Chapter 278: The Tin Knight and The Enchanting Demon (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 278: The Tin Knight and The Enchanting Demon (4)
Oliver was a diligent farmer.
To be more precise, he was a farmer who couldn't afford not to be diligent.
Unless one was wealthy enough to farm as a hobby or outsource the labor, a lazy farmer was a creature destined to starve.
Work, eat, work, sleep, and upon waking, work again.
If there was one joy in this grueling, repetitive cycle, it was the pleasure of watching his own flesh and blood grow.
If the lord had been the type to squeeze his subjects dry with harsh taxes or unpaid overtime, the very existence of his children would have felt like a burden, but that was not the case.
The true master of the domain, Marquis William, spent more time at the distant royal court in the capital than he did in his own territory, and his deputy was the type of man who believed in doing just enough to get by.
Instead of passionately developing the domain, his philosophy was that as long as the ledgers weren't in the red and no major incidents occurred, all was well. There was no reason to rule with a harsh hand in normal times; such oppression was, in itself, a cause of trouble.
And so, Oliver could love his children with a peaceful heart.
Until just a short while ago.
“…”
The sickle and plow, which should have felt as familiar as extensions of his own limbs, were now heavy in his hands.
His body, having repeated the same process for decades, moved with practiced ease, but his consciousness was elsewhere.
Inside the house, his children were lost in a sleep, oblivious to the world.
His daughter, who wouldn't stir no matter how desperately he called her name, and his son, who wouldn't answer no matter how violently he was shaken.
The complexions of his beloved children were as peaceful as if they were having happy dreams, but Oliver knew the truth.
He knew the siblings' bodies were growing thinner by the day.
Oliver's wife was making a watery grain porridge and forcing it into the children's mouths, but they swallowed little and threw up much. For all her effort, the results were dismal.
Among the villagers, not a few had simply given up, saying they could always have more children. Their numbers were growing, but Oliver's wife refused to surrender.
Neither did Oliver.
However, a question had begun to form.
‘Why?’
Why was this happening?
Why did Oliver, his wife, and his children have to suffer like this?
Just then, someone whispered to him.
《Why, it’s because of the lord, of course.》
Beside Oliver, a traveler who had appeared out of nowhere continued with a faint smile.
《Because the lord made a foolish choice, the other lords have become hostile to this domain. And the ones who suffer all the damage are innocent people like you.》
《Is that all? I got rid of all the mice that were plaguing this domain so terribly, yet the lord cast me out without giving me my proper due.》
《This is a punishment. A punishment! The heavens, angered by the lord’s wicked heart, have sent down a penalty. The punishment the lord should be receiving, you are all receiving in his stead. Simply because you live in his domain!》
《How absurd is this? What a twisted reality. The one who commits the sin is separate from the one who must pay the price.》
It was an outrageous leap in logic.
Even if Oliver was uneducated and lacked formal learning, that didn't mean he was stupid.
Normally, he would have felt doubt, suspicion, wariness, or even anger at the traveler's whispers.
He would have demanded to know if the traveler was the one who had put his children to sleep.
But Oliver was not in his right mind.
With dazed, vacant eyes, as if possessed by something, Oliver muttered.
“Because of… the lord…?”
《That’s right. It is all the lord’s fault. That you are in agony, that your wife is struggling, that your children are on the verge of death. No, it’s not even a crisis anymore. They will soon meet their end. Then the lord will say, ‘I did my best, but it couldn’t be helped!’ And that will be the end of it. When a lord, who is like the heavens themselves, says so, who would dare to object?》
The scene the traveler described materialized in Oliver's mind.
The lord, spouting empty, perfunctory apologies; the peasants, bowing their heads in submission to him; and beneath the earth, the cold, stiff corpses of his children.
For a mere imagining, the scene was far too vivid, far too distinct. It was as if someone had inserted the vision directly into his head.
Oliver unknowingly clenched his fists.
Uncontrollable rage, as if he had just experienced his children's deaths firsthand, stained his eyes red.
Creeak. The sound of the door opening came from behind him.
His wife, her eyes as red as his, met his gaze, a sickle in her hand.
Without exchanging a single word of consultation, the couple nodded in unison.
The traveler who had been whispering in his ear just moments before was now walking far in the distance, playing a flute.
It was a surreal situation, but Oliver failed to recognize its strangeness.
The couple set off after the traveler without hesitation.
To avenge their children, who had met an unjust death.
Leaving their still-living children behind at home.
*
The traveler had appeared.
When he first heard the news, Marquis William couldn't contain his joy.
‘That bastard has come to me, begging to be killed!’
There was a saying about a fox borrowing a tiger's authority.
When William was alone, the traveler's mysterious abilities had filled him with anxiety and wariness. But with the Tin Knight's party by his side, he no longer felt any fear.
As enemies, they were nightmares, disasters, and grim reapers, but for now, they were allies, were they not?
“Hah! The criminal has brazenly returned. Where is he! I must see his face for myself!”
Marquis William straightened his back and spine, declaring in a booming voice.
And exactly five minutes later.
The marquis’s eyes trembled uncontrollably.
“W-what is all this?”
Surrounding the lord’s mansion.
An enormous number of residents were shouting, their faces openly displaying raw fury.
“Wicked and incompetent lord, take responsibility at once!”
“It’s because of you that the other domains are harassing us! Do something about it!”
“Pay the traveler his rightful due immediately!”
“Yes! Do you not fear the punishment of the heavens!”
The atmosphere among the residents was, to put it mildly, on the verge of exploding.
Madness flowed from them as they screamed, each one clutching a weapon or a tool.
For William, the situation was utterly baffling.
“Wait, what did I do that was so wrong…?”
He could, perhaps, understand the peasants being angry that the domain's economy had worsened due to the pressure from neighboring lords.
Though William himself hadn't wanted to be on bad terms with them and had been blackmailed into it, he was, in the end, the cause.
But the other things were not his fault.
The appearance of the swarm of mice was purely a natural disaster, and the children falling asleep was clearly the traveler's doing, an unreasonable act on his part.
Of course, it wasn't as if William had bestowed anything upon his suffering people, but at least he hadn't taken anything more from them either. By that measure, among the many lords throughout history, he was arguably above average.
Yet now, the peasants were vehemently denouncing him as if he were a dark tyrant who had ruled with an iron fist for decades.
It wasn't just the content of their words; their very tone, rough and punctuated by unabashed finger-pointing, was something no mere peasant should ever direct at their noble lord.
“B-back off! Get back this instant!”
“You curs! Get any closer and we’ll cut you down!”
Faced with their murderous intensity, the soldiers guarding the mansion could only make threats, not daring to draw blood.
It was obvious that the moment blood was spilled, the situation would spiral uncontrollably.
But that, too, was only a matter of time.
The crowd surrounding the mansion was steadily growing, and if the lord remained silent, it seemed they would try to scale the walls.
Just then, the traveler stepped forward.
“Now! Wicked lord! The time has come to pay for your sins! If you pay the just price I demanded and apologize, the heavens will withdraw their anger and release the children!”
William, his face turning beet-red, retorted.
“Heaven’s anger? What kind of frozen-to-death anger is that! You’re the one tormenting the children with your wicked sorcery, and you dare blame it on the heavens!? And besides, weren’t you the one who brought the mice here in the first place!?”
If one could lure mice out of a domain with the sound of a flute, the reverse should be just as possible.
In that sense, William’s point was sharp, but the peasants who heard it began to foam at the mouth in rage!
“What a shameless bastard!”
“How dare you frame our benefactor with such ridiculous accusations!”
“W-what…”
As William stood there, sputtering in disbelief, Dorothea, who had been watching silently from behind, spoke with a sigh.
“Cut the crap. It’s not like they’re in their right minds anyway.”
“What do you mean?”
“They’re bewitched by that guy. Right now, they’d probably believe him if he said he was going to build a campfire using ice as firewood.”
Upon seeing Dorothea, a flicker of alarm crossed the traveler’s face.
But it was only for a moment.
He glanced at the peasants surrounding him and shouted with confidence.
“It seems you’ve acquired new guests in the meantime! But think carefully, Marquis! As the master of this domain, are you truly going to raise your sword against your own people?”
The Tin Knight tilted his head.
[The ‘Tin Knight’ is puzzled, asking what that guy is on about!]
Sophia answered simply.
“He’s taking the peasants hostage. He’s betting that you won’t harm all these people just to get to him.”
[The ‘Tin Knight’ remarks that his disposition is truly that of a brigand!]
[The ‘Tin Knight’ comments that after so many large-scale battles, returning to a low-level zone makes the combat power and schemes feel somewhat clumsy, which is almost endearing!]
“I know, right? The ability he uses seems quite powerful, but something about it is just sloppy.”
“So, what should we do?” Adelaide asked.
Dorothea’s reply was simple.
“If anyone gets in the way of us catching that guy, just break all their legs. We can fix them later.”