1296 — Is There A Place To Rest On This Land? (1)

“Move aside!”

“Ugh, aaah!”

The man who had been roughly shoved rolled out onto the roadside.

“What the—! What the…”

The man, who had jerked his head up in anger, immediately ducked his head down as soon as he raised it.

Along the main road, those carrying menacing weapons charged fiercely; anyone who saw them wrong could easily lose their head.

‘W-what on earth is happening.’

He had only been looking elsewhere for a moment; when did those terrifying things get all the way out here?

The man, who had been hunched low, only dared to lift his head slowly once he could no longer hear the footfalls, and watched those running off into the distance.

“What on earth is all this…”

“Sir. You alright?”

One of those flattened to the ground raised his head and asked.

“…I’m fine, but why are those people in such a hurry? What happened to make them rush like that?”

“How would I know? It’s been chaos since this morning.”

“This morning?”

“I don’t even know how many of them have passed by already. Each one looks like they’re being chased by something… Consider yourself lucky. The fellow who blocked the road earlier without knowing got beaten to a pulp and hasn’t come to his senses.”

“I-it must be the Four Sects Alliance, right?”

“Do you think those things belong to the Four Sects Alliance? They look like low-level Evil Sect thugs to me.”

Though he said that, fear filled the man’s face.

Even third-rate ruffians from the Evil Sect were like grim reapers to them.

With such people drawing weapons and prowling the road with terrifying intensity, how could their hearts not quiver?

Ever since the Four Sects Alliance came to rule Southern lands, they’d been living under the Evil Sect’s heels for some time, but occurrences like this were still rare.

“What happened?”

“How would folks like us know? Those bastards aren’t going to tell anyone.”

“Well…”

“Still, it’s the first time I’ve seen them so desperate, so something must’ve happened. But they’re heading south… not north. What on earth could’ve happened in the south?”

The man tilted his head as if he couldn’t understand.

It would make sense if something major happened in the north, where they face off against the Justice faction.

But there’s nowhere in the south that seems likely to have trouble; the southern part of the Southern lands is, after all, the territory controlled by the Ten Thousand People Clan.

“Big trouble…”

When disaster strikes, it’s always the common people who suffer the most.

Like the proverb ‘lips gone, teeth cold’ — with the Justice faction pushed out and criticized as corrupt money-chasing hypocrites, the Evil Sect’s atrocities inevitably seeped into their lives.

Deep down they wished the Justice faction from the Northern lands would advance south and drive out the Four Sects Alliance, but they feared that if that happened their lives might become even harder, so they could only worry and watch. They had no choice.

“Could it be that the Justice faction invaded the south?”

“Sir, are you out of your mind? Why would the Justice faction attack the south instead of the north?”

“Well… aren’t there special units or something that hit the rear…”

“Nonsense. If they could do that, they’d have done it already.”

“……”

“And when have the Justice faction ever risked their lives to pull such risky stunts?”

Indeed, he had a point.

It’s true life under the Justice faction was better than under the Evil Sect, but the pompous Justice faction didn’t really care much for commoners like them.

As the man was about to nod, someone with a brusque face spoke up in a small voice.

“If it’s Mount Hua, that’d be different…”

“……”

At that, several people’s heads around him nodded in unison.

Mount Hua — that is, the Heavenly Friends Alliance — had made no secret of how badly they wanted to crush the Four Sects Alliance, and everyone in the Southern lands knew it.

“Anyway, wake up from that dream. They won’t come all the way down to the Southern lands.”

“Sigh…”

Worry filled everyone’s faces.

In the end, there was nothing they could do.

Unless the Justice faction or the authorities intervened, commoners were powerless.

What threat could they be to people who could leap rivers in a single step and smash rocks with bare fists?

Unless something drastic changed, the rule of the Four Sects Alliance would not fall.

“Life’s already hard enough as it is…”

“Still… those forces have shown some benevolence. They distributed grain this time.”

“Benevolence?”

At that quietly offered remark, the townspeople’s eyes flashed with suspicion.

“You call handing out a few sacks of grain ‘benevolence’?”

“N-no. If they hadn’t done that…”

“Where do you think that grain came from in the first place? It was ours to begin with! They emptied our pockets of every coin, and now that we’re on the verge of starving they throw a few coins at us as if it’s charity?”

“Does this fellow think his word is gospel?”

“Don’t you dare say such things!”

In an instant the man was on the defensive. The crowd’s momentum made it seem like they might drag him off and beat him.

Strangely, despite the gravity of the situation that would make even the boldest shiver, the man remained calm and collected.

“So you’re saying you’re not grateful for the benevolence the forces showed?”

“…W-well, that’s…”

“Uh…”

Those who looked ready to roll up their sleeves instead quietly glanced at each other.

They sensed that one wrong word here could lead to disaster.

If the author of the report were to inform on them to the Evil Sect, then… .

Cold water poured over the burning anger in their chests. The men, a little pale, began to stammer.

“Th-that’s not true. We’re grateful, truly.”

“That’s right! That’s right! My family was saved by the grain the forces gave. Who wouldn’t be grateful?”

“The forces have no fault. They only show benevolence, don’t they? It’s the Evil Sect scum who aren’t even part of the Four Sects Alliance who don’t understand that and cause trouble! Arrgh!”

The men desperately changed their tune. One observer snorted with amusement at the sight.

“You’d do well to watch your tongue. I’ll be watching.”

“Ha. Watch our tongues, he says. We just…”

“How pathetic.”

As the man turned and walked away, the people ground their teeth in shame.

Only after he had gone far enough that the town was no longer visible did they let their anger burst forth like a broken dam.

“Dog of a man…”

“Those kinds of men are worse than the Four Sects Alliance. Do you think they’re lackeys of the Four Sects?”

“Lackey, my foot. Those bastards don’t even treat them as lackeys. They’re just dogs of the Four Sects Alliance, dogs!”

Their faces flushed red.

Even as they spoke, they felt bitter. They knew the Four Sects Alliance didn’t treat informers with particular regard.

At best they’d toss a sack or two of grain.

Yet they were forced to grovel before such dogs.

Those betrayed would disappear within days — all for the price of a sack or two of grain.

That truth filled them with such sorrow and rage.

“May such men be struck by heaven’s punishment and die. Heaven’s punishment!”

“Damn right!”

“There’s no one to trust. No one to trust!”

The ones who had been venting their fury now subtly looked around at each other.

You couldn’t assume the informer was only that one person. If anyone here secretly informed, someone else could suffer misfortune.

“Ahem.”

Those who had been watching cleared their throats awkwardly and dispersed quietly.

The world had already changed so that they couldn’t even speak their minds freely.

“Hah…”

One man left behind shook his head.

A world where everyone watched each other. Before the Four Sects Alliance’s rule, life had been hard but not this cruel.

“How long must this go on…”

The man let out a deep sigh.

Tododododododo!

“Huh?”

Perhaps because the surroundings had fallen silent, a strange sound reached his ears.

Tododododododododo!

“What’s that sound…”

The man turned his head toward the rear from where the sound came.

At that moment, a pure white something flashed past directly in front of his face like lightning.

“Aaaahhhh!”

The man screamed and tumbled backward.

“W-what was that!”

It felt as if a white lightning bolt had streaked past his face.

The startled man snapped his head up to look ahead, but there was nothing there.

“Did a ghost just pass by?”

Staring blankly ahead, he shook his head.

He must have been so starved lately that he saw things.

A short distance from where the man stood, in the nearby woods.

Todododododo!

Four tiny feet, fittingly described as cute, pounded the ground at tremendous speed.

At a glance it seemed irresistibly adorable, but to distant observers it would look like pure white lightning streaking through the forest.

Hek! Hek!

Running until even its weasel-like paws were sweating, Baek Ah had something huge leap into its path.

“Rroooaar!”

A gigantic tiger the size of a house!

Judging by its size, it was a mountain lord; no, a spirit beast — an enormous tiger worthy of being called a sacred creature.

It had probably come charging here in a single bound out of fury at its territory being invaded.

Kuhahahaaaaa!

The tiger blocking Baek Ah’s path bared its razor-sharp teeth and threatened with all its might.

Its roar alone made one’s bones shiver and hairs stand on end.

But upon hearing the roar, Baek Ah did not flinch; narrowing its eyes, it charged straight at the tiger and butted its massive head with its tiny skull.

Kuuuuuuuung!

A sound like a giant bell being struck.

The house-sized tiger let out a puppy-like yelp and collapsed to the ground.

Not content, Baek Ah climbed onto the tiger’s head and swung walnut-sized fists ferociously, battering the tiger’s skull while stamping on its royal-marked brow with its paws.

Kiiiieeeeeek!

Tears welled in Baek Ah’s wide-open eyes.

The fury in those eyes was clearly directed not at the tiger but at someone else.

Kuhahaheng!

The tiger, having been beaten without much chance to resist, tried to flee with its tail tucked, but Baek Ah extended a small forepaw and seized its tail.

Then, with a flick of its long body, it swung the tiger and slammed it into the ground.

Kwaaaarrrng!

The tiger trembled and then broke its neck, collapsing unconscious.

Kik! Kiiiiiiiiik!

Baek Ah glared at the stunned tiger with a vein throbbing on its brow, wagging a short forepaw and shouting angrily.

Then, as if remembering something, it spun around and dashed off at full speed again, as if nothing had happened.

Tadadadadat!

Transformed again into white lightning, Baek Ah raced through Southern lands, drawing out every ounce of inner energy within its body.

Faster. As fast as possible!

It had to deliver the letter hidden in the bundle around its neck to the Northern lands.

Before that hateful master’s breath was snuffed out.