I Thought It Was the Monster Duke's Fake Sedative - Chapter 19

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 19
Tepe and Gorgo’s faces hardened in an instant at his bold declaration.
“Count Moro.”
“Of course, everyone here knows well that the Duke is a Hero worthy of emulation.”
Edward spoke these words while observing the Count glance about the room, his own gaze betraying no particular reaction.
The Count seemed to revel in the attention, displaying an air of subtle smugness.
“Ha!”
“H-how could you speak to the Hero, the Duke, in such a manner….”
Several of the nobles who spoke this way bore a faint, half-concealed smirk at the corners of their mouths.
It was a familiar enough sight.
‘It happens sometimes.’
Not every Hero is beloved by all.
Some men desire his downfall precisely because he is admired so widely; others simply search obsessively for flaws, hungry to find him wanting.
Count Moro, with spite etched plainly across his features, appeared to belong to that latter breed.
Besides, Monsters did not emerge frequently from this Gate City at all.
There was a good chance the Count believed Edward’s work to be nothing of consequence.
The Count shook his head slowly.
“Yet as a feudal lord, I cannot expose my own subjects to such danger, can I?”
Even as he spoke with polished eloquence, the Count suppressed the discontent rising within him.
‘Hmph. So what if he’s the Dragon Incarnation.’
Slaying Monsters was naturally what an Incarnation ought to do—he felt no particular gratitude for it.
What rankled was that this man had issued commands to soldiers under his own authority without permission.
‘This is my Domain, sanctioned by His Imperial Majesty himself!’
In truth, the Count cared for his Domain only insofar as the revenue from the Gate City concerned him.
But it was not often he found the chance to stand up to Edward le Tetheron of all people.
‘My cousin was humiliated not long ago, or so I heard.’
“Ha! Duke! Thanks to you, our business is flourishing most wonderfully—”
“Business? You mean fraud.”
“I beg your pardon?!”
“Monster Byproducts have no medicinal properties for hair loss or immortality, I’d wager.”
“…….”
“If you’re going to keep lying, go ahead.”
His cousin had merely bought up Monster Byproducts at a pittance from the Duke and quietly resold them with embellished claims—only to be branded a charlatan and see his business collapse.
He’d even been prepared to share a portion of his profits with the Duke.
His cousin had felt deeply wronged by it all.
The Duke’s reputation for harsh character was well known, and the nobles who’d suffered his censure were far from few.
‘Still, in any case—revenge!’
Count Moro did not wish to let slip this opportunity to best the Hero under the guise of avenging his cousin’s shame.
“The Silver Mine, you say? It is an abandoned one at present, though once productive. Surely I cannot evacuate my subjects to such a perilous place, can I?”
“…….”
“It is cramped, with only a single exit. Should the Monsters rampage and cause the tunnels to collapse, everyone inside would perish.”
The nobles, persuaded by Count Moro’s words, whispered amongst themselves.
“…True enough.”
“Why would the Duke issue such an order?”
All of this served only to inflate the Count’s sense of superiority.
He struck his chest lightly, preening with satisfaction.
“For an evacuation, surely the proper course would be the Academy building or the Temple, would it not?”
“…….”
“They are far more spacious and comfortable, and far easier in which to look after people.”
Thus I cannot abide by your command.
Having spoken these words, the Count smiled with perfect ease.
His logic was plainly sound—anyone could see that.
The nobles of Gate City exchanged murmurs amongst themselves, their eyes shifting between the two men.
Some looked upon the Count as if seeing him anew.
“Was the Count always so learned?”
“His intellect seems to have suddenly sharpened somehow….”
“Perhaps he absorbed the Duke’s virtue by osmosis?”
Though some remarks hovered ambiguously between compliment and insult.
Emboldened, the Count pressed his advantage one final time.
“Of course, I understand well that you are kept busy dashing about as a Hero, but surely something of this sort is common sense, is it not?”
“…What are you saying to the Duke right now?”
Crack.
At the mention of common sense, Tepe’s hand moved instinctively toward his sword.
Gorgo, too, stared at the Count with a face gone rigid and stern.
“M-My lord! No, Your Grace! No, wait—!”
A soldier, uncertain which title to use, came rushing pale-faced into the Inn Courtyard.
The Count, who had been strutting about on his precious stage moments before, glared at him.
“What is it! How dare you interrupt while we nobles are speaking—!”
“The Academy! The Academy we were using as a shelter!”
“What about the Academy!”
“It’s…it’s collapsed!”
At those words, the nobles gasped and covered their mouths.
“What? How did that happen!”
“Well, it seemed fine until just moments ago, but when the monster was rampaging, it struck one of the pillars and apparently cracked it—!”
……!
“The rescue teams managed to get most people out, but there were casualties, they’re saying….”
“Such a thing…!”
“And besides, instead of evacuating in time, people came outside to watch the Duke’s heroics… so those struck by the debris are pouring in!”
At those words, the Count, too, went pale.
A measured voice came through, calm and steady.
“Monsters dislike mine tunnels where their poor eyesight leaves them blind.”
…….
“But a massive building standing right in the middle of the city.”
…….
“That’s perfect for trampling.”
…….
“If you’d sent them underground to begin with, they wouldn’t have come outside to watch me perform.”
It was a voice stating nothing but fact.
Yet somehow that made the Count feel even more ashamed.
“How does it feel?”
…….
“To have injured people so precious to your Domain.”
At those words, the Count and the nobles around him turned deathly pale.
“Hold him responsible! Make him responsible!”
A rumbling sound.
People from among the Domain’s residents who had sheltered in the Academy—those whose families had been hurt or killed—came pouring into the Inn Courtyard.
They were clearly in a state of great agitation.
So much so that they couldn’t even see whether those before them were nobles or heroes.
“You told us to evacuate! Our building came under attack!”
“What exactly have you done!”
“My son, my son is going to be crippled…!”
“You wretches! How dare you!”
The Count tried to have soldiers drive them away, but those soldiers with families and friends among the Domain’s people hesitated to step forward.
And given that this was the Count’s fault….
Everyone tacitly turned away from his predicament.
“It’s your fault!”
…….
“If you had caught the monster sooner!”
“Listen! Calm down!”
“Then the building would never have collapsed!”
The accusations suddenly turned toward Edward.
A middle-aged woman who had been calling out for her son beat her chest and poured her resentment onto Edward.
People tried to stop the woman in shock, but several looked at Edward with eyes much like hers.
If only you had hurried a little more.
You are the Dragon Incarnation, after all.
You should have protected us, naturally.
Tepe and Gorgo, reading the air, gritted their teeth once more.
Edward’s eyes remained merely calm.
Those with some sense remaining, along with the Innkeeper, rushed forward to stop the woman.
“I-I’m terribly sorry, Your Grace. This person isn’t in their right mind at the moment!”
“Please, have mercy!”
“Hero! Dragon! I beg you, show mercy!”
The eyes of those pleading for compassion were transparent enough to read.
Surely a Hero would not punish a civilian who had lost their reason in grief over an injured child.
A Dragon Incarnation who had remained on earth out of love for mankind would surely be lenient and merciful in such matters.
A few of the nobles, having intuited Edward’s manner of speech just moments before, turned toward him with eyes glimmering with hope—but Edward said nothing, his lips sealed.
There was nothing to be angry about.
‘How exhausting.’
It was a truly tedious spectacle.
Why was it always the same, every single time?
In truth, Edward understood well enough why they pressed their claims against him.
Partly, they hadn’t known the mine tunnel would serve as shelter….
But regardless, the Count remained their lifelong lord and master.
To offend him meant expulsion from the Domain with no grounds for protest.
Edward, by contrast, was a Hero too busy roaming the Continent wherever monsters appeared.
Though the nobles often complained of him, he had no record of carelessly harming commoners or punishing them without cause.
It was simple enough to shift responsibility onto a Hero who passed through and moved on.
“…….”
Crack.
The sound of Tepe and Gorgo clenching their fists hard could be heard.
Their faces flushed crimson as they strained to contain their rage, yet Edward felt no particular response.
He was only wondering whether the small mouse he’d left behind was sleeping soundly.
That was when it happened.
“…You left her with them?!”
Something small and white came scurrying out at a sprint, leveling an accusing finger at the crowd.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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