The Poisoned Pouch
Cedric scanned the interior of the cave with a thoroughly cowed expression. The cave was far larger than he had anticipated. Though it was empty now, it had until recently been the habitat of the Cullens that had mercilessly torn his comrades to pieces.
Every time he looked at the pitch-black walls, he could hear the sound of those wings snatching people up.
It felt like a Cullen might burst out from the dark walls at any moment, baring its sharp fangs. Cedric pretended to examine the cave but only investigated the area closest to the entrance.
“Cedric! Let’s head deeper inside!”
“Yeah. You go first. I’ll finish checking here and join you.”
“Really?”
He could sense his colleague’s disapproving look. It stung his pride and made him feel pathetic, but there was nothing he could do about it. While Cedric hesitated, his colleague proceeded deeper into the cave with the others.
“Sigh.”
Even now, many people whispered that he was a coward. Numerous soldiers and knights had been wounded, maimed, or killed. Yet Cedric hadn’t suffered so much as a scratch. It was because he had gotten scared the moment the Cullen attack began and hidden in the nearest inhabited building.
If the elderly couple inside hadn’t pitied him and hidden him, it would have been his limbs torn off as he plummeted from the sky.
Wondering if he should quit being a soldier even now, he was idly staring at the ground when something that didn’t belong in a monster’s lair caught his eye. It was a half-burned pouch, stuck between the wall and floor so that the others had apparently missed it.
Curious, Cedric grabbed the piece of pouch protruding from the rock crevice and pulled gently. His gloves made it slippery. With no choice, he removed his gloves, tucked them into his belt, and pulled carefully.
What remained in the crevice was the pouch’s opening. Upon closer inspection, the missing portion appeared to have burned away.
This is it!
Cedric instinctively knew that what he had discovered was an important clue. He was about to call his colleagues but changed his mind and stayed silent.
Fearing someone might try to help, he covered it with his body and worked hard to extract the pouch.
The eyes that had silently condemned him would no longer be able to disregard him after today. As more of the pouch emerged, Cedric couldn’t hide his gleeful grin.
Got it!
Finally, the pouch was completely free from the rock crevice. Moreover, aside from the burned section, it showed no other damage.
“There’s something here!”
Cedric waved the pouch fragment like a flag with the light at his back so that everyone could witness his accomplishment. He saw Knight Commander Red Bear’s gaze lock onto him. A thrill ran through his entire body. But.
“Put that down right now!”
Startled by the commander’s aggressive tone, his hand unconsciously tightened around the pouch. Instead of praise, he was being scolded as if he had committed a capital offense.
Is it because I hid that day?
His face contorted in ugly inferiority and self-loathing for a moment. Then Cedric felt the strength draining from the hand gripping the pouch. With a soft thud, the pouch he had clutched like a lifeline fell to the ground. Why is this happening? As he stared at his hand in confusion, Cedric’s vision went dark.
“So this pouch was inside the Cullen cave.”
“Yes. The residue inside was a highly toxic sleeping powder.”
“His name was Cedric, wasn’t it? The soldier who discovered this pouch first.”
“Yes.”
“What happened to him?”
“He passed away.”
System: Do you wish to access information related to the pouch?
Dong-hee: Yes. How many points will that cost?
System: To obtain the specific information requested by the User, 30,000 points must be paid.
Dong-hee: What a rip-off.
System: Proper language and proper thoughts complete one’s inner beauty.
Dong-hee: I value outer beauty more.
System: That explains it. Your character is...
Dong-hee: Hey!
System: I will calculate the loan interest based on the customer’s credit rating. With your current credit, you can borrow approximately 29,000 points at an interest rate of 21%.
Dong-hee: Huh? The interest rate decreased!
Dong-hee felt a flash of joy that the interest rate had dropped four percent from last time, then suddenly realized something.
Am I being gaslit by the status window?
“Shall I proceed with the loan?”
Dong-hee shook her head and banished the status window. Just hearing the word “loan” still sent goosebumps across her skin and killed her appetite. Come to think of it, she needed to build a bread factory in Morta Village and have more mud mushrooms brought from Enol Village. Kind, the chief of Enol Village, had recently brought a large quantity, but Dong-hee’s poor condition had kept her from eating any.
The frugal cook was busy drying the mud mushrooms, saying she could at least make tea with them.
“First, find out where this leather pouch was made. If we follow every lead, something should turn up.”
In her heart she wanted to march straight to Patrasche and demand answers. Suppressing the rage boiling inside her, Dong-hee continued.
“I intend to pay compensation to the families of the dead soldiers and knights.”
When soldiers or knights belonging to a territory died in battle, it was standard practice everywhere to deliver a certain amount of condolence money according to rank and status. Red Bear nodded calmly and listened attentively to his lord. He had been planning to suggest it himself, so he was deeply grateful she had brought it up first.
“How many died this time?”
“Forty-nine.”
The death toll had risen while they were treating the wounded.
“Haa…”
It was a heartbreaking number. Many of them were people Dong-hee had never even met. Misinterpreting her deep sigh as concern over the cost, Red Bear spoke in a heavy voice.
“My lord. To avoid burdening the territory, the condolence money should be kept to the absolute minimum…”
“What are you talking about?”
“Pardon?”
“I will give the same condolence money to every family of the deceased. It doesn’t matter whether they were soldiers, knights, commoners, or of noble birth.”
She knew there were only a handful of noble soldiers left in Grace Territory. Even they rarely flaunted their empty titles.
“Treasurer.”
Dong-hee called for Scrooge, who had been waiting. She had sent Handsome to Morta Village early that morning with orders to inspect the progress of the village restoration in person.
“Yes, my lord.”
“How much compensation is usually given to fallen knights?”
Scrooge opened the notebook that was practically an extension of his hand and meticulously reviewed past records.
“Noble knights receive 100 gold, commoner knights 30 gold, and soldiers 5 gold.”
It was an absurdly small amount. Even the nobles received 100 gold, yet the families of ordinary soldiers were given a mere 5 gold.
For families with no assets, it was a despair-inducing sum. Dong-hee shuddered in disgust at the imagined scene of tossing a few gold coins before families who had lost sons and husbands, then walking away.
“Give everyone the same amount.”
“Pardon? All of them 5 gold each?”
No matter how much construction cost, this was excessive. As Scrooge and Red Bear struggled to hide their dismay and tried to persuade their lord, she delivered an even more shocking statement.
“What are you saying? They gave their lives for Grace Territory. We must ensure their surviving families can eat and live. Those families are my responsibility.”
Red Bear was deeply moved by the profound sincerity in his lord’s words.
“Red Bear, compile a list of the deceased. Record where they lived, their family situations—everything—and report back. Compensation for each fallen soldier will be a flat 200 gold. If any surviving family members wish to work, give them priority for jobs.”
It was an extraordinary sum.
“But, my lord, 200 gold is far too much.”
“It is the price of my people’s lives. It is not too much at all. They must be shedding tears of blood worrying about their families even in death. At the very least, we should let them rest in peace.”
Dong-hee’s voice grew thick with emotion.