Ch.119119. Estate (2)

How long had it been since thoughts of the estate crossed my mind?

[Gregory, so does that mean all that land belongs to Gregory now?]

‘That’s right, it’s all my land.’

Since this was a rare visit to my homeland, I was making my way to the estate with my two old friends, Corin and Astra, to mark the special occasion.

The distance between Aleinos Forest and my estate wasn’t particularly far, so we maintained a relaxed pace as we walked steadily along the sparsely populated road.

Of course, while the road was merely sparsely populated, occasionally as we walked along it, we would encounter wild beasts or creatures….

But these encounters rarely escalated into actual combat situations.

Almost all living beings were too intimidated to approach just by the fact that three intermediate-level beings were walking along the road, and the rest would flee in panic if I released even a small amount of Fear.

Anyway, after about several tens of minutes of leisurely walking with me riding on Astra’s back, we finally reached the entrance to my estate and…

‘…Hmm?’

Upon arriving at the estate, I could sense various life energy reactions moving inside, indicating that something was happening.

While a druid’s life energy detection ability isn’t particularly precise—generally only sensing approximate locations and intensity—for someone like me with exceptional talent in wild magic, which forms the basis of this ability, it’s a different story.

These distinctive life responses belonged to humans, and judging by their behavior patterns, they seemed far from professional soldiers or mercenaries.

Their numbers appeared to exceed at least 100, and among them, I could clearly sense the life energy of what seemed to be intermediate-level individuals.

…Of course, I didn’t need to concern myself with that.

‘These people?’

Of all things, all these humans were living in my estate without permission.

I had expected that a few might quietly move in thinking it was abandoned land with no management or people, but such a large number was a variable that even I couldn’t have predicted.

Their identity… if I had to guess, they were likely slash-and-burn farmers.

The kind of cockroach-like people who wander around for various reasons, enter other people’s forests without permission, survive by consuming the forest, and conveniently transform into bandits or thieves to plunder passing travelers.

It might sound like I’m being somewhat extreme, but these so-called slash-and-burn farmers are really no different from thieves or bandits.

They brazenly settle on someone else’s land that clearly has an owner, burn down forests for cultivation, and go on to attack and ambush passing travelers—why on earth should I view them favorably?

Of course, among such farmers, there are those who have fallen into this life against their will due to tragic pasts and the limitations of reality…

But such tragic backgrounds and circumstances don’t justify the harm they inflict on others.

It might sound harsh or cold, but frankly speaking, robbery and burning someone’s private property are serious crimes even by modern society’s standards.

Even if I were to kill all of them (assuming they are slash-and-burn farmers) right here and now, in this world with its rather loose moral standards, this would be considered justified punishment.

‘These bastards!’

Recognizing that I might need to use force as necessary, I began striding forward to reclaim my estate that these presumed slash-and-burn farmers had taken over.

[They’re bad people…]

[Astra, why are you trailing off so wistfully? They’re enemies, enemies! They’ve damaged our… master’s property!]

[Gregory’s… Yes. That’s right. That’s right.]

As I heard Astra and Corin conversing with each other,

I refined the Fear emanating from my body and called upon the primal mysteries to enhance and strengthen this formless pressure.

After a strange sensation swept through my entire body, as if scales were growing beneath my skin, I experienced an odd feeling as if my mind might burst at any moment.

A sensation of heat and vitality gushing from within dominated my mind, and wildness rising from one corner of my consciousness interfered with my thoughts, causing chaos.

Of course, such things hardly diminished my cognitive abilities, and thanks to that, I was able to reach those slash-and-burn farmers while maintaining full mental clarity.

-Thud.

With a sound so small it was hard to believe it came from the footsteps of an intermediate-level beast as large as a mid-sized car, Astra, whom I was riding, leaped forward with a whoosh and landed among the slash-and-burn farmers…

‘…What are these people?’

Having landed among these supposed slash-and-burn farmers, I couldn’t hide my bewilderment at the sight of them in disarray due to the influence of my Fear enhanced by primal-wild magic.

The reason being, these people didn’t look anything like slash-and-burn farmers no matter how I looked at them.

※ ※ ※

The first thing that caught my eye as I jumped into the midst of the crowd was an encampment bearing traces of someone’s professional touch.

Drainage ditches and trenches had been dug throughout to facilitate drainage and somewhat block external intrusions, while tents and small huts were arranged throughout the camp with a certain regularity, befitting its name.

Moreover, torches requiring separate fuel were installed throughout (though extinguished), and to one side, dozens of wagons loaded with various military supplies were visible.

The scene before me was impossible to imagine as the dwelling of impoverished slash-and-burn farmers, and anyone could tell that the people in this encampment were certainly not slash-and-burn farmers.

About half of these people were characterized by their not-so-large builds and the gambeson (quilted armor) they wore, while the other half were distinguished by their relatively large physiques and various equipment visible besides the gambeson.

Some wore helmets or breastplates of various designs, while others had added leather gauntlets or additional armor parts.

More than half carried hand axes or short swords at their waists, and though few in number, some even carried pistols.

…No matter how much I pondered, I became increasingly certain that these people were not slash-and-burn farmers.

In this world, concepts like wealthy or strong slash-and-burn farmers simply cannot exist.

A wealthy slash-and-burn farmer would be like a golden goblin ripe for the picking, attracting greedy individuals in droves.

In the first place, if someone were wealthy, they would use that money to cleanse their identity or otherwise strive to escape the life of a slash-and-burn farmer.

Furthermore, if one had strength, there would be even less reason to remain a slash-and-burn farmer.

No matter how low one’s station in life, one could become a mercenary or adventurer, which is hundreds of times better than being a slash-and-burn farmer, and in a world where the weak are culled, the demand for “armed groups” is considerable.

Therefore, after deliberating in my accelerated thought process, my conclusion was… that the armed humans before my eyes were regular troops from somewhere.

Judging by the mottled red color of their gambesons, it seems that everyone here belongs to some unified group.

The relatively smaller-built ones appear to be conscripts from somewhere, while the irregularly but well-armed group seems to be the Men-at-Arms, professional soldiers of the Frankish Kingdom.

Of course, this alone might not explain why I judged them to be regular troops.

Even famous mercenary companies often have unified attire, and there are many military groups in this world, so it would be hasty to judge them as regular troops simply because they are armed.

However, the fact that they could casually mobilize about 150 infantry and bring troops to this remote land tells a different story.

A deserted village occupied by soldiers who have set up camp… Anyone would see this as establishing a position in advance of an invasion.

As I stood in the center of their position, exuding pressure and intimidating them, the intermediate-level life force I had sensed not far away began approaching, accompanied by several lower-level individuals.

‘…Hmm?’

Suddenly, I felt puzzled.

Thanks to my enhanced life-sensing ability from primal-wild magic, I detected many more life responses at a point slightly distant from this garrison.

While I wasn’t exactly sure how this situation was unfolding, I raised my aura to its fullest to establish dominance over the approaching knight, as I presumed them to be.

And finally, the illustrious knight who had led soldiers to invade someone else’s estate appeared before me in person.