“What is the meaning of this..?” General Rigrait, the commander of the army, questioned in surprise atop his horse as the Shugurin Dukedom’s army advanced towards the beastman town.
The beastman town was surrounded by a stone wall about 5 meters high, and inside, there should have been a huge castle wall that was 4 times bigger than the stone walls surrounding the town.
But now, what was the sight General Rigrait was greeted with?
The stone walls surrounding the town were gone. Furthermore, even the 20 meter high castle walls behind them were decreasing in size as the army advanced forward.
“What is going on here..?” General Rigrait groaned.
As the distance between them and the town shrank, the walls also shrank. It was like seeing the laws of physics acting in reverse.
“The group that previously came out from the town is suspicious.” A knight next to him reported.
To this, General Rigrait stroke his beard while humming, deep in thought.
Not too long ago, something rushed in the direction of the far west at high speeds. They could only see the cloud of sand raised, and weren’t able to perceive what caused it, so they couldn’t identify it.
The farmer soldiers from Count Zarabona’s territory, whom just joined the army, said they saw a “box of iron” when they attacked the town as soldiers of the Kingdom of Sandra.
It could run faster than any horse and could be ridden by dozens of people, or so the story went.
However, he doesn’t know if the “iron box” had anything to do with the current situation of the town.
“Well, it’s alright. The town will be much easier to conquer when there are no walls. We can investigate it after we take over the town.” In the end, General Rigrait couldn’t make any solid decisions.
The Shugurin Dukedom’s army didn’t stop even if there were abnormalities in the town, and simply advanced forward.
After a while, someone came running from the town It was the person from the Fish tribe who was acting as their spy.
The army stopped and let the person from the Fish tribe pass to meet General Rigrait.
“What is the situation of the town?” The general asked without further preamble.
“We of the Fish tribe were able to skillfully drive out the ruler, Fujiwara, from the town. But, I wonder if it was because Fujiwara has left that several things in the town disappeared.” The fish tribesman answered while kneeling down with narrowed eyes to make him seem more pleasant.
“Several of them have disappeared? Does this include the stone walls surrounding the town?” The general questioned.
“Yes!” Came the swift reply.
“Then, why do you say that the cause of the stone walls disappearing is because of Fujiwara leaving?” General Rigrait questioned further.
“It seems like the town was created using Fujiwara’s magic. When Fujiwara left, the town changed to become more advantageous for Fujiwara. He can freely create or erase anything in the town.” The fish tribesman reported.
“Muu....” General Rigrait grunted as he pondered.
To create a town and erase it was something he had never heard of before.
There was the art of creation through alchemy, but the scale of this was too different.
But, he can’t just say that the fishman was lying because he actually saw the town’s castle walls gradually disappear just now.
“Has Fujiwara already escaped?” The general asked after a short pause.
“Yes. They got into the iron box called ‘truck’ and left.” The fishman answered.
There were too many questions in his mind right now, but if he wanted to ascertain the truth, they would need to go to the town.
“If Fujiwara has already escaped, then I should be able to enter the town peacefully.” General Rigrait muttered.
“About that, it probably won’t go well. All the beastmen living in the town are currently hostile towards us. Even though they rebelled against Fujiwara, they seemed to have change of heart halfway.” The fishman explained. “The chief of our tribe was also attacked by them and sustained an injury, which was why he could not come here. They are dangerous. We don’t know if they will turn against your army or not.”
Upon hearing his words, General Rigrait frowned slightly. His eyes seemed to be gazing right through the fishman’s mind.
The old residents of the town would certainly be hostile against the Fish tribe, but it doesn’t seem like they will turn against the Shugurin Dukedom’s army. He thought that this might be a trick by the Fish tribe to seize real power to get revenge against those beastmen.
Even when General Rigrait was looking straight into his eyes, the Fish tribesman doesn’t even flinch. However, the general knows the nature of the Fish tribe well.
“Send a messenger. Bring the chief of each tribe here. If they do not come, I will consider this them intending to fight against us.” General Rigrait issued the order to his subordinate. He was not foolish enough to believe everything the Fish tribe said.
“Eh? You won’t kill them?” The fishman asked.
“Fool. Since Fujiwara has escaped, the people who know most about the town would be the beastmen.” The general spat.
Or rather, because the rebellion of the town had already succeeded, the Fish tribe doesn’t have any value anymore.
The messenger rode on a horse and headed to the town. Meanwhile, the army started advancing once more slowly.
After a while, the messenger returned with the chiefs of each tribe, and the army stopped again.
General Rigrait observed the group of chieftains who were brought in front of him.
Whether it’s because they had plenty of food to eat or not, they had quite a bit of flesh on them. Even so, the chiefs seemed remarkably tired and, as if they were wasting away.
All the chiefs knelt down quietly with their heads bowed.
When general Rigrait asked if they had any intentions to fight, they replied “no” feebly.
This way, the Shugurin Dukedom’s army advanced with each tribe’s chief as hostages, and was soon able to the town without resistance.
When the soldiers saw the buildings of the town, they let out surprised gasps. Even General Rigrait and the senior knights also had the same reactions.
While the colors and shapes looked the same, the lined-up houses looked rather unfamiliar. The townscape looked much more beautiful than that of the Shugurin Dukedom’s.
Looking at the dukedom army, the chiefs felt proud about themselves. But, their faces rapidly sank into depression. It was because everything was given to them by Nobuhide.
Then, the army occupied half of the town, and the soldiers settled down under the roofs of the new houses.
“Wow! This is incredible!”
“It’s completely different from our houses which are full of cracks!”
The soldiers entered the houses and praised them endlessly.
Not only do the houses look wonderful on the outside, but the insides were splendid too. They didn’t lose out to those high class inns in the city in any way.
It seemed like they could properly heal their fatigue from the long journey.
However, when people entered the houses, some people also left. The beastmen who lived there were driven out. For the time being, they were forced to live under the scorching sun.
Eventually, each chieftain was gathered in the mansion where General Rigrait stayed to be interrogated for information once again.
General Rigrait was sitting in the seat of honor in the innermost room of the mansion while the chiefs were sitting at the side. Soldiers with weapons were surrounding the chieftains. It was a breathtaking sight for the chieftains.
First, the general asked for the detailed account of the rebellion. The answer from the chieftains was the same as the story he had heard from the fishman.
“Hmm... As expected, Fujiwara was the one who created this town using magic as, huh?” The general mumbled.
Nobuhide created this town and then erased it. It was too difficult to
believe.
However, General Rigrait had confirmed that Nobuhide distorted the stone walls in the town in order to escape. Furthermore, the stone walls disappearing after the beastmen’s rebellion and Nobuhide’s escape were consistent with each other.
Even though General Rigrait felt that this was unbelievable, the power of Nobuhide seemed to be the real deal.
“That Fujiwara... Is he a god or a devil? This is something beyond the power of a human.” The general stated, deeply impressed.
It was a feeling of being refreshed despite knowing the depths of the powers of his opponent. Although he had schemed against his opponent, General Rigrait actually wanted to meet and talk to him directly.
The chieftains who heard the general’s commentary frowned. When the power of Nobuhide was mentioned by other once again, it pierced their hearts deeply, reminding the chieftains once more of the regret they felt for betraying him.
“Still, how merciful of him to at least leave you these houses? Hahaha, even though he’s an enemy, he really is an admirable guy. Despite being betrayed, Fujiwara still left houses for you to live in.” The general laughed happily.
Showing mercy to those who betrayed you was a stupid act. It was extremely foolish. Does Nobuhide intended to become saint? The general laughed once again for some time.
However, Nobuhide did not actually plan to show such mercy. Even though they didn’t sign any contract, since the houses have already been occupied by the beastmen for several years, his ability made its own judgment based on this, and transferred [ownership] of the houses to the beastmen on its own accord.
Nonetheless, if Nobuhide managed to keep his composure when he was leaving, he might really have left the houses to the beastmen out of mercy.
“However, I am not as lenient as Fujiwara. I will have all of you tell me what you know. It would be better if you don’t talk about Fujiwara. If you do, consider it as having thrown your life away.” The general glared with cold eyes.
Because Nobuhide was such a nice person, when the chieftains looked at the compassionless eyes of General Rigrait, it felt as if there was ice in their hearts.
After that, the chieftains explained everything about life living in the town, and weapons such as the cannons.
A week after the occupation of the town by the Shugurin Dukedom’s army, the military received a new variety of seedlings, and information that seemed to be useful for the development of new weapons.
However, they weren’t able to get more information on spices, which was the main reason for them to come all the way here. Thus, there was nothing else they could obtain from here.
General Rigrait was thinking how to deal with the town’s future.
Originally, the Shugurin Dukedom had planned to make this place a colony.
But, this town was too far from their territory, and even the walls protecting the town were gone. Not to mention, they were currently in a hostile relationship with the Kingdom of Sandra. Even if Shugurin Dukedom stationed their army in the area, it would still be too difficult to protect the town from that country.
Thus, the army decided to return back to their country without turning the beastman town into their colony.
At the time of their departure, these were the words General Rigrait had for the chieftains.
“You should thank Fujiwara. If I ignore his mercy for you, I will feel ashamed to be of the same race as him. We also have mercy, at the very least. So all of you should just live here quietly.”
It’s not like General Rigrat was moved by Nobuhide’s compassion in particular. It was more to show how benevolent human beings were.
Nobuhide, who showed sympathy to the beastmen, was a human, and he, himself, was also a human. Even though he was betrayed by the beastmen, Nobuhide’s act of kindness somehow satisfied General Rigrait’s ego as the same human being.
The thought of dishonoring Nobuhide’s kindness only occupied a small corner in his mind.
◆
When the Shugurin Dukedom’s army left, the town became lordless once again.
Firstly, the old beastmen kicked out the Fish tribe and the other newcomers from the town. While doing so, although there were a few skirmishes, the Fish tribe was able to escape north relatively quickly.
This could be said to be the difference between those who have the spirit to protect the town and those who think of this place as an inn.
The beastmen thought that when the Fish tribe was gone, they would be able to go back to their peaceful time from the past.
However, it was not enough. There was neither Nobuhide nor the Wolf tribe there.
What disappeared from the town was not only Nobuhide and the Wolf tribe.
The water wells and toilets were also gone. The bathrooms had also disappeared, and the camels, too, were gone.
The beastmen lost many things.
A young child from a certain family was asking their father why the town had completely changed.
“Why did the bath and water well disappear? Where is Fujiwarsama?”
“If you become a good kid, someday, Fujiwarsama will come back. If so, everything will be go back to how it was like before.” The father answered with a troubled expression.
The father only could say that. The adults did not have the courage to confess their sins to their children. They only could caress their heads and lie.
Now, even getting water to the town was difficult everyday. Even if there was a river nearby, there was still a big difference in having a well with a hand pump right in front of their eyes.
Day after day, most of the time was spent to bring water necessary for their daily life from the river. As a result, the children were being urged to work too.
Besides that, problems with the lavatories and the fuel needed for a fire also piled up endlessly.
Furthermore, disputes among the tribes also started to occur. For example, about the food supply.
Nobuhide had delegated the construction work to the Goblin and Kobold tribes. Thus, they had tax-free fields, but the surplus from those alone wouldn’t be enough for all the tribes.
In other words, there was no means to obtain food at the moment. Of course, they would cultivate the fields in the future, but until they could harvest their crops, each tribe would need to receive food from the Goblin and Kobold tribes.
But, they were reluctant to share their food. They wanted to store as much food as much as possible in case of any potential emergencies. Since Nobuhide was no longer here, they needed to think about their own tribes first.
But, as the days and months passed, the tribes started to cooperate with each other, and various problems were slowly being solved.
After overcoming many hardships, the town started to operate once again.
However, life didn’t become easier.
Before long, a year had already passed. Many people realized that Nobuhide was not returning any more.
The beastmen were so busy everyday that they even forgot about the old days. Some even thought that those days were just a dream or an illusion.
However, there were still some who were still thinking about the old days, and couldn’t move forward.
It was a young man from the Deer tribe, the one who had served as the chief a year ago. As he had become lost in anxiety, and was not able to fulfil his job as the chief, he was discharged from his post.
Occasionally, the youth would gaze at a pendant all day and reminisce about the old days.
Today happened to be the day he did that. The youth was looking at the pendant, which he had taken off from his neck, in his home.
Then, his wife, who had returned from work, yelled at him upon seeing that.
“You are still holding onto such things! That’s just junk! There is no meaning in that anymore!”
With that, the pendant was taken by his wife. It was thrown away, and rolled about on the floor.
“Aah..!” While crawling on the floor, the youth chased after the pendant.
The pendant was the proof of him winning the athletic meet. His pride, glory and self confidence; things that were full of brilliance for the youth were packed in it.
No, that was not all.
Every day he spent laughing with Nobuhide and the Wolf tribe, the days he spent happily without needing to worry about anything... Every time he saw the pendant, he would remember the memories of his everyday life while facing tomorrow.
However, the beastmen couldn’t afford to look for tomorrow now. They were desperately working everyday in order to live day by day. Even so, it could be said that it was still much better than the life they had before they came here.
However, since he already knew what a fulfilled life was, his life now seemed endlessly dull. Thus, the young man of the Deer tribe would occasionally indulge himself in this way.
There were still people who were not able to wake up from that dream...