Chapter 181: Winter’s Moon (2) (1/2)

The procession of mountain residents was endless. They entrusted Reccordak with all the wealth they had accumulated in the mountains, including the bags on their backs, their wagons loaded with grain, and their livestock.

—It’s not much, but please, take good care of it.

—Thank you! I won’t cause any trouble!

—Boy! Say hello. Respectfully.

—Hello…

Epherene listened to their voices rumbling past. They were people who reminded her of her old country days.

“…”

Were they good memories or memories she didn’t want to recall? Epherene, immersed in thought for a moment, looked back to Deculein.

“Guard.”

He called a guard.

“Yes, Professor.”

“From now on, grab the commoners I choose.”

“Yes? Oh, yes! All right!”

Epherene watched Deculein carefully. He first carefully scanned the influx of residents. Then he picked one, and the guard shouted in his stead.

“Hey! You, over there! Come here!”

“…Yes?”

“Come here.”

“Oh, okay…”

Residents caught on Deculein’s radar were separated to a nearby vacant lot. Everyone wore frightened expressions.

“Hey! You over there too!”

From then on, he picked people like cattle.

“You too!”

“Come!”

“Come here! Don’t hesitate!”

The number of people in the mountains exceeded ten thousand, but the number taken by Deculein was less than a hundred.

“Huh? Zuphan!”

Among them, there was a guy who had met Epherene before. His name was Zuphan, the herbalist. Even in the not-too-distant future, he was a proud child who still lived in the mountains of the North. Epherene greeted him, half-joyed and half-worried.

“Why are you here?”

“My hometown is nearby.”

“Oh~. Still, can’t you run away since you have short legs?”

Zuphan shook his head.

“I have six little brothers.”

“…Oh. I see. That’s a lot… did everyone get here safely?”

“Yes.”

“That’s fortunate, ouch!”

Then someone pushed Epherene. Deculein stood behind her.

“This is enough. Now there is no one else to choose.”

“Yes.”

The guard nodded. Epherene wondered why they were selected.

“Each of you, write down a special skill of yours that is worth recording and submit it. We will assign missions according to your specialties, and you will be rewarded accordingly.”

He pulled out those that stood out to the eyes of Man of Great Wealth, those who would earn him money were worth helping. Even non-Named people must-have specialties and talents.

“This is unusual.”

Then she heard a voice and footsteps approaching. Epherene looked around.

“…You accepted even these dirt-stinking commoners.”

It was Deculein’s colleagues, Ihelm and Julie. They watched the procession of villagers with wildly different expressions.

—Guardian! Take this and eat it. Haha. You’ll like it.

—Hey. As a thank you~, without you all, we would have died without moving.

Deculein took the list of specialties from the guards without saying a word. Epherene squinted at it over his shoulder. Herbalist, shooter, woodcutter, chemist, ginseng digger, hunter… there were many specialized occupations unique to the mountains.

“Hey, Deculein?”

Ihelm spoke again. Deculein replied, clicking his tongue as if annoyed.

“I need a labor force.”

“…Hmm? Labor force? What about the supply… oh. With the food that commoners brought? I don’t think that’s enough.”

“You don’t have to worry about that part.”

Ihelm frowned but then nodded shakily.

“Indeed. You’ve always said that commoners are a class that dies instead of aristocrats…”

Julie’s eyes trembled slightly at those words, but Deculein didn’t respond. It was a statement that she had no choice but to agree with to some extent. Deculein turned to the guard.

“Give the selected commoners a Reccordak pass. There’s a lot to do.”

“Yes! All right!”

* * *

There was a lot of talk about Deculein’s tolerance toward the mountain villagers. Although it was such an exceptional situation, the Imperial Palace knights who saw his ideas and actions didn’t accept them in a good light.

“Still, if there are many people, even if things go wrong, it will give them time to escape, so I guess he accepted them to….”

“What will change if tens of thousands of commoners are employed? Only more people to feed.”

“Hey. Still, gaining a second per person is enough. Also, didn’t the commoners bring all their wealth? Using it as supplies, giving all the dangerous missions to commoners, wouldn’t we be killing three birds with one stone?”

“Hmm… well. Considering that professor’s extraordinary tricks…”

Those words flowed through the hollow Reccordak, but Deculein paid them no mind. He knew the rumors, but he didn’t try to eradicate them. He just quietly put their names on the killing list.

…His grudge was to strangle people to death, tightening around their necks like a hangman’s noose.

In any case, part of the Reccordak site was reconstructed due to the arrival of the new residents. Epherene, Drent, and Ihelm’s division and the various wizards from the Imperial Palace totaled less than forty, but they instantly built hundreds of communal houses.

“…Wow.”

In addition, the new main building of Reccordak had finally been completed. Julie and Reylie looked up at the building with the other knights.

“This building… it’s such a waste. I think I can understand why the Professor was making a fuss… imagine the loss if this breaks. How much would have been spent in vain?”

If it was too high, it became a target for flying monsters, so the floor height of the main building was kept below the wall. The wide and heavy exterior was pure white, reminiscent of the northern winter, with the black pattern of the Yukline sparsely engraved in an old-fashioned style. In addition, the trees surrounding it acted as a natural protective wall, and there were many facilities to the left and right, including a dormitory, an armory, and a training center.

“…He sure invested a lot. Gosh.”

Delric, the knight of the Imperial Palace, laughed as he felt disconcerted. Just then, Deculein appeared from the new building’s entrance.

“Everyone, come inside. From now on, I will assign offices to individual knights and wizards.”

The knights and wizards and several uninvited guests, including the Red Garnet Adventurers and Primienne, followed him.

* * *

…Office assignments were based on achievements at Reccordak. I ordered the hundreds of knights according to accurate figures and gave them each appropriate office.

“Where will our adventure team stay?”

“I haven’t been assigned yet.”

However, these guys were unexpected. Lia, Leo, and Primienne, respectively. They followed me, and when the assignment was finished, they asked for their quarters bluntly.

“Just stay at the dorms.”

“I’m still the deputy director. Shouldn’t I have an office?”

“Yes, that’s right. Us too. We’re an adventure team. The other members will come soon.”

“…”

I glanced at Epherene. The half-sleeping girl yawned as she met my gaze.

“We still have rooms 301, 303, and 306 on the 3rd-floor leftover.”

“Choose. The first to get there can take the room.”

“Oh, okay! Leo! Follow me! I have one I put my eyes on!”

“Yeah!”

Lia and Leo ran as soon as they heard, and Primienne grabbed at the children’s ankles with her magic.

Thud-!

“Ugh!”

“Ouch!”

In her early thirties, the deputy director chuckled with satisfaction as she looked at two children flat on the floor.

“…Hey! What was that all about?”

“Hmph. Compassion is a virtue, little ones. Room 303 is the widest, so you go to Room 301 or 306.”

“That’s absurd. Let go of me!”

I ignored them as they began arguing and opened the door to my office.

—I said let go of me!

—Where’s your respect?

—Ugh… Leo! Get ready!

—Yeah!

—Stay still… are you trying to fight back? Stop there.

—Run!

—Hey. I told you to stop. Hey.