Finally after a few more days of being stuck in the capital, I was finally given the chance to return.
The event that caught everyone's attention was…a monster wave.
This was a monster wave in the south, far away from my own territory, so it wouldn't bother me.
But for the other nobles, especially those that didn't have any territory at all, this was their chance.
As long as they performed some form of merit, they would have the chance to be awarded territory or other benefits.
And as for the higher rank nobles, they would be able to benefit as well since they had much stronger troops, so it wouldn't be as risky for them to send their troops to kill their monsters.
In short, it became a race to kill as many monsters as they could and reap as many benefits as they could.
So they all forgot about Zwein and the elves for now.
Another thing to note was that there was also an influx of adventurers that also headed to the south after hearing about the monster wave.
With the fervor that they demonstrated, it really reminded me of a gold rush back in my previous world.
As soon as a speck of gold was discovered, everyone would rush to the area in search of that gold.
Of course, that gold that they were rushing to get were the monsters that they would have to fight. This gold wouldn't be that easy for them to obtain, but that didn't deter them.
At the same time, I really couldn't help giving a sigh when seeing how worked up everyone was.
Back then, our town had also been attacked by a monster wave, but there wasn't a single person who came to help.
That was because that monster wave hadn't been reported to the king yet and there wasn't an official decree to wipe it out. If it had wiped out our town, then everyone would have rushed to subdue that monster wave just like now.
In fact, this monster wave had already decimated several towns in the south which opened up territory to develop which made everyone even more excited.
It seemed that without benefits, no one was willing to move…
That was a sobering thought since it made me remember that it was a dangerous job being a noble. You were surrounded by other nobles that wanted to rise above you and you always had to be careful around them, not knowing who to trust.
Living as a commoner didn't bring the same level of wealth as living as a noble, but one would be able to live a fulfilling life as long as they were willing to work hard.
As for being a noble, one received a proportional amount of danger to the amount of wealth they received.
So there was always a trade off for everything.
I was just happy that I would be able to return to my territory soon where it would be safe.
Being in the capital was like swimming in shark infested waters. Then add in the connection that I had with the elves that the nobles wanted, it was like swimming in shark infested waters with a chum bucket in hand.
It was just a good thing that I had a shark cage known as Shadow Garden protecting me or else it would have been very bad for me.
As I sat there in the carriage heading towards my territory, I couldn't help narrowing my eyes to look at the two in front of me.
Well, it wasn't really Shaka that I had a problem with since he was working for me in the first place.
It was Scar who was sitting beside Shaka that I had a problem with.
After glaring at him for a bit, I said, "Shouldn't you have stayed in the capital? Aren't there things for you to do there?"
This might have seemed rude, but at this point, it didn't matter.
We had already gotten close enough to speak that way with each other, even if we hadn't wanted to become that close.
That was just how it was being stuck together for so long in the capital.
Scar just said with a smile, "I'm going to conduct an inspection of your territory, that's why I'm coming with you."
My eyes filled with even more doubt as I narrowed them to look at Scar.
He just had that calm smile on his face without showing a single sign of cracking.
As expected of someone that worked in espionage, he really could keep a poker face on at all times.
After a bit of silence, I said, "Then does the boss know that you're doing this?"
He calmly said, "As you should know already, other than when we're on missions, Shadow Garden members are given quite a bit of freedom to act however they want. I'm not currently on a mission, so there's no reason for me to do anything specific."
He really was good at making up excuses, but I heard him mutter, "Like I would stay there and clean up that mess."
I couldn't help revealing a bitter smile when I heard this.
The mess that he was referring to was the combined assault from the nobles in regards to me. Since Shadow Garden had stated that they would protect me, they started bombarding Shadow Garden.
But at the same time, Shadow Garden wasn't a unified organization in the first place.
It was a place where nobles gathered for their own ambitions, so there were those in Shadow Garden that also wanted to use me and my connection to the elves.
As the boss, Boss Bunny had to deal with all of this.
Scar was also pulled in since he was my superior, but now he was running away from the capital and leaving this all to Boss Bunny.
It was certain that he would get his comeuppance when he returned, but he just wasn't thinking about that right now.
But as a final note, Scar added, "You'll also need a bit of protection on the way back, so that's why I'm here."
I slightly knitted my brows when I heard this.
I was a bit doubtful that they would do anything to me now, but he wouldn't have said that for no reason…so there had to be a reason why he said this.
It seemed like I couldn't let my guard down on this trip.