The Crown Prince Who Raises Alt Characters

#Chapter 231 ?????????? - The Outcast of Ostern In romance novels that make the hearts of many noble young ladies flutter, there often appears an existence called the 'Northern Grand Duke'. Cold and barren frozen earth. Foreign tribes and monsters that try to invade civilized society for food and slaves, among various other reasons. An iron-blooded noble lord who rules over land where snow never ceases throughout the four seasons. However, opinions were divided even among readers about what the actual origin of this 'Northern Grand Duke' cliché was. First. It's merely a fictional territory and nation created by the author through pure imagination. Second. The northern region of the Eizern Empire. The highland region is the motif. Third. It was originally a Southern Grand Duke, but this was simply mistranslated as Northern Grand Duke. Among these, the third hypothesis was currently considered the most plausible. The first option had descriptions that were too detailed to be pure fiction, and the second option didn't fit since the Empire's north, while cold, wasn't at the level of snow falling all year round. In comparison, the Southern Grand Duke mistranslation theory had sufficient evidence in many ways. First of all, the continent's climate becomes milder as you go north, and becomes bitterly cold as you go south. Even the Empire's northern region, which is considered particularly cold compared to other northern areas due to its high altitude, is nothing more than livable land compared to the south. It wasn't for nothing that the Eizern Empire and the Cardian Republic, which occupy the northern part of the continent, are called populous nations, and conversely, that the Hasht Sacred State in the south possesses fervent believers even after the fall of the Pantheon. After all, the colder and more barren the environment, the more people cling to faith. Among such southern nations, the most likely land to be the motif for the 'Northern Grand Duke' cliché was precisely the Ostern Palatinate. In the past, the hero who fought against the invasions of southern barbarians and monsters to protect people, Gilbert Ostern. The Hasht Sacred State granted him the title of Count Palatine of Ostern in recognition of the hero's achievements, and Gilbert Ostern fulfilled his lifelong duties as the lord and protector of the palatinate. When Gilbert was alive, the palatinate was filled with knights and soldiers brimming with a sense of mission to protect humanity, and their loyalty and elite prowess was said to make barbarians tremble. However, the ruthlessness of time changes many things. The southern guardians who were once filled with pride and honor had long since transformed into pigs who merely adorned themselves with their ancestors' reputation like ornaments. The current Count Palatine of Ostern spent his days in debauchery without caring about his duty to guard the border, and his bedroom was filled with silk from the Liu Empire and precious metal ornaments from the Eizern Empire. From the training grounds where hot sweat and heat once lingered, now only the singing voices and drunken ramblings of knights drunk all night could be heard, and the emblem 'Shield of the South' that symbolized the holy knights had long since become a symbol of power used to extort tolls from merchants and eat for free at inns. The 4th outpost, located more than an hour south of the palatinate. This place, called the 'Bone Fragment Outpost' by soldiers because it was so cold they felt their bones would shatter, was also one of the places greatly affected by this corruption. A stone tower covered in white snow and ice. A metal door where skin would stick instantly if touched with bare hands. The first-floor warehouse that should have been filled with food and firewood was completely empty, filled only with dust and odds and ends, and the second-floor waiting room where a standby team should have existed showed no sign of human presence. Only two things on the third floor were fulfilling their role at this outpost. A massive bell that existed to alert the palatinate of danger even when beacon fires were useless due to blizzards. And beside that bell, a silver-haired girl with a blank expression looking at the scenery beyond the window. "......." The appearance of Morana, a soldier belonging to the Ostern Defense Force's Foreign Legion, was quite peculiar. An inner layer that clung to the skin to preserve body heat, and an outer layer to block the blowing snow and wind. Of the winter clothing that should have been worn as a complete set, only the inner layer was properly worn. The outer layer that should have been worn over it was sparse as if parts had fallen out here and there, and even the remaining parts didn't fit properly. She even had metal piercings in her ears, which would be enough to horrify others as something perfect for getting frostbite. However, the girl herself appeared calm as if she couldn't feel the cold at all. A place with no signs of human presence, no warmth, no shadow of civilization except for the girl herself. The only sound that could be heard was the snow scattering in the wind. How long had she been blankly staring at the scenery in that cold silence? As if breaking the white stillness, several shadows approached the tower. The visitors who roughly threw open the outpost door as if wanting to escape the wind as quickly as possible began climbing the stairs while voicing complaints. "Damn it, I'm freezing to death. This useless outpost serves no purpose, so why do we keep maintaining it?" "Why would it be useless? Do you know how much bribery the guys who've been here pay the Patrol Commander, begging to be excused from duty?" "Ugh, it's so dirty and petty, really. How can poor bastards live with such injustice? ...Huh?" The gazes of those causing the commotion met with Morana's. A brief silence fell among the soldiers who were dressed similarly to Morana, but unlike her makeshift half-outfit, they wore proper winter gear. One soldier who appeared to be their representative frowned and said. "Wasn't it Max's crew for our previous shift? Why are you here?" Morana answered indifferently. "I don't know. Originally, I should have been relieved by the next shift 24 hours ago, but no one came." "Ah, those fucking bastards. They ignored their duty and ran off. No wonder the warehouse was completely empty." The man showed his irritation. The regular duty personnel for the Bone Fragment Outpost was four people. Regular duty time was 24 hours. Two people would monitor the surroundings from the third floor, while two would rest in the waiting room and rotate with the third-floor personnel at regular intervals—this was the duty protocol. Morana had been guarding the outpost for two whole days without a single person to relieve her, but that wasn't the reason for the man's anger. "They should have properly stocked the warehouse, those bastards!!" Food and firewood needed during duty were brought along when the duty personnel moved to their guard posts. The custom was to bring not just one day's worth of food and firewood, but about twice that amount, in order to stockpile supplies in the warehouse for emergency situations when the outpost might become isolated due to severe weather. This was the result of what had once been the dedicated responsibility of priests and knights who regularly visited outposts for supply delivery being gradually shifted onto the soldiers. And as is typical with such haphazard administrative handling, soldiers rarely properly followed those protocols. Just walking back and forth for an hour's distance from headquarters on foot was already terrible suffering, so what kind of torment would it be to carry heavy loads on top of that? The soldiers who had each been spewing curses soon turned to look at Morana and said. "Don't you have anything left?" "I put the firewood in the warehouse. As for food—" Thud! The soldier roughly snatched the leather pouch that Morana held out. Inside were dried meat and grain powder, enough supplies for an ordinary person to last about a day. The soldier clicked his tongue as if disappointed. "Is this all?" Morana simply shrugged her shoulders without saying anything. Considering she had been on duty for two consecutive days, having any food left at all was a miracle, but the soldiers grumbled as if dissatisfied. "Didn't this woman eat everything that was in the warehouse?" "Does a monster even need human food in the first place? She could just go outside and hunt beasts." "Hey, do you have a sled or something? We'll ride it when we go back, so pull us along." Insulting words poured out one after another, but Morana didn't change her expression at all. At her emotionless and indifferent attitude where no feelings could be felt, the soldiers also felt uneasy and closed their mouths. She spoke to the soldier who had taken her food pouch. "You may take the contents, but please return the pouch." "Tch. Forget it. I'll catch something. Get lost." The soldier threw the pouch down as if disgusted, and Morana, who caught it, silently went down the stairs. When she opened the iron door on the first floor and came out, cold wind brushed against her face, but instead of covering her ears or shrinking back, she took a deep breath. Indeed, thinking that the cold without people was more comfortable. *** When Ostern's soldiers go on duty or return, they must report to the officer in charge of overseeing that day's border security. The officer in charge was rotated among Ostern's centurions, and today the person sitting in the officer's position was Hoffman, who was notorious for his strictness even among the centurions. "Foreign Legion soldier, Morana. Returning after completing duty at outpost number 4." "Right. Any incidents during duty... wait, hmm?" Centurion Hoffman's gaze busily moved back and forth between Morana's face and the duty roster. "Why are you returning now? What about Max's squad?" "I don't know. The next shift didn't come at the scheduled time." "Then you should have reported... ah, damn it." Hoffman stopped speaking. He seemed to realize in the middle of speaking that it was impossible. In the case of regular duty personnel, there are four people, so if an emergency occurs, they can split up to handle both duty and reporting, but if forced into solo duty like the Foreign Legion, such things are impossible. One cannot simply abandon the outpost to make a report, can they? "This is why we need to fill the Foreign Legion positions properly. Or at least install some means of communication." "......." "Never mind, return to base. I'll handle the aftermath myself." "Understood." Though she gave a reply, Morana didn't have much expectation for the 'handling' that Hoffman mentioned. If Max's squad had simply skipped duty without any plan, they would be destroyed by Hoffman's hands, but if someone of the same centurion rank was backing them up, it would probably pass with just a 'we'll be careful next time,' and if they had bribed the Patrol Commander who oversees border duty—someone higher up—the incident would be covered up without any warning. Additionally, regardless of which outcome occurred, there was no possibility that any compensation or apology would come to Morana. She was of the Foreign Legion. That is, she was a descendant of the barbarians that the hero Gilbert Ostern had defeated in the distant past.