My Villains Chapter 532
68. Travel to the Royal Road (5)
The place where we spent the third night of our journey was a small roadside village.
A shabby guard tower was built at the entrance to watch over the road, but it turned out that the old military facility was no different from the root of a nameless village. Merchants and mercenary travelers who used the road set up a camp under the guard tower, and an inn and tavern aimed at them were established, and the town was formed.
Maybe that’s why a certain young man in charge of the guard tower was pretending to be a landlord. He said he inherited his position from his father, but it was unknown when the rank of sergeant became hereditary.
Traditionally, it is a village belonging to the southern part of Angst – the area that has recently been called the ‘Nudein Dominion’, but it does not seem that Proshaven’s administrative power has reached it. At least, the tax collector is constantly visiting, so it seems that there is a land register somewhere in Proschafen’s office.
This was the reason why the fake sergeant proudly introduced himself in front of me. The Proshafen customs collector must have just collected taxes according to his duties, but he seemed to consider his authority officially recognized.
Somehow he let out a sigh, but it wouldn’t be an unusual situation in this world. If that fake sergeant’s family continues for a couple more generations, then such a venerable lord’s family will be born.
After a brief conflict, I decided to give it a go.
Isn’t it funny that this isn’t my territory, and it’s ridiculous to come to someone else’s land and gossip about this and that?
Of course, considering the title of lifelong marshal of the Imperial Marshal, he was not unqualified to interfere.
A Marshal is a military commandership usually held by emperors, electors, and other high-ranking lords, and is given limited powers of command on behalf of the monarch. This limited power of command included the right to supervise front-line units and the right to appoint personnel based on follow-up reports, in addition to the authority of conscription, training, discipline, and command.
In short, even if you kick out the fake sergeant right in front of you, there will be no problem with the procedure if you send a letter to Atalante, who is lying around in the mansion of your fiancée, and ask for her understanding.
It wasn’t very difficult, but the problem was that I didn’t have the will to even look after myself. If that illegal hereditary Eunsu is kicked out, the village will become a lawless place, but I can’t just leave it unattended. If you can’t take responsibility, it’s better not to even start in the first place.
Thanks to the guidance of the fake sergeant, the party was able to get the best room in the inn. Well, if you had about 60 well-armed cavalrymen, you could be treated well without anyone’s help.
By the time we unpacked our luggage in the room and came down to eat, the inn, which had been quite crowded, was empty. I thought the fake sergeant kicked out the other guests with a fuss for no reason, but looking at him, it seems that’s not the case. I don’t know the details of the situation, but it wasn’t a bad thing since I was able to spend a pleasant night anyway.
Contrary to what I had hoped for, the road to Proshafen was safe and peaceful.
I wasn’t expecting an ogre tribe mixed with shamans or an evil god follower party, but I thought I’d run into a small group of greenskins or a gang of bandits, even if I didn’t have a poor warlock… It’s ambiguous.
Still, the fact that nude patrols dispatched from Proshafen were taking control of the neighborhood was certainly something to rejoice about. Hearing the news and rumors, I thought the city had completely become a devil’s den, but it’s fortunate that basic security seems to be maintained properly.
This sense of relief or regret was shattered less than 30 minutes after arriving in Proshafen.
Proshafen, a port city, is largely divided into three districts.
The first is the port district where the port and related facilities are located, the second is the city center centered on the lord’s castle on the hill, and the last is the plaza district where offices and workshops of various associations and guilds and markets flourish.
After entering the city around late afternoon, I decided to send most of the party to the accommodations near Yeongju Castle and look around each district. Since it was the first city I had visited in nearly two years, I wanted to take a look around and see what the atmosphere of the city was like.
The first thing I went to was the plaza area, and when I passed the market full of passers-by and entered the plaza, I witnessed a bizarre sight.
What is that?” What I pointed out with a puzzled expression was a structure with a thick wooden street in the middle of the plaza.
Six corpses were hung upside down from the structure, all of them naked, with their hands, genitals and heads cut off. The eyes, nose, mouth, and wounds were infested with maggots, and they had a terrible appearance, but half of them were black and rotted to the point of emitting a terrible stench.
“yes? Oh that one.”
My guide was an adjutant of the Frosthaven Guard. Among the Nudin people, it was said that he was one of the warriors who participated in the war with only the blade following Atalante as a ‘Sirid Kiss’, which corresponds to the officer class.
Not only did he instantly recognize my face to see if it was a lie, but he also showed an extremely polite attitude, as if he were dealing with a clan chief.
After hesitating for a moment, the adjutant lowered his head as if he was sorry.
“…it’s not big enough for Hunafi to pay attention to.”
Why did you decide that?”
“yes? what is that?”
“Why did you decide that?”
The nude human adjutant put on a dumbfounded expression as if he didn’t understand what I was saying. Then the impatient Fritz hit him in the back of the head.
fast.
“Ahhh
, you cheeky heretic bastard. This is why you decide whether or not your lord cares about it.”
Fritz growled ferociously as he grabbed the horse’s head and grabbed the fallen lieutenant by the collar.
“Stop talking nonsense and answer me. Why are those corpses hanging like that?”
“I don’t know either.”
“I don’t know? A bastard named lieutenant of the guard has a corpse hanging in the middle of the city and you don’t know why?”
Just before Fritz, who laughed, struck his nose with his gauntlet fist, the frightened lieutenant waved his hand.
“It must have been done by the Gellan thugs, but we really don’t know the exact circumstances!”
“A Gellan thug?”
The nudein lieutenant nodded his head as he was caught by the collar, and then spread out what he knew like a rapid-fire cannon.
“Yes, that’s ‘Aran Hares’ – that’s why, after Napidat Atalante left the foreign country, the behavior of the Gelans became extreme. The most dangerous of them is a gang that has settled in this plaza area, but it is the heinous guys who beat passers-by and extort merchants, usually committing murder in broad daylight or raiding armories.”
“Then what about those hanging corpses? Judging by the color of their skin, they are nudes. Are they guards?”
“Probably the guys from the port side.”
” Harbor’?”
“Because of the abominations of the natives, the newly immigrated Nudes banded together to form something like a vigilante. Since they set foot in the square, the Gellan thugs must have done harm.”
Fritz burst out laughing as if he was dumbfounded and then said, ‘What should I do?’ I looked back this way with a smile on my face.
I pressed my temple at this absurd situation and slowly opened my mouth.
“Are the guards just watching the situation?”
“Actually, there have been several attempts to wipe them out.”
“however?”
“It’s not as easy as you might think. They have the Gellan caravans and nobles behind them, so if they do something wrong, a riot could spread throughout the city…
“I’m going to be crazy. Why don’t you call the guards and then clean that up first? Does it make sense to leave the plaza like that’?”
Proshafen is the richest port city in the eastern part of the Mittergerland Empire.
It boasts enormous trading capacity due to all kinds of precious goods flowing in from the inland regions of the empire as well as the Amir Sultanate and the colonial kingdom of Milanol in the southern continent.
The wealth the city earned was so great that one record testified that Proshafen earned more than 10,000 gold coins in a year.
As such a wealthy city, the market centered around the plaza was crowded with all kinds of outsiders, not just citizens. It was by no means wise to hang six hideous corpses in a place that was not a backwater, but a city sign.
“But, Funapi…
that was based on common sense, but the adjutant of the guards still had a troubled attitude.
“And why? What’s the matter?”
“I’m sorry to say, but as the city’s key figures gathered and discussed in October of last year, the guards
decided not to get involved in the affairs of the back alleys for the peace and stability of the city…
I quietly opened my mouth after blinking my eyes.
“…What is inviolable? Is this Moorim?”
“yes? You mean Moorim?”
“It’s ridiculous. Why the hell are there guards when you can’t even beat the city’s criminals? What kind of asshole’s head is that a solution?” I was annoyed for some reason by the guard adjutant’s stupid expression, so I waved my hand and looked back at my men.
“Fritz Cole Steedman.”
The men called by name rode their horses and rode forward. Fritz roughly threw the adjutant under the horse and wiped his hands.
“Tell me.”
“First of all… Cole goes to the Port Guard and Steedman goes to the Gate Guard Headquarters.”
I brushed off a handful of annoyances that still remained in my heart and continued, “Go and deliver the order of the Marshal of the Imperial Marshal. Ports and gates must be closed immediately. All troops must be assembled and ready to mobilize.”
“Yes sir.”
“Fritz, take that asshole and go to the guards. Get rid of those corpses and bring all the proud people who are ‘the city’s elements’ or something.”
“Let’s do it according to orders. Where can I take you?”
“Your lordship.”
Pulling the reins of the bicorn, he turned his horse toward the lord’s castle and added orders to his three subordinates.
“You will have to hurry. I’ll finish my work by tomorrow and leave the next morning at the latest.”
While the subordinates were giving a courtesy without saying anything, the nudein lieutenant, who belatedly grasped the situation, struggled.
“Wait- Hunafi! Please be considerate! Shutting down the city? No matter how much Hunapi is the sun of Napidat and the enemy of the Empire, he has no right to do so!”
“okay?”
I smiled slightly.
“Then what? Should I act as a bandit and not as a foe? Like it was two years ago?”
As if understanding the meaning of my words, the adjutant shook his shoulders.
What was in his eyes was not the good-hearted neighbor lord. The conqueror who once turned this city into a sea of fire was there.
“Come on. If there’s another guy who says stupid things like that, just bring the head.”
Leaving behind the subordinates who each gave an answer, they ran to the lord’s castle.
The road leading from the plaza to the castle was crowded with countless people, but thanks to the guards and guards shouting and announcing the enemy’s or enemy knight’s arrival, nothing was caught.
It’s something I’ve already started, so I need to finish it quickly and surely. To do so, he would have to take care of the guys guarding the lord’s castle first.
