Chapter 121

“I think things will get a little busy for a while.”

“Huh?”

Ka-click?

Maybe it was because of the sudden voice.

The baron’s fingers tensed.

The small carving knife slipped forward.

A long scratch appeared on the wooden doll he had been carving.

“Oh dear…”

His regretful expression lasted only a moment.

Baron Frontera took his eyes off the doll.

“Busy, you say?”

“More importantly, are you alright?”

“Oh, it’s fine. I was going to carve that part off anyway. Didn’t hurt myself either.”

“That’s a relief.”

Despite his words, Lloyd felt a bit regretful.

Woodcarving—his father’s hobby.

He had given it up after their family was crushed by debt.

Only recently had he picked it up again.

Because the debt was gone.

Because the family crisis was over.

It was a quiet return to a normal life long lost.

But now, it seemed even that peace would have to be put on hold for a while.

“Refugees have arrived in our estate.”

“What?”

Just as the baron lifted his knife again to fix the scratch, he froze.

“Refugees? What do you mean?”

“Just that. Around eighty of them.”

“Did you find out where they’re from?”

“Yes. The southern Sortino Barony.”

“What? Wait. Sortino—that’s…”

“Yes, right next to the Eastern Mountain Range, like us.”

“…”

The baron’s eyes widened.

A territory neighboring the Eastern Mountain Range.

He’d realized what that meant.

Lloyd spoke.

“Unfortunately, they failed to handle the monster domino effect. I heard the entire territory was reduced to ruins.”

“Then what of the Sortino baron’s family?”

“Reported missing.”

“What a tragedy…”

“I’ve already ordered that the refugees be given warm water and food. But I have something to tell you regarding that.”

Lloyd hurried to speak before the baron’s expression grew darker.

“It’s likely even more refugees will flood in.”

“I see. So that’s why you said things will get busy for a while.”

“Yes.”

“What of the other territories? Any news?”

“None yet. But—”

“But?”

“I suspect most of them faced a similar fate to the Sortino Barony.”

“…”

The baron fell silent.

It was hard to believe, but also easy to accept.

The swarm of hundreds of thousands of locusts that had first attacked their territory—

The baron had experienced that fear and devastation firsthand.

‘Yes, if something like that happened, not many places could’ve stopped it.’

Even now, the baron occasionally had dreams about that day.

Dreams that left him soaked in cold sweat, tossing and turning.

This wasn’t something to take lightly.

Clack.

The baron put down the wooden doll and carving knife.

“Then… are you saying those refugees will all come here?”

“Yes.”

“How many?”

“Almost all of them.”

“What?”

“So even at the minimum, we’re looking at several thousand. It’ll likely exceed ten thousand easily.”

The baron’s eyes went wide.

Several thousand to over ten thousand.

That was well beyond what he had braced himself for.

Naturally.

The total population of Baron Frontera’s territory?

Not even five thousand.

Which meant his son was now telling him that several times that number would arrive all at once.

“Even considering the situation, will it really come to that?”

“I believe it will.”

“…”

Gulp. The baron’s throat bobbed.

Lloyd was always right.

Looking back, he always had been.

Had he ever suffered for following his son’s plans?

Think of everything they’d gained by trusting his words.

This time would be no different.

And there was good reason to trust him.

“Now that I think about it, what you’re saying makes sense.”

The baron gathered his thoughts with a cautious look.

“Territories near the Eastern Mountain Range must’ve taken heavy damage. And the lands to the west of them wouldn’t have escaped unscathed either.”

“Yes, that’s likely.”

“Right. Then the refugees won’t have many places to go.”

“No. To the west lies another mountain range, and the south leads to a foreign kingdom.”

“And they obviously can’t flee east, where the monsters are coming from. So the only way left is north…”

“In that direction, the only intact lands are ours and the Lacona Viscounty. There’s also Cremo, the regional capital, but it’s too far away.”

“Indeed. And with winter coming, starving, freezing refugees won’t make it that far.”

“They’ll be drawn to a place where they can survive the winter.”

“You mean our estate.”

“Yes.”

A smile crept onto Lloyd’s lips.

As expected, the baron was a reasonable man.

He lacked the ruthlessness to cut through chaos, but at least he listened to sound advice.

Especially in times like these, that mattered greatly.

“Which is why, before the crowds arrive, we need to prepare two things.”

“What two things?”

“The most urgent needs when accommodating refugees: food and shelter.”

“Food and shelter, huh…”

The baron’s expression darkened.

“We’ll have to cancel the festival. We need to stockpile every bit of food we can. But even that won’t be enough to feed tens of thousands all winter.”

True.

The current food stores weren’t plentiful.

The Marez fields had just produced their first harvest.

But they’d made plenty of mistakes setting them up.

Enough to feed the current residents through winter—barely.

But if refugees were added?

And if those refugees outnumbered the locals many times over?

It was hopeless.

The baron voiced the first idea that came to mind.

“Should we import food from Cremo?”

“Well, that’s a decent backup plan. But I’d like to save that as a last resort.”

“So you’ve got a better idea?”

“Yes.”

“What is it?”

“Locusts. The ones Bangul roasted with that volcanic explosion.”

“…”

The baron’s face froze.

“You want to feed them locust corpses? The refugees?”

That had to be a joke.

Wouldn’t they all throw up in disgust?

Or worse—start a revolt?

That was the first thing that came to his paralyzed brain.

And who could blame him?

Eating locusts?

Unthinkable.

On the continent of Lorasia, that was simply not done.

Unlike Lloyd, who was from South Korea.

‘Sure, they look nasty, but roast them right and they make a decent beer snack.’

And what about beondegi, the popular Korean silkworm pupae snack?

The threshold for insect-eating was vastly different between the Korean Lloyd and the Lorasian baron.

Lloyd said,

“It’s fine. No one will die. Actually, it might taste better than they expect. It’s really nutritious too.”

“But still, insects…”

“And not even small ones. That actually helps.”

“Helps?”

“They won’t be eating the whole thing.”

Lloyd’s lip curled.

“Each one is 70 centimeters long. Even after removing the heads, legs, and shell, the meat inside is still at least 50 centimeters. So—”

“So?”

“No one could eat that in one sitting. Just imagine a steak that size.”

“Ah…”

A glint appeared in the baron’s eye.

He was starting to understand.

“So they’ll just cut up the meat and serve it, huh?”

“Yes, exactly.”

Lloyd’s smile deepened.

That’s how people were.

The more a food retained its original appearance, the more revulsion it caused.

That’s why most dishes disguise the source ingredient’s shape.

And refugees weren’t mukbang streamers or competitive eaters.

No one was going to eat something that looked like a 50 cm bug.

When the locust meat was finally served?

It would be diced, processed, and plated neatly.

“Of course, even then there will be some disgust left. That’s why we’ll need to develop some recipes.”

“Recipes?”

“To make it taste good, obviously.”

Lloyd shrugged.

“Anyway, we should get moving. There’s a lot to do.”

“Yes, that sounds best.”

The baron nodded.

If the refugees’ testimonies were true—

If Lloyd’s prediction was right—

Then they had to move quickly.

♣

The barony grew busy.

Preparing for the incoming flood of refugees.

Work proceeded swiftly.

First came processing the massive stockpile of locust meat.

The volcanic explosion had roasted them crisp.

And the cold weather kept them well-preserved.

Now they just needed to be prepped.

Javier led the processing team.

“Alright, everyone. Watch and follow. Like this. Just like this.”

He demonstrated with a dagger.

Swipe swipe. The crisp shells peeled off easily.

Inside, pure white flesh—like shrimp—was revealed.

“See? Easy.”

“…”

Of course it wasn’t.

The guards groaned as they worked.

Once stripped, the meat was handed over to the estate’s women.

They worked under the baroness’s direction.

“I actually tasted a bit earlier.”

The baroness said gracefully.

Her words made the women’s eyes go wide.

She tasted it? That gross thing?

“Yes. I chewed and swallowed it. It wasn’t as bad as I expected.”

“…”

“And based on that, I’d say it needs strong seasoning. There’s a bit of a gamey smell. So—”

She smiled elegantly.

And placed an old cookbook on the counter with a *thunk*.

“I’m sure you all know this cookbook. A must-have for any refined lady: *Becoming the Dragon King’s Chef.*”

“Oh my…”

A wave of admiration rippled through the women.

No surprise.

*Becoming the Dragon King’s Chef*—

One of the most legendary cookbooks on the Lorasia continent.

Written centuries ago by a girl who not only served a dragon but became his bride.

A true myth made manuscript.

“Yes, that cookbook. My son found it in the dark mage’s lair, if you remember when he took him down. So I thought, why not use it to create locust recipes? What do you all think?”

“…!”

Their heads bobbed at the speed of light.

While everyone else was preparing food, Lloyd stayed busy too.

But his busyness was of a different sort.

He walked.

He simply walked.

Every day, all day, across the entire estate.

Like a man possessed by a walking spirit.

Sometimes he paused, nodded, sighed, or pondered.

He explored every corner of the estate for days.

It was as if the spirit of the great mapmaker Kim Jeong-ho had taken over him.

And yet, no one in the estate thought it odd.

“Of course he has his reasons. He’s Lord Lloyd.”

“Obviously. Because he’s Lord Lloyd.”

“Right. Because it’s Lord Lloyd.”

The estate’s disgrace? The scourge who once rivaled the plague?

Gone.

Now every action he took was summed up with one phrase:

Because he’s Lord Lloyd.

Even if he started walking around on his hands or somersaulting, people would say the same.

Because he’s Lord Lloyd.

And so, about two weeks passed.

Lloyd’s predictions came true.

Refugees poured in—more and more, without end.

Small groups of ten.

Large groups of a hundred or more.

Men, women, children.

From every corner of the East.

They turned the estate into a swarm.

When the 16th day arrived—

The baron, pale-faced, summoned Lloyd.

“What should we do?”

His voice quivered with worry.

“I thought I’d prepared myself. But now that they’re truly flooding in… I can’t help but feel afraid.”

It was honest.

He had anticipated this.

Had braced himself.

But seeing the sheer number with his own eyes?

Feeling the weight of it on his skin?

It was worse than imagined.

He could hardly breathe.

“I did my best. With the locust meat and everything else. But I’m still afraid. Can we really care for them all? Should we turn some away? Do we even have enough places to shelter them from the cold? I couldn’t sleep last night from the anxiety.”

“Hmmm. I see.”

“That’s why… I heard you’ve been surveying the estate. Have you perhaps found a solution for the housing issue you didn’t tell me about before?”

The baron recalled the reports from a few days ago.

That Lloyd had been walking all over the estate.

He guessed—

His son had been surveying land. Preparing a plan he hadn’t yet revealed.

And he was right.

“Yes, I’ve prepared a solution.”

“Knew it. What is it?”

“Well, temporary tents are a given. But ultimately…”

“Ultimately?”

The baron asked hopefully.

Lloyd grinned brightly.

“Have you ever heard of something called an apartment?”