Chapter 39

After defeating the Grindar, Ted and his companions of the "Morning Star of the White Night" received fifty gold coins as a reward for their efforts.

Considering that each person received ten gold coins, it was not a bad income.

With the threat of the Grindar eliminated, logistics would return to normal before prices were affected.

Praise for the swift actions of the Marquis and the regional army could be heard in taverns all over.

Of course, there were casualties in the Grindar's defeat.

Including the main force that was first attacked and the squads that were subsequently attacked, nearly twenty people died in battle.

However, the fact that they only lost that many to the Grindar was solely thanks to Aldis and his companions.

If Aldis and his companions had not participated in this mission, the main force would have been annihilated, and the squads would have been picked off one by one, resulting in a much higher number of casualties.

However, it is officially recognized that the Grindar was defeated by the regional army.

Aldis has no complaints about this.

The regional army formed the expedition, and Aldis and his companions received their rewards for their contributions.

It is undeniable that the regional army was the main force in the defeat.

Even if the regional army was completely useless and Aldis and his companions were the ones who actually fought the Grindar.

A few days have passed since the Grindar's defeat.

Aldis continued to go hunting with Nere, but gradually began to notice the cold atmosphere surrounding them.

At first, he thought it was just his imagination, but it seemed that was not the case.

The townspeople, who used to be friendly, began to avoid Aldis.

He was often stopped and questioned by the guards while walking down the street.

Security checks when entering and leaving the city became much stricter.

When he went to familiar shops to buy food and daily necessities, he was met with unfriendly faces.

In some cases, he was even told not to come back to the store.

The gazes of the townspeople as they walked down the street were not friendly.

Although there was no particular harm, the discomfort and the inexplicable unease were hard to shake off.

One day, while walking alone in the city, Aldis heard a voice calling him.

"Aldis! Aldis, over here, over here!"

Looking in the direction of the voice, he saw a woman beckoning from a side street.

He recognized her face.

Aldis cautiously approached the side street where the woman was beckoning.

The woman waiting there had chestnut-colored hair tied up and looked cheerful.

"Um... I think... Kasuha, right?"

"Oh, you remember me. I'm a little happy."

She was the daughter of the inn "Stopover Inn" where Aldis and his twins had stayed for a while.

"Do you need something from me?"

"Well, yeah... Actually, it's not good to interfere with guests who have left the inn... But, well... In Aldis's case, the situation is a bit different..."

After stopping him, she hesitated a bit before speaking.

"Aldis, have you noticed that the guards have been paying extra attention to you lately?"

"...What do you know?"

"Well... A while ago, a soldier from the regional army came to our inn. His name was Decken, a young soldier. He asked a lot of questions about you..."

"You didn't talk about the twins, did you?"

Aldis glared at her sharply, and Kasuha flinched.

"N-no, of course not. If the inn revealed guests' secrets, it would lose credibility. I couldn't lie to the soldiers, so I told them the period you stayed, but I didn't mention the twins at all. Besides, Aldis, you were the one who invited us to stay. It would be a breach of trust to sell you out. But..."

"But?"

"They seem to have gone around asking other guests and residents... I think the twins' presence has been exposed..."

Aldis felt like spitting.

He suppressed his bitter expression and took a silver coin from his pocket, giving it to Kasuha.

"Thanks. I finally understand the cause of the discomfort I've felt over the past few days."

"I'm sorry I couldn't help more..."

"Don't worry. Just hearing your story is enough. Your business is important, and I understand that bad rumors can be fatal."

With that, Aldis turned and headed back to the main street.

"I should talk to Ted and the others..."

He changed his plans and went to the inn where Ted and the others were staying, where he explained the situation over the past few days.

The details of the Grindar's defeat were not known to the general public.

Naturally, only the participants knew that the regional army had been completely ineffective and that the mercenaries had ultimately defeated the Grindar.

However, the soldiers of the regional army who were on the scene knew.

For the squad leaders and platoon leaders who were in command, it was a complete loss of face.

This could have turned into hostility and resentment towards Aldis and his companions.

But from what Ted and the others said, they did not seem to have noticed any such changes.

This suggested that the cause was personal to Aldis.

Given that he had already been on the bad side of the regional army and its commander, it was not surprising that the bad feelings had escalated into hostility.

Still, this did not explain why the townspeople's gazes had become unfriendly.

After talking, Aldis went home that day, but two days later, he received a call from Ted and the others.

"I found out the reason."

Norris cut straight to the point.

There was no need to ask what reason he was referring to.

Aldis silently nodded for him to continue.

"The direct cause is that the presence of the children was exposed. The fundamental cause is the girl, Nere, who is with Aldis."

It seemed that Norris had spent the previous day investigating.

Aldis had already suspected the direct cause.

The information from Kasuha at the Stopover Inn was enough to make that inference.

However, he did not understand why only Aldis was being investigated if the cause was the Grindar's defeat.

"Originally, the request to bring Nere to the lord's mansion was our idea, right?"

"Yeah, I met Nere then."

"So, Aldis's role was to guide Nere to the lord's mansion. You didn't accompany her after that, right?"

"Of course not. I had no obligation to, and I didn't think I would be allowed into the mansion."

"Right. The problem seems to have started after that."

Aldis did not know what happened to Nere after she was taken to the lord's mansion and before she came to his house.

He had not asked out of disinterest.

"It seems that a gag order was imposed because it would have been embarrassing for the Marquis and the regional army, but Nere apparently caused a lot of trouble."

"A lot of trouble?"

"Apparently, she was rude to the chief secretary and the general, and then beat up a platoon leader who was known as the best fighter in the regional army. After that, she walked out of the mansion, speaking rudely to the Marquis without even bowing."

What is that woman doing, Aldis thought, holding his head.

Now, he trusted Nere as a partner, but she sometimes took actions that completely defied his expectations.

He wanted to say that he did not care about what she did before she came to his house, but it was too late to pretend he did not know.

She had come to his house, pretending to be obedient, but she was a ticking time bomb.

"So, the best fighter in the regional army, who was there when we defeated the Grindar, was that platoon leader Decken. Remember him, Aldis?"

Aldis silently shook his head.

"For Decken, it meant being defeated in front of the Marquis, the chief secretary, the general, and his fellow platoon leaders. To make matters worse, in an attempt to regain his honor during the Grindar's defeat, he lost more than half of his soldiers and all the credit went to the mercenaries."

Norris continued with a light-hearted smile.

"Probably, the target was Nere, not Aldis. When they investigated Aldis, they found out that he was protecting the children."

"But isn't that just personal resentment from Decken? Regardless of the rumors in the city, it's strange that the guards are looking at me so harshly. To be frank, a mere platoon leader doesn't have that kind of authority, does he?"

"Well, Aldis, it seems that the reason the regional army first called Nere to the lord's mansion was because a platoon leader of the regional army had lost to her on the road."

"Huh?"

"When she challenged passersby to a duel on the road, one of the people she defeated was a platoon leader of the regional army."

"That means..."

Aldis frowned.

"Right. To cover up the platoon leader's defeat, they called Nere to the mansion and sent their best fighter, but she defeated him again. Not only that, but she also took all the credit for defeating the Grindar. It's not surprising that the regional army was not happy."

"So, in other words, the entire regional army is out to get me?"

"Hmm... I don't think that's quite right. I think it's more like the regional army, which was already hostile towards Aldis, was further provoked by Nere."

Aldis face-planted on the table.

Nere had started the fire, but Aldis, who had already been on the bad side of the regional army, was also partly to blame.

It was not fair to blame Nere alone.

Previously, by rudely refusing to teach sword magic, he had given a bad impression to the general and the platoon leaders, which, combined with the resentment towards Nere, had led to Aldis being seen as an enemy.

This had ultimately led to the exposure of the twins' presence.

"For the majority of the regional army, we are probably seen as money-grubbing thieves who have stolen their glory. If the upper echelons twist the facts and feed the guards false information, the guards will believe it. This time, it's a combination of the platoon leader's personal resentment towards Nere and the regional army's organizational resentment."

Norris concluded.

"Be careful, Aldis."

Ted spoke up, concluding the conversation.

"Given how widespread the rumors about the children have become, the gazes directed at you will only get worse. Some might even resort to violence against the children."

Aldis had considered this possibility.

However, understanding and accepting it were two different things.

"There is no law that allows people to harm others just because they want to."

"Of course, I know that. Ordinary citizens won't go that far. But the devout followers of the goddess are a different story. Faith can be worse than any monster. Even if they don't resort to violence, the taboo against cursed children can manifest in other ways."

"Other ways?"

"You must have felt it. The rejection, the desire to avoid any involvement."

"...Yeah."

He knew it. Aldis had felt it all too much.

The gazes he received while walking down the street were to avoid him.

The gazes that turned away when he spoke were to get away from him as quickly as possible.

The piercing gazes were to show that they were not like him.

The reasons were different, but the underlying sentiment was rejection.

"Farmers and merchants are ordinary citizens who worship the goddess. If they refuse to sell you bread or weapons, no matter how strong you are, you won't be able to survive."

Aldis neither denied nor confirmed this.

If he were alone, he could manage to get food and live outside the city.

But it was difficult to ask the same of the twins.

Weak individuals like the twins could only survive in the city.

"In a group, you can kill people without a sword. Even without the intent to kill, a distorted collective emotion can easily lead to death. Don't forget that."

Aldis knew this. The baseness of humans was a threat far more dangerous than any monster.

"Don't worry. I didn't grow up in a world so peaceful that I would underestimate human malice."

2019/07/30 Typo correction: とか言う → とかいう

2019/07/30 Typo correction: 指揮を取っていた → 指揮を執っていた

2019/07/30 Typo correction: 関わらず → かかわらず

*Thank you for reporting the typos.