Ch.92Report on the Downfall of Kindness (2)

The forest path was narrow, winding, and a complete mess. Even on horseback, it wasn’t much different from walking.

They constantly had to change direction because of tree roots, rocks, and streams, not to mention calming the horse whenever it startled at the fierce cries of wild animals.

If not for the wheel tracks in the dirt road, it would have been hard to believe this was a path used by people at all.

So Kain thought he’d made the right decision to return the postal carriage and switch to horseback. Though in truth, he couldn’t have brought the postal carriage anyway.

Berta Village belonged to Bördem County, and therefore didn’t have a postal office, which was only established in territories directly governed by the Empire.

It was obvious that anyone would be suspicious if a postal carriage was roaming around in a place without a postal office.

That decision had been good, but he wasn’t sure if it had been right to disguise himself and Liliana as a married couple while pretending not to know Maria. In fact, Maria had suddenly suggested it at the last city they’d visited.

“Let’s do this. You two are a married couple traveling, and I’m traveling alone through the Empire. You don’t know me, and I don’t know you. Got it?”

“Is there a reason we need to do that?”

“I agree with the plan, but I’m curious about the reason.”

Maria and Kain looked at Liliana simultaneously. But Liliana made a deep impression on both of them with her expression that showed not the slightest embarrassment.

“Wouldn’t it be better if Maria revealed herself as an ‘Inquisitor’ like now, and we acted as her attendants?”

“No way. First of all, we’re not going to a big city with crowds of random people. We’re heading into a complete rural backwater. Everyone knows everyone’s face there.

And then not only do outsiders show up, but one of them is an ‘Inquisitor’? Oh my. It would cause a huge commotion. They’d tie some poor soul to a stake, stand next to them with torches and say, ‘You came to catch this one, right? We’ve prepared everything for you!'”

Maria shook her head.

“And the lords don’t like it much either. When they hear an Inquisitor has arrived, they look at you uncomfortably thinking, ‘What are they here to nitpick about now?’ No matter what, it’s not good for them if witches, wizards, or heretics are discovered in their territory. So for our safety too, it’s better to keep that hidden.”

It was a reasonable point.

“And no matter how I think about it, there’s no way to explain the combination of one young man traveling with two women. So you two are a married couple, and I’m just someone whose destination happens to overlap with yours. And that way it’ll be easier to move around. You never know what might happen in the countryside.”

“The countryside is where people live too.”

Kain pointed out politely, but Maria was indifferent.

“Hmph. You might say that because you’re from the countryside, but I’m a city woman. I may have wandered around and roamed back alleys at one point, but that was in the city, not on some country orchard path. And I hate forests. I really hate them.”

Maria ended with that statement and offered no further explanation.

But now, at the front of the procession, riding alongside the outpost captain, she was constantly exclaiming in wonder. She acted as if she’d never seen such a beautiful forest before. The captain’s wistful expression and her constantly pressing body against his were just bonuses.

‘She must have her own reasons.’

Kain turned his gaze to Liliana, and then to the guards around them.

The breastplates of the guards’ armor bore the emblem of the Bördem family—a wild boar. And that was their only common piece of equipment. Apart from the breastplates, all their weapons and armor varied. It looked as if two or three people were sharing one person’s worth of armor.

Some wore the strange combination of a breastplate and boots, while others wore shoulder guards on only one side. One carried a large shield, but his weapon appeared to be nothing more than a wide butcher’s knife.

Their attitudes and discipline were just as haphazard. They were relaxed and comfortable, making light conversation with each other, but never taking their eyes off Kain, Liliana, and Maria. Occasionally they looked up at the sky to gauge the time, or nodded to each other while whispering.

As if they knew what was about to happen.

Suddenly, a ravine appeared. It had been hidden from view by large trees. Absurdly, a cart was blocking the path, which was only wide enough for two horses to pass. They had even removed the wheels and set them aside, making it look like a deliberate obstruction.

“What’s that?”

Maria’s voice pretended to be frightened. The outpost captain responded in an even more suggestive tone than before.

“Ah, don’t worry. We can handle this quickly. Listen up! Move this immediately or we’ll break it and go through!”

Kain didn’t miss the guards covering their mouths and snickering. A moment later, a group of armed men walked out of the forest.

None of them carried bows. Instead, they had slingshots, knives, and stones for throwing. A man with a large scar on his face stepped forward.

“My, my, working hard in this heat, are we? What brings you here?”

“How’s business going?”

“I’d have starved to death long ago if not for your kindness, sir.”

“Still, make sure you come to church every Sunday. Here. Move the cart.”

The outpost captain opened the pouch at his waist. With his thick hand, he grabbed a handful of Imperial marks and handed them to the man. The man opened both hands to receive the money and savored the smell.

“Wow. I tell you, this is my favorite smell in the world. Just a moment, heave-ho!”

The man and his ruffians attached the wheels to the cart and moved it aside. With a whistle, the guards’ procession started moving again.

‘Just as I thought. They’re in cahoots.’

The ruffians probably regularly blocked the road like this for their “business.” Now they moved aside readily because they recognized someone, but if they hadn’t, travelers might have faced much rougher treatment.

Seeing the guards and ruffians exchanging jokes strengthened Kain’s suspicions. He guessed the Count was behind all this. The money collected through the guards and ruffians probably wouldn’t appear in any ledgers. And the illegally collected money…

“Whistle.”

The sound of a whistle interrupted Kain’s thoughts. A couple of ruffians were repeatedly whistling at Liliana and winking at her.

Since the front of the procession was passing through the narrow ravine first, Kain and Liliana had to wait in the middle of the line. The outpost captain and Maria had already gone ahead and seemed unaware of the commotion behind them.

Liliana blushed and kept looking straight ahead, but this only seemed to provoke the ruffians more.

“You ride so gracefully. I see a ring, so you must be married. Does nightly practice help?”

A man with a large scar on one side of his head made a lewd joke while cackling. Liliana closed her eyes and suppressed her anger. Kain’s jaw twitched.

The rowdy men saw this and snickered, finding it amusing, and the guards made no move to stop them.

“Or perhaps you had plenty of experience before?”

“That’s going too far.”

“No, I’m just talking about horseback riding. What’s wrong with that? I’ve taught quite a few people myself. From what I see, you could move your hips less. Just watching…”

“Reminds you of your mother, I suppose.”

Kain smoothly caught the end of his sentence. The ruffians’ expressions were momentarily bewildered, then they looked up at Kain with hostile eyes.

“What did you just say?”

“I said it seems to remind you of childhood memories. For reference, I was also talking about horseback riding.”

“You son of a bitch, do you know my mother?”

“I certainly don’t.”

Kain added one more line.

“But it seems you don’t know her either, so it doesn’t matter, does it?”

The guards clapped their hands, saying “Ooh!” The ruffians looked at their rowdy companion. The scarred man spat on the ground.

“Get down.”

Before Liliana could say anything, Kain dismounted. The scarred man cracked his neck with a loud sound.

“Apologize.”

“You first.”

“Ah, why talk about boring things like apologies? Just fight it out!”

The watching guards and ruffians jeered. The scarred man raised his fists. It was quite a solid street fighter’s stance.

But Kain’s stance was sloppy by anyone’s standards. His shoulders were raised, his arms stretched out, and his head was lowered. It was hard to tell if he was preparing for a fight or pushing against a wall.

“Looks like you wanted to show off in front of your wife, but you made a mistake. In this world, there are things you should let slide even when you know better!”

The ruffian charged. He pushed aside Kain’s arm with his left hand and threw a big hook with his right. If it connected properly, it could knock out a wild boar’s tusk.

But Kain had already lowered his body further. He dove between the ruffian’s armpits, quickly embraced him, and threw him to the ground.

“Urgh!”

The scarred man jumped up and took his stance again. Kain stepped back, waving his arms.

“You bastard, playing dirty!”

Suddenly,

“Kyaaaah!”

A sharp scream came from ahead.

“Oppa! Help me!”

It was Maria’s scream. Kain was momentarily dumbfounded, and because of that, he belatedly blocked a punch flying toward his chest.

“Aaaaagh!”

The one who screamed and fell to the ground clutching his shoulder and arm was the scarred man. The ruffians clicked their tongues.

“What a drama queen. What are you doing?”

“Jeffrey!” The outpost captain came running, fuming. “What’s all this commotion?”

“Ah, Captain. It’s nothing. Jeffrey here picked a fight first and then fell down on his own.”

“That’s not the issue! Don’t you know where these people are going? They’re going to Berta Village!”

At the captain’s shout, the ruffians’ expressions changed instantly. Even Jeffrey, who had been rolling around clutching his broken arm, stopped screaming in surprise.

“Uh… Berta Village? Why didn’t you tell us?”

“Well…”

The guards and ruffians were so flustered they started talking among themselves. Jeffrey stood up, enduring the pain, and glared at Kain.

“You’re going to Berta Village?”

“That’s right.”

“I apologize for the trouble.”

Jeffrey looked like he wanted to hit Kain’s arm, but he couldn’t with his broken right arm. His shoulder joint had been dislocated before being thrown to the ground, and two ribs had broken on impact, so he would suffer for quite a while.

Therefore, Kain also apologized politely.

“I’m sorry. You have a fierce punch.”

“You slippery eel of a man…” Jeffrey turned away with effort. A moment later, someone must have patted him on the back because he screamed “Aaaah!” again.

“Oppaaa!”

Suddenly, Maria ran up and tried to hug the outpost captain. The captain, with a red face, looked at Maria who was hugging him and jumping up and down.

“I knew you would protect me! Let’s go quickly, I’m scared!”

Kain saw it. Maria slipped the pouch from the captain’s waist and dropped a poor-quality pigskin pouch she had bought at the market onto the ground.

When the jingling sound was heard, the captain quickly picked up the pouch and tied it. Then he returned to the front of the procession, comforting Maria with various words.

Kain shook his head and mounted his horse again.

* * * * *

After about an hour, the outpost captain stopped his horse.

“Just follow that path and you’ll get there. That’s the entrance to the village.”

“Aren’t you coming with us, oppa?”

“This is already the village entrance, so there’s no need for me to go further.”

Judging by how he avoided eye contact, he seemed reluctant to enter. The captain and the guards turned their horses around.

“Thank you, oppa! I’ll contact you when I leave here!”

Maria waved to the captain, whose smile reached his ears. As soon as she turned around, she whispered quietly, “Idiot.”

“Kain. What were you doing back there?”

“What were YOU doing?”

“Damage control.” Maria jingled the coin pouch she had stolen from the captain.

“I prepared everything knowing this would happen. It’ll be worth looking inside when we get back. It’s probably full of copper coins.”

The captain’s pouch was full of silver coins. There weren’t as many gold coins as expected. Given the financial situation of travelers passing through here, that was to be expected.

The three of them walked along the path. No matter how far they walked, they didn’t sense any human presence.

“This feels really suspicious. I hate forests.”

“The ruffians’ attitude changed when they heard we were going to Berta Village.”

“Didn’t Roberta say she wiped out all the bandits in this area?”

“She did.”

At Kain’s answer, Maria’s expression became serious.

“Then maybe Roberta is actually the one who effectively controls this region?”

That might be true. But would a hero who defeated the Demon King have any reason to gather bandits and play at being a bandit leader?

A little further on, they came across a small log cabin. An old man with a neatly trimmed white beard was sunbathing when he saw Kain’s group and greeted them politely.

“Are you travelers?”

“Yes. Are you Brother Henry, by any chance?”

At Maria’s question, the old man smiled faintly.

“Yes, I am Henry, but…”

“Nice to meet you. I am Maria, a monk from the Magdeburg diocese. I came because I have something to ask you…”

The monk tilted his head.

“Where did you say you’re from?”

“I said I’m from the Magdeburg diocese.”

“Haha, maybe it’s because I’m getting old, but I can’t hear well.”

The monk came closer. Kain saw Henry’s pupils shaking nervously. As they briefly made contact, the monk quickly whispered:

“Leave this place immediately.”

Before they could respond,

“We have guests.”

A gentlemanly male voice came from behind them. It was a man with a logging axe slung over his shoulder.

“Welcome to Berta Village.”