TOPWL 223

The man’s scream echoed again through the alley. Shane looked back to ask if it was alright, but Yudit only shrugged. They didn’t seem like really evil men, but since they were armed robbers who even drew swords to steal money, it seemed right to teach them a lesson.

“Phew, I guess that’s enough.”

Bagon dusted his hands with a refreshed look, as if he had just finished a workout. The boss had already turned into a complete mess. The men standing blankly behind him didn’t look angry. If anything, they seemed very afraid of Bagon. Bagon seemed to notice that too and he clicked his tongue.

“You guys have no loyalty? Your boss is getting beaten like this and not one of you tries to stop it.”

“He told us to call him boss, so we did, but we aren’t that close……”

Someone timidly answering. Bagon shook his head.

“What a bunch of nobodies.”

“Damn it…… If only Billian were here……”

Even now, the boss who only had his mouth left working muttered in frustration as he lay on the dirt.

“Billian hates thieves and would’ve killed you.”

The boss couldn’t answer his subordinate’s words.

“Anyway, since it’s come to this, we’ll get going now.”

“Where do you think you’re going? Once you’re on the same side, you stay that way till the end.”

Bagon frowned as he spoke. The subordinates swallowed dryly as the pressure rose.

“We didn’t even draw our swords……”

“If you’d gotten the money that way, you’d have split it evenly, right?”

“……”

“When you make the wrong friends, you all go to hell together. Come one by one. If any of you blocks a single strike, I’ll let him go. But if you run away……”

“……?”

“I’ll hunt you down and kill you.”

The men turned pale when they realized Bagon’s words weren’t an empty threat. While those ready to flee froze for a moment, Bagon crooked his finger.

“So come all at once, if you want even a small chance.”

***

“Ah, that was fun.”

Bagon stretched as he spoke. Below him lay ten men sprawled out. He had trampled seven of them, and when Yudit started to look hungry, Shane knocked out the remaining three to finish it. During that time, the boss kept crying and muttering Billian’s name over and over. Yudit watched them in silence.

“Who is Billian?”

At Yudit’s question, the boss shut his mouth. When Bagon swung a stick through the air, the answer came from another man.

“Our real boss……”

“What kind of man is he?”

Even under Bagon’s continued threats, they couldn’t bring themselves to speak. Their silence caught Yudit’s interest.

“I liked the inn we stayed at last night.”

“It wasn’t bad. The beds were soft, and the food was plenty.”

“How about we go there again, eat and drink all we want? With these men.”

Bagon’s face changed in a strange way when he heard Yudit’s words.

***

The dining hall of the Apple Inn in the Calmor Territory, where travelers stayed, was unusually full that day. The wandering troupe who had stayed there the previous night had brought a crowd of guests with them. The men who looked as if they had rolled in a pigsty ate like starving beasts.

“More bread here!”

“Six more beers here!”

“Yes, yes, coming right up!”

The serving girl hurried around taking orders. Yudit watched them as he popped a piece of fruit into his mouth. The beer they were drinking had a high alcohol content for beer. That was because Yudit had ordered a strong one on purpose.

Beaten to a pulp and now drinking strong beer, they got drunk fast. They were still careful, but Yudit could tell it wouldn’t last.

“I wonder if Billian’s eating well……”

“it’ll be a miracle if there’s even water.”

“My throat’s dry, I can’t swallow more bread.”

“Your stomach’s full, that’s why.”

They began to talk about Billian bit by bit. Yudit decided this was the right time and spoke to one of them.

“Where are you from?”

“Yes?”

The man who got the question met Yudit’s eyes and froze.

“Your accent sounds a little different from the mainland one.”

“I’m also from Calmor, but I stayed in another country for a long time, so I think the accent stuck.”

“Really? Where were you?”

“The Kingdom of Jaklit.”

Yudit’s eyes widened as he heard the unexpected answer.

“Jaklit? We came from Jaklit too. What a coincidence.”

“You, you’re from Jaklit too?”

“Yes. We’re a wandering troupe that travels across countries, but when we came to the Gotha Kingdom, the war started and we ended up trapped here.”

The man’s wariness faded instantly at Yudit’s gentle tone.

“Oh, I see. You must have gone through a lot.”

“Right. I can’t even count how many times we almost died. We even got robbed recently and lost everything. That’s why our leader’s been more on edge than usual.”

Yudit whispered close to the man’s ear. Yudit’s soft hand brushed the man’s earlobe. The man’s face turned red from the unexpected touch.

“It’s, it’s fine. We were the ones at fault for trying to take what wasn’t ours.”

“No. Meeting like this must mean something, so let’s drink together.”

Yudit filled the man’s mug to the brim with beer as he spoke. The man had already reached his limit, but he couldn’t refuse a drink offered by such a beauty. They clinked their two glasses. Yudit lifted his mug and squinted his eyes as he drank. The man gulped down all his beer as if his throat burned. Yudit poured again and spoke in a sweet voice.

“You drink well. I like people who can drink.”

“I, I may not look it, but there’s no one in my town who can match me when it comes to drinking.”

“I see.”

The man was already dazed by the smile of a beauty he might never see again in his life. Edmond and the others watched silently as their commander used seduction more effectively than expected.

“This place is really nice. Every other town burned down, but here there’s plenty of food, and it’s lively like a country untouched by war.”

“That’s because you haven’t been here long yet.”

“Yes? Is that so?”

At Yudit’s innocent question, the man hesitated and then spoke.

“It might look good now with plenty of money and food, but you should leave this land as soon as you can. No matter how rich it seems, this territory leads to death.”

Even though he was drunk, the man looked terrified. Why was he so afraid? What was this city hiding?

“What do you mean death, is there going to be a war?”

“It’s not war. It’s calmer than that, no, maybe even worse.”

“We have to stay here for at least another week. Can’t you tell us? We need to know so we can prepare.”

After hesitating for a long time, the man finally spoke.

“It’s not something I can’t tell. Everyone here knows it, even if they don’t talk openly.”

“……”

“This city… is being flooded with drugs. On a massive scale.”

“Drugs?”

“Yes. When rumors spread about another war, both nobles and commoners with money tried to flee the land. Any other territory might’ve endured, but Calmor lives off tourism, and without tourists, it faced ruin. So the lord broke an old taboo and started spreading drugs. At first, he handed them out for free at noble parties, and by the time they were addicted, he began raising the price. Even now, with the mad Imperial Army right at the gates, the nobles have lost their sense of reality and keep throwing endless parties. Because of that, only powerless commoners are dying.”

“I see.”

The mad Imperial soldier agreed with him. Once the conversation opened, it didn’t stop. Others who were listening grew interested and began to join in, talking about how twisted the territory had become.

Calmor’s state was far worse than Yudit had thought. When there was nothing left to squeeze from the commoners, and they started refusing exploitation, the nobles made them addicted to drugs too. It wasn’t the mild drug used by nobles but a cheap kind that destroyed people from the moment they started. They were forced to work all day for free, and the lord’s men mixed small amounts of the drug into thin porridge. Once they ate it, they didn’t feel hungry, and since it was highly addictive, everyone scrambled for it when mealtime came.

“At that level, there should’ve been protests already. Is there no leader among the commoners?”

The man’s face darkened as he lamented the current state of things.