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Hearing the bad news, we headed to Elden Village in a hurry.
Once we arrived at the entrance of the village, a different, cold atmosphere lingered.
I passed the entrance of the village and headed to the largest open area.
It was a place where merchants usually put down their goods and traded, but now armed soldiers and knights gathered the villagers and created a strict atmosphere.
Even children were dragged out while trembling in the arms of adults.
“Who are you?”
One of the knights found us and asked in a threatening voice.
His voice alone made the surrounding Beast-people tremble.
When asked, Andras naturally stepped forward.
“My name is Andras from the Schnarpe family. From the markings, I think you’re from the Selberg family, right?”
This time the knight shuddered when the name Schnarpe was mentioned.
There was a noticeable decrease in threatening spirits around the soldiers.
” I didn’t know you were a Noble member of the Schnarpe family. Please forgive me for my rudeness, Your Grace… …as you said, we belong to the Selberg family.”
“That’s fine. But can you tell me why the knights of the Selberg family are here?”
“It’s the Selberg family that rules this place, so we can’t just tell anyone from outside, even if it’s, Your Grace.”
“I’ll explain it myself.”
Soldiers and knights retreated at the voice, and a blond noble Demon-man appeared.
The arrogance and relaxation peculiar to the aristocracy could be seen.
It was similar to the atmosphere of Alfred when he first came to the farm.
He looked about the same age as Alfred.
The Blond Demon greeted Andras very naturally.
“Who are you?”
“I’m Gladion of the Selberg family. It’s an honor to meet you, the vice-chief of the Schnarpe family, which has a long-standing reputation.”
He smoothed out the grand language that was hard to understand.
Andras immediately responded to the other person’s greeting, as if he was familiar with this conversation.
“I see the Young Lord of the Selberg family. It’s an honor to meet you, too. I’m Andras from the Schnarpe family.”
“But what brings you to this shabby place, Sir. Andras?”
Gladion said as if he was surprised by the appearance of Andras, but the relaxed smile did not leave his face.
As if he knew we’d come here beforehand…
“I was getting help from the villagers here. I came here after hearing that there was a problem. If you don’t mind, could you tell me what happened?”
“I was investigating the culprit of the unsavory incident at the Kaldinium.”
“If it’s an unpleasant thing…”
“Yes, I’m looking for the three people who break into the Kaldinium. They committed a felony and caused a lot of damage by setting fire to the back alleys of the city.”
“We’ve got eyewitness accounts that the intruders are connected to these dirty animals. So in the order of my father, the lord of this place, I came to find the intruder myself.”
Three intruders.
I quickly realized that who Gladion was talking about was us.
The atmosphere became tense in the unusual situation.
Andras, who was the most reliable, was also confused.
It was proof that the current situation was not simple.
A smile appeared on Gladion’s mouth and then disappeared.
“You’re just in time. You’ll be able to enjoy the show from now on. Soldiers, bring that cheeky f*cker right now!”
“Yes!”
“Yes!”
Some soldiers, who heard the order, moved busily.
They dragged a captive person rough and threw him on the ground.
It was Lagos, the chief of Elden village.
“Cough!”
A painful groan came out of his mouth from the shock of hitting the ground.
Gladion asked, looking down at Lagos with a cold face.
“You are the chief of this garbage place, right? I don’t want to stay in this smelly place for long either, so tell me who the intruder is.”
“Ugh… Didn’t I tell you everything before? I have no idea.”
“I’ve already confirmed that the intruders are connected to this village. Tell me everything you know when I’m nice.”
“…I don’t know.”
“You arrogant brute!” –
PUGH!
“Arggggggggghhh!”
Gladion kicked at Lagos.
Lagos, who was tied, had to endure the pouring violence with his bare body.
Kicks continued without giving Lagos time to breathe.
The villagers covered their children’s eyes and ears and trembled with fear.
As I tried to step forward after seeing it, Andras blocked me.
He whispered so that no one could hear him.
“No, Sihyeon.”
“Andras? We’re the ones they’re looking for.”
“It gets more complicated if you come forward.”
“What about Lagos?”
“Sihyeon, don’t you know how he’s holding up?”
I followed him and looked at Lagos, who was still being beaten.
In a very short moment, my eyes met with his.
In that brief moment, Lagos looked at me and shook his head slightly.
I recognized the meaning and looked at him devastated.
“That Beast-man wants to protect Sihyeon. That’s why he stays silent despite all that violence.”
“Ugh…”
“Argggg…”
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa”
Lagos, who couldn’t stand the relentless violence, fainted and fell to the ground.
“Dad!”
Heron, who was watching, rushed out and examined Lagos’ condition.
Gladion looked at the sight and commanded the soldiers.
“He must be the son of the chief. Put him in custody now.”
“Yes!”
The soldiers pressed Heron forcibly and pressed him down with their feet.
The fallen Lagos was roughly pushed aside like a load was being removed.
“If the father couldn’t tell, the son should know something instead. Hurry up and tell me. Unless you want to be like that fallen father.”
“Uh…”
Heron shook his head in fear.
Gladion’s eyebrows wriggled as he reacted differently than expected again this time.
“Like father like son, Huh”
As Gladion’s foot rushed towards Heron’s face, someone shouted out and got up.
“I did it!”
Gladion stopped his foot an inch away from Heron’s face at Reville’s loud cry.
And his cold gaze naturally turned to Reville.
“I infiltrated the city and set it on fire.”
“You…..?”
“Yes! I didn’t like the Red molars, so I took revenge on them. What, are you unhappy?”
The soldiers around him jumped at his stiff demeanor
“You crazy b*stard! How dare you behave in front of his Lordship!”
The soldiers hit Reville on the head and forced him to kneel on the ground.
He glared at Gladion with a hostile look while being suppressed by the soldiers.
Gladion glared at him for a moment and smiled faintly.
“Don’t lie. You were playing bait outside the gate at the time, right? Don’t act smart and tell me the real culprit. I’ll forgive you for your rudeness as long as you tell me who the intruders are. In addition, I promise you a reasonable reward.”
Gladion conciliated by looking around Reville and the villagers in a slightly muted tone.
At the same time, a pouch was taken out of the waist and thrown in front of the villagers.
Shining gold coins poured out of the pouch.
Naturally, the villagers’ eyes were on it.
The faces of Andras and Alfred were distorted when they saw the action.
“Senior, Andras, that guy…”
“I think it’s a lie that he’s looking for the intruders.”
“What do you mean?”
Andras answered me with a dark look.
“Selberg’s Young lord seems to already know about the identity of the intruder.”
“……?”
“They didn’t bump into us here by accident, they waited for us from the beginning. And he’s trying to confess the truth from the mouths of the Beast-people in front of us.”
Gladion’s relaxed smile began to feel a little different.
Reville stared for a moment at the bag of gold coins that had fallen to the ground, and slowly looked up at Gladion.
“That gold coin… will you really give it to me.?”
“Of course! Are you thinking of opening your mouth now?”
“Yes, I’ll tell you about the real intruder.”
Gladion focused on Reville’s next words with a look full of expectations.
“The intruder who caused a ruckus in the Kaldinium was …………….. Old man Racoon”
“…??”
“…??”
“…??”
“…??”
“Ah, that crazy punk?”
“Hahahah.”
Raccoon grandpa’s surprised voice came out from behind the crowd.
A small laugh broke out among some villagers.
After a while, Gladion’s face turned red when he realized he had been teased.
He raised his arms high with an angry cry.
“You low-life bugger!”
“Urgh!”
Reville’s face turned to the side as it got connected with the fist Gladion swung with all his might.
Reville turned his head again, smiled leisurely, and spat.
Red blood-mixed saliva fell on the gold coin pouch.
“I’m sorry, but we’ll never answer as you wish. You guys have always treated us like livestock, but he was different.”
“You seem to not understand your position now? I’m the heir to this estate, and you guys are the trash that should be living by licking my feet.”
“Since when did the heir started caring about us… stop caring about the trash and go home?””
The eerie sound of grinding teeth came out of Gladion’s mouth.
He drew a dagger from his waist and looked around with blazing eyes.
Finding something, he strode somewhere.
In front of him was a Rabbit-woman holding Kathy.
“Give that to me!”
“Argh! Nooooooooo! pleaseeeeeee, the child….”
“Argh! Mommyyyyyy!”
Gladion snatched Kathy roughly from her mother’s arms.
Reville, who saw it, rose and tried to rush, but the soldiers around him quickly put in their weapons and suppressed him with their feet.
“You coward!”
“I was wrong to try to talk to the animals.”
“Waaaaaa moommmyyyy!”
Kathy struggled with tears at the rough touch.
Gladion pushed the dagger close to the baby rabbit.
“I’m going to count to three from now on. In the meantime, if someone doesn’t open their mouth, this dagger will be tasting the flesh of this rabbit.”
“Argh! Please… Please let go of my baby!”
Kathy’s mother cried and tried to approach Kathy.
But she couldn’t do anything because she was surrounded by soldiers.
“One…”
My hands and feet trembled.
“Sihyeon…”
“Senior…”
The two people next to me looked at me.
“Two…”
I couldn’t hear the voices calling me.
For a moment, my mind went blank and I couldn’t think of anything.
“Three!”
By the time I came to my senses, I was already rushing towards Gladion.