A Returner’s Magic Should Be Special - Chapter 52

Episode 52. Evernaton (4)

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Scratch. Scratch.
After hours bent over paperwork, Dezir’s entire body had grown stiff. He stretched, stealing a glance at Wilhelm. As always, Wilhelm worked with an unchanging, measured demeanor.
What had changed was Dezir’s gaze. Until now, he’d regarded Wilhelm as simply a competent administrator—impressive enough in his way—but now it was different.
‘So he was a figure of such magnitude.’
Had the records of the ancient kingdom not been largely erased, his name would surely have filled the pages of history books. He had been a figure of that stature.
Yet despite having possessed such greatness, the kingdom of old had fallen to ruin.
‘A man devoted to the people’s welfare. A believer in the Artemis Faith, yet upright enough to place the people above doctrine. Formidable martial strength. Innovation in governance.’
Dezir turned Wilhelm’s character and virtues over in his mind, lost in thought.
‘How did he attempt to solve this problem?’
It was while Dezir stood lost in such contemplation that a sound interrupted him.
Knock. Knock.
Someone rapped at the door.
Wilhelm’s pen stilled.
“Enter.”
A female knight stepped through—her eyes set in a narrow, intense gaze, her long hair bound tightly back.
Eyuran.
Dezir knew her. They had met once when he visited Azest before. He remembered clearly her contemptuous gaze, the biting words she had spat at him then.
Eyuran approached Wilhelm’s desk and knelt before him with meticulous formality and restrained dignity.
She looked like the very embodiment of knightly virtue.
“Glory to Evernaton!”
“Raise your head.”
“Eyuran Lilistic, of the Knight Order.”
“I know.”
Eyuran cast a brief glance toward Dezir, who was working in one corner of the office.
Dezir feigned concentration on his papers.
“I’ve come to report this month’s security matters. Commander Azest has been burdened with much work, so I’ve come in her stead.”
“I’m well aware of the diligent work you’ve all been doing. Please convey my appreciation to her.”
“Thank you for your understanding, my lord.”
She withdrew something from her robe. A report.
“The details are recorded here, but to summarize: in recent times, seven individuals have committed serious crimes—murder, rape, arson—and fifty have committed minor offenses.”
The numbers were substantial.
“And my lord, of these, all save one serious offender and twelve minor offenders are vagrants.”
The way she emphasized “vagrant” conveyed a single meaning: the harm inflicted upon the territory by vagrants remained considerable.
“I see.”
“And this as well.”
Eyuran produced another document from her robe.
“A proclamation for the expulsion of the criminals, my lord.”
Dezir lifted his head.
Wilhelm’s lips twitched faintly.
“Why present this to me?”
“To convey the will of the territory’s people, my lord.”
Wilhelm took the papers from Eyuran and laid them on his desk without opening them before he spoke.
“As has always been the case, criminals will be punished through proper procedure.”
“My lord, if I may be so bold—I believe our previous lenient approach has proven ineffective. Stronger measures are necessary.”
Eyuran pressed for more forceful action.
“No matter how much Commander Azest has improved security, my lord, vagrants are beyond redemption. They show no gratitude. They commit crimes against our people. Most troubling of all, the Vagrant Settlement that has formed from their gathering has become a breeding ground for countless offenses.”
“So your proposal is to expel all the vagrants?”
“Not entirely, my lord. However, I believe your mercy need not extend to criminals.”
“I shall give it consideration. You may withdraw.”
Eyuran bowed before Wilhelm and left the chamber quietly.
Wilhelm examined the proclamation she had presented.
To expel the vagrants—those who had nowhere to go in the depths of winter—would be no different from driving them to their deaths.
“Dezir, I’ve heard rumors that you’ve been bustling about recently to resolve the vagrant problem.”
“Indeed, my lord.”
“Then you understand the vagrant issue well. What do you make of Eyuran’s proposal?”
“I believe her arguments have merit.”
Merely improving security could no longer solve the problem. One had only to look at the Vagrant Quest progression rate, which had stalled at thirty percent and refused to climb further.
“……However, I fear the punishment may be somewhat excessive.”
“Excessive, you say…….”
Tap. Tap.
Wilhelm drummed his fingers against the Proclamation.
“Admittedly, I’ve taken note of Eyuran’s point—the vagrant crime rate is indeed high. The Knight Commander works tirelessly, but there are limits to what security alone can achieve. I’ve felt for some time that firmer action became necessary.”
“But if——.”
“I shall make an example. I’ve come to recognize that my own mercy has boundaries, and those boundaries must be made clear. I accepted them into my lands, and in return, they owe my territory their respect. I cannot allow my sentiments to continue bringing suffering upon my own people.”
He was not wrong.
Dezir spoke with evident reluctance.
“If that is your will, my lord, then banish only those criminals who deserve execution. I believe such an example will prove sufficiently effective.”
“Of course. That was my intention.”
The moment Wilhelm spoke, an alert chimed.

-Vagrant Quest progression rate decreases by 3%. (Progression: 27%)

‘What—?’
Dezir’s mind reeled.
If vagrants were the problem, then eliminating them should solve it. At worst, even if the method wasn’t optimal, it ought to have resolved the issue.
Yet the moment Wilhelm decided to expel the vagrants, the quest progression rate had dropped instead.
The implication was singular.
If the quest progression rate was falling, then Wilhelm was pursuing a course directly opposed to the Shadow World’s objective.

In other words, the solution Wilhelm Evernaton chose in history was the banishment of the vagrants.

-In the Age of Chaos, people yearned for a great hero. Unique Hero Wilhelm Evernaton was born from that very longing. The countless deeds he accomplished earned him a name spoken throughout the lands: Saladin.
But all of that is now ancient history. The once-renowned cardinal has vanished, and the great Knight Order he led has been dissolved.
A fallen hero—Wilhelm Evernaton.
All that remained to him was his homeland and a conviction as fierce as fire.
He returned to his native lands, defended his territory from Esteban, and accepted the vagrants into his domain, moved by compassion for the common people. His aspiration to protect all was more noble than anyone could doubt.
But reality proves crueler than any ideal.
Sometimes the many must be upheld at the cost of the few. As a lord, he made his choice for the sake of the greater number of his people.
Yet it was no true solution.

Ideals, and convictions as fierce as fire.
Esteban and the vagrants.
The clues transmitted through the alert crystallized in Dezir’s mind.
‘The picture is becoming clear.’
Wilhelm Evernaton—a lord who lived for his people.
He accepted the vagrants. But then troubles began to mount.
Security and food supplies.
And most critically…….
‘In history, he never saw the Esteban invasion coming.’
Dezir had anticipated Esteban’s hunger for the grain stores and prepared accordingly. But that foresight owed everything to his intimate understanding of Esteban’s nature.
True history must have unfolded differently.
He would not have noticed Esteban’s assault targeting the food supply. Crimson Talon would have burned the grain stores as originally planned.
The loss of grain.
All his people suddenly facing starvation.
‘And in such circumstances, the war with Esteban would have continued without end.’
Unlike the current state of affairs, Crimson Talon, having seized the grain, would have invaded the territory again.
A bitter, relentless war.
‘How could he maintain his army without sufficient food stores, let alone care for the vagrants in the midst of such chaos?’
Facing such cruel reality, Wilhelm would have understood the impossible truth: he could not protect everyone.
And he would have abandoned the last shred of pride he once held as a hero.
That was…… the expulsion of the vagrants.
‘……Casting out all the vagrants. That was the decision he made.’

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