Chapter 98

At that moment.

The Count Tenchia whom Shin Yuri was searching for(?) was seeing off an unexpected figure.

Well, more precisely, he’d already seen them off quite a while ago. He was still standing there in a daze.

“Not long ago, His Majesty summoned me to praise me… and now this.”

Was it a dream? Or how could such fortune strike twice in a row?

He couldn’t forget the Pope’s gentle smile from just moments earlier, when he’d been standing right beside him.

‘Now that Count Tenchia has arrived in the north, the suffering of the people should lessen.’

The Pope had said that and, astonishingly, come in person to issue a command.

‘This plain would be ideal. For building a new temple…’

The impact of those words was tremendous.

‘Shall we prepare?’

‘If the lord grants his generous permission.’

How many lords could refuse when the High Priest and the Pope were both looking at him expectantly?

No, who in their right mind would turn down a temple being built in their territory to begin with?

‘Of c-course!’

And the temple’s affairs moved with astonishing speed. Already, people from the temple and his subordinates were huddled together, drafting plans for the new structure.

On land already blessed by the Pope himself.

‘Holy Father?’

When he first heard the Pope was coming to Raella Plain, he’d thought it was a lie.

But no, a carriage had truly departed from the central temple in Shinsian.

His heart had raced with urgency.

‘Miya, make sure to convey the message properly! I need to go meet the Pope briefly!’

This was a precious guest under divine protection. He couldn’t treat them lightly.

That was why he’d skipped even Miya’s banquet, held in prayer for Tenchia’s prosperity, to come here.

‘What? A new temple in Raella?’

‘Isn’t there already one there?’

‘The Pope himself came and bestowed a blessing, they say.’

Naturally, all eyes from the surrounding nobles turned to Count Tenchia.

Thanks to that, his territory was bustling second only to Edelweiss lands.

And the result of it all.

“Finally done with work for the day!”

It was the moment Count Tenchia sprang up from his seat, having bulldozed through the mountain of documents on his desk with superhuman focus.

—Click.

His butler appeared through the cautiously opened door, carrying another pile of paperwork like a mountain.

“……”

“……”

Count Tenchia sat back down with a look that could make one weep. The butler said, looking troubled,

“……As you’ve taken charge of a new territory, there’s much more for you to review. Please bear with us.”

There was no helping it. Raella territory was that vast, with endless matters demanding attention.

“Still, congratulations!”

The butler wore an expression of exhaustion mixed with pride.

It was only natural.

His master had been praised by the Emperor himself and gained control of Raella Plain, a jewel coveted by the empire’s true powers.

And now even the Pope was showing interest in him.

All that remained was for the family to expand its influence.

“Thanks.”

Count Tenchia muttered as he reluctantly took his seat and accepted the documents.

His voice was half-broken.

Of course, the results of his soul-crushing labor were undeniable.

‘As expected, His Majesty’s discerning eye never errs!’

They said northern high society was in an uproar, but Count Tenchia felt like his own insides were being turned upside down.

‘As expected of Count Tenchia!’

‘The young rising star!’

‘The hope of northern high society!’

Even as people toasted his name, Count Tenchia couldn’t join those social gatherings.

Why?

“Once you finish this, the urgent matters will all be cleared.”

Thud.

A hefty stack of documents blocked his view.

Why, indeed? Because he was insanely busy!

Count Tenchia’s face twisted. The butler, setting down the papers, looked apologetic.

As he stared at the stack towering so high he couldn’t see past it, Count Tenchia grumbled,

“……And this is the ‘urgent’ stuff?”

Implying there was a ton of non-urgent work piled up too?

“Hahaha.”

He unwittingly let out a laugh like Count Baiya’s.

“Hahahaha!”

He wanted to cry.

Lady Edelweiss…!

His wistful gaze turned southwest.

Right now, Count Edelweiss was probably surveying her territory in the empire’s east with sparkling eyes.

“My lord. This matter in particular must be handled swiftly if the knight order is to mobilize…”

The butler offered no reprieve.

“Right… I suppose I must…”

Count Tenchia turned teary eyes to the documents.

And from then on, the work poured in relentlessly, leaving no room to even think of Edelweiss or anything else.

Miya’s not-quite-party was nearly over.

“He’s later than expected.”

And Count Tenchia hadn’t shown up even as the party wound down.

“Raella’s situation was dire, after all.”

Another noble picked up my words. I nodded.

“He rushed off in a hurry, didn’t he?”

What had happened in Raella?

Still, with Count Tenchia’s abilities, he could surely handle it.

“We came to congratulate Count Tenchia, only to leave without seeing the man of the hour…”

To think we’d end up having a party without the protagonist.

It reminded me of Shin Jae-heon’s birthday, of all things.

His birthday.

The moment the date flipped to his birthday, we’d showered him with lightning-fast congratulations.

But while we were busy celebrating, the actual birthday boy stayed silent.

What? Was he asleep?

He wasn’t the type to sleep at midnight. Growing suspicious, I belatedly realized the issue.

I’d kicked him out last night as a prank and forgotten to reinvite him!

We tacitly agreed that day to bury the incident from Shin Jae-heon forever.

And celebrated his birthday again, as if nothing had happened.

Quick on the uptake, as always!

Anyway, it brought back that memory.

Shin Jae-heon-less Shin Jae-heon birthday celebration… Count Tenchia-less Count Tenchia celebration…

“No helping it. Parties can happen anytime.”

I flashed a bright smile at the disappointed Miya folk.

Just invite me within the next half year^^!

Then I can make it!

“Next time, I’ll host an even grander banquet!”

Count Baiya shouted regretfully.

Why did he seem more bummed about me not meeting Count Tenchia than I was?

Seeing his heartbroken expression, maybe there’d been some scheme(?) to pair us up at this banquet.

Maybe it was a good thing he hadn’t come.

“I hope we can continue maintaining friendly relations with the Magic Tower as well.”

Count Baiya gave a brief bow to Hunter So Yeri.

She smiled prettily in response.

“Of course. Even if we had our rough patches, our goal of protecting the empire remains the same.”

At her light reply, the nobles’ expressions softened further.

They bowed their heads to me in particular, with gratitude.

“You’ve worked hard, Count Edelweiss.”

“Being able to speak like this with the Tower Master is thanks to your mediation, Count Edelweiss.”

“It’s also thanks to the Tower Master graciously attending.”

As the ‘You did great—no, you did more!’ bounced back and forth like ping-pong, Hunter So Yeri gestured to the accompanying mages.

Moving the Magic Tower’s personnel as discussed with Miya.

“With so many attack mages coming, things inside the gates should go much smoother.”

One of Miya’s nobles said it, and everyone nodded in satisfaction. It was touching.

Yes, this is what party support is all about!

A good start.

While they warmly praised each other’s contributions, I checked the system window.

The sub-quest that popped up when I dispatched the knight order.

43 gates at 500 coins each—that’s already 21,500 coins.

Add 21,500 and that’s nearly 70,000 coins.

Time for some shopping soon. Hopefully no duds like Dark Adaptation or Shadow Outlaw this time?

Or maybe pull an inventory? With B-rank upper status, it should handle most items.

I tilted my head slightly and posted in chat.

Meanwhile, the guests were starting to disperse.

“See you next time.”

“Next time, I’ll host an even—grander! Banquet, so you must come!”

“Sparring then too!”

“Agreed!”

“Hear hear!”

Count Baiya’s enthusiasm seemed to be spreading through Miya.

Before it infected me, I hopped into the carriage quick.

“Until next time!”

“Safe travels!”

Miya’s nobles saw me off. Hunter So Yeri was among them.

“I have to head to the research site, so see you soon, Count.”

She smiled softly, in full Clona Aisen mode.

Even though her research site—the magic stone mine—was in Edelweiss territory, we couldn’t go together.

It was in the corner of the territory, so it’d mean looping around extra.

“Yes!”

I waved vigorously, closed the carriage door, and posted one last chat message.

Neat and clean! I grinned broadly.

The key territories list for firebird messages from the Tower had naturally been passed by Shin Jae-heon.

No matter how thriving the Tower or temples, they couldn’t grasp each territory better than the imperial family.

“Phew.”

I let out a short sigh inside the carriage as it began to move.

‘To think you’d go to such lengths for me. I’m truly, repeatedly touched.’

What a brutally two-faced exchange.

I thought I’d get a penalty just watching. Whew.

Meanwhile, as Shin Yuri rode off in her carriage.

So Yeri mounted the horse Count Baiya had provided and headed separately to the mine.

“Horseback riding after so long feels great.”

Thanks to this RP dungeon’s setting, she could indulge her hobby of riding—and that was truly nice.

Though chat-only communication was a bit inconvenient.

“I’ll ride a bit, then fly the rest.”

Yee-haw! Not long after she galloped off, slicing through the wind.

“Huh?”

She encountered an unexpected group.