Ch#95
'I can't believe that wasn't hide-and-seek......'
Inside the hideout, following Adelin.
Tie quietly rolled her eyes.
'They clearly said they knew we were here.'
'We know. That we're here.'
It had been exactly like hide-and-seek talk, but it wasn't.
The more she thought about it, the more bewildering it was.
Meanwhile, up front, the members were conversing with Adelin.
"You mean everyone in the village has to offer tribute of a set amount every week?"
Adelin nodded.
Behind her, villagers were treating the pickpocket kid—Jen’s—torn cheek.
"It's realistically impossible. The very act of collecting tribute every week."
"The tribute is coal?"
Veil cut in.
Adelin looked at Veil with a dazed face.
"......Yes."
Kaldbain-Ridge was a village located in the middle of dense mountains.
Now, with most game hunted away due to monsters.
They relied solely on the coal mines around the village for livelihood.
"Doesn't feel like a mining village though."
"The mines are small-scale. Not properly developed."
Though developed long ago, the nearby veins were so small they barely qualified as mines.
Thus, Kaldbain-Ridge residents had been hand-mining coal from start to finish.
Literally picking up pickaxes and shovels to dig it out themselves.
But even so, it had been fine.
Previously, the small yield had been enough to sustain the whole village.
"As you see, it's a small village. And the Popullosa Weapon District nearby paid well for coal."
But the problem started a few years ago.
"......It began when the lord changed."
Veil raised an eyebrow.
Adelin let out a deep sigh.
The new lord, Reginald, who took over a few years back, was extremely extravagant.
If only he were the only one, but his wife was just as lavish.
They squandered all the wealth accumulated by the previous lord, then began squeezing the territory's people.
"You saw the crates in the plaza, right? Every week, an edict comes down demanding each house fill one to the brim with coal."
Kaldbain's mine tunnels were narrow, and the coal seams broken in places.
If they invested money to expand the mines and open new veins, maybe.
But with the current methods, satisfying the lord was impossible.
"Moreover, accessible tunnels have mostly vanished lately. Only narrow, low ones left where we can't even install supports anymore."
Veil, who had been listening, asked.
"What happens if you can't meet the tribute quota?"
"That's......"
Adelin shut her mouth.
Instead, a villager stepped forward from behind.
"What good does it do for you outsiders to know? You gonna take our punishment for us?"
"Punishment?"
"......Yeah, we get treated real rough if we fall short on tribute."
Basto, on the table, narrowed his brow.
Raoul and Enzo's expressions turned icy too.
And rightly so—the word 'punishment' implied something violent.
Basto asked in a flat tone.
"Can't you revolt and drag the lord down?"
The villagers looked taken aback by the unexpected words.
But soon, they all replied in weary voices.
"......Impossible because of the lord's army."
"Yeah. You saw those knights too."
The villagers were already worn down and exhausted by the lord's tyranny.
Meanwhile, Reginald had used coal sale profits to amass many private soldiers.
In this situation, even united, they couldn't defeat him.
On top of that, the weekly edicts nailed shut any room for hope.
"Troublesome."
As Basto muttered.
"From the inn, it looked like most of this week's quotas were met though."
Nordics, who had been quiet, spoke up while looking at the villagers.
When he left the inn, the crates encircling the plaza had mostly been filled.
It contrasted with Adelin's claim that mining couldn't keep up.
The inn granny replied flatly.
"Thanks to Adelin."
She continued in her usual eerie voice.
"Every week after collection ends, Adelin buys back coal from the lord's knights at a premium. Then the next week, she distributes it to those short on quota."
Raoul tilted his head. If true, then Adelin was
"Emptying her own pockets every week?"
Adelin avoided Raoul's gaze.
Silent for a moment, she soon nodded.
"......It's not that burdensome. Not yet."
But something felt off.
A rundown village.
Running such a small pub while spending enough weekly to cover the whole village's shortfalls.
As Raoul, frowning, was about to ask more.
Pwooooo—
Suddenly, a long trumpet blast pierced the hideout.
At the same time, the villagers' faces paled.
"Wh-what? Why's assembly so early?"
"Time's not up yet......"
To the panicking villagers, Adelin said firmly.
"Probably because Jen escaped. Let's head out for now."
The villagers nodded and began moving busily.
Children and kids exited the hideout first, and the men thanked Adelin each before leaving.
Now only the members and Adelin remained in the hideout.
Adelin let out a deep sigh and pulled a cord hanging on the wall to close the back.
Then, looking at the members in the dimness, she spoke.
"When are you leaving? Come by the pub before you go—drinks on the house."
She followed with a faint smile.
"......Thanks for bringing medicine to treat Jen."
She had phrased it politely, but it was a send-off.
* * *
Back at the inn.
"Change into this."
Lucarion tilted his head at the gray cloak Nordics offered.
"The inn granny gave it when I went downstairs. Said what you're wearing now is too conspicuous."
Lucarion draped the cloak over without a word.
He had just been thinking any clothes but Astie's dress would do.
Meanwhile, in one corner of the room, Veil and Basto were arguing.
"Veil. Don't you know what dangers your actions could bring?"
"Dangers my ass. You know too—those knight punks are no match for us."
"Still, it's the lord's army. Unnecessary friction could lead to trouble......"
"Who said I'm starting a war with them? I just wanna watch from a plaza corner—why make such a fuss?"
"Because I don't get why you'd bother watching."
Veil shut his mouth, swallowing his anger.
Then, sighing deeply, he lowered his voice.
"......If those so-called knights try harming people, shouldn't we stop them?"
Basto rubbed his brow.
Basto wasn't without such thoughts.
The villagers' meaningful testimonies, and now grasping the situation.
He didn't want to see innocent Kaldbain-Ridge folk suffer either.
But.
"They're unrelated to us."
"Are you really human trash?"
"Call me trash if you want. We have Tie, and she just barely survived death in the Weapon District. Am I weird for not wanting unnecessary risks?"
With no room for rebuttal, silence fell between them.
As fierce glares shot between their blazing eyes.
"Uh, Sir Basto. Sir Veil."
Approaching Enzo called to them.
"What."
"The captain......"
Instead of answering, Enzo pointed somewhere.
There, Lucarion and Tie faced each other in the corridor.
Tie was already neatly tying Lucarion's cloak strings.
"All done! Let's go!"
Soon, the child grabbed Lucarion's hand tightly and started down the stairs.
Atop the kindergarten bag tied snugly was Ppuppu lounging spread-eagled.
Basto, briefly stunned, soon called out to Tie.
"Tie!"
"Yees?"
The child turned back with an utterly innocent face.
