episode_0041

Upon entering the store, I laid Adelheid on the bed in the innermost room of this floor, Liberonne’s room.

“But…”

I turned to the uneasy 2nd lieutenant gazing out the window.

“If the Imperial Army is after you, then I am committing a grave offense right now.”

“No. They’re not chasing us… We’ve never met them once while fleeing….”

“Is that so? Well then, I’ll leave for now. Just in case the Imperial Army might come to our store.”

As I left the room, I thought.

If the Imperial Army is here to capture these people, I must inform them without delay.

If I am harboring a criminal being chased by the Imperial Army, trouble will surely follow.

But if they are here for another purpose in our village, I should hide them for now.

Because I have other considerations in mind.

As I made my way back to the store, the door soon opened and several Imperial Army soldiers entered.

A captain with a red feather decoration on his helmet seemed to be in charge.

“Welcome. This is Jack’s Potion Store.”

“Are you the owner?”

“Yes, I am. Do you need potions?”

“Not exactly…”

The captain scanned the interior of the store and asked, “Are healing potions all you have here?”

“Yes, that’s correct. We only sell potions that have been rigorously inspected according to potion regulations.”

“I see… Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. I am Captain Nellion of the Imperial Army’s 213th Special Unit.”

“Pleasure to meet you. I’m Jack. But may I ask what brings the Imperial Army all the way to this rural village…?”

“We recently discovered bodies of central slaves murdered and abandoned nearby.”

Captain Nellion got straight to the point.

So that’s why. They must have found some clues there and come here.

“Do you know anything about it?”

It’s clear that the knights either found potion bottles discarded by them or heard testimonies from surviving slaves.

The closest official potion store to the scene is here. They must have some suspicions by now.

Unless they randomly picked our village out of many others.

The answer is already set.

“Are you saying that our village militia did it.”

“The militia?”

Captain Nellion’s eyes widened in astonishment.

“So you’re telling me that the militia of this small village attacked the central slave convoy?”

“Yes. Although the village is small, the militia is quite numerous.”

“There must have been people taken as slaves. What happened to them?”

“They settled here in the village.”

“I see… Is that true?”

He seemed completely incredulous. It seems like I have to show him something.

Having found traces of potions at the scene of the slave attack and coming all the way here, he shouldn’t be left with doubts.

There’s a chance that even I could be misunderstood.

“Just come and see for yourself.”

I led Captain Nellion to the shantytown where the freed slaves lived.

While crossing the village, Captain Nellion looked around with a curious expression.

Currently, our village is undergoing a massive construction project with everyone mobilized to establish infrastructure.

People are busy digging foundations, building docks by the river, and working in the logging yards. Armed knights pass by carts filled with timber, fish, and various crops.

Seeing the armed personnel passing by, Captain Nellion asked, “What is this village doing? Could it be a border city of the kingdom?”

“A border city?”

“A city established at the border to prepare for external invasions. The military is stationed there to prepare for emergencies.”

“No? It’s just a simple village.”

“Then what about the armed individuals who just passed by?”

“The village militia. As I mentioned earlier.”

“Are you saying that the village militia can be armed to such an extent?”

“Yes.”

Colonel Nellion continued to survey the bustling scene as if he had no idea what my response meant.

It was truly surprising.

In a town of our size, construction projects were rare events that occurred only a few times a year.

Since there was no need for development and maintaining what we already had was sufficient for sustenance.

However, in order for us to advance to a city, large-scale civil engineering projects were necessary.

And for this, two essential supports needed to be firmly in place: stable food supply and financial backing.

Our village achieved self-sufficiency through potion production and financial support from various sources of precious metals and coins.

Colonel Nellion, unaware of these circumstances, must have felt like he was in a different world.

“Commander! It’s a monster!”

Several Imperial soldiers following behind drew their weapons in alarm.

In the distance, Braha could be seen wandering around the gravel field by the riverbank.

Following behind were several pigs walking peacefully. They were taking the pigs out for a walk.

“That’s not a monster, everyone. It’s a half-goblin. A person.”

“A half-goblin…?”

The Imperial soldiers, who seemed ready to rush and tear Braha apart, hesitated.

“Yes. They are intelligent and can communicate. They run a pig farm in the village.”

“A pig farm…?”

Colonel Nellion’s expression became even more perplexed.

“But where is the magistrate here?”

“He’s around, but he’s busy at the moment. I am acting as the deputy magistrate.”

“Deputy magistrate? The owner of the potion shop?”

“In small villages, under the approval of the magistrate, a diligent resident can be appointed as a deputy.”

“I see…”

We arrived at the flat field where the Freedmen’s shantytown was located.

“Here. We rescued about seven hundred people, with six hundred temporarily residing here except for a hundred.”

Colonel Nellion clicked his tongue upon seeing the bustling shantytown.

A shantytown perfectly built with precision.

Armed knights patrolled, and on one side, there were support facilities such as an outdoor kitchen and medical tent.

Colonel Nellion grabbed a passing person and asked, “Were you captured as a slave and then rescued?”

“Huh?”

The suddenly grabbed person, not understanding English, looked puzzled, then nodded upon seeing me.

“Yes. He led the knights to rescue us.”

“The knights…?”

As a question mark arose on Colonel Nellion’s face, another passerby overheard our conversation and stopped.

“The knight commander not only saved those being taken as slaves but also welcomed them to the village so they could live here!”

“Oh, I see…”

“You’re from the Imperial Army, right? If you happen to meet His Majesty, please tell him. The potion knight commander of this starting village has done a great deed!”

At the mention of His Majesty, Colonel Nellion awkwardly forced a smile.

As a mere colonel, he would never have the opportunity to meet the Emperor in his lifetime.

“But Jack. What do you mean by knight commander?”

“Well, that’s the thing. People just call the village militia the knight order. It’s just a name. They’re definitely not pretending to be knights.”

Whether true or not, people continued to address me as the knight commander, and the voices praising me grew louder, attracting nearby residents.

“Hail to the knight commander!” “Hail! Hail!”

Oh dear, here we go again. They’re cheering ‘hail’ once more. People are troublesome.

After a commotion, Colonel Nellion, leaving the shantytown, spoke up.

“Jack. I understand that you have done something commendable. The Central Slave Trade is a sore spot for our Empire. Due to the corrupt border defense, it’s difficult to catch them. But to step in directly like this, on behalf of the Imperial Army, thank you.”

“Haha, yes…”

“However, the truth is. Our special forces were in the midst of carrying out one important mission until we discovered the ambush site of slave traders.”

“What was that?”

“We were tracking behind the Remugen mercenaries.”

Upon hearing those words, I remained silent.

I vaguely remember hearing about the Imperial Army’s special forces chasing after them when I was kidnapped by Remugen before.

So those people were them.

Inspecting my expression carefully, Lieutenant Nellion spoke.

“We were preparing to attack the occupiers who had taken over the nearby baronial castle, but one day they suddenly scattered. The castle, which served as our base, was in shambles. However, we found something strange there.”

“It was probably a potion.”

I replied first.

This Lieutenant Nellion only saw the scene of the mid-point landing and came straight to our village, even singling me out.

Therefore, it wouldn’t be difficult to speculate that I was involved there based on the traces of potion boxes scattered throughout the baronial castle.

If not, he wouldn’t have brought up such a thing to me. So I decided to just come clean.

No matter how much I thought about it, plundering the Remugen mercenaries wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

I briefly explained that to Lieutenant Nellion.

They kidnapped me from Remugen with the intention of making potions for free, and I could survive with the help of the Holy Knight.

“The Holy Knight…?”

At this point, Lieutenant Nellion seemed to give up on understanding anything further.