Chapter 429
Chapter 429: I Will Save You. (3)
The girl returned with Ghislaine. The girl’s mother was still lying down, gasping for breath.
Ghislaine administered the medicine to the girl’s mother right away.
The ‘Eternal Punishment’ was a medicine that could treat in just one day. Though diluted, the symptoms of the illness had also weakened, so it should be effective.
After a few minutes, the girl’s mother’s color visibly improved, and her spots faded.
“Mom…”
The girl held her mother’s hand with tear-filled eyes. It was clear she had passed a critical point.
A rush of joy and relief flooded over her as she realized her mother was alive.
Slowly, the girl’s mother opened her eyes and asked, “What happened…?”
“Mom? Are you okay?”
“Yeah… I feel much better.”
“The noble came. They saved us!”
“Noble…?”
“Y-Yeah, from the North? They said it was the Count! Ah, Penris! The Lord of Penris!”
“Penris?”
The girl’s mother opened her eyes wide. She had heard rumors about Penris.
To nobles, Ghislaine was considered a demon, but it was a completely different story among the territory residents.
In Penris, it was said that no one ever went hungry, and no one was treated unfairly.
If you only heard the rumors, it sounded like a paradise on earth, but there was no way to confirm it. For commoners, movement within territories was restricted.
Every time she heard those tales, she wondered if they were true. She wanted to visit Penris at least once.
But to think that the Lord of that place had come to save the people of this city!
“Ah…”
The girl’s mother turned her head to look at Ghislaine, who was standing in front.
She tried to get up to bow, but Ghislaine waved his hand.
“It’s fine, you don’t need to be polite.”
“But…”
“Just focus on recovering.”
The girl’s mother didn’t know what to do, but Ghislaine didn’t take manners or status seriously.
He turned to Gillian and said, “Gillian, they’re all likely weak, so gather food for every household without exception and have the soldiers cook for them. For now, everyone needs to recover first.”
“Understood.”
“And we should also clean and repair the city at the same time. On the way here, I noticed another illness may spread.”
“I’ll handle it swiftly.”
Gillian and the soldiers moved out immediately. Before leaving, Ghislaine patted the girl’s shoulder, made eye contact, and said, “Take good care of your mom. I need to go help others now.”
“Thank you, thank you so much.”
The girl kept bowing her head in gratitude. Even when she tried to bend down to the floor, Ghislaine waved his hand to stop her, leaving her with no choice but to keep nodding.
Ghislaine smiled at the girl, who kept thanking him.
“I just did what had to be done. I’ll give you this cloak as a gift.”
The girl tightly clutched Ghislaine’s red cloak that she had on her body.
As Ghislaine turned to leave, the girl shouted, “I will, I will definitely repay you!”
“Hmm?”
When Ghislaine turned back, the girl clenched her hand holding the cloak and shouted, “I will surely repay this kindness someday!”
“I’ll be looking forward to it.”
Ghislaine grinned and turned away again. The girl couldn’t take her eyes off Ghislaine’s back.
To her, Ghislaine was none other than the savior of this world.
Ghislaine hadn’t just saved the girl’s family.
Clatter, clatter, clatter.
Countless wagons and soldiers entered the city.
The Northern Army, acting on Ghislaine’s orders, swiftly began to rescue people.
Most of the people still left in the city were in no condition to move. The soldiers searched every house and alley for survivors.
“Hey, move quickly!”
“Someone is still alive here!”
“Bring blankets and clean water!”
The outbreak of the epidemic had only recently begun. The weak had inevitably succumbed, but many people were still alive.
The soldiers directly administered medicine to people and even prepared food for them.
They cleaned the streets for hygiene, cleared away corpses, and repaired homes.
A total of 10,000 soldiers entered the city. As they moved, all the problems were resolved in an instant.
At first, people thought their lord had come to rescue them. But soon they realized that wasn’t the case.
“Ooh, the Count of Penris…”
“To think the Northern Army, which I only heard about in rumors, would come to help…”
“It really is the one who came…”
People were moved. The lord they paid taxes to had abandoned them, yet here was a lord from the far North, with no connection to them, who had come to save them.
It was a moment when Ghislaine’s name became deeply etched in their hearts.
“So the rumors of a madman were untrue.”
“It’s definitely a rumor spread out of jealousy by other nobles.”
“I hear that lord’s chief officer is incredibly honest? They say they don’t even know anything about gambling or bribery.”
“They say there are no slaves there either. There’s also an excellent mage tower heir.”
“It’s all because the lord is clean, so the retainers are too. You can tell just by looking at this.”
The spread of false rumors was indeed a problem.
As the soldiers revived the city backed by the citizens’ misunderstandings, Ghislaine was spreading out the map and discussing plans with his close associates.
He had simply come to this city first because it was the closest. He intended to make it the center of the epidemic eradication and save other areas too.
“Dark, contact Claude and tell him to send several administrators. There are too many empty cities. Also, send all additional supplies and medicine here.”
When the epidemic broke out, the nobles and administrators were the first to flee. There was no one to manage the city.
As Dark transformed into a crow and flew off, Ghislaine pointed at different spots on the map and continued speaking.
“This is the urgent areas. Split the troops and send medicine and food as quickly as possible. I will assign each task.”
These were places where the epidemic spread because the lords hadn’t distributed medicine properly. They had to suppress the epidemic before it got any worse.
Ghislaine informed the Penris commanders of the new formations and specified the items and quantities that needed to be distributed, including medicine and food.
After listening to the explanation, Gillian cautiously asked, “What about the Rift?”
The rift was expanding in a location relatively close to the city. The territory army there was in dire straits, having asked for support from the Northern Army.
That place couldn’t just be left alone either.
“If we use cavalry, it won’t take long to transport the medicine. While the Penris Army moves the medicine, the rest of the Northern Army can hold off the Cracked Beings.”
“Then who will lead…?”
Ghislaine looked at Tenant and said, “Tenant, you lead the Northern Army and defend the Barrier Line. You can manage that, right?”
Everyone was shocked. To entrust such a large force to someone who had only recently joined and was even a former enemy was quite the leap.
Tenant was also a bit flustered as he asked, “Are you sure you can trust me with the troops? I might consider doing something different.”
Ghislaine asked back incredulously, “Do you think the Northern Army would follow you if you suggested doing something else?”
“…”
Tenant couldn’t say anything in reply. It was evident that the loyalty of the Northern Army towards Ghislaine was sky-high.
Having opened his mouth unnecessarily, Tenant gave a wry smile and nodded, “Understood. I’ll set up the Barrier Line.”
“Right. Just hold out.”
Tenant was an adequate commander. Although he was defeated in Penris, he had experience leading large forces.
Given the overwhelming capability of the Northern Army, creating a Barrier Line and holding it shouldn’t be a problem.
Tenant immediately led most of the Northern Army troops toward the rift.
Ghislaine scanned his close associates and pointed at Kaor and Alfoy.
“Kaor, Alfoy. I’ll give you a list, so you two go and get medicine and medicinal materials from the lords. Can you do that?”
“Of course, that’s perfect for me! I’ll squeeze it all out of them.”
“Can’t I take a territory and become a lord? I want to be a count.”
These two were not suited for helping others at all. They’d rather be much better at getting medicine from the remaining lords.
The other commanders were busy moving as well.
“Get it up!”
Hundreds of hot air balloons carrying mages and soldiers soared into the sky. Ghislaine intended to use the methods he had used in his past life.
Where roads were connected, the cavalry could quickly transport medicine and food. However, in places where there were no roads or the terrain was poor, using hot air balloons was much more effective.
There were limits to how much could be suspended from the hot air balloons, so they couldn’t visit many places, but they could prioritize the furthest and hardest to reach areas.
Thud, thud, thud!
All of the Penris Army could ride horses and spread out with wagons of medicine and food.
Ghislaine mounted the Black King and said, “Gillian is guarding this place. Claude will send medicine and food here.”
He decided to visit several smaller villages directly. Splitting the troops into smaller groups would be inefficient in many ways.
“Do you really have to move, my lord?”
“That’s the fastest and most efficient way.”
“Hmm, understood.”
Surprisingly, Ghislaine said he would move with just a few retainers and a small number of troops.
The reason that was possible was simple.
“Let’s go, Kong!”
Hee-haw!
The Black King let out a loud neigh and charged forward.
And over a hundred wagons moved automatically along behind Ghislaine.
Clunk! Clunk! Clunk!
Ghislaine was pulling the wagons with strings of mana.
Those witnessing that marvelous sight had their jaws drop.
Especially Kaor, who admired but was also troubled.
‘Wow, he really is a monster. How can I beat that?’
He had certainly grown much stronger than when he first met Ghislaine. He might even be stronger than Ghislaine was back then.
Yet that monster was growing stronger with each passing day.
‘Ugh… I need to focus on stepping on that old guy first.’
Recently, Gillian’s abilities had become less visible. It seemed like there was a gap opening up again.
On top of that, this newly joined Tenant had reached a master level.
‘Not good.’
He was said to have been doing quite well, known as the strongest out West. His status was higher than Kaor’s and older as well, so his skills could be better too.
But as always, Kaor couldn’t accept that he was currently weaker.
‘Just watch. I’ll catch up to all of you.’
He was a man filled with stubbornness, even if he didn’t have tenacity. He mulled over how to become stronger while grumbling.
He could vent his frustration by defeating the lords who weren’t distributing medicine. Kaor hurriedly led a cavalry unit and moved out.
Alfoy was also surprised by Ghislaine’s power, but he didn’t pay as much mind as Kaor.
‘I’m a mage, after all.’
The fields were different anyway. He believed that he could defeat a lord when he eventually reached a level of the Magic King and then end his slave contract.
‘Hehe, then I’ll be a lord and a count too.’
He, who was astute enough to become the heir of the mage tower, had gotten somewhat worse off since arriving in Penris. This was a place where not being simple made survival difficult.
He moved alongside mages and a few guard knights. Just thinking about what kind of power trip he would exert when meeting the lords was enjoyable.
Thus, everyone moved quickly, distributing medicine and food everywhere.
Thanks to that, those who had their lives saved began praising Ghislaine.
“Thank you, thank you so much.”
“Thanks to you, my family has survived.”
“I will definitely repay this kindness.”
Most of the places Ghislaine saved were neglected areas. Regions that had been abandoned due to the lords’ greed or had been unable to prepare properly for rescue.
These were people who had despaired that their lords had abandoned them. Their loyalty to their lords had long since faded amidst the suffering of the epidemic.
Instead, their loyalty began to shift in another direction.
“Blessing of the Goddess upon the Count of Penris!”
“The one who saved us is the Count of Penris!”
“The Count of Penris is indeed our savior!”
New rumors began to spread around the cities and towns rescued by Ghislaine. Rumors that he was the ‘savior’ who would end this turmoil and save everyone.
Some even said the Count of Penris was a chosen one of the Goddess. This was based on his prior reputation of being regarded as a saint in the former capital, which made it quite plausible.
Ghislaine, however, knew perfectly well that it was all a staged play and a disgraceful one at that, planned with Porisco.
‘Savior…’
It was admittedly a word that bore some discomfort, akin to the name of a certain sect. But there was nothing he could do to stop people from calling it as they pleased.
Suddenly, Ghislaine turned his head and looked in a certain direction.
The Shadow Mountain Range, filled with monsters. It was in the direction of the Turian Kingdom, which had been fighting against the monsters for a long time.
‘Savior.’
It wasn’t a term referring to him. In his past life, there had been another who bore that title.
‘That fellow is likely coming out into the world soon.’
A person who had belonged to one of the Seven Greats of the continent in a past life.
The real ‘savior’ is sure to appear soon.
