Chapter 1030: The Real Difference ( 1030 )

Kayra returned to the infirmary to find her daughter already awake and cheerful, happily eating the food provided by the staff.

"Mom, this is delicious! And this hot drink, it’s the same one they gave us on the big iron ship, it’s really good!"

Kayra smiled softly. She glanced over at Cliff and the others, who were also eating the same meal and drinking the same rich, warm drink.

Everything was served on smooth porcelain cups and polished copper plates. Each plate held a variety of dishes, five in total, including side vegetables and a generous portion of rice. The meat serving alone was larger than what they usually saw in a noble’s meal back home.

Is this what people in the Armand Nation eat every day? Their soldiers? Their staff? And this is just... breakfast?

She knew Armand was the main supplier of buzzbull meat and other produce, famous for high quality at low prices. But seeing it laid out like this, on their own plates, in portions that felt almost lavish, made her realize just how far Tybalt had fallen behind.

She watched her daughter eat cheerfully.

Armand had always been known for cheapest but highest quality supplier of everything, from food, sugar, cocoa, rice, fertilizer, ore, textiles, all of it affordable, all of it good. But after Garka took...no..after my husband gave up that stretch of land that served as the main road to Arjam, all in the name of a so-called peace deal, our merchants could no longer trade with Armand’s caravans.

Our economy had withered ever since.

I hope... I can find a way to open trade with Armand again after this.

Kayra noticed the staff around her stand and place their fists over their left chests, nodding slightly.

She turned her glance and her eyes widened.

"G...Gilmon?"

"Hmm?" The large man blinked, then recognition lit his face. "Lady Kayra? You’re the one they pulled from the sea last night?"

"You... you serve Armand now?"

Gilmon rubbed the back of his neck, a faint smile on his face. "Yeah. Didn’t you hear? After Kimar stripped Princess Kliatana of her title, I was stripped of my rank. Lord Garius...ah, His Majesty offered me a place. Now I serve under Princess Kliatana directly. And after Arjam was brought under Armand, I was appointed General of the Arjam military."

"So... you work for Armand too?"

"You could say that." He shrugged, glancing down at her stunned expression. "It’s not just me. Most of the late King Edmund’s loyalists, the ones who stayed true to Princess Kliatana are here now. Jarman, Savran, a few other talented ones. Even the late king’s royal blacksmith, Rasdingen’s brother serves here now."

Kayra could only stare, her breath caught in her throat.

"Hard to believe, huh?" Gilmon scratched his cheek. "Anyway. You’re the one who wants an audience with His Majesty, King Garius?"

Kayra was about to say something when Gilmon raised his palm and tapped something in his ear.

His gaze shifted slightly, listening to something she couldn’t hear.

"Hmm? What now, Hesbeirn?"

A pause.

"Hah? I’m meeting with the group our navy pulled out of the sea last night."

Another pause. Gilmon’s expression tightened.

"Hmm? Can you at least wait for... ugh!" He pulled a small, smooth device from his ear and spoke directly into it. "Don’t laugh over the mana talkie! I’m still hungover from last night’s drinking with you!"

Kayra could only watch, bewildered, as he carried on a one-sided conversation with the air.

"Yeah, yeah, I know the hydra meat was good, especially with Prince Javier’s wine, but still!"

He listened again, rolling his eyes.

"Mm. Yeah, yeah. I’ll finish up here first." He paused, then his tone shifted. "Oh, by the way, remember Lady Kayra?"

A brief silence, followed by what must have been a loud reaction on the other end, because Gilmon winced and held the device slightly away from his ear.

"Ugh! Tybalt’s first wife! Yes, yes, I know, I know..."

He sighed, running a hand down his face.

"Mm. She wants an audience with our king... so, could you..."

He cut off, scowling.

"Ugh! You’re the one who talks to King Garius more easily! Fine, fine. I’ll contact the Armand Estate command center. Yeah, yeah. See you later."

He tapped the device once more and slipped it back into his ear, then turned to Kayra with a tired but polite smile.

"Sorry about that. Hesbeirn gets... enthusiastic."

Kayra’s mind went blank.

Is Gilmon starting to go crazy?

Is that why he’s talking to himself? And his reactions... it’s like Hesbeirn was standing right next to him.

"Umm..." Kayra glanced away, choosing her words carefully. "Is working... with Armand... taking a toll on you?"

Gilmon blinked. "Hmm? What do you mean, Lady Kayra?"

"I mean... you... started talking to... an imaginary... Hesbeirn?"

Gilmon went silent for a moment, before he laughed out loud, doubling over with the force of it. The nearby staff just shook their heads, accustomed to the sight of Arjam’s general losing his composure.

Kayra only grew more confused. "Wh... what? Is what I said... funny?"

Still chuckling, Gilmon wiped a tear from his eye with his thumb. He reached up, plucked a small, smooth device from his ear, and channeled a faint pulse of mana into it. "Here. Put this in your ear and talk. Just say ’Hesbeirn.’"

"Umm... are you sure?" Kayra took the device hesitantly and closed it to her ear.

"What is this?" she asked aloud, but someone answered from the other side.

"Oi, who’s this girl? Gilmon? Don’t tell me you’re having an affair~ I’m going to tell your wife and watch her beat you senseless! Bwahahahaha!"

Kayra jerked the device away from her ear, eyes wide. She stared at it, then at Gilmon, who was grinning broadly.

"That’s no imaginary Hesbeirn," Gilmon said, still smiling. "That’s a mana talkie. Lets you speak to someone far away, like they’re right beside you."

He leaned in slightly. "Welcome to Armand, Lady Kayra."

Gilmon smiled.

"This is the difference between the Human Kingdom and the Armand Nation."

"It’s not just that their people live in real comfort. Everyone is happy. No one is homeless. No one goes hungry as long as they’re willing to work. No one in Armand is abandoned. Everyone is treated fairly, by law, by their neighbors, by their rulers."

He looked at her, his expression earnest. "Here, a farmer’s child can become a scholar. A blacksmith’s daughter can join the military. Talent is nurtured, not buried. The streets are clean, the markets are full, and people smile because they feel safe, not just from war, but from hunger, from injustice, from being forgotten."

"That," he said softly, "is the real difference between Armand and the Human Kingdom you know."

( End Of Chapter )