Chapter 54

I feel like this has become a rather confusing story. About 3,500 characters.

When Johan arrived at the entrance of the manor, he found the front door half-open and the butler of the Oblaire family attending to someone. The butler noticed him and bowed his head.

"I apologize, sir... I'm sorry to have woken you."

"It's fine, but what about my brother?"

Johan asked the butler.

However, the butler had a troubled look on his face and said, "Well..." as he opened the front door wider, showing Johan the scene outside.

"Kyu! Kyu!!"

Sure enough, in the darkness beyond the front door, there was a small dragon. However, its master, Nod, was nowhere to be seen.

The young dragon, upon seeing the door open wide, squeezed its body through the gap and entered the manor. It then approached Johan and continued to make sounds.

"What is it? What happened to Nod?"

"No, I have no idea..."

Johan understood that the high-pitched dragon was trying to convey something, but he couldn't figure out what it was.

Had it run away from Nod, or had something unexpected happened to Nod...?

As Johan struggled to understand the dragon's intentions, the young dragon, in a hurry, stomped its front legs on the floor and pushed its head against Johan's body.

"Kyu! Kyu!!"

"Hey, hey, calm down..."

"Ah!"

As the dragon, excited, tried to pounce on Johan with its hind legs, Johan tried to hold it back. At that moment, a loud voice echoed through the Oblaire manor's entrance.

"Neut, welcome back!"

"Hey, Emilia, you should be sleeping at this hour."

"Well, I woke up, so there's nothing I can do about it!"

The voice belonged to Johan's step-sister, Emilia. She had apparently been woken up by the dragon's cries and the noise.

When Emilia saw the dragon, Neut, pouncing on Johan at the entrance, her face lit up, and she hugged the dragon's body.

Emilia rubbed her cheek against Neut's scales.

"Really, one thing after another... Hey."

"I understand, my lady, let's go back to bed."

"No way, I'm not sleepy! ...Oh, Neut, what's this?"

Johan signaled the butler with his eyes to try to get Emilia to go back to bed. The butler, understanding, tried to carry Emilia to her bedroom, but she resisted, clinging to Neut.

Then, Emilia noticed something hanging around Neut's neck.

"This is from Brother Nod, right?"

"What?"

"Neut, did you get this from Brother?"

Following Emilia's words, Johan followed her gaze and indeed saw it. A thin chain hung around Neut's neck. The small crystal plate attached to it was the adventurer's guild identification badge that Nod had worn.

Johan had not noticed it hanging around Neut's neck until now.

"Maybe it was trying to show me this?"

"Brother, there's a letter with it too!"

Emilia, held by the butler, pointed with her small finger. Indeed, a piece of paper was attached to the side of the identification badge.

Johan reached for it, and Neut stopped moving, becoming quiet. It seemed that all of its previous actions were aimed at making him notice this piece of paper.

"What does the letter say?"

"Shh, my lady, please be quiet..."

"..."

The piece of paper was like a small memo. When Johan unfolded the small, folded paper, he quickly read through it.

"Come, my lady, let's get you back to bed..."

"Wait."

Johan stopped the butler, who was about to take Emilia to her bedroom.

"There's no need to put Emilia to bed."

"Yes, sir."

"Instead, wake everyone up."

"But it's the middle of the night..."

"Quickly!" "Yes, sir."

"And please tell my stepfather to come to my room as soon as possible."

Johan said this and hurried to his study.

§

"Son-in-law."

"I apologize for waking you."

"It's fine, what is it?"

When his stepfather, the former Lord Oblaire, entered the study with a slightly displeased look, Johan was at his desk.

By the light of the candle, Johan had been writing and showed the former Lord Oblaire the letter from Nod.

"Please look at this. My brother just sent it."

"Nod? ...Is this real?"

The former Lord Oblaire, upon reading the letter, immediately grasped the gravity of the situation. He looked shocked and asked if it was true.

"My brother entrusted this letter to the dragon, Neut. It's clear that he is in a situation where he cannot come himself. And Nod is not the type to lie without reason."

"Hmm... It's hard to believe. A queen spider... Isn't that a mythical creature?"

The former Lord Oblaire muttered, confused.

It was understandable. Even Johan had read the letter three times when he first saw it. The letter was not a long, detailed account.

It simply stated that a queen spider and hundreds of knight spiders were in the forest, posing a danger, and requested that the villagers be evacuated and the kingdom's knights be called for assistance.

The letter did not provide any further details.

"So, what do you plan to do?"

"Evacuate the villagers and call for the knights' assistance."

"But what about the Spirit Festival!?"

"It must be canceled."

"But... The villagers will oppose it."

"We must try to persuade them."

"Well... At least, how about sending a request to the adventurer's guild by messenger tomorrow? It might resolve the issue if it goes well."

Johan stopped writing, put down his quill, and faced the former Lord Oblaire.

"That's unlikely. The adventurer's guild is already short-staffed. There are few adventurers in this border area, and I doubt we'll find anyone as capable as Nod."

The shortage of adventurers, which began with the Eastern Knights' grand exercise, was still ongoing. Nearby adventurer's guilds were struggling to find even low-level adventurers to take on requests.

Nod, a member of the Iron Dragon Knights and an experienced adventurer, was the strongest presence in Alba Village at the moment.

Even Johan, who had been trained as a knight but lacked combat experience, and the former Lord Oblaire, who had long retired from active duty, were not as capable in battle as Nod.

"To be honest, I am hesitant. This year's harvest was poor, and canceling the Spirit Festival would mean losing the expected revenue. Not to mention, the cost of evacuation would be a significant loss. It could cast a dark shadow over Alba Village's future operations."

Johan paused, wetting his lips.

"But if what Nod says is true, the damage to the village will be far worse. Not just the village, but neighboring towns and villages will also be affected. As the current head of the Oblaire family and a knight of the Kingdom of Hamil, I must do everything in my power to protect them."

"I see... If you say so, I will follow your lead. What should we do?"

Seeing the unwavering resolve in Johan's eyes, the former Lord Oblaire did not object to his decision.

"We need to evacuate the villagers. I would like you to take charge of that. I need to write some letters."

"Understood. I'll have the butler prepare the messenger."

"Thank you."

After a brief exchange, Johan picked up his quill again.

As the head of the household, Johan had many letters to write. Warnings to neighboring lords, requests for assistance from the knights, and requests for the safe reception of evacuated villagers in secure areas.

Sending letters did not guarantee they would arrive safely, as accidents or loss could occur during transit. For urgent matters, multiple copies needed to be sent.

For Lord Johan, writing these letters was the battle he needed to fight now.

This makes about 7,000 characters in total... It's a bit long, but I'll explain why in my activity report.

The following is a copy of the additional part I added to the afterword of the previous chapter. I'm including it just in case some readers haven't seen it.

According to Earth Star Novel, a manga adaptation project is underway! You can check the official website for more details.

This is all thanks to Enami Katsumi, who provided the wonderful character designs and illustrations, and to all the readers who purchased the book.

Thank you, sorry. Thank you!

I would be very happy if you continue to support me!

The details of the manga adaptation will be announced later, so I will provide an update in my activity report at that time.