The Youngest Daughter of the Count(4)
This place, based on the patient's favorite novel, was a typical feudal age.
King, nobles, knights, commoners, and slaves.
The feudal system is divided into five major classes, and the bloodline-determined status decides each individual's life.
'I don't know if it's the same here.'
I don't think the knowledge I learned at school is right.
The feudal system of this world would greatly differ depending on how the author who wrote the novel <I Became the Youngest Daughter of a Count> set it up.
"Please take this money."
The handsome knight who escorted the youngest daughter of the count, the protagonist of the novel, handed me a money pouch.
"Why is this...?"
"Don't feel burdened. Think of it as compensation for being swept up in our problems."
"Ah..."
"This is the will of the Chimac Count's family."
"Then I won't refuse and gratefully accept it."
Jingle♪
The nobles who ruled the territory collected taxes from the commoners in exchange for protection and used the taxes to train knights and armies, strengthen their power, and wage wars.
However, historically, there were many nobles who failed because they only collected taxes while neglecting protection...
"A true noble!"
Considering that, Chimac Count is undoubtedly an excellent noble, above average, regardless of the novel's settings.
"The start is good, but..."
I almost died from being shot by an arrow without knowing anything, but I got clothes from this world and living expenses.
Isn't this a profitable deal?
Now all I have to do is find the patient who mistook the novel for reality.
Gurgle.
"...Should I eat something?"
It's good to search, but I decided to solve my hunger first.
Jingle♪
The sound of the money pouch seemed to fill my stomach and heal my heart!
'I should be careful.'
I didn't want to waste time on part-time jobs, so I was careful of pickpockets and went out to the busy streets.
"Apples for sale!"
"Have a meal before you go!"
"Take a look at the clothes!"
It wasn't much different from modern times, except that card payments didn't work.
However,
"Sweet chocolate~!"
"How about a cup of coffee?"
"We also have rum!"
The background was set before the 14th century, when the knight class had not fallen, but the level of food culture was like the late 16th century?
Considering that coffee and chocolate, which were exclusive to the nobility, became popular in the 18th century, it made even less sense.
"Because it's just a novel."
As a culturally educated citizen who studied world history, I understood in my heart, but the setting was somewhat irritating.
Anyway,
"Let's eat."
I entered the shabbiest-looking restaurant in the area, which seemed the most affordable.
"Welcome!"
"Um... I'll have this."
"Yes~"
I could get out of this world right away if I committed suicide, but since I'm here, I wanted to meet the patient and tell them a word.
Your parents are sad and struggling!
'Will my body be okay?'
I believe the coach will take good care of my collapsed body at the hotel, and now it's important to eat well and sleep well.
Shouldn't I replenish my lost energy to find the patient somewhere in this world?
While waiting for the ordered potato dish, I eavesdropped on other customers' conversations.
"Hey, have you ever seen the youngest daughter of Chimac Count?"
"I saw her by chance. She's a stunning beauty, just like the rumors!"
"Really? I want to see her too!"
"I heard the young emperor of the empire proposed to her..."
"This friend is behind the news. It was a big deal because she rejected him."
"Huh! How could she do that?"
One out of five conversations was about the youngest daughter of the Chimac Count's family.
Is it because she's the protagonist of this world?
As someone who remembers everyone being obsessed with 'Magical Boy' in Choi Kang-min's dream, I couldn't just ignore it.
'It's a bit abnormal.'
The Magical Boy was at least a world-famous hero.
On the other hand, the youngest daughter of a count's family is just one of many children born to someone among numerous nobles, no matter how exceptional her beauty is.
She's definitely not a character that everyone should pay attention and love to.
"Your food is ready."
"...Ah! Thank you."
Waking up from my thoughts, I tasted the ordered potato dish.
'Oh! It's better than I thought?'
For me, who only intended to fill my stomach, it was an unexpected stroke of luck.
Well-cooked moist potatoes inside the skin, savory mayonnaise sauce, warm mushroom soup, and bread...
I slightly missed cola, but wishing for carbonated drinks in this era would be beyond luxury and setting destruction.
The customers' conversations continued.
"I heard a rumor that she called a knight to her bedroom in the middle of the night..."
"Shh! Do you want to die? This is Chimac Count's territory!"
"Wasn't it because she loved the prince and rejected the emperor's proposal?"
'It's just a novel.'
I secretly combined the information I overheard.
And the conclusion I came to was,
'She's a really greedy woman.'
It's possible that she didn't like all the men who proposed to her, but it wasn't an attitude that a noble, who has a duty to protect the territory and people, should take.
"Well... The author will figure it out."
I decided to just think about the patient somewhere in this novel world.
* * *
If I had a good artistic skill, I would have drawn a montage, but it was impossible to find a woman whose name I didn't know with only the features of black hair and eyes.
Still, I didn't let go of the hope that I could recognize her if she was in front of me...
"Uh. This is impossible."
I went to a place where they find people for money, but I was told it was difficult due to insufficient information.
I thought the same.
I still had about half of the money I received from Chimac Count's family, but I concluded that it was useless to look further.
Was it because my effort was insufficient?
Absolutely not.
'If I searched all day without resting for eight days, it's enough!'
I think I got the value of the expensive ice cream and carbonated drinks I consumed.
Moreover,
"Take up your weapons!"
"For Chimac Count's family!"
"Chimac! Chimac! Chimac!"
I couldn't leisurely search for people because a war broke out between the neighboring duke's family and Chimac Count's family.
The cause was that the duke's fiancé witnessed the youngest daughter of Chimac Count's family ignoring the arranged marriage and kissing another man!
It would have ended quietly if the youngest daughter had apologized on the spot, but she shamelessly appeared and the situation became uncontrollable...
"Let's crush the duke's family!"
"Glory to Chimac Count!"
"Let's protect the beautiful princess!"
"Chimac! Chimac! Chimac!"
Objectively, the youngest daughter of Chimac Count's family was at fault, and she provided the justification for the war.
However, in an ironic situation where all the blame went to the duke's family!
There was no separate fanaticism.
"Hey! Hold your spear straight!"
"Yes!"
And just because I was a young and healthy male, I was forcibly conscripted and forced to participate in the war.
I am currently training in a temporary barracks set up in front of the city.
They are preparing to be deployed to the front line as soon as the final negotiations between the two families break down.
All I could hope for was that the negotiations would go well...
"You have quite good stamina."
"Thank you!"
I would have gone unnoticed if I had taken a break with others when they got tired, but I went ahead with the desire to get stronger even a little.
Then suddenly,
'What am I doing here...?'
That question came to mind.
I was learning how to effectively kill my own kind when I should have been looking for the patient.
The officer who noticed my stamina instructed his subordinate.
"From today, add him to the scout team."
"I'll do it right away."
Although the order didn't reflect my intentions at all, I quietly followed since it wasn't an atmosphere to protest.
At that moment,
Dang! Dang! Dang...!
The war bells installed in the watchtower rang loudly.
"The negotiations have broken down!"
"Take up your weapons!"
"For Chimac Count's family!"
Clank, clank...
Everyone in the barracks picked up their weapons and moved to the agreed-upon battlefield.
"Heeey~!"
The mounted knight raised his sword high and shouted.
"For Chimac!"
"Waaaa!"
"Chimac! Chimac! Chimac!"
"Let's go...!"
Caught up in their madness, I also moved to the battlefield.
'Is this for real...'
I thought it would just be a show of force, then negotiate and fizzle out!
And I died.
* * *
"Uwaaa!"
As my consciousness returned, I screamed and raised my upper body.
Thump, thump, thump...!
The medical devices attached to my body fell off, causing a stinging sensation, but I had no room to care about that.
"Huff, huff..."
Thump, thump!
My heart raced as if it was about to explode.
'Everyone's gone crazy...!'
Being stabbed and cut, the physical pain was bearable, but the mental damage was significant.
Killing, killing, and killing again...
Repeatedly killing people until you lose your life or can't move a finger.
That's war.
A place where stepping on corpses and moving on was naturally accepted.
"Where is this...?"
This place, bathed in the dim yellow light of a night light, was not the hotel room I was using.
The atmosphere was similar, but the interior was much larger, and several pieces of furniture, such as sofas and decorative cabinets, were added.
And the medical devices that don't fit in this place.
They looked very familiar.
"You're awake."
"Manager?"
Manager Seo Hye-joo, dressed in luxurious silk pajamas, came walking from another room.
Instead of greeting, she looked at my arm and asked.
"Does it hurt?"
"...I didn't even have time to think about that."
Blood was flowing from the spot where the IV needle was broken.
"Stay still."
"......"
I wanted to ask why Manager Seo Hye-joo was here, but for now, I decided to quietly follow her.
"It's done. It should be easier to move now."
"Thank you. But how did you get here, Manager...?"
"I was curious how you were doing, so I contacted you, but a person named Coach Soo-young picked up."
"Aha!"
Upon hearing that I hadn't woken up all day, Manager Seo Hye-joo immediately packed her bags and took a flight...
She looked at the medical devices and said,
"Did you die again?"
"How did you know?"
"There's a record that your heart stopped for 17 minutes before you woke up."
"Aha!"
"Kang Moon-soo. This isn't a problem to be taken lightly. If the oxygen supply stops, brain cells are destroyed at a very fast rate. Do you want to become a goldfish-level idiot?"
"No."
I definitely want to avoid that!
"How did you die?"
"I was dragged into the battlefield by forced conscription and couldn't even last a day before dying."
I received treatment slightly better than a slave soldier who was sacrificed to consume the enemy's arrows.
"A war too? You really have a variety of experiences."
"It's not a good experience. It's better not to know it in your lifetime."
"Still, I'm curious. I want to hear what kind of dream it was."
Manager Seo Hye-joo, with twinkling eyes, like a granddaughter asking her grandfather to tell her an old story.
I smiled bitterly and replied.
"It wasn't a dream."
"Huh?"
"It was the world of a novel. The novel that the autistic girl was holding."
"I Became the Youngest Daughter of a Count?"
"Yes, that one."
When I confirmed it, Manager Seo Hye-joo showed an interesting expression.
"A novel reflected in a dream... It's a mysterious phenomenon. Ah! I also bought that novel out of boredom and read it."
"Really?"
It wasn't an important conversation, so I casually laughed and moved on.
"But it's strange."
"What is?"
"In that novel, there's not a single war."
"...Really?"
"Yes. It's a romance novel dealing with the love between men and women. So, more than half of the readers are women, and they don't like war, so they don't usually include it in the novel."
"Wait, so there was no war at all? Not even a single line?"
"Yes. From the beginning to the end of the novel, it's all about love. There are incidents that could have led to war, but they are peacefully resolved through the protagonist's wit."
"Huh!"
I couldn't help but chuckle.
'There was no war originally?'
An event that ignored the development set by the author in the novel occurred.
There's only one thing this means!
"By any chance, is there an event where the protagonist's carriage gets attacked?"
"Um... Not that I remember. I think this novel didn't have any violent content at all."
"I see..."
"What's going on?"
"I got caught up in a war caused by the protagonist's wit."
"Hmm?"
"Now I understand. Why couldn't I find the patient."
I thought I couldn't find them because the world was vast, thinking within the bounds of common sense.
But that wasn't it.
'I never thought she would be right in front of me!'
It was no coincidence that I started in the territory of Chimac Count's family, the main stage of the novel.
"Kang Moon-soo."
"Yes."
"Did you really not know that the protagonist was the patient?"
"Huh?!"
"It seems you really didn't know."
"How do you know?"
"Think about it logically. Romance novel readers imagine themselves as beautiful protagonists and feel vicarious satisfaction. But would they choose a supporting character who's not even pretty?"
"......"
Now that I think about it, it makes sense.
"Kang Moon-soo. Should I measure the number of your brain cells?"
"I'll pass."
It's better not to know the uncomfortable truth.
"Are you going back in?"
"Of course."
I can't give up like this because it would be unfair. However, I won't go in unprepared.
"Should I lend it to you?"
"Is it long?"
"It's five volumes in serialization. It was recently completed after a long hiatus."
"It won't take long."
For the first time in my life, I carefully read a romance fantasy novel.
Sorry for the long hiatus, was busy in IRL. Expect regular updates from now onwards.....
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Welcome back! And thanks for the chapter!
ReplyDeleteFinally an update!!
ReplyDeleteAnd welcome back!!
Finallyy. Ur back. Thanks 4 the chapter!!
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