Vol 3 Chapter 76 – Poverty Drives People Down the Wrong Path…【Empire War Arc】

Right now, cords of curse power were running across Warren’s body like bulging veins.

“For me… there’s no one… but Lady Lydia… aaahh…”

He had wound up like this because he was resisting the terms of the Geas and refusing to speak.

Watching Warren struggle against it, Sophia brought a hand to her lips, her expression steeped in sorrow.

“Sir Warren, my name is Sophia. At least tell us how you came to be here, if nothing else.”

“…Tch…! My territory… is poorer… than Ignia’s… That land has specialty products… and mine only has… a tiny… little mine…!”

With that, he had technically spoken, so the searing pain lancing through Warren’s body should have eased a little.
But watching someone who absolutely refused to talk suffer through unbearable agony right before their eyes… most of those present found it hard not to look away.

“Boss, why didn’t you claim his territory?”

“To be honest, it was a tough call. But we came here to look for Eiden. With how little information we’ve got right now, this felt like the better choice… I just didn’t think he’d cling to it this hard.”

Right now, what they knew was that Lydia had inherited Ganalkin’s rank and was inviting other nobles into her own territory.

“Roy, was it…? I have a favor to ask, even if it means swallowing my pride… If you agree, I’ll tell you what I can…”

In other words, he could not reveal the crucial parts, but he was saying, indirectly, that he would talk as long as it did not interfere with Lydia’s goals.

“…Let’s hear it.”

“The forces my territory can field are all here. My subjects amount to the people of two villages—hard to believe, I know, but that’s really all there is. That’s why I answered the summons of the Pawns… to take the imperial capital and build a new capital here. —Geh!”

Warren hacked out a cough, and blood spattered onto the ground.

“Roy… if you’re the one holding that dagger… something must have happened to Ignia, right? He’d probably oppose all this talk of revolt, so if that’s the case… he might be locked up in Soleil Fort, to the northeast… Hah, hah… That’s as much as I can say.”

“So the nobles who opposed this are being held there?”

“Yeah. If things are going well for them, it’s only natural they’d be against a war, right?”

“Can’t argue with that… Alright then, let’s hear this favor of yours.”

“Promise me the safety of my remaining knights and my people.”

“…Done.”

At Roy’s words, Warren let out a relieved breath and closed his eyes. The knights who had surrendered gathered around their fallen lord.

“…Forgive us, for making you stoop to banditry like that.”

“No… Serving you has been… an honor…”

One by one, the knights offered their final words to their lord. Roy and the others watched from a short distance, careful not to intrude.

It was impossible to know if Warren heard every last word. By the time his final subordinate finished speaking, he had already slipped into a peaceful sleep.

Once everything was over, King Volga got out of Testeed and walked over to the knight captain.

“You’re King Volga!?”

“Indeed. I am King Volga himself. For certain reasons, I’m dressed like some kind of court mage at the moment, but yes, it’s me.”

“…We who remain have a duty to protect Lord Warren’s people. Please, at the very least… spare our lives…”

“I’ve heard Warren has a child. Pass the heirloom sword on to that child and rebuild from scratch. Oh, that reminds me—I almost forgot. A crime must have its punishment. Here, take this.”

King Volga handed the knight a pouch containing something.

“…What is this?”

“Eiden may be a noble, but all he ever does is bury himself in research. That’s a prototype strain he developed to let winter tomatoes grow in other regions as well. As punishment, you’ll cultivate those in your territory and report the results to the capital once a year.”

In the Empire, where food was relatively scarce, these were precious seeds that could become a trump card for survival. The knight who received them shed tears hot enough to melt the snow at his feet, then gathered the others and headed back to their land.

“Even if he didn’t know the full picture, what they were doing still counts as treason, doesn’t it?”

“It’s fine. Besides, despite playing at banditry, I’d been getting reports that bandit attacks in these parts had mysteriously gone down. Any idea why that might be?”

“Don’t tell me Warren was only targeting the bandits’ cargo?”

“Exactly. Most likely, he was keeping watch out here so the bandits wouldn’t interfere with Kingston’s plans.”

“…Huh? So that means… he thought we were bandits?”

“Does a steel-plated, horse-less carriage look like a normal merchant wagon to you? Even I’d stop it at least once.”

Thinking about it, that did make sense. If he had attacked ordinary merchants, he would have been branded a bandit for sure, and the guild would have issued a subjugation quest long before they got here. Still, this whole episode made it pretty clear that Testeed’s crude, intimidating design was something of a problem.

“…Maybe leaving everything to Manabu wasn’t such a great idea. I’ll talk it over with Ange later.”

“…Then let us be off to Soleil Fort.”

And so, after wrapping up a battle that left a slightly bitter aftertaste, Roy and the others set out for Soleil Fort to the northeast.