Chapter 66
After the Steiner merchant group returned to the capital, cold winds began to blow in earnest in Reinke. It was a sign that winter was just around the corner.
Every day, one step at a time, winter was approaching rapidly, and this could be felt in the air touching the skin.
Everyone in Reinke moved busily, as if chased by winter’s silent footsteps.
First was the sowing of rye.
Once they somehow got through the coming winter, spring would arrive anyway. So the people of Reinke sowed rye for the spring that awaited them.
Meanwhile, the knights and soldiers familiarized themselves with the newly arranged defense system to make the most of the castle wall structure that had been modified by the dwarves’ hands.
Even if they were in training, the monsters, which had become more ferocious as the cold winds blew, wouldn’t wait patiently. So their training inevitably had to include actual combat.
With each battle fought and each time blood was splattered on the castle walls, people’s hands and feet became busier and busier. This wasn’t limited to those who would directly face the monsters on the castle walls, risking their lives in battle.
In the dwarves’ forges making weapons and armor, the sound of hammering iron never ceased, and the doctors busily stockpiled medicines, bandages, and supplies needed for treatment.
The same was true for the officials. The officials had to think not only about enduring the long winter. They also had to figure out how to run Reinke through the coming spring, summer, autumn, and winter again, no matter how much damage Reinke sustained after the winter ended.
Naturally, there was never a day when the mountain of paperwork on the officials’ desks disappeared, and the dark circles under their eyes never faded.
This was also true for Ruan, whose workload had increased dramatically as the Northern Grand Duke spent less time in his office and more time in battle.
Ruan tightly closed his stiff eyes and then opened them again, trying somehow to alleviate his fatigue. As he lifted his heavy eyelids that seemed to have solidified into one mass,
Ruan’s view was filled with administrative officials, all looking half like zombies.
Greasy hair, hunched shoulders, hollow eyes, and slow reactions.
Looking at them, Ruan lamented inwardly.
‘I always felt we were short-staffed, but winter is really crazy.’
The withered appearance of the administrative officials made him realize once again that increasing the workforce, which he had always put off thinking ‘Wouldn’t that be realistically difficult?’, was really an urgent matter.
If they kept postponing it because it was realistically difficult, they were all going to die from overwork in the near future.
‘I wonder if there’s a way to attract capable talents to Reinke…’
As Ruan was pondering ways to expand the workforce with bleary eyes,
“Sorry for keeping you waiting, Ruan. Here. This is the distribution plan for the stockpiled supplies you mentioned.”
Hans, with equally hollow eyes, held out a thick bundle of documents.
“Thank you.”
Ruan took the documents and looked at the high pile of papers in front of Hans and at Hans himself, who, unlike his usual self that would often tear up, now seemed to lack even the energy to cry. He said,
“Father, please eat while you work. You’re harming your body.”
Not expecting Hans’s eyes to immediately start welling up at this sudden remark, and
Thinking that if Hans, who seemed to be in a semi-dried state, cried here, he might really shrivel up like dried food, Ruan was only able to leave the administrative office after patting Hans’s shoulder and earnestly promising several times that he too would pay attention to meals and sleep.
Ruan flipped through the documents he had received from Hans as he walked down the corridor.
‘Indeed, thanks to the Steiner merchant group sending supplies in the name of investment, we have much more leeway than last year.’
Ralph, who had returned to the capital, had fulfilled his role admirably. The monster products from Reinke, showcased to coincide with the hunting festival, had become a huge hit.
The products, which had the quality befitting dwarf-made items along with Reinke’s storytelling, instantly became the center of attention.
It was said that this year’s hunting festival was almost like a monster product showcase. It could be said that monster products had not only settled as a positive image in consumers’ minds but had become a trend.
It was a great success.
As the saying goes, “Row when the tide comes in,” given the situation, Reinke and the Steiner merchant group decided to expand the business beyond the originally planned scale.
Of course, this required a large quantity of monster by-products…
And Reinke was, coincidentally, at a point just before a monster wave.
This was the situation where the Steiner merchant group sent a considerable amount of supplies, wishing for their cooperation partner, Reinke, to safely overcome the monster wave and secure many monster by-products.
‘To think that the monster wave, which was a disaster we had to endure with all our might, has become an opportunity to secure materials.’
A smile appeared on Ruan’s face as he recalled the knights giggling and joking, “You only caught this many goblins today, so you didn’t earn your keep,” even as they returned from grueling battles.
Just as he was about to focus on the documents again,
Ruan suddenly sensed that something large had entered the edge of his vision. His head reflexively turned.
And what his gaze caught was…
‘It’s the pile of curtains that were taken down for winter preparation…’
Realizing the object was different from what he had thought, Ruan let out a dejected laugh for a moment.
‘Why did I mistake that for a retriever?’
How long has it been since Ralph left?
Perhaps because he had been going around the entire castle, emitting energy with his whole body. The large dog, which boasted a presence about four times its original body size, felt like its absence was about eight times larger.
Even in the midst of being incredibly busy, it felt strange from time to time that there was no dog running up to him exuding an atmosphere of ‘It’s the aide! It’s the aide! It’s the aide! Nice to see you! Nice to see you! Nice to see you!’, to the point where he would irrationally mistake large objects that entered his vision for a retriever.
Thinking that the aftereffects were lasting longer than expected, Ruan smiled bitterly.
‘Large dogs are really amazing…’
But Ruan wasn’t given much time to indulge in regret.
“Ruan! I was just on my way to see you, and here we meet!”
Because someone was looking for Ruan without giving him time for that.
As he turned his head towards the voice, Baile, the scribe of Reinke Castle, was approaching Ruan with an armful of papers.
Ruan quickly wiped the bitterness from his face and greeted him.
“Brother Baile, hello! Why were you looking for me?”
“Oh, a letter came for you, so I wanted to deliver it. I was on my way to the office, but it’s good we met like this.”
Baile whispered in a small voice, “If I go to the office, His Grace will glare at me terribly,” and started rummaging through the bundle of papers he was holding.
As Ruan was thinking to himself that even for Baile, a big man with a height similar to the Grand Duke’s and an open personality, the Grand Duke was such a frightening existence that he was reluctant to face him,
“Oops.”
A part of the papers slipped down from under Baile’s thick arm. As Ruan rushed to catch the falling chunk of papers, Baile grinned and said,
“Thanks! I always drop everything like this. If it weren’t for you, I’d be picking them up again… Ah, found it. Here. It’s from the head of the Steiner merchant group.”
“Brother, you almost got scolded by the Chief Administrative Officer again for rolling documents on the floor. Thank you.”
On the envelope Baile handed over, Ralph’s name was written in a now-familiar handwriting.
Since returning to the capital, Ralph had sent quite a few letters. The letters, which strangely exuded a bustling feeling despite containing only words, were filled with various stories.
From detailed progress of the business to the reactions of his acquaintances, who were big shots in high society, to the new trend, to saying he missed Ruan, and even news that Edeline’s condition had started to improve.
‘I wonder what this one is about.’
As Ruan was looking at Ralph’s name written in elegant handwriting, Baile, who had been watching him, spoke up.
“You look lonely.”
“Ah… They say you don’t know a good thing till it’s gone, right? And maybe because he was such a lively and affectionate person, the absence feels even bigger?”
As Ruan spoke, Baile, who was once again gathering papers that had slipped down, replied,
“That’s true. He was such a boisterous person with a big presence that it seems like the atmosphere in the castle was also lively while he was here… It feels strange even though he was only here for a short time.”
It seemed Ruan wasn’t the only one feeling the aftereffects left behind in a place where an active large dog had stirred things up and then left.
Inwardly marveling at Ralph’s influence, Ruan nodded.
“He leaves such a strong impression on the people he met and makes them keep thinking of him. He really seems like an amazing person.”
Thinking that this too must be one of Ralph’s strengths, Ruan recalled Ralph’s bright face. Watching Ruan, Baile said with a mischievous smile,
“But you always have His Grace the Grand Duke by your side. Where’s the room to feel lonely?”
It was clearly a teasing remark.
But Ruan found it difficult to deny.
“His Grace… That’s right… There’s no room to feel lonely…”
Because one of the things Ruan was most concerned about recently was… that the Grand Duke, who had been maintaining a very triumphant state until just recently, had suddenly become strange.
* * *
After accepting the aide’s courtship and becoming mates, the Grand Duke had been spending very satisfactory days.
