Chapter 28
“Now we-” When Elisha was about to speak, someone suddenly came in without knocking.
Richard’s cold eyes and Elisha’s astonished eyes immediately turned toward that intruder. It was Thompson.
He gasped for breath and delivered an urgent piece of news, “Master, Madam, pardon me for the interruption, but a large number of monsters have appeared in the western forest.”
“Monsters?”
“Yes, a lot of people have been injured since they attacked the villagers’ houses.”
Richard and Elisha’s expressions hardened at the same time. Spring was the time when many creatures woke up. Monsters often caused some damage due to their unusually high activity in early spring.
However, the last monster attack only happened eight years ago, when Elisha was attacked at the west gate. Since then, there had been no major damage that occurred.
But the fact that the village was attacked meant that the number of monsters that had come were more than the Rubelin’s knights could handle.
Richard concluded the conversation while wearing the cloak he had hung on a nearby chair. “Elisha, let’s talk again after I get back.”
“Yeah, be careful.”
Richard, clad in protective outerwear, approached the window and instructed Thompson. “I’ll go ahead first, and you lead the knights.”
“Yes, Master.”
Richard went straight over the open window and disappeared. Thompson then left the office. Elisha looked anxiously at Richard, who had flown far away already, and fell into deep thought. ‘Monsters have appeared a lot these days. It’s probably because the spring season has come, but……’
Not long ago, there were reports about a large number of monsters appearing in the southeast and northwest forests. Fortunately, the forests were sparsely populated, and the attacks were discovered early, so it was possible to deal with them before they attacked the villages.
‘What if…there’s something that is provoking the monsters to attack?’ Elisha got up from her seat to go to the library. She wanted to look for more information about monsters.
But this time, Argyll also came in without knocking. His expression was quite anxious too. “Madam! An avalanche broke out on Mount Luke!”
Elisha’s expression hardened. Rubelin land had a lot of mountainous areas, and it snowed a lot. In spring, the temperature rose and avalanches were bound to occur. Since Elisha came to Rubelin, this was the second avalanche that destroyed a nearby village. “Is anyone hurt?”
“I do not know the exact situation, but I believe that there are probably no casualties since the villagers were evacuated in advance.”
“How about the damage?”
“About 20 villagers’ houses were buried due to the snowstorm.”
Elisha sighed in relief when she heard that there were no casualties. But it was too early for her to feel reassured. Since the houses were buried under the snow, the villagers had lost their place to stay. Their properties were also damaged.
“Prepare enough food and necessities for the victims.”
“I understand. I will go with the knights immediately.”
“I’ll go too.” Elisha said as she followed Argyll rushing out of the room.
*****
Along with Argyll and knights, Elisha arrived at the village with food and supplies. Due to the snowstorm, the whole village had disappeared, as if it had never existed in the first place.
Only the presence of the villagers in front of her indicated the existence of the village. They were still in shock looking at their village that had disappeared in a blink of an eye. Upon seeing Elisha’s arrival with the knights, a sense of relief reflected on their faces. “Your Grace!”
Elisha got off the horse and approached them. “Is anybody hurt? Did someone get buried under the snow?”
“No one is hurt, but…….” The village head looked at a small girl beside him while blurring his words. The girl was about six or seven years old.
“O-oppa… H-he went to the forest…b-but he has not returned yet…”
(t/n: oppa = older brother, I just used oppa instead of older brother since it sounds cuter.)
Looking at the little girl barely able to speak due to her tears, the village head decided to explain the situation in her stead.
“She lives alone with her older brother. This morning, her older brother went to gather firewood and has not returned yet. Fortunately, it seems that he went to the western forest…”
The western forest was far from where the avalanche occurred. The little girl’s older brother was less likely to have been swept away by an avalanche, but it was natural to be worried because he had not returned home yet.
Elisha sat at eye level with the girl and held the girl’s hand. The little girl’s hands were cold, perhaps because she waited in the cold weather for a long time.
“What’s your name?”
“…L-liana.”
“Then what’s your oppa’s name?”
“Jonathan.”
After hearing the name, Elisha looked at the knights next to her and nodded. It was a sign for them to start searching for the little girl’s older brother. At Elisha’s command, the Rubelin knights dispersed.
Elisha looked at the child again. “Liana is a very brave girl. Even when your oppa isn’t around, you take care of your house well.”
“…..”
“Those strong knights will find your oppa soon, so let’s wait together while eating this, okay?”
The little girl nodded, accepting the beef jerky from Elisha. Elisha stroked the child’s head gently, then she turned around and asked the villagers. “Does everyone have a place to stay?”
“We have a brother living in the nearby village, so we can go there.”
After hearing their stories one by one, Elisha told the knight next to her. “Sir Lawrence, take the wagons from the castle and send them to their destinations.”
“Yes, Madam.”
“Oh, thank you. Thank you so much, Your Grace. Your Grace even came all the way here to help us. Your Grace is so kind.”
“It’s my responsibility as the duchess to take care of my people.” Elisha smiled and looked at the other villagers around her. “If there anyone else wants to go to the nearby villages, come this way.”
The villagers moved according to Elisha’s instructions. Elisha also ordered them to share the food and supplies. After excluding those who will move to other villages, there were only four families left.
Elisha offered without hesitation. “You guys should stay at Rubelin mansion until the new settlement is established.”
“Y-yes?” The villagers as well as the knights and Argyll were surprised at Elisha’s suggestion.
Flustered, Argyll said, “Madam, it can not be done. If Madam allows outsiders to stay in the mansion, the security will be compromised…”
“If one of them is a spy, he would’ve infiltrated the mansion without waiting for an avalanche to occur.”
Argyll was lost for words. He couldn’t refute Elisha’s words since he knew that Elisha was right.
Elisha added with a grin when she saw Argyll and the knights’ reactions, “And I believe that Rubelin’s knights will certainly be able to guarantee our safety.”
It was an unexpected compliment. The knights couldn’t refute Elisha’s words and only cleared their throats in embarrassment. It seemed that they were in a good mood since Elisha recognized their hard work. Argyll sighed in worry, but he couldn’t stop Elisha anymore.
Elisha, who sorted the situation, decided to tour the village buried in the avalanche with her knights. ‘The location of the village and the slope of the mountain are quite close so it’s not strange for it to be affected by the avalanche.’
The avalanches rarely occurred on mountains with both steep and gentle slopes. However, Mount Luke, which was located behind the village, was a bit particular. It was full of canyon terrains.
The distinct topographical features of the slopes and canyons on that mountain increased the possibility for avalanches to happen.
‘We can’t change the topographical features of the mountain. So, any village built here will be at high risk of being buried due to the avalanches. Persuading the villagers to relocate the village was the surest way to prevent the future damage.’
When Elisha was lost in thought, a knight rushed up. “Madam, could you take a look at these for a moment?”
Elisha followed the knight to the directed location. There were four creatures resembling a bunch of white furs there. Elisha could tell at a glance what they were. “These are….”
“Yes, they are Yetis’ carcasses. The villagers say that before the avalanche occurred, they suddenly appeared, disturbed the village, and attacked the people.”
Yeti was a monster who lived in snowy mountains. It usually lived in hiding because it was scared of humans.
“Maybe they came down to the village after sensing that an avalanche was about to happen.” The knight came up with his own reasoning.
But Elisha shook her head. “No, they fear humans, so if they came down with a premonition of an avalanche, they would have searched for safe places to hide quietly instead. Like in the forests and nearby caves.”
It was strange that the monsters, who had the habit of avoiding humans, suddenly attacked the village.
“There must be another reason.” Elisha recalled that before the avalanche occurred, Richard went out to subjugate some monsters. ‘Is it related to the frequent appearance of monsters these days?’
At that time, she saw some Rubelin knights had just arrived with a few wagons. Elisha decided to sort out the current situation first. “Alright, everybody can get on the wagons.”
The villagers leaving for other nearby villages were the first ones to get on the wagons and sent to their destinations. After that, the few remaining villagers that would stay temporarily in Rubelin mansion got on the last wagon. But until then, Jonathan did not show up.
Elisha also got on the wagon and looked anxiously at Liana. Tired after waiting for her older brother and crying, the little girl was asleep.
Argyll, who also saw her sleeping, said, “Madam, please go back to the mansion with this little girl first. I will join the knights to look for her older brother.”
“No, I need to check on something here too.” Elisha sent the sleeping little girl to the mansion first and headed for the western forest with Argyll.
Argyll frowned as he looked up at the sky. It was a bit too cloudy and the wind was also unusually strong. “It looks like it is going to snow soon. We need to hasten the search.”
The knights began to search in the opposite direction from the previous one. However, it began to snow shortly after the search began.
Elisha frowned as she looked at the falling snow. ‘Due to the climate of the North, once it starts snowing, it will last for a least half a day.’
It would be difficult to continue the search if the snowfall gets stronger. Rather, it could put the search members in danger.
“Madam, since it is still snowing and it is almost sunset, it will be difficult to continue the search. We already built the temporary barracks here, so we will be on the lookout and check frequently to see if the girl’s older brother returns. Madam, please go back to the mansion first.”
“Sir Lawrence is right. If he doesn’t come back before the snow stops, we’ll resume the search. It is dangerous for Madam to stay here in this weather.”
Listening to Argyll’s words, Elisha bit her lips. The image of the little girl waiting for her only family member kept playing in her mind. She hesitated at the thought of going back without the girl’s older brother. At that moment…
“Ahhh!”
A scream was heard not far away. It was the voice of a boy.
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