Rely On

Era of Chaos, Year 1843.

"Village Chief, that Hero doesn't seem to be helping us."

"Hmph, as a Hero, to actually side with the nobles..."

"Come on, I bet he was bought off a long time ago... Even though that guy used to be a Hero, he's a noble himself now."

"Heh, seeing how young his wife is... what kind of good guy could he be? He's long since fallen into depravity."

"True, the Lord's wife is incredibly beautiful... even wearing a hood, you can tell she's a stunning beauty... Tsk tsk, who knows where she came from."

...

"All of you, shut up!"

Village Chief Lyle slammed his hand on the table, shaking the oil lamp so hard it nearly tipped over. He barked, "Gossiping behind his back is useless. If you're so capable, figure out a way to persuade the Lord."

A middle-aged man sighed, "What can we do? The Lord said he would give us an answer in three days..."

Another villager interjected, "I saw Reid's carriage heading toward the Lord's estate earlier... Could he have gone to bribe him?"

"Doesn't that mean we have even less hope?"

The surrounding villagers spoke all at once, making Lyle feel increasingly irritated.

"Oh right... didn't a woman come to our village last year... what was her name again?" a villager standing in the corner suddenly brought up.

"The woman with the missing hand?" someone immediately replied.

The villager in the corner continued, "Exactly! Didn't they say she used to be a maid in the City Lord's house? Her daughter is also taking care of the Lord's young master. According to my wife, she was even showing off about it before."

"Didn't her daughter also come over last month? She said she was visiting and would stay here for a while."

"Is it... Miss Eni?" A few young men present actually knew her name. "Miss Eni is indeed very pretty..."

"Don't you go dreaming about her. I heard she and the Lord's young master went out adventuring and lived together... They've definitely done everything there is to do."

"But she's still from our village, right? We've taken such good care of her mother, why not have her put in a good word for us..."

Village Chief Lyle nodded slightly. Having Miss Eni mention the village's difficulties to the Lord... that did seem like a viable option.

Running out of time, Lyle immediately decided to head to Eni's house.

The villagers crowded around the old village chief, escorting him to the east side of the village, stopping in front of a slightly dilapidated but neatly kept cottage.

Lyle knocked on the door. The one who opened it was Eni's mother—a haggard but tidy woman missing her left hand.

Lyle briefly explained the situation to Eni's mother.

"Village Chief... you want my daughter to plead with the Lord?"

Eni's mother's expression changed, clearly finding it difficult.

She, of course, knew that Eni was not in a good state right now; she had yet to recover from her previous ordeal.

Lyle continued to persuade her, "Yes, if the river could flow through our village, it would be a good thing for everyone..."

"To tell you the truth... my Eni recently had a bit of a conflict with Young Master Aise, which is why she came to stay here for a few days..." Eni's mother shook her head, explaining somewhat helplessly. "If we have Eni go persuade them... it might end up having the opposite effect."

Hearing this, the villagers outside the door instantly lost hope. Whispers started up again. Lyle sighed deeply, knowing this plan was likely doomed, and had no choice but to lead the disappointed villagers away.

"Mother... who is it outside?"

Eni's soft voice sounded from behind her mother.

"It's nothing, Eni, don't worry about it..." Eni's mother immediately turned around and replied softly, looking at her daughter's pale cheeks with heartache. "You just rest well... What do you want to eat tonight? Mother will go prepare it for you."

Naturally, it was impossible to speak of such a thing happening.

"Mm..." Eni thought for a moment, "I want to eat something sour."

...

"Xia Lun, you seem to be in a good mood?"

Aina walked silently into the study and sat down beside Xia Lun.

"Yes... I thought of a compromise."

Xia Lun held a quill, tracing on the map to simulate the river's flow. "Look... because of this highland, the river can only pass through one side... but if we open a small channel in this area..."

The quill in Xia Lun's hand suddenly turned, drawing a diagonal line straight through the highland.

"This way, the upstream of the river will flow through the village, while the downstream passes by the manor. Neither of them should have anything to say then."

Aina examined the map and nodded. In that case, there would be no need for her to intervene... Even relying solely on human labor, digging out such a channel would not be difficult.

Xia Lun put down the pen and let out a long sigh of relief.

"You've worked hard." Aina reached out her slender fingers and gently massaged her husband's temples.

"In your eyes, is our human race very stupid? Clearly having a simpler method, yet insisting on taking the hardest path," Xia Lun murmured.

In reality, if Aina were to do it, many things could be easily solved with just a single spell.

But Xia Lun had always resisted letting Aina use magic to build his territory.

Aina shook her head, her long silver-white hair emitting a faint halo under the oil lamp.

"Really?" Xia Lun asked with a smile.

"I didn't understand before... but now I understand a little," Aina replied softly.

Xia Lun asked curiously, "Oh? What do you understand?"

"Step by step, building it with your own hands, from nothing to something... Even if it's difficult, you persist in creating it with your own hands." Aina looked out the window, her eyes turning profound. "This is probably what makes your human race special."

"After all, it's impossible for us to rely on others forever," Xia Lun sighed emotionally.

"You can rely on me forever," Aina said, looking into Xia Lun's eyes.

"Wouldn't that make me a kept man?" Xia Lun joked, but he was surprised to find that Aina's gaze was exceptionally serious.

"You can rely on me forever," Aina repeated her previous words.

"Thank you," Xia Lun said, holding his wife's hand.

"What I need is not your thanks, but your answer," Aina said somewhat stubbornly.

"Uh... is this very important, Lord Demon King?"

"Maybe." Aina's answer was ambiguous.

"Do you think that doing this means you've completely conquered me?" Xia Lun narrowed his eyes, seemingly guessing what Aina was thinking.

Having been married for so many years, the Lord Demon King still had not given up on wanting to reign above him.

Aina averted her gaze. "No."

Without a doubt, she was lying.

In the end, Xia Lun shook his head, rejecting Aina's seemingly wonderful proposal.

Aina's small face gradually fell.

"Don't touch me tonight."