SML Ch 32

Chapter 32

6. Modest Preparations for Guests

After the grand spring cleaning came to an end, the villagers began returning to their homes one by one. Linden and his family, the families of the other young men, and even Volant had gone back to his house alone.

As the villagers who had gathered in the castle during the winter to avoid monsters departed, the castle quickly became empty. Only Heide, Alex, a few homeless villagers, and Reynald remained in the massive stronghold.

That didn’t mean the people inside the castle became lonely. Even after returning home, people from outside the castle frequently came and went as if it were their own house.

The castle’s warehouse, which had originally been built to store the lord’s assets, was now used to store miscellaneous items the villagers occasionally needed. The castle’s stable served as a shelter for the few livestock the village had.

The horses Reynald had brought, along with the small rabbit he had picked up during a mandragora-gathering expedition, were also living there.

“Spring really makes things feel leisurely.”

“That’s true. During the winter, everyone gathers in the castle, making it bustling. But once spring comes, people get busy tilling their own fields.”

Heide answered while feeding the goats in the stable. Unlike the other villagers, Heide didn’t till any fields but instead managed the village’s communal property. Although it sounded noble, managing communal property was practically the same as being a handyman. His daily tasks included tending to livestock, running errands, and fixing broken farming tools.

Reynald watched Heide work without any particular thoughts. In this rural domain, there really wasn’t much for a lord to do. Everyone was used to taking care of their own affairs, so the minor disputes that occasionally occurred in other territories didn’t exist here, nor was there much paperwork, meaning he didn’t need to worry about that either.

Reynald’s role mostly involved fending off the occasional monsters that would sneak into the fields or target the castle’s stables. While it was nothing more than light exercise to him, the villagers were sincerely grateful, often reacting with immense appreciation. At this point, Reynald started to question whether he had become a proper lord or just a freeloading security guard.

He was fairly certain that, at first, he had intended to stay for only a few days in protest against the king—but somehow, things had ended up like this. Of course, he was fond of this lifestyle and wouldn’t mind living in the village forever, but still, it all felt rather absurd. It was as if he had become completely accustomed to life in this territory without even realizing it.

“Things may be quiet now, but starting in summer, we’ll get busy. The Swines and Ratmen will start fighting like crazy again. Around that time, the guards will need to keep watch to make sure the battles don’t ruin the fields.”

“Looks like I’ll finally have something to do then. That’s a relief.”

“Are you saying you’ll help out as well, my lord?”

“But of course. It’s not like I have anything better to do.”

As he replied, Reynald found himself wondering if he really would still be here come summer. For now, there hadn’t been any word from the king, so it was fine, but he wasn’t sure things would continue going so smoothly.

If the king hadn’t sent any messages by now, perhaps it was because he was too busy to bother with Reynald at all… Still, it was a strange situation. The king had gone out of his way to assign this odd domain to Reynald as if he wanted him to return, yet hadn’t reached out since.

Maybe the king was waiting for Reynald to make contact first. But considering the king’s personality, this degree of silence felt rather unusual.

No—maybe it wasn’t silence at all.

Suddenly struck by a thought, Reynald turned to Heide and asked a question.

“Come to think of it, Heide.”

“Yes?”

“Are we still getting those misdelivered documents? You mentioned before that we sometimes receive papers addressed to the wrong recipient.”

“We are. I don’t know if it’s just my imagination, but ever since you arrived, strange love letters have been coming in and then disappearing. They don’t even have a sender’s name, which is quite troublesome.”

“They’re completely unsigned? Not just a mix-up with the recipient?”

“That’s what makes it even weirder. Who on earth are those letters meant for?”

Heide smiled casually, but Reynald was struck by a strange sense of foreboding. After all, he knew all too well the king’s bizarre habit of never following official formats when writing to close friends.

If only the king would label his letters as royal correspondence when writing to Reynald… But no—he’d insist that it was just a personal letter to an old friend, so it didn’t need to be formal. As a result, several letters had already been lost or ignored.

With a sinking feeling, Reynald looked at Heide, who tilted his head at the reaction and continued speaking. And Heide’s next words nailed Reynald’s unease in place.

“Just a few days ago, another odd document arrived. What did it say again? Something like, ‘Sending Arun and Serna.’ That was the whole message… My lord? Is something wrong?”

Reynald immediately leapt to his feet and dashed out of the stable.

No—maybe it wasn’t that the king hadn’t contacted him.

Maybe Reynald had simply failed to realize it.

Practically flying up the stairs to the room where the carrier pigeons were kept, Reynald grabbed one of the birds and began reading through the delivered letters with wide eyes. About halfway through one of the documents, a panting, out-of-breath Heide stumbled into the room.

That friend really didn’t need to rush up here… Especially with that bad leg. Reynald clicked his tongue and looked up, scolding himself for not thinking of it sooner.

“I’m sorry, my lord! I should’ve told you earlier…!”

“No, it’s fine. I was planning to ignore it anyway… And honestly, most of it was worth ignoring. You did well.”

Staring at the message on the pigeon scroll for a moment, Reynald grew irritated and simply shut it off. Even though they had been close for decades, the phrasing of the letters was so embarrassingly sentimental that Heide’s confusion was understandable.

[“I know your heart is delicate and easily wounded by small things.”] — Honestly, who was that supposed to be describing? If nothing else, it was clear the king’s mental image of Reynald was quite different from reality.

Of course, Reynald didn’t fall for any of it. He knew better than anyone how the king, for all his sweet words, was a master manipulator. The man had been born the third prince, pushed out of the succession line, and still managed to become king—so he wasn’t actually incompetent. Still, when it came to anything involving Reynald, the man had a tendency to spout nonsense.

‘Maybe I let him get away with it too often, so he just keeps escalating… Either way, I can’t take his drivel seriously.’

Setting aside the king’s theatrical concern, the person who had wrung the most work out of Reynald over his 47 years of life was, without a doubt, the king himself.

When it came time to organize a monster subjugation force, the king would say, “I’m worried since you like wandering off, so I’ll send you a well-staffed escort,” and then assign just barely enough men to scrape by, putting Reynald through hell.

And that wasn’t the end of it. Knowing Reynald would spend any gold he received on repairing the devastated region, the king would deliberately award him an excessive amount of treasure, only to say, “Spend it as you wish.” Reynald would’ve loved to blow the money frivolously, but he never had the time to do so anyway.

No matter how many times Reynald petitioned for a peaceful retirement or a reassignment to a quiet region, the king would take it as a challenge and send him somewhere even worse instead. And all the while, the man would go around complaining to others, saying, “I care so deeply for my friend, yet he doesn’t appreciate it.”

In short, the man was thoroughly cunning. Two of his children had already been roped in by that sweet-talking act, and even the youngest, Serna—who knew the truth—seemed to be on the verge of falling for it.

[“His Majesty assigns fewer troops because he hopes you’ll retreat after some light fighting. The problem is, you never retreat.”]

[“You underestimate His Majesty, Prince Serna. He may seem gentle, but he’s incredibly skilled at pushing people just to the limit.”]

[“Well, Sir Reynald seems just as easily swayed. You’ve endured so much, yet still don’t see through him… Anyway, despite all that gold, look at the state of your clothes. His Majesty would be heartbroken to see you like this.”]

[“That reward gold is a workaround His Majesty devised because the nobles never allocate enough for disaster relief. Prince Serna, it’s about time you took an interest in politics as well.”]

[“Sir Reynald, you truly are impressive. I suppose it’s that temperament that’s kept you in your position all these years.”]

Recalling a conversation he’d once had with Prince Serna, Reynald gave a bitter smile. But now, the king was sending not just one, but two princes—Arun and Serna—to visit. The man must have been getting desperate. Considering all the duties those two were responsible for, sending both to such a small territory was nothing short of a waste of resources.

“When did the most recent message arrive?”

“Five days ago.”

“Then we’re already too late. They’ll have departed with an escort by now.”

“Pardon? What do you mean?”

“I should probably contact the surrounding villages. Very soon, some important guests will be passing through, and it would be best if they were kindly turned away—no, that won’t work. If they’re already on their way, no message is going to stop them.”

There was no point in contacting the king now. He had sent not just anyone, but two royal family members, which meant he was deadly serious. Reynald had no doubt that they wouldn’t leave until they had dragged him back to the capital by both arms.

With a sigh, Reynald sent a brief message to the king. [I will treat them with utmost care and send them back.] One line was enough, and he had no desire to write more. As he made up his mind never to look at the pigeon device again, Heide cautiously asked,

“Are we expecting guests, my lord?”

“Most likely. Important ones, so we’ll need to prepare the roads. If monsters in the area were to attack them, it’d be a disaster.”

“The wyverns have already moved north, so there shouldn’t be much danger, right?”

“That’s true, but you never know. For outsiders, this territory can be quite dangerous.”

Now that it had come to this, he would have to ensure the two princes made it through safely. Of course, both were highly skilled in combat, and surely wouldn’t travel without an escort—but one could never be too careful.

The king always used to say, “Even a founding hero of a kingdom can lose his life bickering with a vagrant.” Most of what the king said was nonsense, but Reynald agreed with that line at least.

Meanwhile, Heide appeared to be worried about something entirely different. Scratching his head, he muttered anxiously,

“Still, if such important guests are coming, I’m not sure how we’re supposed to treat them. I’ll make sure the place is clean, but we don’t really have anything appropriate to offer. Do you happen to know how many people will be arriving?”

“There will be at least two guests, and their escort squad will likely bring the total to over twenty.”

“Over twenty?! To think they’d bring such a large guard—these must be no ordinary guests.”

“You could say that. They’re of even higher status than me, so we’ll need to treat them well.”

Reynald deliberately kept things vague. If he mentioned that two royal princes were coming, Heide might actually faint. Fortunately, unaware of the true circumstances, Heide merely nodded and muttered, “So we’re expecting nobles, then.”

Still, Heide’s concerns were valid. Even securing enough food to feed twenty people would be difficult. With only about 200 people in the entire territory, and food being so scarce that they often went hungry during the spring famine, Reynald wasn’t sure they could host that many guests at all.

It wasn’t just about quantity, either—quality was also an issue. Reynald was used to eating whatever he could find thanks to his years in subjugation campaigns, but serving wyvern meat to royal princes would be a serious breach of etiquette. While he didn’t need to serve the luxurious dishes of the capital, he would still need some finer ingredients.

“When do you expect them to arrive?”

“As for the timing… I can’t be certain, but probably in about two weeks. They may even arrive sooner.”

“Then we at least have some time to prepare. Um, my lord.”

“Yes?”

“Alex and I were thinking of heading into the forest soon—would that be alright? If we’re going to serve our guests, we need at least some fruit or honey to offer. We also want to gather some herbs and set traps for game…”

Though he phrased it that way, it was obvious he didn’t just want to go with Alex. He was hoping Reynald, the strongest and freest person around, would join them too. His intention was so blatant that Reynald couldn’t help but laugh. Well, it was Reynald’s guests, after all, so it made sense that he should help prepare.

“How could I let you and Alex go alone? They’re my guests, so I should help prepare to receive them.”

“Would you really? Thank you so much!”

Seeing how unbothered Heide looked by the idea, it was clear he was growing more and more comfortable around Reynald. In the past, he would’ve been shocked at the idea of dragging the lord into such a task. Amused by the change, Reynald momentarily forgot something important.

There were Swines living in the forest.

Lots of them.

And in a place like this, it was unlikely that the wild fruit or honey would be… normal.

📌 Footnotes

 

• Spring famine / 춘궁기 (chungunggi): In historical East Asia, the spring famine was a real period when stored winter food ran low before the next harvest, often resulting in starvation.