Love Letter From The Future

Chapter 331: Bread and Dagger (29)

The North was a barren land wherever you went.

At best, wheat could only be grown in the southern parts of Yurdina City. In most other places, they could barely manage to harvest famine relief crops.

For someone like me, born and raised in abundance, it was a life hard to imagine.

My hometown was located in the eastern part of the continent. With its warm climate and abundant rainfall, the East had long been famous as the continent’s granary.

Unless they met a harsh lord, not even commoners went hungry. The only concern was that, with such a large population, there were also many orphans.

Of course I, as an eastern noble, held a sense of sympathy for them.

Although the food situation was stable, there wasn’t enough to feed all the abandoned children. It simply meant we had no choice but to watch as countless children suffered.

It was something we ought to be ashamed of as nobles.

However, after facing the coniferous forests of the North, my narrow worldview had to undergo a significant revision. In the North, my long held concerns didn’t even register as issues.

Simply put, there were hardly any orphans there.

The reason was clear.

“They all die.”

It was a remark thrown casually by the soldier guiding me to the military camp, as if it were a joke.

At those words, me and my companions fell silent. We couldn’t gauge how to react.

Whether to express sympathy and compassion or to laugh it off.@@@@

The correct response was neither.

Children who lost their parents simply died.

This was a self-evident truth in the North, not something said with any particular intention behind. In the first place, it wasn’t even considered unusual.

The soldier was merely speaking plainly about life in the North.

“The population here isn’t large. In other words, there’s plenty of unclaimed lands. No one manages those places, so they’re inevitably filled with all sorts of dangers.”

Only then did I grasp what he was implying.

I could even guess what he was about to say next. So, as if to confirm, I cautiously followed up with a question.

“Demonic beasts or bandits, for example?”

“Yes, and even Elves.”

The soldier nodded with a bitter smile.

It meant my guess was largely correct.

Including the enemy specifically mentioned by the soldier —the ‘Elves’—there were too many dangers in the North. It was not a place where a child who lost their guardian could survive alone. ŖÅꞐổᛒÊᶊ

Moreover, it was lacking even in food.

So, orphans were simply not an issue here.

They would either starve to death, freeze to death, or be killed to death.

It was a land where even children with parents often ended up dying. Thus, except for a few exceedingly lucky ones, most orphans couldn’t help but lose their lives.

The soldier mentioned that, on the front lines especially, they often came across the bodies of children.

It was then that a faint murderous intent began to cloud his eyes.

“It’s usually the work of the Elves. Those monsters don’t discriminate between adults and children... Living in the North, you often learn to hate the Elves before you even learn to read.”

“Is it the same even outside the front lines?”

“As I said, there are many unclaimed lands in the North.”

With that, the soldier suddenly stopped in his tracks.

Beyond the military camp lay the road leading to the North’s northernmost reaches.

There stretched a vast land of trees—tens of thousands of them standing tall in places where even moss hesitated to take root.

Throughout the continent, there were only two places with such abundant forests.

The Great Southern Forest and the Northern Coniferous Forest.

And since this was the North, the identity of this overwhelming forest before my eyes could only be one.

The Coniferous Forest—the last obstacle standing in the way of the eternal permafrost.

Even these trees filling my vision were but a tiny fraction of it.

“The Northern forest conceals many things. We cannot peer into it; we can only witness what emerges from it.”

And the Coniferous Forest was too vast to guard all its borders.

Even if they mobilised tens of thousands of elite soldiers, could they truly secure this place without any gaps?

It was impossible.

Realising this, a sigh escaped my lips.

“So it’s a place that’s impossible to be sealed off from the start.”

“We can’t just burn down the entire forest yet. The monsters lurking there would come pouring out all at once.”

Listening to the soldier’s explanation, I silently gazed at the Coniferous Forest.

Aviang probably escaped by hiding within the shadows of these trees.

She likely didn’t even dare let her breath falter; otherwise, she’d risk being caught by the demonic beasts and meeting an swift, untimely death.

It wasn’t a good lineup, considering that two of them already heavily weighed on my mind. I’d shared some flirtatious moments with the Saintess and Senior Elsie even confessed her feelings to me.

If either of them found out about my relationship with Senior Delphine, I’d have to be prepared to sever ties.

At least, it was fortunate that Seria hadn’t come to the North. Had she discovered my affair with Senior Delphine, I might have seriously considered killing myself.

At the very least, I’d want my corpse to remain intact.

Just as I was groaning and agonising over this—

“......Master?”

The fabric covering the tent’s entrance was suddenly pulled back, and a girl peeked her head inside.

In fact, calling her a ‘girl’ wasn’t quite accurate. She was, after all, older than me.

But with her petite figure and lovely features, no one would hesitate to call her a ‘girl.’

It was Senior Elsie.

As one of the very people I had been agonising over showed up, I sprang up in surprise.

Up until that moment, I had been leaning back in my chair, trying to rest. That brief respite came to an end upon her arrival.

I forced a smile, trying to mask my nervousness.

“Senior Elsie, what’s the matter?”

But despite my question, no answer came from her.

She hesitated for a moment, and then stepped into the tent after some reluctance.

I looked at Senior Elsie with a puzzled gaze.

Regardless, she began to make excuses in an awkward voice.

“I-It’s just that... oh, right! The bedding in my tent is uncomfortable. That Delphine bitch must have messed with my tent, don’t you think?”

“...?”

Senior Elsie traveled all the way here from a distant land to assist Senior Delphine.

That seemed unlikely, no matter how strained their relationship might be.

Though I tilted my head in confusion, I decided to take Senior Elsie’s side for now.

“Is that so? Then I’ll talk to the camp staff...”

“A-AAH! T-There’s no need for that!”

It was Senior Elsie’s voice, frantically trying to stop me.

I had no choice but to drop the idea and look blankly at her again, unable to guess why she came to see me.

Her strange behavior continued.

Blushing, she gently sat down on the bed prepared for me. Watching my reaction, she said,

“M-Maybe it’s because I didn’t sleep well? I’m so tired, I thought I might borrow your bed for a while...”

Letting out a hmm, I scratched my cheek and swallowed back a sigh.

It wasn’t an implausible excuse.

Senior Elsie and the Saintess were on anything but friendly terms. The Princess would likely feel too intimidating and Senior Elsie would probably object to staying with Emma since she’s a commoner.

I’d rather decline even if Senior Elsie was okay with it. I could already picture the kind Emma fidgeting all day in front of her.

It might actually be better if she took a nap here in my room.

Having come to an understanding, I nodded readily.

“Alright then, I’ll go out for a bit, maybe do some scouting...”

“T-There’s no need for that!”

Senior Elsie quickly stopped me again, her face turning beet red as she fanned herself with her hand.

She even subtly began to try to take off her outer garment in the meanwhile.

“Phew, it’s so, so hot in here... Is the heating turned up too high?”

“But we’re in the North. There’s no way it would get too hot from just using the heater in a tent...”

“N-Now that you mention it, that’s true! It’s actually too cold, so could you maybe warm the spot next to me for a bit, Master?”

Even when she was flustered like that, she was still unbuttoning her coat, one button at a time.

I could only stare at her in disbelief.

“Wait, you just said it was cold...”

“Sleeping all bundled up like this... i-it’s just too uncomfortable, you know!”

Even someone as dense as me couldn’t help but realize at this point.

Right now, Senior Elsie was trying to seduce me.

I ran my hands down my face, unable to shake off the sudden suspicion that flashed through my mind.

Could it be that Senior Elsie was the one who witnessed it?

It looked like I’d have to handle the women before I could even deal with the Elves.