~Chapter 11~
Lombard was a paradise for the corrupt.
The physicians had long evaded the Hall’s orders, slipping past their duties with whispered bribes to the nearest official. Thus, once a full inspection was announced, it was as clear as blazing fire that none of them would escape severe punishment.
The physicians snapped to their senses as though doused in ice water.
“L-Lady, your generosity is renowned even beyond the capital!”
“Is that so? I’ve never heard such a thing.”
“Oh dear! How could we sully the ears of a noble lady with the gossip of common folk, haha!”
Their faces shifted at once, and they continued in honeyed tones.
“So we were thinking… it would please us greatly if there were some way we could express our gratitude to our benevolent lady.”
“Gratitude?”
“Well, you know… that thing.”
They subtly rubbed thumb and forefinger together.
The round little gesture, its meaning obvious, stirred my heart far too deeply.
In my previous life, I had been a low-born commoner with no prospects whatsoever—no one had ever approached me with such clandestine proposals.
Casting a furtive glance around, I leaned in to whisper into a physician’s ear.
“If you wish for it that earnestly…”
“Yes, yes! Please, tell us anything!”
“Baron?”
Baron Comte caught my eye and winked broadly, as though he understood perfectly.
His shameless attempt at charm irritated me so badly that I snatched the check from his hand, scrawled across it, and thrust it at the physicians.
“Here. Sign.”
“W-We haven’t even confirmed the contents…”
“Then forget it.”
“Thank you for your boundless generosity, my lady!!”
They snatched the check from my grasp before I could reclaim it, signing in a panic and stamping their seals as well.
Only then did I smile sweetly and hand it to Abbot Filio.
He had been pretending not to watch, yet his expression was dazed. No wonder—bribes were being pushed not to the powerful, but to me, who held no authority at all.
“My lady? Why are you giving this to me…?”
“Our dear physicians have made a momentous decision. They will now provide every coin required for the clinic’s renovation. Such generosity, is it not? Expand it as grandly and luxuriously as possible—and send all the bills to them.”
Meanwhile, the physicians themselves looked utterly lost.
Their eyes followed the fluttering check in my hand. Inside, the recipient was written as Abbot Filio—with no limit whatsoever to the sum.
They recoiled in horror, but it was already far too late.
“Let us all become angels of charity… together!”
And thus I safeguarded my small, precious companion—my guiltless gold—from the clutches of conscience.
See? I told you I was clever.
The sun was already leaning toward the west.
I hobbled outside.
I had kicked the walls repeatedly to discourage the monks’ attempts at polite warmth. Predictably, I had shattered a toe.
“You should board the carriage now, my lady.”
“Um… my lady…”
Someone called out to me.
It was the patient who had tried to spit at me the other day, only to miss and hit Baron Comte instead. The baron spotted him as well, grinding his teeth so loudly it almost echoed.
The man bowed awkwardly under our gaze.
“Good day, my lady.”
“You’ve removed the splint?”
“Yes, thanks to you…”
No one spoke further, and the air grew uncomfortably tense.
I offered a curt farewell and was about to climb into the carriage when the man spoke up with great hesitation.
“A-about the other day… I am truly sorry. I committed a grave discourtesy against you.”
“It didn’t hit me, so think nothing of it.”
“What about me, huh?!” the baron barked, ignored entirely.
Yet the carpenter still seemed to have something left unsaid, his lips pressing together anxiously.
He looked so pitiful that I decided—just this once—to ease the mood.
“So, what is your reason for stopping me?”
“Well…”
“Speak.”
“I happened to overhear… that you donated the funds for the clinic’s repairs.”
“I didn’t. The physicians did.”
“If you would permit it… I would like to take charge of the reconstruction.”
He continued without acknowledging my correction.
“My skills are well-regarded even in the North. If I personally oversee the site, I can ensure the clinic’s convenience in many ways. The workers will need pay, but I shall take none for myself—only the cost of materials.”
“Oh?”
The cost would indeed be lowered… but it wouldn’t be my savings.
Frankly, I would much prefer the physicians become even greater angels of charity.
Unimpressed, I narrowed my eyes—and the carpenter abruptly fell to his knees.
“I wish to repay your kindness however I can!”
“Why are you suddenly kneeling?!”
“You are generous enough to overlook my previous insolence. But I must atone. One of the miners you rescued was my son.”
“….”
“I beg you—allow me to be of use. If you will not entrust me with the work, then at least take me on as a laborer!”
I looked down at the man kneeling before me.
Even beneath the thick fur cloak, the hard, compressed muscle of a seasoned worker stood out clearly.
Well, he had managed to overpower the baron with an arm bound tightly to his chest.
‘This one may be more useful than I thought.’
I softened my expression and tapped his shoulder.
“Abbot Filio’s opinion matters most in this matter. If he permits it, the work is yours.”
“I will not disappoint you, my lady!”
“And you will accept wages. More than usual. That is an order.”
After all, it wasn’t my money.
I delegated the nuisance to Filio and turned to the real reason I’d come outside.
Since I was here already, I might as well address the matter that had been weighing on my mind.
“But I have a request.”
“Any construction at all—just command me!”
“Tell me—are you good at fighting?”
“Well, of course I’m con… Pardon?”
Thompson, the carpenter, tilted his head.
The knife-edged winds of the northern Valheim Mountains howled mercilessly.
Edwin was inspecting the northern wall with only a handful of close retainers.
Beyond that wall lay the Black Continent—the land of monsters.
Thus, the title of Duke of Lombard came with one supreme duty: the defense of the northern wall. The previous duke and the duke before him had both perished while guarding it.
Many believed this duke’s fate would be no different.
Edwin placed his hand upon the barrier, his eyes gleaming faintly.
“Lord, nothing unusual here!”
“This side shows no anomalies either.”
He turned as his men approached.
His face settled into its usual unreadable calm.
“Heavens, no matter how often we come, it’s impossible to grow used to this cursed wall.”
“Truly! It feels as though something might leap out at any moment—it’s unsettling. My lord, are you well?”
The Valheim Mountains stretched endlessly, a spine across the North, and many of Edwin’s people lived their lives along its expanse.
But few dared approach the northern wall.
The closer one drew to the Black Continent, the thicker the miasma that seeped across the ground—so dense that even trained knights struggled to breathe.
Edwin, however, walked as though he had been born here.
He dismissed their banter with disinterest and spoke plainly.
“How fare the monsters?”
“According to records, no changes. Strangely quiet, in fact.”
“Well of course! With our lord standing vigil, what creature would dare move?!”
Edwin’s prowess was beyond human reach.
Even exceptional knights rarely manifested sword-aura before adulthood, yet he awakened his at the age of eight.
After relentless training, no knight on the continent could match him.
Whenever he unleashed his aura, monsters and humans alike shrank back in fear.
“Is that not so, my lord?”
“Indeed. They wouldn’t dare.”
He murmured softly, eyes fixed upon the frozen wall.
His tone was serene—but the knights felt a suffocating weight press upon their lungs.
“Is that not so?”
He turned from the wall, expression easing.
At once, the tension broke, and the knights let out awkward laughs.
Though they had served him all their lives, there were rare moments—like this—when he became unfathomable.
One knight changed the subject.
“By the way, my lord, have you heard? My lady intimidated the physicians today and received this from them!”
“Oh?”
Edwin’s eyes widened slightly at the familiar gesture the knight made with thumb and forefinger.
“My cousin is a well-known physician at the inner wall, you see.”
“Who doesn’t know that?”
“Well, apparently, my lady latched onto some trivial offense, treated the physicians as though they’d committed a capital crime, and extorted a massive sum in fines. They say she caused an uproar—absolute chaos!”
