“It’s nothing much, but.”After letting us inside, the village chief poured warm tea in front of each of us.From the tea, which had a faint pink hue, a fragrant aroma rose gently.“It’s hardly ‘nothing much,’ this is excellent.”When I tasted it, it wasn’t black tea or coffee; it seemed to be tea brewed from herbs gathered in the mountains.While I was quietly savoring the taste of the tea, the village chief spoke.“I hear you have returned to the territory for vacation?”“Yes, we plan to stay here for about a day and then head to the main castle. Is there any place that could be used as a separate lodging?”At my question, the village chief replied with a face gone stiff.“I will vacate my house immediately and prepare a place.”Why would you vacate your house. What about the people who already live there.“There’s no need to go that far. Two or so empty rooms will be enough. We’ll ask for your understanding.”“…Understood. However, in that case, it may be difficult for all three of you to stay in the same lodging.”“That’s fine. As long as we have somewhere to shut our eyes, that’s enough.”It would be strange to barge in unannounced and expect comfortable accommodations.A bed to lie on and a roof to keep off the rain would already be a blessing.“Thank you for understanding. I will have it prepared before it gets too late. And also.”The village chief fumbled around, then took out a box and set it on the table.“We did not know Lord Loen would be visiting, so we were unable to prepare properly. Though it is lacking…”‘What is this?’I opened the box the village chief had taken out.Inside were a small amount of silver coins and a few cheap gemstones.“What is this?”At my question, the village chief glanced at Freya and hemmed and hawed.“It is… our small token of sincerity.”A token of sincerity, huh…Hearing the village chief’s words, I more or less understood the situation.‘Loen, you dogshit bastard. You even sucked the liver out of a flea.’I’d heard that Loen had a history of traveling around the territories under House Dvralis and extorting money and goods.Judging from the village chief’s reaction, he must have done the same in this village as well.I looked at the silver coins imbued with the blood and sweat of the farmers and thought.Why the hell did this bastard Loen do that.The family would have provided him with more money than he could ever spend; why did he rob commoners of the little property they had.Was it really just to enjoy other people’s suffering? I still didn’t know.Sighing, I handed the box back.“There’s no need for any token of sincerity. I don’t need it. And also.”I opened my suitcase, took out a single gold bar, and handed it to the village chief.Thung-.“This is the cost for tonight’s stay. Count it as lodging and dinner, and put it toward the village’s upkeep.”“…!”It was a dwarf-made gold bar.“Before you sell it, take it to a big city and have it appraised. You’ll be able to get at least a billion for it.”“Th-thank you, Lord Loen.”“No need to thank me, I’m the one who did something to be sorry for. There won’t be any more repeats of what happened in the past, so don’t worry.”I couldn’t know exactly what Loen had done in this village, but I hoped this would at least ease their hearts a little.“…”The village chief’s hand, holding the gold bar, trembled violently.I wasn’t sure what his exact feelings were, but he seemed overcome with emotion.“I understand. We are grateful for your mercy.”“All right, then I’ll leave our beds and meals in your hands.”***We looked around the village until dinner and the rooms were ready.Moo-.Small gardens where crops that looked like cabbages and radishes were being grown, and barns where cows, pigs, chickens, and the like were being raised.A well from which water was drawn, and a village hall where the villagers gathered.It was a small village, but it had everything it needed.They didn’t have a market where goods were bought and sold, but they said that whenever peddlers came, they would buy various daily necessities and spices.If they urgently needed something, they would go to the walls where the main castle was and buy it there.Ciel and Freya seemed quite used to such scenery and didn’t look particularly moved, but I was a bit different.‘This is fascinating.’Having only ever lived in a developed city called Union, seeing the lifestyle of commoners living in a medieval environment was incredibly fascinating.Every single utensil they used, every building made of stone and logs, was fascinating.It was like I had stepped into a game with a medieval setting.Well, I really did end up inside a game.While I was looking around here and there with sparkling eyes, Ciel and Freya whispered behind me.“Is this perhaps Loen’s first time coming to such a small village?”“No. He would often patrol the territory, extorting the pitiful commoners’ wealth.”At that, Freya clenched her fists and muttered coldly.“As expected, I thought the village chief’s reaction earlier wasn’t normal.”“…”“But why is he reacting like that now? He looks so happy, like a puppy seeing snow for the first time.”“I don’t know either.”Letting their words pass in one ear and out the other, I looked around here and there until I happened to look at a large boulder near the village.‘What’s this?’A large boulder embedded in the middle of a field.It was ugly to look at, and it was eating into the space where they could be growing crops.Just then, I saw a little kid wandering nearby and called the kid over to ask.“Hey, kid, come here for a second.”“Who are you?”A boy in shabby clothes.The boy showed curiosity when he saw my clothing, which was somewhat different from that of the villagers.Judging from the fact that he didn’t show any hostility toward me, he didn’t know much about Loen’s infamy.I patted the boy’s head and asked kindly.“My name is Loen. Do you happen to know what this boulder is?”“Loen… ah, that? There was a landslide not long ago, and it rolled down then. It’s hard to move, so we just left it.”“Is that so? Everyone would be happy if it were cleared away.”I immediately drew the Azoth Sword and performed Transmutation on the house-sized boulder.Crackle-.With a flash of blue lightning, the boulder broke down into powder.Shaaah-.The boy gaped as he watched the boulder crumble into grains of sand.“Woooow! Big brother, are you a mage?”“Strictly speaking, I’m an alchemist. Is there anywhere else around here that needs help?”“Mm, our village has two wells, but one of them is clogged and the water doesn’t come out.”“Oh? Good. Show me the way.”Since I’d started building favor, I might as well do everything I could.***Like that, Ciel, Freya, and I went around the village taking care of various problems.We cleared away the boulder embedded in the field and unclogged the well so they could draw water from it again.With Ciel’s strength, we moved the stack of logs piled on one side, and with Freya’s help, we split firewood in advance to use in winter.They weren’t particularly great feats, but thinking that we were at least helping the villagers made me feel pointlessly proud.After finishing the various odd jobs around the village, we headed back to the village chief’s house.When we arrived, a delicious-looking dinner had just been prepared.The ingredients weren’t anything special, but there was soup with a savory, fragrant smell and bread.“Lord Loen.”Before I took a bite, Ciel first tasted my food to check it was safe.“You may eat.”“You don’t have to go that far.”It’s not like they’re going to poison me.Only after Ciel had acted as food taster did I start eating.Crunch-.“…”It wasn’t the pure white, soft bread I usually ate; there was a bit of grit between my teeth, but it was edible enough.It seemed that milling technology hadn’t spread yet to small mountain villages like this.After the meal.“Did the food suit your taste at all?”“Yes, it was decent.”“I’m glad to hear that. From what my grandson Jimmy tells me, you went around the village taking care of various things for us.”Jimmy— that seemed to be the name of that scruffy boy from earlier. So he was the village chief’s grandson, huh.“I only did it because I had time. There’s no need to thank me.”“How could I just overlook it? We are truly grateful.”“…”Watching the village chief clasp my hand and smile, I felt a vague sense of unease.“The sleeping arrangements are ready, so feel free to go up and rest whenever you wish. We’ve also filled the bath in the village hall, so you can warm your bodies if you like.”At the mention of a bath, Ciel and Freya’s eyes sparkled.It seemed commoners didn’t bathe very often, and since they had no bathtubs of their own, they used the village hall.I didn’t particularly need to wash up, and Ciel and Freya were the ones who had carried logs and split firewood, so they could use it.The village chief continued.“For reference, there is one room here in my house, and one room at the village hall. Here is a single room, and the village hall has a double room.”“Understood, I’ll use the single room here. What will you two do? I don’t need to wash.”Ciel and Freya exchanged glances, then answered in unison.“We’ll go to the village hall.”“All right, have a good night.”I climbed the stairs and offered a parting greeting, and the village chief replied politely.“Yes, may Lord Loen also have a peaceful night.”***After Loen went up to the second floor and the two girls left for the village hall.Creak- creak-.Leaning on his cane, the village chief quickly left the house.“Huff, huff.”The village chief walked with staggering but hurried steps, as if someone were chasing him.Only after he had gotten quite far from the house where Loen was staying did he finally let out a deep breath and start retching.“Cough, cough, kuhk.”The village chief coughed and retched like someone with tuberculosis.“Haa… haa…”Leaning his back against a wooden post, he wiped the saliva and stomach fluid from his beard and gnashed his teeth.‘Loen… that bastard I’d like to chew to pieces…’It was because he was utterly disgusted with himself for having to smile at that filthy face.After cursing Loen for a long time between ragged breaths, the village chief soon gestured toward the darkness.Then—Step-.A middle-aged man stepped out of the darkness.With a solid build, thick, fierce eyebrows, and a hardened expression, the man walked up to the village chief.“Village chief, preparations are complete.”At the man’s words, the village chief grabbed his hand tightly with his own trembling hand.“Yes… at last, the chance for revenge has come, Duron.”When he had first heard Henry’s report, he hadn’t believed that Loen had come to the village.It sounded like something out of a dream. Why would Loen, who had gone to study abroad on that distant island, come to this village.But when he checked through the window, there was no mistaking the bastard.The fact that his attendant Ciel and Freya, the young lady of House Gunhilde, were with him made it certain.Crack-.No, he wouldn’t even have needed to confirm it; the village chief had never once forgotten that bastard’s face for even a single day.How could he forget that vicious bastard, who would come whenever the village was just starting to do a little better and strip them of everything that was of any use.If Lord Kaizel, who knew their situation, hadn’t helped them, the villagers would all have starved to death long ago.And that wasn’t all.There was another reason the village chief’s anger ran so deep.“My daughter… Amy.”Loen, that bastard, was the one who had killed his daughter Amy, whom he wouldn’t have found painful even if he’d put her in his eye.He ground his teeth hard enough to break them and threw the gold bar he’d received from Loen onto the ground.Clang-.“Duron, that bastard gave me this.”“…”The village chief trembled as he looked at the dirt-stained gold bar.“He gave this to me and apologized for the past.”As if this were the price of his daughter’s life, he’d tossed it out like he was doing them a favor.But the truly sad thing was that, the moment he saw the gold bar, his heart had wavered.The man called Duron spoke calmly as he picked up the gold bar from the ground.“He said he was sorry, huh… how great would it be if that could bring my wife back to life.”Crunch-.When Duron squeezed, the gold bar was crushed under his powerful grip.Watching that, the village chief felt certain.‘Duron is this village’s strongest warrior.’If it was him, killing the weakling Loen would be nothing.Just in case, he had also kept Loen’s bodyguard Ciel and the young lady of House Gunhilde, Freya, far away at the village hall.The village chief clenched his cane tightly and spoke.“The oil is ready. I’ll sprinkle it ahead of time before dawn, so kill the bastard and come out. We’ll burn the house and get rid of all the evidence.”“Yes, Father-in-law.”Of course, even if they burned away the evidence that Loen had been killed, they wouldn’t be able to avoid House Dvralis’s reprimand.After all, the heir of the family would have died in an accidental fire.‘It doesn’t matter.’The village chief gripped his cane hard and gnashed his teeth.If he could just kill that bastard, he was willing to give up this old life of his.What they would do tonight was a small farce for that purpose.It was a hastily made plan, but this would be enough.“With this… Amy will finally be able to close her eyes in peace.”***Dawn.Beep-.Sleeping in the village chief’s house, I woke to the faint alarm of the warning stone ringing in my ear.“…”Creak-.Creak-.When I focused my ears, I heard the creaking of wooden stairs.Someone was climbing the stairs to the second floor in the dead of night.Judging from the weighty creak of the wooden steps, they were the footsteps of a full-grown man with a fair bit of weight.I deployed the Aegis shield and sat obediently on the bed.After a short while, I sensed the presence of someone who had climbed the stairs and was now standing in front of the door.The person in front of the door stood there without saying a word.“…”Five minutes, ten minutes, fifteen minutes.Even as I waited, he didn’t move.What could this silence and waiting mean.After quietly watching the situation for a bit, I slowly opened my mouth.“Rather than just standing out there like that, why don’t you come inside.”

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