Bibliophile Princess, page 18
Even though I was telling her to rest, I had to share that information with her, knowing that it would only burden her heart.
~.~.~.~
The morning glow subsided, and the thin sunlight unique to the northern regions spread out across the town. The town had changed over the last ten days or so. The residents of Modzth who had not been involved in the riots must have been watching the situation with bated breath. They realized that there was now a bright sign of hope and slowly started coming outside.
“We don’t have to stop the food distribution for a while, but beware of residents who keep asking for medicine. It is possible that it’s not just for the person themself or their family.”
I gave instructions at a volume that only the surrounding officials could hear, carefully examined the information that had arrived, and spoke again. At first I was skeptical, thinking that this kind of judgment should be made on-site, but I remembered Lady Elianna’s meticulous response.
She had said, “Perhaps you are wondering whether we should use our own judgment even for trivial responses, but that’s the correct thing to do in this situation. Don’t judge by yourself; ask for insight and instruction from the person in charge, even in trivial matters. Only then will an accurate understanding and prevention of diseases take root.”
I had felt unsuitable for a place like this, and I’d been gnashing my teeth at His Highness’s orders when she had cheerfully told me that.
“Alex! I can tell you’re frowning just by your eyes!”
I suddenly heard an irritating voice. I turned to see that several people on horseback had arrived near the temporary office. They had been investigating the area behind the town, near the entrance of the mine. After the owner of that voice left his horse in the care of the people around him, washed himself, and changed the cloth covering his mouth, he came up to the high ground.
The carefree look in his eyes was not much different from how he had appeared at Earl Ralshen’s estate about ten days ago. His emerald green eyes gave one the impression that they shouldn’t let their guard down with him around. It was Alan Ferrera, the court musician with honey-colored hair.
I relented and responded, “Honestly. It seems like your smart mouth hasn’t changed much.”
“Oh, come on! I always choose my response carefully depending on the situation. When it comes to livening things up with music, I might choose a minuet and trio to outdance and defeat the demon king, or a fiery holy fugue to challenge the ice devil!”
I calmed down when I detected the seriousness in his joking tone, and then a shadow passed over his emerald eyes. I wanted to confirm that he had gone out investigating, so I asked, “What about the residents near the mine’s entrance?”
He shook his head and produced a bundle of papers. I flipped through the pages and read what was written on them. I felt the weight of the numbers and the names. Once Lady Elianna woke up and saw this, it would hurt her gravely. She wouldn’t forget any one of those lives. She would engrave them upon her heart and then move forward.
The Urma Mines and the surrounding areas were closed, due to the hypothesis she had explained earlier. “The Ashen Nightmare stems from a skin disease, and its source is the mines or the surrounding mountains in the northern territory. First of all, there are many caves inside the northern mountain range, and the strata and the environment create a unique layer of air. It has been dealt with from time to time in the mines’ history, but depending on the amount of snow that year, unknown amounts of it were not discharged and therefore accumulated. I believe this is the source of the Ashen Nightmare.”
“Second,” she had continued, “some miners were affected by the Ashen Nightmare and some were not. Why? The Ashen Nightmare isn’t only transmitted through the air. The accumulated source of the disease resides in some ores. Those who pick up those ores get the source on their skin, and it permeates it. I believe that this was the beginning of the infection. Touching the source of the disease and breathing in the air—many people met those two conditions in the mining towns of the Ars Continent’s northern mountains.”
She had then paused for a moment before launching back into her hypothesis.
“And third, the ore that contained the disease became harmless as it touched the surface air. Therefore, the ore became less harmful over time. The same can be said for the air inside the mines.”
“The disease is spread when a carrier touches others,” she had stated. “This could have happened through sharing work tools, touching fruits and vegetables in a market, or even interacting with various things inside the home. For example, the custom of dipping hard bread into soup is unique to northern regions.”
She had then added, “During the first year of the Ashen Nightmare, we had the primary carriers, the secondary infected, the third, and the fourth. Then it spread explosively throughout the kingdom through merchants and others distributing goods to the various regions. However, despite the enormous death toll that year, the disease is sensitive to heat, so in the second and third years, it weakened. The number of infected people decreased, and when the amount of snowfall became normal, the ore that is the source of the disease became harmless—and no one was infected. Then the following year began as if nothing had happened.”
“That was how the Ashen Nightmare resolved sixteen years ago,” she had said.
The important thing was to stop it in the first year. To that end, we had closed all Sauslind mines, which were the root of the problem, and issued a national proclamation to stop the source of the disease.
As an aide to the crown prince, I didn’t have enough authority to do that. Carl’s authority was limited to the Ralshen Region, and since he was still young and often dismissed as a lord, he could have caused a backlash by doing so. We needed something decisive, like a proclamation from the kingdom issued by the king, so we had used the royal family’s seal, which His Highness had entrusted to Lady Elianna, to shut down the mines located in Ralshen, Azul, Tor, and the Northern Range.
I wondered how much determination it had taken for Lady Elianna to write that proclamation. Even I, who was said to be the crown prince’s right-hand man, hesitated when asked to make decisions on my own. If one overstepped their authority, one might be held accountable—and perhaps even the people around them as well. Yet Lady Elianna had made the decision and taken the plunge in order to put other people’s lives first.
Once again, I admired her sense of judgment, and Alan agreed with me. He’d gushed in admiration, “Lady Elianna is amazing.” His white breath had leaked out from under the red cloth. “We were discussing it in the town of Hersche, and someone asked wouldn’t there be riots elsewhere, just as in Modzth, if we closed down all the mines? And then...”
“Well,” she had said without hesitation, “we’ll establish another industry.”
Apparently she had discussed this with the town’s most influential people based on a map of Sauslind’s northern region.
“The Tor Region will need a large amount of fabric for preventive measures. This thin fabric and weave are unique to their region, so the kingdom will purchase it. As for the Azul Region, it originally had more migrant miners in the winter than mines. They will be rehired as laborers and as distributors. They can provide necessary protection to the merchants now, or help with the transportation of goods. The manpower is necessary in a closed land with many snowy mountains.”
In addition, she had said that we would pay attention to the characteristics of the neighboring regions and select necessary goods from them. Alan had been impressed by her plan.
“So,” Alan said in an amused tone, “the source of the cure was created from the Milulu Clam. The price of those clams will soar from now on, like the pomelo fruit, but they’ll be widely distributed to the commoners before that happens so that the privileged few don’t hoard them. It’s not because it’s expensive or because it’s used by nobles; it’s because it’s effective.”
Originally, the people of Corba Village had used them in handicrafts and toys. The fact that the residents had not suffered from the disease back then had led to the cure and the preventive measures today. This was something that had come out of the private sector.
“It’s valuable because it’s used by nobles and royalty; I think Lady Elianna knew about that effect. Like with the Suiran weave. But I see that the goal of increasing prices is different now. Not all Milulu Clams can be used as ingredients for the cure, like the ones that are discolored or damaged.”
We had carefully selected the clams that could be used for the cure—those that were unscratched and unspoiled—but the ones that could not be used were becoming overwhelmingly more numerous. What would we do with them?
Alan all of a sudden burst into laughter. He really was lighthearted. “Lady Elianna didn’t waste them. Based on her own hypothesis, she devised preventive measures. Current technology cannot protect from diseases transmissible by air or invisible sources, so in that case, we have to absorb the source of resistance.”
If the color of the clams transferred onto the skin helped one resist the disease, then we could use cloth dyed with that color and breathe the air through it. That’s why she’d suggested everyone cover their mouths with those red cloths. Of course, there had been objections. Wasn’t it reckless? Could such things really build a resistance to illness?
“There are two sources of infection,” Lady Elianna had said. “If it was only transmitted through the air, it wouldn’t have been strange if the entire northern region had been wiped out. But there is another source from which the disease spreads. One of those sources—the mines—will be closed. The first carriers, along with the second and third lines of infected patients, got sick from that source. Then it was probably spread by merchants and migrant workers carrying the disease. In Ralshen, it had been carried in by merchants who transported ore, and in Azul, it had spread fastest by riverboat. In order to prevent that...”
We couldn’t stop the merchants or the workers. Halting labor and distribution of goods could be a matter of life and death in some areas. That was why it was necessary to purify oneself by using heat stones, washing one’s hands, and gargling. Eating with bare hands, dipping hard bread in soup, eating meat with bones, and ingesting food in other various ways were absolutely prohibited. We gave the townspeople a detailed example of how to properly eat and drink. Furthermore, we ensured that in places where people gathered, there was regular ventilation and steaming.
In this way, we would keep the source of the disease from the mining towns and prevent the second and third waves of infected people. We would spread the knowledge. “We will eradicate this illness in a year!” Lady Elianna had said.
Alan’s voice was so pleasant that it almost sounded like he was about to sing, but even he restrained himself in this situation.
“Even though Lady Elianna said this, the Milulu Clams and the protective cloth were overwhelmingly lacking, but then—” He started laughing uncontrollably. “For some reason, we received the Milulu Clams from the Tor Region, along with various other necessary supplies and medicinal herbs. I thought that maybe she had a magic wand stashed nearby.”
“I see,” I said as I recalled an exchange from nearly a month ago. “From the Bernstein family?”
“Yeah,” Alan replied, nodding and chuckling. At first he’d thought that it might have come from the royal family’s Shadows and that the supplies had arrived upon order of the prince. Many of the items had been hidden among other supplies in order to finally enter the town of Modzth. They had planned to change horses on the way and make the trip all in one go.
At that time, Lady Elianna had again said to the man who was undertaking the arrangement of various supplies, “Thank you. May I ask your name?”
“Of course,” Alan continued, “I was so careless that I hadn’t heard this person’s name. Then they...”
Alan said that the man who had guided them to Dr. Hester’s house and had quietly been undertaking miscellaneous chores had introduced himself as Dan Edold. Dan had said, “We were sent to this land by order of the head of the Bernstein family. If there’s anything you need, anything at all, please let me know, Bibliophile Princess, whether it be information or supplies. We’ll get you whatever you need.”
Alan said he’d seen respect and loyalty toward the marquess’s daughter in his eyes. Lady Elianna had, of course, been surprised, but Alan had been even more shocked.
“Dan Edold is the name of a guy who writes travel logs no one reads. Maybe it’s not his actual name, but a pen name for the Bernstein clan,” Alan posited.
Ah, I see, I thought. I had read those travel logs before and invited the author to join the Intelligence Department at the royal palace, but he had refused. At that time, I had surmised that it was actually the Bernstein family publishing travel logs that did not sell well.
Considering this delivery of various supplies, I decided there must be people working for or belonging to the Bernstein family in various places, and they had cooperated with the family to arrange the shipment. I thought that was the most likely explanation.
I could hear the bitterness in my voice as I said, “The family’s motivation is really belated. Hiding their abilities like that is nothing more than a waste of time and resources. What good is there in doing such a thing?”
Alan’s answer was as breezy as usual. “Yeah, well...” he said with a shrug. “Everyone has their own different set of values. The Bernstein family isn’t necessarily hiding it on purpose, but perhaps valuing something else more.”
And isn’t that what leads to this duplicity? Alan’s words prompted me to reflect on myself again. I certainly valued abilities above all else. Therefore, I got angry at those who had the ability but hid and wasted it. Still, people who had special talents didn’t necessarily share my values.
“It’s beyond my control...” I let out a sigh, trying to get rid of the anger inside me, but at the same time, I felt like I had touched upon something. “Nonetheless, not making use of one’s talent...” I felt stuck.
Alan let out a sigh. “Listen,” he muttered, sounding exhausted, and I realized that he too needed to rest. “As long as we have a cure, that’ll settle all the riots and wars of our current situation. Maybe I’m being optimistic, but that’s what I thought,” he said in a self-deprecating tone. “But it’s not that simple, right? Administering medicine to a sick person who is currently suffering does not guarantee that everyone will be cured. There are lots of people who are too far gone, and the treatment would come too late.”
In his words was the weight of witnessing this situation and the lives that had been lost. We didn’t know those people’s names, their eyes, their voices when they were alive and well, or their history. The only thing we could see were the people who had died due to the Ashen Nightmare.
In an instant, Alan added, “But if this cure hadn’t been developed, nothing would ever change. That’s a fact.” He was being sincere, hiding his usual mirth.
“But that’s not enough,” he continued. “Medicine can only do so much. It can’t raise people from the dead. There may even be more riots for the cure. But to prevent that from happening, First, Lady Elianna looked at people’s lifestyles and asked herself, ‘What do they need to survive right now, and beyond?’ I thought she was an idealist. A world where no one died was a utopia, a world that doesn’t exist anywhere. But at the same time, she’s a realist.”
Lady Elianna had come up with the preventative measure of using the Tor cloth dyed with the Milulu Clams. She had also figured that people would start to sell fakes. All one had to do was dye cloth red, after all. If someone didn’t know any better, they would be tempted by the name of the product and buy it, regardless of the price. All the merchant had to do was say that it had been effective in the mining towns. On the other hand, it could also be a factor in the spread of infection, like with the dried pomelo fruit.
“That’s why she thought about countermeasures and took action,” Alan explained. “She understands both the good and bad intentions of the people she wants to save. The good and bad sides to people—the parts that can’t be helped, and the parts that make them lovable.”
“Lord Alexei!” A girl ran up to me in the morning sunshine. She was so angry she looked as red as the cloth that covered her mouth. “Who is that huge man? When I went to check on Miss Eli, he sat in front of the door of the inn and wouldn’t move a bit, not even when I told him I was Miss Eli’s relative! He said I was too loud and told me to go away! What is his problem?!”
Alan snickered. “Do you know who that man really is?” he asked.
When I told him no, Alan informed me of his identity, and I couldn’t help but feel stunned.
“Raqqa Arkto?” I asked. “The ringleader of the riot? That’s just not possible! Someone who spoke out against his lord and liege would be tossed into a jail cell, not made a bodyguard to someone so important!”
“Lady Elianna didn’t exactly ask him to do that,” Alan said, looking with amusement at the official who was currently trying to soothe Lady Lilia. “We were skeptical of him at first too.”
It sounded like a bit of an excuse to me, personally, but apparently Lady Elianna had said that arresting him would be a waste of time and that she wanted more manpower to help in the town. She didn’t want people to flee in fear of punishment, and she would be willing to vouch for the decision. Most likely the people had agreed to it not because they wanted to lighten their punishment but because they wanted to help their own town.
“Did Lady Elianna know that?” I asked.
The measures the rioters had taken were in no way acceptable. If we tolerated their behavior, it might lead to a collapse of law and order. However, Lady Elianna understood the sentiments behind their actions, and this was the result. As an official of the royal palace, I could only sigh bitterly. Even if I had come to settle the riot, I wasn’t sure it would have turned out like this.
“Lady Elianna even got the criminals on her side,” Alan noted. “It doesn’t matter what kind of person you are. Miss Elianna will love you just as much as she loves books.”
~.~.~.~
The morning glow subsided, and the thin sunlight unique to the northern regions spread out across the town. The town had changed over the last ten days or so. The residents of Modzth who had not been involved in the riots must have been watching the situation with bated breath. They realized that there was now a bright sign of hope and slowly started coming outside.
“We don’t have to stop the food distribution for a while, but beware of residents who keep asking for medicine. It is possible that it’s not just for the person themself or their family.”
I gave instructions at a volume that only the surrounding officials could hear, carefully examined the information that had arrived, and spoke again. At first I was skeptical, thinking that this kind of judgment should be made on-site, but I remembered Lady Elianna’s meticulous response.
She had said, “Perhaps you are wondering whether we should use our own judgment even for trivial responses, but that’s the correct thing to do in this situation. Don’t judge by yourself; ask for insight and instruction from the person in charge, even in trivial matters. Only then will an accurate understanding and prevention of diseases take root.”
I had felt unsuitable for a place like this, and I’d been gnashing my teeth at His Highness’s orders when she had cheerfully told me that.
“Alex! I can tell you’re frowning just by your eyes!”
I suddenly heard an irritating voice. I turned to see that several people on horseback had arrived near the temporary office. They had been investigating the area behind the town, near the entrance of the mine. After the owner of that voice left his horse in the care of the people around him, washed himself, and changed the cloth covering his mouth, he came up to the high ground.
The carefree look in his eyes was not much different from how he had appeared at Earl Ralshen’s estate about ten days ago. His emerald green eyes gave one the impression that they shouldn’t let their guard down with him around. It was Alan Ferrera, the court musician with honey-colored hair.
I relented and responded, “Honestly. It seems like your smart mouth hasn’t changed much.”
“Oh, come on! I always choose my response carefully depending on the situation. When it comes to livening things up with music, I might choose a minuet and trio to outdance and defeat the demon king, or a fiery holy fugue to challenge the ice devil!”
I calmed down when I detected the seriousness in his joking tone, and then a shadow passed over his emerald eyes. I wanted to confirm that he had gone out investigating, so I asked, “What about the residents near the mine’s entrance?”
He shook his head and produced a bundle of papers. I flipped through the pages and read what was written on them. I felt the weight of the numbers and the names. Once Lady Elianna woke up and saw this, it would hurt her gravely. She wouldn’t forget any one of those lives. She would engrave them upon her heart and then move forward.
The Urma Mines and the surrounding areas were closed, due to the hypothesis she had explained earlier. “The Ashen Nightmare stems from a skin disease, and its source is the mines or the surrounding mountains in the northern territory. First of all, there are many caves inside the northern mountain range, and the strata and the environment create a unique layer of air. It has been dealt with from time to time in the mines’ history, but depending on the amount of snow that year, unknown amounts of it were not discharged and therefore accumulated. I believe this is the source of the Ashen Nightmare.”
“Second,” she had continued, “some miners were affected by the Ashen Nightmare and some were not. Why? The Ashen Nightmare isn’t only transmitted through the air. The accumulated source of the disease resides in some ores. Those who pick up those ores get the source on their skin, and it permeates it. I believe that this was the beginning of the infection. Touching the source of the disease and breathing in the air—many people met those two conditions in the mining towns of the Ars Continent’s northern mountains.”
She had then paused for a moment before launching back into her hypothesis.
“And third, the ore that contained the disease became harmless as it touched the surface air. Therefore, the ore became less harmful over time. The same can be said for the air inside the mines.”
“The disease is spread when a carrier touches others,” she had stated. “This could have happened through sharing work tools, touching fruits and vegetables in a market, or even interacting with various things inside the home. For example, the custom of dipping hard bread into soup is unique to northern regions.”
She had then added, “During the first year of the Ashen Nightmare, we had the primary carriers, the secondary infected, the third, and the fourth. Then it spread explosively throughout the kingdom through merchants and others distributing goods to the various regions. However, despite the enormous death toll that year, the disease is sensitive to heat, so in the second and third years, it weakened. The number of infected people decreased, and when the amount of snowfall became normal, the ore that is the source of the disease became harmless—and no one was infected. Then the following year began as if nothing had happened.”
“That was how the Ashen Nightmare resolved sixteen years ago,” she had said.
The important thing was to stop it in the first year. To that end, we had closed all Sauslind mines, which were the root of the problem, and issued a national proclamation to stop the source of the disease.
As an aide to the crown prince, I didn’t have enough authority to do that. Carl’s authority was limited to the Ralshen Region, and since he was still young and often dismissed as a lord, he could have caused a backlash by doing so. We needed something decisive, like a proclamation from the kingdom issued by the king, so we had used the royal family’s seal, which His Highness had entrusted to Lady Elianna, to shut down the mines located in Ralshen, Azul, Tor, and the Northern Range.
I wondered how much determination it had taken for Lady Elianna to write that proclamation. Even I, who was said to be the crown prince’s right-hand man, hesitated when asked to make decisions on my own. If one overstepped their authority, one might be held accountable—and perhaps even the people around them as well. Yet Lady Elianna had made the decision and taken the plunge in order to put other people’s lives first.
Once again, I admired her sense of judgment, and Alan agreed with me. He’d gushed in admiration, “Lady Elianna is amazing.” His white breath had leaked out from under the red cloth. “We were discussing it in the town of Hersche, and someone asked wouldn’t there be riots elsewhere, just as in Modzth, if we closed down all the mines? And then...”
“Well,” she had said without hesitation, “we’ll establish another industry.”
Apparently she had discussed this with the town’s most influential people based on a map of Sauslind’s northern region.
“The Tor Region will need a large amount of fabric for preventive measures. This thin fabric and weave are unique to their region, so the kingdom will purchase it. As for the Azul Region, it originally had more migrant miners in the winter than mines. They will be rehired as laborers and as distributors. They can provide necessary protection to the merchants now, or help with the transportation of goods. The manpower is necessary in a closed land with many snowy mountains.”
In addition, she had said that we would pay attention to the characteristics of the neighboring regions and select necessary goods from them. Alan had been impressed by her plan.
“So,” Alan said in an amused tone, “the source of the cure was created from the Milulu Clam. The price of those clams will soar from now on, like the pomelo fruit, but they’ll be widely distributed to the commoners before that happens so that the privileged few don’t hoard them. It’s not because it’s expensive or because it’s used by nobles; it’s because it’s effective.”
Originally, the people of Corba Village had used them in handicrafts and toys. The fact that the residents had not suffered from the disease back then had led to the cure and the preventive measures today. This was something that had come out of the private sector.
“It’s valuable because it’s used by nobles and royalty; I think Lady Elianna knew about that effect. Like with the Suiran weave. But I see that the goal of increasing prices is different now. Not all Milulu Clams can be used as ingredients for the cure, like the ones that are discolored or damaged.”
We had carefully selected the clams that could be used for the cure—those that were unscratched and unspoiled—but the ones that could not be used were becoming overwhelmingly more numerous. What would we do with them?
Alan all of a sudden burst into laughter. He really was lighthearted. “Lady Elianna didn’t waste them. Based on her own hypothesis, she devised preventive measures. Current technology cannot protect from diseases transmissible by air or invisible sources, so in that case, we have to absorb the source of resistance.”
If the color of the clams transferred onto the skin helped one resist the disease, then we could use cloth dyed with that color and breathe the air through it. That’s why she’d suggested everyone cover their mouths with those red cloths. Of course, there had been objections. Wasn’t it reckless? Could such things really build a resistance to illness?
“There are two sources of infection,” Lady Elianna had said. “If it was only transmitted through the air, it wouldn’t have been strange if the entire northern region had been wiped out. But there is another source from which the disease spreads. One of those sources—the mines—will be closed. The first carriers, along with the second and third lines of infected patients, got sick from that source. Then it was probably spread by merchants and migrant workers carrying the disease. In Ralshen, it had been carried in by merchants who transported ore, and in Azul, it had spread fastest by riverboat. In order to prevent that...”
We couldn’t stop the merchants or the workers. Halting labor and distribution of goods could be a matter of life and death in some areas. That was why it was necessary to purify oneself by using heat stones, washing one’s hands, and gargling. Eating with bare hands, dipping hard bread in soup, eating meat with bones, and ingesting food in other various ways were absolutely prohibited. We gave the townspeople a detailed example of how to properly eat and drink. Furthermore, we ensured that in places where people gathered, there was regular ventilation and steaming.
In this way, we would keep the source of the disease from the mining towns and prevent the second and third waves of infected people. We would spread the knowledge. “We will eradicate this illness in a year!” Lady Elianna had said.
Alan’s voice was so pleasant that it almost sounded like he was about to sing, but even he restrained himself in this situation.
“Even though Lady Elianna said this, the Milulu Clams and the protective cloth were overwhelmingly lacking, but then—” He started laughing uncontrollably. “For some reason, we received the Milulu Clams from the Tor Region, along with various other necessary supplies and medicinal herbs. I thought that maybe she had a magic wand stashed nearby.”
“I see,” I said as I recalled an exchange from nearly a month ago. “From the Bernstein family?”
“Yeah,” Alan replied, nodding and chuckling. At first he’d thought that it might have come from the royal family’s Shadows and that the supplies had arrived upon order of the prince. Many of the items had been hidden among other supplies in order to finally enter the town of Modzth. They had planned to change horses on the way and make the trip all in one go.
At that time, Lady Elianna had again said to the man who was undertaking the arrangement of various supplies, “Thank you. May I ask your name?”
“Of course,” Alan continued, “I was so careless that I hadn’t heard this person’s name. Then they...”
Alan said that the man who had guided them to Dr. Hester’s house and had quietly been undertaking miscellaneous chores had introduced himself as Dan Edold. Dan had said, “We were sent to this land by order of the head of the Bernstein family. If there’s anything you need, anything at all, please let me know, Bibliophile Princess, whether it be information or supplies. We’ll get you whatever you need.”
Alan said he’d seen respect and loyalty toward the marquess’s daughter in his eyes. Lady Elianna had, of course, been surprised, but Alan had been even more shocked.
“Dan Edold is the name of a guy who writes travel logs no one reads. Maybe it’s not his actual name, but a pen name for the Bernstein clan,” Alan posited.
Ah, I see, I thought. I had read those travel logs before and invited the author to join the Intelligence Department at the royal palace, but he had refused. At that time, I had surmised that it was actually the Bernstein family publishing travel logs that did not sell well.
Considering this delivery of various supplies, I decided there must be people working for or belonging to the Bernstein family in various places, and they had cooperated with the family to arrange the shipment. I thought that was the most likely explanation.
I could hear the bitterness in my voice as I said, “The family’s motivation is really belated. Hiding their abilities like that is nothing more than a waste of time and resources. What good is there in doing such a thing?”
Alan’s answer was as breezy as usual. “Yeah, well...” he said with a shrug. “Everyone has their own different set of values. The Bernstein family isn’t necessarily hiding it on purpose, but perhaps valuing something else more.”
And isn’t that what leads to this duplicity? Alan’s words prompted me to reflect on myself again. I certainly valued abilities above all else. Therefore, I got angry at those who had the ability but hid and wasted it. Still, people who had special talents didn’t necessarily share my values.
“It’s beyond my control...” I let out a sigh, trying to get rid of the anger inside me, but at the same time, I felt like I had touched upon something. “Nonetheless, not making use of one’s talent...” I felt stuck.
Alan let out a sigh. “Listen,” he muttered, sounding exhausted, and I realized that he too needed to rest. “As long as we have a cure, that’ll settle all the riots and wars of our current situation. Maybe I’m being optimistic, but that’s what I thought,” he said in a self-deprecating tone. “But it’s not that simple, right? Administering medicine to a sick person who is currently suffering does not guarantee that everyone will be cured. There are lots of people who are too far gone, and the treatment would come too late.”
In his words was the weight of witnessing this situation and the lives that had been lost. We didn’t know those people’s names, their eyes, their voices when they were alive and well, or their history. The only thing we could see were the people who had died due to the Ashen Nightmare.
In an instant, Alan added, “But if this cure hadn’t been developed, nothing would ever change. That’s a fact.” He was being sincere, hiding his usual mirth.
“But that’s not enough,” he continued. “Medicine can only do so much. It can’t raise people from the dead. There may even be more riots for the cure. But to prevent that from happening, First, Lady Elianna looked at people’s lifestyles and asked herself, ‘What do they need to survive right now, and beyond?’ I thought she was an idealist. A world where no one died was a utopia, a world that doesn’t exist anywhere. But at the same time, she’s a realist.”
Lady Elianna had come up with the preventative measure of using the Tor cloth dyed with the Milulu Clams. She had also figured that people would start to sell fakes. All one had to do was dye cloth red, after all. If someone didn’t know any better, they would be tempted by the name of the product and buy it, regardless of the price. All the merchant had to do was say that it had been effective in the mining towns. On the other hand, it could also be a factor in the spread of infection, like with the dried pomelo fruit.
“That’s why she thought about countermeasures and took action,” Alan explained. “She understands both the good and bad intentions of the people she wants to save. The good and bad sides to people—the parts that can’t be helped, and the parts that make them lovable.”
“Lord Alexei!” A girl ran up to me in the morning sunshine. She was so angry she looked as red as the cloth that covered her mouth. “Who is that huge man? When I went to check on Miss Eli, he sat in front of the door of the inn and wouldn’t move a bit, not even when I told him I was Miss Eli’s relative! He said I was too loud and told me to go away! What is his problem?!”
Alan snickered. “Do you know who that man really is?” he asked.
When I told him no, Alan informed me of his identity, and I couldn’t help but feel stunned.
“Raqqa Arkto?” I asked. “The ringleader of the riot? That’s just not possible! Someone who spoke out against his lord and liege would be tossed into a jail cell, not made a bodyguard to someone so important!”
“Lady Elianna didn’t exactly ask him to do that,” Alan said, looking with amusement at the official who was currently trying to soothe Lady Lilia. “We were skeptical of him at first too.”
It sounded like a bit of an excuse to me, personally, but apparently Lady Elianna had said that arresting him would be a waste of time and that she wanted more manpower to help in the town. She didn’t want people to flee in fear of punishment, and she would be willing to vouch for the decision. Most likely the people had agreed to it not because they wanted to lighten their punishment but because they wanted to help their own town.
“Did Lady Elianna know that?” I asked.
The measures the rioters had taken were in no way acceptable. If we tolerated their behavior, it might lead to a collapse of law and order. However, Lady Elianna understood the sentiments behind their actions, and this was the result. As an official of the royal palace, I could only sigh bitterly. Even if I had come to settle the riot, I wasn’t sure it would have turned out like this.
“Lady Elianna even got the criminals on her side,” Alan noted. “It doesn’t matter what kind of person you are. Miss Elianna will love you just as much as she loves books.”
