by Funa
I wondered what the small village in the mountains had in store to entertain us.
A village of bandits that robbed travelers blind? A village of criminals that lived with the families of human traffickers? It wasn’t like I went around doing good deeds and volunteer work as a hobby, but if they wanted us to visit, then so be it.
I would go, along with the Fearsome Einherjar, the Valiant Royal Brother, and the Self-Detonating Fanatic...
“So, you want to go, knowing full well how suspicious this is...” Francette gave me an exasperated look, but I didn’t mind.
“Yup. It seems interesting. Besides, I’m not one to back down from a challenge.”
“...I know.”
“I know...”
Layette repeated after Francette and Belle, despite not knowing what they were talking about. What a cutie.
The boy who had stayed behind to be our guide had also gone to the men’s tent with the other guys. So, we had this discussion with just the girls.
“If it’s a bandit village, we’re going to wipe them out. We’ll try to catch them without killing anyone, but our safety is the main priority, so don’t hesitate to kill or incapacitate anyone if you sense that you’re in any danger. I can cure anyone as long as they’re not dead, anyway.”
*nod, nod*
“I’d like to save the children, if at all possible, but they may already be trained to think a certain way and be beyond help. If they try to kill us without showing any remorse, take them out. The lives of my friends are a million times more important to me than some bandit kid’s. Think of it this way. Risking your life to save a criminal doesn’t mean you’re putting just your own life in danger, but you’re also putting my valued servant’s life in danger.”
*nod, nod*
There, now they should understand.
Every life is equally precious? If there’s some idiot who thinks some grimy old bandit’s life is worth just as much as Layette’s, bring them to me! I’ll straighten them out with an hour-long lecture! The choice between saving either an evil-looking, violent bandit, or a beautiful little girl, isn’t even a question.
What’s that? What if the choice was between an evil-looking, entirely average citizen and a beautiful little bandit girl? Uh. Urggh...
W-Well, anyway!
“Which one should we prioritize in that case, Kaoru?”
“Yes, we need to make sure we would know what to do!”
Francette and Belle pressed on.
Uhh...
“I-In that case, you should figure it out yourself!”
“Hey, you avoided the question!”
“She did...”
Sh-Shut up!
And so, after enjoying the hot springs for two more nights, we packed up the tent a little before the second daytime bell (around three in the afternoon) and started moving toward the village. During our trip, our guide had eaten his fill of the meals I made, so he was full of energy. He had also started doing some post-meal exercise... or, rather, he was attempting martial arts. Roland and Francette found this amusing and gave him some pointers, which the boy took very seriously. Emile and Belle joined in, turning it into an impromptu martial arts class.
Eat, train, hot springs (with healing effects)... This cycle was repeated over and over again. It goes without saying that this was highly effective. Having made visible progress in such a short time, with the guidance of professionals, the boy was in high spirits as he guided us toward the village. It really didn’t feel like they were bandits setting a trap. The other two boys that had gone ahead to the village had just seemed like normal kids, and I hadn’t gotten the impression that they were criminal types...
Maybe I was just being overly cautious? Though, dying from being overly cautious sounded a lot better than dying from a lack of caution, so that was fine by me. It wasn’t like I was inconveniencing anyone, anyway.
Two hours or so later, we arrived at a small village in the mountains.
Although it was just a village, its perimeter was surrounded by a wooden fence. No military force was going to invade all the way out here, so maybe it was a bandit village, after all...
“It’s for the wild beasts and monsters,” Francette told me, upon seeing the look on my face and sensing what was in my head.
Come to think of it, those structures just wouldn’t be enough to stop human invaders. It wasn’t an issue of durability, but a human could just slip through the openings or climb over the top, so it was likely there to stop beasts and monsters, which would likely rely solely on brute force rather than wits. The fencing was only around the residential area, which was lined with houses, and the fields could be seen outside. I figured the fences were designed to stop monsters that ate humans, rather than the small animals that ate the crops, and putting up enough fencing to cover everything wasn’t efficient.
As we walked toward the entrance section of the fence, some people working in the fields just outside the fences came over and gathered around us.
“Ohh, it’s not every day we get visitors. Welcome. Well, enjoy your stay!”
“O-Okay...”
Hmm...
Everyone welcomed us with pleasant smiles. They were hard at work in their fields, and none of them struck me as bad people. They just seemed like Villager A, Villager B, Villager C, etc. It seemed that I had been mistaken in assuming that this would be a village full of bandits. But something was still bothering me...
Normally, a village that was so far off from the main roads, with no regular visitors to speak of, should have been pretty wary of outsiders. Not to mention, three out of the six of us were armed with swords, two of those were wearing expensive-looking gear, and for all they knew, we could’ve been a bunch of lower-class nobles or knights in name only, here to make unreasonable demands and take advantage of their hospitality. We didn’t seem like the kind of guests who’d be the most welcome...
Plus, this was a small village. I found it hard to believe that those boys, who should have returned two days ago, hadn’t spread the news about us yet. Interesting news spread like wildfire in places like this, and we should’ve been the talk of the whole village...
But they were acting as if nothing had happened.
Hmm...
Well, I supposed that meant it was too early to let my guard down. I shot Roland and Francette a glance, and they gave me a faint nod in return. They were pros when it came to battle and intrigue, so that was expected of them. Unlike low-ranking soldiers, knights and royals were learned in the ways of subtlety and trickery.
Several villagers walked up to talk to us, and in the meantime, I saw two or three of them moving toward the entrance of the fence. I figured that they were heading off to let the others know about us. It seemed like they were just ordinary farmers, and had no intention of using force on us...
Well, I was sure there were people with other occupations among them, like hunters and woodcutters, but in any case, they didn’t seem like a group of criminals. Still, there was something off about them that kept me from dismissing this as just a normal village. The way those two boys had left, while leaving one of their number behind, felt very unnatural to me. They should have all left or all stayed together as a group. Though, really, it would’ve been a huge deal if they hadn’t returned at all for two whole days without alerting their families, so the latter was pretty unlikely.
But why would they leave a kid with a bunch of strangers they had just met, especially since those strangers were planning on staying for two more nights? And didn’t they think the boy’s family would freak out when they delivered that news? Not to mention, the boy’s family had never come to meet up with the boy over these past two days, despite being a mere two-hour walk away.
...Well, I supposed that answered my question.
Chapter 35: Siege
“Ah, it must have been quite a trip for you, coming all the way out here in the mountains! Welcome! I am Hasdal, the village mayor. Please, stay the night in my humble
home.”
There was no way that there would ever be an inn at a village like this. The mayor’s house was bigger than the rest in small villages, mainly for the purpose of housing and feeding travelers and visitors. So, declining his offer wasn’t really an option. It wasn’t like we couldn’t camp outside, but turning him down would be discourteous and would make the mayor lose face.
But this did make me wonder... There was a very obvious question he should have asked us in the beginning. That being, “What is the purpose of your visit?”
Though, he probably didn’t ask, because he already knew that those boys had brought us here...
Anyway, our guide thanked us for the meals and the martial arts lessons, then ran off to his own house as we made our way to the mayor’s house.
“Urgh!”
We entered the mayor’s house and got led into the main hall to find a large group of men sitting there. The youngest ones seemed to be fifteen to sixteen years old, having just recently come of age, and the oldest ones looked to be about sixty...
Unlike in modern Japan, sixty-year-olds in this world were pretty much ancient. Maybe it was their diet, or the harsh living conditions...
“The meal will be ready soon, so please relax here with the others...” With that, the mayor went toward the back of the building, presumably into the kitchen.
“W-Wait a minute...” I whispered quietly, and Francette replied in a hushed voice, “D-Don’t tell me...”
“A marriage hunting party for single villagers who can’t find a wife!”
“No, it’s not!!!”
The men all shouted at once, in response to the comment that Francette and I had yelled without thinking.
They didn’t have to deny it that vigorously...
“Besides, all that’s left on your side is a kid and an infant!”
Sh-Shut up!
The mayor returned, the food was brought out, and it was time for us to all dine together. There weren’t really any deep conversations going on during the meal, and the villagers mainly seemed to talk about whatever nonsense came to mind. As such, we opted to stick to normal girl talk (that wasn’t very girly) that we were okay with the others overhearing. Roland and Emile were busy muttering things to each other. The food came on large plates, in the style of a big feast, but the ingredients were run-of-the-mill crops and boar meat, which had presumably been procured by the hunters.
They weren’t just feeding us, but a mass of villagers as well, so they couldn’t get too extravagant. The villagers seemed to understand this, as well. There seemed to be a lot of food at first glance, but it was a relatively small amount when considering the number of people there, so they only scooped small portions onto their plates, so as to not make it seem like there wasn’t enough food.
Why did they go through so much trouble to gather all these people here, I wonder...
＊ ＊
The not-so-extravagant meal ended quickly. There was actually more food portioned out on the plates near us, and the villagers didn’t try to touch those. Feeling a bit suspicious, I extended the range of the poison-detecting bracelet’s effects, but found nothing out of the ordinary.
Now that the meal was done, I figured it was time to bring up the main topic.
Maybe they were planning on making us repay them for the meal and lodging? Drifting gamblers relying on the hospitality of their local gaming parlor owner might have had such an obligation, but we were invited here.
What’s going to happen now...?
“Well then, it’s time to begin our monthly village meeting. Our guests may only be here on the day of our meeting by coincidence, but since they are currently present, they are free to give their input, just like our fellow villagers, without any reservations. We could learn much from a fresh perspective, after all. Hohoho!”
Lies!!! Like hell it’s a coincidence! They timed everything so we’d be here on this day on purpose!
Roland, Francette, Emile and Belle stared at the mayor with accusatory eyes. But it seemed that he hadn’t made it to his position as the mayor without developing the appropriate skills. He was completely unconcerned by the cold looks that all of us (excluding Layette) were giving him.
The meeting went on, and we were sometimes asked questions like, “What sort of crops are selling in the cities?” and “What kinds of crafted products are the prosperous villages selling?”
“Now, on to the final topic. How to deal with the bandits and their demand for a ‘protection fee,’ in the form of valuables, food, and women. Any ideas?”
There it is!!! Let’s see how everyone else is reacting...
Yup, Layette looked like she wasn’t thinking about anything at all.
So cute...
Likewise, Emile and Belle had blank looks on their own faces.
It wasn’t that they’d given up on thinking. If anything happened, after all, they would just follow me and do whatever I said... Wait, they had given up on thinking!
Roland wore an awkward expression. In his mind, the royal family had a duty to protect its people. But this wasn’t his kingdom, and the duty to protect these people fell to the nobles and royals of their nation, not to him. Besides, the royal family was supposed to protect their subjects through administration, not by swinging the sword themselves. But, as a member of the royal line—no, as a man—could he really abandon people in trouble right before his eyes? That’s probably what was going through his head...
As for Francette...
There was a twinkle in her eyes. They were sparkling like crazy!
A traveling knight arrives at a village in danger. The knight cuts down the mob of villains, and as she turns to leave, a voice can be heard from behind...
“Please, what is your name...?”
“I am Francette. An einherjar of no consequence...”
I could tell that kind of scene was being played out, in her head, right that moment.
...She’s hopeless!
A man with noble features and expensive equipment, who was clearly an aristocrat traveling incognito... A young woman, who seemed to be his wife or lover, also in expensive-looking equipment... Two hunters, likely brother and sister, or even lovers, who appeared to have been hired as bodyguards... A maid, accompanying them to handle the two nobles’ needs... And, finally, a little commoner girl, who they had presumably taken into their care along the way.
Yeah, from an outsider’s perspective, they were obviously a noble couple with a soft spot for commoners on a sight-seeing trip. Moreover, the nobleman clearly sympathized with the village’s plight, and his wife/lover was exuding an aura of enthusiasm. In fact, it was gushing out of every pore of her body like a geyser. I could tell the mayor was desperately trying to stifle a grin upon seeing all of this.
Well, I supposed that was to be expected, considering that he thought the decision-maker of the group was at least partially on board, and the woman, who he presumed to be the actual highest authority due to her influence over said decision-maker, was fully ready to help. It was uncommon for noblemen to simply ignore a woman’s request, after all. Especially if it was from the woman they were romantically involved with.
And the opinions of the bodyguards, maid, and the little girl...they were irrelevant.
...Or so he thinks.
The mayor and villagers looked at us... or, rather, at Roland and Francette, expectantly.
Then, unable to withstand the pressure, Francette finally said, “You can count on us—”
Not so fast!
“...To pray for the safety of your village, so please don’t hesitate to ask your liege lord for assistance!”
Francette began to make a careless comment, but I cut her off immediately.
“Whaaaaaat?!”
The kind and simple-looking noblewoman was just about to give the reply they were all waiting for, and just as they were reveling in their victory, an unexpected interruption had ruined it all. The looks on the villagers’ faces went from confus
ion to anger.
Well, I suppose that’s natural...
“Know your place, maid! Keep your mouth shut and do as your master says!”
“Yeah, that’s...”
Then, the mood suddenly got tense.
“Huh...?”
Just as the mayor raised his voice in anger at me, and the other villagers followed suit...
Well, first, the air grew cold.
Francette, whose eyes had been sparkling just a moment ago...
Roland, who had been mulling over the idea...
Emile and Belle, who were entirely unconcerned until then, leaving the decision completely up to me...
And even Layette, who was just sitting there absentmindedly...
They all glared back at the mayor and villagers with fury in their eyes.
“I am impressed, Kaoru. You saw through to their true nature: lowly and unworthy of saving.”
“I am disgusted. We’re leaving. I refuse to defile myself by staying in this village a moment longer!”
“...Can we destroy this place before we leave?”
The villagers and their mayor went white in the face. It seemed that they had quickly realized the mistake that they had made.
Hey, don’t look at me with those pleading eyes. I’m just the maid, after all.
＊ ＊
“Please forgive uuuuus!!!”
The village mayor rubbed his head against the floor in apology, the other villagers in a similar position behind him.
After that unfortunate incident, the mayor had thrown out all his schemes and bargaining tactics and finally spat out the truth. According to him, the situation was as follows:
They were a small village: not particularly wealthy, but able to lead a modest life, sustaining their needs with agriculture, forestry, hunting, gathering, and the occasional trip to the nearby hot springs for their leisure.
Then, one day, they arrived. The aforementioned bandits. But instead of attacking and robbing the villagers, they brought a proposition with them:
“We’ll protect your village, so give us your valuables, food, and women as compensation.”