My wife is an immortal black snake.

Page 109

"Hello, officer. Is this an upscale residential area?"

Ms. Kelsey approached the police officer and politely inquired about the situation. However, the officer hesitated for a moment, then gave a response that left Ms. Kelsey stunned:

"What? A noble residential area? Aside from those two or three good nobles, the only nobles left in our territory are Lord Kosiché?"

"...what?"

A duchy has at least 30 minor and middle-ranking nobles, but what did he just say?

Aside from the Duke of Kosice, now there are only... two? Three?

This is how the same thing?

Kelsey suddenly found herself unable to understand what was going on with this duchy. Had the nobles ceased to be nobles and transformed into merchants? Thinking this, she pressed on with her question:

"They will become great businessmen, or perhaps..."

But before she could finish speaking, the clearly somewhat rude policeman just gave an awkward laugh and said:

"Ah, madam, you're new here, aren't you? Newcomers are bound to be unaware of what's happening here... In short, almost all the minor and middle-class nobles here are dead, and those big merchants who monopolized consumer goods and other necessities during the economic crisis have also been purged by the Duke and her husband! And were you just asking if this is a noble residential area?"

"Ah...yes." What's going on? The nobles and merchants have all been purged? No...is this really Ursus?

"No, that's not it. This is the lower city area, a place that used to house the poor and those with little money—but it's being redeveloped now, and soon, I reckon those poor souls who used to live in tiny bungalows or even in sewers will be living in clean houses. Honestly, I'm really envious. I have to pay a lot for rent, it's so great that they can live here for free..."

"And those schools...?" Building new houses for the slums? And it sounds like they're free?

"I don't really understand this either, but my husband, the Duke, said that he'll be providing some kind of basic education facility for all of our school-aged children to learn to read... I trust that man completely, but it's just too difficult. Besides, we're in the lower city, so even if teachers do come, I guess they'll be in the central area..."

"...Going to school? That makes sense, the cost of school is—"

Finally, there's a place that understands.

Kelsey breathed a sigh of relief, but before she could feel the grounded comfort of her feet on solid ground again, the rude policeman cut her off before she could explain herself.

"Ah, the adults said it's free, and anyone of the right age can go. And it seems they'll keep teaching until... 16 or 14? I don't really understand these things... but it's much better than sending the kids to work early or letting them run wild in the streets..."

They crammed yet another thing she couldn't understand into her mind.

"...ha?"

Is this some kind of paradise on earth?

Ms. Kelsey blinked dryly, wondering if she had suddenly found herself in a strange new world.

Chapter 236

After politely bidding farewell to the police, Lady Kal'tsit almost impatiently picked up her luggage and hailed a taxi with an empty cabin. She had brought plenty of hard currency with her, but also some Imperial Rubles—because she had assumed that even if the economy began to recover during the economic crisis, taxis or other shops in the Duchy of Kosiché would probably not accept Imperial Rubles, but only gold or other hard currency.

But things didn't go as planned. When Kal'tsit asked the car owner if she could trade for Imperial Rubles, she received a prompt reply. She found it somewhat unbelievable... but Kal'tsit still stuffed her luggage into the trunk and got into the back seat.

"Why am I willing to accept Imperial Rubles? Well... how should I put it? It's all thanks to Lord Kosichä and my husband, the Duke! Everyone is now full of confidence in Duke's Coins and Imperial Rubles... Although we may not be able to conduct normal transactions with Imperial Rubles for a while, we all believe that Ursus will emerge from this crisis and that the Imperial Rubles will continue to be used—so I'm willing to accept your Imperial Rubles, although the price might be a bit higher, is that alright?"

"Of course. But could you tell me about the Duke of Kosice and what kind of people she and her husband are?"

"of course can."

Kal'tsit wouldn't mind paying more if the driver could really reveal the information she was interested in—after all, Lady Kal'tsit had done her homework before coming, and she knew what Duke Kosichä meant in Ursus. Therefore, she was very interested in Duke Kosichä's current policies in his territory, as well as her husband.

And taxi drivers, as expected of being among the most well-informed people, quickly brought up a topic that interested Kal'tsit.

"If you're referring to Lord Kosiché, she is... a member of the Felin tribe. Since the previous Duke Kosiché left us due to assassination, the current Duke Kosiché and her husband took office together. Ah, I don't mean to disparage the previous Duke Kosiché, because their governing methods seem quite similar... As taxi drivers, we know some inside information."

"So..."

“Yes, just like you think! The current Duke of Koschei’s husband is the man who changed our duchy!” The taxi driver said with some pride as he drove. “If it weren’t for the Duke’s husband establishing new policies for us, perhaps the Duke of Koschei would be like other duchies, with people still starving to death... Sigh, but it’s still better than the neighboring Duke of Nikolai.”

"...I'm very curious about the gentleman you mentioned. But who's better than the Duke of Nikolai next door?"

"Madam, you must be from out of town? No wonder... To put it simply, the Duchy of Nikolai next door is a cannibal."

"eat human?"

Does that mean their nobles are terrible? Lady Kal'tsit frowned, about to say something, when she saw the taxi driver stop at a red light.

“Just a few weeks ago, or maybe a little while ago, a group of nobles from the Duchy of Nikolai smuggled themselves into our city through some strange means…”

"smuggling?"

"Yes. They... I don't know if other territories have seen similar newspapers. In short, many people died in our territory; they were eaten alive."

"...I've seen similar things elsewhere, but those weren't published in..."

Wasn't it published in...horror stories, or ghost tales?

Ms. Kelsey couldn't utter the last few words. Because she noticed... the taxi driver, taking advantage of the moment he stopped, took out several stacks of newspapers from the front, roughly sorted through them, and handed one to Ms. Kelsey.

"Please take a look, ma'am."

"...Thanks."

Kal'tsit frowned as she examined the newspaper. The outdated paper contained a lot of information, but the most prominent headlines featured two news items.

One of the news items is about the assassination of an important member of the Duke of Kosice's household.

The other document was a news report about the execution of nobles who had smuggled themselves into the Duchy of Nikolai.

"His Majesty the Emperor was on an incognito visit at the time... Alas, I don't know why those madmen from the Duchy of Nikolai would cause trouble at this time, but in short, they are a bunch of cannibalistic bastards! Their corpses are still hanging at the customs gate facing the Duchy of Nikolai!"

"..."

"Furthermore, recently, quite a few refugees have arrived from the Duchy of Nikolai. Although Lord Kosiché could only settle them in the wasteland near the city, he at least provided them with some relief funds to tide them over for a while..."

"Relief funds?"

"Yes, relief funds. Because many of those who come are women and children who have been protected. It's so tragic. I remember a poor girl whose husband was eaten alive by a monstrous beast while protecting her..."

Lady Kal'tsit remained silent. She frowned and quickly finished reading the newspaper in her hand. The driver, after the red light turned green, followed the flow of traffic and drove towards the central area where the Duke's mansion was located.

The scenery outside the window kept changing, from the lower city where pedestrians were dressed in simple clothes, to the more ordinary middle city... Soon, Ms. Kelsey realized that the taxi she was in seemed to be passing through a very special area with police and Originium detection equipment on the door.

That is...

“This is a gathering place for the infected.” The driver glanced at the area they were passing. “The Duke’s husband has concentrated all the infected here, built factories, provided them with safe housing and a fixed place to sell necessities, and even the police station is staffed by infected people—there are also hospitals and schools there. Although I don’t know how the two lords will find more infected doctors and teachers…everyone supports their actions.”

"...I was very surprised by this. After all, the condition of those infected..."

"Yes, everyone knows they are patients, so to avoid getting infected themselves, they try to avoid contact with them. This creates a cluster for them, which is good for both them and us, isn't it?"

"That's true."

Lady Kal'tsit thought this might be a more advanced policy for isolating infected people... but compared to other places in the world, where there are separate schools and hospitals, and even separate police stations, the infected people in the Duchy of Koschche are much more comfortable than those in other places.

Furthermore, Lady Kal'tsit also noticed that the changes in the Dukedom of Kosichä seem to be related to the Duke's husband... Just who is that man? Logically speaking, someone with such abilities should have been thoroughly reported in the official Ursus newspapers by now, right?

Why is there no news of this man anywhere else? Ms. Kal'tsit flipped through the newspaper in her hand, and after confirming several times that there was almost no mention of the man's existence, she shook her head and decided to continue talking to the driver about information.

"What kind of person is the Duke of Kosice's husband?"

"Madam, you're asking me, I'm not entirely sure... but generally speaking, he's a good person."

"Good guy?"

"Because it was the lord who first proposed that policy of 'work relief,' it was the lord who cleaned up those wicked nobles and merchants, and it was the lord who reformed the government, bringing us a new life and allowing us to have enough to eat during the economic crisis. If such a person cannot be considered a good person, then I think there are no good people in the world."

"That's true. Judging from their achievements, that's certainly the case."

Ms. Kal'tsit noticed that the man was probably stranger than she had imagined. But just as Ms. Kal'tsit thought the man should be a native of Ursus, the driver suddenly interjected:

"But the sir is actually from Colombia. To be honest, when I first heard this from the police and government officials, I was quite puzzled... How did a Colombian become the husband of the Duke of Ursus? My mind went blank! But thinking about it, there's no need to worry about these things..."

"Colombian...person?"

"Yes. Colombian."

"...Is that so?"

Are there more and more strange things happening here?

How did a Colombian man become the Duke of Ursus's husband? No, more importantly, why would the Duke of Ursus know a Colombian man? What exactly is going on?

Ms. Kelsey felt her mind becoming increasingly confused. She decided to temporarily abandon her thinking and wait until she arrived to see if she should stay and work.

She closed her eyes. More than an hour passed.

The driver told her they had arrived. After helping Ms. Kal'tsit unload her luggage and receiving a generous sum of Imperial rubles and hard currency, the taxi driver happily drove off.

After arriving at the outskirts of the Duke's mansion, Lady Kal'tsit looked at the massive building, then at the heavily armed guards and some...

...Um?

Kal'tsit blinked, wondering why that strangely dressed guy with the weird weapon on his back looked so familiar...

wait?

this is not?

Deep-sea hunter?

Why would a deep-sea hunter appear here?

Dr. Kal'tsit felt her consciousness plunging into chaos once again—why would the deep-sea hunters who fought against the calamity on the coast appear deep in the inland country of Ursus?

"...This territory is getting stranger and stranger."

She rubbed her eyes and decided not to think too much about it for the time being—maybe the deep-sea hunter's arrival was just a coincidence?

With that thought in mind, Lady Kal'tsit relaxed. She carried her luggage into the Duke's mansion, and after showing her invitation to the attendant at the entrance, she was led to the audience hall.

There—Lady Kal'tsit met Duke Kosichä. But just as she was about to introduce herself, she noticed another empty throne beside the Duke and paused for a moment.

“Yes, Lady Kal'tsit, right? I see it says you're a researcher and a doctor?” Duke Kosichä asked, looking at the invitation in his hand. “Yes, it was indeed my head maid who delivered the invitation to you… but to avoid trouble, I must say this first: the situation in our territory is quite complicated right now, and you may very well be doing work other than your official duties. Is that acceptable?”

"...Alright. But if I may ask...what is the throne beside you?"

“Ah? This is my husband’s seat.” Duke Kosiché patted the armrest of the empty throne beside him. Lady Kal'tsit noticed that it was connected, indicating that the Duke and Duchess had a very good family relationship. “He’s busy right now and isn’t here—you might see him more often in the future, or you might not. But until then, for matters concerning contracts, you can go to the administrative department to have Mr. Joseph sign them—he’s temporarily in charge of that kind of work.”

"I see. Then--"

"Monica, lead the way for Lady Kal'tsit."

"Yes, my lord."

The sight of a maid suddenly appearing out of thin air made Kal'tsit instinctively hold her breath. She had checked several times to make sure there was no sign of anyone there... How did that maid even appear?

She looked at the maid, and the maid looked back at her. Kal'tsit noticed that the cold aura emanating from the maid named Monica was so intense; she didn't seem like a living person at all, but rather like a dead one...

...Lady Kal'tsit chose not to pursue the secrets here. After all, every territory has its own secrets deep within—whether good or bad, whether revealing them to the world is inconsequential, or whether revealing them would bring about her death. She chose to keep them secret to avoid further trouble.

And so, Lady Kal'tsit was led by her maid to the administrative department to prepare for her final work. However, on the way, Kal'tsit chose to have a brief conversation with her maid in order to understand the work she was about to do.

"Miss Monica, I'd like to ask, approximately how many researchers are currently in the Duchy of Koschei?"

"If you're included, there are two."

"two?"

“Yes, another researcher is a Wendigo scholar, Mr. Grovazel—but Mr. Grovazel is more of a scholar than a researcher. He talks to Mr. Joseph all day about administration and people’s livelihood. If you need to find him in the future, you can’t go wrong to the Administration Office.”

What a strange place this is!

Lady Kal'tsit was already feeling a little dizzy...

But when she noticed a man carrying a scepter walking down the corridor, his eyes lighting up when he saw Monica the maid, and then embracing her in public, she felt even more dizzy.

especially.

This was especially true when he saw that Monica, the maid, had no objection to it at all, and even addressed him with utmost respect as "Lord Yang Hao."

"I need to go see Kosichek first. Monica, you can continue working."

"Yes, Lord Yang Hao—by the way, Lord Kosichek hasn't been in a good mood lately."

"I'll pay attention."

The man left casually, and Kal'tsit kept watching him until she finally couldn't hold back any longer.

"Who is he?"

“Him? Ah, he’s Lady Kosichä’s husband, Lord Yang Hao.” Monica straightened her clothes, seemingly unconcerned about being intimately touched by a man. “How should I put it? He’s a rather troublesome fellow to take care of… Lady Kal’tsit?”

“No… I find it strange. He’s the Duke of Kosiché’s husband? Then why would he be so interested in Lady Monica—”

I know it's quite normal for nobles to have inappropriate thoughts about their maids. But the problem is, wouldn't married nobles at least be more restrained in this matter?

Kal'tsit looked conflicted, but Monica, noticing her struggle, simply smiled.