Chapter 112
Chapter 112
Though I had been proposed a new business, I had no intention of pursuing it immediately.
Ice cream came first for now.
However, while delivering ice cream, we did provide the service of transporting small items or letters to those regions at the request of ‘Lu & Cream’ VIP customers.
Most nobles didn’t use our services much since they had their own people in their households, but restaurants and newly emerging power players seemed to quite like the services we provided.
They were very pleased with the well-delivered letters without having to spend a fortune.
[SYSTEM | Quest ‘Deliver 100 Letters’ has been completed.]
Incidentally, the system that had been watching my reactions quietly kept giving me new quests. I wasn’t trying to complete quests, but somehow I ended up completing them one by one, two by two.
“We still haven’t heard from Lord Cassis.”
After finishing a business meeting with Isiel, during a brief conversation, I brought up Cassis, whom I hadn’t spoken much about lately.
Isiel hesitated.
“Maybe he’s just busy?”
“How are things in the east?”
“…How much do you already know?”
“…Only what everyone knows.”
While I had been building ‘Lu & Cream’ to this point, regrettably, there hadn’t been much progress regarding the demonic beasts.
Well, I didn’t know how things were going in the northeast where Cassis was actively working.
“They say an entire village was annihilated, and the village itself has become a den of demonic beasts.”
“Hmm.”
“They say Lord Cassis is busy dealing with the demonic beasts, but honestly, it’s strange.”
Isiel asked, “What is?”
“Is there any reason for Lord Cassis to stay in Jenoria for this long?”
“…”
“Considering Lord Cassis’s abilities, it’s strange.”
While my business thrived in Cassis’s absence, everything else was rather disappointing.
Demonic beasts still continued to appear in Jedo, the imperial knights disposed of them in Cassis’s stead, and Leilyranda Jackmüller became a pitiful princess loved by the people.
“Irina.”
“Yes.”
“…I’ll apologize for initially opposing you.”
At this sudden apology, I blinked. Realizing that what he had done was apologize to me, I slowly tilted my head.
“Just now?”
“Yes, just now.”
“…I accept your apology.”
Isiel remained silent for a moment, then said, “I don’t know when Cassis will return, but when he does, you’ll be busy too.”
“…Why?”
“Because disaster will strike.”
Isiel said nonchalantly, “Cassis will be fighting alone, so you’ll certainly be busy.”
***
Every newspaper was abuzz.
That ‘thing’ which was thought to have disappeared had appeared again. ‘It’ had torn through space and appeared in the Jenoria Mountains.
I understood why Isiel had said such things.
That thing.
That terrifying eyeball that had appeared at Duke Hellis’s mansion.
Reading the newspaper, there was a small mention of Cassis.
[Ultimately, it appears that Grand Duke Cassis Luwin has failed to eradicate the demonic beasts that erupted in Jenoria…]
Only then did I have no choice but to act.
I grabbed Isiel by the collar and went to find Isolini Blende. Through them, what I eventually discovered was…
“That damn Emperor.”
“Irina.”
“He went to war for the empire, and they cut off supplies to someone like him?”
“…Indeed.”
Information that was impossible to obtain from below flowed effortlessly among the high nobility.
Isolini Blende, by nature, had never aligned herself with Luwin’s ideals.
However, hearing that her younger brother was isolated with Cassis in the northeastern Jenoria Mountains, waiting for supplies that never properly arrived, she seemed to have reached out to me.
“What exactly is the situation?”
“They say the situation in the mountains wasn’t that serious from the beginning. There weren’t that many demonic beasts.”
“And then?”
“Those killed by the demonic beasts… started to wake up.”
What?
I doubted my ears.
Isolini spoke calmly, “The village was home to about 300 people.”
“Did they… all wake up?”
“They didn’t all wake up at once, but I’ve heard news that their numbers are gradually increasing.”
I blankly listened to the rather shocking news.
The dead were waking up again?
Isn’t that… just zombies?
Alarmed, I immediately grabbed Isiel and asked, “Please explain the situation in detail.”
“Ah, those killed by demonic beasts are waking up again. However, they severely lack self-awareness and possess strength that transcends human levels.”
“Hmm.”
“In other words, living beings that died from demonic beasts could be considered to have become demonic beasts themselves.”
Isolini handed me related documents and added, “And before Cassis went, noble families in the vicinity had already sent military support several times.”
“And?”
“Not a single one returned.”
“That army will now reappear as demonic beasts too, I suppose.”
I seemed to understand why Cassis remained trapped there.
War is essentially no different from a battle of resources, and he was facing that enormous number of demonic beasts without proper support.
“Can’t he just come back?”
“Cassis Luwin is a knight who knows honor.”
“He’s also someone who knows there are things more important than honor at times.”
Despite receiving Isiel’s help, there wasn’t much that could be done. Cassis was the head of a grand ducal family that had gone bankrupt and was on the verge of collapse.
There finally seemed to be a path toward repayment and recovery, but even that remained distant.
No one stepped forward for Cassis, who possessed nothing but lofty honor.
Ding!
[SYSTEM | The quest ‘News from the East’ has arrived.]
The quest clearly mentioned news from the east, but what came to me was news from other regions.
[News from the East
(Story update in progress)]
For instance, Marquis Cloi continued to frequent the imperial court, and the Emperor discreetly sent a few individuals to Grand Duke Luwin’s territory during his absence.
Even this was only possible because I had scattered ‘Lu & Cream’ throughout several regions of the empire.
I grabbed my head and wailed, “What should I do?”
[Oh dear.]
“Roen, why can’t I contact this guy? If the master is too busy to make contact, his subordinate should be prompt!”
I really hate quests, but I don’t know how many times I’ve checked this empty quest.
No matter how many times I checked, the quest wouldn’t update.
[That is troubling.]
[…But there’s nothing we can do about it.]
After setting aside all Lu & Cream matters and spending days gathering news about Cassis while pacing anxiously…
“Irina, news has arrived!”
“What? What news?”
Yen Kavitz, who had been on a business trip to the southernmost resort city of Isein in the empire, returned with news.
“I happened to meet someone who escaped from a small city in the east!”
According to Yen, Den was a resident of a city near the annihilated village who had come down to the southernmost part of the empire to escape from the demonic beasts.
According to him, the annihilated village had completely become a den of demonic beasts. However, they weren’t animal-type demonic beasts like those that appeared in Jedo, but human-shaped ones.
“So Isiel was right.”
“Yes. He said they were very powerful creatures without self-awareness.”
“And?”
“Well, if they were just demonic beasts, we could simply eliminate them…”
Yen seemed somewhat hesitant.
“What is it?”
“You’ve heard that villagers turned into demonic beasts, right? They say the eldest son of Count Adela has gone missing.”
I frowned. The eldest son of Count Adela was missing, and people killed by demonic beasts were waking up as demonic beasts.
So…
“Don’t tell me the count’s son woke up as a demonic beast?”
“No. Den said that the eldest son was still missing when he left the city.”
Yen looked around cautiously and boldly asked, ‘Can we move to the study?’ After moving to the study, closing the windows and doors, and meticulously checking every corner to make sure no one else was there, he finally spoke very carefully.
“Apparently, Princess Leilyranda grew up like real siblings with Count Adela’s missing eldest son. She tearfully begged His Majesty the Emperor, and rumor has it that an imperial order came down the next day.”
“…Not to eliminate the demonic beasts that were once human?”
“Yes.”
“But why didn’t I know about this?”
The moment I raised the question, the quest was completed.
[SYSTEM | Quest ‘News from the East’ has been updated.]
[SYSTEM | Quest ‘News from the East’ – ‘News from the South’ completed]
[News from the East
After Cassis Luwin, the hero chosen by Irina Seike, left for a small village in Adela territory in the east, there has been no news.
Despite attempts to find out through all sorts of prestigious families including Lemiere and Blende, none of them are providing proper help.
But finally!
News from the south has arrived.
Let’s collect news about Cassis Luwin from all over the empire.
(Completed) News from the South
(+)
Reward: Teleport Gate Stone]
“…”
What am I supposed to do with this? Does information just come in automatically from all over the empire if I just stay still, like this time?
While I was full of such doubts, the system cautiously spoke to me.
[Child, about that…]
[The quest name is ‘News from the East,’ but where did the information actually come from?]
‘The south.’
[Why specifically from the south?]
‘I don’t know?’
I supposed it was because Yen had gone on a business trip to the south and inquired there. If Yen had gone west, he might have inquired there, or not obtained any information at all.
As I was thinking about this rather indifferently, the system responded.
[Why did he go on the business trip?]
‘Because our store is there.’
[Yes, that’s it.]
‘What?’
[Information is flowing in because you’ve established connections in the south.]
Ah.
I thought I understood what the system was saying. So this quest is essentially about establishing connections throughout the empire?
[No. That’s not it.]
Ding!
[SYSTEM | Quest ‘News from the East’ has been updated.]
[News from the East
(Omitted)
Additional information: This is a follow-up quest to the ‘Expand Stores’ quest.]
Ohhhh.
The ‘Expand Stores’ quest was one I had ignored because I was busy and overwhelmed.
But that ignored quest was a prerequisite.
So I should have followed the quest and expanded the stores, and through those expanded stores, I could have obtained news about Cassis?
Realizing the seriousness of the situation, I slowly opened my mouth.
Forgetting that Yen was beside me, I asked aloud, “What should I do?”
[…]
[…]
“Wahhh, I should have listened to you, System.”
[…It’s okay, these things happen.]
[Irina was in a very exhausted state at that time.]
I grabbed my head and wailed.
