“That concludes the report.”
“Well done.”
The king of the Kingdom of Slantania let out a sigh after watching the door of his office close behind the departing civil official who had just finished delivering the report.
The prime minister, who was also present, wore a grim expression, and a heavy atmosphere hung over the room.
The king picked up a document from the pile on his desk.
“The situation in the provinces remains unchanged, I take it?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. With the areas around the capital stabilizing, the number of petitions seems to be increasing even more.”
“I see.”
Ever since Sei had eradicated the black swamp that appeared in the Western Forest, the number of monsters around the capital had noticeably decreased compared to before.
It had returned to levels similar to those before the monster outbreaks became a significant issue.
Due to various complications, information about Sei had been kept as secret as possible until now, but the reduction in monsters couldn’t be concealed.
Given that the success of the [Saintess Summoning Ritual] was already a topic of discussion among the nobles, it was inevitable that whispers of the [Saintess]’s achievements would spread in the wake of the current situation.
As a result, nobles who had previously remained silent began to take action.
Until now, the local lords had shown understanding, realizing that the royal knights were preoccupied with maintaining order around the capital and had no capacity to extend their reach to the provinces.
However, with the capital’s surroundings stabilizing, and considering that the local lords were nearing their limits in dealing with monsters on their own, they began to petition the royal palace to dispatch knights to their territories.
The king and his advisors were already aware of the situation in the provinces and had been considering sending out the knights soon.
There was no issue with that.
The problem lay with the [Saintess].
Some of the lords, loudly proclaiming that their territories were in the direst straits, had even requested the dispatch of the [Saintess] herself.
“Even though we anticipated this, it’s impossible to fulfill all these requests.”
“As for the dispatch of the [Saintess], we can discuss that later. For now, we have no choice but to prioritize the knights’ assignments and send them to the most urgent areas first.”
“Indeed. And the most pressing issue at the moment is Klausner, isn’t it?”
On the desk lay a stack of petitions from various territories requesting the dispatch of knights or the [Saintess].
These petitions had already been screened once by the civil officials.
The ones that reached the king were from territories where there was a high likelihood of a black swamp, similar to the one in the Western Forest, having appeared.
At the top of the pile was a petition from Klausner Territory, one of the foremost producers of medicinal herbs in the Kingdom of Slantania.
It had been placed at the top by the officials who reviewed it, deeming it the highest priority.
The king stroked his chin as he gazed at the document in his hand.
“It seems that not only are monsters a problem, but the cultivation of medicinal herbs is also being affected.”
“Is that why the amount delivered to the capital this season was so low?”
“So it seems.”
The king handed the document he had been examining to the prime minister.
After skimming through it, the prime minister also let out a heavy sigh.
The petition from Klausner Territory stated that the increase in monsters was affecting the harvest of medicinal herbs, which was the primary reason for requesting the dispatch of knights.
Of course, like other territories, Klausner had hired mercenary groups to deal with the monsters, but it appeared they could no longer keep up.
If Klausner were an ordinary territory, its priority would not have been so high.
However, Klausner was renowned as a leading producer of medicinal herbs, and the impact on herb harvests had elevated its priority.
Medicinal herbs are a key ingredient in potions and are considered a military resource.
Klausner Territory is not only known for the sheer volume of herbs it produces but also for cultivating certain herbs that cannot be grown elsewhere.
Since this irreplaceable military resource was being affected, the civil officials had determined that Klausner Territory should be given the highest priority.
“This is truly dire. The market must be suffering greatly as well.”
“I’ve instructed them to temporarily halt deliveries to the palace and prioritize supply to the market, but I fear…”
According to the petition, the harvest of medicinal herbs in Klausner was about half of what it had been the previous year.
In recent years, the yield in Klausner had been on a downward trend, but the rate of decline over the past year was abnormal.
For a lord whose territory’s primary industry revolved around herbs, this must have caused immense alarm.
Both the king and the prime minister couldn’t help but think that it was no wonder a petition had been sent under such circumstances.
“Monsters, huh…”
The king rested both elbows on the desk, clasping his hands together.
He lowered his gaze, lost in thought for a moment before muttering a single word.
What came to mind was the swamp discovered in the Western Forest.
It was believed that the swamp, which Sei had eradicated using a mysterious technique, might have been formed from miasma.
There were two reasons for this theory.
First, monsters had been spawning from the swamp.
Monsters are born from miasma when it reaches a certain concentration.
Furthermore, Albert, the commander of the Third Knight Order who had accompanied Sei on the subjugation mission, reported that the miasma grew thicker the closer they got to the swamp.
Second, after the swamp disappeared, the spawning of monsters had clearly decreased.
Though it was unclear how long the swamp had existed in the Western Forest, the number of monsters had noticeably dropped since its eradication.
Reports from those monitoring the area also indicated that the miasma around where the swamp had been was gradually dissipating over time.
Though it was called a swamp due to its dark, murky appearance, it might have been more akin to a spring from which miasma bubbled forth.
Yuri, the head of the Court Mage Division, had expressed this view in his report.
Considering the current situation in Klausner Territory as described in the petition, it was possible that a similar miasma swamp had appeared there as well.
If that were the case, there was only one solution.
It seemed the king was not the only one to reach this conclusion, as the prime minister spoke up, almost as if he had read the king’s thoughts.
“It may be necessary to have the [Saintess] travel there as well.”
The king nodded at the prime minister’s words.
Though nothing was certain yet, and a potential path to resolution had emerged, the heavy atmosphere surrounding the king and the prime minister remained unchanged.
In this oppressive air, the two continued to discuss what lay ahead.