Chapter 13

After successfully slaying the terrible Magical Beast that attacked the Runei Farm, Arisella quickly took out a few healing potions to heal the severely injured men who miraculously survived the incident, ordering the onlookers alerted by the battle to help them carry the wounded to an area to gather them in one place.

Although surprised and frightened by the enormous dead magical beast that was pierced by something gigantic, the villagers and [Farmers] returning to the farm upon hearing of the commotion complied and the injured were moved to a part of the compound that was undamaged.

There, with her help, Arisella personally gave one of them the magic potion, helping them recover from their wounds.

She had to say that it was extremely unpleasant to see the blood-red foam and bubbles, along with the sound similar to roasting meat, as a result of pouring the potions on the visible wounds, but she endured.

Many of them had broken bones and one was near death from bleeding lacerations on his chest.

However, the powerful potions made by Lucelle quickly saved their lives, although they remained unconscious from the exhaustion caused by the potions forcibly increasing their natural recovery to inhuman levels.

Meanwhile, Amelia's two sisters began to talk excitedly about the exploits of their older sister and the prophetess, focusing especially on the incredible magical power Arisella used to defeat the Giant Hard Rock Lizard. Their eyes shining with excitement and admiration as they narrated were enchanting, and Amelia smiled at the sight.

As for the others, they found the whole thing quite incredible and hard to believe. However, there was no reason for the girls to lie. Especially with that enormous corpse, someone had to have killed him, right?

In addition, some claimed to have seen the transparent hand in the sky the girls had told about, which further lent credibility. Needless to say, the villagers' admiration for Arisella grew to another level when they learned she possessed such magical power.

An incredible prophetess and magician at the same time… Her mistress is truly stunning!

That was their shared thoughts.

“The cat’s out of the bag, huh…”

Arisella whispered bitterly, but she didn't regret it that much.

If she had chosen to hide her magical abilities, these people would have died because of her. Two girls with a future ahead of them would have died miserably, and those [Farmers] would also have perished defending the land they farmed.

That was a no in his book.

In the end, since she was the cause of all this, she had to take responsibility.

Of course, for obvious reasons she couldn't say that she had a powerful unique god-given ability that potentially caused this disaster, but at least she could make sure that Runei Farm recovered from the damage it had received.

We could use the materials we extract from that magical beast to help them recover, that way I'll also earn more points with them and Natia will have an even better impression of me.

Of course, even though Arisella felt guilty about everything, she wasn't going to let the situation go to waste.

Since she wanted to create insurance for her life through little Natia, it was only natural that she would think of using recent events to ensure that the future heroine would love her enough so that the world wouldn't be too hostile to her...

It was about maintaining their little life…

“Lady Bluen!“

“¿Mm?“

Arisella's thoughts, as she watched several men painstakingly dismantle the savage monster's body parts according to her instructions, were suddenly interrupted by the slightly trembling and hoarse voice of an elderly woman.

When she turned in her direction, she saw a slightly plump, kind-looking woman approaching her with teary eyes while Amelia and her sisters followed her.

She was obviously the mother of the three, and she quickly bowed to Arisella with teary eyes filled with gratitude.

“Thank you so much! If it weren’t for you rushing to save my family and my farm after sensing the threat, I would have lost everything!” She said, fear lingering in her voice as her body trembled as she imagined the dire consequences if Arisella hadn’t intervened.

——Without having the slightest idea that this was caused by the prophetess's skill.

Feeling even more guilty than before as she looked at the old woman who looked so pitiful while being hugged by Amelia, Arisella hesitated before answering with a forced smile, “It was nothing, really. If I had stayed still, that thing would have wreaked havoc on the village before even John could move to hunt it down. It was only natural for me to resolve the situation since I have the skills to do so…”

“B-but please, let me thank you somehow! Even though it’s true that that thing was such a serious problem, you should still have stayed somewhere safe. But as soon as you noticed that magical beast’s arrival at our farm, you immediately came to save us. I didn’t try to be humble about it. Amelia told us how hasty she was to come save us when she sensed things weren’t going well, and then she came with her powerful magic to finish off the beast!”

“W-well, I wasn’t the only one who participated in the battle, Amelia was also a great help….” Arisella had cold sweat running down her face as she shifted her gaze to her maid.

However, she shook her head from side to side as she looked at her with eyes filled with such respect that it surpassed anything in the past.

“My Lady, please don’t be so humble. All I could do was serve as a distraction for that terrible magical beast while only inflicting superficial wounds on its body. From the start, you could have finished off that magical lizard on your own using your powerful magic.”

The admiration and emotion could be felt in Amelia's normally stoic voice as she looked at her mistress with a smile.

“That’s…” That’s not true!

“Yes, that’s right! Lady Bluen was really cool and powerful from the start! Even though she started with rather simple magic attacks, she stopped the barrage of deadly rocks that monster threw at her with ease while staring expressionlessly and composedly at her enemy, just like a true warrior!”

No….I was simply paralyzed by being unable to properly process that attack that I could hardly defend myself against!

I could have died if it weren't for Airean!

“Lady Bluen truly is our village’s heroine! To think she would willingly go into danger to save us and demonstrate such a level of magic unmatched in the entire village! Our lady truly is wonderful.”

Those were the words shouted loudly by one of the [Farmers] who should have been unconscious, apparently having woken up at some point as he looked in their direction with a slight grimace of pain that, however, did not take away the smile of gratitude and admiration on his face.

The other people nearby nodded as they looked at Arisella with suspicion. What other village could possibly enjoy having a prophetess who could fight for their well-being in such a manner?

Only his people, blessed by the gods, enjoyed that privilege!

"Please stop! You're only making me feel even more guilty than I already do!"

Arisella was agonizing a little inside due to guilt. It was her skill that all this had happened, albeit accidentally, so she couldn't really feel happy about all this praise and revelations being bestowed upon her.

She felt a little dirty, and she had to try hard to hide that feeling with a mask of serenity and a smile.

“Nady Bluee is really genius! She’s such a powerful magician!” That’s all little Natha hurriedly said with shining eyes, it seemed that she was currently unable to pronounce some words correctly… wait, wasn’t she six years old?

"Natha, speak calmly, you're stumbling over your words. Don't embarrass yourself in front of Lady Bluen by acting like a child who can't speak properly..."

“Well…” Natha’s energy dropped a little at her mother’s admonition.

So in his excitement he stumbled over the words, how nice…

“N-no, don’t worry, you don’t have to make a big deal out of it. In fact, I think she’s quite cute.” Arisella smiled tenderly at the little heroine, and she visibly blushed as she played with her fingers and laughed “hehehehe…” The mere sight of it made many of the ill feelings in the Prophetess’s heart subside, proving to herself that the cute smile of a beautiful Loli is quite healing for the heart.

I guess I shouldn't worry so much about her affection for me... Does this mean my chances of survival will increase significantly?

Arisella put on an awkward smile at that sudden thought.

While it was certainly very important for her to survive whatever was to come, including the possibility of the world itself turning against her, she couldn't help but feel bitter thinking about that thing after unintentionally causing this incident.

What other things could end up happening because of this ability? What kind of disasters was he now capable of causing with a false prophecy that was vague enough to cause unwanted events like this? Will this happen frequently if he doesn't measure his words?

And what are you supposed to do to keep this god-given ability under control?

Arisella’s worried thoughts were interrupted by the older woman, “U-um…Lady Bluen, about the compensation I want to give you….”

“Huh? No, don’t worry, I don’t need any compensation…”

“Please, my lady! Allow me to repay you for what you’ve done for all of us, or we’ll never sleep peacefully! I know what we have wouldn’t really catch the attention of someone as important as you, but I definitely want to make it up to you!”

Arisella hesitated before sighing, “…Okay then… if you want to compensate me that much…” She thought about what she should ask to end this, and suddenly had a good idea, “Then, let me take little Natha around the Mansion for a tour today…”

It wouldn't hurt to enhance the feeling of intimacy by getting to know my home personally, right?

Despite the lingering guilt, Arisella couldn't help but want ideal means to prolong her life. It was just human nature.

The four Runei looked quite puzzled by his words, before Natha smiled widely as she jumped up and down in excitement, exclaiming, "Yes, yes!" Her mother looked doubtful.

“A tour of Bluen’s mansion? But…”

“Didn’t you say you want to give me compensation? I think I should be able to choose which one is true? I personally find little Natha quite charming, so I’d like to see her running around my mansion with that adorable smile of hers, hehe.”

It wasn't a complete lie. Arisella actually finds this tiny version of the heroine she imagined and designed adorable, innocent and cheerful, unlike the tragic slave who had to be saved by a deceitful hero (Jayden) to finally find happiness.

Also…the thought of a little girl running around her mansion with a smile and lovely laughter echoing through its walls evoked a strange feeling of nostalgia that hit her hard for some reason.

That was extremely strange; Arisella didn't think there should be any reason to feel that way. In the first place, were there even children roaming around Bluen's mansion at all? Perhaps if she finishes recalling all her memories by the end of the week, maybe...

Arisella shook those thoughts out of her head when she noticed the lady (Note that she still doesn’t know her name and was too embarrassed to ask!) continue talking, expressing some reluctance at this “compensation.”

“….If that’s the compensation you want, that’s fine…”

“Great,” Arisella said with a gentle smile, “When all this business here is over, we’ll take little Natha in my carriage. Don’t worry, it won’t be long, and I sincerely hope that the experience of exploring the mansion that everyone in town worked so hard to create for me will be such an experience that this incident will be completely erased from your mind.”

Saying that, Arisella approached and bent her knees to Natha's level to stroke her head, eliciting a tender giggle from the girl. A certain feeling of nostalgia and momentary happiness struck her when those innocent laughs echoed in her ears and...

For some reason he felt like crying.

“…Lady Bluen?” Amelia spoke, looking worriedly at her mistress, who suddenly had very sad eyes in Natha’s direction. This caused the prophetess to blink, surprised by her sudden bewilderment, and shake her head.

“A-ah, well… sorry, I was just thinking about something there. It wasn’t a big deal… don’t worry.”

What the hell was that…?

“Are you sure, my lady…?” the Maid asked, still looking at her with some anxiety, just like the others. Arisella smiled to make light of the matter while waving her hands.

“Yes, it’s nothing… By the way, I plan to use the materials from that magical beast to help restore the farm… And I won’t take no for an answer.” Arisella hurriedly stopped Amelia’s mother before she could begin to refuse, something evident in her eyes, “As strange as it may sound, I won’t give this to you out of the kindness of my heart. As you all know, the attack of this giant hard rock lizard caused a lot of damage to your property, which will definitely negatively affect Runei Farm’s crop production. This will undoubtedly affect the entire village’s economy…”

Mrs. Runei nodded heavily with a grim expression upon hearing Arisella's serious words.

As mentioned, the magical beast's attack caused significant property damage for the Runei. This wasn't just a matter of injuring some of their already healed workers or, for that matter, damaging patches of land where carriages normally circulated.

It wasn't even about the wrecked carriage with several dead horses lying around, although that was a negative too.

Well, it should be known that the beast destroyed an entire granary, one of the tool sheds, and even a field of crops as it aggressively invaded the Runei compound before the [Farmers] confronted it. Much of what had been grown was destroyed, and several important tools were damaged, and it would take a long time to recover what was lost now.

While Taylan had more than one family of farmers responsible for producing food for the population and the loss of some crops and tools was not the end of the world, the loss of so much was still very damaging to both this family and the town in many ways.

This situation will definitely affect us negatively, since compared to other farms, the Runei wouldn't have the resources to barter with the Silver Lions and obtain new replacement tools from outside. That would be bad, since all the farming tools we have in our village are obtained from outside... their production capacity would be greatly affected...

There was no such thing as mined iron that the Taylanes could regularly mine and use to make their own tools, nor did they have a blacksmith skilled enough to handle all the metal products in the village, either repairing them or melting them down to create useful new gadgets.

In a world where there was no industrialization where objects like that could be mass-produced thanks to tireless machines, there were limits to what humans could do even with professions… And their only blacksmiths weren't even a Professionist… (Arisella regretted making combat professions the most common in the worldview).

That being the case, the people of Taylan could only obtain the tools they needed from the outside, through their only trading partner, the Silver Lion Caravan.

Although led by Arisella's uncle, the caravan that was so famous throughout the north was anything but a charity. There had to be a profit for everything they did, and they certainly couldn't afford to give free things to their people only to incur losses for themselves.

After all, if they were going to spend money on something like that, wouldn't it be better to use that gold for a very important business operation in some famous city in the North?

Ershas himself is a total son of a bitch who's only driven by money anyway...

That was Arisella's honest opinion of her uncle.

Ershas was a miser who rarely did anything that didn't result in monetary gain for himself or the caravan he led, and unless the village was about to fall into utter disgrace or something, he'd have no reason to give the Runei free stuff out of pity. The only time he did do something that didn't exactly benefit him was the construction of Bluen Manor, which cost a lot... but he must have had some weird goal in mind.

As a result, the Runei could face a serious shortage of farming tools to work with for a long time, as the caravan does not visit the Cesna Mountains every week to trade with them.

Of course, I could use money to solve everything but…

As mentioned before, Arisella had a lot of money thanks to the tributes the townspeople gave her. This was part of the money everyone in the village would acquire by selling the caravan rare materials from the forest and ebony wood extracted from trees forced to grow rapidly with Lucelle's potions.

Money was important even in a town like Taylan, a town isolated from the rest of the world. There were things the caravan members wouldn't accept bartering for, and honestly, the economy within Taylan, a town of thousands of people, was completely adapted to the use of metal coins. Furthermore, some people, like Selena, traveled abroad and naturally needed money during that time to survive.

Of course, farming families like the Runei earned a lot of money from agricultural production. However, most of that money was quickly given to Arisella as tribute.

What's the problem with that?

No one in my village will accept that I spent the money they gave me to help the Runei family; they will definitely protest…

That was the problem.

As the prophetess who guaranteed the safety and prosperity of her people using her predictive abilities and, moreover, the one who saved the village with her cunning ideas, Arisella received tributes from the entire village in the hope that she would use it for herself, nothing more.

No one here wanted her to live like some kind of slave who only existed to forecast the weather or something, they wanted her to enjoy life too.

Even if Runei's own family doesn't reject their support (unlikely), the rest would end up criticizing them for accepting such a thing, treating them as a bunch of freeloaders of Arisella's kindness and becoming pariahs in the village.

Arisella wasn't exaggerating...something like this already happened once, this very year.

Although she was only a maiden, but…

She had to flee with the help of her uncles….

In any case, the important thing to mention is that although it seems unlikely that the Runei family's plight would affect the village at first glance, in reality that was just an illusion.

The truth is that the current number of families in charge of producing Taylan's food was ideal for maintaining surpluses that could be sold in order to obtain profits from abroad... Therefore, if even one of them faces problems in their work capacity, the production of surplus food that can be sold would decrease significantly and as a result, the town would lack the abundant products they had to trade with those from abroad.

The only thing comparable was Tetran silk, but the spider that produces it doesn't reproduce as quickly as other spiders, giving birth to one or two offspring per year.

It should also be noted that it is the Chief of the Frain Village, not the Runei family, who negotiates directly with the Silver Lion Caravan, as he is experienced in business.

They and the other families hand over all their surplus to the chief and he, under the divine promise to the gods of a clean business, gave them most of the profits (sadly) while keeping a small amount for himself.

However, if the Runei family was unable to produce a surplus that could be sold, then their monetary profits would be significantly reduced. To resolve this issue, they would likely have to resort to selling the crops intended to feed the villagers, which would seemingly solve the problem and, in turn, provide them with the funds needed to buy new tools.

However, with the loss of many crops due to the magical beast, selling useful crops abroad would decrease the supplies collected for domestic sale and cause an inevitable increase in the price of agricultural products within Taylan….which will bring a lot of logistical, financial and social problems that gave Arisella a headache just imagining them.

The irony that he was meant to be the lady of the village was completely lost on him…