Chapter 120

I knew my face had turned pale. I opened the window of the carriage. The cold winter wind made my nose tingle. But if I didn't get any fresh air, I was afraid I would throw up my breakfast this morning.

"Countess, are you not feeling well?" asked Angel. I waved my hand lightly. I should have just used teleportation magic instead of being stubborn.

"You're going to go by carriage?"

"Yes! It would be convenient to go with you by teleportation magic, but I wanted to try a carriage trip."

"Why would you do something so bothersome?"

"Traveling is a hassle but it's nice to watch the scenery through the window."

"..."

"Anyway, I will go by carriage this time. Teacher, you can go first."

"Are you telling me to go without you?"

"Yes, you will be uncomfortable in the carriage."

"..."

"I will be staying at inns throughout the trip, which might not be clean. I know you don't like sleeping in places like that."

"It takes a long time to go by carriage."

"I'm going to leave tomorrow."

"Tomorrow......? It takes two months to reach. Are you telling me that..."?

"I won't be late, don't worry!"

Kaichen had stared at me for a while, first surprised and then annoyed. Then he disappeared after saying, "Do as you like."

The reason I needed to travel to the Imperial Capital was because of Julius. He suggested that I go up to the capital and help him. It had been two years since the incident at Acrab. The summer passed smoothly and now it was time to welcome the second winter, which was almost over. Then spring would arrive. Kaichen had been patient and generously helping me all this time.

He had carried out the extermination of the monsters all alone for the redevelopment of the mines. He had set up a permanent barrier for my safety so that I could move throughout Acrab and the mines. He had set up such barriers on almost ten mines and informed me that the monsters won't be a problem for the future. The miners were shocked at first and then ran to the quarries to collect minerals which they hadn't done for such a long time.

"It can't block strong monsters, so you'll have to send subjugation squads periodically," he had said. Monsters were an anomaly and could not be eradicated completely. It wasn't clear why they spawned every once in a while.

At Kaichen's words, I created a Knights Order from the Alshine County in charge of subjugation of monsters in the future. About fifty people were selected from the city's security guards and moved to Alshine Squad. I gave Knights an annex in Alshine County, which was spacious enough to be used as their lodging. The annex had been empty and huge which I turned into a drill hall. I wondered if it had been built for exactly this purpose before from the way it was designed.

There were only about fifty people for now but it made me feel proud that a proper order for Knights of Alshine County was finally a reality. Julius laughed heartily at the news but sent some paperwork and instructions for proper training.

"I know you like to drink and cook and work at your tavern but I must request you to work for the county as you did before." I handed the papers and the training manual to Las and entrusted him with the training of the Knights.

Las used to be the greatest of knights in the past. He hesitated but my persuasion worked. Kaichen had been reluctant to entrust the training to Las as the commander of knights but when I told him there was no one as suitable and capable to do it in the whole of Acrab, he relented. Things were going very smoothly.

Kaichen moved to deal with the problem at the Mencar Mountain, where Julius joined him. They suspected that the robbers were in fact the remnants from the Momalhaut group. That day, a black smoke filled the air above the mountains.

Ignorant fools! I quietly organized the papers on my desk and went through them, sorting out the important things to be taken care of. I realized now when actually running the estate that if I hadn't spent the hundred years reading about it and building up my skills, this work would have overwhelmed me. If I, an ordinary person, was suddenly asked to manage a land of almost three thousand people without any experience, I would have balked. Not everything worked as easily as made out to be in fiction.

"Teacher, if a lot of people come to Acrab, we will need to strengthen the security. We also need to build a lot of inns for the visitors."

"There is no point in building more inns than necessary."

"Then what should we do?"

"The visitors will figure it out themselves if they visit here for the time being."

In that regard, Kaichen really was not much of help. Kaichen had lived in the Magic Tower all his life. No one could compare with him in his knowledge about magic and research but he was not a person who interacted much with people. So, he had no idea about estate management. He was cynical and skeptic. For him, it was hard to coexist with many people at once. Any conversation about it went something like this:

"So, setting up a craftsman's association in Acrab can be a starting point for artisans to work together to collaborate and create better works. Don't you agree?"

"I don't know why craftsmen who have already been recognized for their abilities should cooperate or collaborate. Personal productivity is enough, so why would they need to work with others?"

"They are great on their own, but when they work with others and mingle their crafts, they might produce something unique."

"Why should they do that? If the other person makes something that is not satisfactory, they will only feel the difference in their abilities and it won't benefit them, will it?"

"Uh... maybe. But if they succeed in working together and mixing their crafts, they might produce interesting results. They can use each other's creativity to do better."

"I don't understand. Why do you have to do things which you aren't sure of? What a waste of time."