Chapter 53: A Tragic News
Morning came. Blanc made sure to check on the new settlers from the Kingdom of Kairuku.
It seems that all of them are doing quite well and have chosen their jobs except for the children that they brought with them.
After checking on the new settlers, Blanc returned to his office.
He has quite a lot to do today since there is some new data from the new settlers.
Good thing that he has recently developed a room-cooling device using Eternal Ice as the main material.
Not only his office but also the whole town hall is quite a comfortable place to work.
The room cooling device has been installed in the whole town hall and the results were quite fantastic. It successfully raised the productivity of the employees to a whole new level.
Before, it was hard to work especially at noon time since the temperature was so hot and the employees could not focus.
With the new device, however, they rarely lose focus due to the temperature. As a result, they finish more tasks every day compared to before they had the room cooling device installed.
Blanc called his invention "Eternal Ice Room Cooler". He plans to sell this in order to secure more funds for the town.
He was sure that this new room-cooling device of his would make waves in different kingdoms.
Currently, the only known method to use eternal ice is to use it to preserve perishable goods.
This was the first time that anyone had successfully created a new device using the Eternal Ice.
Eternal Ice is very rare and expensive. No alchemist or craftsman could buy their own Eternal Ice and experiment with it.
Only Blanc has that luxury since they're just harvesting Eternal Ice in a cave like it was some common weed.
As Blanc was admiring his work, somebody knocked on the door of his office.
*Knock* *Knock*
"You may come in."
"H-Hello Mayor!"
"Oh? So you're the one assigned to be my secretary today?"
"Y-Yes! Inexperienced as I may be, I'm in your care, sir Blanc!"
"Likewise!"
The girl who knocked was Alenna! It seems that she applied for the position of Blanc's secretary.
She was also accepted which means, she has at least completed basic education at the Kingdom of Kairuku.
Blanc's amusement was short-lived as Alenna started to talk about more serious matters.
Their discussions were mostly about government approval stuff.
Alenna's table was located in the corner of Blanc's office so they could reach out to each other if there were urgent and important matters.
Their peaceful time inside the office was disturbed by little Emma who knocked loudly and it seemed that she had something important to report again.
*Knock* *Knock*
"Mayor! Mayor! Sir Leif is back! He's currently being treated at the infirmary!"
Blanc's heart fell down to the ground upon hearing little Emma's report. He instructed Leif to be extremely careful when executing his mission.
He knew that Leif did so but it seems that certain circumstances prevented him from doing what was expected of him.
Blanc immediately headed towards the infirmary with a heavy heart to check on Leif's condition and listen to his report.
At the infirmary.
"Leif! How are you feeling?"
"M-Mayor, I'm sorry…I have failed you…"
"Let's talk about the report later. First, your condition?"
"A-ahh…Thank you for your concern mayor. Although I am indeed gravely wounded, this is nothing that I can't handle. I was lucky that I brought lots of potions. If not, I'm afraid I won't be back here anymore."
"That's good. At least you prioritized yourself and came back alive. Good job Leif! I'll let you rest for a few hours and then let's talk about what happened."
After a few hours.
"Leif? Are you awake? May I come in?"
"Mayor? Please do come in."
"So how are you feeling now?"
"I'm a lot better compared to a few hours ago sir! Thank you."
"I see, that's good. So? What happened during your mission?"
"I first went to Lockridge city to gather intel. I didn't get anything useful there so I continued on towards the Laurelei fiefdom. I tried sneaking around the manor to see if I could gain some information from there."
"Who would've thought that on that specific day, they also brought Count Laurelei there to give him one last chance? They pestered him about some high-tier cavalry formation manual."
"Count Laurelei still refused them adamantly. Duke Samara's patience for the Count finally ran out and he was about to kill him."
"Left with no choice, I had to act alone. I managed to fight off everyone in the room and at one point, me and the Count almost escaped."
"I-If only…If only my physique was a little bit stronger, I would have successfully escaped with the count!"
Leif narrated with his voice shaking. He was filled with deep regret that he failed to save the Count in this critical moment.
"S-Sorry mayor, my emotions got the better of me. Let me continue."
"There was one point where we thought that we had already escaped and I got the leeway to introduce myself to him. He was elated that you, the captain, and Miss Adelaine are currently doing well."
"He then led me to a secret location in a forest inside his own domain. We thought that we were already safe. We didn't think that they were only secretly following us to get the high-tier cavalry formation manual."
"After we successfully dug the manual out from the ground, arrows came flying at us, and swordsmen charged at us."
"The count died under their ruthless attacks while I got lucky and I was able to escape with my life. The count entrusted me with the manual before he died so I did my best to stay alive and bring the manual back to our town."
After Leif told Blanc the tragic story of his rescue, he handed a small manual to Blanc. This seems to be the secret that Duke Samara needed from Count Laurelei.
"I see. You did all you could. Rest for now and let me handle this matter. I'll be the one to tell Helena."
Blanc left Leif's room in the infirmary to let him recuperate.
He temporarily went back to his hut to think about how he would relay the tragic news to Helena.
Inside Blanc's hut.
*SLAM!*
Blanc slammed the table in frustration and sadness.
So close! He was so close! In the end, they still didn't grow fast enough!
He wanted to see Helena smile after they successfully saved the Count.
Life isn't always rainbows and butterflies though so things won't always go your way smoothly.
Blanc knows that and that's why he is currently so frustrated.
They did everything right and Leif did everything he could but they still failed.
Blanc stared fiercely at the general direction of the Samara Dukedom.
"You ruthless fat Duke! Let's see you celebrate once I destroy your troops and capture you."
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Meowder
Meowder I hate this fat duke bro
First chapter of the day~Chapter 53 is out! I hope you guys enjoy :)
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