Chapter 9 

I crossed my legs just like Dazhar and leaned back on the sofa, speaking arrogantly:

“So what you’re saying is—you don’t believe I’ve been to the Eastern Continent?”

“No, before that—what is that ‘public authentication’ thing you said earlier?”

“It exists. It’s an ancient relic. Anyway, let’s talk about the important part. The Eastern Continent.”

Dazhar narrowed his eyes and stared at me.

“Right. The Eastern Continent. Hard to believe.”

I rummaged through every memory in this body.
I really had been to the Eastern Continent.

But he wasn’t wrong.

With this body’s power, traveling there should’ve been impossible.
Even transcendents couldn’t break through the barrier surrounding our continent.

Hmm.

All kinds of problems happening on the Quizen Continent were, ironically…

Because of that massive barrier built to protect our lives.

We couldn’t leave the continent at all.

Dazhar searching for a new food source was related to that too.
A famine was beginning, and with no foreign trade, the situation was worse.

But seriously… how did I go there?

I remembered odd people with unfamiliar clothes and features, and living there for a while…

But how did I get there?
That part was foggy, like a memory wrapped in mist.
All I remembered was that I went.

I had no way to prove it to him.

So I shrugged.

“Fine, let’s revise that. I didn’t go to the Eastern Continent. But I do have a new food source.”

“What?”

“You’re hung up on the continent part, right? Then let’s say I never went. Doesn’t matter. The point is—I have a crop you can use as a new food source.”

“Ha!”

Dazhar let out a short laugh.

He leaned on the armrest and rested his chin on his hand.

His tilted face looked cold and arrogant.
He wasn’t even pretending to be polite anymore.

“You’re really something else.”

“You’re one to talk. I wish everyone knew how rude the Duke of Siastor actually is.”

“I suspected you were unusual ever since you shoved a rattle in my face yesterday.”

“And I suspected you were insane when you pulled out a sword at a stranger.”

Dazhar smirked.

He watched me like he’d discovered something amusing.

He switched the leg he had crossed and said,

“My sword was better at calming your baby than your little rattle.”

“Good for you. Must be nice having a sword that doubles as a baby soother. Where can I get one? I’d love to buy one too.”

“It’s an artifact passed down through my family. Sorry, but even I don’t know where it was made.”

Our pointless back-and-forth continued.

But the more he smirked, the more it felt like I was losing.

So I leaned forward and slammed my hand lightly on the table.

Bang.

“Enough. You need a new food source, right? I have it. Why are we wasting time talking?”

Dazhar mirrored me and leaned forward too.

Our faces were suddenly very close.
Uncomfortably close.

He blinked slowly.

And for a moment—
His eyes looked strangely deep.

Much too deep for someone so violent and annoying.

He raised one eyebrow and said quietly,

“Then bring that food source.”

“And if I do?”

“I’ll give you what you want.”

I stared straight into his golden eyes and smiled.

“Deal.”

For a split second, it looked like his eyes sparkled.

***

Back to the Evanroar Estate

“It’s probably a direct order from His Majesty. No, from His Imperial Majesty.”

On the way back home in the carriage, Elstern said this.

I turned from the window, puzzled.

“His Majesty?”

“Yes.”

Earlier, I had asked why Duke Siastor was searching for new food.

Elstern hesitated, then pulled out the coupon I had given him—
“Cute Baby Aksion—30-Second Hug Ticket” —
looked at it once, and decided, whatever.

Then he explained.

“His Majesty Scarlet, the current Emperor of the Quizen Empire, is a good ruler. Probably the greatest ruler who has ever loved his people.”

“Mmh. Yes.”

Even in this body’s memories, Emperor Scarlet was a benevolent king.

Like King Sejong, if you compared him to Earth.
He gathered brilliant minds, created inventions for the people, and solved their hardships.

“But because he’s such a benevolent ruler, the nobles constantly complain.”

“…”

Elstern looked out the window tiredly.

“Well, this food crisis probably has those issues tangled into it too. Our continent has only one staple—Miar—and the nobles completely monopolize its distribution.”

He was right.

In the original novel, every noble family owned a region’s Miar production rights.

The Imperial Family had less than 5%.
Their power had collapsed in the previous generation.

It was Emperor Scarlet who painstakingly rebuilt the authority of the crown.

Because of that, nobles nowadays couldn’t easily disobey imperial orders.

“So if the Imperial Family invents and controls a new staple food, then the people won’t have to buy overpriced Miar, fewer will starve, and the nation will prosper. Something like that.”

For once, Elstern sounded like an actual Tower Master.

But his explanation missed one point:
They were desperately looking for new food because the Miar harvest had already started to fail.

Just like in the original story.

I simply nodded.

“I see. Sounds like a good emperor.”

I murmured while nodding.

Elstern then peeked at me nervously.

“So… How did you go to the Eastern Continent?”

“The Eastern Continent? Me?”

“Yes, you said you did earlier.”

He tilted his head.

I looked at him like he was the confusing one.

“Are you sick? When did I say that? When you get back to the tower, measure your mana level.”

“…?”

Ignoring his confused face, I turned back to the window.

Anyway. The food crisis is real.

I had brought a little rice-bearing stalk with me earlier…

But I didn’t show it to Dazhar.

Not because he was a lunatic (though that was part of it).
But because he was suspicious of me.

A crazy man like that would need to be spoon-fed—literally—to believe anything.

My lips curled into an evil smile.

***

Back at the Tower

“Goodbye, Elstern! See you soon!”

“Ahem, I—I don’t particularly want to see you. I just meant… since I’m here already, maybe I could say hello to the kid…”

Fwoosh.

Silvia vanished like she had teleported.

Elstern scratched his head.

“…She’s gone.”

He sighed, drew a spell circle—

And instantly teleported to the Magic Tower.

“Tower Master! We’re drowning in work—why do you keep disappearing lately?!”

“Tower Master! You said you’d fix the error in the golem research! When can you look at it?!”

“Tower Master! Tower Master!”

Ah, the Tower Master.

The second he arrived, mages swarmed to him.

Elstern’s eyes went dead.

As the only Tower Master on the continent, he was extremely busy.

Yet here he was—tied by the nose to one eccentric noble lady and playing doctor to an infant.

“Okay, okay! Form a line!”

He lined them up and blasted through their reports with expert speed.

As he worked, a name floated through his mind.

Silica Evanroar.

Much stranger than the rumors had said.

Her strength alone was unbelievable for a noble lady.

‘Take this cursed Dragon Heart out of this kid’s chest!’

And her personality was more heroic (or reckless) than most knights.

‘And she adopted a random baby on the spot…’

He laughed helplessly.

And then remembered her mutterings.

“Money… money… money…”

The way she chanted it like a dark spell actually scared him a little.

She can be terrifying sometimes.

Once he finished all pending tasks, he returned to his room.

“New food source, huh. Dazhar is really doing everything he can.”

Unlike Silvia, Elstern had already realized the famine had begun.

He scratched his cheek and drew a spell circle.

White light gathered in his hand.

A small glowing dove—the messenger spell—appeared.

“Go deliver the news. That’s my job now.”

The dove cooed and flew off.