Episode 638

Episode 638

“How well did I treat him! I even played the wizard card game with him during breaks because I thought he might be bored!”

‘Isn’t that why he ran away?’

Yoner suspected inwardly but decided not to ask further out of consideration for his relative.

“Okay, okay, so be quiet. I’ll take you to the mansion.”

“Can’t you take my carriage too?”

Gainando pleaded as if he were the most pitiful person in the world.

All sorts of luggage, starting with gifts for Lee Han, were in the carriage.

Of course, Yoner didn’t fall for it so easily. He looked at Gainando as if it were absurd and asked.

“Who’s going to drive it?”

“I can drive the carriage, but…”

Nillia said cautiously. Then Yoner grabbed Nillia’s hand as if there was no need.

“No. There’s no need to bother.”

“She says she can drive it! She says she can!”

“I’m going to have to add a device so you can’t touch the carriage anymore…”

At Yoner’s muttering, Nillia replied urgently.

“It’s not that much trouble. I can handle this much.”

“There’s no way driving a carriage isn’t a hassle.”

There were surprisingly few nobles who could drive a carriage even if they knew how to ride a horse.

Besides there being coachmen, driving a carriage itself was a rather difficult skill.

You had to manage to match the breath and direction of several horses…

“How many is it? If it’s four, it might be a bit tough, but somehow…”

“Eight.”

“……”

Nillia hesitated at Gainando’s answer. Yoner sighed deeply and asked.

“Why on earth did you bring an eight-horse carriage all the way here?”

“Because it’s cool…”

“Ei, eight is impossible.”

Nillia became embarrassed. After saying she could, she had to change her answer.

“Of course it’s impossible. Don’t worry about it.”

“Can’t I give it a try this once?”

“Nillia. Just shoot it.”

Gainando shut his mouth with a ‘hup’. Yoner twirled his hair and said,

“There’s only one way.”

“Yoner…!”

Gainando looked at his relative with eyes full of expectation.

As expected, she wasn’t a wizard for no reason.

If you couldn’t solve an obstacle with magic, why be a wizard?

“Go to the carriage and just pack what you’ll put in your bag. Don’t forget Lee Han’s gift.”

“…Uh, and the carriage?”

“Leave it. What else?”

“……”

Gainando opened and closed his mouth several times and then went outside with slumped shoulders.

And then he quickly turned and shouted.

“If you leave first, I’ll never forgive you next semester!”

“Alright. Alright.”

Nillia grumbled in disbelief as she watched Gainando walk away.

“Did you hear that? Even after I gave him a ride, he’s suspicious we’ll leave first!”

“Right. After attending Einrogard, he’s gotten sharper. How did he know?”

“……”

• * *

Arsil Wardanaz drank the lemon tea Lee Han made and clapped in admiration.

Alsicle smiled warmly at the sight of his younger brother being praised.

“Brother. This preserved lemon sugar is from the village.”

“……”

“……”

Arsil, not flustered, complimented him again.

“I’m saying your tea making is splendid? But this is just pouring water and…”

“Wardanaz. Enough. Please, stop.”

Alsicle stopped him without thinking.

He didn’t know one side of the conversation, but he couldn’t watch any longer.

In the meantime, the meal was served. It was a simple but heartfelt meal.

Freshly baked bread and jam, rice and eggs, meat stir-fried in oil (Lee Han’s favorite dish), and sardines cooked for Alsicle’s portion.

The skill and each ingredient were excellent, but the menu was so simple as to be surprising. Alsicle was startled to see the two brothers eating as if nothing was wrong.

“Do you always eat like this?”

“Normally, it’s even simpler. I usually eat alone.”

It was just set like this because Arsil and Alsicle were here today; usually, he made do even simpler.

Alsicle looked at Lee Han in shock.

“So you usually ate like a poor slave?”

“…Ah, no. It’s just more convenient for me.”

The knights were busy patrolling outside, and even if Lee Han set an elaborate table alone, it was just a burden.

Arsil nodded and said,

“No, brother. It’s not because I’m frugal or good… it’s just for convenience… That thing you said was tasty? What are you talking about? That sandwich was just… bread with ingredients stacked on it.”

Arsil, unconcerned, gave a thumbs up and praised him.

Alsicle realized from the scene that he had just misunderstood.

‘It must’ve just been Wardanaz who was odd!’

He probably ate simply because he didn’t even have enough time to study magic.

‘Surely he wasn’t saying Einrogard didn’t serve meals because of this?’

If he described not eating because he was busy studying in this way…

Alsicle thought that if Einrogard students heard, they would rush in to pluck his feathers.

After the light meal, Arsil started spreading out miscellaneous items on the table.

A glass bottle filled with mysterious oil, a worn notebook, an umbrella engraved with symbols, a tough leather pencil case, a jade comb, an inkwell with ink whose color constantly changed, a quill, a sharpening stone, etc…

Alsicle suddenly wondered why he was taking all these out.

“Brother. I picked this cloak. I’m not changing my mind. It’s boring? It’s fine. I like boring things. You say this umbrella summons lightning? But isn’t it dangerous if an item for rainy days summons lightning. I’ll just use the cloak.”

“……”

Realizing what kind of conversation the two were having, Alsicle carefully checked the nearby items.

It looked like an ordinary sharpening stone, but there was magic cast inside the stone. It made the sword attack nearby enemies on its own.

Including its owner!

‘…Could it be that he hates his younger brother?’

Alsicle thought so as he looked up.

However, with an innocent face, Arsil joyfully offered one item after another to his younger brother. There wasn’t a hint of malice anywhere on that face.

“You say we should give one to Lord Pengerine too? That’s not a bad idea. Lord Pengerine, my brother would like to give you a gift. Please choose one.”

“Wait, you said these are all dangerous.”

“What do you mean. It’s not that bad. If they were that dangerous, I couldn’t give them as gifts. Go ahead.”

‘T-this guy! He sacrificed me to his brother!’

Alsicle was shocked, realizing that Lee Han had offered him as a sacrifice.

Because his brother kept trying to give him dangerous things as heartfelt gifts, he deflected so they’d be offered to him instead.

“Um, I’m alright…”

“My brother wouldn’t possibly refuse a gift as a guest, he says.”

“Did he really say that??”

Alsicle was flustered, but there was no way out.

As a guest, you couldn’t refuse a gift for no real reason. It was also a matter of the other party’s reputation.

‘Choose the least dangerous one… Ugh. I wish anyone would come in…’

Bang!

“Hello.”

“!”

Yoner and his group came in, and Alsicle and Lee Han quickly stood up.

“Welcome!!”

“You’re finally here!”

“D-did you really wait?”

The unexpectedly enthusiastic reaction startled Yoner and his friends.

With Lee Han it made sense, but even Mr. Alsicle from House Pengerine was acting this way?

“Did you have any trouble on the way?”

“There wasn’t any trouble, but aren’t there too few people around? It feels less populated than the mountains.”

“Really? Is it that much?”

Lee Han tilted his head at Nillia’s words.

It didn’t seem that unusual…

“Anything else?”

“…You’re not just not sending letters to me, are you…?”

Nillia looked around cautiously and whispered.

“Haha. That’s just a misunderstanding. I sent one right away last time.”

“R-right? I thought so.”

Worried that she might end up on the “person who doesn’t send letters” list for no good reason, Nillia sighed in relief.

“And this person is?”

“Oh. He’s my brother. Arsil of House Wardanaz. He speaks in spirit language so it’ll be hard to follow what he says.”

“???”

“??!”

While Yoner and Nillia were shocked, Lee Han spoke with Gainando.

“What’s wrong? You look like someone who lost their carriage.”

“I really did lose it!!”

“What? Why? How?”

Knowing the real story, Yoner and Nillia weren’t very curious about that.

They were far more curious about how Lee Han’s brother communicated.

“Wait, what do you mean by speaking in spirit language…”

“What is that even…”

“Wait. Listen to this first.”

After calming his friends, Lee Han asked why Gainando’s carriage was gone.

Turns out, the carriage itself wasn’t gone. The coachman had suddenly run off.

“Did you force him to read magazines, use black magic, beg for snacks, ask him to do your homework, or ask to play wizard card games?”

“…I-I did ask to play wizard card games…”

“Then that’s why he ran away.”

“What, is asking to play wizard card games such a big crime!?”

“If you keep insisting, it is. You can track down the carriage later. No one is going to take it.”

At Lee Han’s words, Nillia was puzzled.

The town in front of the estate was fairly large. And the larger the town, the more thieves, usually.

Even in the northern mountain villages, if you tied up your horse without anyone watching, it wouldn’t last long before disappearing, so why would it be any different here?

“Why? Someone could take it.”

“Hehe. Don’t worry about it.”

Allarlong entered, taking off his helmet.

Thanks to Lee Han’s friends visiting, the elder knight was in a very good mood.

“The people of this village don’t do such things.”

“But… isn’t it a little risky to trust just in good intentions?”

Nillia asked carefully.

Seeing a knight for the first time, and one incredibly strong at that, even talking to him was nerve-wracking.

“It’s not a matter of good intentions. It’s because of the rules of the village. If there’s a problem in the village, now House Wardanaz is supposed to dispatch people to solve it. But usually, the villagers take care of it themselves long before it comes to that.”

Allarlong poured himself tea from the teapot and sipped as he explained.

There isn’t a town in the Empire without its own peculiarities, but thanks to its proximity to the territory of House Wardanaz, Udumhwa Village had even stronger and more unique characteristics.

Among the great noble houses, those with particularly long history and power usually held rights over neighboring territories, such as judiciary, taxation, security, etc.

House Wardanaz was the same.

“House Wardanaz protects the people of its territory with one of the lowest tax rates and safest public order in the Empire. The villagers are very grateful for that. That’s why they never tolerate thieves disturbing order!”

At Allarlong’s words, Lee Han nodded as if he’d heard it many times before and prepared snacks for his friends.

Stories about House Wardanaz governing so well that the people didn’t want to bother them had grown tiresome for him.

“As much as House Wardanaz fulfills its duties, the villagers try to repay in kind.”

“That’s right. Haha.”

Allarlong’s words left all the friends at the table looking impressed.

Hearing it like this, it really did seem to be a land full of beautiful virtues.