“I wish to offer it as a dedication to the goddess, so please accept my sincerity.”

Moreover, the merchants who had been severely reprimanded by both Lydia and Luzan were eager to donate grain.

Though she wanted to clean out their warehouses completely for what they had done to the borderlands, that would be pushing the merchants too far into a corner.

Even after Lydia left the borderlands, the people there would still need to trade with these merchants.

Just because Arsen might become a margrave and gain control of the borderland territory didn’t mean the land would suddenly become fertile, so there was no benefit in souring relations.

“No, I’ll pay the proper price.”

“Pardon?”

“If I take everything, you won’t be able to do business for a while.”

For a small shop rather than a large merchant company, this would be quite a blow to their livelihood. And people pushed into a corner might do unpredictable things.

Just as Lydia, blinded by her sense of loss, had bought poison to feed to Giselle, who could predict what desperate actions these people might take if their livelihoods were threatened?

And Lydia didn’t want to push them that far off a cliff.

“I’m giving you a chance. You may have been momentarily blinded by gold and acted foolishly, but I hope you won’t do so in the future.”

What they had done wasn’t just a mistake but bordered on evil. However, Lydia’s attempted poisoning was also evil.

Though it never succeeded, the fact that she had put poison in Giselle’s tea was undeniable.

Yet she had been given a new chance like this.

So Lydia wanted to give these foolish people, like herself, at least one chance.

“Th-thank you, Priestess.”

“I’ll be watching you. You should be even more careful after I return to the capital. It’s easier to come to this Count’s territory than to travel from the capital to the borderlands.”

Of course, she wasn’t going to rely solely on their goodwill or sincerity.

“If by any chance something like this happens again, you shouldn’t plan on living. If even one person overcharges the borderlands, I’ll take collective responsibility and have everyone from Sir Luzan in the lord’s castle to all of you beheaded and displayed in the square. Understand?”

“Yes, yes, we’ll keep that in mind, Priestess.”

People need a certain amount of intimidation to change. Just as Lydia had only begun to act like a proper person after toiling like a slave in the labor camp.

Wielding both whip and carrot, Lydia bought everything she wanted and became quite pleased.

With seedlings and grains secured in abundance, the mood of the entire party, including Arsen, improved at the thought that the borderland people would no longer have to starve.

Kedrick was humming, and Mallan’s face was full of smiles.

Arsen too enjoyed a peaceful feeling he hadn’t felt in a long time and felt grateful to Lydia.

Since obtaining food and seeds was entirely thanks to Lydia, he resolved to let her buy whatever “large item” she wanted, regardless of what it was.

“Sir! That’s exactly what I want to buy!”

“Did you want to buy farming tools? Or a sword?”

“No, not those, but that entire thing. The entire blacksmith shop.”

“……”

He hadn’t expected it to be a blacksmith shop.

When Lydia had asked to be guided to the blacksmith, he’d assumed she wanted to buy farming tools or weapons.

After she had mentioned wanting to learn swordsmanship last time, he thought she might be buying a light sword that fit her body.

But what? Buy a blacksmith shop?

“Mi—, I mean, Priestess, what are you saying you want to buy?”

Kedrick pushed Arsen aside and came forward, asking as if he couldn’t believe his ears.

“The. Black. Smith. Shop.”

Lydia kindly pronounced each syllable clearly.

“It might be impossible to take the building as is, but if we break it into pieces and reassemble it, we could move it to the borderlands, don’t you think?”

As Lydia was measuring angles, Mallan hurriedly approached her.

“Young lady, there is already a blacksmith shop in the borderlands.”

“I know, but it’s too small.”

Too small to make what I want.

Lydia muttered to herself. In fact, while coming to the Count’s territory, Lydia had been wondering how to procure the items needed for mine development without arousing suspicion.

Although it hadn’t been determined whether it was a silver mine or a mana stone mine, Robert, who had examined the maps and soil of the borderlands, had diagnosed that it was more likely to be a mana stone mine.

And even if it wasn’t a mana stone mine but a silver mine, it would still be beneficial to develop it given the borderlands’ poor financial situation.

But you can’t dig a mine with bare hands, can you?

Pierce rocks with swords and dig out mana stones with hoes?

That wouldn’t work, so mining equipment had to be purchased, but doing so would obviously spread rumors about mine development in the borderlands.

Lydia intended to keep the borderland mine as secret as possible. Just like Count Brastelma had done in her past life at the labor camp, she wanted to develop it secretly and increase the borderlands’ wealth without the Emperor knowing.

In any case, whether developed secretly or openly, mining mana stones required a lot of equipment, and the tiny blacksmith shop in the borderlands couldn’t produce such equipment.

“Lydia, what do you plan to do with a blacksmith shop?”

“It has many uses. Why? Didn’t you say I could have anything I wanted? Have you changed your mind now, Sir?”

Lydia snorted, narrowing her eyes into triangles.

“No matter what you say, I’m buying it. I’ve always wanted my own blacksmith shop. I’ll put up a sign that says ‘Lydia’s Blacksmith Shop.'”

Making up a non-existent dream, Lydia strode into the blacksmith shop.

She had been about to give up, not knowing if she could buy a blacksmith shop or how much it would cost to transport it, but then Luzan had offered to cover all the boat fares.

She had to take advantage of this opportunity—when else would she have the chance?

“Careful, watch your step.”

Having done many things in his life but never having bought a blacksmith shop, Arsen was both perplexed about whether this purchase was even possible and distracted by Lydia recklessly moving through the dangerous space.

While he and the others might be fine if they tripped over the iron pieces scattered around the blacksmith shop, Lydia seemed likely to seriously injure her wrist or ankle if she fell.

His skin might be tough and covered in scars, but what about Lydia’s?

Thinking of her soft, thin skin that looked like it would bleed from the slightest scratch made Arsen’s brow furrow automatically.

“Wait, you shouldn’t touch things like that carelessly. You’ll get iron poisoning.”

“But Sir Kedrick is touching everything.”

Kedrick, who had been playing with a fallen nail, quietly put it down after receiving Arsen’s stern glare.

“Kedrick can handle a little iron poisoning.”

“I’m quite familiar with poison too. I drank it and didn’t die, so what’s the problem?”

What a heart-stopping statement. Arsen occasionally dreamed of Lydia reaching out to him while coughing up blood.

It had been such a striking scene. But not one he wanted to see again.

“If you keep doing dangerous things, I won’t let you buy the blacksmith shop.”

This time, Arsen sternly blocked Lydia as she strode toward the forge.

“If you keep contradicting yourself, I’ll lie down right here.”

But his words had no effect.

“You’ll really lie down?”

“……Mallan, go find the owner.”

In the end, it was Arsen who was defeated by Lydia’s threat.

* * *

While Mallan and Kedrick proceeded with negotiations to purchase the blacksmith shop, and the rest of the knights went to load some of the already purchased grain onto the ship, Lydia and Arsen headed to a salon run by Madame Morin.

They hadn’t gone there because they needed anything, but had hurriedly entered to rest as Lydia’s energy suddenly dropped.

However, for a place they had entered in such a hurry, the interior was pretty and the cake and tea delicious, so Lydia was generally satisfied.

“Sir Arsen, is sitting here for a while that boring to you?”

The only downside was that her companion across the table didn’t even touch his cake and kept looking around.

“I’m not bored.”

It was an honest answer. Arsen wasn’t bored.

Since rumors had spread that Lydia carried diamonds, mercenaries of unknown origin had begun lurking around her.

Until now, they hadn’t approached because other knights were present, but they might think this was their chance with only Arsen remaining, so he maintained heightened vigilance.

So he scrutinized everyone who entered the salon, looking at their appearance, and glanced outside to check if there were any suspicious people nearby.

At the same time, he had to respond appropriately to what Lydia was saying, so he had no time to be bored.

“Tsk, just admit you’re bored.”

“I’m not. Do I look bored to you?”

“Yes, completely. You keep looking outside. This feels like total neglect.”

Since she wasn’t actually upset, Lydia playfully pouted her lips.

“Neglect? That’s quite unfair.”

This too was an honest answer.

Neglect? You have no idea how focused I am on you, and you call it neglect.

“What should I do to not neglect you?”

“Hmm, how about you feed me some cake?”

As she said this, Lydia winked at Arsen.

Come on, pretend to hate it. Ask me, ‘Do you not have hands? Do you not have a fork?’ Come on, hurry!

“Cake? Which one? The one with strawberries on top, or the peach one?”

Like the swordsman he was, Arsen neatly cut the cake with his fork. Then he held it out to Lydia, but instead of opening her mouth, she gritted her teeth and muttered.

“Sir, if you keep being so uncooperative, I’m going back to the blacksmith shop and lying down again.”

With this level of non-cooperation, how could they proceed?

They had clearly agreed that Lydia would chase and Arsen would run away. She even set signals and planned what expressions and lines to use, so why did Arsen keep ruining the plan every time?