Chapter 25 / Prey or Predator
"There's an entry tax to this town."
"We're a group of merchants." Motoyasu pulled out the merchant's pass and flashed it to the townguard. "We're here to sell our products here."
"The tax imposed here is universal. There will be no argument."
"Huh? Wait, but we were told that—"
"Pay up or leave. If you're being difficult, we'll simply raise the price on you for compensation."
Motoyasu bit his lips, seeing how irregular this interaction had been. Ever since they got their merchant's pass from Riyute's governor, all he needed to do was to show it to the guards that the group would be let through without any problems, occasionally letting the guards inspect their wares.
Eclair leaned in to Motoyasu, whispering under her breath. "I would suggest that we comply. It is not as if we are lacking in coins, so we shouldn't be pulling attention to ourselves if possible."
"Don't worry," he whispered back. "I was already planning on paying up."
Motoyasu handed the guard the appropriate amount, but there were no manners given back. The guard merely scoffed and gestured to the others to let the carriage through. Peering through the window, Itsuki frowned, but he kept his words to himself.
Compared to the other towns, this place felt more quiet. There were just as many folks roaming the place, but it looked as if they were simply trying to get from one place to another quickly. It was as if they were on edge about something, but Itsuki could certainly tell that the atmosphere wasn't normal. Not even the people of Lerno had such tenseness to the air.
"This place doesn't look like it needs the entry tax," Motoyasu said.
"Compared to Riyute, of course," Naofumi mentioned. "The first time I arrived there, the town was exhausted of its main economic supply. And then once more, after the wave occurred, we saw the villagers actively trying to rebuild their village."
"There doesn't appear to be any of that here," Raphtalia pointed out, as Sakura pulled the carriage through the streets slowly. "Aside from the mood, it doesn't look like there's anything wrong here."
"Though, the tax was even higher here compared to Riyute," Motoyasu sighed, gesturing with an act of emptying a wallet. "If there's nothing wrong with this place, why do they need a higher tax on entry? It doesn't make any sense."
"I don't ever recall Errnthon having such taxes when I was here with a few other knights, but I've only been to this town once during my line of duty. Things might have changed due to the waves of destruction."
"You say that, but there hasn't been a wave of destruction nearby." Ren asked. "If the first wave happened at Raphtalia's village, followed by Riyute, that doesn't leave any room for there to be a wave nearby this town."
Eclair grimaced. The corners of her turned downwards as she bit down on her lips.
"I'm not sure myself. It is highly irregular for there to be an entrance tax under conditions like this. Under normal circumstances, I would like to have this matter looked into."
"Not much you can do if you're not a knight anymore," Ren commented. His legs were kicked up onto the crates, letting himself relax in such a posture. "Besides, we managed to enter without getting into more problems, right? That's already good enough for us."
"Of course," Eclair said, peering back into the carriage. "I should still keep note of this for when we meet the queen. She will be able to get to the bottom of this, but for now, I advise everyone to not look deeper into this matter. We have our own issues to solve, first and foremost."
Motoyasu guided Sakura to bring the carriage over to the nearby inn.
After getting everything sorted out, he had her bring the carriage over to the stables. It left the others to go find a room. Considering the tax problem on entry, Naofumi figured it wasn't worth the value in paying for everyone's toll for their experience gains. That did, however, hinder some of their plans for the rest of their day, but they still had their strengthening methods to work on.
Perhaps it was good to take a break. They've been traveling for a while and whenever they were resting in a town, it was as if they were still putting in time to work on themselves. He suggested the idea to the others after getting the keys to their rooms in the lobby, leaving Ren to scratch his head.
"Taking a break? I mean…" Ren sighed. "It's not as if I'm disagreeing with you, since there's nothing else we should be doing right now."
"I suppose we haven't had much time to ourselves," Itsuki pondered. "You don't think there's something to do in the town, is there? If only I had some of my instruments back home…"
As Ren and Itsuki both wondered what their definition of a break without their personal items on hand really constituted, Eclair shook her head. "While I do appreciate the thought, I'm personally doing an increasing training regime. A break for myself is not needed."
"Oh, could I join?" Raphtalia asked.
"Of course. The opportunity is alway open."
Motoyasu and Sakura, in her human form, returned to the group, hand in hand. He went ahead and asked that the plans were to be debriefed on Naofumi's idea. Almost immediately, Motoyasu turned around to get started on it. Naofumi was not expecting Motoyasu to already have plans so quickly.
"Where are you heading already?"
"Taking my break, obviously! I'm going sightseeing with Sakura around town!"
"Sightseeing?" Sakura tilted her head.
"Yeah! We'll see what type of nice places that this town has to offer! It'll be fun! We can even go around and see if they have any delicious food around."
"But Sakura likes food made by Daddy and Naofumi."
"I know, but sometimes, it's also great to go out and spend some time expanding your taste buds and all. Perhaps you'll find something that you'll like, then maybe Naofumi and I can go ahead and recreate it for you."
"Ooooh…" At that suggestion, Sakura's eyes were almost sparkling. Having an expanded menu did sound great for someone with an appetite like hers.
"We'll have a nice stroll together, so let's go!"
"Okayyy!"
Even so, Sakura looked more excited to be spending some more time with her father.
"Those two are starting to become quite inseparable…" Ren commented from the side.
"Motoyasu looks like he's happy, and Sakura appears the same," Naofumi said, wryly laughing. "I'd say we won't need to worry much about it."
Itsuki raised an eyebrow. "I mean, you say that, but…"
"Come on, Sakura. I'll carry you on my back." Motoyasu crouched down and turned away from Sakura, as he looked over his shoulder to beckon her over. "Pulling the carriage for a while must make your feet sore. If I do this, you can relax and enjoy yourself at the same time."
"But Sakura isn't tired… Pulling the cart is relaxing for Sakura."
"Could you guys, like, lower your voice a bit…?" Ren scowled as he checked around them for anyone in the lobby that might have been eavesdropping. "I would rather not be approached by people, being asked why we're making a little girl pull a cart…"
"Yeah, but wouldn't it be more fun to go around like this?" Motoyasu asked, completely ignoring Ren's comment. "You can see things from a higher perspective too!"
"More fun…" Sakura nodded. "Okay, Sakura wants to have more fun with Daddy!"
"He's weirdly insistent on that," Itsuki said. "I know Motoyasu is treating Sakura as his kid, but I never thought that he was this type of doting parent."
"Or maybe a helicopter parent," Ren added. "He doesn't like letting Sakura out of his sight, after all, choosing to keep her close no matter what. Who knows? Maybe this will be good for him, requiring him to be a responsible adult for once in his life to be a role model for Sakura."
"Thank goodness that's how you two are seeing it," Naofumi followed, accidentally letting his real thoughts slip out for a moment. He turned his head immediately away as Itsuki and Ren scrunched their eyebrows at the haphazard comment.
"Huh?"
"What?
"Hmm?"
Luckily, they didn't understand what he meant by that.
As Sakura hopped onto Motoyasu's back, Naofumi could see a hint of ecstasy creeping up on the corners of his friend's smile. Of course, he was worried, but there wasn't any danger for Sakura at all. Naofumi trusted Motoyasu to not let his urges overwhelm his senses, but perhaps his parental instincts had kicked out that special fixation of his.
Although, maybe not.
Motoyasu was breathing heavily once Sakura pressed herself against him and wrapped her arms around his neck, which probably worried Naofumi more. For now, he'll turn the other cheek because if he wasn't seeing it, it might help alleviate some of the mental gymnastics.
"Is something wrong, Master Naofumi?"
"No, I'm… I'm fine."
He wasn't sure how much longer he could dance around that subject matter before everyone started getting suspicious. Naofumi never thought that lying was one of his specialities, after all.
"I think I need a quick nap."
"Don't sleep for too long."
"I'm making dinner, so I shouldn't be in the first place."
Naofumi left for his room, letting Raphtalia and Eclair to head off for some additional training as usual. It left Ren and Itsuki remaining in the lobby. Ren was thinking that Naofumi had the right idea and for now, maybe it was a good time to rest. He would do that after doing the usual scout of the city for more weapons to copy, so he started making his way over to the exit.
However, Itsuki grabbed his wrist before he was able to take a second step.
"Hold on a minute."
"What do you want?"
Itsuki released his grip, prompting Ren to leer over his shoulder.
"Do you have a moment?"
"What? Do you want to go on a scenic walk of the city like Motoyasu and Sakura too?"
Itsuki nodded. "In a way, I suppose so. Can you come along with me?"
"You know that was supposed to be a joke, right?"
Ren tried to be transparent about it, but Itsuki's expression remained serious. With a heavy sigh, Ren wasn't absolutely certain what was on his friend's mind, but he might have a good idea of it. Being someone who liked to go off by himself, he wasn't a huge fan of being dragged by others, but for certain individuals, he was always willing to make an exception.
"... I guess we're heading on a walk then."
"Thanks."
-/IV/-
No matter where Ren looked, the people were more reserved in their movements. Their eyes only focused on what had been in front of them, disregarding any other distractions around them. It wasn't as if they were acting like robots or under some type of mind control, since some of them would briefly look over to the heroes' direction.
Perhaps it was the masks that Itsuki requested him to wear as they traveled down the streets, pulling some interest over to them. Itsuki kept looking forwards into the preconceived issue before them. Something told the Sword Hero that this walk was going to be more problematic than what it was worth.
"You've noticed it too, right?"
Itsuki's voice called out quietly, as if not to disturb the people around him, but his breath was held inwards as well. Ren gave another glance around as he responded.
"You're better off ignoring it for now. I already said that entering the town was good enough back with the others, but I guess I failed to imply that it's all we should be doing."
"Given the atmosphere of the town and the guards at the front, I think there's something up with the town." Itsuki clenched his fist. "As if there's evil hiding in the shadows here."
"You don't have anything more than a feeling."
"That's why I want to make my own investigation into the matter."
"I don't think it's a good idea."
Ren stopped his pacing, forcing Itsuki to stop and turn his shoulder at his friend. They both narrowed their eyes at each other, spurring their own atmosphere of tension.
"Out of everyone in the group, I thought you would be the one that understood the most."
"I'm simply weighing the choices and if something doesn't bring us closer to our overall goal safely, that is to meet the queen, then I don't find it needed." Ren bit his lips briefly. "I was against going over to Lerno, remember?"
"This is important too, you know."
"Then we can leave it after we get our names cleared. There's little reason as to why we should be doing this now of all times. In fact, it's probably more dangerous to act with how things are."
Itsuki gritted his teeth, scoffing.
"You're purposely ignoring that caveat. If evil is occurring here," Itsuki said as he held up his clenched fist to his chest, "then every moment we leave this standing, more people will suffer. Don't make me recall the entire problem with that whole slavery bullshit in Melomarc."
The sight of seeing the caged demi-humans suffering in Beloukas' tent had been making Itsuki's spine shiver again, as well as the basement prison of Rabier's estate.
"If we do something about an evil we can reach and defeat, we'll be saving people from their future pains and miseries." Itsuki's arm fell to his side, as his eyes gazed downwards to the cobblestone streets. "I don't understand why I am saying this to you. This is something you already understand."
"I have my priorities. Even if people may be suffering, I have to make sure my friends are kept safe first and foremost." Ren continued his walk, moving right past Itsuki. "And besides, you're still making assumptions here from very little information. How would you even know people are suffering?"
"That's why we need to go around and look for information," Itsuki said, following Ren.
"And do you have any ideas as to how you should be doing that?"
"Not really…" Itsuki scratched his head. "I was actually thinking about walking down the streets to see if I can pick up anything suspicious."
Ren needed to sigh, but he kept it inside him. It wasn't as if he didn't expect Itsuki to want to help first before figuring out how he should go about it.
Being an ally of justice was more difficult than Itsuki would think.
"You know that you only have a limited amount of time, right? We'll be out from Errnthon the next morning, so you can't bank on wandering the streets, hoping to see anything out of the ordinary."
"What else would you suggest?"
Ren held his chin. "To take a page from Motoyasu's book, we might be able to find what we need at a tavern. If it worked so well for Motoyasu, I don't see why it wouldn't be a good place to check for us."
"Okay, but Motoyasu is a natural in social situations like that. I mean, I think I can manage for myself without looking too suspicious, but what are you going to do?"
"Loiter."
Itsuki sighed. "Man, you could at least buy something to make yourself look less suspicious."
"Nothing expensive," Ren grunted."
They asked around as to where the nearest tavern had been, being pointed to its general direction.
None of the villagers ever thought to stop them from going, seeing how they didn't look like they were the drinking age, but it was only another layer as to how much people didn't really care. Perhaps it was because they were dressed up in adventurer's outfits that people didn't stop them, thinking the two teenagers were old enough to take care of themselves.
Ren and Itsuki arrived at the tavern with the sun still hanging over the horizon, ready to fall past it. This was likely the prime time for folks who were starting to make their rounds of drinking, but when they entered, it wasn't as packed as they would have liked it.
Attention grew onto them from a few wayward eyes before returning back to their own drinks and meals. Itsuki nodded to Ren to make sure that he was following closely, as well as trying to indicate to him that he shouldn't be talking.
If Ren hadn't been acting cold as his first interaction with a stranger, he was going to mess up his sentences. Knowing this for himself, Ren was going to leave communications to his friend.
"Come get me if there's a problem. I'll probably get a small meal."
"Don't forget that Naofumi is making dinner."
Ren shrugged as he grabbed a seat off to a secluded part of the tavern.
A waitress came over to provide Itsuki with the menu when he sat down, only for Itsuki to remember that he still couldn't read. He was wondering how he was going to get information and make some small talk in this manner, but he decided to wing it. Motoyasu would probably go ahead and ask for a recommendation for something light if he were to be in his position.
"Hey, bartender." His comment pulled the attention of the man behind the bar. "Do you have something light on the menu to drink?"
"It's all listed on the menu. Read it yourself."
Obviously, Itsuki was sweating a bit, biting down his lips to restrain his screaming. In his mind, he could have the possibility of admitting he was illiterate, but the disparity of his appearance of an adventurer might garner some unwarranted questions. Of course, most adventurers have to be literate in order to understand what jobs they're taking off the guild's request board.
(Okay, maybe I can still wing myself through this one…)
When Itsuki glanced down to the menu again, all he could see were scribbles. There were no pictures, only a description as to what each item was underneath its name. Itsuki's internal screaming became loud enough that Ren could see it on his face from across the room.
"I didn't think this would have been the problem…"
With a heavy sigh, Ren sat up from his seat after ordering his meal and walked up to the bartender. He tapped the wooden surface to get the man's attention.
"The Northern Sunset…"
Ren tried to decipher his thoughts into a workable dialogue option, but all he could figure out was saying the drink Itsuki should have been getting. A bit of a pause occurred as Ren's mind buffered and the bartender blinked in confusion.
Ren readjusted his mask, as if it was about to fall out from embarrassment.
"What about it?"
"... It's a… nice drink, isn't it?"
Two boys walked into a bar, one incapable of reading and one incapable of making small conversation with strangers. From the sound of it, it would have appeared to be a setup for a punchline somewhere, but all that happened in reality was a very awkward moment between everyone there.
Ren gulped, trying to retain his composure by turning to Itsuki.
"If you're having trouble deciding what to drink, I recommend the Sunset Northern."
"Northern… Sunset, you mean?"
"That's what I said, right?"
Itsuki really wanted to laugh, but the bartender raised his eyebrow, glancing between the two of them. Thankfully, he didn't say much about it.
It was only when Ren returned to his seat for him to realize that he could have simply walked up as himself. There was nothing suspicious about two friends sitting with each other for a meal or a drink. He slammed his head onto the table, leaving Itsuki to hold in his amusement.
"I suppose I'll get the Northern Sunset."
Luckily for them, the bartender didn't seem to care much about the little act. He immediately went on to work on the drink and after a few minutes, the concoction was already in front of Itsuki. He took a small sip of it and while it did have an unusual taste, it was something he could finish.
"The tavern's a bit empty compared to the other towns I've been to," Itsuki said, opening up with some small talk to ease into the topic of the town's circumstances. "Around this time, people would already be coming in."
"Business has been slow."
The bartender's eyes glanced away and said nothing else. It caused Itsuki to falter a little, but it wasn't anything he could handle.
"Was it because of the recent events of the waves that was stirring business up?"
"It's nothing you should be concerning yourself with." A bit of annoyance grew from the bartender's voice. "I shouldn't be talking about subject matters like that to folks like you anyways."
"Does it have to do anything with that tax I had to pay on entry to this town? I'm a bit annoyed that even as a part of a merchant's group, they still bothered to charge us the tax."
"You would be best not to express those feelings out on the streets, especially when they've got patrol guards moving about." The bartender slammed his hand on the surface, glaring at Itsuki. "And you better not mention that under this roof again or else I'll have to kindly ask you to leave."
"What?" Itsuki frowned, becoming a bit sour from the seemingly unwarranted reaction. "I'm not trying to make problems here."
"Yeah, and I don't want any problems here either." The bartender leaned off from the bar to clean a few glasses off to the side. "I'm already running tight as it is…"
The doors of the tavern opened as the patrons glanced over. However, they turned back to their own business the moment they noticed the uniforms of the guards heading in. Itsuki quickly counted them, forming a squadron of four people.
Itsuki stirred his drink a bit, trying to pay no further attention to the guards, but he didn't think he had done anything noteworthy for them to approach him. As his thoughts settled, it was revealed that Itsuki was not the person that they were looking for.
"We're here to collect the taxes."
"I… I thought I had another week."
"You remembered wrong. Now, where's the payment?"
The bartender was sweating behind the counter. "I… I don't have it. I need another week, please!"
"You think our services and the job of the governor runs cheap? You've already missed two payments on your taxes and we were lenient enough to let it slide, but that interest is building up. You wouldn't want something horrible to happen to your tavern, do you? A few bandits come in and mess up your place, just because you underpaid your taxes and us guards can't be there to help you out."
"Please! I can… I can pay it now, but…!"
"That's what I like to hear." The leading guard smirked, leaning over the counter. "Hand the payment over. Maybe you'll have enough to cover your interest, but you still have your actual payment to take care of."
Begrudgingly, the bartender opened up his cash, like he was getting robbed out in the open, and started to count up the coins. Right down to the empty space, everything was taken and placed into a bag. It was given to the guard who merely counted it up and laughed.
"Looks like you'll still be building up some interest for next month. How pitiful."
"Business has been running dry lately. I can't run a business under these conditions…"
"Huh?" The guard handed the bag of money to another, scowling at the bartender. "What part of this is my problem? All I'm doing is my job here and you should be doing your job as well. It's clear to me that only one of us is doing it properly here."
"Gruh…"
"Got something else to say?"
"No…" The bartender shrunk down, trying to hide himself. "Nothing…"
With a satisfied smirk, the guards started walking away.
"Yeah, I suppose you are the one that's not doing their job properly."
However, the guards stopped when Itsuki spoke loud enough. He could see the fear stricken in the bartender's eyes and he could hear the footsteps returning over to where they were, but only this time, they were actually coming for him.
"It looks like we've got a newcomer here in Errnthon. Seems like he hasn't heard of the rules here." The leading guard slammed his hand on the table next to Itsuki, but the incognito hero paid little attention to it. "You don't disrespect the guards, the people who keep the townsfolk safe from any harm here."
"Keeping them safe?" Itsuki swirled his drink a bit in his hand. "From what it looked like, it was more like you're bullying them into giving you guys more money."
"Get a load of this guy." The leading guard showed up before his comrades, as they all laughed at Itsuki. The laughter died down as the guard's voice started growling, pulling his face closer to Itsuki for intimidation. "Hey, kid. Do you know what happens to folks that try to cross us?"
Gently, Itsuki placed down his drink to make sure his mask was on tight.
"Something like this?"
Almost immediately, Itsuki grabbed the glass and tried to smash it against the guard's face, but the holy weapon read his intention and zapped him. It inadvertently crushed the glass between his hands. It managed to spook the guard though, causing him to back up a bit.
"Breaking the property of others? It's these types of hooligans that we're paid to defend the town from." The other guards started to surround Itsuki from the other angles. "We'll make sure you'll find yourself snug inside one of our jail cells."
One of the guards approached Itsuki to handcuff him, but his arm pulled away violently and bounced back, striking the guard to stagger. He used the moment to jump off the seat and kick the guard into a stray table, flipping it over in their crash.
The other guards hesitated, trying to figure out what just happened as Itsuki scoffed at them.
"As if evil has any power against me, an ally of true justice."
The guard clicked his tongue and demanded the other two guards to get their hands dirty in his steed. They swung their fists at Itsuki, but he dodged out of the way, thinking they were slow.
Itsuki retaliated with single strikes of his own. They were able to block for themselves, but they were rinsing and repeating their previous attacks. An arm flew right back Itsuki, but he grabbed it and used the weight to throw the guard over his shoulder. A hard slam onto the ground echoed in the tavern.
Itsuki blocked another stray punch while recovering, responding with a kick. Another incoming strike returned from the backside, but Itsuki twirled around and answered with a fist before he ran into them, shouldering them into the wall. The other two guards got back up to help, but Itsuki pushed back the first one.
The second guard grabbed a stray bottle from behind the counter and wagged it in his hand, holding it by the neck. He winded up to smash Itsuki with it, but Itsuki grabbed the wrist as it came down on him, letting out of the bottle. He carried the momentum of the guard to throw him over to the wall.
No matter how many times the guards tried to get up and fight back, Itsuki was knocking them back off their feet, but he didn't pay attention to where the bottle had dropped. As he moved around, Itsuki accidentally stomped on the half broken bottle and rolled himself backwards. His footing slipped and he stumbled backwards for one of the guards to restrain him.
The other two guards pulled didn't their punches, blatantly assaulting Itsuki to weaken him down a few notches as their leader laughed.
"Ally of justice? Big talk for someone so weak."
A light tap against the leader's shoulder pulled his attention away as he looked over.
"I could say the same thing to you."
A straight punch collided with the leader's face. Stunned, his assailant followed up with two quick kicks to push him off balance even more before sending him flying through the tavern with a reverse roundhouse. Over a table and into another, basically splitting the furniture in half, as the leader was put in a painful daze as to what just happened. He looked up to see that a black-haired boy with a similar mask had joined the fight, not knowing when he had approached from the back.
The others were distracted by the sight, giving Itsuki the chance to smash the back of his head into the jaw of the restraining guard. He released his grip, letting Itsuki flip him over towards the other guards. Their bodies crashed into one another as their leader slowly stood back up.
"What the hell? So you're with that idiot, huh!?"
Ren watched as the guard drew his sword in aggravation. Jumping backwards and evading without fault, his attacks were too slow to hit Ren, but he didn't even bother drawing his own sword. He merely stepped out of the sword's way every time. That blade ended up ravaging the shop more and more from their wildly blind swings.
"So much for breaking the property of others," Ren sneered. "Doesn't this make you part of the same hooligans you talked down on?"
"Shut up already! You're pissing me off!"
Avoiding another thrust, Ren leapt onto the counter as the sword impaled itself into the side. The leader didn't have time to pull it out. Ren kicked him in the face before he could react, causing him to let go of the sword.
Ren then landed on the ground, kicking him right back to the entrance. The leader collapsed on the ground, clawing for his breath during the one-sided fight.
"I think it's best if you guys get out of here."
Over on the other side of the tavern, the three guards have been on the ground after Itsuki beaten them to a pulp. None of them had serious injuries, except for their pride for which it took a heavy crack.
The three guards, knowing they bit off more that they could chew, got back up and retreated to their leader. Carrying him by hanging his arms over their shoulders, all the leader could do as he was taken away was scowl at the two apparent adventurers.
"You two are going to regret crossing us!"
"That's not a line that should be said by the guards," Itsuki sighed, walking up to Ren's side. "You guys should be more focused on protecting people. This merely reveals your true nature as scumbags. Wait until a higher authority hears about this."
The leader smirked and laughed. "You really think I'm the one in danger here. As I said, all I'm doing is my job and that's all it is."
With that vague pretense, the guards escaped the tavern before Itsuki could inquire more about what he meant. He could possibly chase after them, but something told him that it would likely be in vain.
Besides, that was more of an enough hint for Itsuki to start piecing things together.
However, the surroundings had been an absolute mess. Tables were flipped or broken, things that were on top of them had fung all over the place, and damages were high where they had fought.
Luckily, no civilians were hurt, but the bartender looked very nervous in seeing what had become of his business. Itsuki was about to ask if the bartender was okay, but his thoughts were crossed by an immediate shout.
"Get out of my tavern!"
"Huh? We just helped you!"
Itsuki was in disbelief. He came into the defense of the bartender, even finding that the guards had dropped the bagged money they were going to take along with them as 'tax payment'. They were fighting in the name of justice against the crooks that called themselves as guards, but all the guy had to show for it was a reddened face.
"Does that look like you helped me?! If anything, you caused more problems for me! You might have done something decent now, but they're going to be returning back here with a disdain for me! If that happens, I'll be absolutely ruined!"
"But we—"
"Get out already!"
Itsuki was stunned, slowly looking over to the other patrons of the tavern. He would be imagining that they would be cheering on for the justice and protection he provided for the bartender, but no one was even happy about it. In fact, they all looked scared or sorry for the bartender, more so looking agitated by the actions of the two incognito heroes.
Itsuki didn't know what else to say, but Ren tugged on his tunic.
"Let's get out of here. No point hanging around here any longer."
"Yeah…" Itsuki sighed, dragging his feet behind Ren as they left from the exit. "I guess so…"
Once they were out on the streets, it looked as if a commotion was stirring around. The sight of beaten-up guards exiting a tavern was making headlines for the folks who noticed it as it happened.
Ren suggested for them to keep their heads low and quickly move out from the area before returning back to a normal pace. All Itsuki could feel was frustration building up inside his heart.
"We helped him, didn't we? How did that guy not see something so obvious!?"
"Leave it alone, Itsuki," Ren sighed. "Don't dwell too much on it. Were you able to gather some information before picking a fight like that?"
"I wasn't picking a fight."
Itsuki's hand closed in on itself.
"I was defending him in the name of justice."
"And the information?" Ren clarified, trying to get Itsuki's head back on track.
Itsuki bit his lips.
"Nothing. I wasn't able to get anything out from the bartender. He was very untalkative, but considering how power-hungry those knights were, I'd say his mood was reasonable." He held a thumb softly against his own lips in contemplation. "If most of the other guards were like the ones at the gate and the tavern, we might actually have something though."
Itsuki echoed the last words the leader said before he was dragged out by his comrades. He wasn't sure what exactly he meant by the fact that he wasn't the one in danger. However, that was the response that was given when Itsuki threatened to report to the higher authorities.
"The guards wouldn't simply start taxing people out of their own volition, especially not in an organized manner like this. Taxes at the front, taxes at the back…"
"You think the governor has something to do with it?" Ren thought about it for a bit before nodding. "Makes sense. I guess that makes sense if they're the one to be making these regulations."
"They have to be up to no good. Either that, or they have quite the explaining to do."
"So you want to go confront the governor as it is?"
"I want to check out the area where the governor lives, at the very least."
Itsuki picked up his pace. It left Ren to check the time by looking up at the sun's position. Being cut in half by the horizon, they wouldn't have much time left until they had to come back to have dinner with Naofumi and the others.
Ren heavily sighed.
"This is one hell of a walk we're on."
-/IV/-
"Please! Please let us meet with our daughter!"
"Entitled idiots! Again, the answer is no! Go away now!"
"We already gave you the money you requested!"
"It was only enough to cover the interest you've been accumulating. You haven't even broken a single dent into the original payment we requested from you."
"Wait! That's not what we agreed on!"
"How about you get out of here!? If you don't have the money, you better not show yourselves! That's final! Leave! You're blemishing the sight of the governor's mansion with your mere presence!"
Itsuki and Ren paused as they approached the gates of the governor's manor.
There were people arguing in front of them and as the heroes came closer, they were able to distinguish the details of the ones that were trying to go against the guards. At first glance, Itsuki thought they were a well-dressed couple in their forties, but on a second inspection, their clothes were roughly worn. He assumed they were some sort of laborers based on that.
"I wonder what's going on," Ren pondered.
"Let's go check it out," Itsuki responded. "It looks like they're begging for something."
The guards pushed the man away from the gate and onto the ground. They laughed as he closed it on them, leaving the man to scramble onto his feet for a final desperation. He tried to get through, managing only to grab the gates' bars in sorrow and despair.
As much as his fingers held on, they were starting to slip away as his head hung against the metal. His wife was sobbing behind him, walking up slowly to the gate to try and reach out into the manor. As if something precious was still inside.
"Excuse me?"
The couple looked over to Itsuki with tears still on their faces, but they tried to wipe it away in order to talk with him. Ren simply hung back with his arms crossed and his back leaning against the manor's outer wall.
"Yes…?" the woman responded, a bit bewildered.
"What's happening here? It looks like you've got quite the problem."
"Who… Who are you to ask?" the man questioned, swallowing his tears down.
"Nobody particularly special, we're both just a pair of nosey adventurers."
"Don't drag my name into this," Ren muttered under his breath.
Itsuki ignored Ren's comment.
"Well then, you probably don't need to worry about it. You're already kind enough to approach us to see if we're alright, but I don't want to pull strangers into our problems."
"The reason why I approached you two was because I couldn't ignore the situation here. Why don't I take you over to a tavern—"
"—after what happened just now, not exactly the wisest move—"
"—back to the inn I'm staying at," Itsuki quickly fixed himself thanks to Ren's quick correction, "and you can tell me what's going on?"
The husband and the wife looked at each other, almost like they were a bit suspicious of the sudden help that conveniently came over their way. Itsuki's intentions were entirely pure, feeling like there was some sort of injustice at play here. If they pursue this problem, they may understand about the governor and the issue with the town.
"You understand that… we have nothing to offer you, right?"
"I'm actually looking for information, so if you have anything to provide, even the slightest of it, it would be enough payment for me."
"Information…? What does he…?"
"I don't think he's going to leave until we tell him about it…"
The couple murmured with each other, trying to make sense of the situation.
"It's probably not the best to keep a conversation here in front of the governor's manor here." Itsuki glared at the visible doors to the building past the gates. "Come on, we don't have much light in the day to waste here."
"Are you sure we should be sticking our noses in their business?"
Ren's question dawned, but that wasn't what Ren was really asking. The actual thing Ren was asking about was if he was fine with letting the others know about what they're doing here, since this was probably the opposite of laying low.
However, Itsuki trusted that Naofumi and Motoyasu would be able to see reason and try to help the couple out with their problems and if that extended to confronting the governor, then so be it.
"Why don't you join us for dinner as well? We can talk during the meal."
"Are you sure about that?" the husband asked.
"If I wasn't sure, I wouldn't have asked. Don't worry, I'll tell my friend in charge of cooking to make two more portions to accommodate. I'm sure he won't mind."
As Itsuki doubled-down on the offer, Ren could only close his eyes in resting preparation for what's to come. Something told him that things weren't going to go as simple as Itsuki was thinking it to be. All he could do now was to watch from the sidelines and hope everything doesn't crash downwards.
-/IV/-
The couple had been a part of a noble family from a nearby territory and as such, they were tasked with the role of a governor to their people living on those grounds. It was nowhere near the value of other towns, being a bit of a poor place in relativity, perhaps even being called a mere village by some, but all of the citizens there would say that it was a very peaceful place. Even the couple, the supposed governors, were living in a farmhouse, rather than a manor like the other governors, but they didn't mind it too much. As much as difficulties were commonplace there, nothing too severe occurred that couldn't have been tackled with the community helping out each other.
They originally weren't too deep like that, but as decrees from Melromarc came out, the couple found themselves disagreeing with many of what the capital wanted them to do. Most of it violated their personal views, wanting to regard more of the same peacefulness rather than to spread more of whatever agenda the capital wanted to push onto them, but they knew it would come at a cost.
Slowly, the capital chipped away at the power and authority that the couple had. The seats that they held to have a voice in the matter crumbled into pieces, giving them no place to input their own opinions. It came to a point where fees for being defiant with the orders started to pile up and as the couple paid more and more, they started losing a grip with their position and status.
In the eyes of the capital, they were nothing, but it didn't matter to them. The people of their territory still respected and loved them, refusing to surrender their governors for anyone else on the capital's council. It was very fulfilling, living alongside folks, even if they had to become poor. As long as they were happy, they didn't mind it. Having friends was enough for them.
Lately though, their land was found to be a target for sabotage. Buildings were damaged and crops were ruined overnight. Thefts were reported in ramping frequency and con men started to pile up on the streets. They wanted to take more measures against it, but there was very little space for them to move around with their funds. They were using their money in order to cover the damages, but that drained the last of their savings.
Nevertheless, they still didn't mind. For the couple, the residents of their territory were like their treasure, so they put everything down in order to give them their safety.
Though, the hardships weren't ending even after their funds did. One day, the merchants stopped visiting their territory. Usually, they would stop by on their way over to other towns, but those numbers gradually decreased until they weren't seeing a single new person coming through the town, even for a rest at the inn. Whatever crops and wares they had to sell were no longer viable, given that they couldn't induce any outside influence with monetary transactions.
Life grew harder as the days passed. Nothing was getting better.
When the waves started to show up, their territory, while not being directly attacked by the monsters, had still been feeling the lasting effects. Crops got even worse and people were starting to become sick. It took everything they had left simply to stay alive at that point.
News of their suffering apparently caught along the wind. The governor of this territory came by to check up on things and even proposed help to them. For the services of lending money and appointing guards to their territory in order to push them back into a reasonable place, the governor wanted their sole daughter to serve his house, but the tone made sound like he wanted to make her one of his slaves.
Of course, the couple refused, chasing the governor away.
The very next day, the number of incidents increased dramatically. Burglaries were constantly coming, damages were covering their buildings, and even lives were lost in the pursuit of those matters. The village stayed in fear for a short while before a bunch of adventurers came by helping to push the bandits away. They thought they would have been thankful for their generosity, thinking it was out of their own kindness that they saved them.
Not much longer after that, a notice came from the adventurer's guild, telling the couple that they had to pay for the request they submitted. Not only did they not have any money to provide, but they didn't have any recollection of submitting a request in the first place. They wouldn't have done such a thing, especially when they were hurting financially.
It turned out that the governor had been the one to input the request, posing as them in order to tie their arms behind their backs. He came back the following day and demanded once more for their daughter and this time, they had no other choice. With the adventurer's guild wanting its payment, they left the governor to pay in their steed while giving him their daughter.
The governor also left a bit of money for them, as well as a group of bodyguards, but it was nowhere near the promised amount to their arrangements. The bodyguards were immediately a problem to the villagers. If they wanted to present themselves as rough-looking individuals, the village wouldn't have paid any mind to it, but it was because they were matching some of the descriptions as the bandits that attacked them, that's where the concerns came in.
When they were exposed, the bodyguards fled with the money that was supposed to be provided to them, leaving the couple without money, without protection, and without a daughter. They set off to come to this territory as soon as they could in order to confront the governor about the issue, but that was where the governor demanded money for exchange of their daughter.
They tried to tell the capital about the incident, but no assistance came their way due to a combination of their fall in status and the cover-up made by the governor. Their only choice had been to bring the money that the governor demanded, but it apparently wasn't enough.
That was when Ren and Itsuki came by to ask about their situation.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"... Sakura wants seconds."
"A-alright, I'll get you some."
Motoyasu stood up from the table after the couple retold their story to them. Even someone like Motoyasu couldn't breathe in that atmosphere. The only reason why Sakura is the only one that didn't change her mood from hearing the couple was mainly because she didn't exactly know any better.
"That's…" Raphtalia clasped her hands together, trembling for the couple. "That's terrible. You didn't deserve to go through all of that."
"That's why we have to help them out, right?" Itsuki asked openly. "We've seen the guards act similarly to how they treated the couple here when we were at a tavern. It's obvious that the governor can't be doing what he pleases. At least, I want to return their daughter to them and help."
"While it is the rightful thing to do," Eclair said, "we don't have the position to be helping others without putting ourselves in harm's way. Believe me when I say I want to help as much as I can, but I told myself that I would help accomplish our task before anything else."
Itsuki flinched, but he was not surprised. This was to be expected from Eclair, but he trusted that if Motoyasu and Naofumi were both on board with it, they would be able to beat the former knight by a majority vote. He looked over to Naofumi, holding his breath.
"We can't just ignore this now, right?"
Naofumi was silent, almost grimacing. "I… I need to think about it."
"What's there to think about!? This governor is evil and unjust! We need to fight for the couples' sake and for everyone else that the governor must have screwed over! We came over to Lerno and helped the people there, right!? What's the difference here!?"
"Motoyasu was the one to cause the incident in Lerno, so we had to fix it. This problem doesn't necessarily concern us, but I can't shake it off so coldly after hearing their circumstances. That's why I have to think about it."
"Confronting the governor about this issue isn't a good idea for ourselves," Eclair continued. "We've gone through Melromarc without a major incident so far and I don't want that to change."
"If it's money problems that are causing this," Motoyasu said, coming back with a second helping of food for Sakura, "why don't we simply give them the money they need to get their daughter back?" Sakura happily started eating once the plate landed in front of her, despite the mood covering the table.
"Huh?" the wife widened her eyes. "Do you really mean that?"
"Do we even have enough money?" Raphtalia asked.
"As long as it's not too much, it should be fine. You were able to scratch up enough to cover the interest and it didn't sound like it was too much compared to what we have, no offense or anything. The remainder of our payday should be able to cover up what's left of the payment."
"That would work," Eclair nodded. "If anything, that's probably the safest bet for us to take if we are to assist them in any manner."
"Someone will probably have to accompany them to make sure everything goes well though," Raphtalia suggested. "People like this governor might not appreciate the sudden turn of events when things aren't going their way anymore."
"How much did you say the payment was again?" Motoyasu asked.
As the couple was expressing thankfulness, though also expressing caution to their charity, Itsuki grimaced as he slumped back into his chair. None of them understood the circumstances here and he felt like he tried to ramble onwards, they would still think this is the best way to do things. He was being defeated before getting the chance to step up to the role here.
The money method might solve things for now, but if this governor was as evil as he was cruel to others, it wouldn't have a lasting effect. The governor will simply try something else to force the couple to surrender their daughter again, perhaps even more than that next time.
Things might escalate and evolve into suffering beyond what the situation was originally supposed to be. Raphtalia was right to say that the governor might do something, but Itsuki thought that she was short-sighted to think that he would only try to do things immediately.
"We'll bring them over," Ren said, popping Itsuki out from his bubble. It was actually the first thing Ren said after he sat down for dinner with the others. "Since Itsuki and I brought them over, it's only right that we help close this deal of theirs."
"You should head off now," Raphtalia said. "Leave the cleaning to everyone else. The moon is already coming out, so you should look to resolve this as soon as possible."
"Thank you so much."
The husband and the wife bowed their heads to the group as Ren stood up from his seat and started heading off. He tapped Itsuki on his shoulder to try and bring him over with that, but it took a moment for Itsuki to stand up. He had a dissatisfaction of how things were going to play out.
Even if Eclair was able to tell the queen about this incident when they met up, the couple would certainly have to suffer through countless days until something hardpressed was done about it.
As they walked the couple down the streets, Ren was leading the way as Itsuki trailed behind, putting the couple in between them. However, Ren suddenly stopped in the middle of the street and looked over his shoulder towards the couple. Itsuki had to stop as well, frowning with furrowed brows.
"Is there something wrong?" the husband asked.
"Where are you staying for tonight?"
The couple, and even Itsuki, had been confused by the random question.
"Uh-uhm, on the outskirts of the city perimeter. There's a cheap inn that we've been planning to stay at in order to try and meet the governor if it was going to take multiple days."
"Head back there first."
The husband and the wife were even more confused. "What are you talking about? Did you not say you were going to bring us to the governor with payment."
"You're mistaken. We're not giving you money."
"Wh-what?" the wife gasped. "But they said—"
"Instead, we'll just give you your daughter."
The whiplash of emotions felt unneeded, but that was simply how Ren could communicate to strangers if he was trying to be nice while being coherent. Slowly, but certainly, Itsuki smiled. He knew that it was weird that Ren was going along with this when he himself had been seemingly opposing it.
"I thought you said that we shouldn't be sticking our noses into this business."
"If I let things go the way Naofumi and others wanted to go, you still would have done something during the night when everyone was asleep. I'm merely making things easier for everyone here."
Itsuki felt the need to chuckle, walking up to his friend. "Read me like a book, didn't you?"
Itsuki turned back to the couple.
"It's as my friend says. As heroes of justice, we're not only going to get your daughter back, but we're going to set things straight here."
"Heroes of justice…?"
"The information you provided to us was more than enough to confirm that the governor is a villain of evil that needs to be taught a lesson in what real justice looks like."
"You two are going to confront him by yourselves?"
"What does it sound like to you?" Ren scoffed, turning his head back forwards. "We'll just have to figure out how to deal with this before we head back to Naofumi."
"Night is already here, so I've got options," Itsuki said. "We won't be able to go through the front, but as long as we're together, we'll figure something out."
Seeing them take charge with confidence, the couple started crying out. Their hopes were building up, falling onto the hands of Ren and Itsuki. Somewhere, they must have realized that the previous method was going to be a short-lived solution to their problems as well, but they didn't want to upset their helpers with the assistance they were already providing.
"Please save our daughter! She means the world to us!"
"Please set your minds at ease," Itsuki smiled gently. "I promise you by next morning, your daughter will be safely returned to you. Just so we have a reference, could we have a description?"
"She has beautiful green eyes, long green hair, and her figure is a bit small."
"And her name?"
"It's Rishia. Her name is Rishia."
"Then I'll bring Rishia back to you two. You have no more reason to worry any longer, for the heroes of justice will provide their judgment onto the wicked now."
Ren was glad he was looking away since he could imagine Itsuki striking a small pose alongside that catchphrase-like sentence, but Itsuki didn't do any of that. He stood up with determination and started to depart for the manor directly, leaving Ren to follow behind him. The couple watched as their heroes walked off into the distance, holding on each other with prayers and anticipation.
"Let's show this bully the error of his ways, Ren."
"Hmph. As long as it's quick."
[SKIT 100 : Errnthon]
[Raphtalia] : "Was it this different from your other visit to Errnthon?"
[Eclair] : "Very. I'd say the mood of Errnthon was almost similar to Visna, in a way. However, I can't detect any sense of that from our current visit."
[Eclair] : "Whatever happened here, things must have changed during the years I was in service. My visit to Errnthon took place when I was recently made into a recruit, after all. That's certainly more than enough time for the atmosphere to shift."
[Motoyasu] : "I can't fathom how things might have ended up like this."
[Eclair] : "Something must be going on with the governor. Only they would have the power to influence a territory to such a degree."
[Raphtalia] : "Do you... remember anything about the governor?"
[Eclair] : "Very little. I didn't meet him when I came here, but I feel like I'm forgetting something important about him."
[Eclair] : "Something that we should be wary of."
[Motoyasu] : "Well, if you can't remember it, surely it can't be too important."
[Motoyasu] : "I mean, we're only here for a single night, so the probability of trouble is relatively low."
[Eclair] : "I pray that's the case."
[SKIT 101 : Always Training]
[Sakura] : "Don't they get tired of training? Sakura sees that Raphtalia and Eclair are always training together when they have time to rest."
[Motoyasu] : "They're training because they want to protect everyone else."
[Sakura] : "They're already pretty strong though...?"
[Motoyasu] : "That doesn't mean that our enemies won't be stronger."
[Motoyasu] : "We have to be ready for everything."
[Sakura] : "Sakura doesn't get it, but is training fun? Sakura never sees Daddy do it."
[Motoyasu] : "Huh? Me? Well, I guess I'm a special case. I don't train because I prefer spending my time with you, Sakura."
[Sakura] : "Hmm. Sakura understands. Training takes Daddy away from Sakura."
[Sakura] : "Therefore, training is bad."
[Motoyasu] : "Not exactly the conclusion I wanted you to make, Sakura..."
[SKIT 102 : The First Villain]
[Itsuki] : "This is it, Ren. This is the villain we've been looking for!"
[Itsuki] : "We'll see to it that this problem will be solved, one way or another!"
[Ren] : "Don't pull me into this. I'm here to make sure things don't go sideways."
[Itsuki] : "You have to understand that I wanted to come across something like this ever since we were summoned."
[Itsuki] : "Today, we find out if I'm worthy to live up to the title of Bow Hero, the Cardinal Hero of Justice."
[Itsuki] : "My blood is pumping right now! Let's show that governor what his evil deeds have landed him!"
[Itsuki] : "I'll make him understand his wicked ways!"
[Ren] : "..."
[Ren] : (Some people simply don't work like that...)
