Seventh: Volume 2, page 11
The second head couldn’t help snorting at that. “Says you.”
After checking that we were all prepared, Zelphy, Sophia, and I began walking toward the village. I could still hear my ancestors bickering in the back of my mind. Thanks to them, my mana was dropping, and I probably wouldn’t be able to use Arts for the rest of the day.
***
With the power of Sophia’s name behind us, we were able to gain entry to House Maini’s estate.
Their village was around five times the size of House Pagan’s settlement; almost like they’d cobbled several settlements together to make the whole. Their estate was similarly impressive.
House Pagan’s rules had seemed to be a bit on the lax side, but it was clear House Maini was run with a firmer hand. From the fearful way the villagers acted, I might even venture to say a harsh one. The moment the villagers heard we were guests of their lord, they cleared the way for us and bowed their heads—as if they were terrified of paying us even the slightest amount of disrespect. This level of propriety didn’t seem as if it was out of the ordinary for them; it seemed like this was just the way they were expected to live their lives.
The estate prepared water for us to wash off the grime of our travels, and once we’d cleaned up, we were let in to meet with the house’s head, Medard Maini.
Everything about Lord Medard seemed to be the complete opposite of Lord Dale. At a glance, he looked like a bad guy from a fairy tale. The lord appeared to be in his thirties; he had gray hair which curled away from his face, and a mustache which rested atop his upper lip. He was of average height, and a bit plump, but the suit he wore was perfectly tailored to his build. And his eyes...there was something quite dastardly about the look in them. If he’d been acting the part of a two-bit villain in a play, I would have clapped in appreciation.
Sophia greeted the lord with a smile. “It has been a while, Lord Medard.”
“I’m glad to see you’re doing well, Sophia,” the lord replied. He seemed to be aware of what had befallen her family, since a sorrowful look had come over his face. “As a fellow vassal knight, I don’t know how I could even begin to express...”
Sophia dipped her head slightly, looking at the floor. “Please, don’t worry yourself over it. The reality is, we were unable to protect the land given to us. House Laurie still has my uncle, so it’s not as if our lineage has died out entirely.”
Sophia’s uncle served the lord who was House Maini’s benefactor. This meant she wasn’t entirely without living relatives, but her uncle’s house was merely a branch of the central House Laurie, which had been her home. The head of her house had been killed by the bandits that had run rampant in the region, leaving devastated villages in their wake. Typically, Sophia or her husband would have inherited the title of head of House Laurie once her family had been killed, but their land had been revoked since they had been unable to do their duty and protect their territory.
Sophia’s lived quite a harsh life.
“That is certainly true,” the lord told Sophia. He then turned to me, his back straightening and his expression turning serious. He seemed to be struggling with something. “Now, as for why you’re here today... I’ve received a letter from your lord. He told me I should show you some consideration, Lyle. He also listed the names of several other nobles whom you have apparently placed in your debt. There seems to be quite a number.”
“Looks like returning all those items free of charge had quite the effect,” the third head said, sounding like he was having the time of his life. “Man, it sure is nice to do a good deed.”
When we’d defeated the bandits, the rights to all their treasure had gone to me, and I’d returned all the stolen goods to their owners for free. That was the reason Sophia had eventually come to Darion, wanting to join my party to pay back the debt she felt she owed me. It seemed my generosity was now securing my safety as well.
“Bentler, you old fox, you laid the groundwork already,” the seventh head said in a satisfied tone. “Though, if he hadn’t...”
I was curious what he was going to say after that, but decided I didn’t want to hear it. My ancestors had all been feudal lords at one time or another, and this meant they often made some rather radical statements when it came to anything that involved their past occupation.
I gave the lord an awkward smile. “I mean, all I did was drive some bandits out.”
“That alone would not put you in my lord’s favor,” Lord Medard replied. It seemed he understood enough about the situation to know my statement wasn’t to be believed. “As a vassal knight, I am obliged to obey the orders of my viscount. It seems your baron does not want to stir the pot.”
So, a viscount governs this region...
Regardless, I was impressed at how everything seemed to be going just as my ancestors had predicted.
My lack of reaction seemed to sour Lord Medard’s fun. “Were you already aware of all of this?” he asked.
“No,” I replied. “I just made an educated guess.”
Zelphy seemed impressed at my cunning. Sophia just cast her eyes back and forth between Lord Medard and me, not quite understanding what was going on.
“Ahem. To summarize,” Medard began, “my lord is telling us to stand down. Which is not in our best interest.”
As far as Lord Medard was concerned, one of his retainers had been killed, and he was being told to give up on pursuing House Pagan, who he suspected had committed the murder. He still wanted to avoid getting the benefactors of either of the two regions involved, however. Now, he was stuck with me—someone who he was indebted to—acting as a shield for House Pagan. He couldn’t even lift a finger.
“Well, it seems all was resolved the moment Lord Bentler sent Lyle here,” the third head said. “And they all lived happily ever after. The end.”
It didn’t seem like anything was resolved to me.
Then, Sophia asked Lord Medard, “Umm, sir... What exactly happened? House Pagan claims it has all been one-sided allegations.”
“One-sided?! They’re still insisting that?” The lord’s face turned grim.
Lord Medard pulled a letter from his pocket and presented it to Zelphy. Though the writing wasn’t the prettiest, the words were legible enough: The remains of your retainer lie within House Pagan’s territory.
Zelphy looked at the letter, then at Lord Medard. “What is this...?”
“It’s the letter that arrived at the village just when we were preparing to search for our missing retainer. I don’t know who sent it, but we sent an envoy to House Pagan right away. As it turned out, our retainer’s body really was in their territory.”
Zelphy hummed as she scratched her cheek in contemplation. “According to House Pagan, your envoy came as soon as they found the body.”
The air around Lord Medard changed. “He was an earnest guy. A hard worker, and a brave warrior. I saw the remains—he had suffered a terrible wound. Perhaps he was killed by a monster. But would a monster steal a human’s equipment?”
“Not usually,” Zelphy answered.
“Umm,” I cut in, “is it possible the equipment was taken postmortem? And the body was found after that...?”
“Those woods aren’t an optimal hideout for bandits,” Lord Medard replied. “Nor are the surrounding areas. Your baron regularly sends soldiers to exterminate any monsters or crooks hiding in the area. House Pagan might not think anything of it, but the baron has his own soldiers sent all the way out to their territory out of concern for the young lord.”
The second head’s impression of House Pagan appeared to be on a downward trend. “What? He’s always looked after that kid?! That changes the story a bit...”
“Now that you mention it, I do remember him dispatching soldiers to these parts,” said Zelphy.
Lord Medard nodded. “The baron’s soldiers came to me in order to explain the situation. Lord Bentler had told them to stay away from House Pagan’s settlement so they wouldn’t be a burden on their resources. With all that your lord has done for House Pagan, are you really still going to suggest that there are bandits in that forest?” The lord sighed. “I can’t deny the possibility that House Pagan just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. But they... House Pagan is not trustworthy. They could have spotted the body and carried it across the border and into their own settlement. I can’t imagine our man would have crossed the border himself.”
So, I thought. Lord Medard doesn’t believe that his retainer died inside House Pagan’s territory.
“But why would they go out of their way to move the body into their own territory...?” I wondered aloud.
Would there have been any point in that?
“Lyle, borders tend to complicate things,” the second head explained. “To a lord, each speck of their land is an asset that belongs to them and them alone. That includes monster materials and Demonic Stones. In normal circumstances, if the body of one of House Maini’s retainers was found inside someone else’s territory, then House Maini would be judged to be the aggressor. Since their retainer would have unlawfully invaded the land of another house, it would be thought that he brought his death upon himself.”
“Too complicated,” the founder grumbled. “Just choose some representatives to slug it out. That’ll set the record straight.”
That wouldn’t resolve anything...
“Why do you consider House Pagan to be untrustworthy?” Sophia asked Lord Medard.
“Two generations ago, the lords of Pagan and Maini often fought, though it never escalated to a skirmish,” he told us. Just recalling the matter seemed to irritate him. “They argued over rights to the forest and the river’s water. There were too many disputes to count. But that wasn’t the issue. The real problems came the generation after that.”
According to Lord Medard, Pagan’s previous head had approached his house to attempt to form a more favorable relationship. This hadn’t seemed out of the ordinary, as House Pagan’s lord had been attempting to forge connections with the other nearby lords as well. He’d proposed a plan to Lord Medard—a plan to install a highway through the forest between their two houses.
“The forest between our houses served as a sort of dividing wall. It prevented conflict, but it was also a place that housed monsters. It was a source of a great amount of damage to both of our houses, and we would have a lot more usable land if we cut part of it down. But...”
Since it would have been difficult for the two houses to maintain the roads and clear the forest land all by themselves, the previous Lord Pagan had asked Lord Medard to help collect funding for the venture. Both houses had gone to their benefactors and petitioned their neighbors for assistance...
“One look at the forest should tell you everything you need to know. The plan never went anywhere. House Pagan was only after the funding—nothing more, nothing less. All the favors we called in, all the soliciting we did... It ruined my reputation.”
The fourth head sighed. “Wow, that older Lord Pagan really screwed up, didn’t he?”
“Well, umm... The head of House Pagan has changed, and I don’t think Lord Dale carries after his father as far as money’s concerned...” Zelphy insisted in an apologetic tone.
“I know all that! But the kid who took over didn’t say a word to me! He hasn’t said a word to anyone! And even beyond that, I haven’t even begun to describe how awful the previous lord was... What was he thinking, taking his eldest son and the heads of his most influential houses off to war?! It has to be some sort of sick joke!”
The previous Lord Pagan had taken the entire core of his settlement to war—a group which had been chock full of talents irreplaceable to his house. As a result, many prominent figures within the house had lost their lives, including the lord himself and his eldest son.
What was he thinking...?
There had been an important plan laid out for the development of both their houses, but it would be no exaggeration to say House Pagan had brought it to a standstill.
“In a sense, you could say they self-destructed,” the third head said. He seemed suspicious of House Pagan’s actions. “Seeing how that little girl was serving as a representative, it seems they didn’t have any other heirs around to take over.”
“It definitely doesn’t seem like it,” the sixth head said, sighing. “I can understand why the head of House Maini thinks they’re mocking him. They sabotaged their own house; I can’t see it any other way.”
“Lord Medard, come to think of it, I remember you traveling around to various houses three years ago...”
“I had to apologize to all the lords who agreed to work with me on the road project. I got everything arranged so that kid could come with me, since I thought he’d have a hard time taking over House Pagan. But, that brat...”
Apparently, Lord Dale had refused to join Lord Medard when he’d gone to offer his apologies to the other lords. This was a surprise to me—Lord Dale had seemed like he was an earnest man.
“I knew it,” Sophia said, her eyes cast downward. “This is all House Pagan’s fault.”
Zelphy gave her a sympathetic look. “I get how you feel, Sophia, but you’ve gotta reel it in once we’re back over there.”
“Yes, that would be for the best,” Lord Medard replied. “Of course, we’re not going to back down so easily.”
The third head burst out laughing. “Ha ha ha! What a mess.”
What’s so funny about any of this?
“Uh-oh, Lyle’s making that face he does when he doesn’t understand something.”
They were right—I didn’t quite understand what was going on at this point. The circumstances surrounding the issue between House Pagan and House Maini had grown too complicated for me.
The second head sighed. “Don’t worry about it, Lyle. This is difficult stuff. For now, just make sure you grasp the main points. Also, drop by the Jewel when you can. I’ll explain what’s going on so you can understand it.”
I thought I was just supposed to be a shield...
That was when I decided I’d have to ask my ancestors to help me figure out what I was supposed to do, now that I was stuck in the midst of such a tangled web of issues.
After speaking with Lord Medard, we wound up staying the night at the Maini estate. I laid down in the bed of one of the guest rooms and sent my mind into the Jewel to where my ancestors awaited me, ready to explain what was going on with this territorial dispute.
“It seems like this whole thing is more complicated than it has to be, to be honest,” I told them.
The second head nodded. “That’s exactly right. For now, we should just make sure we’ve got the main points in order.”
Starting from the top...
The houses had already been on bad terms due to their shared border. Then a retainer of House Maini was killed and stripped of their equipment. The body had been found in House Pagan’s territory by two of their residents. Around the same time, a letter had been delivered to House Maini. When they’d followed up on the information within the letter, they’d found their deceased comrade. Now House Maini suspected House Pagan of the murder, while House Pagan denied any wrongdoing.
And so, the strained relationship between the two houses continued.
That much, I understand. But there are a bunch of other things I don’t quite get...
“So, you’re saying the fact he was stripped of his equipment isn’t that much of a problem.”
“That’s considered more of a personal problem than house business,” the third head explained, fiddling with his bangs. “The important part is which territory he died in. Medard said he was an earnest vassal who wouldn’t cross any borders, but there’s no telling what he was doing behind the scenes. The spectacular timing of that letter is quite suspicious as well. Who could have sent it?”
“Since the envoy arrived right after the body was found...” The founder cradled his head in his hands. “Someone musta sent it out a while before that, right? Who the hell coulda done that?!”
“If we knew that, we wouldn’t be getting so worked up over it,” said the second head. “I’m sure whoever wrote that letter to House Maini just left it somewhere conspicuous in the village.”
I thought this information over for a moment. Then the third head chimed in and explained some of the parts of the dispute I still didn’t get.
“Lyle, everything contained within a feudal lord’s territory is considered the lord’s personal property. That includes the monsters; the lord even has a right to their Demonic Stones and materials. Feudal lords tend to get pretty angry if you go off and start defeating monsters in their territory and dragging them away without their permission.”
“Err, so how does that work when it comes to me? Since I’m adventuring in Darion territory...?”
“Our dear Bentler would have sent the Guild his permission for you to adventure in the area. You end up paying a tax on the Demonic Stones, anyways, since you have to sell them to the Guild. That’s how it works in Darion. But that’s just limited to his territory; it may be different elsewhere, so you shouldn’t get too comfortable.”
A sudden realization hit me. “Then, if we defeat monsters while we’re journeying outside of Darion territory, do we have a duty to report it...?”
“Lyle...” the second head trailed off, then shook his head. “Don’t worry about that. If a monster attacks you, you’ve got no choice but to fight it. If you beat it, just sell the materials at your destination. It just gets annoying when you report every little thing. It causes more trouble than it’s worth. Just keep quiet about any monsters we come across during our travels. That sort of thing is totally different than if you’d set out monster hunting specifically to make a profit.”
I reassessed the dispute in light of this new information. Basically, in a case like this, Lord Medard would typically be considered the guilty party, since House Maini’s retainer had died while trespassing in another house’s territory. That didn’t quite make sense in this case, though, since Lord Medard swore his retainer would not have done such a thing. It was also doubtful that a passing bandit would have transported the body into House Pagan’s territory. It would be understandable if a bandit had stripped the body of its armor, but they would have no need to move it.
