Chapter 31

This is the perspective of the Daido Kingdom after Shina's expulsion.

It is loathsome. I have been thinking about it for these five years.

"Deputy Captain Greed, we need to improve the soldiers' meals. If we continue like this, they will collapse from malnutrition and overwork!"

"Deputy Captain Greed, please listen! After the soldiers are treated, they should be given a few days off! Even if their physical wounds heal, they are mentally wounded. At the very least, give them one day off."

"Deputy Captain Greed! The soldiers' equipment is of such poor quality. With this, we can't protect lives. Can you request a budget to improve it?"

When did that loathsome commoner girl start giving me, a marquis, her opinions, using her position as the fiancée of Prince Lector?

At first, she was a meek girl. When she was assigned to this Glass Forest extermination squad at the tender age of ten, surrounded by monsters and rough soldiers, that girl clung to Prince Lector's arm, trembling and crying.

When His Majesty and Prince Lector said they would have this girl work as a saint, I thought it was a joke. However, the girl's holy magic power was extraordinary. By having her handle the healing, we could allocate more magicians to combat roles. With increased firepower, we might even be able to accomplish the impossible task of exterminating the Glass Forest. If this contributed to Prince Lector's achievements, the further prosperity of my marquis family was naturally assured. The dishonor of having a commoner girl in my extermination squad was worth accepting.

At first, the girl could only cower and be beaten. But after one or two years, she started to give her opinions without shedding a single tear, even when I shouted at her or hit her. Moreover, her concerns were trivial matters like improving the treatment of lower-ranking soldiers. It was a waste of precious time to deal with such trivial matters. No matter how many times I scolded her, she kept coming back with her opinions. Annoyed, I suggested to Prince Lector that the girl be removed. The girl's holy magic power was indeed valuable, but not irreplaceable. A few magicians would suffice. There was no need to keep a presumptuous girl around.

"I agree, Greed. Keeping such an ugly girl by my side affects my reputation."

Even Prince Lector, who treated the girl kindly to make her work efficiently, showed a different attitude when alone with Greed. His cold expression and dismissive tone suggested that whispering sweet nothings to such a scrawny, lowly girl was a humiliation.

"I want to officially welcome Cindy as my queen as soon as possible. I've already made her wait for five years."

The next king, Prince Lector, must have a perfect lady by his side. That girl seems to think she is the one, but it is terrifying that she doesn't know her place.

However, breaking the engagement with the girl is not easy. Due to her continuous appeals for the improvement of lower-ranking soldiers' treatment, she has gained a certain level of support from them. Although they are commoners, there are far more lower-ranking soldiers than the noble upper-ranking soldiers. If I easily dismissed the girl as a saint and broke her engagement to Prince Lector in front of them, there could be unpredictable reactions, and malicious rumors might spread.

"Do you have any good ideas, Greed? That girl is no longer of any use. Should we break the engagement and throw her into the Glass Forest to be food for the monsters?"

"Prince Lector, we must not act rashly. We just need to make her valueless."

That's when I thought of establishing a new saint. Fortunately, the daughter of the Ruruk Marquis, who is suitable to be Prince Lector's true queen, has the attribute of holy magic and can use healing magic. Although her healing magic is far inferior to the girl's, the choice between the miserable girl's healing magic and the beautiful marquis daughter's healing magic, a shining presence, is obvious.

"Beautiful... Like a goddess..."

"A true saint!"

Indeed, when the Ruruk Marquis daughter visited the Glass Forest as the new saint, the lower-ranking soldiers were abnormally excited. They treated her like a knight serving a princess, and those who received her healing magic wept with joy. The girl was no longer in their sight. No one wanted her healing magic, and it was rumored that her holy magic power was weakening, and her healing was not as effective as before.

I also obtained the emperor's approval for the girl's disposal. The emperor suggested dragging the girl down from her position as a fiancée and using her as a magician until she died, but when I reported that her holy magic power had weakened, he readily allowed her disposal. He probably thought it was better to kill her than to keep her alive for the sake of the Ruruk Marquis family. He also promised to increase the number of magicians after the girl was gone. With this, the Glass Forest extermination squad would not be shaken by the loss of one girl.

While I was preparing to break the engagement between Prince Lector and the girl, an unexpected person joined our plan.

"I have an idea. That girl, a lowly commoner, has the audacity to stand by my beloved Prince Lector as his fiancée. I cannot forgive her."

The face of the Ruruk Marquis daughter was that of a proud queen. Her demeanor, which set her apart from a commoner girl, made me bow my head involuntarily.

"Ruruk Marquis daughter, please give your orders."

"Oh, Greed Marquis, you bow to me..."

Surprised, the Ruruk Marquis daughter widened her eyes, and I shook my head with a smile.

"You are the future queen. It is only natural for a subject like me to kneel."

My words made the Ruruk Marquis daughter smile calmly.

"I don't need your help, Marquis. I can deal with such an insignificant girl on my own."

"You must not soil your hands. I will take care of that girl with one stroke."

Prince Lector's brave words made the Ruruk Marquis daughter giggle.

"Oh, Prince Lector. The future king must not soil his hands. ...But, guiding that girl to her fate is best left to you."

The Ruruk Marquis daughter's tactics were brilliant. Gradually, she poisoned the minds of those around the girl, portraying herself as a weak and suffering lady. The girl faced the anger of the soldiers and became increasingly isolated.

Then came the incident. The girl was accused of luring the marquis daughter to a cliff and trying to push her off, attempting to harm her. The girl, using her abilities to deceive the church, became a false saint who plotted to kill the true saint, the marquis daughter. She was saved at the last moment by Prince Lector, the future wise emperor, and was expelled from the Glass Forest extermination squad to become monster fodder. It was a splendid tragedy that would please the commoners.

On the day the girl was expelled from the Glass Forest extermination squad, she looked at me intently as I gave her a small amount of food as a parting gift. Her eyes held no anger, fear, anxiety, or sadness, just a calm, flat expression like a still sea. I was surprised, as I had expected her to cry and scream.

With just one maid, the girl left the Glass Forest extermination squad, where she had spent five years. She didn't look back, walking lightly and smiling at her maid. Despite being destined to be killed by monsters, I felt a sense of unease as I watched her until she disappeared.

◇◇◇

A few days later, something strange happened.

"No monster repellent?"

"Yes, we only have a few days' worth left..."

The soldier who reported this was cautiously observing my reaction.

"Then make more. We've never run out of stock before. What's the problem? What's going on?"

Why report such a trivial matter about replenishing a consumable to the deputy captain?

"The management of the monster repellent was handled by the previous saint, and only she knew how to make it..."

The previous saint... that girl. Yes, that's right. But she is already in the belly of a monster. There's nothing we can do about it.

"If that girl could make it, you can too! Don't bother me with such trivial matters!"

"But we don't even know which herbs to use..."

I spat in frustration. This is why uneducated commoners are...

Reluctantly, I ordered the highly educated magicians to recreate the monster repellent. The girl had left completed products, so the magicians should be able to reproduce it.

However, the magicians' response was not as expected.

"Deputy Captain Greed... It is impossible to recreate the monster repellent."

"What?!"

The most capable magician in the Daido Kingdom, with a blue face, reported.

"The ingredients of this monster repellent are a blend of high-level monster fat and multiple herbs. High-level monster fat, if used improperly, can attract other monsters. We understand that by combining it with multiple herbs, the attracting effect is converted into a repelling effect, but... to determine the exact proportions, we need to cast a high-level identification spell or test each of the tens of thousands of possible combinations."

"Ridiculous!"

The girl had suddenly created the monster repellent one day. It was easy to make and had a decent effect, so we valued it...

"This monster repellent... I've never seen anything like it before, but it is very valuable. It repels low-level monsters and slightly slows high-level monsters. Adventurers would want it. If we could recreate it, we could make a fortune."

The magician looked regretfully at the monster repellent. Whether he was regretful because he couldn't create it with his own power or because he couldn't make a fortune, his pride was shattered.

We had only a small amount of monster repellent left. We had been focusing on high-level monster extermination, but now we would have to deal with low-level monsters as well. I grimaced and spat in frustration.

Before Shina regained her memories from her previous life, she couldn't use the identification spell, but she didn't realize it because the identification spell was secretly supporting her. Because she's a mother.