Episode 1122. Tomorrow will not be my worst
“Erika. How long will you sleep?”
Erica’s eyes widened at the sound she heard nearby.
The first person that caught her eye was Viscount Natasha Bella.
“teacher?”
“Okay, get up now. What kind of alcohol is a kid who can’t even drink well… tsk tsk!”
Only then did Erica remember what had happened last night.
I sat next to Viscount Elio Lagoa and said, ‘Let’s go all the way’ and drank wine… but I couldn’t remember what happened after that.
‘Who is Viscount Elio Lagoa?’
Surprised, Erica jumped up from her seat.
“What time is it?”
“It’s 11 o’clock.”
“Yes? 11 o’clock? Surely it’s not night, is it?”
“It is morning. Do you have nights like this? You’re not sober yet.”
“omg! How about Viscount Lagoa?”
“He left early in the morning. They said they were going to Jedo.”
“By the way, whose room is this? Is this Viscount Lagoa’s room by any chance?”
She wished she had fallen asleep in Viscount Elio Lagoa’s room.
But that wind soon broke.
“This is my room. The maids of the viscount’s family carried you on their backs last night.”
“The ladies-in-waiting?”
“Are you disappointed that I wasn’t Viscount Lagoa? Ha ha ha!”
Viscount Natasha Bella laughed loudly.
said Erica, fanning her red-hot face.
“Did I tell you? Because it is an iron wall.”
“Give up. I briefly ran into him at a restaurant in the morning, and he just greeted me and left. If I had been interested in you, I would have asked, even in empty words, ‘Are you okay?’”
“He is such a person.”
“Just in case, I asked Baron Fabian Cloud, who was traveling with him. Ask him if there is a woman he is dating.”
“What do you say?”
“I heard that some knights did a dash in Hiruhera, but none were successful.”
“So you still have a chance?”
“It is the opposite. It is said that he does not give eyes to other women because he is a terrible pathetic wife. So you’d better give up.”
“…”
Erica didn’t answer.
I knew what he meant rationally, but my heart couldn’t follow.
Viscount Natasha Bella also immediately changed the subject, as if not expecting an answer.
“Come on, get ready. Breakfast is late, so let’s go eat lunch together. And how long did you say your contract with Chrysopedio lasted?”
“May next year.”
“There is still a lot left. I plan to perform in Hirhera for the next three months. I intend to teach you until then, so you better be prepared.”
“If the teacher teaches me, that’s fine with me.”
“And as my sister says, don’t stick to men. Because men don’t suit Bardos. A true bardos should be everyone’s lover.”
“I will try.”
“Then see you later. I have an appointment with the Viscountess.”
Viscount Natasha Bella waved and left.
Erika, who had been standing there, approached the window and looked down at the garden.
Perhaps because Viscount Elio Lagoa had left, the wide Viscount House looked empty.
Now, it seemed that no matter what song I sang, I would be sad.
***
Earldom of Neil Crow.
around noon.
Two brown horses galloped down a road wide enough for a carriage.
The riders on the horses are Elio and Fabian.
Fabian, who was running along the road, shouted at Elio.
“Viscount! Let’s take a break and go! My ass hurts and I’m dying!”
Hearing those words, Elio loosened his tight reins.
The horse’s speed slowed down, and soon it began to walk ‘takkak’.
Elio stopped his horse in an appropriate place and lightly jumped off.
Then, he loosely tied the reins to a nearby branch and perched on the trunk of a sunny tree.
Fabian got a log to use as a chair next to Elio and set it on fire.
If you drive out the cold with mana, your stamina will decrease, so you just lit a fire.
The flames quickly rose upward.
The flame was also clean because it was a high-grade fire stone given by Viscount Carlson Gallagher.
“Wow. look at the flame What is so clean?”
Fabian, who had only used low-level fire stones in the Hirhera Garrison, stuck out his tongue.
Elio also nodded.
“It seems that not only the flame but also the smell is different. The one I used in Hirhera had a slight burning smell…”
“I’ve never seen a fire stone like this before. I think something like this would only be used in the royal palace…”
“Does Viscount Carlson Gallagher have a lot of money? I also sponsor Bardos.”
“It has a mana stone mine. It is natural to have a lot of money.”
“What are mana stones?”
“It is literally a stone containing mana. It is an essential ingredient for a magic gun or magic cannon. If you use up all the mana in the mana stone, it will refill after a day or a half.”
“It will be expensive.”
“It is very expensive. So Viscount Carlson Gallagher can sponsor artists too.”
“There aren’t many gnomes, so don’t you try to steal them from the people around you?”
“Earl Crow’s stake is so large that no one can touch it.”
“I heard Count Neil Crow is also into the arts, so there aren’t many gnostic soldiers?”
“We are nodding because we forged alliances with neighboring territories through marriage. Besides, Count Neil Crow’s daughter is also the fiancee of the Prince of Wales. Everyone has prepared their own way to live, so can’t you do it without a countermeasure?”
“I see. It was a little strange, but… it’s an art to enjoy after selling your family… If that’s a sacrifice, is it a sacrifice?”
“They wouldn’t think like that. After all, marriages of aristocratic families are mostly political, aren’t they?”
“That makes sense too.”
Elio nodded.
From the point of view of an arranged marriage, it was nothing to criticize.
While taking a break, the two decided to settle for lunch.
In terms of laziness, Fabian was as good as Helio. As a result, the two of them always eat energy balls.
Fabian, who was chewing on the energy ball, asked in passing.
“By the way, Viscount. How many energy balls are left?”
“why?”
“I think I will finish eating today.”
“so?”
“Since the Viscount has a subspace, I wonder if he has more room.”
“Because I’m the one who always prepares for the worst.”
“Please share some with me from tomorrow.”
“I can’t.”
Elio refused at once without even thinking about it.
Fabian looked at Viscount Elio Lagoa with bewildered eyes.
“why?”
“You said balgeum. to prepare for the worst. Tomorrow is not my worst.”
“I have nothing to eat.”
“Then we need to prepare the food. Have you tried to eat only energy balls your entire life?”
“It’s not like that… but since it still exists, can’t we eat it first?”
“I’ll keep the energy balls for the worst.”
“And what if it hurts? If you save it, it will be shit.”
“don’t worry. Because it doesn’t rot in the space warehouse. It would be better to think about what to eat tomorrow.”
“What are you going to eat, Viscount?”
“If your dish tastes better than energy balls, I will eat it.”
“If it doesn’t taste good, do you eat energy balls by yourself?”
“of course.”
In an instant, a shotgun blast flowed from Fabian’s mouth.
“Wow! You are really too much. Do you want to pamper me like that?”
“Think of it as part of training. In my hometown, when I started, I shut up and cooked for several years before learning anything.”
“Is this where people live?”
“uh. Compared to my hometown, you are really well-liked. You only cook when you’re homeless. In my hometown, I had to set the master’s table before learning anything.”
“All right. I’m telling you in advance, but I can’t guarantee the taste?”
“If it doesn’t taste good, I won’t eat it. Don’t think of playing tricks on me, do it with all your heart. It’s going into your mouth anyway.”
“I don’t play with food.”
“doesn’t care. What goes into your mouth anyway?”
Elio chewed the energy ball with a nonchalant face.
If it tastes good, put a spoon on it, and if it doesn’t taste good, fill your stomach with an energy ball, so there was no reason to worry.
Even after they finished eating, the two of them didn’t move for a while.
Traveling on horseback was quite tiring for both horses and people.
Elio, who was warming himself by the fire, muttered to himself.
“Has the weather cleared up? Or is it because you came down south? Do you think it’s warmer than Hirhera? Isn’t it?”
“I think it comes down to the south and is affected by the seasons. There are four seasons in the central region, but it is summer now.”
“Right. Is it an empire beyond Count Neil Crow’s territory?”
“You have to pass the Baylem Kingdom to reach the border of the Empire.”
“Baylem? The country of Duke Herbert Liberato?”
Then, Fabian, who had been freed, straightened up.
“You shouldn’t say that. Thanks to the Viscount, the duke’s second nephew, Theo Liberato III, became king.”
“Who said the duke was the king? I just meant the duke to be from Baylem.”
“Don’t put it that way in Baylem. If you don’t, you could misunderstand the Viscount’s will and cause a civil war.”
“It’s not me, so why do you keep doing that? Are you deliberately betting on my words just because you told me to prepare the meal now?”
“That’s not it, I just wanted you to know that the Viscount’s words are so important. The current viscount can even replace the king. It is better not to say anything that could be misunderstood politically.”
“What am I?”
“It is not an exaggeration. Wasn’t this prince decided to become the king of Baylem thanks to Miss Anna Logan’s friendship with the Viscount? Now, the Viscount is akin to Archduke Hannes Knauf of the Empire. So politically…”
“Okay. I’ll be careful. What does a man say so much?”
“It was because the Viscount didn’t seem to know where he was.”
“I know, I know. How many times did the dukes snoop around the knights to try to talk to me? Still, the civil war was grossly exaggerated. What kind of people are the great nobles…”
Elio shook his head.
Just the question of the succession to the throne at Baylem, Duke Herbert Liberato did a lot of research on Anna Logan.
They are not the ones who will start a civil war over an uncertain word.
After resting for about an hour, Elio and Fabian moved south again.
It took two days for the two of them to arrive at the border between Count Neil Crow and Baylem Kingdom.
Around 3:00 PM, Fabian pointed far ahead and said,
“See? That’s a border checkpoint. There is no checkpoint like that on the border between territories.”
“ah! That’s a border checkpoint.”
“You can sneak across the border as long as you get out of your body. But if you want to take a horse or carriage, you have to use the road… You must pass through the checkpoint.”
“Right.”
Elio nodded.
The border checkpoint was similar to when going in and out of the city gate in Gangho.
Arriving at the border checkpoint, the two lined up like everyone else.
As I walked along the line, it was the turn of the two before I knew it.
As the border guard approached, Fabian held out a pass bearing the Marquis Bernardo’s seal on behalf of Helio.
“I am Baron Fabian Cloud of the Marquis Bernardo family. I am on my way to Jedo Island with my party.”
“I will check the seal and come back. Please wait.”
The border guard who entered the building with a pass came back in less than five minutes.
“Has confirmed. Have a nice trip.”
“Good job.”
Fabian, who commanded the rift monitoring unit in Hirhera, even offered words of comfort to the border guards.