Chapter 39
“In any case, from what I’ve heard, it does seem you’re quite a remarkable man.”
Lucy smiled softly and clasped her hands together.
It was a completely different attitude from just moments before, when she had been demanding to know if they’d just left it to him, but her fawning transitioned so brazenly and naturally that no one even registered anything strange.
The count, too, flinched and stopped in his tracks.
Lucy wet her lips and continued.
“But you’ve hardly ever encountered demonic beasts, have you? And you’ve come up with such a decision?”
“Uh… hmm?”
“Honestly, even I would have thought the academy was the better shelter. It couldn’t be helped, could it?”
Lucy shrugged and addressed the gathered crowd with a tone of gentle reproach.
“Wanting to provide a comfortable place for the people, that’s only natural kindness, as their lord. No one could have predicted it would collapse.”
“…”
“The count is truly a man of admirable heart.”
At those words, Count Moro wore a peculiar expression.
What the small woman said did seem, in truth, to be correct.
‘Yes. I made a sound decision.’
How could he have known that demonic beasts possessed such traits!
“A decision made with such earnest consideration. And yet no one recognizes the count’s devotion to his people.”
“Hmm!”
“Even I would feel wronged. How admirable and responsible you are, Count Whatever.”
“Kehm! Khem!”
“So that must be why you designated the academy as the shelter?”
“Indeed. That academy is a shelter I personally designated. I did it solely for the comfort and safety of the residents…”
Count Moro was nodding along in agreement when—
“You personally designated it?! Even after His Grace explicitly ordered you to evacuate them to the silver mine?”
“Huh?”
The moment the count acknowledged designating the shelter, the topic suddenly flipped into an attack.
“Duke Edward explicitly… explicitly explained that they must evacuate to the silver mine.”
“Ex-Explained, he did not—!”
“Good heavens! As if His Grace, the hero and expert on demonic beasts, would not have done so!”
“…!”
The count, who had in fact received no explanation, felt deeply wronged, but Lucy pressed on with words impossible to distinguish as fawning or jeering.
“To decide the shelter all on your own, without knowing much about demonic beasts. Why, how ever.”
“N-Now, see here!”
“How subjective. And clever, too.”
It was a compliment, certainly a compliment, but…
At those words, the eyes of the wailing crowd gleamed as they turned toward the count.
“What? That wasn’t supposed to be our shelter?”
“Then my son, too…”
Yet even as they gnashed their teeth, they could not bring themselves to directly confront the count.
A stark contrast to how they had treated Edward.
A few among them lowered their heads as if ashamed of themselves, but that was all.
Whether they did or not, Lucy began polishing Edward’s armor with her sleeve.
“Oh my. And come to think of it, our dear duke, whatever are we to do, bathing in demonic beast blood like this?”
“…”
“It’s not as if there’s a law requiring you to work this hard.”
‘Not required?’
‘But the incarnation protecting us is a given…’
The people were thrown into confusion at those words.
“The dragons never made a promise to stay and protect us to the end, after all.”
At Lucy’s words, several nobles flinched and sank into thought.
‘Now that she mentions it.’
‘There was no such promise, was there…?’
The dragons, who had reluctantly remained after the humans had clung to them and begged, had never made any explicit pledge.
They had merely stayed on this land in human form and left descendants.
And, in addition, dragon incarnations had simply continued to be born among those descendants.
‘Then does that mean…?’
Could it be that if things went ill, they might simply abandon it all and leave for the demon realm?
Eyes in the grip of a pupil-quaking crisis swiveled toward Edward.
The small woman fussed and rubbed her hands together.
“Still, we are ever so grateful, Your Grace!”
“…”
“No one ordered you to! No one left it to you! And yet, every time, you slay the demonic beasts for us!”
At those words, those who had only just realized they had showered him with praise but never offered a sincere word of thanks were struck with alarm.
“Th-That’s right! Thank you! Your Grace! Truly, thank you!”
“If not for you, Your Grace, the damage would have been far greater!”
But before the praises could continue, the woman brushed them aside.
“You must be weary. Shall we go in and rest now?”
Soon, the small woman began patting the duke’s armor and pushing him toward the inn.
Pushing with all her might, huffing and straining, against the duke, who anyone could see was not being pushed in the slightest.
“…”
Soon, the duke turned his back on the praises and silently strode into the inn.
Creak, thud.
‘I thought I was going to die of nerves.’
The moment the inn door shut behind them as she followed Edward in.
Lucy, who had been in a state of tension the entire time, swallowed a sigh.
‘Considering I jumped in without a plan, I think it ended better than expec—…’
“You.”
And then she swallowed a hiccup at the chill of the armor touching her throat.
