130 water beast
***[Heroine Oscar]***
The sound of rolling carriages quietly spreads in all directions.
I took my eyes off the open document and moved my stiff shoulders and neck a little.
Seeing text messages on a rocking carriage is also tiring.
But if you don’t look at the papers little by little while on the go, things get pushed too much.
Don’t put it off just because you’re tired.
‘That would only add to the suffering.’
In particular, among the circumstances of the family and territory visited during the inspection, it is better to add to the report what to pay attention to or what needs to be supplemented before forgetting it.
I opened my eyes after rubbing my eyelids with my fingers a few times.
now i have to work again
I thought so, but I heard something mumbling.
The baby seems to be babbling.
“…”
There is only one person in this carriage who can make such a noise.
Looking at the bed across from me, Katrin, who had been staring at me until a moment ago, was soundly asleep.
No, it wasn’t a little while ago.
At least an hour or two must have passed.
‘I must be very tired.’
Moving while studying on an unfamiliar road would not have been easy.
At first, he was so full of energy that he couldn’t sleep well at night because he was so full of energy, but as the number of places he visited increased, he seemed to be almost asleep during the day.
Besides, yesterday I was at the dinner party later than usual.
Still, seeing her do the duties of a duchess without a single complaint makes me proud.
I moved from the chair to the bed, unfolding the thin blanket at her feet and covering her.
Katrin curled up, her fingers close together as if she were about to put them in her mouth.
From nob le mt l dot com
Just like a baby
Suddenly, Katrin pursed her lips as if she was eating something.
‘It must have been that sound.’
Maybe if I had a little more, I would bite my finger in my mouth.
I laughed lightly.
She boasts that she is grown up now, but Catherine is still young.
‘Does claiming to be an adult prove that you are young?’
Looking at it as I lifted up the flowing hair, the chubby cheeks with breast meat left on them seemed somehow delicious.
A slight poke on the cheek caused Catherine to curl up like a caterpillar and hide her face.
It’s kind of like an ostrich trying to hide with its head in the sand.
‘As expected, it’s cute.’
I watched Katrin sleep for a while, then went back to my desk.
This is not the time to be playing around with her.
let’s work
I pressed my eyelids once more and looked at the papers.
The West Duchy’s main business is to raise silkworms, the offspring of moth beasts, to spin yarn and use them to make fabric.
Up until now, I had only continued to invest the money I earned elsewhere, but now silkworm rearing and fabric production are stable to some extent, and it is time to start selling them.
‘The maximum quantity that can be sold now is…’
Where you arrive next, a merchant is waiting for you.
It is a merchant that imports and sells silk from the continent across the sea.
Dyeing will have to wait a little longer, but the pure white silkworm cloth was planned to be presented.
During the inspection, I turned the paper over while checking the production volume of the families I visited and the quantity of first-class fabrics with the highest quality.
I must have been working for over two hours.
The procession was already close to the forest and the reservoir near the city.
The smell of water and moisture are carried into the air and fill the inside of the carriage.
It was when I lifted my head that I felt relaxed for some reason.
Through the open window, a sudden commotion was heard.
Someone screams in the distance.
Looking out the window, I could see a reservoir in the distance and several people standing there looked as small as ants.
“what’s the matter?”
When I raised my head and asked, the captain of the escort immediately spoke to the side of the carriage.
“It is said that people fell into the reservoir. It’s not accurate, but it seems that the demonic beast pulled people in.”
As soon as I heard that, a word came out of my mouth.
“Speak!”
As soon as I finished my words, the soldier came running with the horse.
He probably prepared as soon as he knew there was an accident.
Because they understand my personality better than anyone else.
Besides, subjugating the beasts is the lord’s job.
Of course I have to look.
I got off the carriage and quickly mounted the horse.
It seems that he was awakened by a loud noise.
Katrin hung from the carriage window and looked at me.
It seems that his eyes are several times larger than usual, perhaps because he was embarrassed.
“I’m waiting here for a moment.”
After saying that, I turned my head and heard Catherine’s loud voice.
“Oscar! Be careful…”
But I, who had already started running, was quickly out of reach of her horse.
As we approached the reservoir, panicked people were shouting and wandering around.
“Where have you gone!”
“My God, it was gone in an instant.”
“Muh, I was dragged into the water.”
“Get off the water’s edge! If we make a mistake, we’ll be dragged in too!”
While the men were confused, the woman who saw me and the soldiers shouted like a scream.
“Save me! Please help me! My husband has been taken away!”
Looking at the reservoir, there was a long trail from the water’s edge towards the center.
It seems to be dragging people under the water.
Maybe it goes deeper and deeper.
The traces of water were gradually fading.
“What does he look like!”
I hurriedly asked, but people couldn’t answer because they were embarrassed.
“If you want to save that person, answer quickly. Roughly speaking is fine.”
“I only caught a glimpse of his head, but he looked like a lizard.”
As soon as I heard those words, the mana in my body was released all at once.
In a state where you don’t know exactly where the demon is, you have to use magic in the entire range where it is likely to be.
The consumption of magical power also increased, but the precision and killing power would be lacking.
At least if you know that it looks like a lizard, you can narrow it down a bit by excluding fish, and it will make it easier to kill.
‘But I have to hurry.’
It’s still within reach of my magical power, but when the traces of water disappear and I can’t figure out where it is, I’m helpless.
We have to kill him now so we can determine his location.
I concentrated and pictured the lizard in my mind.
The moment the stream of water was about to disappear, as magic power was twisted toward the bottom, the surface of the water suddenly shook greatly.
It seems that something twisted in the water.
In the next moment, small things popped up on the surface of the water.
they are little lizards
It might have been the offspring of a demon, or it might simply be a creature that lived here.
But the lizard he was trying to kill didn’t come to mind.
The sleep became quiet in an instant, and now there was no trace of him anymore.
‘Did it fail?’
It was the moment I thought so.
“It’s out!”
someone shouted.
But it’s in the wrong direction.
When I looked around, there was a large lizard floating on the right side of the place where I had cast my magic.
His breath hasn’t completely stopped yet, but he seems to have definitely been shocked.
It seemed to have fainted for a while, but the long tail hit the surface of the water and twisted its thick body around.
It must have been because I contained the energy of fire when I shot my magic.
The inside of his body must be as hot as if he had swallowed a fireball.
Before I could do anything more, an arrow flew from the magician’s hand.
When dozens of arrows pierced the lizard’s head and neck, the beast did not move any more, revealing its belly.
However, the figure of the person who was dragged away was still not visible.
‘No way… Under the water already.’
I wondered if I had swallowed it in that brief moment, but suddenly the captain of the escort pulled me from the water’s edge.
“Duke!”
The captain of the escort spoke briefly and wrapped around me, and the magicians quickly pulled out their arrows and loaded them into the string.
Glancing at it, something black was approaching beneath the opaque water of the reservoir.
It was just when the magicians pulled their strings to shoot arrows.
A man’s head popped up above the water in the reservoir.
It was the man who was dragged away.
It seems that the lizard dived and escaped the moment it fainted due to magical power.
“honey!”
Almost at the same time as the woman screamed, the man coughed and collapsed.
The man who rolled back into the water was hurriedly pulled to the ground.
The man coughs like crazy.
The flesh of the man’s leg was torn, but the wound was not large enough to expose the bone.
It doesn’t look like he’s injured any bones or nerves, so if he’s treated well, he’ll be fine.
The moment I was relieved, my body lost some strength.
“Duke.”
The captain of the escort grabbed me and supported me, giving me a worried look.
“It’s okay. It’s because I’m relaxed.”
I said that and straightened my body.
My body is a little languid.
Thinking I would stumble if I did something wrong, I stood motionless for a while.
I secretly tried to squeeze my fist without the escort captain’s knowledge, but my fingertips had no strength, so I couldn’t close it properly.
‘Like an idiot… I’m still immature.’
I thought I was used to using magic now, but I think I was conceited.
It is still far away.
Because he was nervous that he might not be able to save him, he overused his mana.
‘I was so embarrassed that I couldn’t see the enemy.’
But why is such a large lizard in a reservoir like this?
Thinking so, I suddenly remembered that there was a lake far away from here.
Maybe even in that lake, there are people who were pushed out because the number of monsters increased too much.
‘Are you saying that you don’t know when an accident similar to the one in the royal capital will happen in the dukedom?’
A wrinkle appeared on his forehead.
However, there must be a ban in the dukedom not to approach the water recklessly.
Why did these people disobey orders and come here without permission?
I looked at the men crowding around the man who had returned alive.
A few people noticed my gaze and prostrated themselves on the floor.
“No matter how much I look around, there are no soldiers of the lord. Did you guys come by yourself?”
“That, that’s…”
Others also prostrated themselves in front of me.
Only then did they become frightened at the fact that they had disobeyed the lord’s order.
Shaking and shivering, they share their gaze with each other.
“Tell me the truth.”
When I spoke sternly, people wept and opened their mouths.
“Yo, please forgive me.”
“Help me.”
“That, well, the elderly mother is sick at home.”
“Well, in my house, there is a father who can’t walk.”
“We have an old child… No, I…”
Making excuses in a hurry means that the child is getting old… I laughed out loud without even realizing it.
No, you shouldn’t laugh like this.
A soldier retrieved a net from a boat hidden by a tree branch and brought it back.
It seems that he was secretly trying to catch fish in the reservoir.
Fishing in reservoirs and lakes requires a permit.
I heard that there are cases where a small amount is overlooked, but if you have prepared a boat and a net, you won’t be able to just pass by.
I took a small breath.
“Yo, please forgive me.”
“Please forgive me.”
People were crying and banging their heads on the ground.
The lord of this region is a generous person.
Maybe this kind of thing kept pretending not to know.
So, it must have come to the reservoir to catch fish, just as the villagers, who do not look like bootleggers at all, come to play.
get in the way of a woman
The problem is that I, the duke, witnessed them.
In addition, now there is even a ban on access to the water.
Even if the lord of this place wants to forgive me, he can’t because of me.
It would be better for the lord to come up with an excuse so that he can forgive them with only a weak punishment.
I took another deep breath and opened my mouth.
“If you answer my words truthfully, I’ll take the normal into account.”
“thank you!”
“Thank you, be well!”
People bow down with tears and runny nose.
I glanced at the person in charge of the convoy.
Realizing my intentions, the convoy officer called a soldier.
“For now, wrap up the author’s wounds with a cloth. If you do something wrong, you will die without being able to answer the duke’s words. That shouldn’t be the case.”
“All right.”
After pouring clean water on the injured man’s leg and wiping it off, the soldier crushed some herbs he had on hand and wrapped a cloth around it.
I opened my mouth while watching it.
“Have you ever seen that Witchbeast before?”
At my words, people shook their heads.
“No. I’ve been here many times before and I haven’t seen any.”
“This is the first time.”
“Even if I went into the water naked, I’d never met one at all.”
These guys are not reflecting at all.
“The ban on not approaching the water isn’t just to make you guys in trouble. It’s because such a monster appears.”
“I know now.”
“I’ll never do anything like this again.”
“Never.”
People prostrate themselves prostrate and bow.
I let out a small sigh and opened my mouth again.
“Tell me in detail why you came here and what you did when you came.”
“to….”
“Me, sir, do you need something like that?”
“When shall I tell you? Will it be all right from the time we leave town?”
Why I’m saying that, they don’t seem to have any idea.
“I’ll have to tell you after I get here.”
At my words, the villagers opened their mouths.
For a while, I heard stories about the best place to fish in this reservoir and which way to enter so that the bottom would be hard and my feet wouldn’t fall out.
“Um… The fish here tastes really good. It’s as good as the stew with meat. I make a truly amazing fish stew, shall we boil it here?”
As one man spoke softly, the other opened his mouth with twinkling eyes.
“Because there is an iron pot under the broad stone over there.”
These guys, are you not reflecting at all?
The head of the convoy turned his head slightly and smiled.