Cransia, who had been watching, silently opened her backpack.
“Would you like to try some of this?”
What Cransia held out was dried meat they had prepared as travel rations. At the sight of it, the boy’s eyes lit up.
To a boy who had lived as an orc’s slave, meat was an exceedingly precious thing. Because the livestock they raised with such difficulty had to be offered up entirely to the orc tribe, the human slaves were forced to eat only grain and vegetables. But since they needed to supplement their protein, people would avoid the orcs’ eyes and, now and then—very, very rarely—taste meat.
Because of that, the boy knew well what meat tasted like. Cransia, having noticed that fact, had presented the most effective bait. After hesitating, the boy carefully reached out his hand.
“May I eat it?”
Cransia slightly raised the hand holding the meat so it remained out of the boy’s reach.
“I’ll give it to you if you guide us to the village where you lived.”
The boy was plunged into serious conflict. He hated the thought of returning to the village, but seeing the meat swaying before his eyes, his resolve gradually weakened. Damon, watching, smiled faintly.
“If you guide us to the village, I’ll give you another piece of dried meat.”
Those words were the decisive blow. The boy, swallowing his saliva, finally agreed.
“All right. I’ll guide you to the village.”
“You made the right choice.”
Cransia nodded and handed the meat she had been holding to the boy. As if he had been quite hungry, the boy began chewing at it the moment he received it.
“Follow me.”
With the dried meat in his mouth, the boy turned around. The party quietly followed after him.
He said the village was not very far away. However, because there was no proper road to speak of, the party’s progress was fairly slow. If it was a village where people lived, one might expect at least a narrow path, but no matter how hard they looked, they could not find anything resembling a road.
‘It seems they aren’t allowed to go outside the village at all.’
As the party followed the boy with such thoughts in mind, a wide clearing appeared before them.
A village came into view, made up of about a hundred shabby log houses. Around the outskirts of the village stood a wooden palisade made from cut logs. It seemed to have been built to protect the villagers from monster attacks.
With the boy in front, the party cautiously walked into the village. Just then, a shout suddenly rang out from atop the palisade.
“Stop!”
One by one, people’s heads appeared over the palisade. There were about two hundred of them…
They were glaring at the party with hostile expressions. All of them were men.
“If you come any closer, we’ll shoot!”
Looking closely, the villagers were aiming bows at the party. They were crude bows that seemed to be made of bamboo. Seeing that, the party stopped walking. Since every one of them was firmly clad in armor, there was no need to pay any mind to such shoddy bows, but they had not come to fight, so they obediently followed the instruction. Kasim looked around, then stepped forward.
“We did not come to fight. We merely came to speak with you.”
“Don’t try any tricks. If you want to talk, send Tom over here.”
Cransia turned her head and looked at Damon.
“What should we do?”
When Damon silently nodded, Cransia called to the boy, who was chewing on the dried meat.
“Is your name Tom?”
Tom quietly nodded.
“The villagers say they won’t talk unless we send you to them. What will you do?”
Tom glanced at Cransia’s face and slowly blushed.
“If you give me more meat, I’ll go into the village. It’s no big deal. I can just run away again later.”
“Will you be all right?”
“Yes. They’ll probably just hit me a few times and be done with it.”
Cransia, wearing a stunned expression, seemed to make up her mind and took out another piece of dried meat, placing it in Tom’s hand.
“I’ll give you one more piece after we go into the village.”
Tom, delighted, ran toward the village with the meat in hand. Even as he did, he kept stuffing the dried meat into his mouth. As Tom approached, the gate in the palisade opened. Two young men rushed out, snatched up Tom’s body, and hurriedly turned back.
Once Tom disappeared, a middle-aged man walked out through the gate. He was likely the owner of the voice they had heard earlier. The man approached the party, then stopped at a distance.
“Now then, what have you come for?”
Kasim stepped forward.
“Are you the chief of this village?”
“I am.”
The man nodded without hesitation. Though he was little more than skin and bones, the fierce gleam in his eyes made him seem like a man with considerable backbone. After observing the chief for a moment, Kasim opened his mouth.
“Why are you so hostile toward us? We came to help you.”
“Hmph. Help?”
The chief snorted. Judging from that, he seemed to harbor no small amount of ill will toward the people of Arcadia. His razor-sharp abuse continued.
“And what sort of help have you come to give? If you truly want to help us, then disappear from this place right now. That is helping us.”
“……”
“What you people do is obvious, isn’t it? If you aren’t needlessly stirring up the orc tribe so that the retaliation falls entirely on us, then you’re laying hands on innocent village maidens. Isn’t that what you people enjoy doing? Do you perhaps know how many villagers die every time you come and go? Does it feel that satisfying to fill the village youths’ heads with useless ideas and get them all killed?”
At the chief’s scorn, Kasim found himself at a loss for words. He had never imagined that the people of Truvenia hated the people of Arcadia this much.
“We are coexisting with the orcs in our own way. Please do not break that balance.”
As if refusing to be defeated, Kasim tried to protest.
“Coexisting and living as slaves are clearly different. In my opinion…”
“That is merely what you people think. We have our own way.”
Kasim’s strength seemed to drain from him. To think the people of Truvenia had become this accustomed to life as slaves… Perhaps encouraged by Kasim’s dazed appearance, the chief’s harsh words continued.
“I do not know what you crossed over here to do, but please disappear quietly. That is the way to help us.”
“B-but…”
The chief wore a thin, bitter smile.
“I warn you. For your information, we have no intention of letting you take even a single step into the village. If you do not withdraw peacefully, we will attack without mercy.”
When the chief raised his hand, the people arrayed atop the palisade all aimed their bows at once. They looked ready to shoot without hesitation if anything went wrong. Kasim was flustered, not knowing what to do. Of course, arrows like those could not possibly harm a party composed of elites, but since they had not come here to fight in the first place, he could not decide how to handle the situation. At that moment, Damon stepped forward.
“Then does that mean you intend to continue living as the orcs’ slaves from now on as well?”
The chief’s gaze shifted to Damon.
“That is right. We have our own way of living. If you refrain from useless meddling and leave, that would be helping us.”
“Then it cannot be helped.”
With an expressionless face, Damon turned around.
“Let’s go. It seems we came to the wrong place.”
Bewildered expressions appeared on the faces of the party. To think he would give up so easily… The chief also seemed quite flustered. He had prepared himself for a battle, yet the other side was unexpectedly turning back so easily. But since it was the result he wanted, the chief coldly ordered them away.
“Farewell. And do not ever come here again.”
Seen off by the chief, the party quietly followed behind Damon. Before long, their figures disappeared into the undergrowth.
As the party silently retraced the path they had come by, Cransia suddenly approached Damon.
“Is it correct that the mission entrusted to us is to incite the people here and make them rise in rebellion?”
Damon’s gaze slowly turned toward Cransia.
“For now, yes.”
“In my opinion, it will not be easy. The people here are deeply steeped in inertia. I cannot say for certain, but I doubt they could even dream of rebelling.”
An amused expression appeared on Damon’s face.
“But didn’t that boy named Tom say without hesitation that he would join the resistance?”
“He is acting recklessly out of childish impulse. Once he becomes an adult, his way of thinking is bound to change.”
Cransia quietly continued.
“To tell the truth, the Arcadian knights who came here are not without fault either. Since their basic attitude was to look down on and despise them as slaves of the orc race, it is understandable that the people of Truvenia would bear resentment. But above all else, the people of Truvenia differ from us in their very way of thinking. In my opinion, the plan needs to be revised extensively.”
Damon, gazing at Cransia, smiled gently.
“You are wrong. I think it is merely the method of approach that is wrong.”
However, Cransia did not easily yield her opinion.
“When we came last time, we also tried our best to persuade the villagers. We told them that rather than living as the orcs’ slaves, they would be better off choosing to fight and die.”
“And did it work?”
“It did not work at all. They chose to settle for reality and live within it in their own way. It is no different from being completely mired in inertia.”
Damon shook his head and patted Cransia on the shoulder.
“As I said, the method was wrong. I’ll try resolving it my way, so why don’t you watch?”
“……”
Withdrawing his gaze from the silent Cransia, Damon looked at Shrekheimer.
“Grand Prelate. Where was the orc tribe that enslaves the villagers located?”
“It was situated in the plains below the mountain. It did not seem to be a very large tribe…”
Hearing that, Damon gathered the members of the unit.
“I will now hand down the mission.”
Damon swept his gaze over each of the unit members’ faces and continued.
“It is not a particularly difficult mission, so relax. Only the swordsmen will be mobilized for this mission, so each of you, prepare your equipment and make ready at once…”
Kasim wore a doubtful expression.
“What is the mission?”
“As a reconnaissance-in-force, you will raid the orc tribe, stir things up thoroughly, and return. Fight moderately so that no one is injured, then look for an opportunity and withdraw. Since this will be your first battle against orcs, take particular care…”
Though they did not understand why, the unit members quietly began preparing their equipment. Considering the party’s abilities, something of that level was no different from eating cold porridge.