IMYL 12

Chapter: 12

When I closed my eyes and leaned back against the chair, one of the maids spoke anxiously.

“Um… Miss. It looks pretty serious, doesn’t it? Will food really become scarce?”

So she’d finally realized.

“Yeah. It probably will.”

When I nodded, another maid cut in, her eyes lighting up.

“But we have horses too, don’t we? The horses the knight order brought back!”

It was true—the Alphiers Knight Order had brought in several horses.

“I thought they were completely useless, but I guess we should sell them quickly! Just like Miss Dalia said, if we buy dairy cows, we can get milk and—”

“Absolutely not.”

I cut her off flatly.

If Dalia’s boasting was true, Harwin was practically guaranteed to go bankrupt because of dairy cows…

“Still, it is true that we need more food.”

After finishing my thoughts, I opened my eyes and spoke decisively.

“We need to prepare to reclaim Jezel Street. Let’s go.”

“What? Are you going back to the potato fields again?”

“No.”

Surprisingly, Philip had become quite skilled at potato farming. At this point, it seemed safe to leave that field entirely to the Potato Squad.

“We’re going to Erenta.”

That beautiful riverside village my uncle had coveted for so long.

“So you’re saying we should survive a month eating nothing but tiny fish?”

But tiny fish weren’t the only edible things in the river.

If we wanted to move beyond simple hunting and gathering, there was a lot we needed to prepare in advance.

“We’ll need a few quick-handed knights. Let’s stop by the training grounds first.”

I spent the entire afternoon along the riverside of Erenta.

After giving the knights several instructions, I was on my way back to the marquis’s residence.

“Ahem. Ahem.”

An old man in shabby clothes was sitting by the river, his fishing rod cast into the water.

“Why won’t the fish bite? It’s already been hours…”

It was obvious he was talking loudly on purpose so others would hear.

“Sigh… how can I not catch even a single one…?”

The empty bucket beside him was even dirty.

The maids recoiled with looks of disgust.

I stopped walking and replied.

“It’s strange that you haven’t caught even one.”

“Right? Ah, you must be a young lady from a noble house.”

The old man brightened and responded eagerly.

I tilted my head and asked,

“Is it possible your bait is mixed with Pozion grass?”

“Pozion grass? What’s that? I know Zion grass.”

“Oh, it’s the same thing. A plant fish absolutely hate. All of them except marange fish.”

The maids following behind me frowned deeply. They clearly didn’t like me conversing with such a filthy common old man.

But inwardly, I smiled.

‘So this is Baron Foreman.’

First, anyone from this region would know not to fish this way in this season.

Second, I had the cold expression and proud bearing of a textbook arrogant noble young lady. I didn’t look like someone a commoner would casually talk to.

Third, once I sensed something was off, I immediately threw out bait of my own.

“Also, you should draw out the ‘po’ sound a bit longer. Western regional proper nouns are pronounced closer to ancient speech.”

There was no such thing as “Pozion grass.” As the old man himself had said, “Zion grass” was the correct name.

I just wanted to hear how he pronounced the “po.”

‘He tried to hide it, but that’s unmistakably a Western accent.’

An old man from the West, skillfully concealing his identity while approaching me.

Without a doubt, he was Baron Foreman—an expert informant.

“Ah… I didn’t know that much. Thank you for telling me.”

The corners of the old man’s eyes creased slightly.

Suddenly, I thought his eyes looked a bit like Leopold’s.

Baron Foreman continued,

“But who might you be, young lady?”

Before I could answer, the maids stepped forward.

“Stand up at once and pay your respects! This is Miss Brisa of House Sears, the Marquis’s family!”

“Hurry and apologize for your rudeness! Be grateful for her mercy!”

“No matter how lowborn you are, how can you lack manners to this extent?”

Their words lashed out like icy blades.

Baron Foreman’s eyes widened. He hurriedly stood and bowed deeply.

“I—I offer my greetings!”

“Lower! Bow lower!”

At the maid’s shout, Baron Foreman bent even further.

“I am Oliver Hanson! I’ve come to stay with a relative’s nephew over in Jezel Street!”

Rolling his eyes and fawning shamelessly, he looked exactly like a rustic old man.

Watching him, I thought,

‘Right… everyone’s just struggling to survive.’

He was desperately acting the part of a commoner to hide his identity. He probably already knew who I was.

I admired that devotion.

‘Just to make a living, bowing even to someone half a century younger…’

I looked at him with pity. I meant it sincerely.

‘Those maids from Riente really are insane.’

Baron Foreman sighed inwardly.

He was an informant for Grand Duke Nozen—retired for several years now.

‘It’s been far too long since I’ve done this. At least I wasn’t found out…’

When was the last time he’d disguised himself as a commoner?

Still, deceiving a single young noble girl he’d never met should have been easy.

But that wasn’t the real problem. Judging by the situation, he seemed to be stuck in the Central region. He’d only planned to stay about three days before returning!

‘At my age, why am I suffering like this?!’

Baron Foreman was in despair. He never expected to be cornered like this.

“Wouldn’t you like a change of scenery? Why not take a little trip?”

Not long ago, Grand Duke Nozen—also his in-law—Hilbury had summoned him.

Baron Foreman replied in the polite style of Western nobility.

“Ho ho, serving as Your Grace’s eyes is always my humble pleasure, but I am far too old…”

Even giving in a hundred times, he was fine with merely observing—but he absolutely did not want to get involved in anything like a monster wave.

Hilbury chuckled and said,

“You’re going to check on a potential grand duchess, you see. Leopold secretly sent her a bouquet not long ago.”

That was how Leopold’s secret became known even to his maternal grandfather.

In any case, Leopold’s partner.

Leopold was the heir of House Nozen, but to him, he was also a beloved grandson he cherished dearly.

The boy had done something behind his paternal grandfather’s back? Even if he’d been caught…

His interest flared instantly.

“Then I shall take a look myself, with my dull old eyes. Who might she be?”

Hilbury raised an eyebrow briefly, then answered in a low voice.

“Brisa Sears. Of the Marquis of Sears’ house… the young lady.”

No longer the heir of House Sears—just an ordinary marquis’s daughter.

Baron Foreman fell silent for a moment, then replied immediately.

“I will depart at once.”

And so, Baron Foreman excitedly took a warp.

The Central region rarely saw monsters, so he didn’t even bring attendants.

True to his past as an informant, Baron Foreman grasped the situation almost immediately upon arriving.

Just as he was about to take another warp back to the West to report that nothing much seemed amiss—

“Uwaaaagh! Uwaaaagh!”

Everyone exiting the warp was vomiting.

When he asked the administrator, he was told that the warp was currently far too unstable for the elderly or infirm. The Mage Tower was even discussing suspending warp travel altogether.

Rumors spread rapidly that monster wave phenomena were appearing across the empire—not just in the West.

The Central region bordered mountains shared with surrounding territories, and monsters had begun to emerge along those borders.

This was the first major problem in securing food supplies.

‘The Central region developed its distribution markets because it had no monsters—but grain production itself is low. In other words, it’s not self-sufficient!’

And that was how Baron Foreman ended up stranded in the Central region.