Chapter 22
Chapter 22
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: uly
Chapter: 022
Chapter Title: Peaceful Angmar #2
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“The chaos has been sorted out by your queen, me, Aira. Now you can all rest easy and return to your daily work.”
Once the broken and shattered mess had been roughly cleaned up, Aira shouted loudly, and people everywhere blankly looked at each other.
In response, I raised both hands high and shouted in an exaggerated voice.
“Everyone, praise Angmar’s one and only queen, Lady Aira…! Long live Her Majesty the Queen…!”
Then, the people who had been hesitating one by one raised their hands high and shouted loudly.
Long live Her Majesty the Queen.
Long live Lady Aira.
As their voices spread far and wide, I quickly checked Aira’s expression.
Aira’s face looked quite pleased and satisfied, and seeing people praise her like this seemed to put her in an extremely good mood.
That was only natural.
From what I knew, Aira loved receiving praise from others.
She had done something praiseworthy today, so it would be a boast she could bring up for a long time. If her mood soured anytime soon, I’d have to remind her of this day.
I’d been worried about how she’d react to all the bloodshed.
But she had turned the crisis into an opportunity, just as I’d advised, and gained various pieces of information and advantages—a brilliant choice.
Well done, me.
As I inwardly praised myself, the ogre Gorgor, still shackled and wearing bracelets, was dragged away by the people and called out to me.
━Theo Gospel. Promise. Keep it.
“Of course. Your unpaid wages will be covered by the compensation for the damage you caused. And from now on, I’ll transfer you to the Monster Labor Division under my jurisdiction.”
━Hard words. Don’t know. But. You. Seem trustworthy.
I had managed to save the ogre Gorgor without killing him.
With some goodwill built up, I could call on him later if I ever needed a forklift.
Nice, things were going smoothly for once.
Was it because we’d left the capital?
Did the capital, Monarch City, have some bad feng shui or something?
As I was thinking that, Queen Aira slowly turned around.
“Where are you headed?”
“I heard there’s a village nearby. We’re eating lunch there.”
“Ah.”
Aira didn’t seem ready to end her walk yet. She was probably buzzing from all the praise she’d just received.
Aira said,
“What if that village has rampaging monsters or slaves too? What are the odds it’s occupied by rebels?”
Aira’s feet were itching at the thought of subduing them and basking in the cheers again.
I let out a small hum and answered as seriously as I could.
“Rebellions don’t just happen that easily.”
“Why? Why wouldn’t a rebellion happen?”
Why wouldn’t one happen?
Because I’d busted my ass patching things up everywhere. But I couldn’t say that, so I gave my usual vague response.
“Well, it’s because Lady Aira rules the kingdom so wisely that rebellions don’t break out, right…?”
“Hoo.”
Aira let out a deep sigh.
“My political skills being too exceptional is certainly worth considering.”
“…….”
* * *
Near Einrih Castle, with its beautiful lake views, there was a small village.
It was Lake Village, which had prospered between the lake and the Dark Forest.
The village itself wasn’t particularly special.
If I had to point out something notable, it was that it was a fairly large village with around a hundred households, and it was resource-rich thanks to the lake and forest.
Since it was a village where tourists stayed after visiting Einrih Castle, it was clean and easy to access.
Aira and I entered the village in disguise.
“It’s noisy.”
“You’re right.”
Wondering what was going on, we saw a crowd of people holding torches gathered in front of the chapel near the village square.
━Come out, you wench!
━This is all because of you!
Thud thud—thud thud—.
The chapel was a church building.
It looked like a medieval cathedral, and as a religious structure, it was generally respected by all.
So why were people gathered like that, furious enough to storm inside at any moment?
“What’s going on here? Who are you all?”
As I approached and asked, a man wearing a wide-brimmed straw hat said angrily,
“There’s a witch inside. And we’re the Society for Promoting Slave Rights.”
Society for Promoting Slave Rights?
Was it a group advocating for slaves’ human rights? I vaguely remembered the soldiers muttering something similar about the ogre Gorgor earlier.
Aira, her hood pulled low, asked,
“Then you’re all slaves?”
“No. We’re slave owners. We’re a citizens’ group demanding the right to whip our slaves.”
“And we’re also advocating for slaves’ right to be whipped! We even published a book on living the proper master-slave relationship with companion slaves. Five silvers a copy, available at that stall over there.”
What kind of right was that?
So that’s why the soldiers had been grumbling earlier.
Just as I was feeling dizzy at the thought of more weird groups popping up,
Thud, craaack—.
The chapel door, which people had been pounding on, finally gave way and collapsed inward.
“The door’s open! Let’s go in!”
People rushed into the now-wide-open space and dragged something out. What they hauled out, grabbed by the arms, was a girl.
A girl in a nun’s habit.
“Hiiik…! Hiiik…! Let me go…!”
“Drag her out!”
She looked about fourteen or fifteen.
She appeared young, but with pointed ears, she was probably a nymph like Vienna.
A world with nymph nuns, huh. Aira used to like nymphs.
The people holding the girl shouted angrily.
“Look here! This one! You all thought this wretch preaching rights and welfare for slaves and workers was just an ordinary nymph nun, but we got a tip-off!”
And they even yanked up her long nun’s skirt that went down to her knees.
“This is nymph-phobic sexual harassment…! I’ll report all of you to the Nymph Relief Foundation…!”
Her resistance was fierce, stalling the proceedings. But a nymph couldn’t fend off burly men.
“What report? You’re not even a nymph! And nymphs don’t talk like you! They have a weird way of speaking!”
Finally, with a rip, the skirt tore open.
━Huh.
━What’s that.
━It’s hideous!
At that moment, people gasped and started murmuring.
Aira, who had been watching with interest beside me, muttered softly.
“A tail?”
“Looks like it.”
Below the torn hem, something very thin, like two pinky fingers thick, was wiggling around.
Swish, swish.
It was a pointed, heart-shaped tail. About as long as my arm?
A crimson heart tail.
And that meant only one thing.
“This one isn’t a nymph—she’s an imp! A fake nun!”
“It’s an imp! There’s an imp!”
“The devil’s minion! The Demon King’s lackey has come here!!”
The people were practically insane. They foamed at the mouth, raising and lowering torches, creating a terrifying atmosphere.
“Burn her! Burn her!”
“Light the fire!”
The fake nun, exposed as an imp, shouted,
“W-what’s wrong with being an imp! I, Marmar, haven’t done anything bad!? I’ve done volunteer work, helped people, given legal advice—”
“Shut up, demon!”
“Arrr, garrr, imp, imp, burn her!”
“Pile the wood! Light the fire!”
Imps were lesser demons.
They were minions of Angmar, but as a rare race like nymphs, now that the Demon King was defeated, they were on the brink of extinction.
At least, that’s how it was described in the novel Villain Hunter.
They had the appearance of young girls to lower guards and deceive people.
Most were sorcerers in the Demon King’s army, and fear and hatred of imps were still deeply rooted in people.
It certainly seemed that way.
But the fake nun imp cried out as if wronged.
“What’s the difference between me and a nymph? Discriminating just because of one tail isn’t politically correct! Nymphs even have relief foundations to protect them!”
“Hey, how are you the same as nymphs!?”
At someone’s shout, the imp nun shot back furiously.
“What’s different about me and nymphs?”
“Uh. Um…”
The man insisting imps and nymphs were different pondered with his hand on his chin, then cautiously said,
“…The difference between imps and nymphs, um. Nymphs don’t have tails.”
“That’s it?”
Laughter and agreement erupted from the crowd.
“Yeah, right! Nymphs don’t have tails!”
“Yeah, imps do!”
So ultimately, the only difference between imps and nymphs was the tail?
As I was sorting through this new info, the imp, limbs held by the men, shook her head as if words were useless.
“Ugh, no point talking to idiots.”
“That wicked wench called us idiots! This is unacceptable! I, Orkos, chairman of the Slave Owners’ Rights Promotion Committee, propose burning this evil imp!”
“Agreed!”
“Agreed!”
Before I knew it, the imp was tied to a cross-like structure with piles of firewood beneath. If I didn’t act, she might really burn right here.
“Hmm, first time seeing an imp. First time seeing one burn too.”
Aira was even showing keen interest.
What if she got fascinated by the burning imp and evolved into a pyromaniac emperor who razed cities? She might end up on the guillotine.
I had to stop this somehow. So I approached the people stacking firewood and said,
“So, what crime has this imp committed?”
“You blind? She has a tail! That’s a grave sin! Imp tails are bags of wicked sorcery. Just having one is a crime!”
“So, just being born an imp is the crime?”
“You catch on quick, sir. And she called us idiots. Unforgivable. Burn her!”
Whoa, burn her! As they shouted, I asked again,
“Burning is a severe sentence. Can you just decide that on your own? Shouldn’t you at least consult the kingdom’s judges or advisors?”
“We’ve always done it this way—it’s local custom. More importantly, you seem like an outsider. Why keep taking the imp’s side?”
I felt torches and spears turning toward me.
“You talk like an imp rights activist. Are you a demon minion?”
“No, not at all.”
The phrase ‘Theo was executed for his sins’ flashed vividly in my mind.
The man who’d called himself chairman stroked his goatee, eyed me up and down, and added,
“Looks like you want to save that imp from burning. Then pay the fine and take her.”
Ah, solve it with money.
“How much?”
“Let’s see, factoring in the slaves she lured to escape and the damages from striking workers… um, about twelve gold coins.”
More than I expected.
But if it prevented Aira from evolving into a fire disaster, it wasn’t too bad.
I took twelve gold coins from my pouch, handed them to the chairman, and obtained the rights certificate for the imp Marmar.
“As it says here, feed her three meals a day. Don’t give too many snacks or she’ll get spoiled—only when she does something praiseworthy.”
“Ah…”
“Make her exercise and walk sometimes. One whip a day is ideal. No refunds, remember. Heh heh, we’re off to the next village!”
Let’s go, let’s go. Woo—.
The crowd dispersed as quickly as they’d come.
I was curious where they were headed and what they’d do, but exhausted as I was, I had no energy to follow.
Now, left in the wide square were me, Aira humming disappointedly, and the imp Marmar.
Aira said,
“I wanted to see an imp burn for once. So, Theo, what’s the imp for?”
I don’t know either.
But I couldn’t say that, so I made something up.
“I thought I could use a servant for odd jobs.”
Might as well make use of her since I paid.
But this imp wasn’t one to handle easily.
“You can’t buy people’s rights with money! And don’t touch my tail!”
“Fascinating. She really has a tail.”
Aira stroked the imp’s slender tail, and it shivered before darting inside the torn skirt, wrapping around her waist like a belt.
Aira, watching, said,
“I wanted to see more of it. Whatever, I’m over it. Theo, let’s head back.”
“Ah, yes. I’ll escort you. Marumaru, let’s go.”
“It’s Marmar, not Marumaru. Fine, I’ll follow since I’ve got nowhere else, but don’t think I’m your slave.”
I worried she might run midway.
But she had nowhere to go, and true to her word, she didn’t. I could catch her easily if she fled, but I didn’t want my twelve-gold-coin imp getting hurt.
“We’re just in a bilateral contract from debt. Once the amount is paid off, our contract’s void.”
Chatter chatter.
She followed noisily behind us. My impression: she uses some fancy words.
Smarter than expected?
A smart servant’s good.
But when we approached the palace, she freaked like a cat spotting its owner in the bath.
“Y-you can’t go in there! That’s where the terrifying Witch Queen lives!”
What’s she on about?
Oh, right—we hadn’t told her who we were.