
“The Gallico army began to retreat. Everyone wondered why they were suddenly doing this, but word spread among Cesare’s men and the relief workers who had participated in the Narghera village operation!”
Greta had very wide feet.
Most people liked her, and there were often people who disliked Greta for being a show-off, but there was absolutely no one in the relief home who didn't know Greta.
And as things turned out, Greta became the icon representing the Rambouillet Relief Home.
“Our Greta sacrificed herself to spread the Black Death to those Gallico bastards, and the Rambouillet relief workers, who were always treated like idiots, defeated Gallico’s elite troops that even the Royal Guard couldn’t lift a finger against!”
The excited Sancha swung her fist in the air.
“There’s chaos because the girl saved the capital! Children are singing in the streets!”
“Is there a song with Greta’s name in it?”
Sancha answered.
“Oh, that’s one too. I think there are more songs with your name in them.”
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