Chapter 56 (2/2)
The house is immediately encircled by livestock. I close my eyes, hoping to fall asleep as fast as I can and wake up to tomorrow.
(...... Still, I’m the feudal lord now, so I have the responsibility to improve these villagers’ quality of life from now on, don’t I……?)
“My lord.”
“!”
While half awake and half asleep, pondering on my responsibilities as a newly installed feudal lord, I was jolted awake by a sweet, husky voice whispering in my ear.
Within the darkness, I could vaguely make out the body line of a mature lady. I panicked for a brief instant, but judging by the voice and the situation, I understood that it must be Leiha.
“Wh-, what’s going on, Leiha?”
“I’ve captured an a.s.sailant.”
“A what?”
With sleepiness still on my eyelids, I throw on my robe and step out the house with lighting the tip of my Wizardry Staff with a spell.
In the square in front of the Village Head’s house, there are three youngsters thoroughly bound up and rolling around, as well as a young girl prostrating herself.
“...... I’m so sorry! I’m so sorry! It was all my fault!”
“ “Nn—! Nnnn——!” ”
For some reason that I am failing to comprehend, the young girl — now that I take a better look, isn’t she the Village Head’s daughter? — is bowing repeatedly with tears streaming down her face, while the gagged youngsters are glaring daggers at me while struggling violently.
Irudo and the others who were camping at the same square have already fully woken up and are looking on with amazement.
“What happened here?”
“WHA-, WHAT ON EARTH HAPPENED HERE?!”
Flying out of his house later than me by a bit, the Village Head shouts the exact same question as me. Aren’t we getting along just fine.
“These three tried to slip into my lord’s sleeping quarters while holding weapons in their hands, so I captured them. Your daughter was following along behind the 3 of them.”
“WHAT ON EARTH?! KINA! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!”
“But, but, Dad! I…… didn’t want to…… so Kelue and the others, they……”
At Leiha’s explanation, the Village Head grabs his daughter’s collar and yells at her. While listening to her reply……
In summary, the Village Head wanted to win favor with me, so he ordered his daughter to ‘visit’ me in the night. His daughter didn’t want to do it, so she went to her 3 childhood friends to ask for advice, and they recklessly decided to just kill me. I think that’s about the jist of it?
“Ki-, killing is a bit……”
“We only planned on th-, threatening you to give up on Kina……”
“In, in the first place, you’re that bad magician called Jyagul, aren’t you! Like we'd trust you just because you say a few good words!”
A nostalgic name came out from the mouth of one of the young boys that we ungagged.
I can see how isolated from information this village is, being inside the forest and all. They might have heard rumors about me, but I can’t really fault them for confusing me with Jyagul, the previous owner of the castle.
“How do you wish to handle this, Margils-sama?”
“...... Could it be that my decision here would take the place of a trial?”
“This is Margil-sama’s domain, so of course, yes. By the way, for the crime of attempted a.s.sa.s.sination of the feudal lord, the punishment is of course execution.”
“My lord. As soon as I receive your permission, I will grant them enough pain to make even demons of darkness cry in apology, then execute them.”
Irudo’s common view and Leiha’s extreme view are different in vector, but presenting me the same dilemma.
“...... Kerue, and Sakko, and…... Rai, is it? For the sake of your childhood friend Kina, you wanted to fight against ‘the bad magician,’ right? …… But did you not consider the possibility that you yourselves might get killed?”
“...... Y-, yes we did…… but……”
“Jyagul and the bandits already killed a few of my friends and guys from the village! As long as I can carry out revenge for them, I don’t care if I die……!”
“Ki-, Kina is my important fr-, friend, so……”
“I’m the one in the wrong! Pl-, please ex-, execute me instead……”
The three youngsters and girl are desperately conveying different things, all while the Village Head is merely opening and closing his mouth with an ashen face.
I mildly raise my staff to quiet them all, then turn towards Leiha.
“Leiha.”
“Yes, my lord.”
“...... I entrusted the judgment of your crimes to the courts at Lelis. This time too, I will try them by the law.”
“...... It shall be as you say.”
…… But with that said, me = the law? That’s way too heavy.
Forcefully suppressing my desire to moan out loud, I spin my mind as fast as I can. Emotionally speaking, I don’t feel like punis.h.i.+ng them at all.
However, it is true that they tried to a.s.sault the feudal lord (depending on the point of view, it could be seen as an attempted a.s.sa.s.sination even), so I can’t let them off scot free.
In the first place, even if they had no intention to murder, the very fact that violence was the first thing that came to their mind is not good.
“......”
If I myself am to be the law, then I must at least come up with a sentence that everyone can accept.
“You three are being charged with the crime of ‘attempted a.s.sault.’ With consideration that I also neglected to resolve the misunderstanding of my ident.i.ty…… I sentence you three to forced labor at Jiiteias Castle. The period will be 3 years. Your duties will be the harshest position at the castle: being soldiers. Mentally prepare yourselves.”
“We’ll be so-, soldiers at the castle?!”
“...... I’ll do it. Anything aside from being executed, I’ll do it.”
“Th-, thank you so very much……”
They must have interpreted it as forced conscription purely as a punishment. Their expressions are by no means bright, although there is indeed a slight tinge of relief at not having been executed.
The daughter clung to all three while cry-laughing, so I suppose they’re satisfied with that.
The Village Head and other villagers are also patting down their own chests with relief. I personally want to give the Village Head a sentence too, but I suppose I’ll have to be satisfied with watching him later get scolded by Irudo at length.
“I think it was a good decision. Since we do need soldiers familiar with the inside of this forest.”
So whispered Irudo to me. Oh, right, there was that too.
Since our castle is a place that has a real likelihood of fighting against Shadow Demons, I might have inadvertently shortened these three boys’ lives.
When I think about it like that, my heart feels heavy. But I’ve already decided to be the feudal lord, and I know this is part of that.
♥♦♣♠
“Rather than that, there are still 2 more villages, huh. I hope I can at least get a proper night’s sleep in the next one……”
“We have no way of knowing. However, it is the duty of the feudal lord to resolve the problems presented by the population living in his domain.”
So replied Irudo seriously in response to my fed up face.
“Irregardless of who that resolution is for, that is.”
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