Chapter 20
At first, Lucy had never planned to step in.
Morro or whatever his name was.
When she had quietly opened the door earlier and heard the shouting…
As a count who was probably nothing more than a passing extra boldly argued with Edward, Lucy had been ready to sit back and enjoy the show.
And Edward had actually shut Count Morro up with just a few words.
“Monsters have poor eyesight. They hate dark tunnels where they can’t see.”
Hearing that, Lucy tilted her head slightly.
“Hmm.”
That sounded similar to the world she had lived in.
The monsters from her old world also hated narrow, dark places.
A conversation she once had with her older sisters naturally came back to her mind.
“Since they hate underground areas and narrow passages, people think the place they originally lived was probably a wide plain.”
“Where did they come from? Another world beyond the Gate?”
“I don’t know where it is, but I wish we could send them back.”
“It would’ve been nice if there had been some device that could transport them.”
But in the end, the ones who had been sent outside were her sisters.
Remembering that conversation again left a bitter feeling in her heart.
Anyway…
That was why people always tried to build shelters as deep underground as possible.
Unfortunately, the shelter Lucy had lived in wasn’t built specifically to fight monsters.
It had simply been a school that was hastily converted into a shelter during the early days of the disaster.
That was why everything had happened the way it did.
…So monsters and magical beasts really do have things in common.
Maybe they shared even more habits.
If they did, that knowledge could be useful.
After all, while living in the shelter, she had desperately studied everything she could about fighting monsters.
Even so, there was still no point in stepping forward while Edward was here.
She would only get in the way.
“…”
Lucy quietly looked at Edward as he calmly destroyed Count Morro with nothing but facts.
The male lead, whose personality was equally terrible to everyone, never lost an argument no matter where he went.
Maybe I should just go back inside and quietly sit down.
Nothing could possibly happen to the strongest person in this world.
She had worried for nothing and come outside.
So she was about to turn around and go back.
Then—
“It’s your fault!”
“If only you’d killed the magical beasts a little sooner!”
People suddenly rushed forward.
And one of them pointed straight at Edward.
…It was the very same woman who had passionately shouted yesterday that she loved the Duke.
For a moment, Lucy’s mind went blank.
“What? The scouting team that went out for supplies was wiped out?”
“What are those neighborhood guards even doing?”
Whenever supplies ran low, the shelter always sent out people with nowhere else to go as scouting parties.
Yet whenever those scouts were wiped out, everyone blamed the neighborhood guards instead.
“They get priority supplies because they’re supposed to protect us from monsters. What a bunch of useless idiots!”
“This is all because the guards didn’t rescue the scouting team in time!”
Every time Lucy heard those words, her stomach twisted with anger.
She hated the people who stayed safely inside the shelter while criticizing those risking their lives outside to fight monsters.
My sisters went out there to protect people like you.
They weren’t superheroes.
They weren’t awakened warriors with special powers.
That world had no such things.
Her sisters had simply been physically stronger than most people.
They had been university athletes.
That alone was enough for them to be forced into the neighborhood guard.
Every time people insulted them without even knowing whether they were alive or dead, Lucy had swallowed her anger.
That was why—
“…Did anyone leave him in charge?!”
She finally shouted the words she had always wanted to say in her previous life but had never dared to.
“…What?”
The crowd stared at her in confusion as she suddenly barged in.
Even Edward himself looked at her with an expression that clearly said,
“What is she doing?”
Don’t make this awkward. I came to help you.
Well…
It wasn’t as if he had actually asked for help.
After rushing in without thinking, Lucy immediately started regretting it.
You could’ve just crushed them with words the same way you crushed those nobles.
But Edward simply stayed silent no matter what people said.
Now that she thought about it, the previous Duke had raised him with the strict belief that heroes should never attack ordinary civilians.
Lucy sighed inwardly.
Just then—
Count Morro, the first to recover his senses, shouted,
“You! Who are you to interrupt at a time like this?!”
“The commoners who came here to complain interrupted too.”
“What?!”
His face instantly twisted at her fearless answer.
“By the way, the honorable and generous Count… Mora?”
“Hm? It’s Morro, not Mora—”
“Anyway.”
Lucy smiled sweetly while clasping her hands together.
Only moments ago she had been demanding whether anyone had left Edward responsible.
Now her attitude had completely changed.
Her shameless flattery flowed so naturally that no one found it strange.
Even Count Morro froze.
Lucy licked her lips before continuing.
“I’m actually impressed.”
“…Huh?”
“You’ve barely dealt with magical beasts before, so how did you come up with such an incredible idea?”
“…Eh?”
“Honestly, even I would’ve thought the Academy was the better shelter.”
She shrugged before turning toward the crowd.
“Wanting to give people a safer and more comfortable place is exactly what a good lord should do.”
“…”
“No one could’ve predicted it would collapse.”
“Count Mora is such a kind and thoughtful person.”
Count Morro’s expression became strange.
Come to think of it…
The little woman’s words actually made sense.
That’s right.
I made a reasonable decision.
How could he possibly have known magical beasts behaved like that?
“It was a serious decision made for everyone’s sake.”
“And yet no one appreciates how much you care about your people.”
“…Mm!”
“If I were you, I’d feel hurt too.”
“Such a responsible and wonderful Count Mora.”
“Ahem! Ahem!”
“So that’s why you personally chose the Academy as the shelter?”
“Exactly.”
Count Morro proudly nodded.
“I personally selected that Academy as the evacuation shelter. I only wanted the safety and convenience of my people—”
“You personally chose it?!”
“Even after ignoring Duke Edward’s direct order to evacuate everyone to the silver mine?”
“…What?”
The moment Count Morro admitted he had chosen the shelter himself…
Lucy instantly changed from praise to attack.
“Duke Edward specifically told you—very clearly—to evacuate everyone to the silver mine.”
“H-He didn’t explain—!”
“Oh my! A hero and magical beast expert like Duke Edward would never give such an order without a reason.”
“…!”
Count Morro really hadn’t received an explanation.
But Lucy simply continued in a tone that sounded half sweet and half mocking.
“So despite knowing almost nothing about magical beasts…”
“You made the decision all by yourself.”
“How very confident… and clever of you.”
“Y-You!”
It sounded like praise.
But…
Everyone who had been crying and shouting slowly turned toward Count Morro instead.
“What?”
“Our shelter wasn’t supposed to be there?”
“Then my son…”
Even though they were furious, they still couldn’t bring themselves to accuse the Count directly.
It was completely different from how they had blamed Edward.
Only a few people lowered their heads in shame after realizing their own hypocrisy.
Lucy ignored them all.
Instead, she casually began wiping Edward’s armor with her sleeve.
“Oh my.”
“Duke, why are you bathing in magical beast blood again?”
“…”
“You know, no law says you have to work this hard.”
No law…?
Isn’t protecting us simply the duty of the Dragon Incarnation…?
The crowd looked confused.
“The dragons never promised to stay here forever protecting humanity.”
Several nobles suddenly stiffened.
Come to think of it…
She’s right.
The dragons had never actually made such a promise.
Humans had begged them to stay.
The dragons reluctantly remained in human form.
Their descendants continued to be born.
And among those descendants…
The Dragon Incarnation continued to appear.
Then…
Does that mean…
He could simply leave for the Demon Realm whenever he wanted?
Everyone’s eyes shook as they turned toward Edward.
Meanwhile, the tiny girl cheerfully rubbed her hands together.
“Still… thank you so much, Duke!”
“…”
“Nobody ordered you to do this!”
“Nobody left this responsibility to you!”
“And yet every single time…”
“You still come and fight the magical beasts for us!”
Only then did everyone realize something.
They had praised him countless times.
But they had never sincerely thanked him.
“Y-You’re right!”
“Thank you, Duke!”
“Thank you so much!”
“If it hadn’t been for you, the damage would’ve been far worse!”
Before the praises could continue, Lucy immediately waved everyone away.
“You’re tired, aren’t you?”
“Let’s go inside and get some rest.”
Then she started patting Edward’s armor repeatedly while trying to push him toward the inn.
“…”
She strained with all her strength to shove the giant Duke forward.
Even though anyone could tell he was only moving because he allowed it.
Without another word, Edward turned around and walked into the inn, leaving everyone’s praises behind.
Creaaak.
Bang.
I seriously thought I was going to die from stress…
The moment the inn’s door closed behind them, Lucy quietly let out the breath she had been holding.
For something I jumped into without a plan… I think it turned out surprisingly well…
“You.”
The instant she felt the cold armor touch the back of her neck—
“Hic!”
She swallowed a startled hiccup.
