I noticed beads of cold sweat forming on his face, so I handed Dale a tissue.
"What's wrong?
Why are you sweating like that?"
"Nothing.
Just... a little nervous."
Dale mumbled warily as he turned on the stove.
“But, Enya, how badly do you want Kydland investigated?”
“Will it go as far as I hope?”
“Of course...”
Dale added.
“I probably can't be sure.
In the end, it's the Emperor's decision.”
“Then perhaps reclaiming the stolen land will be enough.”
“Stolen land?”
"This is amazing."
I extended the documents I found in the warehouse that Adeline described as dirty.
“This...”
Dale narrowed his eyes and put the potatoes down.
But there was more.
“And there's also a map.”
* * *
“Really, it was my sister Adeline...”
Sophia's eyes were swollen from crying.
Two days later, urgent news reached Count Kydland.
The Imperial Palace had sent a direct order to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the Count's lands.
“This time faster than usual.”
The reason was the existence of a covenant between Kydland and Grunwald that was not properly enforced, apparent violations, and allegations of tax evasion.
“We had no idea such a thing existed.”
Yorta and the Lord looked at the old documents with some disbelief.
An ancient alliance was concluded between the Count of Kydland and Viscount Grunwald.
Their history was long and complicated, but the bottom line is:
At a time when the populations of both Grunwald and Kydland were declining, Grunwald had less military power compared to Kydland.
The Gonia Mountains were famous for their monsters.
In exchange for some mines, the Count and Viscount promised to eradicate the monsters.
As Grunwald weakened, Kydland turned a blind eye.
Over time, they acted as if the mines were naturally theirs, ignoring any obligations.
Kydland only had the right to excavate, while ownership remained with Grunwald.
Not only did they hide this by not eliminating the monsters, but they deliberately pushed them into Grunwald to destroy the Earth.
Eventually, they even conspired to secretly kill the lord and take over the region.
The small particles scattered across the wasteland in front of the Lord's castle were toxic hallucinogenic drugs, part of a plot to pin strange rumors on the Lord.
Adeline Kydland, by order of the Count, wandered the wasteland three times a day with Viscount Grunwald under the pretext of land reclamation, exposing him to hallucinogenic drugs.
Kydland stole the land from Grunwald, but legally it still held its smaller original acreage and thus paid taxes based on that acreage.
If everyone was asked what was the most challenging place to survive in the empire, everyone would choose the Imperial Palace.
Thanks to the emperor's performance-based policies, officials were eagerly looking for cases that could lead to promotions.
This incident happened to be a perfect fit.
It included transferring taxes owed to the Imperial Palace, something the Emperor would certainly appreciate.
The map I found in the store confirmed the authenticity of the documents, as it showed the ancient border lines.
“All evidence has been handed over.”
Dale returned from Count Kydland's domain, and took off his robe.
He took care of things for me.
“How long do you think the detective will stay?”
"With all that evidence, it won't take a day.
He'll probably be finished and back in the capital in half a day."
“Thank you, Miss Anne, and Mr.
Dale.”
The Lord approached us, his face worn with worry but relaxed.
He sighed deeply, knowing everything that had happened.
“I was so lenient in my handling of the matter that led to this mess, and I did not even realize the hardship Sophia was going through.”
We did not inform him of Adeline's actions towards Sophia.
However, the Lord seemed to have guessed the gist of the situation after learning that Adeline had taken over the room that was initially intended for Sofia.
“How can I return this kindness...”
“It's okay.”
“I am not well.
My heart will not be at peace.”
But why did the Lord keep looking at Dale?
It was as if he was grateful but also eager to escape the situation, or maybe he was a little nervous.
“I have already received compensation for this.”
“Are you referring to that barren garden?”
“And the plot of land next to it, too.”
“But it's fairly small.”
“But now the land captured by neighboring lands has been reclaimed, right?”
I pointed to the map.
Kydland and Grunwald were closely adjacent.
The area known as the Barren Garden extended beyond the plains.
There was more territory that crossed into Kydland's imaginary border lines.
I thought it was an average area, but as time passed, it was an area of abundant vegetation untouched by Kydland and Grunwald.
“It's all mine now.”
“...!”
The Lord's eyes widened in astonishment.
“What I bought is the entire garden behind the Lord’s Castle, according to this old map.”
I circled an area on the map with my finger.
"correct?"
“That's right.
Yes.
I have recovered from my illness, so what can't I give you?”
With a smiling face, the Lord acknowledged my claim.
“And give me the barren land as well.
I know how to return the land to its original state.”
“Very well.
I'll give you whatever you want, miss.”
I have received a firm commitment from the Lord.
Not only was Grunwald Land here, Grunwald Land was also filled with the remains of monster corpses in various places, hindering life from thriving.
The monsters contain toxins in their bones that destroy the Earth.
This was a clever ploy by Kydland, who had learned the method from Hexagon, to slowly steal away Grunwald.
Later, the land became used for the Hexagon Herb Garden.
‘In the original novel, this was the place where Hexagon was secretly growing herbs.’
As I contemplated the name Kydland, I realized where I had heard it.
It was the name of the family that Hexagon used to secretly purchase lands and cultivate herbs away from the Emperor's eyes.
Kidland was just an extra villain in the original novel.
“Call a priest to bless the young seedlings.
They could be very small.
Just planting them will quickly cleanse the ground.”
This was the only way to dispel the magic.
“Thank you, thank you very much, Miss Anne.”
“But arranging to bring a priest might be expensive...
Now that we've got the mines back, it should be fine, but I know it's difficult to arrange.”
Yorta's concern was valid.
Priests rarely leave the temple except by order from above, and it usually takes a long time to arrange an appointment.
“It's okay.
I know a priest.”
"truly?"
“Yes, I'll talk to him.
Can you spare the money?”
"Of course!
Anything to revive this land!"
The Lord was excited.
I already knew a priest.
“It's a bit messed up, though.”
“Dale and I also pledged our love to him.”
Dale's eyes widened at my answer.
It was as if he was asking if it was okay to be that person.
I whispered.
“It's okay, his holy power was real.
But, Dale, do you have time today?”
“I have some places to go...”
“Really?
I was hoping we could go together if you had time.
Then never mind.”
I decided to let busy Dale go.
“You don't have to go.”
“You just said you had things to do?”
“Yes, but nothing is more important than fulfilling my contract with you, Enya.”
His reassuring words warmed my heart.
“So, shall we go for a walk together?”
Dale blushed as he listened to me after thinking for a long time.
“By the way, is this a date?”
* * *
I drove Dale to the market we visited last time.
"Dale?
Why are you so quiet?"
“...No reason.”
“Do you hate it here?”
“I love him.
As long as I have you, Enya.”
But he seemed a little disappointed, or was I wrong?
“From here.”
She showed a rose logo and entered a store.
“We are Lady Rosanna's guests, I see.”
“We came to get something.”
“Wait a minute, please.”
A man who appeared to be the owner brought a stack of boxes.
The boxes were filled with money – a total of 3.7 million kropats, the full amount Lady Rosanna was paying for the necklace.
At this time, Dale, who was looking at the box, snapped his fingers.
“It appears to be more than 3.7 million Crobats.”
"This is correct."
Planting herbs alone does not help; I have to sell them to make money.
“It's actually 5 million Crobats.”