RTGDB 10

Chapter 10

That little brat… She didn’t notice anything, did she?’

Luden adjusted his glasses, his lips tightening.

‘…I’m just being paranoid. What could a mere six-year-old possibly know?’

He then pressed down hard on the straw stuck to the hem of his trousers. A few light grains came off with it, but they too simply crumbled into dust.

‘This is all for the sake of the leader.’

Vasily had changed after becoming the Grand Duke.

All the freedom and boldness he had once shown while rampaging across the battlefield had disappeared.

“Boring times. …Well, I suppose it can’t be helped now.”

Now, he merely wore the empty crown of a Grand Duke and slowly died in his own grave.

‘In the end, Your Grace will thank me.’

Therefore… he would forgive no one who stood in his way.

Even if that person was a six-year-old child.

Luden’s eyes darkened.

“Draconic Dragoooon…”

Haniel clung to the hem of Vasily’s trousers, practically dragging herself along.

“Rejected. Something else.”

“Studying a dragon corpse…”

“Rejected.”

“Going to see a crazy dragon…”

“Rejected.”

“Paying respects at a dragon’s grave…”

“Rejected!”

“Boo! You said you’d do anything I asked!”

Haniel cried out in frustration.

Vasily, who had been walking after leaving the warehouse, sighed.

“What are you even going to do by looking at a bunch of dead dragon corpses?”

“Hoeing!”

“What?”

Oops.

Haniel quickly composed herself.

“I told you I’d teach you how to farm in the North!”

“What does that have to do with the Draconic Dragon? …Ah, don’t tell me.”

Vasily, who had been walking with heavy footsteps, suddenly stopped.

Haniel scampered forward, quickly closing the distance between them. One of Vasily’s steps was the equivalent of five of hers, so she kept falling behind.

“Is that why you keep talking about farming? Are you saying you want to make use of the Draconic Dragon’s 邪氣—its evil energy?”

“Yes!”

Haniel nodded vigorously.

“Because… I heard the North wasn’t this cold when the Draconic Dragon was alive!”

“……”

“Because of the hooot ma-gic poweeer it had.”

Haniel’s tiny finger pointed all the way toward the Northern Mountains.

More precisely, she was pointing at the peak where the Draconic Dragon’s corpse lay.

What she said was true.

For the past five hundred years—

Back when the Draconic Dragon was still alive, the North hadn’t actually been this cold.

That was thanks to the dragon’s power, which radiated heat comparable to several active volcanoes combined.

But the moment the Draconic Dragon died and that energy was sealed away, everything froze.

Haniel was saying that she wanted to reverse that.

“Even now, there’s an incredible amount of heat coming from the corpse, right? What if we let it seep into the earth instead of blocking it?”

A glossy light appeared in her pink eyes.

“We can use the corpse itself as an energy source!”

The child waved her arms around, moving her lips like a little chick.

“If we thaw the ground, we can farm! If we grow wheat?? We can become rich from bread! If people hear that they can become rich here??? They’ll come flocking!”

“……”

“Then, Lord of the Territory, you can fix up the Grand Duke’s Castle in no time???? And live like a proper rich person?!”

“You mean live in luxury.”

“Then you can make a killing!”

“You mean make a fortune.”

In truth, there wasn’t a single thing wrong with the little brat’s logic.

The reason people didn’t settle in the North was because there was no reliable way to make a living.

Farming? If it were possible, that would be ideal.

If they could establish a stable source of income through it, they might even be able to build a temple in the North.

Or secretly hire a priest.

‘The Emperor’s expression would be worth seeing.’

Then they could purify the corruption in other regions as well…

That would increase the amount of land available for development. More people would move in, capital would circulate, and the territory would grow.

It was the ideal process for developing a territory.

But—

“…I was wondering what you were talking about. Hey, brat.”

“I’m not ‘brat.’ I’m Haniel… Eek!”

At that moment, Vasily grabbed Haniel by the side from behind and lifted her straight into the air.

Her field of vision suddenly rose, and Haniel flailed her short arms and legs.

‘No wonder she keeps talking about bread.’

Vasily frowned at how light the child was—lighter than a feather.

He deliberately looked away from her round little head and jerked his chin toward the front.

“Look over there. What color is the smoke rising from the peak?”

“B-black?”

“Does it look good for your health, or bad?”

“B-bad…?”

“Correct.”

“……”

“Using the Draconic Dragon’s corpse as a heat source to warm the North again? You think I’ve never thought of that?”

“……”

“The problem is the poison. That crazy dragon spews rotten air along with the heat. It’s a two-for-one special. That’s why we have no choice but to seal the whole thing.”

“Then just extract the poison and purify it!”

“Even the great Dantellion Klein…”

“Hic!”

Suddenly, Haniel’s body trembled.

Vasily loosened his grip.

Apparently, he had grabbed the child too tightly around the side, causing her to start hiccupping.

“—couldn’t purify all of it, so he simply sealed the whole thing away?”

Vasily glanced behind him and saw Haniel’s pale cheeks puffed out in a sulky pout.

“Understand? That thing is basically a barrel full of rotten sardines. If you open it carelessly, the surrounding area will be devastated. Huh? We already have enough trouble with the corruption. If we add any more—”

“Exactlyyy.”

Haniel muttered gloomily.

Then, dangling in midair, she began wildly waving her arms and legs.

“So just block the corruption and let only the heat flow out! Like a strainer!”

“You seem to think purification is some kind of—wham! Purified!—simple thing. It isn’t that easy.”

“I… might be able to do it.”

Haniel muttered something incomprehensible.

Vasily lowered the child to the ground.

Then he said firmly,

“Enough. Just look around the village for a while and then leave. Here. I’ll give you some of those Southern goods from earlier… and some of that bread you love so much.”

“Ugh.”

Haniel lightly kicked the ground.

This was already the second time he had brushed her off today.

For some reason, it didn’t sit well with him, but there was nothing he could do.

‘If she had Holy Power, she’d obviously have been raised like a treasured child at a temple. And judging from how little mana I can sense from her, she seems to have been born weak.’

He would rather wash Dantellion’s socks than believe the words of a brat like that.

Besides, if he let her get too close to the Draconic Dragon’s corpse for no reason…

There was no telling what effect it might have on her body.

‘Young and pathetically weak.’

Ah, what a nuisance.

In the end, Vasily gave Haniel a rough tour of the village.

There wasn’t much to see in Bedel Village.

Many of the estate servants and early settlers had recently left in large numbers, leaving the village practically deserted.

Vasily simply stopped by the food storage and stuffed a small bag full of bread for her.

It was dry, coarse rye bread, but the child’s eyes sparkled and her nostrils flared with delight.

That was a hundred percent satisfaction right there.

The sacks of sugar and spices looked too heavy for her, so he left them with Camilla for the time being.

Before they knew it, dusk had fallen.

Going out into the Foglands on a night like this made it easy to become a monster’s prey.

And since he had already said what he had, he decided to let the child sleep at the mansion for one more night and send her away the following day.

And so the night passed.

…For someone, it was an extremely long night.

And then.

The next morning.

“Ah…”

Vasily stood blankly in front of the mansion.

A savage laugh escaped him.

“Fuck…”

Was this really reality?

His red eyes slowly took in his territory.

The scorching sun blazing down.

The sound of water dripping from the roof.

Beads of sweat forming from the back of his neck.

Camilla’s bewildered expression as she took off her outer garment.

“Your Grace, what on earth…”

Suddenly, the events of the previous night flashed through his mind like a montage.

So, what exactly had happened was…

No, that wasn’t important right now.

“…Brat.”

“Yes?”

“Where did that little brat go?!”

In just one night.

The North had undergone a complete transformation.