SML Ch 13

Chapter 13

3. Rather Troublesome Monsters

In the end, Reynald and the young men spent the night in a cave just thirty minutes from the castle. Despite the cramped conditions inside, the six men snored away contentedly. By the time morning sunlight began seeping through the cave entrance, they yawned lazily, gathered their belongings, and stepped outside. Now that daylight had returned, there was no need to take the gloomy underground passage back to the castle.

Though the weather was a bit chilly, it was generally pleasant outside the cave, and the monsters that had been swarming the area the evening before had already retreated to their dens. With no threat of a wyvern attack lingering over them, Reynald’s group walked at a leisurely pace, almost as if they were enjoying a picnic.

When the young men triumphantly knocked on the castle gate as if returning from a victorious campaign, Heide greeted them with a composed attitude, as though he had expected this outcome all along. It seemed Heide had known the boys would return the next morning. He merely smiled affably, but his eyes widened like a startled rabbit when he spotted the bloodstains and torn patches on Reynald’s clothes.

“You were injured, my lord?”

“It happened by chance. There’s no need to worry—it’s all healed now.”

“Those rascals… Not only did they drag our lord along for such a thing, they couldn’t even protect you properly…!”

“That’s enough. I’m not some child that needs protecting… Though I will need a change of clothes. The wound’s healed, but these are filthy.”

The young men, enduring Heide’s nagging, headed to the infirmary, while Reynald returned to the manor to wash up, change, and have breakfast. By the time he arrived at the infirmary, most of the patients were already leaving after treatment. The boys were sitting on the infirmary beds, munching on a late breakfast.

“You’re here earlier than we expected, my lord.”

“Not really. If anything, I’m late. Are you already done treating everyone?”

“Yes, well… it wasn’t too difficult. Just had to mash up some mandragora roots and apply them to the wounds…”

The young men chuckled awkwardly as they spoke. Reynald, puzzled by their sheepish demeanor, soon realized that there were six of them sitting and eating. But only five had gone into the infirmary to treat the villagers.

With a wry smile, Reynald greeted Alex. Alex, clearly unsettled by the surprise encounter, bowed his head.

“So, is your wound all healed now?”

“Thanks to your efforts, my lord… it’s fully healed.”

“Not just me. Your friends did their part too. I’m glad to hear it.”

“Yes, I am too. But…”

“Hmm?”

“I heard you were injured as well, my lord. Are you alright?”

Alex glanced briefly at Reynald’s right arm, and Reynald nodded with a calm smile. Alex still looked somewhat somber, but Reynald held no intention of blaming him. After all, his injury wasn’t Alex’s fault.

Of course, if Alex ever behaved rudely again, Reynald was perfectly ready to put him in his place. Now that the boy was no longer a patient, giving him a solid beating wouldn’t be an issue. Not that violence was necessary. Reynald had long mastered the art of disciplining unruly subordinates in a variety of ways, thanks to decades of experience.

But for now, he had no reason to employ any of them.

“I truly apologize for yesterday. I was far too rude for a first meeting.”

“Hmm.”

Reynald tilted his head slightly, looking at Alex. The young man—normally intimidating enough to scare people just by being looked at—lowered his gaze meekly, seemingly sincerely remorseful.

“I said those things without knowing anything about you, my lord—why you came to this village or what kind of person you are. I was out of line.”

“You still don’t know, do you? I don’t recall having any deep conversations with you since yesterday.”

“…But even so, you went out to gather herbs for a villager who insulted you without knowing better. That alone was enough for me to realize I was mistaken.”

“I don’t know the details, but it sounds like you had some preconceived notions. It’s better to fix those, for your own good. Whatever you experienced or whoever you met before—that’s all in the past. It doesn’t define the present, right?”

When Reynald responded with a teasing smile, Alex’s expression darkened further. He seemed to think Reynald was still annoyed and was sarcastically rubbing it in.

But Reynald truly felt nothing of the sort. It wasn’t that he had a big heart; he simply had no reason to be emotionally swayed by a country boy who hadn’t even reached twenty. Besides, it was unclear how long he would be staying here, and he had no interest in starting any fights.

“I admit I’m curious why you were so sensitive… but I’m sure you had your reasons. If it was just that your injury made you cranky and you wanted to take it out on someone, I might have to give you a proper scolding.”

“I—it wasn’t anything like that…”

“Then it’s fine. You’ve already apologized.”

“…You’re forgiving me? Without asking anything?”

“You can tell me when you’re ready, right? We’ve only just met—there’s no rush in getting to know each other.”

As Reynald said this with a gentle smile, Alex stared blankly, caught off guard. He had clearly been bracing himself to be punished by the lord.

But from Reynald’s perspective, punishing the boy wouldn’t benefit anyone. What, lock him up? Then they’d need a jailer. Beat him up? They’d waste precious herbs treating him. It was far more efficient to just let it go.

The other boys, who had been silently watching the exchange, smiled brightly, relieved that everything was resolved. Just then, Heide entered the infirmary, lugging a wooden barrel filled with blood from a recently slain wyvern.

“You brought it?”

“Yes. But are you sure we just need to add the mandragora into this?”

“Exactly. Just don’t let any sunlight in, and even if you hear strange sounds from inside, don’t open it. Leave it sealed for about three days. Once it’s in the basement, forget about it until someone gets hurt.”

Heide and the young men dropped the remaining mandragora roots into the barrel. Though bubbling foam surged up from within, they quietly sealed the opening, and a few of the boys carried the barrel down to the basement.

“Well, the urgent matters seem to be handled for now.”

“Indeed. Thanks to the wyvern meat, our food shortage is solved, and with plenty of herbs gathered, we shouldn’t have any issues for the time being.”

Heide nodded brightly. In any case, it was a relief they’d make it through the winter. Since Reynald intended to stay in the domain for at least a few months, it was only right to ensure the territory remained livable during that time.

“Maybe I’ll stay even longer… but there’s no need to think that far ahead.”

Maybe settling in this land wouldn’t be so bad after all—he had planned to retire anyway… Just as that thought crossed Reynald’s mind, Lyndon suddenly spoke up with an innocent realization.

“Right! Mr. Heide—does this mean we don’t have to go grain raiding this year?”

“Hm, that’s something you should ask the lord now.”

“…Grain raiding? What’s that?”

“Oh, usually around this time of year, the castle’s food stores run dry. So we have to go out and scavenge for supplies. We might be fine this year with all the leftover wyvern meat, though…”

“There’s leftover wyvern meat, yes, but you’re saying the grain’s completely gone? Where exactly do you raid for grain? Don’t tell me… you’re thinking of stealing it from neighboring domains?”

No way. Surely not that. Reynald frowned. It seemed these boys made a habit of grain raiding around this time every year. But if they were stealing from neighboring domains, of course there would be protests.

It wasn’t like the surrounding regions had abundance during winter either. If they were really stealing from other villages, he would have to stop them… As Reynald stood in confused silence, Heide let out a wry chuckle and explained.

“No, my lord. Nothing like that. We’re only stealing grain from our own domain.”

“…What?”

“Hmm, where to start… The villagers mostly live near the castle, but our domain is quite vast. There’s a fertile plain out east where crops grow really well.”

“There’s fertile land, but you all live in this wasteland instead?”

“Because ratmen live there! Nearly two thousand of them in a tribe. We’re outnumbered and have no way to reclaim it. So we just let them farm the land instead.”

Reynald was at a loss for words. Of course, ratmen could farm. They weren’t particularly strong monsters, and since rats are good at hoarding grains, smarter ratman villages often grew crops to supplement their food.

But two thousand ratmen forming a farming tribe? When the entire human population of this domain was only 200? That was… not normal. As Reynald stared in shock, Lyndon added more context.

“To be honest, they farm way better than we do! If you go there during winter, their food stores are always stocked to the brim. Even if we tried, we couldn’t produce that much ourselves.”

“……”

“Anyway, around this time every year, the ratmen fight with the lycanthropes over territory. When the full moon rises, the lycanthropes grow insanely strong, and all the ratmen head out to fight them. That’s when we sneak in and steal grain.”

“……”

“We do that a few times, and it’s enough to get through winter. Though… getting through the spring famine is another issue. Um… my lord? Why do you look like that?”

Reynald couldn’t say another word.

A crushing wave of doubt washed over him, making him seriously reconsider whether staying in this domain was a good idea after all.

 

TN The Ratmen are better at agriculture than the actual humans. Like?? Not even the NPC villagers in Harvest Moon got disrespected like this.