Ch#64
Waiting for Spring (2)
Lately, Tiria’s life was happier than at any other time she had lived through.
If she had to pick a moment to compare it to, it would be the day she first met Elric, but even that felt a step short compared to her recent sense of contentment.
Is it truly alright to be this happy?
A life lived swallowed by misfortune accepted even the happiness others took for granted as a source of anxiety.
She wondered if she would eventually have to pay a price for it.
In the midst of such thoughts, the days at the manor passed busily.
In her spare time, Tiria handled various tasks, visited the study, and tended to the flower beds, fueling her anticipation for spring.
As a bonus, she was also receiving overwhelming displays of favor from the newly appointed knights of the Seolyeong Knight Order.
Today was no different.
“Madam! These are refreshments from an Imperial patissier, sent by my younger brother!”
The Knight Commander, Dinan, shouted while practically slamming his head against the floor in a deep bow.
“Please, accept them!”
He looked as though he might commit ritual suicide if she declined, so Tiria accepted the treats in a daze.
“I shall enjoy them.”
As soon as she spoke, Dinan beamed with a radiant smile, looking like a man who had just been granted salvation.
Wait, is he crying?
“By your command!”
It was a bit much.
Nodding, Tiria immediately turned and hurried toward the office.
Since she had received them, she figured they should eat them together. With that thought, she opened the office door to find Elric looking quite serious as he read the newspaper.
What was he brooding over?
She looked and soon understood.
“You were reading the news from the West.”
“Ah, you’ve come, wife.”
“Yes.”
The headline on the front page of the newspaper read:
[The Demon King of Najak, Zerdia, and the Saint of Serenity, Heimberg. A Clash at the Rhidium Front.]
Two of the Seven Strongest had collided.
It seemed the full-scale war he had mentioned once before had truly begun.
Edward muttered to himself while biting his nails in the chairman’s office of EW.
His complexion was fraught with anxiety.
“It broke out. It finally broke out. It happened.”
A massive disaster that made his head throb had erupted.
He had hoped the clash between the Seven Strongest wouldn’t happen, but now that it was reality, the war would begin to accelerate in an uncontrollable manner.
Should he have supported the Heavenly Wings and turned the flames of war toward the East instead?
‘…No.’
That would have been a terrible move.
Logistics aside, it was unthinkable considering Kasha was hunkered down right there in the East.
After all, wasn’t picking a fight with Kasha the most horrific way to commit suicide on the Western battlefield?
Thinking of the aftershocks he would cause, this might actually be the better of two evils.
Though, of course, it was merely the “second worst” option compared to the “absolute worst.”
“Argh…!”
It was the moment he was clutching his hair.
“Chairman, a guest is…”
“Secretary, what do I do? Huh? The Demon King and the Saint are fighting; doesn’t this mean we’re all finished?”
Edward immediately grabbed the secretary’s collar and began to shake him while complaining.
“Our old man’s stake is 12%! The very first and greatest investor’s life is hanging by a thread right now!”
“Yes, but more importantly…”
“What could possibly be more important than that!”
As if the heavens were indifferent, the one who had unbuttoned the first coat of war was the 1st major shareholder, Zerdia.
And his opponent, of all people, was Heimberg—who could be called Zerdia’s natural enemy.
It was a clear disadvantage, yet due to their position on the battlefield, he couldn’t even support him.
If this continued, the 12% stake in EW would vanish into thin air.
Even now, his friendly share ratio was precarious; if it plummeted, his management rights would be threatened.
“I’m ruined! I’m finished! Aaaaaagh!!!”
Edward slid down to the floor, flailing his arms and legs as he screamed.
He didn’t even notice the secretary’s look of contempt.
Only one thought dominated Edward’s mind.
‘How did I even make it this far!’
The crisis was real: the management rights of the company he had built his entire life could fall into the hands of someone he didn’t even know.
The new weapon that had just entered development might never see the light of day!
Just thinking about the money invested to create it made his eyes turn red!
“A way! I have to find a way!”
At the very least, he had to stop Najak and Serenity from entering a total war right now.
No, he had to at least prevent Najak from being destroyed in that total war.
‘What is there? Right, if I start a war on my end…’
Impossible.
That would only escalate the war further.
‘What if I offer a negotiation? Food support to Serenity…’
If he did that, it would come back to bite him as poison later.
That was also impossible.
Then what other methods were left?
Edward’s brilliant brain began to process frantically.
There was no dilemma in the world that couldn’t be solved.
According to the principle he believed in, there was bound to be a loophole.
As he sat there clutching his head, a face suddenly flashed through his mind.
He snapped his head up.
“The Elder!”
“…Pardon?”
“The Elder! I’ll ask the Sword Demon Elder! I just need to ask him to join Najak’s side! Just this once!”
A bright smile spread across Edward’s face.
‘Why didn’t I think of that!’
In the first place, the reason for the acceleration of the Western battlefield was Kasha’s disappearance!
If he returned to the battlefield, this total war would come to an end!
That tedious but welcome psychological warfare would start all over again!
“He doesn’t even need to stay on the battlefield! We just need circumstantial evidence that Kasha still exists somewhere in the West and will continue to exist! I just need to call the Elder out for that one single time!”
“Ch-Chairman…”
“Secretary! Pack our bags right now! We’re going to the East…”
“Kasha is in the East?”
In that moment, a chillingly cold voice drifted in.
Edward’s body froze.
Creak, creak—his head turned toward the entrance.
A hollow sound escaped his lips.
“…Uh-oh.”
What was seared into Edward’s retinas was nothing but red hair, red clothes, freckles, and a small frame.
Those glaring eyes were quite piercing.
Why was that unnie here?
The secretary let out a sigh.
“…I told you a guest had arrived.”
Cold sweat poured down Edward’s back.
The Flame Demon Igret spoke.
“Hey, I’m asking you. Is that bastard Kasha in the East?”
“Uh, well…”
“I thought you said you couldn’t find him? What’s the meaning of this?”
“Um…”
What was the meaning of this?
‘I’m fucked.’
Edward began to hate his life.
It went without saying, but Edward’s own combat power was pathetic.
In contrast, the siege engine of Kalbaran, the Flame Demon Igret Valentia, was a figure whose ferocity ranked among the highest even among the Seven Strongest.
That was why Igret was an “unnie” to Edward.
Even though she was 29, several years younger than him, he used honorifics.
It was because he didn’t know what kind of calamity her explosive temperament might bring upon him if he didn’t.
And yet, of all things, he had leaked the one piece of information that should never have been discovered by her—and in the cramped chairman’s office, no less.
“Gack…!”
The conclusion for Edward, who had been caught, was quite predictable.
“Where is he?”
She asked in a growling voice.
Edward, held by the collar, was losing his ability to think due to oxygen deprivation.
Driven by a wild survival instinct, he spat out four words.
“Wi, Wibin… Portman family…”
“That was in Ferdin, wasn’t it? You’re saying that bastard was hiding there? No wonder I couldn’t find him.”
Thud. Only then did Igret release his collar.
Panting for breath as he regained his senses, Edward finally felt a sense of ruin.
“Nu, unnie! Wait…”
He reached out his hand, but it was too late.
Whoosh!
Infernal flames enveloped her body.
With a glaring smile, she immediately smashed through the window and soared into the sky.
Crash!
“You’re dead, you son of a bitch!!!”
Her shout echoed through the air.
Edward, reaching out toward the spot where Igret had vanished, began to think.
It was about the various things that could potentially happen from now on.
‘If that girl goes to Wibin like this?’
Given her fiery personality, she’d burn everything down the moment she saw Kasha’s face.
And as if that weren’t enough, she would rain bombardments down on Kasha until every life in the area was extinguished.
Of course, Kasha wouldn’t lose.
Even if he took some wounds, he would subdue Igret somehow.
‘No, will he kill her?’
The scale tipped in that direction.
Kasha was quite satisfied with his life in his hometown.
The moment she burned down the foundation of that place, it was obvious that a blind-with-rage Kasha would slaughter her.
A terrible thing could happen.
A major shareholder with a 10% stake could die.
And that wasn’t all.
If, just maybe, Kasha found out the source of the information…
“…Oh, Mother.”
What do I do?
Edward’s face turned deathly pale.
“Secretary…”
“Yes.”
“How many days would it take for that girl to fly to Wibin?”
“It takes three days to go from one end of the West to the other… so wouldn’t it take about three days from here too?”
“…Right.”
Edward stood up unsteadily.
A hollow smile was etched onto his face.
“Pack the bags. We’re leaving right now.”
“Are you going to chase her?”
“Then should I just stay here and die? No. Let’s die together. Suicide might be easier.”
“…I will go prepare.”
The secretary quickly withdrew.
Edward opened his office desk drawer, sobbing.
‘Where did I put the diapers…?’
Life was truly this hard.
The Wife Waited in the Wheat Field (Serial)