Chapter 8 – Five Minutes Of The Day

Deia and the servants stared at me, blankly.
Their faces were frozen like plaster as if time has stopped.

It was Deia who broke the ice.

“What? You said you will  solve it in an hour?” Daia laughs sarcastically, as if only now understanding, speaking with emphasis.

“Do you know what the situation is? Get the situation right before running your mouth…… !”

“The immigrants crossing Northweden must be occupying our outpost on the ridge right now.”

Deia frowned at me and glared at the other servants as I cut her off and spoke, her eyes asking if I’d been informed beforehand.

They all shook their heads at the same time.
Obviously not.
This is what another invisible Verdi servant told me.

Now that I’d gained momentum, this was my chance.
I recited the information Skalma had given me.

“There are fewer of them than I thought.
But they have surprisingly good weapons and have been marching without fighting.”

Deia shifted her gaze to the bed.
Darius’s contemplative face told me I’m not talking nonsense.

“You misunderstood their purpose.
Normally, immigrants flee in order to survive, but this time is different.”

It was different this time.

This woman, Finden Ai, was not fleeing.

It’s true that she’s trying to cross the mountain range and hide in the Kingdom of Griffin, but unlike the other immigrants, she intends to boldly walk through the front door.

“It’s one thing for these immigrants to be battle-hardened veterans, but their leader is the biggest problem.
A white wolf with bloodshot eyes.”

I clicked my tongue.

At the mention of the Finden Ai, Darius immediately grimaced and rolled over, blood gushing from his wound.

“She’s not a fugitive immigrant.
She’s a resistance fighter in direct opposition to the brutal Clark Republic.”

“……How do you know that?”

“I have my way.”

Normally, I would have bluntly replied that I didn’t know, but I wanted to be as nice to Deia as possible.

I wanted to be as nice as I could to her because I know what it’s like to be hurt by your family.

Of course, my answer wasn’t exactly gentle, and Deia frowned.

‘I can’t treat them like ghosts.’

They don’t need a reason, they just like to be told what they want to hear.

They don’t understand cause and effect the way Deia does.
What does it matter when you’re dead?

“Give me warm wine and a loaf of rice cake, and a fine cloth to wrap it in.
If you wait just one hour, I will stop the immigrants from plundering Northweden.”

This brings us back to the original subject again.

Now that I’ve shown that I can gauge the enemy’s strength even while trapped, I’ve given them as much of my appeal as I can.

It was now down to Darius and Deia to choose.

“Bullshit.”

Deia, of course, refused.

“How can I believe that? You’re going to fend off the entire influx of immigrants by yourself? With wine and rice cake? Are you kidding? Are you going to have a drink with them and get to know each other?”

“…………”

“You must’ve learned how to act cool somewhere.”

Exasperated, Deia tried again to ask for support from the surrounding nobles.

However, lying on his sickbed, Darius snatched Deia’s wrist.

“As the head of the family, I command you.
Go and take responsibility for your words, Deus.”

“Have you gone insane!?” Deia screamed in agony as she shook off his hand.
Until her throat cracked, she spat out the words at this foolishness, “Who cares about the title of Marquis! Are we truly willing to sacrifice those who believe in us and refuse to leave their homeland?”

“If he’s talking like that, there must be a way.”

“Do you have no idea who he is? He’s Deus.
He’s the kind of person who comes in in the morning and goes out in the evening while drinking with a woman every day!”

“…………….”

“You’re not believing in Deus, you’re just relying on a random miracle; how is that any different than getting down on your knees and praying to God when a swarm of immigrants with spears and swords stands at your door?”

Deia’s eyes were thick and moist, and even I could see how much she cared about Northweden and its people.

So I turned around and went to the door.

“I will leave in 10 minutes.
Be prepared,” I only left the servants with a short order.

“Hey! hey! Aaaagh!”

I heard Deia’s screams from behind me.
What I need to do now is not plead with her to trust me.

Deus has been too much of a scumbag for that.
It is because there is no credibility in humans to simply ask for trust in words.

It had to be shown in action.

And now was the time to prove it with results.

10 minutes later.

My eyes met with the servants waiting at the entrance to the mansion.

A bundle wrapped in fine cloth, carefully held by one of the maids.

I carefully took it over and braced myself.

Because I had to climb the mountain, I changed into a thick coat, and in my hand was a staff that was too good for my current magic skills.

‘I need to climb a mountain, so a staff would be useful.’

I was more likely to use it as a walking stick than to use it for magic.

While I was tapping the floor with the tip of my staff, Deia came up behind me and approached me with her resentful eyes.

Judging from how her eyes were red and swollen, she must have cried quite a bit afterward.

Now that she was exhausted, she was breathing heavily.

I met her eyes and took a step closer to her.

“If I’m not back within an hour, contact Tolkien and Count Herameus for support.”

“Son of a bitch, if you can’t do it, just say you can’t! Do you know how many heads get blown off if your request is an hour late?

“I will succeed.”

I will definitely succeed.
I was confident

However, I said it because she seemed very anxious, but it seems that she did not like the answer very much.

How do I handle this relationship?

At that moment, a thought crossed my mind like a flash.

“……if.”

I looked at Deia and asked.

“If I can solve this problem and come back…”

It may be a bit forceful, but it was important to create an opportunity.

“Five minutes in one day.”

So I showed a faint smile.

It wasn’t easy to smile, but I’d done it before when saying goodbye to my fiancée, so I was satisfied.

“Just five minutes every day, give it to me.”

Deia stared at me, wide-eyed, as if she wasn’t sure she’d heard me correctly.
Taking advantage of that opportunity, I reached out and carefully wiped the tears from her eyes.

“If you give me that much, it will be a good enough reward for me.”

That was all I had to say.

I turned around and walked away.
I was sent off by servants who bowed deeply toward the inadequate, undeserving me.

I set out from Northweden, where the snow began to fall with strong winds in February.

It was a climb to the Northweden Mountains.

I know the roads are well made, but I didn’t walk along the roads and instead climbed the rugged mountain.

The branches of the trees pierced my body with every step I took, and the snow that piled up softly reached my knees.

It was not a good look for someone who’s supposed to be so confident.

『Are you all right?』

Skalma, the ghost butler who followed me.

I’d heard he could travel up to the mountains, so he was following me too.

“Yes, I’m fine.”

At least I can do basic magic, so I wasn’t cold because I was using magic to keep my body warm.

It burns the mana spread throughout the body.

In fact, it is magic that is not used very often due to its extremely low efficiency, but carrying around a fireball is very conspicuous.

『Are you thinking of ambushing them?』

“No, I cannot stop the immigrants with my skills.”

『What? You mean…….』

Skalma was taken aback by my words, which were different from how I appeared at the mansion, but I calmly continued climbing the mountain.

Now I was climbing the mountain range, and soon I might reach the outpost occupied by the Immigrants.

My purpose was not them.

Kreung.

My body was throbbing.
The atmosphere shook, and I could feel the surrounding landscape distorting.

The ghost, Skalma, must have felt it too and looked around in amazement, but I reached out and stopped him.

“Go back to the mansion, Skalma.”

『What? But…….』

“The person I am about to meet.
He doesn’t want you here.”

Skalma gave a look of incomprehension, but when I remained resolute and unwilling to revoke my orders, he bowed deeply and disappeared.

『I wish you a safe return, Master』

His voice faded away.

Then.

Kreung!

The sound of a thunderbolt hit my ears.

For a moment, I furrowed my brows without realizing it, but the corners of my mouth were raised slightly.

“I’m glad you remembered me.”

A ridge beyond the mountain.

Blue sapphire eyes, as opposed to Finden Ai’s bloodshot eyes.

Black stripes on white, long fangs.

Standing on all fours, the white tiger stared down at me loftily.

I immediately used magic to clear the snow around me and knelt down, spreading out the fine cloth I’d brought with me and the wine and rice cakes.

I’m glad Finden Ai hasn’t come down from the mountain yet.

She’s not just a soldier, but a resistance ‘fellow’ with the name of a scrap metal dealer, so I am grateful for her judgment to try to recover from her fatigue.

Thanks to her still being on the mountain.

Because I can borrow his power.

To the extent that the Marquis who protects the northern lands, the Verdi family, would not even dare to hold a business card.

A true Lord of the mountain who has lived here for hundreds, perhaps thousands of years.

I bowed my head toward him.

“I humbly greet the Mountain Lord.”