Anis looked at Sherry, who sat opposite her. “There is a way, but before I reveal the solution, I have a question for you. How much do you know about the current food situation in the territory?”
Sherry was the next lord, and she was no naive airhead. She had been secretly developing a network of informants, so it was impossible for her to be completely ignorant of the situation within the domain.
One should never be deceived by her soft and cute appearance as a young girl.
“During the autumn harvest, a powerful monster broke into the fields. Although there were no casualties, the crops were destroyed on a large scale, and the price of grain has been rising ever since.”
“Father said he would set aside a sum of money to purchase food once he returns to help the people get through the winter. That’s all I know.”
She looked back at Anis, the anticipation in her eyes growing. “So, can Sister Anis tell me your solution now?”
“Don’t be in such a hurry. We will talk about it once we reach the town.”
Anis simply smiled, keeping her in suspense.
“Hmph! I hate you.”
Pouting like a little pufferfish, Sherry crossed her arms and sat in her chair with a displeased expression.
Seeing her like this, Anis only thought silently, ‘Then I should really thank you.’
She wanted nothing more than for Sherry to stay away from her. Being this close only made her path to freedom feel threatened.
The carriage stopped a short distance from the town. After the two got out, Anis kept a certain distance as they walked together.
According to the descriptions in the book, most of the people living in this town were family members of miners who worked at the northern mines. Combined with the high value of the excavated magic crystal ore, the town’s daily life used to be quite good.
However, when they actually arrived, Anis felt only one thing: desolation.
Every household had its doors tightly shut, and most of the shops were half-closed.
Fortunately, the bakery Sherry mentioned was still open, but when Anis saw the prices in the window, she felt a sharp pang of pain.
“Sister Anis — don’t forget what you promised me!”
Despite the exorbitant prices, Sherry seemed completely indifferent. On the contrary, she looked at Anis with eyes full of expectation!
This high-born young lady had no concept of money at all!
If there were a mirror, Anis was certain her current expression would be more bitter than a gourd.
It wasn’t that she had no money; the Frost family provided a reward every time she returned from fighting monsters.
‘Is it really worth spending money I risked my life for on a single piece of grossly overpriced bread?’
‘Especially when there is a food shortage, is it right to buy a piece of bread covered in cream and dusted with icing sugar that is priced as if it were worth 500,000 Marks?’
“Why does Anis look so troubled? Are you going to break your promise?”
Sherry took a step forward and leaned in, exerting a heavy sense of pressure. Anis was forced to take a step back to maintain a safe distance.
After a moment of stalemate, Sherry was the first to back down. “Fine, I know Anis’s pocket money wasn’t easy to come by. It really isn’t right to spend so much money on a single piece of bread.”
With that, she pushed open the shop door and gave Anis a smile. “Then let me treat you.”
The sudden reversal made Anis blink several times. Just then, a cold wind blew by, making her body shiver.
Anis followed her into the bakery. The crisp chime of two bells caught the attention of the shop assistant. She looked toward them with a professional smile, which quickly turned into an expression of surprise.
“Lady Sherry? Have you come to inspect the town with the Lord again?”
Her gaze then fell upon Anis, filled with surprise and speechlessness, clearly showing she did not recognize her.
Obviously, no matter how one looked at her, this young girl couldn’t possibly be the Lord.
“Allow me to introduce her. This is my sister!”
Hearing Sherry’s introduction, Anis quickly performed a noble salute. “Hello, I am Anis Frost.”
“So Lady Sherry has a sister? That is quite surprising.”
“Let’s not talk about that. I’m here to buy bread today. Sister clerk, two cream breads with extra icing sugar, please.”
Sherry glanced at the price tag in the display case and placed slightly more gold coins than required on the counter.
“Of course. Please wait a moment. There is a serious shortage of supplies right now, so this kind of bread has to be made to order.”
With business coming in, and from the Lord’s daughter no less, the young shop assistant didn’t dare to be negligent. She brought out two chairs for them and poured two glasses of warm water before heading to the kitchen to bake the bread.
Twenty minutes later, two pieces of bread wafting a sweet aroma were placed into greaseproof paper bags. The clerk took the gold coins, counted them carefully, and tried to return the excess amount to Sherry.
“Keep it. The extra is for information.”
Sherry’s original intention for coming here was to gather information about the food shortage, or rather, to let Anis know the reason for the reduced harvest in the territory.
The clerk froze for a moment but quickly tucked the gold coins away.
Business had been getting worse lately, and she was on the verge of being unable to afford the costs and having to close down. She would take whatever extra profit she could get.
She refilled their glasses with warm water, her attitude very respectful. “What would you like to know?”
“What is the reason for such a severe reduction in this year’s autumn harvest?”
“Sigh…” The clerk let out a long breath. “A while ago, a monster from the northern polar region wandered into town. It ate a massive amount of crops almost every night. We tried to catch it, but it was extremely agile, and we couldn’t catch it at all.”
Sherry continued with a targeted, leading question. “Then didn’t you keep watch in the fields? It was bound to come back!”
“Of course we did, but it was very cunning. It would burrow into the ground to avoid our eyes. In the end, we had to speed up the autumn harvest overnight, but even so, more than half of the crops were destroyed by it.”
“Wait.”
Anis frowned slightly. “A single monster could eat more than half of the autumn crops? Then that monster must be very powerful. Did no one in town get injured or killed?”
“No. It didn’t seem to have any desire to hurt people. Every night when it came to steal crops, it avoided us and left right after eating.”
Anis deduced the information in her mind. The threat of that monster shouldn’t be too great; perhaps she could even handle it now, despite being injured.
If she dealt with the monster and then helped the people solve the winter food problem, her reputation would spread among the masses.
If that happened, the Frost family’s attempts to keep her hidden would be far less effective!
‘A win!’
“Has that monster left the town yet?”
“No. I can still hear its roar every night. Everyone is worried that it might start attacking people because it can’t find any more food. Because of that, almost no one dares to go out at night.”
Anis simply smiled after hearing that. It seemed it was finally her turn to step up!