Chapter 27 : Investigation

Apart from Tollin's frayed nerves and Rasia's worsening temper, the number of nobles expressing their intent to study the medical arts with the Piteos Ducal Family had greatly increased.

It was a project publicly supported by the Imperial Family and the temple.

With the reason to avoid the Piteos Ducal Family gone, the lower-ranked nobles, who no longer had anything to lose, began sending letters like mad.

Thanks to this, Tollin, who had lost even more weight, found himself seeking out the ducal family's court physician more frequently.

He had no choice, as when his head became too dull, the speed at which he could process work slowed down.

There was also the pestering from Pale and Jack, who were worried about him withering away as the days went by.

Thus, Tollin had to endure the uncomfortable gazes, trapped between the court physician and Pale and Jack, who stood firmly behind him.

“Lord Tollin, I am cautious about saying this, but…… if you lose just a little more weight, you will be lighter than the Little Duke.”

“Don't exaggerate. The Little Duke is only 11 years old.”

“And he is healthier than his peers. Lord Tollin, you are far more…… frail than young men of the same age.”

To think that was the word he chose after careful consideration; what on earth was the word that originally came to mind?

Tollin, feeling displeased, wanted to retort immediately, but he shut his mouth when he thought of the Little Duke, who was much healthier than children of that age.

Besides, he already knew, to the point of hating it, that physical labor hadn't suited him since birth.

“……There's still a year left before he catches up.”

“I am telling you to put on weight, not to resignly think about being caught up. Hasn't the Piteos Ducal Family regained its stability now? With the help of the temple, hasn't the number of personnel who can teach the medical arts also greatly increased?”

Right, so far.

So far, time was passing without any particular incidents.

Things were working out suspiciously well, and that made Tollin even more anxious.

A throbbing feeling, as if someone was forcibly holding down a volcano long past its time to erupt.

As Tollin stopped talking altogether, the court physician, perhaps thinking his worry was too presumptuous, glanced at him and carefully opened his mouth.

“Anyway, Lord Tollin, it's just something I heard, but a letter may be coming from the Selby Count Family soon.”

“Selby?”

It was a familiar name.

A family that had maintained its noble history as stably and for as long as the Crisa Count Family.

If those who had sent letters so far were lower-ranked nobles with almost nothing to lose, this one was a prestigious family with history and tradition.

“Are they saying they will teach medical arts at the Academy instead of alchemy?”

“He is young, but I hear the fifth young master wants to learn the medical arts. Besides, alchemy isn't exactly a field that just anyone can learn.”

True, one's head had to be able to keep up, and it was work that cost astronomical research funds for a lifetime.

It was difficult unless one was a high-ranking noble.

It seemed the Selby Count Family's inheritance wasn't plentiful enough for the fifth son to enjoy such luxury.

It wasn't bad news.

The high-ranking nobles were in a situation where they were stealthily testing the waters and watching the Piteos Ducal Family's future.

A family like the Selby Count Family would be enough to serve as a starting point for other nobles to get involved in the doctor training project.

“As long as nothing strange happens, that is……”

Tollin, who had habitually adjusted his glasses, muttered.

“Pardon?”

Pale asked again, but Tollin, instead of spreading his anxiety, just gave an order to strengthen the security around the temple and swallowed the bitter medicine the court physician had brought out.

***

“Was your tour of this place enjoyable, Jing?”

Jing nodded at the old man, who was standing in front of a simple altar and smiling brightly.

Perhaps he had ditched the refined way of speaking from their first meeting, as he now spoke to him informally.

“That's a relief.”

“What happens to me now?”

At Jing's straightforward question, the other's eyes widened for a moment, but he soon smiled again and replied.

“Since I cannot kill you, I will let you live; since I cannot treat you poorly, I will treat you with hospitality.”

That bastard's wordplay.

Jing clicked his tongue.

“If I can't prove I'm Amica's emissary, I'll be locked up forever?”

“If you're not caught for not being one, you'll be able to stay alive, won't you?”

At the evasive answer, Jing's mouth tightened firmly.

There wasn't much data left about those who believe in Amica.

Only that they were as blind to their god as the citizens of the Empire who believed in Sierra Abalan.

Even that was shallow knowledge he only knew because he was the head of a ducal family.

In any case, it seemed certain that that fellow was in a situation where he could neither send him outside nor kill him.

“You know from looking around, but it's not a bad place to live.”

The Elder smiled brightly, pretending not to notice his stiff face.

“Don't try to change the subject.”

“I'm saying to think positively. I also said I'd treat you with hospitality.”

Judging that this was an opponent he couldn't communicate with, Jing crossed his arms and stood crookedly.

“If I prove I'm this 'Emissary of Amica,' can I leave?”

At his roughening speech, he felt the young man named Ratel grip his sword.

“If that is His will…… then yes.”

Jing raised one eyebrow.

They were letting him go this easy even when it was just a possibility; if he was confirmed as the emissary, they'd probably prostrate themselves and bow.

“Fine, so what do I have to do? How do I get you to acknowledge me as that emissary or tiger or whatever?”

“That, I don't know.”

“What did you say?”

If Jing still had the bag the 7th Prince gave him, he definitely would have thrown it at him with all his might.

The old man raised both hands as if to tell him not to be angry and calmed him down.

“Don't be so angry. Priests are originally ignorant. Those who babble about hearing God's words are all swindlers. Don't ever fall for it in the Empire outside, either.”

“You're the Elder, aren't you!!!”

As Jing rushed forward, as if to grab the old man by the collar, Ratel, who was standing behind, immediately tried to trip Jing's right ankle, which was in a splint.

Jing, who barely avoided that foot and fell over, stared bewilderedly at the frightening young man who had no respect for the elderly.

It was a great shock to him, who had secretly held a good impression of Ratel, who had at least put a splint on his right foot in the cave.

“Well, calm your heart and search. This is Amica's space. If Jing truly came here by Amica's call, He will show you the way.”

It also meant that he had to stay holed up here for life otherwise.

In the end, it was no different from square one, except for the fact that he wasn't stuck in prison.

The Elder left behind the irresponsible words to live comfortably until then, and departed.

He also didn't forget to say that he should return to the temple in the evening.

“Before I leave, I will definitely get that old geezer……”

Ratel, who approached Jing as he was sitting down, encouraged him.

“You don't have time to be like this. Please get up.”

Jing glared at him.

“Why is the young man going to help me?”

“Yes.”

Jing's eyes narrowed at the ready answer.

“Why would you?”

Facing Jing's gray eyes, which were filled with suspicion, Ratel shrugged.

“Are you dissatisfied?”

“Yes, I'm very dissatisfied. How can I trust a human who trips an old man from behind?”

“Think of it positively. I'm a human who doesn't swing a sword, even from behind.”

Jing clamped his mouth shut at the young man's calmly brazen attitude.

That wasn't something the brat who threatened him by drawing his sword head-on in the cave should be saying.

It wasn't just the old man.

The bastards who believe in Amica were definitely all masters of getting on people's nerves.

***

Thus, Jing, who had begun his life in this bizarre space, started to wander around the temple diligently, even while limping.

The black-haired young man, Ratel, always followed behind him.

“Don't you have anything else to do?”

“This is the job I've been given this time.”

“Spying on me?”

Ratel answered Jing's question calmly.

“The Elder told me to give Jing help.”

It seems like it would be more helpful if you just stayed away.

Jing firmly swallowed the fact that it would only be a waste of breath to say.

He was poking around here and there under the pretext of finding the proof the Elder mentioned, but he gave up on that after just one day of wandering.

Proof, what proof.

This place, which was nothing more than a peaceful village, didn't even have anything to investigate.

Besides, hadn't the Elder said so himself?

That if anyone comes out saying they heard God's words, they're definitely a swindler.

Unless he performed a real miracle in front of them, it was obvious they would send him back, saying whatever answer was the wrong one.

As they were a closed group, they probably just wanted to prevent a dangerous element from going outside.

He didn't have enough time to play along with such games.

Jing glanced at Ratel, who was walking behind him.

He was walking while looking only straight ahead, expressionlessly.

After the slip of the tongue at their last meeting, the relationship between the two, which hadn't been comfortable to begin with, was maintaining a delicate state.

Ratel, whether he had a cool personality or whether too much time had passed for the existence of parents to hold great meaning, acted as if Jing's small mistake didn't exist at all.

Jing, thinking that continuing to mention something the other had already said was fine might be akin to needlessly picking at a wound, suppressed his uncomfortable heart and went along with Ratel, who was acting as if nothing had happened.

In any case, he was the only person who gave him a proper answer to his questions.

Still, it wasn't entirely without fruition; there were a few things he learned as a result of diligently wearing out his feet for about three days.

First, this place was mostly self-sufficient, so currency was not needed.

It seemed that if they had something they really needed, they would go outside and secretly obtain it.

Ratel was reserved in his words in response to Jing's question of how they obtained the currency used outside.

They steal.

Jing understood quickly.

And the people all seemed relaxed and without greed.

They lived each day slowly, to the point where it would be hard to find people living this peacefully even in the rural regions of the Empire.

When Jing asked them something, he would get no reaction, to the point where he wondered if they were even listening.

At first, Jing thought they were shunning an outsider, but after talking to the third person, he was able to realize that their answers were just slow because they were thinking for a long time.

It was to the point where he thought the Elder might have attached Ratel to him out of consideration, so that Jing wouldn't die from frustration.

At least Ratel gave answers right away when asked.

Lastly, the food was really, very, terribly awful.

Jing leaned against a tree, chewing on the bread that felt like it was full of sand-like rye flour, which he had packed from the temple.

When he climbed the hill that overlooked the place where people lived and had a slightly late lunch, he liked eating here because he felt the illusion that the burdens pressing down on him were becoming lighter.

Though it didn't make the food taste any better.

It was a taste that an old man from a noble family, who hadn't had the experience of roaming battlefields, would probably not be able to stand and spit out.

There was a time when he suspected this was also the Elder's way of screwing with people, but through several dinners, he was able to confirm that what he ate was also this same tasteless bread and watery gruel.

A space devoid of pleasure.

Was this, too, a teaching of Amica?

No, I shouldn'D delve too deeply.

Jing, who shook his head a couple of times, shoved the remaining piece of bread, which was like a piece of sandpaper, into his mouth and stood up.

“Hey, Ratel.”

“Yes, what is it?”

Ratel, who had also finished eating the sandpaper-like bread, answered at the sound of his name being called.

Jing pointed to the wide-open plains, which started from a single tree that looked like a Zelkova tree in the distance.

“How far does that land stretch?”

“……”

It was a question he threw out just to escape his thoughts, but Ratel didn't answer.

What is it?

He was someone whose answers hadn't been late until now, so Jing looked at the young man with puzzled eyes.

He was expressionlessly looking into the distance, so he was still unreadable.

Presently, Ratel opened his mouth.

“It continues as far as the eye can see.”

A more philosophical answer than he expected came back.

Is he messing with me? Jing thought, but soon shook his head.

The past few days hadn't been long, but it was enough time to know that when the other person answered in that way, he wouldn't add any other explanation.

“Right. Then how many people live over there?”

“No one lives there.”

This time, the answer was too fast.

He also didn't understand why no one had settled on such wide and good land.

Come to think of it, when he first came here, Ren, who guided him around, had also vaguely avoided teaching him what was over there.

He just glossed over it, saying, ‘That is a place where people do not live.’

Jing tapped the wrinkle between his eyebrows.

In the Empire, there were generally three reasons why people couldn't live in a place that seemed habitable.

It was land owned by the Imperial Family, or something that eats people who lived there.

“Are there monsters or something?”

“No, it's not that either.”

This answer was also fast.

“If you are looking for a place where people live, the opposite side would be better. There is really nothing good to be gained from going over there.”

“Right, it seems so.”

JShe replied obediently, but he took one last look at the faraway place.

If there was no residence in a place where people could live, it was one of three.

It was owned by someone, or something that eats people living there.

……Or a big secret was hidden there.