The Skeleton Soldier Failed to Defend the Dungeon-Chapter 308: Unearth (28)

"It was still too dangerous."

I had watched the situation from the start. I warned Rubia when she chose to enter the match herself, but because she asked me to trust her, I hid among the crowd and only watched.

"Why didn't you tell me beforehand?" I asked.

Rubia smiled lightly. "You just said it was dangerous. I was afraid you'd scold me or stop me, so I didn't tell you. I thought this was the best way."

She dipped her head a little, stealing a glance at me as if gauging my mood.

"No, it's not as if I..."

In the end, the choice had been hers. Regardless, I had still fretted until the last moment. To prevent her from getting into harm's way, I hid in the middle of the stands, ready to leap out at any moment. Only when Kirk's neck broke twice in succession did I finally breathe out.

I finally understood what had happened when Rubia explained everything to me slowly. Since securing her footing in Erast, her political sense had become nothing short of admirable. Rubia had been murdered again and again, but only because her circumstances were so much worse than her brilliance.

"You're... not angry, are you?"

It had ended well, and there was nothing to scold her about. Any risk that might have occurred had been hers to bear.

"Of course not. You were magnificent."

"Really?!"

I had only complimented her lightly, but Rubia forgot we were speaking mind-to-mind. She sprang up from her chair, ready to bounce with joy.

"Truly."

I merely agreed with her, and yet her whole face bloomed with delight.

"Heheh!"

I had no idea why she reacted that strongly.

Suddenly, someone knocked on the door of the VIP room.

Knock, knock.

Rubia hastily cleared her throat. "Ahem! Yes, come in."

A maid opened the door.

"Lady Rubia, it is time for the banquet."

***

The grand banquet that had been planned was held on a much smaller scale, under the pretext of mourning Kirk's death, but the hosts carried on smoothly as if they had expected this outcome.

There were fewer than a dozen attendees. Naturally, the hosts were the Grassmere father and son; Lime, ever more at home in the role of the portly lord of Yublam; several Merchants' Guild executives introduced by Nexmond and Yube; and Rubia. I slipped in as a Grassmere guest of honor.

Whatever they had heard, the merchants' interest was fixed not on Chandler, the newly ascended lord, but entirely on me.

Pestered by merchants trying to engage with me, I simply pointed to Rubia. "Um, if you have business with me, speak through her."

Ridiculously enough, their salutations were aimed not at Chandler, but at Rubia.

"Congratulations on becoming the new lord."

"I look forward to working with you as well, my lady."

Flustered, she waved her hands. "Please, that's too sudden..."

The former lord of Grassmere chuckled and cut in. "You are the sole heir, and you have already handled the practical duties, have you not? You were lord in all but name."

Formalities went on for a while. From the tenor of the talk, this obviously wasn't a subdued wake for Kirk. If anything, they were openly celebrating his death.

"A gift for Erast's new lord..."

Even the merchants acted as if they had predicted this perfectly; small favors piled up one after another.

"What of my son's gifts?" the former lord teased.

"Hah! We delivered those already," a merchant laughed back.

Eyes turned, and people were trading jokes, but Chandler looked stiff. He didn't care about the trifling presents flowing to Rubia; instead, he kept darting cautious looks between her and me.

Unable to hold back, Chandler asked her, "Lady Rubia, how did you become so close with him?"

Crunch.

The special cookie she'd been sampling crumbled in her mouth. "Haha... Are you jealous?"

Chandler nodded. "To be honest, yes. I shoulder a lord's burdens, but as a swordsman... I find him captivating."

To bring that up so earnestly here of all places... What a troublesome man.

"Well, I must have piled up enough virtue in a past life."

Thinking she was joking, Chandler's face froze momentarily. However, it was true.

"He's jealous, isn't he?" Rubia teased.

Jealous, she says.

I brushed her off. "Don't be ridiculous."

"He's looking at me with such envy. If you don't befriend him a little, I think he'll pester me instead."

"Hmm..."

Rubia seemed to be suppressing a giggle. Having drawn all eyes with her words, Chandler flushed and scratched his head.

"I was just... curious about your connection, that's all."

He kept scratching his head like a little boy.

I watched his childish fidgeting for a moment, then called out, "Chandler."

"Y-yes!"

"Congratulations again on becoming lord of Grassmere. I'll step out for a bit."

"Ah... where are you going?"

"Where are you going?"

"A walk. I won't be long."

I answered lightly to both lords and left the room. Kirk's men, those I had tagged, were drifting beyond my Detection range. Whether they were fleeing or angling for something in Erast, I didn't know. In any case, I had no intention of leaving weeds to grow.

***

Crack!

The men scattered as they ran, but they died without ever understanding what happened, even when their necks snapped backward with a sickening crack. I had no time to linger over them, and to avoid notice, I buried them one by one, deep in the hills. Twenty flat graves lined the roadside by a mountain path. No one would care what became of the men who fled after Kirk's death.

***

Under royal authority, I dug the ground shallowly in the low hills near Grassmere, just enough that wild beasts could unearth the meat. Writhing trash, once still, would just be normal flesh.

After the burials, Rubia departed for Erast. Chandler wished she would stay longer, but she refused firmly, saying there was much to do.

Maintaining stealth, I shadowed her. When she reached Erast, the guard captain awaited before the inner keep, as if he had a report.

"Oh? What is it?" Rubia asked.

Word of Kirk's death in Grassmere might have spread already, but the guard captain mentioned something else entirely.

"There is a... ahem... a monster who says it has come to see you." The guard captain looked faintly troubled. "We've locked it in the prison for now..."

I knew who it was. Of all times, it had arrived while we were in Grassmere.

How unlucky.

I told Rubia it was my guest, and Rubia immediately urged him on. "Where is it? Please, quickly."

"Ah, yes! At once!"

In the underground jail, the Krotte chieftain lounged on a filthy blanket.

"T-this one, my lady..." the guard captain stammered.

Rubia greeted them. "Greetings."

"He's adorable! A Krotte, a digger!"

"You know of them?"

"Of course. I've come across them in various books."

Rubia dismissed the captain and the other warder, smiling brightly as she untied the chieftain's bonds.

"How did you come here?"

Standing upright on two legs, the chieftain placed a hand to his chest and bowed. "The one who walks with the crow sent me. I was told to aid you with revolutionary advances in agriculture and mining."

"Truly?"

"By the way, what happened to the crow?"

"Circumstances. He's resting for now."

Beneath the dungeon, I sensed the Krotte tribe. Unless someone was watching them constantly, as the Necron had done, they could tunnel under the prison at any time and rescue their chief.

The chieftain, his head furred and plush, nodded with confidence. "Of course. None can match us in enriching soil and prospecting resources."

"But the Krotte don't dig with a goal in mind, do they? Isn't it only fun if you just tunnel for the joy of it?"

The courteous chieftain faltered. "How do you know that?"

"Oh, I'm just skimming the surface."

"Astonishing. Since the one who saved our tribe asked us, we were prepared to aid even the most wicked of humans... but to think you understand us to this degree! I had not imagined it. First, may we step outside?"

Once they exited the prison, a Krotte popped their head out from the earth, choosing soil instead of the dungeon's bedrock. The Krotte had tunneled from outside to here. Gripping something with their hind legs, the Krotte set a tiny sapling on the ground and slipped back into the tunnel.

Rubia looked at the sapling. "Oh? What is this?"

"Heh. Even you don't know this. This is a sunvine. Almost no one knows of it."

"A sun... vine?"

"It grows above the grain and absorbs the harmful effects sunlight has on the crop. It's a magical cultivar of sorts."

Watching the chieftain's proud expression, I asked Rubia, "You didn't know either? It must be truly obscure."

Rubia answered with a faint, mischievous smile. "I've read about it many times in botany texts, but if we don't let him explain, all his effort bringing it will feel wasted. If I knew everything, it might dampen his spirits. Ahem. I could even sap his will to work."

"..."

Thump.

Another Krotte broke the soil and set down a second sapling with their hind legs.

"And this is called hibiscus!"

Perhaps Rubia was more wicked than the chieftain imagined.

***

Announcing Kirk's death in Erast was the easiest thing in the world. Not a single soul mourned him. Instead of wails and screams, the city and keep resounded with clear, refreshing cheers. The few remaining remnants of his faction tried to flee the moment the news spread, but the guards seized them and cast them into the underground cells.

Amid unanimous approval and celebration, Rubia, the sole blood relative and rightful heir, was formally invested as lord.

"I pledge my loyalty."

The steward Christina, still feigning her injury; the chief lady-in-waiting who had accompanied Rubia even to the grave; and the other officials of the keep all bent a knee with proud expressions.

The atmosphere was utterly different from that one day when Kirk had been slain and Rubia had been forced onto the throne. Back then, her supporters had been locked up and tortured, trembling in passion and fury. Now, the officials looked calm.

It felt... natural, as if what should have come had simply and inevitably arrived.

Ding!

A strange chime rang out, and a long blue status window unfurled before my eyes. It was filled with a flood of words I had never seen before, a tide of detail that swept past the banks of my understanding without pause.

[The S-rank Scenario, Rubia Ray, is now in progress.]

[The Scenario has crossed into a new branch.]

[The causal line of the Death by Worthless Trash branch has been erased due to Scenario reconstruction.]

[The causal weight of the Witch Trial Scenario has greatly increased.]

[Governance Lv. 2 has been inherited.]

[Rubia's Affection has increased by 6!]

[Initiating Rule and Diplomacy checks.]

— A very high alliance has been established with Grassmere.

— A very high alliance has been established with Yublam.

— Special: A very high alliance has been established with the Merchants' Guild.]

[Diplomacy checks have greatly increased Governance Level.]

Ding!

[Governance Level has increased.]

[Governance Level has increased.]

[Governance Level has increased.]

Three white bars beside the Governance Level were completely filled, and a fourth new bar had already filled halfway when I saw new messages pop up.

[Additional Agriculture check triggered.]

[Rare saplings are in possession.]

[Sunvine, Hibiscus, Cliff Garlic, Mound Snium, Wheat Nettle.]

[Governance Level has greatly increased.]

[Governance Level has increased!]