13 (45)

As he turned into the street, he felt the heat of people. The smell of perfume that stung the nose filled the street, and the ones passing through it were men. Most were mercenaries, and there were also quite a few of the troops he had brought.

Most of their attire was light. Their equipment was light, and the things clattering were only the swords at their waists or the protective gear slung over their shoulders to protect their hearts. Around them, boys clung close. Most of them were boys. Occasionally, immature girls also clung close.

It was quite noisy with touting such as, “Come this way! The goods are good today!” or “Will you give me a discount?” and “This is too little. Please add just one more coin.” The guard following behind him had a subtly tense face, but Louis walked down the street, thinking that now it finally smelled like people lived here.

Women wearing scraps of cloth that barely covered only the ends of their breasts, with their cleavage, navels, and waists all showing, were gathered around in full. Their makeup had been applied so diligently that they were not merely white, but almost dazzling.

The reason Louis came here was that, starting from this district, everything was managed by Fred Vesk. It was either this morning or afternoon that he had tried to offer Frost Heart to him.

After walking a little farther, one girl came scampering up to him. Her eyes were alive, so she seemed to have good vitality, but perhaps because she had starved a great deal, her complexion was poor, and above all, she was as skinny as a sorghum stalk.

“Hello, mercenary. How about our shop?”

The way she spoke cautiously was just like a rabbit. Louis only looked at the girl for a moment. The girl, whose face flushed, seemed embarrassed as she twisted about and continued speaking.

“We’ll make it really cheap for you. If it’s someone like you, mercenary, I’m sure the older sisters will like you too.”

“………….”

Come to think of it, he could not keep wandering around like this. The touting would not stop, so it would be good either to take this girl around with him or enter a suitable shop and listen in for a while.

The moment Louis made a decision to some extent and opened his mouth, saying, “Fine,” another girl abruptly pushed her head in. The two seemed to know each other, and they quickly exchanged chatter, saying,

“Sis….”

“Oh my…. Why is Ann…?”

“Couldn’t you give this person up to me just once…?”

The newly appeared girl named Ann looked about one or two years younger than the girl who had just spoken to him. She was similarly built from severe starvation, but one difference was that there was a bruise near her eye, as if she had been hit somewhere.

Neither of them looked to be in good condition, and the girl who had grasped what was going on asked Louis.

“The shop is the same. Only, when you go in, could you go in with this child instead of me?”

Louis thought she had probably been beaten because of some quota issue, stroked his chin a few times, and said, “Can we eat first? I’d like you to show me that place first.”

“Yes. Of course. Please come this way.”

The two took the lead first and moved toward an alley on the side. The royal guard behind him scratched his face, then when Louis looked at him, he immediately stiffened and stood at attention.

“I told you to relax. Here, we are comrades. If we are found out, I will give you ten thousand lashes.”

“Y-Yes….”

“Haah…. Your speech. If you’re hit ten thousand times, you might die…?”

“U-Under…stood….”

He spoke while breaking out in a cold sweat, and Louis clicked his tongue, thinking that he had brought a royal guard with some backbone, yet he was like this. It meant to follow. Louis moved his steps while looking at the hand of the girl who was gesturing to him.

The place they entered in the corner had the simple name Ruby Inn. It had been painted red, similar to ruby, but the building was of a suitable size, neither excessively fancy nor shabby.

Inside, there seemed to be quite a few people, and boisterous sounds and the savory smell of soup surged about. A fat owner greeted Louis warmly. He looked benevolent, but Louis immediately realized that he was someone who had rolled around the bottom quite a bit.

Letting the man’s repeated words of thanks for coming in pass by, Louis took a seat. The two girls stood there awkwardly, then received about two coins from the owner and scampered over to him.

“We’ll wait outside until you finish eating.”

“Sit.”

“Yes…?”

“I said sit.”

“Ah….”

“You’ll eat, and I’ll have you listen to a few things.”

The two girls swallowed.

“Um…. We don’t have experience, is that okay…?”

“Still, if you let us, we’ll do our best.”

Louis made a face asking what they were talking about, then soon understood the meaning of what the girls had said. He gave a faint laugh and gestured once more for them to sit for now.

It was a simple movement, but it was so natural that the two girls murmured that he must be something like a mercenary captain and sat down. The guard was quickly placing orders, and Louis leisurely leaned back in his chair.

“How old are you two?”

“She’s…. 13, and I’m 14.”

“Names.”

“I’m…. called Maria. She is….”

“Ann.”

“Yes…? Yes! That’s right. You remembered.”

“I don’t forget people’s names easily. There are so many things related to that….”

“Ah….”

Perhaps after placing the order, the royal guard took a seat beside Louis. He was still sweating profusely. When the girl beside him asked whether he had caught a cold, he nodded and spoke.

“Did you order the food properly?”

“Yes……. Uh……. U-Um…. T-That……. That……. I mean…. I-I ordered….”

He was trembling so much as he spoke that it was pitiful to watch. Though he was nearly two meters tall and drew a fair amount of attention in his own way, Louis smiled and told the girls that this fellow stuttered, so they should avoid talking to him if possible. Funnily enough, both of them seemed to understand.

The food soon came out, and the fat cook gave the girls a sharp look, but when the royal guard glared coldly at him, he carried the food over while smiling repeatedly, as if he had never done so.

When the cooked dishes came out one by one, such as lamb and clean soup, their hesitation lasted only a moment before they began eating noisily. Louis ate for a while. It did not suit his taste. Moreover, he did not need to eat this much.

“You two…. Do you know Fred Vesk?”

“M-Marquis Vesk……. you mean?”

He had thought they might not know because they were still young children, but unexpectedly, they reacted. The way their eyes darted around was like frightened mice.

“B-Be careful.”

“Why? I was hired by Duke Louis and came here not long ago.”

“Ah…. I see. Anyway, do not open your mouth about that person. There are many eyes and ears around…. If even a little complaint like that gets passed along, you’ll be stabbed in a back alley or disappear.”

Well…. He had a bad feeling from the way he looked, so he had expected that.

“Hold out your hands.”

To the two who held out their hands as if wondering what was going on, Louis flicked coins he took from his pocket. One silver coin each. As soon as they saw the color, they hurriedly hid them below.

“You just need to introduce me to someone who can explain in detail what that man has done until now. I’ll pay the price.”

“I…. I’m really worried, so I’ll give this back. Could you just not take an interest…. please?”

Louis flicked one more coin. The girl, who had been hesitating, spoke.

“You were lucky to meet me. Other kids probably would have leaked it and gotten you stabbed or dragged away. I really hate Marquis Vesk.”

“Why?”

“Because he made me like this. My mother too…. My father killed himself. Well, I can’t even really say anything about this story. There are many older sisters who were worked harder than me. I rather wished Duke Louis would sweep the city away. Ah, he’s king now…. Anyway, there must have been many people who thought this way.”

After finishing a simple meal, Maria guided Louis back to the street. Night had settled leisurely, and lights swayed everywhere. Compared to before, there were more people, more touting, and more of everything overflowing.

“Since Duke Louis came here, the mood has gotten better lately at least. Before, it was really so empty that only flies were buzzing.”

“Is that so…? What is the evaluation of him? I also participated in the war with him. He paid me well.”

“Ah……. Right. You said that. I like him unconditionally. People gossiped that Orpendius was a puppet king. He was incompetent. This king will be really good. But if I listen to people talk……. It seems half and half.”

“Half and half….”

“Usurper.”

“……..”

“That word is strong. There are also rumors that the heavens will punish him, but we’ll have to wait and see for now. I don’t think so.”

As they crossed an alley and moved to the main road, a scream spread coldly. Louis narrowed his eyes toward that direction. One shop was being smashed apart. Two or three men who had tried to stop it were already lying on the floor in pools of blood, and a woman, who had been screaming at the top of her lungs, was slapped and fell over. Louis asked the man beside him.

“What is that about?”

“What else? It seems Marquis Vesk raised the rent again, and thanks to that, that’s already the third place like that recently. The king changed, but somehow the rent rose even more.”

“The regular soldiers?”

“Are you an outsider?”

“I came as a mercenary not long ago.”

“They’re all in it together. And wherever you go, don’t ask about Marquis Vesk’s name.”

While Louis was watching, their behavior became even worse. Because they were threatening people, asking what they were looking at, there were not many who properly raised their heads. Perhaps if they raised their heads, sparks might fly onto them. Louis shifted his gaze a little to the side.

People were splitting apart as if being flicked away. A group was coming this way. They were coming with swaggering arrogance, and at a glance, the person did not seem to be a marquis. Yet the way the surroundings acted toward that group was of that level.

Louis thought about overturning it right now, but decided to endure a little longer. After all, enduring was something he was used to. The most important thing was not things like this.

However, he learned a somewhat unexpected fact. The people he had thought were thugs turned out to be that man’s subordinates. As soon as he arrived, the man who had been beating people just moments ago went to him and wagged his tail.

The man who had been arrogantly looking around fixed his gaze on Louis. The others were lowering their heads, but it seemed to be because Louis was holding his head stiffly upright. When he pointed a finger at Louis, the royal guard beside him placed his hand on his weapon.

“I will cut off his hand.”

When he whispered from behind, Louis said,

“And what am I supposed to do about the aftermath?”

The royal guard quietly said,

“Were you not going to handle it for me?”

Louis said,

“Haha. Ah. Wait a moment.”

Since Louis and the royal guard stood there as they were, the man began coming toward Louis.

“T-Trouble. Hey. You there, mercenary. Lower your head. That man is mad for money. You could be dragged away and never see sunlight again.”

Even so, Louis’s eyes did not change at all. Though it was faint, his patience was breaking. Louis laughed lightly and said,

“You there beside me. Shall I show you something interesting?”

“W-What are you doing? Even now, quickly…. Hey.”

Amid that, a man with an incredulous expression finally approached.

“I am Barbus Kenneth.”

He strode up in front of Louis. Then, as if wanting to see inside the hood, he examined Louis’s face. Seeing the slightly exposed skin and lips, he said, “Are you a woman? Take off your hood.” People beside him were afraid, saying it was over, but that was as far as it went. Louis whispered softly.

“Get down.”

“W-What?”

His surprise lasted only a moment before gasps sounded around them. That was because tremendous mana flowed out from Louis. People staggered backward. Louis raised the intensity even further.

All the private soldiers who had been some distance away drew their swords. With panicked eyes asking what was happening, they rushed toward Louis. However, as if they had met a wall, they only managed to come near and could not charge in. That was how vast the difference in ability was.

“Get down.”

“W-What are you doing! Attack this man!”

That was as far as it went. As if fire had been lit below it, the horse leapt wildly. Perhaps wanting to get away from Louis, the horse slowly backed away, and Barbus Kenneth rolled thoroughly across the filthy ground.