Ch. 48 - Nobles and Their Subjects
"Please allow me to recount a brief truth to you—
Many years ago, when our Lord was still in his prime and would occasionally reside in the manor at Starberry Town.
He would always select some able-bodied young men from the town to serve as his temporary servants.
Some carried his quiver, some tended his horses, there was a dedicated butcher to process the game, and a hunter who would drive the prey into predetermined enclosures ahead of time...
Almost every year after the Harvest Festival, he would organize such a hunting expedition.
This was because only then would the subjects be most idle, available for him to enjoy their fawning flattery.
This continued until an accident occurred—
From deep within Dawnmist Forest, a wounded werewolf broke into the hunting camp.
It wasn't really that dangerous a crisis.
He had accompanying guards at his side, experienced hunters, and the werewolf was already gravely injured. In truth, they only needed to remain calm and work together, and that would have been enough to resolve the incident.
But when that beast charged toward him, it shattered his courage. The lord failed to maintain his composure and thought only of escape—
To be the one running fastest, he severed the tendons in several servants' feet, leaving them behind. Then, taking advantage of the chaos, he mounted a swift horse and fled toward the town.
By the time the guards remaining at the hunting ground and that experienced hunter had severed the werewolf's head, our lord had already buried himself in the silk bedding of his manor.
The hunt ended in discord.
Afterward, the moment they escaped back to the village, ordered the guards executed under the charge of 'inadequate protection.' He had the commoners who witnessed his disgraceful behavior executed under the charge of 'stealing game.'
Only that hunter survived—
Everyone thought he had died under the werewolf's claws, but in reality, after being wounded, he merely used his experience to hide himself.
After Lord Merle left the small town, he quietly came to my church and told me everything that had transpired."
Father Lynn recounted the events as clearly as possible, stopping at an appropriate moment.
"This is actually nothing unusual.
In any noble's eyes, their subjects are no different in essence from their cattle, sheep, or even the game they hunt.
This is a sickness of society. I cannot condemn such behavior; I merely try to clarify a fact—
When they learn that orcs will plunder their territory, their only consideration will be how to squeeze out their last bit of value."
Tang Qi understood his meaning.
Don't expect nobles to empathize with their subjects.
If it weren't for the fact that taking all their goods would leave no one to till the fields and labor, they wouldn't even leave their people a single copper coin.
Aside from the lack of reproductive isolation, the two groups weren't even the same species.
But to attempt leaving Starberry Town, one couldn't avoid that construct on Melade's shoulder.
And once Melade learned of this small town's destined fate to be trampled flat.
He would absolutely never lead the entire village—three hundred-odd subjects—in a massive migration deep into the forest.
Not stopping people from blocking the town while he alone escaped first into the forest, sparing himself from being implicated by such a conspicuous target, would already count as merciful.
"So I will stay by their side as much as possible, offering them a moment of hope when they're at a loss—even if it changes nothing."
The priest waved his hand at Catherine, advising:
"But this is my duty, not yours.
Child, begging for his mercy might still allow you to leave this town with him.
You've inherited your mother's wisdom. You should know better than to try pleading with nobles—
Never, never make demands of nobles, much less speak of something like 'taking the whole town to escape.'"
Seeing the priest's mind was made up, Catherine ultimately had nothing more to say:
"I understand, Father Lynn."
She naturally knew that for a noble to permit a commoner to follow at his side was already tremendous tolerance.
The consequence of pushing one's luck would be losing everything.
Dispensing pointless kindness would only add burdens to one's own shoulders.
She was fairly kind—she didn't mind performing good deeds and accumulating virtue in daily life.
But she wasn't kind enough for this.
If faced with some difficult choice, all she could do was refrain from harming others.
"Rather than goodwill, I care more about whether those around me are safe.
I'll go wake Anbi and take her with us.
If she also can't be accepted by Melade, I'll choose to stay with her.
When that time comes, we'll think of some other solution..."
"Cut off his goddamn goat beard!
I just can't fucking stand you humans and all your formalities and protocol."
Stonecrusher had actually been listening to their conversation the whole time—
Since yesterday dawn, after the theft of the starberries was exposed, Black Snake chose to shoulder the blame alone, letting this dwarf warrior escape through the manor's window.
After the caravan hurriedly departed, he ultimately hid in Catherine's tavern.
Only this way could he truly protect this girl.
However, after digging this grave for his friend and planting that crude tombstone for him, he preferred to stare at it in silence.
As if by doing so, he could still share another drink with his spirit.
Now, everyone's worries and plans were torturing his ears, making him unable to help shouting:
"Aren't they just fucking orcs? I've hung the orc skulls I've smashed on my waist—I could scare them to death!"
Tang Qi timely added a comment:
"By estimation, their tribe has more people than Starberry Town has subjects.
But no problem—with you pulling aggro for us, before their spit drowns you, we should be able to escape."
"That many?"
Stonecrusher raised an eyebrow and slapped his thigh.
"Maybe applying to be that little white pig's bodyguard and escaping together with him would be a decent choice."
As a sturdy and strong mountain dwarf, he was resilient and unyielding.
Always able to adapt to various situations and circumstances.
So he patted Tang Qi's ass and urged:
"Then we should run away early. I'll apply as a bodyguard, the poet applies as a messenger, Catherine applies as the bride—we'll all count as that little white pig's people!"
But when he pushed Tang Qi, he found the poet looking thoughtful.
He couldn't help but raise an eyebrow:
"What?"
"I'll try to take everyone with us."
"Fuck me, remember your identity—you're a poet! How can a poet be more charitable than a priest in the Holy City?"
Stonecrusher couldn't help but bristle with anger.
No matter how brawny he was, he knew this was simply impossible.
It wasn't rare for adventurers to be coldly regarded by nobles.
"Besides, not everyone in this small town is a good person. Even if you have a bleeding heart, not everyone will appreciate it!"
"No one can persuade a noble, so—"
Catherine hadn't expected that this outsider, who'd spent barely three days in the town all told, would actually want to lead all of Starberry Town's people in an escape?
This kindness of his seemed somewhat... naive.
But Tang Qi shook his head.
It was hard to say how much 'save the world' goodwill motivated this decision.
His past universal values did give him some compassion.
But this was more from a utilitarian angle—
If he achieved the feat of leading three hundred civilians to escape.
When everything was written in that [Journal]...
What kind of reward would he obtain?