Episode 30. The King of a Kingless Country
Binaeril and Silvia shouted in unison. Only Rike, not knowing how outrageous a price that was, blinked her eyes. A night's stay at a decent inn cost one silver coin. Even the best room didn't exceed three coins. Even adding food and bath fees, ten Florin silver coins per person? All together, it was more than one gold coin. It was an utter rip-off.
"Why, don't you have the money?"
The party had quite a bit of spare money they had received from Dean Yulio before departure. If asked whether they could pay, they could—if they hadn't known that this price was insane highway robbery, that is. But unfortunately, Binaeril had at least a minimal sense of economics. When he pointed out that the price was outrageous, the village chief's face immediately turned hostile.
"Look here. You've received every hospitality—meals, baths, everything—and now you say you can't pay?"
"You never said a word about it before, and now you demand thirty silver coins. Of course we can't pay that."
"Is this how mages of Elfenbein behave? Do you know how much money the people around here donate to Elfenbein every year? This is a betrayal of trust."
The village chief, who had been using honorifics with them the whole time, suddenly began treating Binaeril and the others like inferiors upon hearing they couldn't pay. Binaeril narrowed his eyes.
"Aha, so that's how it is."
"What?"
"You grab fresh graduates who've just set out on their missions, feed them and put them up for the night. Then you bring up the magic tower to squeeze money out of them. Is this the morality of Fairhill?"
"So you thought all that was free? Fairhill is the backcountry. Prices are higher than in the city. How dare you call someone a swindler when you don't even know the local situation?"
Binaeril finally understood what kind of money had built the village chief's imposing mansion.
"Oswald! The guests say they can't pay."
The senior guard from daytime burst through the village chief's door. In the middle of the night, he was wearing full armor that seemed strangely out of place.
"I had a feeling my luck would be good today."
Perhaps the guard called Oswald—no, the guards at the village entrance themselves—were not troops for maintaining public order. They likely served as touts who lured in suckers.
"Hand over the silver quietly. You aren't thinking of fighting back, are you?"
The village chief and the guard smiled vilely. Now they were practically no different from bandits.
Mages of Elfenbein made a vow not to attack civilians carelessly. The firepower of trained mages was comparable to an army. If such people harbored ill intent, it was a disaster for ordinary folk. A mage who harmed people carelessly was summoned to Elfenbein to face censure. The village chief of Fairhill was cunning. It was all too obvious that he had been exploiting the weakness of such mages to extort money.
Binaeril meekly showed his palms and raised both hands. Then he called the spirit's name in his mind.
'Eden.'
Eden understood Binaeril's intent perfectly. She collapsed the ground beneath the village chief and the guard, pulling them into the earth.
"What is this!"
"...So this works."
It was Binaeril's first time calling Eden silently.
"You did this!"
"What are you talking about? I didn't do anything. Is your house a bit shabby? You should renovate it."
"What is this! Get us out of here!"
It was a trap that even the great mage Binaeril Dalheim and the Minotaur of the labyrinth had fallen into. A mere village chief couldn't possibly escape easily.
"How about ten silver coins for the three of us?"
"This is already a generous offer. Greed will tear your belly open."
"Has this bastard gone mad?"
"Hmm?"
Binaeril called Eden once more. The two, who had been submerged to their waists, were now buried up to their chins, sticking their heads out loosely like people getting a sand bath.
"Still not going to do it?"
"Hey, you seem like a bad person."
Silvia, who had been watching, chimed in.
"If you keep this up, we'll leave you two behind and go up to sleep. How about five silver coins for all three?"
The village chief's face turned red and blue. Unable to contain his anger, the village chief with his reddened face unleashed the forbidden secret technique that only a landlord could use. Probably even the Archmage Dekiplelio descending couldn't block this secret technique.
"All of you get out!!"
And so the three were driven out of the village in the dead of night. The prairie night was quite chilly.
"You should have kept it moderate. We got kicked out because you provoked him for no reason."
"So we should have just endured it?"
"That's not what I mean. You could have talked it out better. It's not like they could do anything to us anyway."
Truthfully, after experiencing the prairie's cold, Binaeril did feel a bit of regret.
"Let's find a place to sleep first."
Camping preparations aren't something you do at night. You have to diligently set up before sunset—securing a spot, firming the ground, lighting a fire, and so on. While looking for a dry spot, the party discovered a light glowing in the distance.
"I see something over there."
"What is it? Ah!"
Binaeril remembered the mage they had encountered in the village. Couldn't they expect a little goodwill from someone in the same field?
"Hahaha! I knew I'd see you again."
The senior mage's name was Bernstein. Contrary to the first impression of him fighting a battle of wills with the village chief, he was quite a cheerful person.
"So you buried them in the ground and got kicked out?"
"If they weren't fools, they would have heard the incantation and prepared. Hmm... Did other friends stop them?"
"Eh, well. Hahaha."
Binaeril didn't bother explaining in detail.
"Rest easy. Take care of your own sleeping arrangements, and feel free to use anything else."
He seemed to be a veteran traveler and had set up quite a respectable campsite. Thanks to that, the party settled in comfortably and sat around the campfire to express their gratitude.
"There are quite a few who get caught up and foolishly have their money ripped off. Still, you handled it well."
"You knew?"
"Of course I know. It's famous among Elfenbein graduates. They're outright bandits; they just don't carry swords."
"Then you should have told us."
"I figured it was already too late when I saw you coming out of the house with naive faces. And I have no hobby of interfering in others' affairs."
"Are all the villages around here like this?"
Rike cut in to ask. Bernstein nodded.
"Around Elfenbein, there are places like this from time to time. They catch clueless kids and do business like that. They say they welcome you, but they're black-hearted inside."
"They're completely bad people."
That was one of the worst things Rike could say. Binaeril chuckled at her innocence.
"If they ever catch the wrong person, they'll be in big trouble, won't they?"
"Didn't you nearly give them big trouble yourselves? Actually, not all the villagers are acting with bad intent. There are places like this depending on the village leader's disposition."
"Really?"
Bernstein added an explanation.
"Near Elfenbein is close to the borders of various countries. But no nation pays attention to places like this. They're too busy taking care of areas near their capitals. Naturally, a new domain of sorts has formed around Elfenbein."
"What kind of domain?"
"These places have no patriotism or sense of belonging. Each one is like a small independent nation. Inside the village, the leader is an absolute power. Almost like..."
He stroked his chin with his finger like a man choosing his words.
"Kings of a kingless country, you might say."
"Kings of a kingless country...."
"Yes. Ones who need to be cleared away someday."
Bernstein's face as he uttered the last sentence was a bit chilling. Binaeril was slightly frightened.
"Cleared away? What do you mean?"
"It's a joke. A joke. I just said it because I want to punish those who do bad things. Hahaha."
The campfire Bernstein had lit was gradually dying down. The four returned to their respective tents to sleep. When they woke up the next morning, he had already left. On the spot where his tent had been, only a note was left.
'It was fun. Let's meet again.'
He was an enigmatic man who came like the wind and disappeared like the wind.
Binaeril also gathered the two girls who were dawdling and busily packed their bags.
It was then.
"H-help!"
Someone came running over a low hill. It was the young man who had been standing guard at the entrance to Fairhill. Panting, he spilled out his request without even giving Binaeril's group time to ask.
"Monsters, monsters have appeared in the village!"
At the news that instantly drove away sleep, the three rose vigorously.
"The village guards alone can't hold them back. Please help us."
Binaeril exchanged glances with the two girls. Fairhill was the village that had driven them out. Should they lend a hand for such people? A faint doubt settled in Binaeril's heart.
Rike met Binaeril's eyes and spoke.
"Let's go quickly, Binaeril."
Her eyes held not the slightest hesitation.
When the three arrived at the village, the battle was in full swing.
"They're Wild Hounds."
"Confirmed."
Wild Hounds were a lower species than the Dire Wolves they had met before, but they were monsters that traveled in packs, making them more dangerous. All the village guards had been mobilized to fight desperately against the monsters, and here and there unarmed men were grabbing whatever they could to fight.
"What about the chief?"
"I don't know either. He was here earlier, but then the chief's son got bitten in the leg. After that, I haven't seen him with his son."
"Understood for now."
The priority right now was repelling the monsters.
"Silvia, you take them from the left. I'll run to the right. Rike, you support the villagers from the rear."
"Spear of Ice!"
Binaeril cast magic at a Wild Hound lunging at a fallen man.
*Crack!*
Drawing the attention of multiple monsters to himself seemed the most urgent task.
"Faster! Eden, block between the people and them."
Simultaneously casting an acceleration spell, Binaeril hurled simultaneously cast ice spears scattershot at the horde of monsters.
"Look at me, you monsters!"
Silvia also ran in her assigned direction and kicked the head of a monster lunging at a crying child. Even from afar, the sound of a watermelon splitting was clearly heard.
"Wh-what!"
"It's a mage!"
"It's the young mages from yesterday!"
"Over here, help us here first!"
The morale of the struggling guards instantly soared. Having succeeded in drawing the attention of five or six monsters, Binaeril lured them as far away from the people as possible. A larger-scale magic seemed better done with an incantation. Binaeril imagined a wall that would trap them entirely.
"The prison bars of the earth shall become your prison."
Since obtaining Eden, earth magic felt more comfortable. Binaeril created a huge stone-walled prison large enough to contain all the monsters running in a line.
"I'll deal with you later."
Binaeril turned around and returned to the front line.