271: On the Evacuation Route to Osiris Countdom
Lea began complaining that she was tired after walking for only a few hours on the way to Osiris Countdom.
When Bella tried to pick up Lea, Ray intervened saying it would spoil her habits. Since Bella somewhat agreed with Ray’s opinion, she made Lea walk a little more.
As more time passed, Lea started truly struggling due to physical exhaustion rather than just whining.
Ray wanted to make Lea walk all the way but seeing Bella, who was already carrying luggage, trying to lift Lea as well, he reluctantly hoisted Lea onto his own shoulders.
While Lea, now perched atop Ray like a horse, gleefully pinched Ray’s cheeks, Ray quietly asked Karen nearby:
“Are you not tired?”
“…I’m fine.”
Karen replied briefly. Having trained her body since childhood thanks to Ray, Karen had far superior stamina compared to ordinary residents.
Despite attempting small talk several times, Ray only received short answers from Karen.
Listening to their conversation, Lea suddenly shouted:
“Sister Karen is upset!”
“…I’m not upset.”
“Why is Sister Karen upset? Did Brother not buy her a present?”
At Lea’s question, Karen smiled and took Lea from Ray’s shoulder into her arms.
Held by Karen, Lea pressed against her chest muttering:
“Sister has the best big bosoms.”
Will mine grow this big when I become an adult? But what’s so good about having big ones?
While Lea pondered these thoughts while touching the soft, firm breasts in front of her eyes, Karen spoke:
“Lea worked hard drawing pictures… but Brother scribbled all over them…”
No, “scribble” wasn’t an appropriate metaphor. Karen quickly corrected herself:
“Brother very prettily colored the picture Lea drew.”
“That’s because Brother colored it however he wanted!”
Understanding the implication in Karen’s words, Lea immediately responded which made Karen burst out laughing.
Though Ray groaned in frustration, surprisingly Karen seemed to have cheered up and began chatting amicably with Ray afterward.
Thus without major issues, the evacuees were able to reach Osiris Countdom safely.
When news spread through the evacuation convoy that Osiris Countdom was near, smiles returned to the evacuees’ faces.
Amidst the relief of the safe arrival of evacuees, Philip Count’s carriage was the first to enter Osiris Countdom.
Following behind were those of higher status including knights, while Ray remained with the evacuee convoy.
“Hmm… How prepared could they be…?”
Ray didn’t expect Osiris Countdom to be fully ready to accommodate the evacuees. Given this world’s administrative capacity, it was practically impossible.
Moreover, corruption and embezzlement during wartime were age-old traditions of humanity. Even if the Emperor and Ernst applied special pressure, completely preventing such things was impossible.
“Well, let’s see first.”
After thinking this, the place Ray was directed to turned out to be a simple open space with a few shabby tents set up.
When Ray questioned where proper lodging was, the official demanded a bribe.
“Of course, how else would it be, you bastards,” Ray muttered before slapping the official across the face.
Gack, Crack! The official, used as an example, couldn’t even properly resist as he kept receiving slaps.
“Krk!! Just, wait…!! What are you doing…!!”
Crack!
Ray continued to slap the flailing official.
Since Ray held back his strength, the official remained conscious and felt every bit of the beating.
When the official screamed, soldiers from Osiris Countdom rushed in upon detecting the commotion.
The soldiers had been given orders to thoroughly suppress any disturbances.
Additionally, the soldiers were quite unhappy about outsiders causing confusion by evacuating to Osiris Countdom.
Therefore, as soon as they noticed the situation, they excitedly rushed over en masse.
“Get out of the way!!!”
The senior soldier leading the group kicked aside the evacuees blocking his path. As one evacuee tumbled away, the senior soldier immediately reached for his weapon upon seeing Ray beating the official.
However…
Before he knew it, the senior soldier found himself kneeling with his arm twisted.
“…?”
Trying to understand the situation, the senior soldier attempted to rise when someone behind him pressed a dagger glowing with azure sword aura against his neck.
“Don’t…”
Bang, having deactivated the concealment function of his artefact, roughly warned:
“Be disrespectful to him. There won’t be a second warning.”
Subsequently, Ray approached and irritably kicked the soldier’s jaw.
With his jaw half-broken, the soldier collapsed unconscious and rolled on the ground.
Seeing Bang’s martial prowess, the other soldiers hesitated in fear. Clearly at least a knight-level expert, Bang was beyond their ability to confront.
Meanwhile, Ray tapped the swelling cheek of the official and frowned.
“Hey.”
“…Yes.”
Realizing he had messed with the wrong person, the official became respectful.
Exhaling deeply, Ray asked:
“Evacuee accommodations aren’t properly prepared yet, right?”
“Uh…”
Looking around briefly, the official realized no one would come to his aid and spoke:
“There’s a shortage. The war accelerated faster than expected…”
“Oh, I see. Understandable. But how much of a shortage exactly?”
“Um… Well…”
Though the official had a rough idea of how many evacuees Osiris Countdom could currently accommodate, he shook his head.
“As a low-ranking official, I don’t know precisely…”
“You don’t know?”
“Yes sir. Though we might be able to accommodate about half…”
“Half? What about the rest then?”
“Uh, we’ll discuss that moving forward…”
“Moving forward?”
Ray sighed again.
Given the situation, being able to accommodate even half the evacuees was something to be thankful for.
If Phillip Count strongly requested, the remaining half could likely be protected from freezing to death.
In the meantime, while the evacuees would lose most of the property they brought, simply ending there as evacuees was considered fortunate.
Still, Ray didn’t particularly want to witness such a scenario.
After pondering briefly, Ray muttered to himself:
“Hmm, anyway…”
Rumors here would spread quickly. With not much time left until death, why bother hiding trivial matters?
“Let’s keep it simple, simple.”
Having decided, Ray first gathered the Jimmy Family.
Ordering the Jimmy Family to manage the evacuees, Ray grabbed the official by the collar and started moving.
Terrified, the official being dragged along asked:
“Why, why are you doing this?”
“You said you’re low-ranking and don’t know much, right? So I’m going to meet with someone higher up.”
Ray’s gaze shifted toward the manor of Osiris Countdom.
*
Osiris Count welcomed Phillip Count warmly.
Saria of the Alstein Dukedom and titled individuals Jimmy and Matthew were also warmly received.
During this time, Alesya reunited with Florya after a long while.
After the servant placed tea and snacks and formal noble greetings concluded, Alesya blurted out:
“Florya is becoming an old maid too!”
BAM!
Reflexively, Florya grabbed Alesya’s head and struck it.
Struck quite forcefully, Alesya clutched her scalp and whimpered.
Regaining her senses late, Florya looked shocked and apologized:
“Oh dear, sorry.”
Old maid…
Florya, who loved her free life, thought she’d never care about such terms.
However, now that the time to be called an old maid was approaching, the stress was unbearable.
“Hmph…”
Florya sighed while sipping her tea.
She disliked arranged marriages, but continuing unmarried and growing old this way made her overly conscious of others’ opinions. On the other hand, joining a magic tower entirely meant giving up freedom…
“Maybe I should create my own knight like Alesya.”
Upon hearing Florya’s mutterings, Alesya stopped rubbing her scalp and became enthusiastic.
“Hmmph, no matter how much I search, it’s hard to find a knight as good as my own!”
“That… Won’t your ‘own knight’ soon become someone else’s knight?”
This time, Alesya was struck at the core.
Watching Alesya tremble, Florya fell into thought.
“Hmm…”
Recently among the nobility, Phillip’s County had been extremely hot.
It was confirmed that the Phillip family received significant financial support from the Prizzran Clan, sparking much speculation.
Besides that, Florya knew of a few other hot topics in noble society.
Who was the fiancé of the emperor’s great-granddaughter chosen by the empire’s Swordmaster…
Who received the Empire Guardian Medal…
What exactly happened during the Imperial Capital defense battle…
These topics might seem unrelated at first glance.
However, Florya was one of the few who knew about some of Ray’s hidden strengths.
Could the main character of all these topics be Ray?
Lately, Florya had been indulging in such fantasies.
Thus, Florya had many questions for Alesya but struggled with how to bring them up.
Just then, the manor became noisy.
“What’s happening?”
“Let’s go check it out!”
Florya and Alesya went together to investigate the commotion.
Soon, they saw Ray surrounded by the knights of the Osiris Countdom.
Ray was dragging a swollen-faced official by the collar.
“?”
“?”
Florya and Alesya simultaneously tilted their heads in confusion.
On the other hand, the knights of the Osiris Countdom stood firmly in front of Ray with serious expressions.
They couldn’t let Ray, who wanted to see Osiris Count immediately, pass.
At that moment, Bang standing beside Ray pulled out a document from his coat.
It was proof that they were dispatched directly by the emperor.
“We have urgent business. We would appreciate an audience with the count.”
“…”
The knight’s expression darkened upon reading the document.
It bore the imperial seal, and considering Bang’s armed level, the probability of the document being fake seemed low.
“Please wait while we verify…”
“Move aside.”
Without letting the knight finish, Ray stepped into the reception room.
The knights of the Osiris Countdom, confused, tried to block Ray but he pushed through regardless.
Having seen the document bearing the imperial seal, the knights found it difficult to actively stop Ray.
Eventually, the knights rushed into the reception room first to explain the situation to Osiris Count, and shortly after, Ray entered dragging the official by the collar.
“Excuse me.”
Inside the reception room were not only Osiris Count but also people from Phillip’s County.
Everyone except the delighted Saria appeared confused and dumbfounded.
Throwing the trembling official roughly into a corner, Ray faced Osiris Count whose bafflement was evident.
“The preparations for evacuee accommodation seem inadequate. Could you summon officials directly handling these tasks? It would be appreciated if you ordered them to bring relevant documents.”
“Ho-”
Managing to regain his composure amidst the chaos, Osiris Count spoke.
“Step outside and wait. What rudeness is this in front of our guests?”
Osiris Count displayed remarkable patience.
There was no greater embarrassment than this in front of Phillip’s County guests and knights loyal to the Osiris family.
Had the knight who rushed in not mentioned the document bearing the imperial seal, Osiris Count would have immediately ordered Ray subdued and imprisoned.
However, Ray did not step back willingly.
CRASH!!
Pulling out the Empire Guardian Medal from his robes and slamming it onto the table center, Ray grinned.
“Let’s cooperate nicely.”
Evacuation (5)
