At last, the commotion only settled down after Aspeiran struck the wall once more.

“They’re all a bit crazy, but their abilities are useful, so don’t worry.”

A look of boredom was thick on Aspeiran’s face as he said that.

“Aside from them, there’s also a researcher and exploration team members from the institute, but they’re currently stationed near Beltraum, so I’ll introduce you later.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good. It’s nice to have an obedient institute member for once.”

Aspeiran nodded his head in satisfaction and approached the researchers kneeling on the ground.

“From now on, follow Shuria’s orders when it comes to monster management.”

“Wow, instant promotion~.”

Sek whistled and clapped, only to get punched by Aspeiran.

Regardless, Prom stepped forward with a face full of discontent.

“That can’t be, my lord! I am the director. At the institute, my decision-making authority should come first for discipline, smooth research, and accelerating Roakin’s development…”

“Shut it.”

“Besides, that woman doesn’t even know much about monsters! Giving such authority to an outsider!”

“She can learn what she doesn’t know from now on. And if I don’t give her that much authority, you fools will interfere left and right, it’s clear as day.”

“But…”

“Enough.”

Aspeiran rejected it outright. His gaze turned to me.

“Study hard, and consult sufficiently with the researchers before making decisions for a while. For major decisions, ask me.”

“Understood!”

“Currently, the only monsters being raised at the institute are three moonlight wolf pups that I personally put magic control devices on, so it shouldn’t be too dangerous. So I’ll trust you, Shuria.”

“My lord…!”

A wave of emotion surged in my heart. I tightly clasped my hands together and shot him a sparkling gaze.

Aspeiran furrowed his handsome brows. I just grinned widely.

“…”

Aspeiran seemed to forget what he was going to say for a moment. Soon, he issued an order to leave.

“Now go and give Shuria a tour of the institute.”

“Yes…”

“Let her meet the dogs too, and do whatever Shuria asks without question.”

“Yes…”

“And I told them to prepare the room you’ll be using from now on, Shuria, on the upper floor of the institute’s dormitory. They should be moving furniture in by now.”

“Thank you!”

“Sure.”

Aspeiran waved his hand. The four researchers and I left the room as we were.

Through the gap of the closing door, I saw Kiara shoving a stack of documents to Aspeiran. It seemed Aspeiran would be very busy this afternoon as always.

‘The life of a lord is tough indeed.’

Fighting! Both for me who got a new job, and for Aspeiran who’s always busy with public and private affairs as usual.

I followed the researchers with light steps.

…Not knowing what would befall me in just a few dozen minutes.

The institute was located about a 10 minute walk away from Kronen Palace where the royal family resided.

A lonely 3-story gray building stood on a wide, empty lot. I thought a facility researching the world of monsters would be more mysterious and amazing, but it was more ordinary than I expected.

“Where will you start the introduction from?”

“Shut up and follow!”

Prom replied irritably. I followed the researchers down to the basement. I didn’t even have time to catch my breath and look around the interior of the building.

“Can’t we go a bit slower?”

“I’m busy. We’re all busy. We don’t have time to stick to you all day long.”

I tried asking nicely, but our cold institute director Prom firmly refused, breathing heavily.

Moreover, after arriving at the underground floor where all the institute’s research facilities were gathered, he also said this:

“The only space permitted to you here underground is strictly the monster breeding facility. Never enter anywhere else. If someone ‘unqualified’ snoops around here and there and causes problems, it’ll be big trouble…”

Not messing around with the research facilities without permission was a natural request as a researcher, but somehow, I felt a strong rejection towards me in his tone and choice of words.

‘He doesn’t seem to like me very much.’

I stroked my chin.

Well, from director Prom’s perspective, having his authority suddenly taken away by an outsider who rolled in would certainly be unpleasant.

But I had no luxury to consider and be mindful of his feelings one by one.

I’m in a time-limited state right now. If I can’t get Aspeiran married within 3 years, my soul will be permanently extinguished, they said.

‘On top of that, if I don’t do something, Aspeiran will live as a lifelong bachelor…’

3 years. Honestly, it’s a short time to push the marriage of a lord of a nation who has no interest in romance whatsoever.

So I need to gain Aspeiran’s trust as soon as possible and rise to the position of his closest aide. Only then can I even bring up the ‘m’ of marriage to his lordship.

‘So if the resistance gets worse here and it affects my work, hindering me from building up achievements…’

Then it’s war. I’ll eliminate anything that gets in the way of my promotion, by any means necessary!

I clenched my fist and steeled my resolve.

While I was filling myself with fighting spirit in the very back, we had already arrived at our destination at some point. Prom lightly tapped the huge door with his palm and said:

“This is the monster breeding facility. Currently, there are only three moonlight wolf pups. Well, if you do your job properly, there may be more later on. Anyways, go in.”

Then all the researchers turned as if to leave. I hurriedly stretched out my arm to block their way.

“Where are you going? You should go in together and explain how you’ve been taking care of them so far and tell me the precautions.”

It was a natural request, but strangely, the researchers all made reluctant expressions at the same time.

‘Why are they acting like that? Are they that busy?’

I decided to compromise a step for now.

“Okay. Then just the person who’s been in charge of monster management so far stay. Who is it?”

The researcher trio, Sek, Titira, and Kiri, all looked at their director at the same time. As eight eyes turned to him, Prom exploded in anger.

“Are you pawning this off on me now? Unbelievable! Fine, everyone come along. Let’s all go in!”

Prom stepped forward, huffing and puffing. He flung the door wide open.

At the same time, a foul odor wafted into my nostrils. I hurriedly pinched my nose. I knew very well what this smell was.

‘Dog smell.’

Mixed with poop smell and pee smell.

But to stink this fiercely? I frowned.

But my reaction was on the very mild side. The researchers next to me were covering their noses, coughing and making a huge fuss.

‘So this is why they didn’t want to go in.’

I glanced at the researchers coughing and clinging to the doorway, then strode into the room.

The inside of the breeding room I surveyed was as pathetic as the smell.

Just a wide, dark, and indescribably bleak gray room. Who knows when it was last cleaned, with dust and clumps of fur rolling around everywhere, even cobwebs visible in the corners of the ceiling.

On top of that, the fierce odor that makes it hard to even breathe properly and this stuffy air… It seems ventilation isn’t being done properly either.

No matter how hard it is to approach monsters, to neglect management to this degree, are they in their right minds?

I wanted to rip out all the researchers’ hair right then and there, but I held back for now. There was a more urgent matter at hand.

I still hadn’t found the most important puppies yet.

I thought of various things I needed to take care of and moved my steps deeper into the dark room in search of the puppies.

‘First, I’ll clean thoroughly… Are there air purification spells too? It’ll take a while to get the smell out.’

Fortunately, I had some experience in this, having volunteered at an animal shelter and worked part-time at my uncle’s dog training center before I died. That’s one silver lining at least.

“Whine, whimper.”

Then, from a corner of the room, a very small and feeble sound rang out.

“!”

I quickly turned my body in the direction of the sound. There, one large animal cage and one small animal cage were placed side by side.

A pair of eyes sparkled from the small cage, and two pairs of eyes sparkled from the large cage.

‘It’s too dark to see well.’

I ended up asking the researchers for help.

“Can you turn on the lights here?”

The researchers looked at each other. Soon, someone snapped their fingers.

As if using magic, the room instantly brightened.

I turned my gaze back inside the cages with a smile. And immediately gasped.

“Oh, damn.”

The inside of the large cage was a complete mess.

Starting from feces dried up in the corner to a dirty, empty water bowl, to bug-infested feed that seemed to have been neglected for a long time.

I blankly stared at the two trembling creatures huddled together, confined in the cage. How long had those kids been trapped in this terrible place?

The one confined in the small cage, standing alone, whimpered pitifully at me who was just standing there. Seeing it isolated alone, it must be the very one I met in the corridor with Nix.

That anxious-eyed, thin and dirty puppy.

Now I could understand why this child was so anxious. It felt like my blood was running cold.

In a voice so coldly hardened even I was surprised, I asked the researchers:

“…When was the last time you gave the kids water?”

“Uh? Well…”

Prom bluffed vaguely. I asked again.

“And what’s with this food? How old is it?”

“It’s a special feed we made for the monsters… They don’t eat well so we left it for when they get hungry… As for how long it’s been…”

Titira answered in a meek voice. I asked one last question.

“…Then how long have the kids been confined in this state?”

“I know that! Exactly 56 days~.”

Sek answered excitedly. I clenched my fists tight. But I couldn’t strike anything like Aspeiran, afraid of scaring the puppies.

I’m a dog person, and as I said before, I often volunteered at animal shelters.

What I hate most is tormenting animals and young children.

Now, it’s not a matter of building achievements or not. My internal priorities were instantly rearranged.

Let’s rain the hammer of justice on those damn researchers!

“Come in.”

The researchers, who seemed to be trying to escape, slinking away, froze with a start. Glaring at them, I commanded in a low voice:

“I said, all of you come in.”

“As I said before, unlike you, we’re very bus-”

“Now.”

“S-so…”

“Now!”

The researchers scrambled into the room. The last researcher to enter, Kiri, muttered in a dazed voice:

“G-goodness. I thought it was his lordship for a second.”