101 – Strike-2

The atmosphere is bad. People’s faces are smeared with sorrow.

The merchant carrying the food sighed deeply. I went around the nearby villages and collected food, but the income was surprisingly low.

“If only it wasn’t for those rice worms…”

The soldiers who were excessively conscripted for the invasion of the demon king have yet to return home.

They were given a chance to meet with their families, but they were not allowed to return home. Farmers who had been trying to farm properly were stomping their feet.

The population that produces food has not changed, but the mouth has increased in an instant. Those who were grateful for the safe return of family and friends had to look at them with complicated eyes.

The lord took a lot of food to feed them. It’s not been a few months since they came back, so the problem hasn’t grown, but it’s not known how long they can last like this.

“You’re going to eat rice…”

The plain-faced man smiled bitterly while accepting the merchant’s words.

“Those mercenaries! If you’re going to work, do it, and if you’re not, then you’re just eating!”

In that situation, hundreds of mercenaries entered the village, so finding food became increasingly difficult.

There was still food left in the outer village, but the people inside the castle couldn’t afford it.

“But aren’t they all selling for money?”

“One of the attendants intervened and adjusted the price of the food to go to them.

The merchant grunted and pointed to some of the grain behind him.

“You can buy at least what’s over there. It’s not expensive. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a merchant who buys at full price.”

“thank you.”

The plain-faced man smiled and passed a considerable amount of gold coins into his hand.

“Are you going to move it yourself?”

“Ah, that’s why I had to tell you something… Can I buy you a carriage and some horses?”

“It’s a business fund. Ha, there’s nothing wrong with it. Now is the time to reduce the scale. Wagon, you can buy it from someone else later…”

The merchant let out a deep sigh. It felt like my flesh was being ripped apart when I thought of the amount of effort I had put into buying this wagon and horse to increase the size of the guild.

However, there was no work right now. The eyes of the aristocrats were also unusual. Rather than trying to hold on and selling it at a ridiculously low price, it was better to sell it for a reasonable gold coin now.

“It’s a thank you to me…but I’m worried, you said you’re a merchant too, right? It’s stupid to buy grain from such an expensive place. You’d rather bring things from somewhere else.”

“There weren’t many places where prices were cheap. I looked around, but most of the places were damaged by the demon king’s army…”

“What is visible is not everything. The head of the Weather family said he would wipe it all away, but what kind of things could there be? It was fine until that illegitimate son named Aaron came in.”

As the merchant continued to complain, the plain-faced man showed curiosity.

“Aaron?”

“Weather Aaron. Originally, the lord wasn’t the type to squeeze people, but after that girl came in, he started raising taxes little by little. In the end, what is this? Even though I don’t have to worry about making ends meet…”

“Something dangerous could happen.”

“Farmers turn into beasts who don’t know what to do when they’re hungry. The other day I went to sell grain in a poor harvest village…”

The wooden door opened violently. One of the staff at the upper level who hurriedly approached was gasping for breath.

“Can’t you see we’re talking about business!”

“It’s a big deal. People…”

Unlike the impatient-looking employee, the merchant joked without losing his composure.

“What the hell happened. Did the Demon King’s army show up? Oh, really. It’s only because there’s so much fuss…”

“Well, it seems so. The person who saw the group of skeletons…”

The merchant’s expression instantly contorted with fear.

/////

“An arrow found by an eyewitness.”

The captain of the guard slowly scanned the arrows placed in front of the desk.

“Surely, it’s been quite some time since our guards cleared the forest…”

“Because it was an order from above.”

In addition to the safety of the people of the territory and military training, the guards and standing troops of the territory would periodically subdue nearby forests and monsters.

If even goblins spread, they could form a group to endanger hunters or nearby residents, and bandits could gather and create wild plants to threaten merchants.

“Where did this…”

However, it was too reckless to act like that when the demon king appeared. It was difficult to guess how strong the beasts and goblins encroached upon by Magi would be.

“Explain the situation again.”

“The first reporter was a party of adventurers. It was a party of four, and they had their own careers.”

“Why did you go in?”

“It was about collecting herbs. They say they made a direct contract with the alchemist.”

It didn’t seem like I was doing too much work. Adventurers tended to minimize the mistakes they made, but it was a bit clumsy to plot something like this.

“They say they were attacked by unknown archers. However, it’s hard to find a monster that uses a bow like this…”

“Is it possible that he’s just a bandit?”

“They said they didn’t see a human form. Judging by the sound or traces, it didn’t sound like a human…”

The captain of the guard inspected the arrow carefully. No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t think of a workshop to make arrows like this.

“It was a dark night at the time of sighting, but they said it might be some kind of spirit body. They said they couldn’t hear any footsteps.”

Even though it’s so crude that it just looks like an orc or goblin without intelligence, some sections are surprisingly smooth and nimble.

“I wish I was a goblin.”

“They’re pretty well-shaped arrows. Wouldn’t it be dangerous if goblins learned how to make arrows like these?”

“Because it’s more dangerous when you’re not a goblin. Is there any possibility that you’re a centaur?”

“I said I couldn’t hear the sound of horses’ hooves… Considering their vision and range, I can’t rule it out.”

The case fell into a mystery again. The captain of the guard looked at the arrow with obsessive eyes.

“There’s no chance it’s a group of bandits.”

“They would rather use arrows stolen or stolen from somewhere.

An important task is ahead. The territory’s standing army and hired mercenaries could move tomorrow.

If you focus on useless things, the captain of the guard won’t be able to avoid being reprimanded by the higher ups.

“If you are a person who personally makes and uses arrows? Is there any possibility that you are an individual?”

“It was said that more than ten arrows were thrown at once. It was scattered here and there, and it was said that if they were a little unlucky, they might have been wiped out with just one shot.”

The guard’s expression darkened.

“shit…”

Few people can use arrows properly. It is different from a weapon like a spear that can be used for half a person if you hold it in front of you and do not run away.

If that’s the case with humans, orcs and goblins are worse off than that. If there were ten orc archers in that forest, it meant that there were at least a hundred orc fighters included.

“Hunters… Investigate not only this castle, but also the hunters in the nearby villages.”

“Are you grabbing it?”

“No, what they’re doing on the day of the incident, but what’s simply important is to find out if they actually exist where they are right now.”

“They’re not going to be easy to find because they’re often out of sight.”

He was not a hunter if he had a stable place to live with other people on a regular basis.

It was a common hunter’s behavior to suddenly leave for the forest, stay without a promise, and then suddenly return one day with game.

“If it disappeared, find out when it was last seen. Find out if there are any deserters among the archers of our territory.”

If there are armed forces in that forest, it could be a big hindrance ahead of the robbery.

“The salary is falling, and my parents are complaining about what the hell are they doing.

Gradually, there are signs of an accident. Civilians look at the guards with reluctance.

People were flocking to the slums, and private houses were emptying.

The captain of the guard became more and more depressed at the thought that something might really happen at this rate.

“Come to think of it, you look good these days…”

“Oh no!”

The guard, who was smirking alone, was startled and corrected his posture.

“Or not. What’s good?”

“I thought it was fortunate that I came in as an internal security guard!”

“Where were you originally from?”

“I was guarding the warehouse!”

“It’s tough there. Merchants with no conscience don’t organize anything properly… After all, we all have to move our luggage inside. It must be hot again these days, right?”

“It’s bearable!”

“Yes. Doing well.”

The guard didn’t even notice that the smell of alcohol was hard to get out of his mouth.