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Early morning in Padugel.
A carriage slowly made its way into the city.
At this moment, whether it was the soldiers at the city gate and on the walls or the city guards patrolling the streets, all of them stood with solemn expressions, saluting the carriage with military precision. The passersby on the streets also stopped to watch as the carriage passed by, and judging by their expressions, they seemed rather pleased.
The reason for this was that the carriage held immense significance for this small town—it signified that the lord of this place, Baron Fried Bell, had returned.
“Madam, you actually went to the outskirts to greet me yourself. I really made you work hard while I was away from the territory these days. As your husband, I’ve truly been lacking.”
Inside the carriage, Fried looked apologetically at the woman seated across from him, his hands resting awkwardly on his knees.
“It’s nothing, my lord. I managed just fine these past few days, so you needn’t worry. Besides, I simply wanted to see you and Bella as soon as possible, so I waited for you on the road.”
The woman sitting across from Fried was exquisitely beautiful, and at this moment she was dotingly holding Bella, her slender hand gently stroking Bella’s golden hair.
Her appearance bore a resemblance to Bella, and she too had a head of beautiful golden hair. Strictly speaking, though, it was Bella who looked like her, for she was none other than Baron Fried Bell’s wife—and Bella’s mother.
Of course, she had once been a noble duke’s daughter, but ever since she severed ties with the ducal family, that identity was no longer hers.
“Bella missed Mother so much!”
Bella curled up in the baroness’s arms, looking so obedient and adorable that the baroness gazed at her with even more tenderness.
Fried glanced out the carriage window. Besides the usual townsfolk, he saw some raggedly dressed people on the streets as well. Some slumped against the walls, some begged passersby for alms, and of course, some were eyeing their carriage.
Especially as the carriage passed a small alleyway, Fried caught sight of figures at the alley entrance—people barely clothed, gaunt to the bone. His eyes widened in shock.
“…Refugees. There seem to be even more than you mentioned in your letters.”
After a long while, he sighed and looked at his wife, only to see she had stopped stroking Bella’s hair, her eyes tinged with sorrow.
“Many more have arrived these past few days. Although I’ve already ordered the city guards to temporarily stop new refugees from entering the city, and set up food distribution points outside the city, there’s no way to stop people from sneaking in.”
“Don’t blame yourself. I know you’ve done your best.”
Fried gently comforted his wife, his gaze once again drifting outside.
“But this is no solution. Our best option for now is to open up a plot of land outside the city and let these refugees establish a village there—give them homes and fields to farm. In a few years, they could be self-sufficient. But…”
“The Lord of the Borderlands hasn’t replied to your letter?” the baroness asked, seeing her husband’s troubled expression.
“He replied, but refused. He’s probably afraid I’ll use this as an excuse to expand my territory and gain more benefits. You know how this current Lord of the Borderlands is—he’s very close to the new Crown Prince.”
He didn’t continue, but Fried had already expressed his dissatisfaction with the new Crown Prince before. As for this Lord of the Borderlands, it was probably the same.
“A bunch of people who only care about their own interests—how could they possibly care about the lives of commoners?”
Fried’s clenched fists turned pale from the force, his arms trembling as he gritted his teeth and looked at the pitiful refugees outside the window. He sympathized with those who had been displaced by war, but…
“If this continues, the food stores in our territory will soon be depleted. When that day comes, for the sake of our own people, I’ll have no choice but to drive them out…”
To help these refugees for as long as possible, all they could distribute each day now was a piece of black bread or thin gruel—far from enough to fill their starving bellies.
It wasn’t just a food problem. The influx of refugees had also caused great trouble for the town’s public order. Recently, there had already been several incidents of theft by refugees, and even mobs robbing shops.
Although the baroness had immediately issued strict punishments and ordered the refugees to huddle only in the deserted, narrow alleys, the desperate and starving would pay no heed to laws when truly pushed to the brink.
If that day really came, driving the refugees out would surely be sending them to their deaths. But for the sake of the people living in his territory, Fried would have no choice but to make such a cruel decision.
However, seeing those ragged figures—among them children as thin as skeletons, some even about the same age as his own daughter—he couldn’t help but feel a pang of guilt.
The orphanage could take in some of the refugee children, but certainly not all. Many children would still be driven out of the town, and he had no other choice.
Bella watched the scene outside the carriage window with curiosity. The street was filled with unfamiliar faces she’d never seen before. While Padugel had beggars, never had there been so many at once.
Their filthy appearance made Bella reluctant to approach, even scooting away from the window so as not to get her own skirt stained with the same filth.
The couple chatted a bit more about the recent situation in town, and soon the conversation turned to Sandrina.
“Since we’re going to build an orphanage, we’ll need to trouble young Sandrina to help out. Madam, I’ll have to trouble you to speak to her about it.”
“Yes, I’ve already spoken to her in advance, and she agreed. But it’ll take at least another month before the orphanage is built and ready for use. In the meantime, we’ll need to finalize the number of children we can take in.”
And speaking of Sandrina, Fried remembered the young mage he had rescued on the road yesterday.
“Speaking of which, yesterday I met a mage on the road who was looking for Sandrina. Because of her illness, she traveled all the way here to find her.”
As he spoke, he looked over at Letoua. Since the conversation until now had been about the territory, Letoua had remained silent. Seeing Fried glance his way, he understood it was his turn to speak, so he bowed slightly and said,
“That young mage said she suffers from Soul-loss Syndrome, so she journeyed here. I imagine Miss Sandrina will be quite pleased to receive such a patient.”
“Soul-loss Syndrome? That’s certainly rare.” The baroness repeated the name of the illness in surprise.
But at this moment, Bella suddenly jumped up and said,
“I know, I know! That mage sister is so pretty! Bella wants to become a beautiful mage like her in the future!”
“Oh~? Is that so?”
The baroness narrowed her eyes meaningfully at her husband, and Fried shivered.
“I didn’t do anything, nor did I think of anything, madam, you can’t accuse me of that.”
“Did I say anything?”
“Uh…”
Fried was left speechless by her words.
But just then—
Boom——!!!