How the Reincarnation Seat Destroys the Original - Chapter 127



Only Krnovel

Episode 127. The Second Calamity (2).

?I don’t want to get involved in forging official documents.?

?Please write the official document yourself, letter by letter. And make sure to stamp the Emperor’s seal.?

“That bad guy… .”

Kael did not accept Bastian’s sincere and teasing words, and in the end he had no choice but to write the official document himself, wringing and unclenching his numb hands.

My friend was very firm in his determination, even though he said that it would be late if he wrote all the official documents to be distributed in the village.

?Please write a few pages first. I will slowly post the official document and come back. In villages where there are people who cannot read, I will personally post a person.?

He was the type of person who would take along even the top staff of Damie and visit the village as soon as the official document was completed. Since there was always at least one person in every village in the empire who could read and write, there was no need to keep someone, so the cycle of him going to the village and returning was very short.

?Why is your speed so slow when you spend more than half of your waking hours working on paperwork? Even my daughter would be faster than Your Majesty.?

Thanks to Kael, who never missed a single word that cut through his mind, Bastian suppressed his urge to question his distant ancestor, who had created the imperial law that required at least one literate person in the village to quickly deliver official messages from the past emperor, and wrote the letter.

After finishing the last official letter he had written a few minutes ago, Kael left, saying he would return to his job as a bard after visiting the village, so Bastian complained about him calling him a wicked man who would not return.

“By the way… your expression was strange.”

This wasn’t the first time he had muttered something close to a monologue in front of Kael. It was a habit he had often done in front of the person he was most comfortable with, even back when he was the crown prince and not the emperor.

At first, he had been grumbling like everyone else, thinking of him as a close friend. On the day when his father, the former emperor, had announced that he would be the next emperor, he had been more afraid than happy at the thought that the high but heavy position would be his.

I wonder if I can do it well.

Does it have to be you?

He had complained to Kael, wondering if he could sit in that seat that even his father sometimes found burdensome.

?Do I look like an idle person? And what if the Crown Prince keeps complaining to his subjects? Are you in your right mind??

When I answered that I did it because we were close friends and that I was the only person I could comfortably confide in, I still vividly remembered the eyes that looked at me as if they were annoyed.

?I guess talking to yourself doesn’t matter.?

Kael added slowly, his words flowing out in a whisper.

?I can’t do anything like comforting you. But as a subject, I can at least listen to your monologues.?

Bastian realized that Kael was trying to comfort him in his own way, and on several occasions since then, whenever he would grumble, he would do so as if he were talking to himself.

Although there was no answer, sympathy, or consolation in return, his silence actually brought comfort to her heart.

But today, for the first time, he questioned my monologue.

?… Even if that god is the one who wrote this disaster, this whole fate? If he hadn’t written this fate, wouldn’t the world have been a little more peaceful??

His question sounded as if he were saying that the disaster and fate that had now befallen this empire and the world had been written by God, but it also sounded as if he had said that he had written it himself.

“That’s ridiculous.”

Bastian muttered softly.

For my idea to be valid, he had to be a god who wrote the fate of this world and be born as a human.

Of course, his abilities often seemed to be beyond human categories, but Bastian, who had been watching him since childhood, thought that idea was nonsense.

What if by some chance he was God?

Now, he was just a clumsy but affectionate friend by my side, and a more trustworthy colleague and servant than anyone else.

He felt like useless thoughts were continuing to spread out as he was alone. He slowly got up, looking out the window as the day began to dawn.

The thoughts were enough to this extent.

Now it was time for him to take action for his people as Emperor.

In a few hours, it was announced that a major earthquake would strike the imperial population of the capital, and that shelters would be built in the space where the central fountain was located. The gates of the palace and temples would be opened.

At the Emperor’s call, the nobles gathered in the palace were also informed of the great earthquake and ordered to prepare shelters.

“What do you mean by a major earthquake?!”

“It hasn’t even been half a year since the plague ended, and now there’s an earthquake. What are the Chosen Ones doing? Shouldn’t they be taking action to save this world?”

As expected, the empire was thrown into chaos for a moment, but the Emperor continued to move. The shelter at the central fountain was removed, a tent was set up to serve as a shelter, and the number of Imperial Knights roaming the capital was noticeably increased.

It was around that time that a product called the Earthquake Escape Bag came out from Damier.

* * *

After posting the last official document in the last village and returning to his hometown, Kael called Hugo over and handed him a piece of paper.

“Earthquake Evacuation Bag… What is this?”

“This is a new product that will be released at the top of Damie.”

Hugo read down the list of items included in an earthquake escape bag written on a piece of paper.

Earthquake evacuation instructions are written at the very top.

A helmet to protect your head, emergency food to eat and drink, a whistle and light pole to use when you need to call for rescue if you cannot evacuate in time, etc.

Hugo’s gaze, which was lightly skimming through the ingredients, stopped at the price section at the very bottom.

The box where the price should have been was blank, with no number written on it. Knowing that the owner I was serving would not make the mistake of not listing the most important thing at the top of the product list, Hugo looked up from the document and looked at Kael.

“Are you willing to provide it for free?”

Kael nodded slowly.

“Yes. Since there are no customers to buy the product anyway, the top is useless, so we provide it for free.”

The items written on the paper easily exceeded the cost of one silver coin. Hugo quickly calculated the price that Damie would have to pay if all of these were provided free of charge and bowed his head.

“We will deliver this to each branch and prepare quickly.”

Even without this, the story of the great earthquake and the shelter announced by His Majesty the Emperor had already spread among the servants of the Damier family.

Some employees went about their business pretending nothing happened, while others took early leave because they were worried about their families far away.

“Once the supplies are ready, give them to the employees, upper management, and their families first.”

“Yes. We will pay them in order, starting with those who used their vacation time.”

“Clear away any unnecessary items in the garden, set up a makeshift shelter where employees can evacuate at any time, and don’t forget to tell employees in advance to evacuate immediately if they see anything unusual.”

Hugo’s eyes sparkled with pride.

Kael’s eyebrows furrowed slightly as he met his eyes.

“As I said before, if there are no customers, there is no need for the upper floor. Remember this incident, and if you use this opportunity to see how good the products at Damie are, the number of customers using the upper floor will naturally increase.”

“Is there any possibility?”

“I’m saying this because I don’t believe you at all.”

After the plague swept through the empire, the customer base for Damier’s upper class expanded further.

Hugo smiled, knowing that even before, there were more people using the Damier top than those who didn’t, but after that, the number had started to differ even more.

“How could I not believe your words, Master?”

“… Let’s go quickly and take care of business. If we prepare right now, we’ll run out of time.”

Hugo bowed his head deeply again and left the office, and Kael sighed and looked out the window. Layers of clouds like wool were piled up and spread out across the sky.

It was a cumulus cloud, also called seismic cloud.

These clouds and unusual wildlife movements did not necessarily indicate an imminent disaster such as a major earthquake.

If only this were reality.

But in this world, this omen was definitely a sign of a great earthquake. Because he had written these omen down before the great earthquake occurred.

“… This place is not reality after all.”

The world in which the symptoms that appeared in the text he had written were unfolding as they were showed me that this world was not the reality I had to live in, but for those who were preparing for an earthquake and were anxious, the reality felt more painful than ever.

Kael closed his eyes, looking up at the sky filled with clouds that were dyed in a particularly red sunset today.

?I don’t think that even though I’m a god, I can decide all fates. Even one person’s life cannot be free of trials, so what must this world be like??

?If there were such a world, it would certainly be peaceful, but it would not exist. I am not denying God. However, even if there were God, he would not be able to control everything, right??

Bastian’s words lingered in my ears.

Even if I felt guilty now, nothing would change. As long as I existed in this world as Cael du Damier, I could neither change nor avoid the disaster.

But at least there was something I could do.

?So let’s do what we can do now. Even if it’s just one person, let’s do it to save more people.?

Saving more people, even if it was just one person. That was the only atonement he could make here, feeling a belated sense of guilt but still wanting to return to reality.

Many people flocked to Damier Top after hearing that earthquake shelter bags were being sold at the top.

“30 per day! One per person!!! We will be receiving more tomorrow, so please follow the order and purchase them in order!”

It was difficult to secure enough supplies to distribute to all the people of the empire at once, so a limit was placed on the quantity. As the days passed, the number of people waiting in line before the upper door even opened increased by the day.

Just as the line at the top was growing longer rather than shorter, the lines in front of the central fountain shelter, palace, and temple also increased.

People who had packed their earthquake shelter bags and valuables at the top of Damie gathered there out of fear of an earthquake that could strike at any time.

“You can’t go in now!!! Go back!!! It’s dangerous!!!”

The Imperial Knights tried to send them back, expressing their embarrassment, but the people were unmoved.

“What if an earthquake happens while you’re sleeping?! Your house will collapse, and if you get trapped underneath, it’ll be hard to even get to a shelter!!!”

“That’s right!!! I’d rather sleep here!!!”

The anxiety that consumed the people grew without end.