My Lord Who Is Being Prudent! [EN]: Chapter 168

§ 168 – A Guest in Ruben (2)

Life Treatment Center Lv.7, located in Ruben.

“The emergency treatment is finished. Are you feeling… better?”

At Ellie’s words, Cyan nodded lightly.

Then, he calmly surveyed his body.

Certainly… the pain he had felt had significantly decreased.

It seemed that everything twisted and tangled inside had returned to its place.

“I think I’m all better?”

No, at this point, it seemed as good as completely healed.

“Still, you shouldn’t overdo it. It was just a quick emergency treatment, so if you strain yourself, the wound will easily reopen.”

Cyan chuckled at Ellie’s words.

This was just emergency treatment?

Cyan got up and stretched once.

He felt a bit stiff, but there was no major problem with his movements.

How could this be called emergency treatment?

No matter how much the blessing of the World Tree and the recovery effect of the treatment center overlapped, this rate of recovery was absurd.

Was the blessing of the World Tree that great?

Or was Ellie amazing?

‘Probably both.’

Cyan shook his head.

“It would be better to rest for a day…”

“No. I don’t have time to rest for a day.”

Cyan shook his head firmly at Ellie’s words.

With the Crown Prince and Princess waiting, how could he have time to rest?

“I’ll rest for a bit and leave right away.”

“…Who can stop the Lord’s stubbornness.”

Ellie, having organized her supplies, slowly got up.

“Then, I’ll go treat the soldiers.”

“Okay. Thanks, Ellie.”

Cyan waved lightly at Ellie as she left.

Then, he moved towards the inside of the treatment center.

He opened the door to the ward.

“Lord. Have you come?”

“Are you feeling alright?”

At the click of the door, those in the ward greeted Cyan.

They were none other than the soldiers who had been injured in the recent clash.

Cyan waved his hand, saying,

“Oh, I’m fine. More importantly, how are you guys?”

“We’re fine, as you can see.”

“Honestly, I was nervous because they were calling themselves the Empire’s First Knights, but… when I actually fought them, they weren’t much.”

The soldiers boasted.

“Show-offs.”

Cyan chuckled.

“Show-offs, you say, Lord? You saw us fighting.”

“That’s right! We went *basha* [a Japanese onomatopoeia for a strong, forceful action] on those wolf bastards!”

“Argh! Why are you hitting me when I’m standing still, you bastard!”

The soldiers began to bicker.

Cyan smiled at the sight of them.

“Quiet. I’m going to rest here for a bit. Keep that in mind.”

“Yes, sir! Rest comfortably.”

“Eee, noooo…! Get this bastard off me…! I’m gonna die…!”

Leaving the noisy soldiers behind, Cyan lay down on an empty bed.

In truth, if Cyan wanted to, he could have used this entire ward by himself.

Or he could have rested quietly alone in a private room.

Ellie had suggested it, but Cyan adamantly refused.

He was only planning to rest for a bit anyway.

Besides, there were others there whose conditions were more serious than his.

As he lay in bed, Cyan’s gaze naturally went to the man next to him.

It was because he was looking at Cyan, at a loss for what to do.

Cyan wondered what was up and examined the man’s face closely.

After confirming the face.

“Kerner?”

It was none other than Kerner.

An elite assassin from the underworld and Ruben’s assassination instructor, Kerner.

He was the one who had tried to take his own life after receiving a request from Isabel to assassinate Cyan.

“Lo, Lord…”

Kerner said, greatly flustered at Cyan’s words.

Cyan stared at Kerner for a moment, then slowly opened his mouth.

“How’s your body? Are you alright?”

“…”

Kerner was silent.

He simply bowed his head deeply.

“…I’m… much… better.”

Shamelessly.

Kerner’s voice leaked out as if crawling from under his deeply bowed head.

Cyan stared silently at Kerner.

Quite a long time had passed since the incident, yet Kerner was still lying in the ward.

The poison in the dumpling must have been quite potent.

It was no exaggeration to say that Kerner would not have been alive without the blessing of the World Tree, the healing effects of the treatment center, and Ellie’s treatment.

Still, thankfully, he seemed to be doing much better now.

“Hmm…”

Looking at Kerner, many words welled up in Cyan’s throat.

“I’ll let it slide this time.”

But Cyan suppressed all those words.

“But there won’t be a second time. If you pull that shit in front of me again, I’ll kill you myself. From now on, if you have any worries or anything happens, don’t think about solving it alone, tell me. Understand?”

“…I’m… sorry…”

Kerner’s voice was quite shaky as he answered.

Because his head was bowed, Kerner’s expression was not visible.

But Kerner’s trembling shoulders were enough to know what he was feeling.

“The Lord is right.”

“Instructor Kerner, don’t try to solve things alone. We’re here, aren’t we?”

The bickering soldiers also chimed in at Kerner’s appearance.

Judging by the soldiers’ reactions, it seemed the misunderstanding that Kerner had tried to assassinate Cyan had been resolved.

Cyan said to the soldiers.

“The same goes for you guys. If anything happens, don’t think about solving it alone, tell me. Understand?”

“Yes, sir! If anything happens, we’ll run straight to the Lord!”

“Looord…! Can’t you get this bastard off me…! I’m gonna die…!”

The soldiers answered energetically.

Cyan chuckled.

As he lay back in bed, he felt a strange vitality throughout his body.

It seemed the treatment center’s recovery effect was kicking in.

He felt life force filling him even as he lay still.

He could feel the recovery process on his skin.

Of course, he had known about the treatment center’s effects for a while.

‘Is it because I upgraded it to Lv.7?’

Somehow, its effects were exceeding Cyan’s expectations.

At this rate, he really felt like he would be completely healed with just a little rest.

‘How long has it been since I’ve rested like this…’

Cyan chuckled inwardly.

Between spending gold on upgrades, fighting demons,
doing quests, and planning for independence.

When he thought about it, he couldn’t even remember the last time he had taken a proper rest.

‘I guess I can rest a bit this time.’

Cyan smiled and lay comfortably on the bed.

As he lay still in bed, all sorts of thoughts poured out.

Then, suddenly, the recent clash flashed through his mind.

The moments he fought Kai.

Cyan had never crossed swords with Kai even once.

When he was in the family, Kai was someone from another world [meaning someone unattainable or far removed from his own circumstances].

In the first place, Kai had not paid much attention to Cyan.

But today, having crossed swords with Kai directly.

Cyan could realize Kai’s level.

He could understand why Kai was called the star of the Empire.

And he could also painfully realize how much of a gap there was between them.

Of course, Conrad intervened in the middle, so the outcome of the fight was unknown.

But Cyan knew.

What the result would have been if they had continued fighting.

Cyan knew to some extent.

That’s why.

“…”

Honestly, he felt a bit… resentful.

Would the result have been different if he had trained a little more?

Well…

Cyan couldn’t readily nod to that question.

Numerous thoughts swirled and tangled.

His head was getting complicated.

But Cyan calmed himself.

He mustn’t become weak.

The war with Elandur that was about to begin.

And the battles with demons that could happen at any time.

There would be more difficult and arduous things to come.

So he mustn’t become weak already.

Cyan calmed himself and calmly organized his thoughts.

Then, he slowly looked around the ward.

The ward was filled with soldiers.

Not only here, but other wards were also packed with soldiers.

And outside the treatment center, there were still quite a few soldiers who had not received treatment.

‘There are more injured than I thought.’

Of course, there could be no battles without casualties.

But even considering that, there were more injured than Cyan had expected.

And Ellie was currently in charge of treating all of them.

The only healer in Ruben was Ellie, so it couldn’t be helped.

There were those who helped Ellie, but they were only assistants.

They brought supplies, washed clean cloths, and helped with other miscellaneous tasks.

Ellie was solely responsible for the treatment.

And now that the all-out war with Elandur had been confirmed.

It was clear that many more casualties would occur in the future.

Then it was obvious that there would be more injured than now.

‘I need to recruit more healers.’

It was too much for Ellie to handle everything alone.

Honestly, it was only thanks to the World Tree, the blessing of Insteez [likely a deity or powerful entity], and the upgraded treatment center that she wasn’t already overwhelmed.

Therefore, it seemed necessary to recruit more medical personnel.

But.

‘Where do I get more healers?’

This was not an easy problem to solve either.

First of all, medicine was a highly specialized field.

Like wizards, healers were not personnel that could be hired just because you wanted to.

‘Ellie could teach them… Ah, right. Come to think of it, Mobile Lord had facilities related to schools or academies.’

The various facilities that had been opened as it developed into a city.

There were also educational facilities among those facilities.

In the first place, education was one of the studies researched this time.

But Cyan had not built educational facilities in this upgrade.

He didn’t think it was necessary.

So he had upgraded military facilities necessary for the war.

But looking at the ward now…

“Hmm…”

He thought he might have made a slight mistake.

Military power was obviously what directly affected the war.

But that military power was ultimately the power of people.

For example, even a Master would starve to death if they didn’t eat for a month or two.

If they didn’t receive treatment, their wounds would fester and rot.

Someone once said that war was not something that could be solved simply by being strong.

“I need to upgrade a little more…”

Having experienced the situation firsthand, he understood those words immediately.

And he was dumbfounded by the fact that there was still more to upgrade even after spending nearly 100 million gold.

Well, it wasn’t that the upgrade he had done this time was meaningless.

There were no major problems with supplies because he had upgraded all the new buildings as well as the existing infrastructure to Lv.7.

Even if Ruben was completely isolated by Elandur’s external pressure.

Even if no external resources could be obtained.

Ruben currently had enough capacity to be self-sufficient in supplies.

However, it was just necessary to supplement the upcoming war a little more.

Having finished thinking this far, Cyan took out his smartphone from his pocket.

No, to be exact, it was just as he was about to take it out.

Bang!

“Young Lord…!”

Suddenly, the door to the treatment center burst open, and someone rushed in urgently.

Wondering what it was, he looked over.

Hans was standing in front of the ward door, panting.

At the same time, Hans’ expression was quite urgent.

As expected, Hans opened his mouth urgently.

“Right now, the Crown Prince and Princess are with Leia… No, Leia is with the Crown Prince and Princess… No, that’s…”

Hans repeated himself incoherently before finally closing his mouth tightly.

And then Hans said one word.

“I think… you should go now.”

Sigh…

Cyan sighed without realizing it.

He thought he could rest for a bit and organize the list of things to upgrade.

Not much, just a little rest…

“Where is it?”

Cyan got up from his lying position.

#

The figure of the ghost visible before his eyes.

Conrad’s eyes widened.

Somehow, the sound he heard in his ear was too subtle to be called a voice.

Rather than a voice, it was some kind of will.

Something that was directly embedded in his mind.

-Hey. Why are you here again?

Soon, the will was heard once more.

The woman’s gaze, with only her head peeking out over the table, was directed at Elena.

Looking at that, it seemed that the ‘Hey’ he had just heard was referring to Elena.

Flinch!

As expected, Elena’s body trembled greatly.

At the same time, Elena’s hand, which was holding the last remaining refreshments, trembled violently.

Soon, Elena slowly turned her gaze into the air.

-You. I said, why are you here again?

At Elena’s appearance, the ghost frowned and shouted.

Then, she rose from the table where she had only poked her head out.

The appearance she showed was certainly… worthy of being called a ghost.

And it was also a somewhat familiar appearance.

To be exact, he had seen that figure briefly in the previous clash.

The being that overwhelmed the White Wolf Knights by emitting terrible thoughts.

But it was also quite a familiar appearance besides that.

To be exact, he should say that it was familiar.

Wondering why, he looked closely…

This ghost somehow resembled Elena.

Of course, the atmosphere, personality, and tendencies.

These things were completely different.

However, when looking only at the appearance, the ghost and Elena were quite similar.

If Elena’s sunlit blonde hair was changed to silver hair.

And if Elena was about 5-6 years older. If she was a little more mature.

Wouldn’t it be the ghost he saw before his eyes now?

Perhaps that’s why, but the ghost and Elena seemed to know each other.

Well, it seemed that this ghost lived in Ruben.

So it seemed to be a relationship she met when Elena came to Ruben in the past.

Judging by the way they treated each other… did they seem like friends?

But.

-Huh? Not answering?

Even so, the ghost’s attitude was quite rude.

He couldn’t know the exact circumstances.

He could only guess what kind of relationship they had.

But even if she was friends with Elena, the ghost’s attitude was rude.

Elena was none other than a princess.

Even if they were close friends, she had to show respect to the princess.

Especially since Elena’s brother, Conrad, was in front of her.

So Conrad had no doubt that Elena would step forward and say something first.

But… why?

“Th, that’s…”

Elena couldn’t say anything!

Not only couldn’t she say anything, but she was obediently listening to the ghost’s words.

“… ?”

Elena, reflected in Conrad’s gaze, was rolling her eyes around, looking at the ghost.

He swore to God, betting everything on the family.

“What is this…?”

He had never seen Elena show such a figure!

Elena was showing a flustered appearance…?

Elena was quick to grasp the situation and always dealt with it wisely.

She was also quick-witted and heard every time that she was smart.

She always wore the dignity and grace of a princess and never lost her dignity.

So wasn’t she a frustratingly rigid younger sister with no charm?

Elena was showing such a flustered appearance?

“What on earth…?”

Conrad couldn’t understand the current situation at all.

Whether she knew Conrad’s feelings or not.

“I, is there a reason why I shouldn’t come here…?”

Elena said to the ghost in a trembling voice.

-Of course. You. Don’t you remember being kicked out last time? So why are you crawling back in again?

“Crawling… back in?”

-If you’ve been kicked out and come back, you’ve crawled back in. What else is it?

The ghost scoffed and said, and Elena seemed a little angry at this.

Elena glared at the ghost and replied.

“I was kicked out, but I got permission again! And from what I heard… you used to be in the hall, right? If you think about it that way, aren’t you crawling back in too?”

-What, you little…! That side [referring to being kicked out]? Are you calling me that side right now? Not only are you crawling back in, but you’re also getting cheeky?

Soon, the ghost’s momentum began to change rapidly.

Along with it, darkness bloomed.

The name of hell spread, and fear paralyzed his hearing.

“N, no… th, that’s…”

Then Elena panicked greatly and didn’t know what to do.

In Conrad’s view, the ghost’s actions were beyond the limit.

It was no different from an act of treason that threatened the princess beyond rudeness.

So she could use her authority as a princess.

For some reason, Elena was just panicking without knowing what to do.

No matter how close a friend she was.

And even if she was a resident of Ruben.

This was something that crossed the line too much.

“Stop.”

In the end, Conrad stepped forward, unable to watch any longer.

-Who are you?

Then the ghost turned her head and looked at Conrad.

That appearance was quite grotesque, but… Conrad tried to maintain his composure and said.

“The one you are threatening is the princess of the Empire. I didn’t want to cause a big problem by coming as a guest. I will not tolerate any more rudeness.”

-Why are you butting in?

“Conrad von Charlotte. The Crown Prince of the Empire.”

-Crown Prince? If you’re the Crown Prince… are you this girl’s brother?

The ghost tilted her head and looked at Conrad.

And usually, they would focus on the position of Crown Prince.

For some reason, the ghost focused on the fact that he was Elena’s brother.

“That’s right. Who are you to do such rude things?”

-Me? Leia.

After saying that, Leia scanned Conrad once.

The deep gray-white eyes that were directed at Conrad.

In an instant, Leia, who was looking at Conrad, shouted with a very surprised face.

-You… look a lot like your brother?

Brother?

Conrad couldn’t understand what Leia was talking about.

But whether she knew Conrad’s feelings or not.

Leia began to circle around Conrad.

-If you look closely, your appearance is a little different, but in many ways… wow, you look exactly like my brother when he was young?

And Leia’s words were heard again.

Conrad still couldn’t understand Leia’s words.

Above all, he couldn’t understand Elena, who was flinching every time Leia floated in the air.

-Ah, right. This is not the time for this.

In an instant, Leia stopped moving.

Soon, Leia approached Elena.

-Hey, you. I was listening quietly earlier. You were talking about marrying Cyan or something?

Then Elena’s body trembled once more.

-What if you marry Cyan? Will you send me a cart full of refreshments? I told you last time. I’ve already marked Cyan a thousand years ago. I clearly warned you not to cut in line back then, didn’t I?

At Leia’s continued words, Conrad couldn’t understand the situation at all.

She had marked Cyan a thousand years ago?

Does that mean that this ghost and Cyan have had a relationship since a thousand years ago?

But that couldn’t be.

First of all, Cyan’s age was not 1,000 years old.

Above all, Leia, who was in front of his eyes now, didn’t look 1,000 years old either.

Well, she was a ghost, so that could be the case.

Nevertheless, her age, as seen by her appearance alone, was only a little older than Elena.

-Hey.

And then he heard the word hey again.

He clearly heard the word hey.

“I said I wouldn’t tolerate any more rudeness.”

Conrad raised his momentum and shouted.

He didn’t know what the circumstances were, but the attitude of the ghost named Leia had crossed the line.

No matter how much of a ghost she was, this rudeness was not something to be overlooked.

But if Leia backed down even now, Conrad was going to forgive her.

After all, he didn’t want to cause problems by coming as a guest.

In the first place, it was absurd to force human etiquette on a ghost.

But.

-Get out of here, you.

Leia didn’t seem to have any intention of backing down at all.

A touch-and-go situation.

Right then.

Bang!

“Waaaait!!!”

Suddenly, the door burst open and a desperate cry was heard.

#

“So…”

A blank look on Conrad’s face.

Cyan stared silently at Conrad.

Silence descended like that.

And how much time had passed?

“Are you saying… that the ghost Leia is the younger sister of Emperor Charlotte?”

Conrad had an expression that said, ‘Are you saying something that doesn’t make sense?’

In other words, he asked Cyan with a dumbfounded expression.