Ch.237Alcohol Regulation (1)

In truth, thinking about it, it was only natural.

People who spend their entire lives surrounded by violence and make a living from it naturally develop a mindset adapted to violence, and their disposition inevitably becomes violent as well.

The stress from the pressure of fighting with one’s life on the line, the burden of being continuously exposed to violence. Add to that the act of taking lives, which is perfect for discarding one’s humanity.

No matter how much they rationalize or whatever reasons they give themselves, this violent environment ultimately stains people, creating individuals who, like it or not, become accustomed to violence.

When problems or conflicts arise, fists come out before words, and human emotions, being unnecessary for survival, are the first things discarded, leading to decreased social adaptability.

Therefore, I didn’t expect for even a moment that this village, now filled with these adventurers, would continue to flow peacefully as before…

Indeed, since so many adventurers flocked to our frontier village, the security environment had generally deteriorated.

Of course, no one was crazy enough to cause trouble in a manor-village where the lord’s son was scheduled to be appointed as the lord, and furthermore, those who attempted to commit crimes against villagers or other people were mostly rare.

…Though occasionally, as if proving the old sage’s saying that “out of five people, one is trash,” there were some who attempted crimes and ended up tied to a post after being caught by passing mid-ranked adventurers.

Anyway, while crimes targeting villagers were rarely occurring and generally suppressed, that wasn’t the whole story.

Especially among those who lived by the sword, stubbornness increased, and personalities became rough or sharp, causing them to frequently argue and clash with each other.

The reasons varied widely—from issues with dividing spoils to matters of love, personal relationships, crimes against each other, past grudges, party membership and transfers, to problems related to quest contributions or hunting efforts.

But regardless of the reason, when disputes erupted, the resolution usually came through duels…

Actually, up to this point—that is, until the dueling stage—things were generally not so bad.

In this world, dueling is considered the best means to cleanly resolve differences of opinion, and it’s often chosen to settle issues that simply cannot be resolved through words.

However, the biggest problem that arises is when duels exceed their boundaries and escalate into full-blown brawls.

Minor arguments evolve into duels, and during the duel, some grievance emerges, leading to another verbal dispute that eventually draws in others and becomes a group fight.

After witnessing this happen more than thirty times, I had long since given up any expectation that these people would listen to reason.

What’s worse, they don’t just fight among themselves—they typically involve innocent passersby and destroy surrounding objects during their fights.

Of course, when mid-ranked adventurers rush in, these troublemakers end up paying compensation and receiving punishment for their violence, but regardless of the punishment, the fact that these incidents occur at all is quite displeasing.

And to top it all off, there are all the disturbances these adventurers cause when drunk.

After the dwarf Magni, who is deeply passionate about alcohol for various reasons, began seriously developing the liquor industry, the village now produces genuinely proper alcohol under his guidance.

While it may not reach the level of the legendary dwarven ale whose recipe is said to be passed down only in dwarven brewmaster families, the beer produced in the village is a superior product—strong and intense, yet clean with no lingering aftertaste.

I even sent a sample to my father, who found it so delicious that he asked for more. How do you think the adventurers, most of whom are heavy drinkers, reacted to being able to drink this high-quality beer cold, thanks to magic?

Even if they initially drank to suppress depressing or negative emotions, at some point adventurers began to enjoy drinking. For them, cold beer with higher alcohol content and superior taste compared to regular beer was truly a heavenly flavor impossible to resist.

The Holy Empire hadn’t yet implemented policies like the “Beer Purity Law,” so the generally terrible quality of beer was just considered “common sense” for the average person of that era.

As a result, this beer sold out as soon as it was made available, boasting an incredible taste… The problem was that the people who guzzled it down went around causing all sorts of trouble.

They would vomit disgusting messes on the ground after excessive drinking or disturb people by shouting at the top of their lungs.

Alcohol also loosened their inhibitions, leading to a tremendous increase in the number of people causing incidents while drunk.

People picking fights over nothing and throwing punches. People caught trying to loot private homes while out of their minds. People who went beyond flirting while drunk and were caught attempting rape.

The worst outcome was the surge in criminals who should be classified not as minor offenders but as serious felons.

‘…What am I supposed to do with these bastards?’

Honestly, the behavior of these adventurers had gone beyond what could be overlooked or tolerated, so from my position, I felt the need to resolve this situation as quickly as possible.

※ ※ ※

Of course, individual adventurers who came and caused trouble were punished according to the manor’s customary laws and the kingdom’s legal code.

Those who vomited had to clean it up themselves and pay a fine (5 silver coins). Those making excessive noise were publicly humiliated before paying fines and compensation. Those who engaged in violence among themselves had their situations examined before paying fines.

However, these were just minor offenses that could be resolved within certain boundaries. For serious crimes that would be difficult to tolerate even within the kingdom… they were strictly punished according to the medieval trend of severe punishment.

If violence was used against villagers without justifiable self-defense, the minimum punishment was n days of forced labor, fines, and full compensation for medical expenses.

In particularly severe cases showing no signs of remorse, the punishment was arm-cutting.

For robbery, the basic punishment was amputation of both hands, with additional limb amputations if necessary. If the crime was utterly unacceptable, a death sentence would be carried out.

For attempted rape, the basic punishment was amputation of both arms and castration. The ultimate punishment was to cut off all limbs and throw the criminal to the chimeras as food, but…

‘…Why do these people keep doing this?’

No matter how much we emphasized severe punishment and declared strict enforcement, criminals seemed to think differently.

People who shouted obscenities in front of guards as if showing off. A man who tried to harass Hannah, a mid-ranked adventurer, only to get his head cracked open and become chimera food. People caught trying to secretly settle in the village.

Witnessing someone attempt robbery right in front of the corpse of another robber who had been executed and hung on a post, I could understand why secular rulers so despised adventurers and mercenaries.

When possessors of uncontrollable power went around doing such things, there was absolutely no reason to like them.

Considering that these behaviors were relatively restrained due to the village’s reputation for dealing with troublemakers, the negative impact adventurers had on public safety could not be overlooked.

In fact, considering that ordinary villages would likely lack the public authority to implement such punishments, it was clear that decisive measures were needed.

‘…Hmm.’

The first method that came to mind was isolation. Open only part of the village to outsiders who weren’t villagers, then prevent them from leaving that area without a permit—a basic approach.

According to administrative textbooks, this is the most standard method to use in such situations. From my perspective, choosing this wouldn’t be a bad option.

However… when I actually considered implementing it, something felt slightly unsettling.

To be frank, would these lawless people actually listen when told not to do something?

The most fundamental reason for the current incidents is the increase in people who drink and run wild. They might try to exercise self-restraint, but then they drink the inexpensive, mass-produced strong liquor and lose control.

In this situation, the best choice available to me would be…

‘…Regulating alcohol?’