112 Hero in the story
***[Heroine Oscar]***
After catching the mammoth beast, the city they arrived at was the central city of the county.
Since it is the place where the Count lives, the scale of the city is quite large.
The city was surrounded by strong walls, and the gates were made of wood as well as iron lattice gates.
I’ve been here a few years ago, and I remember it being a very lively city.
But now there were few people around, and the gates were tightly closed.
It seems that only a small side door is left open.
The number of soldiers standing on top of the wall is also large.
It looks like a war is going on.
Besides, there was a hole in the wooden gate in the distance.
A thick gate is difficult to destroy, but harder to pierce.
The escorts stepped in front of me, and the captain of the escort spoke closely to the side.
Because it is far away from the wall, it is not yet within reach of the arrow.
The head of the convoy stopped the procession and called several soldiers.
“Anyway, it’s not normal. Go and find out what’s going on. If you see anything suspicious, just pass this city.”
“All right.”
The soldiers were about to move, but the civil servant who went through the paperwork and took care of miscellaneous matters in the procession stepped forward every time they passed another territory.
“I’ll go with you. I’ve been to this castle many times before for work. I’m sure there are some officials who know, and it’s smoother for me to go than for soldiers to run and ask.”
“Okay, go away. But be careful. If something goes wrong, come back.”
When the head of the convoy gave permission, the official ran to the wall with the soldiers.
I quietly looked at the county soldiers standing on top of the castle wall.
But there is nothing hostile about them.
There was no sign of aiming a bow or going into a state of alert.
It has been the same since they first discovered us.
At that time, it seems that someone recognized the fact that our procession belonged to the duke’s family.
A person with good eyesight probably saw the coat of arms of the carriage.
A soldier started shouting towards somewhere.
“Maybe it’s not about being wary of people.”
As I spoke, the convoy director narrowed his eyes and saw the hole in the gate.
“I think so too. It must be because of the long-nosed Witchbeast.”
It is said that the mammoth-like beast was the first thing both the soldiers and the convoy supervisor had seen.
The thick, long ivory was more impressive to me, but to others, the long nose seemed much more strange and grotesque.
So everyone was calling it the Long Nose Magic Beast.
Ivory is imported to this continent and processed and sold as expensive handicrafts, but no one seems to know what an elephant actually looks like.
‘Well, is that also true?’
In a world without TV or the Internet, information is delivered only to a limited number of people.
No wonder these people don’t know elephants.
Although it’s really strange that I don’t know about elephants.
I quietly looked at the gate.
The position of the hole in the gate was similar in height to that of a mammoth’s ivory.
Probably the size of the hole as well.
“Perhaps a lot of people died because of them.”
“…”
At my words, the head of the convoy quietly gazed at the city beyond the city walls.
“Even now, that must be happening in other places. A territory without a strong owner is a painful law.”
strong lord.
I let out a sullen breath as the word seemed to tell me how difficult it is to live in this world.
The Mammoth Witchbeast that was harassing this area was all burned with fire magic.
Our duchy soldiers burn most of the monsters they kill.
Even if the bones and flesh are hard, the monster is also a living thing, and if the corpse is left as it is, it may rot and cause disease.
If you sprinkle a little bit of garbage mana stone used for torches and pour mana on them, they will instantly turn into ashes.
However, in other areas, it would be difficult to kill the demons, let alone burn them out.
Whether it’s because of its large size, or because of its magical power, the Demon Beast doesn’t ride easily.
There was no choice but to bury it, but there were many territories where there was no time to care.
Perhaps in some areas there will be an epidemic sooner or later.
Problems caused by the increase in the number of monsters occur one after another.
That is why the lord is weak.
Even if a problem arises, they do not have a way to solve it and annoy the young people.
If the lord himself does not have the power, he must at least somehow grasp the connection with the strong man who has it.
The weak cling to the strong and live under their protection.
Even so, to somehow protect one’s family and people, that was the strength of the lord.
And perhaps this increase in the number of monsters will not be easy to solve for either the strong or the weak.
More and more as time goes on.
‘I’ll have to somehow relieve the goddess’ wrath before the problem gets too big.’
It’s painful that there’s nothing you can do but wait for the investigators’ report.
My heart felt heavy on its own.
After a while, the civil servants and soldiers who went to investigate the situation returned.
“The long-nosed Demon Beast appears and riots and eats people. They say they are on guard.”
The civil servant shook his head.
“When I heard about the ejaculation, it’s ridiculous. They eat dozens of people a day. They lift people up with their noses and munching… Ugh, that’s terrible.”
The civil servant shuddered.
“It seems to have eaten people who came and went like that, and in the end, it seemed that it was better to aim for a place with a lot of people. It is said that they finally attacked the castle not too long ago.”
However, it is said that the ivory became lodged in the door, making it impossible to move.
After they managed to get the ivory out, they left without being able to attack again.
“…”
The ivory was now loaded onto our cart.
When I burned the mammoth beast, I thought the ivory would also burn, but it seems that the material was something special.
Perhaps it was because the mana stone powder was not sprinkled on the ivory.
It was engulfed in fire, but it burned only where the skin touched and the fire did not spread further.
Seeing it, the official put it away saying that it might be usable somewhere.
Everyone was a little daunted by the official’s frantic stirring of ashes, his eyes twinkling as he hugged the ivory.
That manager is this manager.
As if he had completely forgotten about such a thing, the official trembled as if he was afraid.
“They’re cruel. It was said that it was a few days ago, so they must have been quite hungry when they met our procession. They say that the Witchbeast appeared and traffic around here was cut off. There was no one to eat them.”
So, as soon as they found us, they ran recklessly without hiding.
They seem to have pretty bad heads.
While the civil servants were reporting, the city gates were wide open for our procession.
As the procession of the duchy headed for the castle, merchants and commoners followed one after another.
There will be some people whose destination is this, but most will go into the safety of the castle and leave with our procession as it leaves.
But some seemed to be staying outside the walls.
Those who have difficulty paying tolls or who want to save money.
The mammoth is dead, and the number of people gathered is quite small, so there will be little concern about dangerous beasts approaching.
Staying outside the castle is not very dangerous.
But when I saw a child in it, my heart was a little confused.
If you were with our procession, you would get enough of the soldiers’ food, but if you were outside, wouldn’t you have to eat something like thin porridge today?
Maybe the beast is waiting for the children, and bites them because the adults are distracted.
Such dangers were everywhere in this world.
That’s why people are forced to pay the toll and enter the castle.
Even so, no matter how uncomfortable I feel, the duchy cannot pay the toll for these people.
Making exceptions that way makes things harder later.
But somehow, when the child intervened, my heart weakened.
Seeing me, the convoy leader laughed and beckoned to several soldiers.
“The child out there is our luggage. Put him in the wagon.”
“hahahaha. I see.”
A soldier ran out and picked up the children who had stopped outside the castle.
The few children were quickly moved to the wagon.
It is difficult to carry a child with luggage to the castle once, but it is difficult to do it many times.
The common people know that, so I won’t ask for it again next time.
it was on my mind
When I thanked him with a wink, the convoy manager grinned.
The head of the convoy saw the official this time.
“Isn’t it your job to take care of the little things when you go through the door? Take care of that little burden.”
The official let out a long sigh.
“Haa, there’s no way a group like that will work. Where do you see that a child is a burden?”
“Isn’t it your job to get that group through?”
“Still, too much is too much. Ha, really, it’s only this one time. This time, we dealt with the Witchbeast, and even if Jim is a little strange, the other side has to agree.”
The official shook his head and threw out his words as if he couldn’t help it.
“Because it happened like this, all the children put it on their luggage.”
The official grumbled and headed for the soldiers and officials guarding the gate, and the commoners who watched the incident each pushed their child towards the cart.
“Get on! Get on, you bastard!”
“Ride calmly.”
“You go quickly too!”
The children, pushed by the adults, glanced at the soldiers and quickly climbed onto the wagon.
As several small faces smeared with dirty water climbed up all over the cart, the cart, which had stopped for a moment, started moving again.
While our officials were negotiating something, the children rode through the city gates in a wagon.
Even though our procession was quite far away, the parents of the children staying outside the castle bowed their heads and bowed to me.
“Thank you thank you!”
It’s not what I did, but it’s me who is being thanked by everyone.
For some reason, the fact was unfamiliar and I couldn’t raise my head because I was sorry.
The convoy director chuckled.
“You’re shy in strange places sometimes. But it’s only natural that everyone appreciates you. If you don’t pay attention to them in that way, I don’t either.”
Some of the people who entered the castle were already making a fuss and talking about the Witchbeast.
One in particular is great.
The skill of making up a story was not common.
The figure of me and the magic soldier fighting the gigantic long-nosed beast was described as a knight fighting a dragon for the princess.
“…”
who the heck is that It’s completely different from the truth.
While I was laughing ridiculously, Katrin peeked out a little from the carriage window.
“It’s the Duchess!”
“wow!”
“Extremely pretty.”
“It’s like a goddess.”
People muttered and stared at her, but Katrin didn’t care at all.
She seems to be focusing on the voice of someone exaggerating the way I fight.
His eyes were twinkling, he occasionally let out exclamations, or nodded in response.
If the counselor’s wives had been together, they would have stopped it, but they are currently riding in a different carriage.
Seeing that the counselor’s wife, who was watching from the other carriage, had a slightly raised eyebrow, I laughed inwardly.
It seems that Katrin will hear the nagging again.
Inside the mansion, she plays the perfect duchess, but when she goes outside, she seems to relax without realizing it.
‘But Catherine must have seen me fighting more closely than a commoner.’
But why are you so intrigued by his story?
Besides, since you’ve seen it yourself, you probably know that most of what that man says is exaggerated enough to be close to lies.
However, they admire or even nod their heads.
I was a little curious about what was going on in Katrin’s head.
That evening was invited by the count.
When I left the castle the next day after spending the night in a polite hospitality, my story, which had already been inflated, became even bigger.
According to the head of the convoy, there must have been a storyteller among the commoners who followed our procession.
Should I say it’s a few steps lower than the bard?
These are people who treat people for a penny or a meal at a bar and talk about heroes or funny stories to cheer people up.
‘Is this the person who was talking about yesterday?’
I didn’t even think he was that kind of person because he didn’t have any musical instruments and his clothes were plain.
The convoy manager’s keen eye for understanding this must have been quite good.
‘Somehow, he was really good at exaggerating the story.’
Because of him, it’s now hard to even figure out what the original story was.
‘Rumors spread exaggeratedly like this.’
Benno and his mother were overly vigilant about always being wary of rumors, and seeing it firsthand made me think it was really scary.
‘This time it rolled in a good direction, so damn it, if it was a bad rumor.’
Horrible.
With that in mind, the king’s reaction when he talked about the increase in the number of monsters was understandable.
Although the choice he made was the worst, the king would have wanted to do it as quietly as possible.
‘When rumors spread that the goddess was angry because of the royal family, the problem really grew.’
The increase in the number of monsters is seen by the common people, and when their lives are destroyed, dissatisfaction gathers at the king.
In this world, gods are close to humans.
Perhaps in no time there will be rumors that the royals are incurring the wrath of the gods.
Before that, the goddess’ wrath must be resolved somehow.
Otherwise, the whole country will be in chaos.
I took a small breath.
I was dying because I didn’t have enough time to prepare for the steppe invasion, but I had to pay attention to the royal family.
If you’re a king, like a king, if you’re a crown prince, like a crown prince, please behave properly.
‘Don’t drool or drool on other people’s women.’
I suddenly felt a gaze and turned my head to find Katrin looking at me with those twinkling, really super twinkling eyes.
It seems to be the eyes looking at the hero in the story.
‘Catherine, you’re not mistaken for the truth, are you?’
A voice came from somewhere, saying, ‘You ran into that incredible beast with your bare body to save the Duchess!’
“…”
Hey Catherine. You really don’t believe that, do you?
Seeing Katrin with the face of a dreaming adolescent girl made it hard to say otherwise.