[The Horse Merchants (2)]
The Great Steppe.
It refers to the vast grassland that encompasses the northern territory of the Elteon Empire, the northern lands of the Holy Empire, and the northern ridges of the Great Forest that cuts between the two empires.
Of course, being a "steppe" doesn't mean it’s just an endless expanse of grass; it has mountains, valleys, rivers, and even connects to the sea. But just as a few islands floating in the ocean don't stop the ocean from being an ocean, the same applies to the Great Steppe.
“The map.”
“Here it is.”
Jamie quickly pulled out a map and spread it across the conference table.
It wasn't as perfect or detailed as a 21st-century map, but it was sufficient to grasp the general terrain and regions.
“The area usually referred to as the Great Steppe is over here, from the perspective of our North.”
“That’s the east.”
“Yes. And our village, located furthest to the east, is…”
“Helias.”
Aiden’s eyes were faster than Jamie’s finger.
Helias, the lakeside village known for its beautiful aurora, the birthplace of the legendary archer girl.
The location was exquisite.
“The starting point of the Great Steppe, huh.”
“From the Holy Empire’s side, they call it the end of the Great Steppe.”
“Why care what others say? Things like this are always based on our own standards.”
“Hehe. That’s true, too. But why the sudden interest in the map…?”
“The horse merchants of Mashi. You said they let their horses graze freely on the Great Steppe.”
“That’s usually how it goes. The larger the scale, the better the Great Steppe is for raising horses.”
“You said they were a nomadic tribe, right?”
“Yes.”
“Nomadic tribes don’t really care about borders when they roam.”
“That’s correct.”
Jamie rolled his eyes, wondering why Aiden was asking such obvious questions.
“It’s just a hunch, but I think it’s worth verifying.”
“Verifying?”
“These bastards might be feeding their horses for free on someone else’s land.”
“…Surely not, Administrative Officer?”
“‘Surely not,’ my foot.”
As Aiden was pondering who to send to investigate, Kalisa, who had just returned from the trading post, took off her coat and scanned the map and the blackboard.
As expected of a former merchant, she seemed to have guessed what they were looking for just by seeing a few words on the blackboard and the markers on the map.
“To be precise, I’m trying to confirm if the horse merchants have ever been near Helias village.”
“‘Ever been’?”
“…Hm?”
“There are quite a few horse merchants who practically live near Helias from spring to summer. Isn’t that the perfect place to raise horses? There’s a lake, so it’s easy to water them, and since many of the residents in Helias are skilled hunters, there are almost no wolves.”
“……!”
“Why, why are you looking at me like that—?”
Kalisa instinctively took a step back as Aiden’s eyes flashed at her words.
“Did I do something wrong?”
“Is that certain?”
“What is?”
“That horse merchants are camping out near Helias from spring to summer.”
“Of course.”
“Where did you hear that? Is it from a reliable source?”
“Do you not trust me?”
“Hm?”
“I saw it myself. Countless times, over several years.”
“?”
“Helias village is a place I used to trade with. The hunters there were so skilled that they had top-quality furs and hides. Most of the unregistered villages were under Jenkin’s jurisdiction, but even Jenkin avoided places that far away. I made a killing there.”
“Kalisa.”
“Yes.”
“Then you must have a decent relationship with the village chief there, right?”
“It’s not bad. I tended to set prices more conscientiously than other merchants. If you think about it, the fact that post offices and merchants are entering Helias now is also under my purview.”
Kalisa tapped the ‘Director of Commercial Development’ nameplate on her desk.
It wasn’t to boast about her authority to Aiden, but a gesture implying that she naturally had good relations with the village chiefs.
“Let me ask you one more thing.”
“I will answer whatever I can.”
“Those horse merchants near the lake. Are they somewhat famous?”
“I don’t know what standard you’re using for ‘famous,’ but… if we’re talking about notoriety, they wouldn’t lose to any crooked merchant. At least, not to the people of Helias village.”
Creak-.
Kalisa sat down at the conference table instead of her own desk. It seemed like she had a long story to tell.
“The Great Steppe is right next door. The lake is nearby, so there’s no shortage of water. Do you know what that means?”
“Answer! The scenery is beautiful!”
“You, be quiet.”
“…….”
Jamie, who had tried to crack a joke, immediately shriveled up and folded his large frame into the chair.
“An environment where farming should be successful… These sons of bitches!”
Conversely, Aiden couldn’t hold back his profanity the moment he heard Kalisa’s explanation.
Looking at the map again, it became certain.
This was an environment where farming should be successful.
Yet, the villagers living on that land didn’t farm.
Because they were good at hunting?
No, that wasn’t the priority.
It meant they had been driven into a situation where they had no choice but to hunt.
“If hundreds, thousands of horses were trampling through the fields, there’s no way farming would be possible.”
“Until the year before last, Helias remained an unregistered village, so they wouldn’t have been able to ask the Lord’s Castle for help.”
“Kalisa. You have to be precise. Even if they asked for help, would those damn predecessors of mine have cared?”
“…….”
Those wretched people who couldn’t even manage the census records properly—would they listen to the grievances of a small village while clashing with the horse merchants?
‘No way.’
They were obviously just thinking about taking bribes from the horse merchants.
“Fortunately, the residents of Helias had a talent for hunting, so they managed to survive until now. If they hadn’t—.”
“Extermination.”
“……Yes.”
Still, the residents survived despite not being able to farm. Aiden bit his lower lip without realizing it.
He felt sorry and guilty for his past days when he had only blathered, “Wow, that town is amazing!” without knowing the blood and tears that had piled up there.
“I’ll have to play the role of the Lord I haven’t been able to play until now.”
With interest included.
Aiden’s gaze sank low, his teeth grinding together to finish the thought.
***
Crackle, crackle-.
Under a night sky that looked like it was spilling stars, the sound of the campfire was comforting.
“Ah, come on. I told you to wait.”
“I, I will do it, Adjutant! P, please, just sit there…!”
“I’m the representative of our team for the Lord’s Castle hunting competition, you know? Don’t you know that?”
“No, that has nothing to do with you holding the pot right now!”
From one side, Jamie could be heard arguing with a young soldier over a pot, but in its own way, it was heartwarming.
“When we go hunting, I become the right-hand man to our chef, assisting with the stew, assisting with the barbecue, and so on. Since the chef isn’t here today, I’m going to be the main chef, okay? I’m going to make a proper meal for our family, so trust me and go wait over there, soldier.”
“B, but…!”
The young soldier looked like he was about to cry. The words, ‘You’re just an assistant, you’ve never actually cooked properly!’ were stuck in his throat, but the opponent’s rank was incredibly high, and more importantly,
‘What kind of arm muscles are those…!’
An adjutant should be sitting at a desk all day wrestling with paperwork, but for some reason, no matter how much force the soldier used, the pot wouldn’t budge an inch toward him.
“Are you confident?”
“Oh, Administrative Officer. Do you not trust me?”
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you cook.”
“I told you I assisted.”
“Since when did assisting become cooking?”
“Hehe. I just don’t do it often, but when I do, it’s exquisite—.”
“Please, just let us have a meal tonight without any anxiety.”
At Aiden’s nagging, Jamie finally loosened his grip on the pot. Even so, his lips were still pouting as he grumbled.
“I’m really confident I can do it well.”
“I’ll let you do it tomorrow, so just hold back for now.”
“Yes-.”
Aiden, Jamie, Biyan, and a few soldiers. It was a somewhat modest group for a Lord (acting) to be traveling with, but this was just right.
Without a carriage bearing the Northern crest or any flags, the group prepared to camp, looking like a mercenary band or traveling merchants.
The destination was, without a doubt, Helias.
“And from tomorrow, stop calling me Administrative Officer. You never know.”
“Ayy, who’s going to hear us?”
“It means get used to it. Tell the soldiers, too.”
“Yes, Leader. Hehe.”
Officially, Aiden and Jamie were treated as having gone to the hot springs for recuperation due to a mild skin disease. The reason for making up such a troublesome excuse was simple.
‘Because we can’t get caught.’
To make the horse merchants, who had tormented his territory’s people and trampled over his land, pay for their past actions with interest, it was obvious that they wouldn’t even get an apology through official channels.
These were people who held their heads high and defied even the central nobles of the Empire. Would they even blink if the Administrative Officer of the North, often called a barbarian, glared at them and poured out his anger?
Aiden would have preferred to handle things by the book and by the manual, but public service didn’t always go according to the manual.
“Um, Administrative Officer.”
“I told you, it’s Leader, Sir Biyan.”
“If so, please just call me Yan.”
“Alright, Yan.”
“Merchant leaders rarely use honorifics for the guards they hire.”
“…I will do so, Yan.”
Biyan seemed satisfied, bowed his head once, and asked again.
“Please tell me now. The plan for this time.”
He meant that since the soldiers were busy with dinner and couldn’t pay attention to their conversation, he would verify and plan it himself in advance. Jamie also approached, sensing the mood.
Because they hadn’t been told the purpose of this plan, which even involved disguises, their curiosity was at its peak.
“Is it, perhaps, assassination?”
Biyan spoke first. It wasn’t a mission a proud knight would typically perform, but there was no hesitation in his voice. He was simply filled with the resolve that he would gladly do it if his Lord commanded.
“Oh my, you’re saying such scary things.”
However, Aiden laughed and waved his hand. Although he was slowly adapting to this place, he was still far from being able to speak of assassination so easily.
“I just had a prophetic dream.”
“A prophetic dream?”
Biyan and Jamie exchanged glances, dumbfounded, as if asking what kind of nonsense he was talking about. Regardless, Aiden continued to say what he wanted to say.
“Wolves were proliferating abnormally in the Northern Steppe this year. In the grassland near the lake where the aurora is clearly visible.”
“……?”
“Oh my, it’s a big problem. A big problem. The wolves were so rampant that horses were dropping dead, being dragged away, it was absolute chaos. Ah, but that’s a relief, right? There are no horse farms near Helias village, are there? Then it must be a nonsense dream, not a prophetic one?”
Aiden finished his sentence and chuckled.
“Wolves proliferating abnormally…”
“…If that’s the case, it wouldn’t be strange if dozens of horses disappeared.”
The corners of Jamie and Biyan’s mouths also stretched wide.