Outlaws from the Southeastward
Outlaws from the Southeastward
The plan to kidnap a rival family's child and their attendant was extremely efficient and useful, yet cowardly and petty. He didn't know how many others would sympathize, but at least by the standards of the Western Five Kingdoms, it was.
Because of that, the person who proposed the kidnapping plan, pushed it forward, and even issued the execution order had remained in an extremely foul mood.
It felt like he was shoving the family's honor and his own honor into a shit bucket, but he had to endure that much for the greater cause, not for personal advancement. He would have to empty a bottle of wine again tonight to endure the self-loathing, but that was nothing.
Compared to the Empire turning hostile and pointing spears and swords at the entire Western Five Kingdoms, that was.
It had already been five years since those who had once groveled before the Empire turned its eyes toward the undeveloped northeast began growing as arrogant as their bellies had grown fat. Even the orcs that had periodically invaded fell into a silence like the calm before a storm due to the emergence of Great Chieftain Kakula, so their confidence was truly sky-high, and starting three years ago, they began spreading anti-Empire ideology in earnest, attempting absurd political maneuvers and public agitation.
At first he thought it was futile nonsense that wouldn't gain any traction, but the preposterous claim that the West's slow development and lack of abundance were all because the Empire monopolized wealth spread among the populace with surprising speed and began to gain support.
In truth, most of it was because the five kingdoms fought each other whenever they were bored, but there was no way to know how the stream of consciousness had turned that way. In any case, those who had suddenly become pro-Empire had to propose or implement extremely radical measures as a price for moving late.
This plan was like that. It was a dishonorable act no different from a sneak attack, and if the plan went awry, the family's future would undoubtedly be plunged into darkness. Only the butler would know how relieved he was when his men returned with the prisoner.
There had been great sacrifices, but the plan was a success. The one taken prisoner was the heir of a family with considerable influence even within his kingdom—the only male heir in three generations, treasured beyond measure. His father, the second-generation head of the family, had already lost his reproductive ability in an unfortunate battlefield incident, so for his son's safety he would have no choice but to listen obediently to whatever they said.
Although the death of ten of the family's elites was devastating, he comforted himself that thanks to them, at least one kingdom could step closer to peace. He commended the returning men, allowed them to rest, and received the report a little late.
But the report's content was very strange.
"Eldmia Ega?"
When he first read it, he was dumbfounded. So, the mission was completed with almost no damage, but a single wrong choice, unrelated to the plan, killed ten men?
When he read it a second time, he became angry. Damn it. Oh God. If the man was the type to cry "Long live the Imperial Princess" and turn his back the moment he heard an anti-Empire remark, couldn't You have made the situation smoothly resolvable before any fighting broke out? Why are You doing this to me?
After reading it one final time, a sense of doubt welled up. Somehow, as he kept looking... it was a name and appearance he clearly knew.
The West, geographically close to the Empire, was inevitably sensitive to imperial rumors and incidents, and unless one lived with their ears shut, among nobles, everyone knew the story of the hero who prevented the Empire's White Star from being kidnapped by Demonfolk and miraculously returned alive.
Moreover, that appearance had been made known in great detail thanks to the enthusiastic efforts of certain individuals. Thanks to that, he noticed that the description in the report he was reading bore a striking resemblance to the hero of Itisel who had performed great deeds in the Empire.
"......Could it be a different person with the same name...?"
The problem was that they only seemed similar.
The Eldmia heard of in the Empire was truly the epitome of a knight.
His etiquette was perfect, and during his stay in the Empire, he had never once shown a disheveled appearance. Despite being only fifteen, he was a boy spoken of in nothing but praise; his main weapon was the sword, and he had honed his swordsmanship to the point that even the imperial swordsmanship instructor described him as a swordsman whose fundamentals were so complete they could be put in a textbook. Even when the young lion of Rudra had uttered unspeakably insulting remarks, he was said to have maintained his decorum—a man of character.
In contrast, the Eldmia in the report was a savage warrior through and through.
His skill in slaughtering ten of his men in an instant was certainly worthy of high regard, but according to the report, he had a flawed personality—displaying an attitude that showed not a shred of manners, yet giving the impression that he had acquired a great deal of knowledge solely for chewing out and cursing others.
Of course, it was only natural that he couldn't be kind to those who had tried to take his life, but judging from the report alone, he couldn't help but doubt whether he even possessed a standard of common sense.
"...He seemed to have been more sensitive about the fact that his stew might have burned than about his life being threatened...?"
He was only reading it while brainwashing himself that it was strictly factual because it was a report from a trusted subordinate; if he had read it anywhere else, he would have seriously suspected it was fiction. Crucially, this Eldmia's main weapon seemed to be a double-bladed axe.
"This is... truly troubling."
Common sense dictated that the possibility of it being the same person was higher than the possibility of two completely different people with only the same name and similar appearance both being formidable powerhouses. But absurdly, in this one instance, the problem was that the possibility of them being different people with the same name was higher.
Knight Eldmia was from Itisel, and most recently, he had become an assistant to a professor who was a former court mage at the Itisel Royal Academy and had subdued the Demon Dragon that had been sleeping unnoticed beneath the academy—a heroic deed that would go down in history, and it hadn't been long since he'd done it.
If he had come west by taking every gate across the continent, it would be a different story, but if he had, everyone including himself would already know about it.
And this savage warrior Eldmia... circumstantially, had come from Kelbast. He had been tailed for a few days at a distance, and it was confirmed that he carried a status guarantee badge from the Lord of Kelbast, so it was certain.
The name was the same, the appearance was similar, but one was from Itisel and the other was from an unknown western kingdom, and not only did they possess outstanding skill, but they also supported the Empire?
"...Head butler. What do you think?"
He handed the report to the old head butler who had always been by his side, worrying over and handling important matters together. The butler checked the contents quickly. Indeed, he was a man familiar with the work after spending half a lifetime together.
The speed ended there. Before long, the groaning that had echoed in the office began to turn into a duet.
◈
Travel through the Western Five Kingdoms was already the fifth day. After parting with the bastards who had nearly burned the stew in the middle of the night, nothing happened for a while.
I had felt signs of pursuit and surveillance until I reached the city two days later, but the moment I entered the city, they disappeared like a lie and never appeared again. Probably they needed to maintain secrecy, so their purpose had been to observe my movements.
The first city I arrived at after Kelbast was a large city called Brooks, a border city of Althania, one of the kingdoms closest to Kelbast. If you went further north from here, there was a city of another kingdom, but they didn't seem to be on great terms with each other.
Maybe because of that, there was no gate there either.
It was a large city so clean and well-built that it was hard to call it a remote city far from the capital. I slipped some pocket money to the gatekeeper and asked, and apparently, trade with Kelbast was quite lucrative. Right in front was the Great Grassland, and monsters and dungeons were scattered everywhere, or so I was told. Except for the demonic beasts that orcs and the like rode, I couldn't recall seeing anything that could be called monsters or active adventurers—probably because it was orc territory.
At any other time, I might have done some sightseeing, but I was pressed for time, so I stayed for a day to replenish supplies and update information, then set out on the road again. It was truly fortunate that my body could recover from fatigue just by sleeping soundly at a good inn.
Up to that point, there was no particular problem...
"Traveling in such winter? You must have earned quite a bit on the grasslands to be in such a hurry to return, eh?"
Maybe the problem was that I had often rested and talked with people I met during the two days of travel past the city, because some scumbags latched onto me from somewhere.
Right on cue, while I was clearing a spot to camp in the forest, they gradually formed a net around me and openly revealed themselves. At first I wondered if they were the bastards who had almost fucked up my stew, so I waited, but they were just common thieves.
"On a cold day like this, won't you freeze to death if we take everything you have? Just hand over what you earned, and we'll let you go nicely."
If there had been the internet, even those bastards would have heard about the shit I pulled in Itisel. But such means of information communication were only enjoyed by those who possessed them, so it couldn't be helped.
"Let's see... how many should I leave alive so the rumors spread well..."
"Hah! This guy's completely nuts..."
The thief who had been looking at me with eyes full of mockery and turned his gaze to his comrade died without finishing his sentence.
The problem was that I wasn't the one who killed him. Suddenly, arrows rained in from somewhere and started wiping out the twenty-odd thieves surrounding me in one go.
"Wha, what?! What is... urk!"
While the majority died without even a proper reaction, the one who had shown an obvious response was the last to collapse, and the arrow rain stopped at the same time. This time I thought for sure they were the bastards who had nearly ruined my stew, but those who revealed themselves were completely unexpected.
"...Elves?"
Seven elves in similarly designed attire, wearing hoods designed to let their long ears poke out, revealed themselves without unstringing their bows. They approached, their movements clearly indicating they were more concerned about the possibility of survivors among the fallen thieves than wary of me. One of them slowly unstrung his bow and spoke.
"Eldmia Ega, is that right?"
Thanks to that, I felt a mental shutdown for the first time in a long while.
I hadn't even heard from Asilie that elves had the internet.
