SML Ch 16

Chapter 16

Alex had been right. A high-quality iron mine could become a valuable asset for the domain.

Of course, it wouldn’t promise the staggering profits of a gold mine, but in the Carbonel Kingdom, where monsters always ran rampant, demand for iron was perpetually high. If a proper market could be secured, it would undoubtedly be a huge boost to the domain’s finances.

Even if no buyers were found, it still wouldn’t be a problem. After all, there were few places as infested with monsters as this domain. Equipping the patrol with iron armor and weapons and having them subjugate smaller groups of monsters could lead to a more stabilized territory.

Of course, all of that only applied if the humans of the domain could actually access the mine.

‘That’s impossible for now. The mine would obviously lie within the swine’s territory.’

It was an absurd idea to think they could break through a horde of a thousand swine and seize the mine. It would be great if they could at least steal the iron ore the swine excavated, but that wouldn’t be easy either.

The only reason they were able to steal grain from the ratmen village was pure luck. If the ratmen hadn’t vacated the area to fight the lycanthropes, Reynald’s group never would have had the opportunity to steal the grain in the first place.

‘They said the ratmen and swine clash during the summer, so maybe that’ll present a chance… but even then, opportunities to steal iron ore won’t come often. I’ve heard swine even invade human farmlands.’

In the end, knowing the mine existed didn’t change anything. Stealing tools and weapons like they were doing now was probably all they could manage. Reynald let out another sigh, thinking how utterly hopeless the prospects were.

The fundamental issue was the low population. No matter how rich in resources, it meant little if there weren’t enough people to put them to use. With only about two hundred residents—and barely twenty of them capable of fighting monsters—it was impossible to accomplish anything meaningful. Even with two hundred soldiers, defeat was almost certain, and even bringing in thousands wouldn’t guarantee victory…

‘This domain really is hopeless.’

As Reynald grumbled inwardly, he finally remembered that he had no intention of staying in this domain long. He had no desire to be part of the king’s clearly mischievous scheme. His plan had always been to remain here for two or three months at most—just enough to lodge a protest with the king and leave it at that.

So why was he getting so worked up over someone else’s problem, as if it were his own?

‘If I really thought this had nothing to do with me… why did I come to the ratman village?’

Reynald gave a bitter smile. If he truly had no attachment to this village, he wouldn’t have followed the youths here in the first place. Of course, he could make excuses. He could say he came to assess the monster situation to better inform future subjugation forces. That would sound reasonable enough.

‘As if any subjugation force would come to a place like this.’

When Heide had explained the monster situation in the village, Reynald had already made up his mind. Sending a subjugation force here would be inefficient.

Even if the village did have a promising mine, it was a separate issue to drive out the thousand swine occupying it. And thanks to their insane reproductive rate, expelling them wasn’t easy.

Moreover, driving out the swine wouldn’t be the end of it. If the swine were wiped out, their natural enemies—ratmen and lycanthropes—would multiply unchecked, so they would also need to be eliminated before the mine could be safely used. To completely subjugate the two thousand or so ratmen, the thousand swine, and the other monsters in the area, they would need at least five thousand soldiers. Maybe even a division of mages.

With no clear idea of the mine’s size, sending over five thousand soldiers just to support a village of only two hundred people? It was ridiculous. Reynald, back when he was the commander of the Royal Knights, would never have made such a decision.

Deploying anything less than that would be like peeing on a frozen foot—completely useless. It wouldn’t help at all. So even if Reynald returned to the capital, there was no way to help this village. He already knew that. Yet the reason he followed the youths to the ratman village was crystal clear.

“Hey, try to avoid the rat droppings and bugs when you’re scooping. Don’t just shovel blindly.”

“Rat droppings? Wait, there’s rat droppings in here? It’s too dark—I can’t see a thing.”

“Those little black bits here and there. That’s rat crap. Or maybe bugs.”

“Ugh, filthy bastards. Why the hell would they mix their own food with poop?”

“Well, they are rats, after all.”

As Reynald watched the youths chat cheerfully while sifting rat droppings from the grain, he let out a small chuckle. Yeah… now that he thought about it, he did have some attachment to this village. Maybe, in its own way, playing the role of lord over this domain could be enjoyable.

‘We might not be able to completely subjugate the monsters, but at the very least… I could help the people who live here.’

The villagers weren’t idiots. While they couldn’t stand tall within the domain, they knew how to survive as unwelcome guests among monsters. And that much was enough for Reynald to lend a hand.

He wasn’t the type to sit still in a comfy chair anyway. Roaming around with the patrol force, engaging in small skirmishes—it didn’t sound like a bad way to pass the time. The king might be a little upset, but so what? Reynald was simply staying in the very domain the king had assigned him.

‘Well, I don’t have to decide right now… Maybe I’ll give it some thought—whether I’ll stay in this domain, or go back to the capital in a few months as originally planned.’

Yeah, why not? So what if they didn’t have a mine? In a village with only 200 people, stolen ratman farming tools might be enough. With that thought, Reynald continued to fill the sack with grain. Now that it was about half full, bringing it back like this would probably keep the food supply stable for a while. But then—

“Hey! That’s enough, get out of there!”

“What?! What’s going on?!”

“The ratmen are back early! If you keep dawdling, you’ll get caught!”

Several of the youths standing guard outside shouted in a panic.

It looked like things were taking a bad turn.

The moment they heard the shouts, the youths dumped out a portion of the grain from their sacks—likely to lighten the load so they could run faster. After tossing out about a third, they slung the lighter sacks over their shoulders and dashed out of the warehouse.

“Quickly, quickly!”

“Where are they? How far off?”

“Almost here! If we don’t run now, we’re screwed!”

It was just as they said. The ratmen hadn’t yet appeared, but the heavy thudding of their footsteps and the squeaking cries echoed loudly in the distance. Though they couldn’t be seen yet, there was no doubt there were a lot of them—waiting any longer would be dangerous.

Reynald and the group took off running in the opposite direction of the sound. As they fled, the youths voiced their frustrations in between breaths.

“What the hell? Why are they back so early? They usually don’t come back until dawn!”

“Maybe there weren’t as many wolves as we thought?”

“Damn those lycan bastards. Would it kill them to hold out a little longer?!”

A few of the youths were already climbing the high fence to escape. Others, who had gone to different warehouses, seemed to be retreating too. Just as Reynald was about to feel relieved that everyone might escape safely, a sudden unease swept over him.

‘Wait, something’s off. Even if the ratmen have iron weapons… there’s no way they beat hundreds of lycanthropes and got back this fast.’

It didn’t make sense. Ratmen were, at best, slightly stronger than humans. While that alone made them dangerous to humans, they were nothing compared to lycanthropes under a full moon.

Lycanthropes were already formidable monsters. Even unarmed, they could easily tear through three or four ratmen with just claws and fangs. Worse still, during the full moon, their strength and intelligence increased dramatically. Taking down lycanthropes in that state required significant sacrifice.

No matter how few the wolves were, ratmen couldn’t defeat them. The best they could do was hold them off until dawn—so the youths were right to say the ratmen shouldn’t have returned this early. So why had they?

Just as Reynald’s thoughts began spiraling in a grim direction, Alex, who had remained silent until now, suddenly spoke.

“…Lycanthropes.”

“What? What about them?”

“The lycanthropes… What if they were the ones who lost, and the ratmen fled back to the village?”

At Alex’s sudden words, the surrounding youths froze. At that moment, the ones climbing over the fence screamed and leapt back into the village in a panic. Seeing the terrified youths running toward him, Reynald realized his instincts had been right.