ERTHMB Chapter 63

It Must Be Madness

 

“If it were my dear brother, he would have just thought it tasted good and swallowed it all. Such a shame, don’t you think?”

 

Heidi answered slowly while glaring viciously at the space beyond the screen, not at Ian.

 

The sharply rising tone at the end was directed at someone there. He could easily picture Mrs.  Zimmer standing upright, enduring her outburst.

 

“Don’t take your anger out on Mrs. Zimmer for no reason. I’m the one who asked.”

 

“There’s really nothing worth asking about.”

 

“Your body.”

 

Though the question “are you alright” wasn’t attached, Heidi understood on her own.

 

“I barely drank any. Just about one hundredth of a sip? That Beelze bastard must be getting old or losing his touch. I could tell right away the moment it touched my tongue.”

 

Heidi shook a whiskey bottle from the drawer as if to show she couldn’t be more fine.

 

The voice of Mrs. Zimmer could be heard nearby, crying out “Your Highness!” in alarm. After handing her the empty bottle, Heidi changed the subject.

 

“By the way, why didn’t Dion attend?”

 

Heidi’s gaze briefly lingered on the communication device that remained silent. Ian’s lips curved slightly as he watched her.

 

“There are many others, yet you specifically ask about Dion.”

 

“…What’s that supposed to mean.”

 

“Do you miss him?”

 

“…What? Why are you looking at me like that? I just asked because it feels strange without the noise, geez. You don’t know how much Sir Cedrick usually bothers me. It’s because brother completely ignores him. Be a little nicer to him, no, show him some pity and respond to him.”

 

Her voice continued chattering with unnecessary irritation. Ian stood up from his seat and replied with his back to her.

 

“Seeing that Elai is also absent, it seems that fellow probably took him and left.”

 

Heidi let out a small sound of realization. Indeed, if it was Elai Penhaugen, he was someone who could very well do such a thing.

 

“Elai lasted quite long for himself. Maybe we’ll meet him soon, brother.”

 

Heidi giggled. Ian let out an annoyed breath and told Mrs. Zimmer to carefully check the corner of the third shelf of the bookcase and behind the magical artifact display case.

 

The screen disappeared with a pop just as Heidi jumped up and shouted.

 

“No!”

 

The room finally became quiet, befitting a holiday night. Ian took out a new ink bottle from the drawer and placed it on the desk, along with a bottle of whiskey that Heidi would have had confiscated by Mrs. Zimmer by now.

 

While Ian rubbed the ink-soaked pen nib against the bottle opening to remove excess ink, Sakin poured whiskey into a glass. Then he pulled out the chair across from him, sat down, and rambled on about various topics.

 

The trivial stories flowed with constant variations. They continued until Ian had emptied the glass he had been sipping from.

 

But Sakin diligently moved his lips while tilting the whiskey bottle toward the empty glass again.

 

“Did you see Sir Flam’s eyepatch today? Lily had drawn on it, making it look exactly like Sir Flam had both eyes open.”

 

“Yes, many people were struggling to hold back their laughter.”

 

Ian answered half-heartedly while marking various spots on the Instantia map with scissors marks. This was already the sixth question he’d received.

 

If this had been the last one, he would have just let it pass. But Sakin didn’t stop and brought up a seventh topic.

 

“I had a hard time holding back too… Oh, have you ever been to the lake in the forest behind the guild’s safe zone?”

 

“…….”

 

“Everyone recommends going to see the night lake, saying it’s a spectacular view before it freezes solid. Maybe sometime you and the young lady could go together—”

 

“Sakin.”

 

“Yes, yes sir?”

 

Finally, Ian put down his pen. Sakin straightened his already stiff back even more.

 

Ian muttered while keeping his eyes fixed on the map.

 

“If you have something to say, just say it. No matter how much you beat around the bush, you’ll end up in the same place anyway.”

 

“…I thought I was making an effort, which is a bit unfair.”

 

“Then try harder in the future. So what’s your business?”

 

Sakin repeatedly pursed and opened his lips hesitantly. When Ian made a small nasal sound as a prompt, he sheepishly confessed.

 

“It’s nothing special, but actually… I didn’t know you would be angry, my lord.”

 

“…What?”

 

Only then did Ian raise his head. Meeting his eyes, Sakin spoke as naturally as if reading from a book.

 

“It’s just that you always smile and watch no matter what the young lady says.”

 

Ian opened his mouth without any particular response coming to mind. At that perfectly timed moment, Flam’s voice calling for Sakin cut through the silence.

 

“Puppy— where are you—”

 

Sakin’s tail and hair immediately turned in that direction.

 

“Ah, I should go now. I have a commission that needs to be completed by today.”

 

He bowed his head with large gestures as usual and disappeared busily. Ian was left speechless in the empty space.

 

A moment later, he picked up his pen again and dipped it in ink, but his thoughts kept flowing elsewhere. Even when he managed to focus on his work with difficulty, he returned to the same place before long.

 

At this point, Ian couldn’t help but recall the essence of the problem.

 

‘Why was I angry?’

 

Was it really something to be that angry about in the first place?

 

Would he have been just as angry if that guild member had concluded that he and Sakin had no relationship at all?

 

Would he have reacted the same way if he had shown interest in other women he knew?

 

No. Probably not. Maybe—

 

‘I was angry because it was Helena.’

 

Once he barely reached an answer, Ian’s contemplation now faced a second phase. Why had he been so furious specifically because it was Helena?

 

From the beginning, it was an affection he had decided to pour out alone, regardless of how she viewed him. It was an affection that began with the resolve to save her first and worry about everything else later, whether she hated or resented him.

 

So it shouldn’t have mattered. Really shouldn’t have…

 

Shouldn’t matter… shouldn’t matter…

 

‘…It does matter. It matters.’

 

With his realization, strength entered his hand. The pen nib pressed firmly onto the paper. Ink began to spread around it. Before he could even realize it, like someone’s lingering shadow that had already soaked in deeply.

 

The existence that had already taken root began to spread deep inside. Ian accepted her as if gasping for breath.

 

‘Helena.’

 

But it was too overwhelming to contain only in his mind. He tried saying it out loud.

 

“Helena.”

 

Even that felt insufficient, so he muttered once more.

 

“Helena….Fevernheim.”

 

This time, his own surname came out attached without him realizing it.

 

Surprised by what he had said, Ian covered his mouth with his hand. He couldn’t believe what he had just uttered.

 

‘I’m crazy.’

 

He was definitely crazy.

 

What had he dared to hope for?

 

****

 

It was an unusually windy day. The strong winds that had started yesterday were howling as if they would tear the windows apart, to the point where Flam was going around to each lodging to repair them.

 

Gelda placed warm hibiscus tea in front of Helena and turned her head toward the window.

 

“It looks like quite a typhoon is going to pass through. We should be especially careful for a while. Dairon is in a lowland area, so when flooding happens, there’s no solution.”

 

“If this happens every year, how about requesting the lord to prepare countermeasures?”

 

It was the most basic solution, but Gelda snorted loudly.

 

“That greedy pig would never do such a thing. Even if the entire house got swept away, he wouldn’t bat an eye.”

 

It was quite a harsh criticism to describe the leader governing Dairon.

 

Gelda’s openly displayed expression suggested she was thinking even worse things. Helena could roughly gauge what kind of person the lord was.

 

‘Right… they don’t handle subjugation with taxes either.’

 

What the old man had told her when she first set foot in Dairon was correct. Monster subjugation was entirely carried out autonomously through cooperation between the guild and the townspeople.

 

Moreover, Dairon collected higher taxes compared to other regions. Of course, the lord didn’t properly provide even the minimum protection corresponding to those taxes.

 

But even considering such greedy nature, Gelda particularly harbored venom whenever talk of him came up. As if there was something more beyond that.

 

‘It seems like they know each other…’

 

Whoosh— Crash!

 

Suddenly, the wind and rain burst through, breaking the window. The momentarily drowsy atmosphere shattered along with the glass fragments.

 

Gelda immediately stood up and quickly reached out to pull Helena into her arms. It was a reflexive action without calculation.

 

For someone who always said things like “only look out for yourself” and “in this world, being selfish is being altruistic,” it was quite an affectionate act.

 

Helena felt the leather texture of Gelda’s arm guard above her head. Perhaps because of its sturdiness, while crouching in the shower of glass fragments, she found herself thinking such thoughts.

 

Helena could only escape from Gelda’s chest after the sound of glass hitting the floor had stopped.

 

The tiny fragments that had been caught between their bodies clattered as they fell again. As soon as she looked around for something to clean with, Gelda pulled her to a corner.

 

“Don’t move. If you get hurt doing that, it’ll just make more work. I sent Angri on an errand, so he’ll be here soon.”

 

I’ll make him clean it up.

 

Though she didn’t actually add those words, Helena somehow felt like she heard them. And that feeling was demonstrated before her eyes not long after.

 

Angri, who appeared struggling with a large potato sack on his back, was immediately caught by Gelda as soon as he set foot in the dining room.

 

“Using such high-quality manpower like me for such menial tasks!”

 

“Stop complaining and sweep quickly. I can’t sweep you away, can I?”

 

“Hmph.”

 

Helena turned her head at the bearded man’s whining. …It was a bit hard to watch.

 

Gelda, who had completely turned her back, shook off the remaining fragments from her clothes like unmelted snow.

 

Meanwhile, whip-like wind rushed in again through the broken window. Gelda, who took the direct hit, muttered.

 

“…This isn’t going to end as quietly as I thought.”

 

Her face had darkened even more, without a trace of joking tone.

 

As she left the dining room, she tore off an outdated calendar hanging on the wall. The crumpled paper fell in front of Angri, who was cleaning the floor.

 

“Clean it up properly. I’ll come check later. If I step on even one glass fragment with my sole, I’ll step on you, so keep that in mind.”

 

As soon as the door closed, Angri let out a small complaint.

 

Leaving him behind, Helena stood there blankly, staring intently at the calendar. She couldn’t take her eyes off the bold letters at the top.

 

Caesius Calendar Year 125.

 

A flash of lightning struck in her mind.

 

‘The typhoon recorded as the worst in history.’