Leader!　How was it?
　It's almost certainly white. But...

　I tell everyone that King Ferm's army is coming.

　'That's good. Let's just give them back.'
　'In this case, the trouble is getting in touch with King Ferrum's country. It's too late to begin with.

　You brought a real pain in the ass.
　So what should we do?

　"Do we turn these guys over to King Ferm, or do we hide them in plain sight, ready to turn on King Ferm?

　If we don't have King Ferm, we can allow thirty people.
　It will be a burden at first, but the population will be more than enough to grow.

　And I'm determined to help what I can.
　Children obviously come first, but I'll help adults too if I can.

　But I don't need King Ferm to tell me what to do.
　Our first priority is everyone we have.

　''Um ... are you sure King Ferm is going to be hostile?''
　Seo-yeon raised his hand and asked.

　'Well?　But look at the way he ruled and how he became king.
　'That's not what I meant.......those are the people who escaped once. Even if you bring them back, it will be hard to monitor them.

　If you ask me, that might be true.
　They're the ones who ran away in the night once, and they're bad debt. Even if you bring them back, they might run away again. There's also the risk of foreign ties, right?
　What's the benefit of going to such lengths to secure thirty people?

　Normally, it's the 'taxes generated by 30 people' < 'troops to monitor them'.

　If it were me, I'd give up.
　I'd give up and distribute the farmland those guys gave up to their vassals or something to ease their discontent.

　Huh?
　And if that's the case, why are those guys chasing us?

　Speaking of which, that soldier said something disturbing.
　Maybe.....

　"Anyone who runs away is a traitor. All traitors are killed.
　Tetra said something boisterous.

　I knew it. You're going to kill him as an example.
　That's very effective.

　A thousand men might bring in some extra revenue, but 30 is nothing to sneeze at.
　Maybe the reason we don't tell people we're killing them is for morale reasons.
　No one wants to kill their own people, right?

　'Well, we'd better help them, then. Those people are innocent.
　That's true too. I'm inclined to help.
　Rosward and Ron indicated their approval.

　'I guess I'm in favor of it too,'
　Gram agreed.

　'I think I should help them too. It's a pity that he was killed.
　So you agree with me.

　I think Tetra agrees with you, right?

　"We're parents... but if we let them die, it's all the same...
　Lulu expressed her approval, though reluctantly.

　'What about the others?　Anyone who disagrees, raise your hand.
　No one raised their hand.

　Any ayes?
　All hands went up.

　That's the deal.


_______________________________.


　In the meantime, gentlemen we've decided to let you in.
　When I said that, the refugees the new villagers cheered.

　'But the decision could be reversed. Depending on what you guys do.
　When I said that, the new villagers nodded with a mysterious face.

　It seems they understand their position.

　I don't have much to say, as long as you're quiet.

　'And was it Iaru?　Come. We need to talk.
　I'll call the new villagers' representatives.

　We must first discuss the measures against King Ferm.

　I call Ial and Tetra, as well as Ron, Rosward, Gram, Soyeon, and Lulu into the building.

　These seven are the leaders of this village a sort of standing.

　Ron and Rosward are genuinely strong and responsible.
　Gram is the best with a bow in the village. And he has a lot of spunk.
　Sojourn and Lulu are two of the few spellcasting forces in this village.

　Tetra..........needless to say.
　Ial will now have to get the new villagers together.

　"Now, the question is, what do we do about King Ferrum's forces that are about to arrive here?
　When I said that, Ial made a guffawed face.

　Come to think of it, I haven't explained it. Well, okay.

　'At any rate. 'The reason you accepted these people is based on the assumption that King Ferrum is going to kill these people, right?　What if King Ferm is an idiot and he genuinely wants these people back?　
　Then I'll give you a tribute and make you happy.

　I feel like if you're an idiot, you'll back off on that.
　I mean, before I said I'd accept it, I don't feel like I'm going to flip out.

　Then I remember King Rosais's "I'm going to come crying to you anyway" comment.
　Did he mean that they would take the wheat from me in tribute....

　And if not?
　I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave.

　Ial is lying face down in silence.
　After all, he is equal to not having the right to speak here.

　But I guess I'll have to give him the tribute when King Ferrum arrives. The other party is two hundred.
　Probably if we don't hand it over quietly, they'll come to loot it.
　So we still have to hand over the wheat. d*mn I'm going to have to really start crying.

　'Enough about this. Let's assume King Ferrum is here to kill everyone, and we'll move on. The new villagers are to take off their clothes. He's going to take the clothes off and say that he killed them. And the animal bones we ate yesterday? And the bones of a brave (or stupid) man lying near Master Gryphon's bed. That would make it more believable. I'll keep my face on the line with this.

　They don't have to kill the inhabitants.
　All we need is the fact that they did.

　All we have to do is silence 200 men, and we'll be fine.

　Which may not be possible, considering the presence of the chatterbox.

　So. The problem is, if Ferrum gets his hands on our village, we'll be in for a treat. The question is, what will we do in that case but for now, we'll just have to settle for tribute.
　Depends on the amount, right?　And if they take up an awful lot of money every year, we'd suffer too.
　"Let's just stick it out for a year. And we'll use that time to buy a weapon. We'll use that as a bargaining chip.

　If they still ask for an excessive amount...
　It's no use.

　The question is, how much do we have left? How much do we have in reserve?
　'In its own way. Our agricultural technology is more advanced than theirs, so we can cheat on our stockpile. We're going to get 50 percent of the actual harvest out of it, which is 70 percent.

　Tetra said, calculating the amount of stockpiles by heart.
　It's enough for us to eat, but it won't be enough to feed the refugees.
　I guess we'll just have to cry to King Loseys after all...
　He's so annoying. That bald guy.

　What he lacks in honey, fur and booze, he makes up for in honey and fur and booze.

　No paper and sueyware.
　Those are too valuable.

　They'll ask you how to make them.

　Honey is high value, but there are ways to get it from natural beehives, so it's not a problem.

　Most of the policy will be decided.

　'Good!　I want you to prepare the tribute. Also, I'll hide the wheat in my reserves. Just in case.
　Now it's up to me to make a deal.

　Oh, yeah. I should have said something first.
　All eyes are on me.

　"I'm going to get married when this negotiation is over.
______________________________________________

　'Utterly. Running away is a pain in the ass. Why not just start a mutiny anyway? Then we wouldn't have to go after them.
　Ferrum said, sounding troublesome.

　If it's troublesome, there's no need for him to go all the way there.
　But he has serious roots, so he goes out of his way to go there.

　His boldness and seriousness made him a king.

　''Are you really going to kill them all?''
　You're right. You know what? The minute you allow it to happen, it will happen again.

　There were only thirty of them this time, so it wouldn't affect the crowd.
　But if there were a hundred or two hundred of them, it would be a different story.

　It would be better to squash the eyes of the rebellion.

　You know what? It's important to do these atrocities at once and thoroughly. What, we are ready to invade King Rosais' country. We can fill the people's bellies with food from that time.
　'Oh, I see. No, I'm well aware of the king's strength. But the problem is the landlords.

　The landowners colluded with Ferrum to destroy the House of As.
　They were dissatisfied with Ferrum.

　That the taxes are still high, that they are still not given key positions, and that they are no more luxurious than they were during the reign of King Rosais.

　He was unhappy and dissatisfied.

　'Hmm, leave them alone. They can't do anything about it. It doesn't hurt much that they're in league with King Loseys. It's more of a chance for us to deal with them. More importantly, the people who are still loyal to Lagow are the problem.

　With all due respect, Lord Lagow is not a man who can be called a great monarch. He has been mismanaged many times.
　As you can see from his defeat at the hands of Ferrum in battle.
　But he was a gentle man, and many soldiers and generals were loyal to Lagow.

　They have tokenly accepted Ferm's rule, but are willing to revolt if given the chance.

　But kindness does not make people's bellies swell.
　In the end, though, they were killed by the people, who were egged on by the powerful landowners with Ferm in the center.

　''It hurts that we missed that little bastard now.
　'It's dead. There is no way a ten year old child could wander alone in the woods and live. He would be flesh and blood of a wolf now.

　'Too attentive,' his entourage said.

　'King!　I've got a place for them.
　You've done well. Where is it?
　It's just a little ways south of here. But...

　The sorcerer man stutters a little.

　'There was a place that looked like a village. I can smell them from there.
　A village?

　Ferrum ponders.
　He, too, had heard rumors of a village being protected by a gryphon.
　But he thought it was only a rumor.

　He thought it was only a matter of abandoned children uniting and trying to live somehow.
　The gryphon feathers, which are considered evidence, were also found, and the iron sword and other items were stripped from the corpse.

　That's what I thought.

　But if there is actually a village, it's a different story.

　''It's tasteless.......as expected of us, we can't beat the gods either.
　It is said that gryphons don't get involved in human warfare. That won't be a problem. And he's in a more secluded area. I don't see a problem.

　Ferrum said.
　In fact, the Gryphon sees the Almus as independent and has stopped supporting them.
　So he was right in his prediction.

　''Yes. At worst, we can just retreat as soon as the gryphons come out.

　The entourage muttered.

　After a while, the view opened up and the trees became sparse and the stumps increased.

　'Is that it?'　That's a reasonable size.

　Ferrum muttered as he looked at the village in the distance.
　Judging from the number of houses and the size of the fields, it's a village of roughly a hundred to a hundred and fifty people.
　The village has a simple fence and digging, perhaps to keep out wolves.

　''Hm?　Someone's coming out.

　Forty to fifty people came out of the entrance of the village.
　They have bows and swords.

　''Do you want to annihilate them?''
　'No, that's not necessary. Apparently they want to talk about it.

　A man came forward from the group.
　The man was riding a horse.

　The man stepped forward a little further and stopped when the distance was about a hundred meters.

　'What can I do for you, sir?　King Ferrum!
　The man exclaimed loudly.

　Ferrum replied, a little surprised.
　'First of all, tell me who you are.
　I am the governor of this village, Mr. Armes.

　Ferrum observes the man who calls himself Alms with his eyes.
　He is a young man, he can tell from his tall figure and blurred face that he is a young man.

　'I have followed the citizens of our country who have fled to this village!　Turn him over quietly!
　"We can't let people be killed in front of us either. We cannot accept that.

　How does that guy know I'm going to kill them all?

　Most people don't think of such horrible ideas.
　They are either quite mad or they are used to politics.

　'Then let's talk about it. Come up here alone!
　Felm called out to him, and the young man began to move forward on his own.

　He seemed to have a lot of nerve.

　At ten meters, the young man stopped.
　If you get this close, you'll be able to see his face.

　His hair and eyes are gray. His body is muscular, and you can tell from his clothes that he has a well-developed body.
　The clothes are quite fine.

　''It's nice to meet you, King Ferrum. Should I get closer to you?''
　No. No, there's no need. You won't be comfortable with that.

　Ferrum replied.

　'Well, why not accept it?'
　'Our village is small in population. If you're going to kill them anyway, there's no problem with us accepting them, right?

　The young man replies.
　He doesn't seem at all frightened by Ferrum.
　He seems to have quite a bit of heart.

　"That's not how it works. "I have a lot of people to deal with. I need a body.
　Then we're good. I've got the body of a bandit who invaded the village a long time ago. It's just the bones. I left them exposed, but I'm tired of looking at them, so I'll give them to you.

　Ferm couldn't help but frown at those words.
　He looks like a nice young man, but he seems to be a curmudgeon.

　Ferm, who is called cruel, has no taste for decorating skeletons, as expected.

　''There aren't enough of them.''
　It would be good to supplement with animal bones. Just in time. You can also take some of their clothes with you. It'll enhance the authenticity of the case.

　Ferrum ponders this for a moment.
　It doesn't matter to him as long as the fact that he killed it.
　So it's fine to take the young man's suggestion. It doesn't matter as long as we keep the soldiers behind us quiet.

　The enemy is forty men and a fifth of ours. We can win, no doubt, but if we are holed up, we will suffer a good deal of damage.
　We also want to avoid fighting, considering that we are dealing with refugees and other non-combatants.
　It would be foolish to reduce the number of soldiers in this place.

　''Well, that's fine. Be that as it may, can we afford to feed thirty men?''
　Ferrum licks his tongue.

　"Your village is now part of our territory. Do you mind?
　I don't mind. But I would like your word on autonomy.
　I don't care. As long as you pay your taxes. Well I'll take 80 percent of the village's crop.

　Ferrum has no intention of ruling this village in the first place.
　Just pick as many as you can pick up.
　Since we are not our own people, we don't need to refrain from doing so.

　If you refuse, just destroy them.
　If it's less than 80 percent, it's better to attack them, and if it's more than 80 percent, it's better to receive tribute.

　As long as we can get the grain, we can keep the country for a while.
　The rest of the village will be left to fend for itself.

　It's probably not worth sending an army, and this place is close to the capital of King Loseys.
　Besides, if I offer to give you an army, this man will refuse to give it to you.
　He might ask King Loseys for help.
　If that happens, all the men we sent will be wiped out. They won't get a dime.

　"Right now?
　Of course. You haven't eaten the entire spring harvest, have you?　I'm telling you, there's no point in fooling around. I can tell you how much you can harvest by looking at the size of your village.

　If we miss now, they will call on King Rosyth's army.
　It has to be now.

　If we had a larger army, we could have attacked it without much damage but this village was a wreck to begin with.
　It can't be helped.

　''Eighty percent? That's too much. Would you be defeated by 60%?　I will deliver our village's specialty honey and furs in return.
　Oh, honey...

　Honey is very expensive and is rarely eaten.
　Depending on the quantity, it's not a bad deal.

　'Seventy percent. I'll take care of that for you.
　All right. It will be ready. Please wait.

　The young man said and went back into the village.
　After a while, the men brought in a cart with a pot on it.

　'Come in,'
　That's pretty fast. You've been preparing for this?

　Felm said, and the young man smiled affectionately.

　'Oh well. We've reaped an unexpected harvest. I shall return home. And I'll have to execute the one who let it slip that I'm coming.

　Ferrum turned his horse around and turned his back on the village.