94 – Report on the Fall of Kindness (4)
As we walked along the path, we came to a village surrounded by a fence. It was located on a gentle field with a small stream flowing, and it was so large that it was hard to believe that it was a village built in a dark and gloomy clearing in the forest. There seems to be enough space for thirty-three households and about 120 people to live there.
The log cabins are cute and decorated with small flower beds and cute wooden statues, making them fun to look at. But the smile doesn’t last long. This is because of a longhouse the size of a city church, located in the center of the village.
Unlike other buildings built with ordinary brown and maroon wood, that building used a lot of wood with a reddish tinge. Even the bark of the tree has been removed and carefully trimmed, so it looks like a huge, dead animal with its skin peeled off.
But what catches the eye are the four corners. There was a large, thick wooden pillar that looked as if it had been planted by human power, and it was as red as hardened blood and even had a carved human face screaming with its mouth open, making it even more bizarre.
Beside it, you can see a three-story mansion made of plain brown logs. A flag with a wild boar’s head flutters at the top. It is the symbol of the Count Wördem family.
“Roberta the Kind stays in that building. The first and second floors are where town affairs are conducted, and the third floor is the living space.”
The fat man told various stories about the village as if he were a tour guide. Most of it was something I already knew through prior research, but there were many details I was hearing about for the first time.
Ten years ago, Roberta returned after defeating the Demon King and settled here. At that time, this place was just an empty lot with a stream flowing through it. Roberta turned this place into a proper village.
Of course, she didn’t do it alone. There were many large and small bandits in the Black Forest, and Roberta suppressed them one by one with force.
“Then you too…”
The fat man and the thin man smiled kindly at Cain’s question.
“Yes. We were thieves too. We would block the roads and collect tolls, or go down to the village at night with other people and steal various things. It’s such a shameful story now, but… The kind Roberta “You saved us.”
“Salvation? How?”
Of course, Cain knew the answer, but she pretended not to know to imitate the dim-witted country youth. The chubby man, who was kind to her, told her old story quite calmly.
It is said that Roberta the Kind brought order to the Black Forest by suppressing a group of thieves. The forest was so large that they could not control the entire area, but the control of the most notorious area, the County of Wördem, was enough to ease the empire’s worries.
This was a place where the worst of the worst gathered to compete to see who was worse. Who did worse than whom? Who committed more unimaginable evil than who else? The evildoers, stimulated by each other, competed to commit even greater deeds.
The kind Roberta appeared in front of them.
Roberta did not physically harass them. That means he didn’t shoot someone with a bow or cut them down with a sword. Instead, he played with them like prey.
The wicked suffered from arrows flying at them from time to time. The arrows flew at him while he was urinating in the open, when he was raising his glass to toast, and while he was being chased by the Count’s soldiers.
Those who ran into the forest to catch Roberta were caught in a trap and had to hang on a tree for an entire day. Although they were hung upside down in a deep, dark forest, the evildoers could not even scream.
Because I knew that there were wild wild animals wandering around. But none of the beasts could reach the wicked man. Because my neck was pierced by an arrowhead.
When day dawned and the evil man hanging upside down was covered in his own waste and giving off a terrible smell, Roberta appeared in front of them.
“Are you going to hang on like this and become food for beasts, or are you going to trust me and follow me and live like a human?”
The wicked chose the second option. Although in my mind, I was full of thoughts of stabbing Roberta in the back when the time was right. But those thoughts faded when I saw the vicious criminals who surrendered to Roberta first.
“I know everything. I tried to do the same. But this ordinary life is not as bad as I thought…”
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Of course, it was not an ordinary life. If there was any dissatisfaction, they raised their fists and fought. Roberta herself was no exception. Well, it was more like a herd of beasts than a civilized human life.
However, it was also the rule that was most impactful to those who decided to become beasts rather than humans. Roberta reigned over them and educated them one by one.
“Well, I’m older now… Actually, more than that, I’m tired of beating each other up so much. At some point, we stopped punching each other. First of all, I’m really tired, and if I can’t do what I can do today, I can’t do it tomorrow. “I have to do more, but I don’t want to do that.”
The fat man muttered like an old tune.
It is said that much later, the violent criminals cried when they heard about what Roberta had done for them.
Roberta guarantored their identity. The identity guarantee did not erase the crimes of those who would have been hung on the gallows three times, nor did it lessen their punishment. The list of crimes they committed and the punishment they deserved is written in the empire’s register.
Instead, Roberta’s request was to postpone the execution of the sentence for a while. He asked them to just wait until he educated them into new people. His reasoning was that hanging someone who was close to an animal would be slaughter, but the death of someone who painfully reflects on what he had done was noble.
The empire agreed. There were conditions that Roberta had to manage them thoroughly and that they not leave the Black Forest, but it was a condition that could be endured.
“First of all, the forest is large, and there is a lot to do. The Black Forest is harsh, but it is still worth living in. Some even made new relationships.”
A thin man waved his hand to a woman breastfeeding at the door.
“We didn’t get money, but we earned a living instead. We all held axes and worked hard to build the village. We worked together to drive out a pack of wolves, learned hunting skills from Roberta, and went to the market to buy leather. We also sell it… If you say you’re from Bertha Village, they don’t play around with money. Of course, we get the right price, but we don’t charge more.”
“So, did you guys build that longhouse too?”
In response to Cain’s question, the fat man shook his head.
“No. That building has been there since we first set foot here. Judging from its rather bizarre appearance, it looks like it may have been built by some kind of religious cultist. However, the inside is empty. It was used as a temporary shelter for a while, but everyone has moved out and built a house. Afterwards, it was used as a village auditorium and warehouse. Still, it looks a bit bizarre, doesn’t it?”
While we were talking, we soon reached the steps of the village hall. After knocking on the door and explaining my business, a woman with no left hand led me upstairs.
“That woman was a swindler. They say she was famous in Axiburg, and she lost one of her hands because of it and ran away here, but now she’s a decent worker!”
“Why? The Prophet of Life and Death also said so.”
The woman shot back.
“It’s better to cut off your hands and go to heaven than to go to hell with your guilty hands!”
* * * * *
Her fat, thin man passed away, and the woman without her left hand went upstairs to call Roberta. Meanwhile, Cain, Maria, and Lily looked around the room.
Roberta’s office looked closer to a hunter’s exhibition hall than to her office. The floor was covered with a huge brown bear skin rug, and one wall displayed the skins of all kinds of animals.
Arrows, bows, and swords were placed on the other wall. The sizes of the bows were different and the shapes of the arrows were also different. It seemed to have different shapes and purposes depending on what kind of animal was being caught.
“I’m sorry!”
After waiting for a while, a short woman walked in slowly. At best, she was a petite woman, perhaps as tall as Lily’s waist. She was in her mid to late thirties, but she was so short and her face was so small that she looked like she was around twenty years old.
But there were no traces of the ‘sick’ person anywhere. Her sunken eyes, the dark shadows under her eyes, her cough, her cracked voice or wheezing… None of these signs were visible on her. She was the most lively person in the world.
“You have been rude to those who came from far away! I am Roberta, the village chief here.”
Cain, Lily, and Maria stood up hesitantly. Of course, it was a pre-written script. Maybe that’s why they looked like ‘country bumpkins who suddenly met a rare hero.’ Roberta fluttered her hands and waved them.
“Oh, sit down, sit down! You’re showing some manners again. If anything, you should serve it to me. Sit down, sit down. You like cider, right?”
Soon, cider cooled in cold water was placed in front of the three people. Because it was made from fermented apples, it had a bit of alcohol content, but it added to the sweet scent and refreshing feel of the apples.
“Nice to meet you. My name is Maria, and I am a nun from the Diocese of Magdeburg. These people here are a newlywed couple who met through street friends…”
Mary explained, a story she had already repeated several times, that she had come here to inquire about Brother Henry’s well-being and see if he needed anything.
“Aha. Then you are not a relative of Brother Henry. The others are also…”
“Yes. It has nothing to do with it.”
“Oh.” Roberta’s big brown eyes were full of life.
“So our lovely newlyweds are just taking a cruise around the empire?”
Cain shrugged her shoulders as if he would answer.
“Actually, I have an old friend who lives in the northern part of the empire. He is a soldier and a member of the border guard, and when I told him I was married, he asked me to come visit him with my wife. I said I would understand, set a long time limit for my appointment, and am using it as an excuse to tour the empire. “My original hometown is in the south.”
“Ah. It’s not like you’re just wandering around aimlessly. If you don’t have a place to stay, it’s okay to live in this town!” Roberta giggled. When Cain gave her signal, Lily also responded softly.
“It seems like a nice town. Idyllic, quiet… Looking at the big wooden fence out there, I don’t think I have to worry about animals!”
“With the fence set high, dangerous things won’t rush in. But you still have to be careful when you go out hunting. And, in fact… You’ve probably heard everything about this village, but humans are the most dangerous beasts. Saguaro?”
Roberta touched her hand and giggled.
“Because we are humans, we can be worse than animals, and because we are humans, we can be better than angels.” Mary recited a passage from the scriptures.
“But I wonder why you called us here.”
“Aha, well. This and that!” Roberta smiled brightly.
“Actually, outsiders do not set foot here. As a result, I am an object of curiosity to the villagers, and so just meeting me is a warning to me, ‘Roberta has already set her eyes on you, so don’t mess with her!’ It works too!
I’m kidding. Joke. Actually, the road ahead is very rough and the animals are dangerous. So I called to see if there was anything I could do to help. “I also wanted to treat Brother Henry well since he was a guest!”
“You look at every single thing in the village meticulously.”
Maria was truly impressed. She answered after Roberta took a sip of her cider.
“It’s a bit of a shame, but sometimes a felon from the Empire comes to town. He wants to live here. Then I send a letter to our dear Count and the Empire, and then I give him a house and let him work.
And I keep emphasizing this. ‘I can understand that you’re not good at things. Because you’ve never done it before. But for a lazy guy who doesn’t try, only the gallows awaits!’
Wow. That’s a better motivation than you think. Well, anyone would do that if the gallows rope was dangling behind their back! “In a situation like this, it’s impossible not to be interested in village affairs.”
In fact, if it is a village where criminals hide, you should know everything about the village in detail. But it seems that Roberta’s true intentions were not all there.
“I can’t go through it anyway because it’s already late today. Even if it’s not the Black Forest but a normal forest, it’s already past 3 PM, so the sun will set in just two hours. Then it’ll be dangerous. So, stay here tonight. , I’m doing it.”
“Thank you very much for the favor, but actually, I was already invited.” Maria laughed as if she was embarrassed. Roberta felt sad.
“Oh my, the player was taken away! Are you staying at Brother Henry’s house?”
“Yes. I decided to do so.”
“Aha. Well, then there’s nothing we can do. Instead, let’s have dinner together in that big hall over there.”
“Thank you very much for your kindness, but we haven’t prepared anything… Aren’t we just wasting precious food by coming here for nothing?”
“Of course it’s not free!” Roberta stamped his foot slightly. “If you say it’s free, everyone doesn’t want to eat it. So, I get paid very little. Of course, it’s not money. It’s a story.”
“It’s a story. Is there a story you’d like to hear?” In response to Cain’s question, Roberta leaned forward.
“I heard there’s a monster roaming around the empire. Have you heard anything?”