Read Reincarnation into the Barrier Master | 160 - - CHAPTER XVI -- I HAVE RECEIVED THE ABOVE.

160 - - CHAPTER XVI -- I HAVE RECEIVED THE ABOVE.

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The villagers are as quiet as water. They are shocked to find out that someone they know is a spy for the imperial government.

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"Jiifiro...why?"

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Jimbi falls to his knees and hangs his head. Jiﬁllo remains motionless. I activate my appraisal skill on her.

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"...Jeefiro," she says. Are you being held hostage by the Imperials for your husband, Marov? Once a week, he communicates with the imperial people. Recently there has been heavy snowfall, so you haven't been able to contact them...?"

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Jiifiro looks up and stares at me.

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"Mr. Rinos... how could you...?"

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Jimbi is looking at me with some frightened eyes. I give him a smirk.

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"Yeah, that's just my guess. It would be difficult for an outsider to enter this village as a spy. The easiest way would be to take advantage of a weakness of one of the villagers. You said earlier that this Jiﬁlo is Marov's wife, so I thought it was probably true... I guess I'm not far off the mark, am I?"

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Jiﬁllo's eyes swim and he looks down again.

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"Do you want Marov back, Jífilo?"

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Jífilo looked at me sharply and opened his mouth.

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Of course! Two years, two years already! Troops took them! Thanks to you, this village is in ruins. We women and our grandfathers can't eat just by plowing the fields. There's no one to hunt Hawan, so there's no money coming in. Marov... if Marov comes back, we can hunt havan. Then the village will be all right!

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The woman bursts into tears, pounding the floor with her fists, and is furious with me. The villagers gathered around us all turn their heads and don't say a word.

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"Jífilo, I understand how you feel, but.... Why didn't you talk to me about it before?

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Jimbi asks as he leans in close to Jífilo.

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"How can you say that? I can't say that..."

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"Jeefeelo..."

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Both Jiﬁllo and Zimbi were sobbing. And the villagers around them were also crying aloud. As I watched this scene, I wondered if there was any way I could save these people. I glanced at Soleil, who was standing beside me, and she too was looking at the villagers with a worried face.

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"Master...can't you do something about it?"

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"Ummm."

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As I folded my arms and thought about it, Jimbi, the village chief, wiped away a tear and opened his mouth.

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"King of Agartha, Master Linos. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for the food you have provided for us. On behalf of the village, I, Jimbi, thank you from the bottom of my heart. From now on, this village... We will settle this ourselves. I hope you don't mind..."

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"No, but that doesn't mean... But even so... this village will be defeated by the Imperial Army. If that happens, they will probably kill all the villagers here, won't they? That's what I'm trying to avoid. Hey, Jeefeelo, how much did you tell the Lamarons about what's going on in this village?"

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"...I told them that the chief had brought food from Agartha and that the village was struggling to decide whether to join the Crown or Agartha."

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"Hmmm. I see..."

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I look down at my feet. There was a hawan's pelt on the floor.

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"Jimbi, can I have this fur?"

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Jimbi was at a loss for words for a moment. Then he squeezes out a reply.

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"Oh... I... I understand... yes. Please take it."

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"Chief! That's the last fur you'll sell when there's no more food in the village!"

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Jeefiro exclaims.

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"Jeefeelo. It's okay. This village is in danger. And Master Linos has brought us food. The time to sell these pelts is now.

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Jimbi speaks as if to admonish.

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"Please, Mr. Rinos, take the pelt."

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"Alright. Okay. Okay, then.

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I take out a pen and paper from the endless storage and write on them.

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"What is the minimum amount of food the villagers can eat without starving? And how much are you going to sell these furs for? ... just about."

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"Food... I can manage with 20 bags of rice or wheat... The furs would cost about 10,000 G..."

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Listening to Jimbi's story, I put them down on a piece of paper.

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"Yes, that's it. How about this?"

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"...this is... what is it?"

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"It's a receipt."

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"Ryoshu-sho?"

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"It's a kind of certificate you issue when you sell or buy something. It's a certificate that says I bought this fur with this amount of food."

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Here's the receipt I issued.

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-------------------------

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[Receipt]

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Mr. Zimbi, Village Chief of Dytas Village

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Receipt: 1 hawan pelt

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　However, we have received the above as payment for food.

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Details of receipt

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10 bags of rice

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10 bags of wheat

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Vegetables 10 kg

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10 kg of meat

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　　　　King of Agartha Barsam Darke Rinos

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--------------------------

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"Hey, Jeefeelo. Can you read?"

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"... I can't read."

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"Then that's just fine. Take this... what is it? Give it to the guy from Lamar's army."

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What do you mean?

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Jimbi and Jiﬁlo are both rolling their eyes. That's right. They've never seen a receipt before. Of course they have. I look at the faces of the villagers as I talk.

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"I've thought of a way to save this village from Lamaron's army. The point is that the village of Dytas bought food from the land of Agartha. You don't sell food in Lamaron, do you? Then, why don't we just say that we bought them from Agartha? Then we can tell the military that we have decided to join Ramalon or Agartha. Tell him that Agartha is stingy."

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"So... that's why."

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Zimbi is already breathing on his shoulders. He can't seem to keep up with the story. That means that Jiﬁlo and the rest of the villagers must be even harder to keep up with. At that moment, Lilith stands up and speaks up.

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"We have no food, so we sold our furs to buy food. It just so happens that we bought food from Agartha, doesn't it? There's nothing wrong with that! They don't sell them in the Empire! We bought food from the enemy to survive. Why should I feel bad about that? We reduced the food supply of our enemies and increased the food supply of our allies. Why are we being defeated? The king gave us proof that he sold us food, right? That's good!"

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Hearing these words, the villagers finally understood. Lilith, good job.

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"That's what I meant. When the snow melts, Jífilo, give that paper to the army. Don't lose it until then. And don't forget that Agartha is a cheapskate, okay?"

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I grin and look at Jiﬁghero. She rolls her eyes and nods her head.

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"Well, let's give them the food we brought. Jimbi, do you have some kind of food storage?"

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"Yes... yes. Let me show you.

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We were led to a building next to Jimbi's house.

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"... There's nothing to see here."

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"..."

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Jimbi is lying on the ground silently. I go there and take out the food that was written on the receipt from the endless storage.

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"Well, is that it?"

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"Thank you. This will keep the village alive for a while. Thank you very much.

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"No, this isn't going to be enough, is it?"

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"We won't last..." you say?

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"No, this will only last for a month or so, right?"

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When the snow melts, we'll be able to..."

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No, you don't have to. Hey, Soleil.

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I turn to Soleil, who is standing next to me.

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"Can you ask the spirits of the forest to hide where they store their food? Like the village of Silures."

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Yes, of course.

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"Jimbi, save this food for emergencies. The people of Lamarohn may come to see you. When they do, show them this. We'll hide the rest here in the woods. Are there any landmarks in the forest?"

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"Well..."

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Jimbi led us to a large tree just outside the village.

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"Oh, this tree looks like it would be easy to find.

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With that I put out a large amount of food in front of it. Rice, wheat, vegetables, fish, meat, fruits.... The area around the big tree was filled with food. And then, they put a big ward to trap the food in it.

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"This ... this much food ..."

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"Let me know if you run out. By the way, the stuff inside this ward won't spoil. Don't worry.

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Now we won't starve. Thank you very much. Thank you very much.

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All the villagers there were prostrate, and they were thanking me verbally. I telegraphed to Otere that there was no need to do such a thing, and instructed Soleil to ask the spirits of the forest to hide this ward from everyone except the villagers.

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A few days later, in a room of the palace in the Imperial Capital of Lamarone, Duke Koenig, Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Army, sighed as he looked at a sheet of paper.

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"Thank you for your hard work."

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"...Is that all?"

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The commander of the Third Army of Ramallon, Almond, is staring at Koenig, a deep furrow furrowed between his brows.

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"Is there anything else?"

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"The village of Deitas negotiated with the enemy on its own initiative, did it not?"

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"What choice do we have? We don't have food."

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If you don't have food, why don't you request it from the Imperial Government?

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"That's because you know there's no food in the Imperial Palace, isn't that right?"

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Duke Koenig's eyes are wide open. What is he talking about? He is not going to let go of his expression of "I'm sorry.

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"The village of Dytas did not rely on the Imperial Government to provide food for them, they did it by themselves. I think it is a very reasonable and efficient action, don't you? Or what? Almond, do you think that it is right for the Imperial Government to know that there is no food in the country and still ask for food?"

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"It is our duty as a nation to make sure that our people do not starve."

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"What can you do without what you don't have? No, unless you want to support Daitus Village by getting your own food, right? It's a very wasteful thing to do, but you're free to do it. You can do it alone. There is no food in the Kingdom. The village of Dytas has been able to get food on their own without the help of the Imperial Government. That's great! I'd like to give you a medal. Agartha is so stingy. They only have this much food for Hawan's pelts. Do you think the village of Ditas would be attracted to such a stingy nation?"

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Duke Koenig sniffed and looked at Almond with a grin. It was as if he was looking down on Almond. Almond sensed this and clenched his fist in silence, glaring at Duke Koenig.

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