Chapter 14

Aside from the mere reduction in agricultural products available for sale and the rising prices in local markets, it also had to be considered that with a decrease in available tools and at least four employees who had gone through a traumatic experience and a need to recover from any after-effects, the remaining available workers would have to increase their efforts to ensure a good harvest, which could entail an increase in salary according to the workload.

And the worst part is that even then, their efforts to grow more crops might not be as profitable as before, as they'd be losing a lot of money with a significant salary increase. Just imagine: What good would it do to harvest 30 tomatoes worth 10 silver coins if you lost one gold coin to grow that single crop?

Profitability was very important in any business.

This is a pain

Now that Arisella thought about it, there were many other reasons to worry about the future aftermath of the recent incident.

While the fact that food prices within Taylan had risen due to the massive loss of crops and tools experienced by Runei Farm was an irrefutable fact, it should also be noted that even with professionals on the job, other Farms may not experience their own internal problems that affect their important agricultural production.

In fact, no one would be surprised if this were the case.

For example, one of the 12 farms could suddenly be invaded by a variety of small insects, damaging the crops they'd worked so hard to cultivate due to a lack of effective insecticides, or the animals they raised could suddenly fall ill. Of course, that would also affect how much they could sell to the rest of the village.

Normally, the large number of farming families with their own private land would maintain a certain balance in sales. But if one of those families experienced a setback of this magnitude, and the others also began to show signs of internal problems similar to those she had anticipated... that would be terrible.

No, stop thinking about that. I don't want it to come true.

She almost sighed in worry at the thought. Fortunately, she hadn't lost any spiritual power, which meant her ability didn't activate this time.

It seems that my false prophecies have to be expressed verbally to be activated, maybe...?

Come to think of it, Astrian only came for Yulia after she expressed in a mocking whisper how great it would be to be rescued by a knight in shining armor and well.... Astrian was a literal knight in shining armor.... on the battlefield that is....

Arisella entertained these thoughts while conversing with Lady Runei.

Leaving aside certain details, Arisella had quickly begun to explain the many reasons why she needed to have the Runei be the ones to sell the magical beast parts to the Silver Lion Caravan one by one to almost the entire family and in the end, she sighed, "If you understand what I mean by this, then you will accept ownership of these materials for the Silver Lion Caravan to sell. You guys must obtain what you need from them to quickly restore your normal activities as much as possible to reduce the damage this incident might bring to the village…"

“I understand, Lady Bluen. I had never thought of that before, but thanks to you, I now see that the repercussions of this matter are too great to be treated lightly… Although it weighs heavily on my heart that we have to use all the materials extracted from that body despite you being the one who disposed of it, we have no choice if we want to ensure the stability of the town.”

Mrs. Runei sighed deeply as she finished saying that.

“It’s good that you understand, then…” Arisella, after saying that, shifted her gaze slightly to Natha while smiling, “Since we’re done with this matter, I’ll return to my carriage for now. In the meantime, Amelia, stay with your family for now and when things around here are calmer, come with her so we can leave…”

“¡Arisella!”

“My baby!”

Before he could even finish speaking and Amelia could nod to his words, the loud and worried voice of a man and the tearful voice of a woman called her, causing her to turn around and look back in surprise as she thought, Baby? Who!?

Like a dog eager to be reunited with its master, John Asher ran briskly towards Arisella, followed by Alica, who was running almost alongside him, only with a noticeable lack of breath.

When he reached her, he immediately took her in his arms and stared at her with those blue eyes, full of concern, while the Runei women exclaimed in low voices and covered the curious eyes of little Natha.

“Are you okay!? Did you get hurt while fighting that monster they keep talking about!?”

“Are you…ugh…hurt!?”

For a moment, Arisella was unable to respond to the two as she unconsciously stared at John's muscular upper torso which, due to his labored breathing, moved in a manner quite attractive to her eyes.

Was it because he was a third-rate professional, or simply because, since it was partly a romance novel, the handsome men of this world were supposed to have perfect muscles? John's well-trained body looked like one some random guy from some isolated village shouldn't have.

The sweat running down his well-defined muscles from his quick run and the heat of the sun was quite sensual too…and the smell…

Wow, I quite like what I see… She, somewhat excited, sniffed a little.  And I smell…

“¿¡Arise!?”

“Oh? Yeah, I'm fine. As you can see, I'm perfect.”

“…Is that so?” John almost seemed like he wanted to check every corner of her body to confirm it right now, but fortunately, he wasn’t stupid enough to try something as inappropriate as that, whether or not people were around. The two of them hadn’t had sex yet, after all…

What the hell was I thinking a few seconds ago? Although I can't deny I liked what I saw... hahaha, it seems I really do like handsome men...

She couldn't help but feel strange about it, considering the memories of her past life. There was a corner of her mind that was clearly uncomfortable with her taste for beautiful, strong boys, a remnant of her life as Amael Parker.

If I think about it, would it be a bad idea to meet Astrian head on when I'm apparently weak to strong and handsome men? …Would I fall in love with him or something…?

Having described Astrian as the most handsome man in the entire north, possibly the entire Empire, Arisella had good reason to be worried. Just looking at John in his nightgown while he embraced her in his strong arms was enough to evoke dirty thoughts, after all… And what about Astrian?

Wow, now that I think about it, how did I manage to stay a virgin if I get those kinds of ideas from just this level of physical contact? Although you can't deny the visual and olfactory appreciation either...

Her feminine side says this is pretty cool and almost salivates, while her masculine side feels like breaking a wall because of this.

“Arisella? Are you really okay?” John asked again anxiously, while on the other side Alica, who a moment ago had approached both of them but could only breathe with difficulty due to the exercise, smiled with a dirty look having noticed Arisella's red cheeks.

“Hehe, you should calm down, John. It’s pretty obvious that Arisella is healthy enough to be excited by a passionate hug like that.”

Arisella wanted to break away from John and hit that aunt of hers on the head. What's she saying in front of everyone?

“Huh? What do you mean?” the brown-haired man asked uncertainly, looking at his girlfriend.

“Uh…? No, I mean, where have you been after this ruckus started!?”

“I just found out about the magical beast invasion, as my hunting party and I immediately headed to the church after finding a lost Nox girl in the forest.” Looking around, John whispered with a serious expression.

“A Nox girl?”

What would a Nox be doing in the Argos Forest?

“Yes.” John’s eyes looked a little sad for a few seconds as he continued, “Apparently, the magical beast you killed all those who had kidnapped her and other Nox, before proceeding to murder her racial kin. According to her, the sacrifice of several of those Nox allowed her to survive the initial rush, but that monster followed her here….Arisella?”

John exclaimed in concern when he saw Arisella's face suddenly turn very pale.

No…it can’t be…no way…

She sincerely prayed that what she thought was not true.

“Hello again, I’m recharged and ready for my heavenly mission!”

At that moment, the idiot cloud claiming to be a system assistant suddenly reappeared with a cheerful voice and a smug expression, and Arisella just looked at her with a look of bewilderment and disgust in her eyes.

Now you're showing up!? Go away!

Puzzled and genuinely disgusted, the cloud blinked before huffing and disappearing into nothingness, annoyed.

♦♦♦♦

Inside Arisella's personal carriage.

At this moment, the prophetess was sitting in a large, rather luxurious-looking chair with Alica to her left and John on the other side. The interior was quite beautiful, so much so that even a very wealthy earl would be embarrassed at not having anything comparable, though none of those present had any idea of ​​that.

As for the reason John was on Arisella's other side instead of next to her? Obviously, it wasn't because of a lack of space, but because she wanted to keep staring at those well-trained muscles of his.

Of course, he was currently unable to admit such a thing.

“Arisella, you look like you're going to ogle John's pecs. For someone who talks about maintaining her purity until marriage, aren't you a little too hungry right now?”

“What the hell are you talking about, Aunt Alica!?”

“Oh come on…John, tell me you didn’t notice how Arisella’s eyes seemed to look at your body with desire dripping from her eyes….”

John's cheeks turned red at those suggestive words from the Cleric of Aphrodite before shaking his head in disagreement, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

“Really?” Alica looked at him as if he were pathetic.

“Can we please stop talking nonsense? You’re getting on my nerves for all the wrong reasons.” Arisella placed a hand on her forehead, irritated with this pervert. “I want to know more about the Nox girl you were talking about, John.”

She was particularly worried about that. Especially…the matter of the Nox's death.

“….“

The hunter maintained a brief, serious silence, his hands clasped as he made a new one, before answering his lover with a sigh, “It was a most strange situation. Me and the others were out hunting, mainly to clear my head of…uh…”

The atmosphere inside the carriage turned strange as Arisella recalled that incident, her expression growing more distorted by the second, disgust evident in her eyes. John immediately regretted bringing up the subject, while Alica's look in his direction was very…

“A-anyway, in the midst of our effort to capture a rather elusive animal within the forest, one of us mistook a Nox Child for prey and shot her, wounding her leg. After a brief discussion, we immediately took her to the Church. Afterwards, when she finally woke up, Alica spoke to her and that's how we learned that she was being chased by a magical beast…imagine my surprise to hear that this thing invaded not only the village, but also that you personally went out to kill it…. I regret not having been there to help…”

Although he had begun speaking hastily to lighten the mood, as he reached the part where he learned that his lover had put himself at risk to protect the village, his countenance visibly fell.

“Oh…don’t worry so much about it John, you just wanted to help a little girl who was hurt and anyway the church was quite far from where everything happened anyway…”

"But…"

“Don’t push it, okay? Everything’s fine… Or are you just that bothered that you couldn’t handle the situation the way a man should? Did I hurt your male pride?”

Hearing her say such a thing with a mocking tone and a smile, John also smiled as he scratched his head. “No, my male pride isn’t hurt. I’m just bothered by the idea that you might have been hurt, that’s all. Isn’t it normal to worry about my lover’s well-being?”

“…Is that so?” Arisella stopped smiling as those words struck a chord within her. Although her feminine side still felt a strong attraction to John, her masculine side still struggled with the idea of ​​being paired with a man…especially one so handsome that he put men like Amael to shame.

John was everything Amael Parker could have wished to be in his past life. He was strong, strong enough to run from the distant church to Runei Farm with barely a sweat (Alica must be commended for keeping up with him) and capable enough to smash a tree with his bare hands.

He was also very handsome, having been very popular with many of the young women in the village. Certainly, as was to be expected from the older brother of the beautiful Lucelle, his attractiveness was not something others in the village could compare to.

And above all… his tall height and those strong muscles that urged his feminine side to act on its instincts was something Amael Parker could never have acquired due to the delicate constitution he was born with.

That's why, apart from an inevitable attraction, Arisella also felt...inferiority.

As strange as it may seem, Arisella felt inferior to John, and she didn't like it. The remnant of what made the man named Amael Parker in her soul felt a strong envy of John, a very petty envy that just means a small man with low self-esteem who constantly compares himself to other men much better in appearance and status.

Although John was only a hunter, he was a Third-Rank Professionist, capable of hunting dangerous magical beasts if he was willing to venture outside and risk the dangers. Not to mention that high-ranking Combat Professionists are welcome in many cities; compared to Amael, they were worlds apart…

If Arisella had to live next to such a man, she would likely have to deal with the conflicting feelings of attraction, inferiority, and envy fighting for dominance in her heart. Just imagining it seemed stressful…and Arisella wasn't up for it.

Speaking of which, I guess I could never fall in love with Astrian if I felt this way about John…

A bitter smile spread across his face. Astrian von Aswort was a far more handsome and powerful man than John, not to mention his social standing as a sovereign placed him almost as high as the gods in heaven. Amael may have designed him as his masculine ideal, but precisely that remnant of the Author of this strange world would be far more envious of him.

I didn't see how I could overcome that...

“Arisella?” While thinking about these things, John and Alica looked at Arisella cautiously, the cleric following the hunter with a worried voice, “What’s wrong, dear? Are you tired from using most of your mana to take down the magical beast? Does your head hurt from the strain?”

“Oh…no, my magic power is still at half. It’s just…I’m seriously considering something.” That’s what the prophetess said, while in the end she just looked at John in silence.

“What…what is…?” For some reason John couldn’t explain, he suddenly felt a bad feeling. Alica also remained silent, looking at the two of them with uncertainty in her beautiful green eyes.

The silence stretched for a few seconds inside the carriage…until Arisella finally decided to speak, her expression filled with guilt but determination that couldn't be extinguished.

“John…I’m sorry, but we have to end our relationship, today.”

The hunter remained expressionless. Or rather, his expression froze, unable to properly process those unexpected and completely unheard-of words.

The cleric was also stunned by this, unable to believe what had just come out of her daughter's mouth, until she was finally the one who responded in complete disbelief.

“What!? What are you talking about!? Why all of a sudden!? Weren’t you ogling John’s exquisite upper body muscles just now?!”

“…Should I believe that you were doing the same thing to say such a thing?”

“Yeah, what's up with that!? You know I really like handsome men too. Don't tell me you're getting jealous after saying something as ridiculous as ending their relationship!? What are you thinking!?”

Brazenly admitting to having looked lustfully at her daughter's (ex) lover, Alica continued to demand an explanation while John's CPU had yet to properly process the situation. Looking at him with a complicated expression, Arisella whispered.

“Well, Auntie… Do you remember what we were talking about earlier? About what I need to do to keep everyone safe from danger?”

“You mean… that crazy idea of ​​yours to meet Duke Aswort in person?”

“It’s not crazy. I’ve already explained to you the reasons why I have to go.”

“Yes, although I still don't really agree! And none of this explains why you want to split up with John!”

“There’s a very good reason!”

“Which is it!?” Alixa demanded, and Arisella answered her.

“It might take a year to carry out what I'm planning for the Duchy of Aswort, and a long-distance relationship would never work! We have no choice but to separate for the time being while I'm away!”

It was a very weak excuse for wanting to break up a relationship, and Arisella knew it; in fact, everyone here could tell (although John still had some glitches in his speech processor or something). As proof, Alica, her own kind aunt, looked at her like she was an idiot.

"Is that all you can come up with to explain your actions? Really?"

“Of course I do,” Arisella quickly replied, her confidence suddenly dawning at the logical explanation she came up with in the heat of the moment for failing in a long-distance relationship, “I’ll never know if John will sleep with another woman if I’m away anyway! Instead of worrying needlessly about it, I might as well cut it off right now and live peacefully while doing my own thing, right? That way, even if he has a short relationship with someone else, it wouldn’t be infidelity!”

Alica's expression was one that she had heard something completely absurd.

“Arisella… Didn’t you say that by awakening your spiritual potential you had ascended to a Fifth-Rank Prophetess!? How would it be possible for a prophetess of your level not to foresee whether your partner would one day cheat on you!? Explain that!”

In truth, what Alica just said had almost as many logical flaws as Arisella's argument. After all, the relationship would still end if Arisella could have foreseen whether John was capable of something like that... However, that was enough to make Arisella hesitate for a moment, which was enough for the cleric, who looked at her in disappointment.

"Don't tell me you're splitting up with John to go with a clear heart to find a powerful and handsome husband? Did I raise you to be a green tea bitch who hunts down another woman's lover?"

“What!?” Before Arisella could properly respond to her aunt’s obvious misunderstanding, John exclaimed, finally snapping out of his daze. Hearing Alica ask his (Ex?) lover if her reasons for abandoning him were because they desired a better match reminded him of the conversation he had with the cleric earlier, and he felt his anger rise to his head.

“Are you leaving me because you want to find another man with a partner?!”

“No way!” Arisella exclaimed in exasperation, placing a hand on her forehead as the headache ached as she thanked Lucelle for the magic charms to prevent eavesdropping from outsiders, “I’m only going to the Duchy’s capital to prevent the disaster that would befall Taylan if I don’t do something!”

“And how do you know that if you’re a low-ranking prophetess!?” The hunter asked a quite reasonable question while he was agitated, unconsciously releasing some of his spiritual pressure due to losing control of his emotions.

Feeling the spiritual pressure on their bodies, Alica frowned and seemed to want to do something.

However, Arisella got there first, glaring coldly at John, releasing her own spiritual pressure. Her Soul power easily overwhelmed John's, and even Alica was affected, forcing them both to calm down due to the natural intimidation that comes with facing a much higher-ranking Professionist.

“That’s because… I’m now a Fifth Rank Professional!”

“…H-how!?” Feeling Arisella’s spiritual pressure making his own pale, John turned pale as he gasped in disbelief. He didn’t understand what was happening at all. Alica too, could now fully confirm that Arisella was, in fact, a Fifth-Rank Prophetess.

“I awakened my hidden spiritual potential…” She spoke softly as she looked at him with a frown on her beautiful face, “….And I predicted that a disaster would strike our entire village if I don’t ask the Duke himself for help to resolve it. That’s why I needed to leave for the capital of Aswort, to protect the village. So John, there you have the reason why I’m leaving, so don’t you dare use that on me again. Remember…I can also use high-level magic.”

Arisella was angry at how John used his power, unconsciously or not, over her, and she didn't need to hear his threatening words to know it. John wanted to apologize, but what came out of his mouth was something entirely different.

“And why…and why would you supposedly take so long on this self-imposed mission of yours that we’d even have to break off our relationship? And why do you specifically need to meet with that duke of all people!?”

“It’s none of your business.” Arisella crossed her arms as she withdrew her spiritual pressure.

“But you said the town we live in…!” John wanted to continue, but Arisella raised her hand, stopping him.

“Even so, you don’t need to know. No one needs to know why. I’ll simply go alone and resolve this troubling matter on my own, so there’s no reason for me to explain my full plans to anyone. I’ll leave you both back at the church to take care of that Nox girl. As for you, Aunt Alica…” The prophetess just glanced at the cleric out of the corner of her eye, “Don’t call me a green tea bitch. I’m not someone who’d go out of her way to steal another woman’s man, and I repeat, I’m not interested in marrying a Duke or any other man from outside the village. Keep this nonsense to yourself if you can’t let go of the thought, because nothing will change what I have to do, and the last thing I need is for such an absurd misunderstanding to be an obstacle. If you understand me and if you truly respect my decisions as an adult, you’ll let the matter rest. The same goes for you, John.”

The cleric looked away, embarrassed by those terse words, which rightly accused her of acting and speaking rashly due to senseless thoughts. As for John, he wanted to continue the discussion about the breakup, but Arisella's expression dissuaded him from doing so as she sat back sadly in her seat, her gaze filled with defeat.

This is...

Arisella didn't know why, but apart from a slight feeling of guilt that arose from seeing John in that state after breaking off their relationship in that way, she also had a strange and twisted satisfaction in seeing him depressed over the sudden breakup with her.

Am I happy that a handsome man looks so depressed about breaking up with a beauty (Me)…? Boy, you really were a very small man, Amael Parker. Small and sad.

Unintentionally mocking her past self that still lingered within her, Arisella shook her head and let out a sigh.