Chapter 169 – Pile of Ashes (1)

The winter Darling remembers from his childhood was a most peaceful season.
The harvested wheat was piled up in the granary of Yeongju Castle, and preparations were made for sowing barley.
He followed his servants to fetch firewood from the forest to be used as firewood, and at night he sat in front of a warm bonfire and enjoyed a happy dinner.
Even though everyone was poor, her smile never ceased, and her parents reassured her every time they heard news from the North, where the embers of war were still lingering.
Now that the saviors of humanity have defeated the Demon King, they will live a better life.

“My lord, this is a big deal! “Monsters are coming from the western forest!”

The day after a couple of the village’s woodcutters who had gone to get wood as usual went missing.
An urgent call came from the surveillance post.
The western part of Parenzia was a rough land with almost no people living there, except for Aldran, a small town near Monarch.
The western forest was also such a vast unexplored area that it was impossible to even name it after a specific place name.

The number of monsters increased exponentially, which was not enough for the Parencia soldiers, who were at best vigilante level, to handle.
To make matters worse, the knights who received medals after the war had left for big cities other than Parenzia, which was very close to the countryside.
The only people left are mostly disabled soldiers, guards guarding the castle, and an old butler.
Before the city was destroyed by monster attacks, the lord had to make a decision.

“Evacuate all residents near the west gate. Lock all the gates and gather the men.”
“What will you do, my lord?”
“I will set fire to the forest. Let the guard post know that we are leaving soon. And Bill.”
“Yes, matriarch.”
“Go to Lewis. “Go and ask me to protect this child.”

Louis.
He was an unknown man who had suddenly come to Farencia a few years ago and was now locked in the house he had built and would not come out.
The head of Ruhilen knew from the moment she first saw him that he was no ordinary person.
So he sometimes invited Lewis to dinner or tried to provide him with various conveniences.

“Si, I don’t like it!”

On the other hand, Darling did not like the fact that his father was volunteering to do something dangerous and that he was sending him to Lewis.
Even though it had been several years since he had settled down, he was a creepy stranger that even the residents of the territory were reluctant to see.
Even the merchant’s wagon did not approach the wasteland where the old building stood.
He often ignored invitations from nobles, especially the lords of a city, and even when he was forcefully summoned, he didn’t even make eye contact and just ate his food and disappeared.

“You’re sending me alone to a scoundrel’s home! “This should never be done!!”
“Then will you stay here? Oh, by the way, all the guards will be heading to the forest, so you’ll have to spend the night alone. Monsters who worked hard to get here will be very disappointed. I’m hungry, but the only thing I can eat is a short little boy…”
“Father!!!”

As Darling was struggling in Bill’s hands, the matriarch of Lou Hillen smiled her benevolent smile and reassured her as usual.
They say that once we get to the guard post, we can set fire to the forest with the spark stones and fire starters there to drive them out.

“Don’t worry, Darling. “Monsters living in the forest are instinctively afraid of fire.”
“Still… !”
“I’ll be back soon. “Please wait patiently.”

Darling waited anxiously for his father to leave with the soldiers.
However, no matter how much time passed, no embers rose from the western forest.
The group of monsters that came out of the forest began to get closer and closer to Parencia.
After hearing something from Bill, Lewis disappeared from the mansion at some point.

***

“Matriarch. “The princess has urgently requested a conversation.”

Darling opened his eyes at the sound of his butler’s voice and adjusted his coat against the cold wind on the castle wall.
He had already received a message from the surveillance post through the communication cable that preparations were made to burn the forest.

“I understand.”

After giving permission, Erzsebet came up the castle wall a little while later.
She squeezed the hem of her clothes and asked Darling not to set fire to the forest.

“This is not a good time, Viscount. “I hope that Ruhilen will pay more attention to preparations for war this year.”
“I refuse, student council president. We are not a group of mercenaries. “He’s a merchant.”
“As a merchant, shouldn’t you always focus on utility and make rational choices? “Please at least refrain from entering the forest directly after arson.”

The western border has been breached, and beyond that forest, the Holy Kingdom’s troops may be operating in secret.
The loss of troops that occurs while clearing out monsters cannot be overlooked.
If an accident occurred in the ashes of the forest and Darling became dangerous, it was clear that the kingdom’s supply routes would be shaken.
However, the lord of Ruhillen did not give in to Erzsebet’s request in the slightest.

“You are far from qualified to discuss the mindset of a merchant. “Isn’t the agreement on transportation of wartime supplies already concluded through Ryan & Iron?”

Erzsebet had absolutely no authority to stop Darling’s actions.
They both knew that, so Ergébet came alone, leaving her armored bottle behind so as not to reveal her status as a princess.
Darling was disrespecting her by calling her her student council president.

“Then how about this?”

Hergé Bett attempted to negotiate once more, handing over the photos he had taken out of her arms.

“This is an aerial photo of Farencia taken by the Royal Meteorological Society during the Monster Wave seven years ago.”
“It’s black salt…”
“Wouldn’t it be helpful in finding my father’s remains? “If necessary, I will research other materials through the academic society.”

However, Darling, who was looking at the photo closely, quickly shook his head resolutely.

“I appreciate your consideration, but I decline.”
“Ah, but…”
“I’m busy, so I’ll just leave.” “If the wind direction changes, smoke will rise here too, so we need to hurry.”

In the end, Erzsebet, unable to persuade Darling, turned around and wondered if there was another way.
Then, one person suddenly came to mind.
Darling, who is famous for his grueling schedule, is so close to him that he personally visits him in the hospital, and he has helped him countless times so far. Louis—— Godfather.
As Erzsebet was about to go to him, feeling like she was grasping at straws, someone spoke to her from behind.

“Are you going to see Louis?”
“Yes. You are…”

It was Bill, the butler of the Ruhillen family.
He bowed politely and made a request to Erzsebet.

“The princess has a lot of construction work to do. Do you mind if I go instead?”
“Um, but…”

I couldn’t say that in front of the old man, the man was so cold-blooded that I had to personally go and show him some cute charm to see if he would listen to me or not.
Anyway, if it’s something he doesn’t want to do, it’s obvious that Lewis will refuse even if you hold a knife to his throat, so it won’t really matter who goes.
In that case, it seemed okay to leave it to him.

“Then let me ask you a favor.”

Erzsebet handed over the photo she received at the conference to Bill.
He bowed once and then quickly disappeared from sight.

***

The cafeteria was quiet after lunch until the sun went down.
Security came by for a moment, but they almost ran away after asking a few questions about the student they had never heard of.
After that, frost had formed on the door that had not been opened for a long time, and the iron dogs and ice ducks were lying frozen on the floor.
Periodically bang! Bang! In the basement. Other than hearing sounds, there was no conversation between the three people.

“What brings you here?”

It was Liv who broke the infinite silence and opened her mouth.
She had seen Nova in Lewis’ memories in the past.
Just before leaving behind Louise and her saintess, who defeated the Demon King, I heard their conversation.
It was natural that her voice, which had always been calm, had an edge.

“You abandoned the boss.”
“…”
“What brings you back now? “Are you here to ask for help because it looks like war is going to break out again?”

Nova stared at the setting sun without answering.
My eyelids didn’t move at all, as if I wasn’t dazzled.

“I can’t send the teacher.”

Adela, who was sharpening an ice pick next to her, also nodded her head.
The two men knew what proposals Louis had made to Erzsebet in terms of persuading the archdukes.
They will not send themselves, who are still students, to the battlefield.
Lewis was worried about them, and the two of them had the same concerns.

“You have no right to ask your boss that favor.”
“Now, it’s strange that we’re living in the teacher’s cafeteria even though we’re not in any relationship.”
“That’s right! It’s only a hindrance to the boss’s construction work. And living together is something I have never done before.”
“Starting today, I will live here too!”

The context became increasingly strange, but the hostility in his eyes did not subside one bit.
The ice pick, which became stronger, trembled and moved forward little by little.
At that time, Nova, who had remained silent as if she were in another dimension even though she had the two archdukes in front of her, stood up from her seat.
It was just after the orange light passing over the ridge went out and the morning star twinkled.

“I didn’t come here to persuade Lewis. “I have work to do.”

Nova said, lightly stroking the wooden stand that Lewis had cleaned countless times with her hand.

“And it’s not like we’re just any relationship.”
“Yes?”
“What did you say?”

The moment Liv and Adela were surprised, Louis appeared from the door behind the counter.

“Cough! I’ll have to stop here for today. Hmm? Have you been playing well? “Why is it so cold here?”

He placed the pickaxe against the wall, shook off the dust from his clothes, and looked strangely at the trembling ice ducks.

“Why are they like this? “Did you catch bird flu?”
“Louis.”
“Huh?”

Nova, who was standing at the very back of the counter as if she knew he would come out, stretched out her arms and said.

“I’m tired. Hug me.”
“Hmm? Is that so… ?”

Then, without any hesitation, Lewis bent down and lifted her up.
Although he looked somewhat uncomfortable, it seemed as if he had no resentment towards his colleague who had abandoned him.
What was surprising was that it was no exaggeration to say that Lewis rarely hugged others so warmly.
I wouldn’t know if I took it off because it was annoying.

“Do you want to go up and sleep? “What about dinner?”
“It’s okay. “Put it up.”
“Of course.”
“Yes, boss… !”
“Yes?”
“I think you can go alone.”

In response to Liv’s question, Louis frowned for a moment, then shook his head and shook off his extremely rational way of thinking.

“No, I think it would be better for me to help.”
“…”
“It’s been like this for a long time… “I used to help them often.”

Liv and Adela then realized that this was not the first time she had made this request.

“You two, just wait a moment, I’ll be back soon.”

The woman nicknamed the New Moon Shaman was now waving her hand at the two women who occupied the seats next to Lewis and puffing out her mouth.

‘Early education.’

Although they had been apart for quite some time, Nova Latte stayed with Luis for a whopping five years.
And that was from when he was very young.