Ch.141Refugee (1)

About a week had passed since the cult incident.

My beloved frontier village had finally begun to regain its peace around this time.

The main culprit of the false cult accusations was immediately taken into custody by the escort officer my father sent, and his family was, through my “consideration,” allowed to settle their affairs before being sent to a suitable village near Lur.

Since they had decent assets and I included a letter of explanation vouching for them, I was confident their resettlement would proceed quite smoothly.

….Perhaps this is what the world calls hypocrisy, but if I believe this to be righteous, then that’s good enough for me…. That’s how I see it.

Meanwhile, in the village now emptied of the instigators, the new form of worship I had proposed began to take root.

It came with a request—one without any real enforcement power in this barbaric age—asking people to refrain from requesting healing magic for trivial personal reasons….

‘….Wow.’

The influence religion had on people in this world was far greater than I had vaguely imagined.

Not only could people directly feel the presence of a transcendent deity during weekly Sunday services, but it had also been proven long ago that when people die, their souls are guided to the god they believed in during life.

Perhaps because of this situation, the devout people of this world took my “request”—one that humans from my memory would have mercilessly ignored—quite seriously.

Well, in a world where instances of divine punishment for disrespecting priests weren’t exactly rare, the authority of priests armed with goodness and divine faith was truly at an astonishing level, so it made sense.

Especially after most of the incidents had been resolved, only peaceful days followed for about a week, allowing me to enjoy my “hobby” with Lord Falten in my spare time….

And that’s when the incident occurred.

“Well done, Drub. That last attack was especially impressive.”

“Huff, huff…. You’re too kind, too kind.”

A few minutes before the incident. I was enjoying what had become almost routine—an exhilarating sparring session with Drub Bazilit.

Facing Drub Bazilit, who was three times faster than me, I hadn’t even broken a sweat while he was left gasping for breath. Satisfied with this fulfilling match, I decided to end the combat at this point.

Perhaps it was thanks to my body, which was in its growth phase and adapting to the genes, growing stronger day by day.

Somehow, with each passing day, my body seemed to be gradually moving toward a realm beyond human. I was carefully applying the muscle relaxant Gretel had made, intending to return to my duties, when….

‘….What’s this?’

At that moment, I could sense that something had happened again, thanks to my intuition.

Originally, this “super-intuition” should have only detected crises, but as time passed and my body developed, this gene was also affected.

It’s as if the range of this “super-intuition” gene had expanded, becoming sensitive enough to roughly guess the general situation through intuition.

In truth, it’s more likely that the continuous experiences of various incidents had gradually provided more data for my “super-intuition” to work with, rather than my intuition becoming more sensitive due to physical growth….

But that wasn’t important right now, so I immediately focused my attention on this intuitive warning.

Given the lack of tingling sensations or any sense of alarm, it probably wasn’t combat or an enemy appearance, and the lukewarm response of my intuition suggested it wasn’t anything urgent either.

However, the mere fact that my intuition had triggered a warning was enough to raise my vigilance.

In other words, even if it meant overreacting a bit, I needed to take decisive and thorough action.

‘The direction is… this way.’

I boldly moved in the direction my “super-intuition” guided me.

Preparing for any possible situation, I grabbed my weapon while giving commands to my armor, which was on standby in the form of a golf bag.

‘Armor, equip.’

-Whirring…. Click.

The liquid metal forming the armor covered my entire body, followed by the mythril-steel alloy. The mind metal blade shield, which had been attached like a part of me, was mounted on the protrusions sticking out from my back like wings.

Though slightly less practical, its appearance was most effective in creating an advantageous atmosphere due to its imposing form. I moved without any hesitation in this state.

And as a result of following my intuition, I arrived at the village where I encountered faces I never expected to see.

“Please, I beg you… Please!”

“Stand back! We don’t have that authority!”

“If we’re driven away like this, we’ll all die!”

“Shut up! Do you think we have any authority here?”

About 70 people in pitiful attire had gathered in front of the village, arguing with the village guards (retired adventurers).

‘….Refugees!’

If I had to guess, they were probably refugees or wanderers, not uncommon in this era.

※ ※ ※

From what I remember, modern society on Earth was struggling with refugee-related problems.

And this tendency doesn’t change much even in this medieval fantasy world.

No, perhaps because the entire world is in chaos, the refugee problem might be even more intense than on Earth.

With dangers lurking everywhere, the proportion of wanderers who have lost their homes or places to return to is quite high, and these refugees, with nowhere to go and no power, are supposedly good prey for bandits…. or not.

Let’s remember: this world is a magical realm, a medieval fantasy world of survival of the fittest where the weak cannot survive.

Rural villages in this era would take up agricultural tools and bows to eliminate any mediocre bandits that appear, and the number of retired bandits is not insignificant either.

In some ways, the countryside has a harsher natural environment than cities, so what kind of people could have escaped from villages that were destroyed by incidents?

Though called refugees, they are essentially a group of vagrants—potential robbers and bandits. Even the most kind-hearted person would find it nearly impossible to maintain their goodness when their family is starving.

Therefore, the vast majority of wanderers are potential sources of instability, despite being called refugees or displaced people.

Humans who have adapted to and become accustomed to crimes like looting and robbery while roaming the harsh wilderness can easily return to crime if things go wrong, even if they return to normal life.

In short, there are too many cases where they are no different from potential criminals, and with the variable of cultists added to the mix, it’s impossible not to be wary.

In this age of barbarism and violence, where trust and faith are often dismissed as hollow mockery, one cannot impose values like consideration and respect on people living in such times.

Just as I had firmly rejected refugees who came several times before, I could use the same reason again.

Even if their numbers exceeded 70 people, unlike typical cases, I was confident I could drive away these untrustworthy individuals without batting an eye.

“Listen, refugees. I am Camille de Alzar, the only son of the current Baron Alzar.”

Therefore, I mentioned my status in front of them, subtly threatening and trying to take control of the atmosphere.

“We, we were residents of the frontier village in the Alzar Barony! Here, here is our proof!”

“….What?”

However, their reaction to my declaration of identity, and furthermore, what they said, completely overturned my thinking.

This was because, contrary to what I had thought, the identity of these refugees was almost certainly proven.

The fact that they were not just common wandering refugees but residents of the frontier village in the Alzar Barony made me hesitate in my response much more than before.

‘….Is it true?’

When I realized that what they presented as proof was indeed a magical certificate proving this, I had no choice but to accept it.

I couldn’t treat them harshly when they weren’t just any wandering refugees but people of this domain with proper registration and identification.