The Journey to Lanchester (3)
It had already been nine days since we left the territory of Nobern. I had initially expected the trip to Lanchester to take about ten days. However, we kept running into packs of monsters and bands of bandits along the way, and dealing with them had stretched our schedule longer than planned. Reaching Lanchester would now require at least four extra days, which created a serious problem. We only had two days’ worth of food left. We would have to hunt or stop at a village to resupply in an emergency.
After some thought, I chose the village over hunting. The group was healthy, but after days of sleeping outdoors they were filthy and mentally exhausted. The adults could endure it somehow, but the children’s weaker constitutions were the real issue. Ebbuni in particular seemed to be coming down with a cold. Everyone longed for a bath filled with hot water and a soft bed to rest on. Meanwhile, Flavio kept singing about how badly he wanted a woman. As the leader of the group, I could not simply ignore it.
Thanking the party in my heart for holding out so well, we entered the neighboring territory of Langdal on the tenth day and immediately sought out the nearest village. When I presented my identification tag to the guards at the gate, they were visibly startled. They made the rest of the group wait outside the castle while escorting only me to the lord’s residence.
The city inside the walls was packed with crude wooden and earthen houses, inns, shops, taverns, and brothels. Aside from the main road, the maze-like alleys reeked and were so narrow that two people could barely pass each other. It was dozens of times smaller and filthier than Nobern, which had a population of over ten thousand. The citizens stared at me as though I were a walking purse. Their gaunt, hungry faces made their poverty obvious.
Following the guards, I climbed the winding path up the hill. Even the wide road the lord usually used was filthy with horse and ox dung. At the top stood the lord’s mansion, built like a grand estate. Before long I was granted an audience with Jobuit, Lord of Langdal, in the reception hall. On the way, a guard had quietly informed me that the previous lord, Jobuit’s father, had died suddenly a year ago, and the son had inherited the territory.
“I am Hyun-woo Kang Richard, the newly appointed lord of Lanchester.”
“Oh-ho. A pleasure.”
He looked like a handsome young man of nineteen, his face still boyish. With curly golden hair, green eyes, a small fist-sized face, and a bright smile that women would like. Yet as a man myself, my gaze was drawn more to the Lady of Langdal standing quietly beside him. Though middle-aged, she retained a lively beauty, her golden hair still radiant. She wore a blue silk dress that accentuated her slender waist and wide hips, and a moonstone necklace rested against her pale throat. She was elegant, yet radiated a sensuality that could stir a man’s desire.
“It is an honor to meet the new master of Lanchester in person,” Jobuit said. His voice was still high, like a boy who had not yet gone through puberty, but he deliberately spoke with forced gravity.
“You have quite an exotic appearance, my lord.”
“My circumstances are a little complicated,” I replied with a calm smile.
“What brings you here? A courtesy visit, perhaps? Hmm, no. I hear your wagons and carriages are loaded with baggage. And looking at you now…” He swept me with an arrogant gaze. “You seem rather shabby and empty-handed.”
“Yes. An unavoidable matter arose on the way to my territory, so I had to stop. I apologize for arriving empty-handed on our first meeting.”
Jobuit narrowed his eyes in displeasure. “Why stop here instead of going straight to your land? What is your reason for visiting?”
“Our food has run out, so I came to purchase more. We do not intend to stay long—only to rest at an inn in the city tonight. We will buy supplies and leave at dawn.”
“You mean to bring your soldiers into the city?” Jobuit’s voice suddenly sharpened. Then I was startled by the sight that unfolded before me. With a dissatisfied expression, Jobuit extended his right hand and casually groped the Lady of Langdal’s buttocks. The motion was so natural that I wondered if I was hallucinating. When I looked at her face, she showed no reaction at all. Was she not his mother? Had I misunderstood? Instead, she frowned at me.
“Do you not realize, Lord Richard, that you are being discourteous to us?”
“What discourtesy do you mean?”
“Bringing your retainers and knights into another lord’s territory without permission—what do you think that implies? Do you truly not understand?”
Only moments ago I had been admiring her beauty, but now that same face was twisted in anger and hurling accusations. I felt an urge to flick her forehead. After a brief pause, I answered.
“We are merely stopping briefly, like travelers. We are not here to fight, and you both know that. We are simply on our way to our new territory and need a place to rest and resupply for one night. Is that truly so difficult?”
“It is inconvenient,” Jobuit replied with a nasty grin. His hand had not stopped at her buttocks; it had slipped under her skirt and was now stroking her thigh. I pretended not to notice and continued.
“Please remember that His Majesty the King, who is currently in Nobern, is watching the movements of the Richard family. We only need rest. We did not come to fight.”
“His Majesty?” Jobuit snorted. “Do not try to frighten us, Lord Richard. His Majesty does not concern himself with squabbles between his vassals. Just as you made a contract with him, so have we. We pay our taxes to the kingdom.”
The Lady of Langdal added with a sneer, “My late husband never once saw His Majesty’s face while he lived. We swore loyalty to the royal family before I was even born, but we only ever met the messenger who came to finalize the vassalage contract. His Majesty never showed himself. That contract has since become meaningless. I am not even sure we are still his subjects. Go ahead and look for him. He is the sort of man who would find it troublesome to bring troops all the way to a rural territory like this.”
“His backside is quite heavy, after all.”
Both mother and son burst into laughter. Their mockery made my blood simmer.
“Then I shall write a letter to His Majesty at once and report our conversation exactly as it happened.”
At my sudden declaration, the two looked at each other and laughed even louder. They were either thoughtless, mad, or genuinely confident. The Lady of Langdal looked down at me with an arrogant expression.
“Listen, Lord Richard.”
“Speak.”
“Having your army stay in the heart of our territory is an insult to my son. No matter how dire your circumstances, it would be foolish. Other lords would mock you for it. And…” She continued, mostly justifying their position. I had nothing more to say and fell silent. In this abnormal situation, with a son rummaging under his mother’s skirt, conversation was pointless. I would simply bid them farewell and send a letter to the king. It pained me that I could not provide Ebbuni and the others with proper rest, but there was nothing to be done. We would have to sleep outdoors again tonight… and make up for the food shortage by hunting.
“The previous lord of Lanchester was a man who knew proper conduct. But you, Lord Richard, are either extremely presumptuous or simply ignorant of etiquette.”
While they prattled on, I resolved to take my leave before their rudeness made me lose my composure. Then the Lady of Langdal said something I had not expected at all.
“If you pay twenty thousand veni as a toll and garrison fee, we can allow you to rest comfortably for one night.”
“Twenty thousand veni?”
Twenty thousand veni was roughly seventy-seven million won in Korean currency. They wanted seventy-seven million won just for twenty-six people to stay one night—without even providing meals or proper rooms. It was outright robbery. I could have paid around five million won as a token of gratitude, but seventy-seven million was excessive. I cursed inwardly.
“That is far too much.”