Peter stormed home immediately after discovering the culprit who had ruined the garden. His face was contorted with anger, a sight that frightened Allen when he saw it. "What's wrong, Peter? Why do you look so angry?" Allen asked

"Why did you ask that?! Of course it's because someone is trying to poison the children with their thoughts! Almost every land manager here has a wife and children, and each of their children is likely destroying the fields."

"The-then?"

"Don't you understand Allen! It could have been Pascoe who ruined the fields too!"

"Huh?! Wait! You can't just jump to conclusions!"

"You know how hard it is to grow those potatoes. You should be just as upset as I am, Allen! When I found out that it was probably my son who pissed you off, my blood boiled!"

"What the hell is that?! I told you that I had no problem with those potatoes. Everything is fine, and I'm not upset!"

"Liar! After all you've done and shown such hope in wanting to see the results of what you planted, I can't help but sympathize with your disappointed face this morning!"

"OK!"

Allen came forward to stop Peter, who continued to walk on.

"I was indeed upset. That's true. But please think carefully, don't just get mad at your son just because of my annoyance.

We must first ask Pascoe if he really had a hand in this destruction.

I have a good sense of whether someone is lying or not. So let's calm down and ask him nicely first."

After hearing that, Peter let out a long sigh and regained his composure.

"Alright, let's ask first."

They went straight home and asked Pascoe about it.

"Eh?! No, I haven't spoken to Mr. Wyncall since I played with Allen!"

"Is that really true? You didn't lie, right?" asked Peter.

"That's true! I couldn't kill a dog, so I felt that Mr. Wyncall probably hated me and had given up on me. Luckily there was Allen, so I could continue learning swordplay with him."

Peter breathed a sigh of relief, glad his son had nothing to do with that person.

"What's wrong with Mr. Wyncall?" asked Iva.

"He's the one who caused this tragedy. They say he told the children to destroy the garden."

"EH?! REALLY?!" shouted Pascoe.

"From the soldiers' reactions, it looks like that Wyncall isn't even one of Barkaley's soldiers."

"B-but he's wearing the same clothes as the soldiers here," said Pascoe.

"Are clothes like that hard to find?" asked Allen.

"You can ask a tailor to make them, but to use official clothes without the consent of the nobility is punishable by death."

"So, everything Mr Wyncall has said to us is a lie?" Pascoe said.

"From now on, you should talk everything to whom you were talking, to whom you are friends with, and what are you doing outside, understood?!" Peter said.

"O-okay.."

...

Allen returned to Rodion's place and told him about what happened at the estate.

"That man might be a spy," Rodion said.

"Spy?"

"It means an outside intruder who wants to get information from his opponent."

"What do you think about this? Master."

"It's quite serious. It's normal for a spy to enter every city. But since he's getting in on the action, we should be wary of his actions.

Most likely, his goal is to reduce the food supply. By reducing the food supply, the nobleman will leave with the soldiers, leaving this place with his secretary.

Perhaps this estimate of mine sounds exaggerated. Doing so will lead you to an obvious conclusion.historical

He wants to starve everyone here. If everyone starved, including the soldiers, this region would lose its defenses."

"Isn't that... really dangerous?"

"Yes, I told you. If someone, some party, or something attacks this region, then this region will lead to the end."

"If this region is destroyed, this tavern will also be destroyed?"

"That's right."

"Then we can't stand idly by. Master! Tell me what to do!"

Rodion turned to Allen, his brow furrowed in suspicion, "This has nothing to do with the reciprocation you asked earlier, right? Because it's useless, and if something happened to this city, we just need to run."

By reciprocity, Rodion referred to his desire to apologize to the families of those he had taken from them. Though it was a difficult task to undertake, Allen believed that it was a necessary step in order to gain their forgiveness.

However, Rodion argued that if Allen truly believed in the power of forgiveness, he would not use it to improve his image. Doing so would be nothing more than a hollow and hypocritical act.

Rodion suggested that Allen should focus on saving lives and helping those in need based on his feelings rather than trying to manipulate others into forgiving him. After all, true forgiveness should come from the heart, not because they are forced to.

"No, I'm not doing it because of the people here alone, but because I want to keep this tavern. I want to see the smiles of my customers again.

I.. wanted to help everyone not just because I need forgiveness but because I know everyone has the right to live, and if I know something could take that life from them, I can't just stand and watch them die."

Rodion looked at Allen again, and then he regretted asking that question earlier.

Actually, even if Allen planned to make everyone forgive him, Rodion wouldn't have minded. Because in the end, Allen would do everything he could to save people.

'Saving people... huh?' Rodion thought. He remembered when he first met Allen.

His face was gloomy, downcast, and wet, followed by soulless red eyes that looked like they would burn everything in the world. Allen, who used to not hesitate to slash his sword into people's necks, was now trying to save everyone.

"All you need to do is cook," Rodion answered as he continued peeling the potatoes.

"Cook?!"

"That's right. If my assumption about the spy is true, what do you think the spy's next move should be now?"

"Waiting for his friends to arrive?"

"Wrong; the spy is now waiting for the people and soldiers of the kingdom to starve. If they starve, they won't have the strength to fight the troops that might attack us."

"That means..."

"Yes, we need to energize everyone during the water month. That way, even the spy will think twice about sending his signal to his friends who will attack. I guess that's my prediction about this incident."

"Prediction..."

'Master said so, but it seems like he's pretty sure of his conclusion.' Allen looked at Rodion, who was working with an admiring gaze and said, 'Master is really great; he really knows everything every time I ask him.'

"The spy doesn't know about your scarf's ability to duplicate things; your ability is more useful than you thought. You really could erase the famine in this world."