Chapter 207

Since the Empire’s order stabilized, war has been nothing more than someone else’s story to the ordinary villagers.

The invasions by external enemies were mostly blocked by the Elector and the Imperial Army, and battles between lords were not that frequent either.

To wage a territorial war, imperial approval was required, and unless there was a justifiable reason that anyone could understand, permission was rarely granted.

Even the Great Lords, who possessed powerful private armies, did not look kindly on those who caused unnecessary disturbances in the Empire.

Ultimately, disputes between lords were mostly resolved through small-scale skirmishes using only private soldiers or even duels between knights.

Naturally, it was common for the losing side to pay reparations without losing their territory.

Not all lords were rational beings, so there were those who wagered their lands in battles, but they were usually treated as gamblers or disgraceful ruffians.

Thus, for ordinary villagers who did not volunteer as soldiers or knights, the horrors of war were just a distant concept.

This doesn’t mean they lived comfortably all their lives.

Sudden monster attacks on villages or the rampages of criminals and deserters could happen anywhere.

But those kinds of threats could be avoided or endured until knights were dispatched.

But now, that was no longer possible.

—

“How horrifying… This village seems to have met the same fate.”

On the road to the Randenburg territory, Nigel sighed as he reported the situation outside.

She hadn’t been the coachman from the start.

It felt awkward to use a master-level knight as a coachman, and it was also a bit inappropriate to have the former princess sit in the coachman’s seat, so they had hired a coachman…

But within two days, he had turned into a hedgehog and had to be buried by the roadside.

It was the work of deserters who had turned into bandits.

By the time they sensed their presence and rushed out of the carriage, the coachman was already collapsing under the carriage with an arrow sticking out of his chest.

And because he had fallen right under the wheel… by the time the carriage stopped, he was already a crushed corpse.

While I protected Rana from the rain of arrows and fired back, Nigel and Leonor charged at the bandits and slaughtered them cleanly… but that didn’t bring the coachman, now a lump of meat, back to life.

In fact, he looked worse than before.

While we weren’t paying attention, dozens of stray arrows had embedded themselves in the field like weeds.

The best we could do was to properly bury the body by the roadside and have Rana pray for his soul.

After that, Nigel volunteered to take over as the coachman.

I offered to drive, but… he seemed extremely uncomfortable with the idea of me sitting in the coachman’s seat or sharing the same space as Leonor, so I had no choice but to give up.

Two more days passed like that.

Another group of bandits attacked, but they were subdued in less than two minutes.

We cut off their limbs and hung them upside down from trees, so they wouldn’t commit any more evil deeds for the rest of their lives.

Though their remaining lives wouldn’t be very long.

—

“This is already the third one. I expected it, but not to this extent…”

Leonor, who had stepped out of the carriage, sighed as she surveyed the surroundings.

Her expression was hidden under her black helmet, but it was probably a deeply furrowed one.

Nigel and I were the same.

“We’ll check the inside of the village, so Rana, you stay quietly in the carriage. Nigel, take care of Rana.”

“Understood.”

“Was this village also attacked…?”

“It seems so. It’s better not to look.”

The village, devoid of any survivors, was only roamed by wild animals seeking to satisfy their hunger, and the stench of rotting corpses filled the air.

Just like the other two villages we had encountered over the past four days.

On the collapsed embankment, dozens of crows celebrated their feast, cawing loudly.

Half-rotten eyeballs dangled from their beaks.

What had happened was all too clear.

The charred, collapsed houses were riddled with broken arrows.

The road, now just a pile of ashes, was littered with half-rotten corpses.

Men cut down, boys with arrows in their backs, elders whose bodies were shattered as if struck by blunt weapons.

Wild animals, drawn by the smell of blood, growled as if warning the uninvited guests interrupting their meal.

A minute later, they became our ingredients.

The women’s corpses were all stripped naked, with branches or broken spears shoved into their lower bodies.

This wasn’t the work of monsters.

Once again, it was an attack by looters taking advantage of the security vacuum.

—

In the center of the village, by the well, the sight was indescribably horrifying.

Dozens of skewers were planted around the well.

The corpses of girls, unseen during our earlier search, were all gathered here.

Still-hungry crows perched on the skewers piercing their mouths, pecking at the half-eaten heads.

Rotten fluids dripped down their naked bodies, forming black puddles on the ground.

It was a nightmare-like scene.

Enough to make one’s head spin upon seeing it.

We drove the crows away and took down the girls.

While Leonor pulled out and threw away the skewers, I dug into the ground to create graves for the children.

“…Sometimes, it feels like humans are more vicious than monsters.”

Every village we had passed through so far had been reduced to ruins.

Though not as horrifying as this, the men were killed, and the women were violated everywhere.

If something like this had happened before, the private soldiers of the lords or the Imperial Army would have…

They would have turned on the lights, tracked them down, and pulled out the roots, but…

With the lords busy fighting a civil war, the Imperial Army alone had its limits in filling the security void across the entire nation.

And this is the result.

Unless it’s the prime territory around the lord’s castle, the small settlements on the outskirts of the domain now had to defend their villages on their own.

…Most of them failed.

“Evil people always do similar things. Whether it’s demons, monsters, or humans. Humans seem righteous only because… evil people haven’t had many chances to run wild.”

Leonor made the sign of the cross as she looked down at the girls’ graves.

That’s a more cynical view than I expected.

It was a bit surprising to me.

Considering the stories of her wanting to become a knight and her usual demeanor, I thought she was more of a romantic.

Well, with a father who was a pedophile and a mother like Isabella… any sense of romance probably withered before it could grow.

—

After looking around the village a bit more, there were still no survivors.

Even if there had been survivors, they would have either fled or been killed by wild animals by now.

After burying all the bodies that remained, about an hour had passed.

I dug the graves deep, thinking that if they were shallow, animals would dig them up again, so it took longer than expected.

“…Could it be the work of those thieves we saw last time?”

I asked Leonor as we headed back to the carriage.

If it was their doing, I was willing to delay our journey by half a day to go back and finish them off.

They’re still alive… I want to make them regret not dying quickly.

But Leonor shook her head, indicating it wasn’t their doing.

“Hmm… It would be hard for them to wipe out a village of this size. They’d need at least fifty men to attack a village like this.”

…She’s not wrong.

Unlike the other villages we passed through, this one was of a considerable size.

At least, not the kind to be helplessly slaughtered by a small group of thieves.

Then who?

Who would do such a thing…

[It’s the regular army.]

A familiar voice echoed in my head as I pondered.

“What did you just say…?”

It was Hersela’s voice, speaking for the first time in almost a week.

The timing and content were unexpected.

I couldn’t help but blurt out a response.

“Huh? So, it’s probably not them. If they had attacked here, they would have been wiped out instead.”

I repeated what Leonor had said, tilting her head.

She must have thought I was talking to her.

“Ah, right. That makes sense. There were only about ten of them.”

I brushed it off casually.

If I explained that I was talking to a voice in my head, she’d think I was crazy.

I slowed my pace to distance myself from Leonor and spoke to Hersela.

‘What do you mean? The regular army? Are you saying the Empire’s army did this?’

I lowered my voice to the limit, so Leonor wouldn’t hear.

It was more like a whisper, but since we share the same body, she seemed to understand.

[Yes. Look at the arrows and broken weapons scattered around the village. They’re all of the same standard, aren’t they? A ragtag group of thieves wouldn’t have that. And it’s not like a hundred soldiers deserted at the same time. So, this was done by a properly organized army under orders.]

I glanced around… Indeed, as Hersela said, all the weapons were of the same size and shape.

As if they were mass-produced in the same place.

[With succession wars breaking out all over the Empire, it must be the work of one of them. Slaughtering one village to spread fear can make three others surrender without resistance. Someone who understands the essence of warfare.]

‘…I guess you didn’t know much about me.’

I had no intention of letting it go.

Someone who does this once can always do it again.

Leonor and Nigel would agree.

It might delay our arrival in Randenburg by a day or two, but nothing major would happen to the barrier in just two days.

[Are you going to intervene? Do you know whose side they’re on? If you go to punish them and find out they’re Leopold’s subordinates, that would be quite a sight.]

Hersela laughed mockingly.

‘…If they were nobles from Leopold’s faction, they wouldn’t do something like this. He’s already in a tough spot with rumors of being a tyrant. Committing massacres would only add to Isabella’s legitimacy. Besides… given Leopold’s personality, he’d eventually deal with such people, even if they were on his side. Anyone supporting Leopold would know that, right?’

[Hmm… That makes sense. Well, do as you please. If a lord is at the level of attacking such villages, they’re probably not a powerful noble. Their forces would be less than three hundred, so if you want to punish them, it shouldn’t be a problem.]

Three hundred.

Yeah, that shouldn’t be a problem.