Chapter 478

King Namyung, Riana de Granz returned to Fort Mokna late at night. Charlotte watched the knights and priests returning to Fort Mokna from inside the command center. Many carriages were returning from the rear with survivors they had somehow found and were supposed to escort safely to Fort Mokna. While not all carriages were filled with people, some had passengers. Riana de Granz, riding a white horse, was at the very end of the unit, guarding the rear. She was respected by the troops for always fighting in the most dangerous position. The carriages carrying the survivors were unloaded in the temporary refugee area and moved according to the command of the unit members. They calmed down the frightened people, educated them about Edina, and then sent them to Edina on the transport convoy. This was the alpha and omega of the operation of the Fort Mokna forward base. Riana's job was to constantly go out on reconnaissance missions and bring back survivors. Sometimes external operations ended in a day, but sometimes they took several days to go on expeditions to faraway places. The environment for finding survivors had become difficult, and they were considering moving the base, but it was still true that survivors could be found in this area. However, the number of survivors was too small compared to before. It was unclear whether Riana had been out on a mission for a few days and returned, but the secured survivors exceeded twenty. These were people who had been rescued from a miserable life. Even though they had come to a safe place, Charlotte watched the survivors who were still terrified. Riana returned to the command center without saying a word and Charlotte and Harriet had been waiting for her until midnight. "Whatever it is, wait a little and take a shower," Charlotte said. She didn't have much time left either. However, Charlotte watched Riana leave as if she had encountered something unpleasant and was going somewhere. "Is it a fight? No, it can't be," Charlotte thought to herself. Even during her time at the temple, Charlotte was not particularly close to Riana, but she didn't know nothing about her either. Riana de Granz, the daughter of the Granz Duke and an electrokinesis ability user who could be called the top in attack among the ability users. After the death of the Granz Duke, her ability became much stronger. Charlotte knows that Riana is generally easygoing and doesn't pay attention to small things. At this point, she knows that Riana will not have any positive feelings towards the empire. Riana speaks her mind if she has something to say and does not have a subtle fighting style to suppress her opponent. Riana de Granz is a different type of person from Olivia Ranche. If Olivia Ranche makes sarcastic remarks and subtly ignores her opponent, Riana just says she doesn't like her opponent if she doesn't. Therefore, her current behavior is probably just an action without much thought. Even if it was Reinhardt instead of Charlotte in this position, he would have told her to wash up and wait. Harriet was nervous because she didn't know what was going on. Riana came out of the reception room in civilian clothes after changing from her military uniform. Riana put the sandwich plate brought by the officer on the table and started hesitating. While hesitating with a bite of sandwich, Riana stared at Charlotte. "So, what is it?" Riana is straightforward from the beginning. She doesn't have the personality to turn around or pretend to have nonexistent kindness. People who are too straightforward are easy to make enemies. However, because of her attitude of crying like a crazy person, Riana has gained the absolute trust of most of the Fort Mokna troops. "I heard it was difficult to find survivors, but there are still people left." Harriet watched Charlotte's changing expression quietly. Straightforward Riana. Charlotte, who doesn't immediately bring up the topic. Only Harriet, who is watching this situation, feels that they are very different people. Riana took a sip of water and sighed. "It's not completely gone. It's a bit of an expression, but it's dried up. It's inefficient. So we're trying to move the base. Do you know that?" "Yeah, I heard they're trying to move the base to another port." "Why do you think you have to keep operating Fort Mokna? Because there are still survivors around here?" Charlotte shook her head at Riana's question. "No, the commander on site, you, would be the most accurate. You've seen and experienced things, so your thoughts will be right." "The prediction that moving the base will be able to rescue more people is just a prediction, and I don't really know what the reality will be. And to establish a new base, we also have to clear out the monsters around it. It's dangerous, but we can't just settle here." We need to rescue more people. Riana just wants to express her opinion and act according to Reinhardt's policy. People respect and admire Riana. Riana is a person who is far from selfishness. "The decision of Riana, who seeks to create a new base and take risks, abandoning Port Mocna, which can be considered safe enough by only seeking the most dangerous places, is clearly far from selfish desires. 'How many people are in the refugee residential area now?' 'Well, I'm not sure of the exact number, but it's probably around 150 if you add up the people rescued today.' Riana just wants to express her opinion and act according to Reinhardt's policy. People respect and admire Riana because she is far from selfishness." "Meals are a major issue, especially for soldiers facing combat. They need to eat well and have good quality meals. Until now, we have been supplying the minimum due to Edina's situation, but now we need to provide more convenience in terms of food. Is this such a big problem that you have to come and question me about it? Do we have to listen to you saying that we are eating too much when we are fighting on the front lines? " Riana's opponent's words made Charlotte silently nod her head. "Yes, I thought you would say that." "What?" Riana's expression froze at Charlotte's casual words. Riana is straightforward, so she drops a lot of clues in her words. Charlotte has already picked up one clue. "You were aware of this issue, and you acknowledged that it was your directive." Only then did Riana realize that she had been caught by Charlotte and bit her lip. Clues often flow out between words, and Charlotte had no choice but to catch them. And Riana had no talent for that. "Yes, I did that. So what? Is that such a big problem?" "You wanted to provide better quality meals to boost the morale of the troops." "Yes." "But that's not it, is it?" "What?" Charlotte calmly began to explain. "You said you would provide a lot of food to boost the morale of the troops, but to do that, you would have provided a higher quality diet rather than a larger quantity. Therefore, you would have had to request more meat and processed foods. But what you requested was not meat or processed meat, but very basic items like flour." "..." "You wanted quantity, not quality of meals." Riana de Granitz's expression became increasingly stiff. Charlotte explained calmly without revealing everything she knew from the beginning. She waited for the other person's mistake and then revealed another fact she knew, as if she had been waiting. She caught the other person with their own words. "We need to feed them well for now because of Edina's situation. Meat is hard to come by, so we tried to fill the quantity with basic food..." "The food supplies we were distributing were calculated based on the nutritional needs of combat troops and were being distributed as two servings for an average person. So there was no reason to supply more flour or rice. They wouldn't have been able to eat it all. Even if they overeat, the troops in Port Mocna cannot consume excess food supplies." -Bang! Riana slammed the table and glared at Charlotte. -Crackle! Sparks flew from Riana's forehead as she glared at Charlotte with a fierce look. "What are you trying to say?" Charlotte calmly looks at Riana.

"It's simple. There were more mouths to feed here than the number reported to Edina."

"More... mouths?"

Heath's question with a sense of foreboding.

"...."

Riana's silence.

Charlotte continues to speak.

"For a few days, or a few weeks. We had to feed them somehow, so we needed more rations, but they never arrived in Edina for some reason. A considerable number of survivors here couldn't make it to Fort Mocna. So more rations were claimed than what was actually needed. That was the amount that was supposed to be given to the unrecorded people."

Riana remains silent at Charlotte's words.

"You."

Charlotte asks quietly.

"What happened to those people who couldn't come to Edina?"

"...."

"What did you do to them?"

Riana looks at Charlotte and remains silent.

How long was the silence?

Charlotte knows that Riana is a person with selfish desires and is far from being a good person.

Then, claiming excess rations must have been necessary.

There must be a truth that cannot be told.

Riana opens her mouth slowly with a stern expression.

"...I killed them."

"What, what did you say?!"

Heath is shocked by Riana's words that break the silence.

"I couldn't risk Edina anymore."

"...."

Charlotte nods her head quietly, as if she had expected it.