Ch#94
[This morning, this week's tax collection will come to a close-! If you miss the deadline, 1.3 times the amount will be added to next week's collection, and severe punishment will be imposed, so please take note-! That's all!]
It was a voice blaring through a loudspeaker, loud enough to tear one's eardrums.
Tie jolted awake in shock and staggered to her feet.
Her eyes met those of Veil and Basto, who had also risen from their beds.
"What the hell was that just now?"
Tie shook her head vigorously as if she had no idea either, in response to Veil's hoarse voice.
Basto, still groggy from sleep, looked around with a bewildered expression.
That was when.
"Tie. Look over there."
Lucarion, who had been standing by the window unnoticed, spoke up.
Tie hurried over to Lucarion's side.
The child's eyes widened as she peered out the window.
"Veil bro, what's that?"
However, Veil, standing beside her with a confused look, was staring down at the plaza just as intently.
The plaza, which had been empty until yesterday, was now lined with dozens of large crates along the edges.
People were bustling around them despite the early hour.
Veil narrowed his eyes upon spotting some of the people from the pub yesterday and the innkeeper among them.
"Why are those people over there......"
"Brooo, huh? What's that black stuff?"
Tie tugged at Veil again, pointing somewhere.
Following her gesture, they saw a burly man grunting as he loaded something onto a large cart.
The man was carefully packing the items from the cart into the crates.
Veil's expression darkened.
"......Coal."
"Coaaal?"
"Yeah. You can do a lot with it if you burn it."
Tie tilted her head.
It already looked burnt—why burn it again?
That was when.
"Grab him!"
A rough voice suddenly shouted from the opposite side of the plaza.
Turning their heads, they saw a child dashing across the plaza from one end to the other.
Tie's eyes widened.
"It's that kid from yesterday!"
The little pickpocket who had tried to steal Veil's necklace last night.
But the fleeing child soon tripped over a stone in the plaza.
The knights who chased after didn't miss the chance and seized the child's clothes.
"How dare you touch the tribute for the lord!"
"L-Let go! Let go!!"
The knights handled the child roughly.
As they dragged the child away somewhere, Basto covered Tie's eyes.
Tie buried her face deeply in Basto's hand, clearly frightened.
Meanwhile, Veil continued watching the plaza with a hardened expression.
Even after the child was caught, the plaza's people didn't move.
They just stared darkly into the alley where the child had vanished before returning to their tasks.
Veil's gaze paused on something.
Upon closer look, each crate bore a black brand seared in as if with a hot iron.
"Pluvius, Adren, Quilly......"
They were unmistakably surnames.
Veil muttered after a moment's thought.
"......This village. They collect coal as tribute."
"Grab him! Catch him-!"
But then another loud shout came from the corner of the plaza.
The commotion was coming from where the knights had dragged the pickpocket kid away.
Shifting their gaze, the pickpocket kid was somehow running across the plaza again.
One cheek bore a deep-looking wound.
Veil unconsciously swallowed hard.
Tie and the other members watched the scene with bated breath, sweating in their palms.
"What are you doing! Catch him already!"
The sword-wielding knights berated the plaza's residents once more.
But the residents avoided the knights' eyes and stood in place, while the kid deftly dodged through the gaps and hid behind a crate.
Then, seizing the moment when the knights looked away,
"......Hah, he went into the pub!"
he slipped quietly into Adelin's pub.
"Search for the brat!"
"Yes, sir!"
The knights began scouring the plaza.
"Damn brat! Come out already!"
The only noises were the knights' shouts from outside the window.
"Did you all see it too?"
The door burst open as Nordics, Enzo, and Raoul entered.
Nordics held dried herb roots and bandages in his hand.
"I wanted to pretend not to notice, but that child looked like he was bleeding badly."
He continued with a visibly tense expression.
"A small village tavern wouldn't have proper hemostatic agents."
* * *
Tie clung silently to Basto's back, holding her breath.
Lifting her gaze, she saw Lucarion leading the way ahead.
"This way."
Lucarion had been swiftly navigating the narrow alleys since earlier.
He knew the back path to Adelin's pub.
Veil asked breathlessly.
"Hey, blackie. When did you scout all the paths?"
"Yesterday. While you all slept."
"You didn't sleep?"
"Not really."
Lucarion casually omitted the rest.
He had stood guard because the village atmosphere felt ominous.
As Tie gazed at him admiringly with fervent eyes for his cool demeanor.
"Here. This door."
The Agavert group finally reached their destination.
Adelin's pub from yesterday.
But it was the back door, accessible only through the narrow alley.
"What the hell is all this in a place we came to rest......"
Veil opened the door first, revealing the dim interior of the pub.
The sparkling lights from last night were gone, and all the chairs were stacked on the tables.
It seemed empty at a glance, but Veil calmly said.
"I know you're there, so come out."
A small intake of breath came from behind the bar.
Soon after,
"......What brings you here? We're closed."
Adelin appeared from behind the bar in casual clothes.
Upon seeing Adelin, Tie slid down from Basto's back and ran over.
She held out Nordics's herbs, bandages, and antiseptic with a teary face.
"Sis! Tie saw from the inn."
"Saw what?"
"A friend bleeding from his face running into the pub!"
Adelin's throat moved slowly.
She looked back and forth between the Agavert members and Tie with troubled eyes.
Veil broke the silence.
"We're not here to harm you. No plans to rat out the pickpocket kid hiding here to those guys outside either."
"......"
"So come out already? I said I know you're there."
Basto furrowed his brow.
He stared at Veil as if asking what he was saying.
But the moment he placed a hand on Veil's shoulder.
With a creepy creak-, the storage cabinet taking up the left wall began to rotate entirely.
A hidden space appeared beyond it.
Inside, a dozen villagers stared back with wide, startled eyes.
* * *
"Granny Mihail, are you insane?! How could you open the hideout door like that!"
"What was I supposed to do."
"If they go tell the lord! Then Adelin and all of us are done for, don't you know?!"
Tie stared at the arguing people, who were spitting a bit, feeling a little intimidated.
Furious men.
Women clutching their young children and sighing.
And the inn granny standing blankly silent since earlier.
"Say something!"
"I know they know we're here."
"Wh-what?!"
"I only opened it because they already knew, so shut up."
The wide-eyed man scowled.
But then Adelin stepped forward.
"Sir, calm down. Elder Mihail is right. They already knew. About the hideout behind the cabinet."
Only then did the villagers turn to look at the Agavert members.
Veil hugged Tie closer with an indifferent expression.
"Yeah. But putting that aside."
He then voiced the question he'd wanted to ask since earlier.
"What the hell are you all doing here anyway?"
As the villagers hesitated.
Tie quietly tugged at Veil's clothes.
"Why, bro? They were all playing hide-and-seek."
