Just enough, no. About fifteen?
I felt it for a long time, and for a moment. In the meantime, the result was the best possible result.
The raiders that surrounded the village were devastated. Only a few people missed it, but the majority died and the rest were half dead.
And a short while after the battle ended, there were signs that the villagers were gathering behind the entrance gate.
A man or woman with a spear or shield stands side by side and looks at this one from a gap in the fence.
Approximately fifty people? What a poor thing if that is the man who makes the battle possible in this village. Well, more villages of this size.
View the village again with a sigh of sigh. The wooden fence uses thick columns and is well maintained. But it's a tree. There are houses lined up in the back, but this one is all wooden and dense.
If troops were dispatched from the Kingdom of Yellinetta or Count Ferdinut territory, the village would be devastated by fire arrows unleashed on any scale.
The fact that there is a Wolfsburg Mountains with dragons living behind it and the inconvenience of creating a military base just hasn't been attacked before.
I don't think so, but the village would be trampled like an ant when something happened that would make it into battle with one or the other.
With such fear, Till stands next to him.
"Come on, Master Van. It wasn't planned, but we arrived in the village."
Till tells me, I nod.
"Right. It's our first meeting. Let's be grand."
I stepped out and headed to the entrance to the village. Two knights stand before me, Dee and Espada stand on the left and right, and Till and Camsin line up behind them.
The Orts are guarding the carriage and watching the captured raiders.
I opened my mouth as the villagers looked at me.
"Hi. My name is Van Nay Fertio. I come from the Marquis Fertio family, which newly manages the territory, including this village. In the future, I will manage this village. That said, don't worry, I won't force you to say anything difficult or impose heavy taxes"
And when they say a completely unaristocratic greeting, the villagers look at each other and give a bewildered voice.
There, Espada wrinkled between her eyebrows and stepped forward.
"I am one of the new lords, Master Van. Open the door."
A voice far more powerful and majestic than mine sounded quietly, and a small old man emerged from among the villagers to open his mouth.
"Open it."
When the old man tells them so, the villagers rush to open the gate. Behind the open gate, men and women in their twenties and thirties stood with spears and shields. At the front, that old man stands defenseless and looks at this one.
"… I am the elder. My name is Rhonda. Thank you for helping the village."
I also return a compliment to Rhonda, who bows her head with polite greetings and thanks.
"To date, we have heard that no lords or soldiers have been sent to this village to defend themselves. First, let me apologize for that. I would like to protect this village as a lord in the future, so please understand and cooperate."
And somehow I greeted him more like a sales of services than as a lord. There will never be a nobleman to greet you like this.
Anyway, the villagers, including the elders, are hardening their eyes round.
"Huh, ha-ha!
I heard an ortho laugh in the back, but I waited for Rhonda's reply without worrying.
A few seconds later, Rhonda blinked her eyes and opened her mouth.
"... this is polite. Then let's go to my house. I'll show you."
That's what Rhonda says and looks back and walks out to the back of the village. We followed, but the villagers followed us with vigilant eyes.
Apparently, it's going to be a struggling territory inside.
I wouldn't even say that, but clearly, it was a dilapidated building.
Simply line up the stones and lay the wood on the floor, put up the columns and paste the wood on the walls and roof. It's such a simple building. Rainstorms are fine. But if you give me an earthquake, it will collapse.
Well, I haven't experienced an earthquake in this world so far.
Such a borough shop, with two village chiefs and two middle-aged men diagonally behind each other in the front. He's sitting on the other side dressed like me, Espada, and Dee face to face.
"There were one hundred and fifty inhabitants in this village. But six months and a month ago, we were attacked by bandits, and now we have a hundred and ten."
"... So this is the third time you've been attacked today? Are they all the same bandits?
"No, it's not. The first bandit was about ten, so it was fine, but the second time he was a former mercenary or an adventurer, and he finally repelled after a full day of fighting. It was another bandit who showed up this time."
"… why do you think the village is so targeted?
When asked, Rhonda said it for the first time.
But open your mouth immediately.
"This village is a great distance from the other villages as well as the big towns. Sometimes the lords have changed, and now the Knights never come. Previously, the Knights of Border Guard of Count Ferdinat's territory patrolled because of the proximity of the border with the Kingdom of Yellinetta, but it also disappeared."
"Which means that the village is in danger of survival because it has become Marquis Fertio territory,"
Rhonda shut up when she spoke instead of the part Rhonda didn't make clear.
In words, it is a criticism of the Marquis family. In the village, you won't be able to say anything to me.
Well, a short-tempered nobleman would have Rhonda's neck snapped at the stage where he made a statement to smell it.
"I'm sorry. Count Ferdinut had deputies in each city, but he pulled up all those administrators. Looks like we've sorted out people from Marquis Fertio who have experience as lords and deputies and placed them in order from the big city, but we still don't know what's going on in the little villages."
To answer that honestly, Rhonda looked at me with the kind of eyes she would observe.
"... I mean, the Marquis, you've been left behind about us. No, I guess all nobles do. Small villages only pay taxes equal to none compared to larger cities. It would be worth the same thing. But......"
Did you trust me, or did you overflow your thoughts? Rhonda begins to put her anger at the nobles on words.
But I don't listen to that. I won't ask you.
"Village Chief. Let me tell you a story about the future"
When she told him so, Rhonda mumbled as if she had eaten. There is something hostile in the eyes of the two men and women sitting next to each other, but there is no other way about this.
I look at the three of them in turn and open my mouth.
"I can't help complaining, resenting or moaning about the way this country is. You won't be convinced, but doing that won't change anything."
"Oh, and the aristocrats say it...!
A middle-aged man stood up and yelled. Probably Rhonda's kid. I mean, the next village chief.
I see, his physique is large and he has a powerful light in his eyes. But with such a short circuit character, there is no future for the village.
I turned a hard eye and spoke low. [M]
"Please sit down. I'll tell you what's ahead of this village."
That's all I tell you, Rhonda narrows her eyes and looks up at the man, who also refuses to sit back. Make sure I open my mouth with my hands on my chest. [M]
"The responsibility of the nobility will be great. If we were to correct the original, there would have been a flaw in the law set forth by the Royal House of Berlinate, which inspired my Kingdom of Mordial."
To be clear, not only Rhonda and the others, but Espada and Dee, sitting next to each other, opened their eyes.
A man of the Marquis criticized the royal family with dignity. A normal nobleman would never.
But what are you afraid of now? Isn't there something scary about being the lord of such a near-doom village?
I looked around upset with my chest. [M]