Zeldryn continued staring outside through the carriage window.
“...”
The houses lining the road looked completely different from what he had always imagined.
Some looked like they were barely standing.
The wood had already faded with age.
Parts of several roofs looked as though they had been patched together with whatever materials were available.
The road they were traveling on wasn't made of neatly arranged stone either.
No pavement.
No smooth surface.
Just dirt that had been repeatedly compressed by footsteps, wagon wheels, and people traveling through it every day.
Some parts were still muddy.
The carriage wheels left long tracks behind them.
Along the sides of the road, the drainage system looked extremely primitive.
And the farther the carriage traveled into the village...
The more people Zeldryn began noticing sitting along the roadside in worn-out clothes.
Beggars.
Old people.
Even several people whose bodies looked extremely thin.
But what made Zeldryn frown first wasn't the scenery.
It was...
The smell.
“...”
Zeldryn wrinkled his nose slightly.
‘Damn...’
Several strange smells were mixed together.
Wet soil.
Animals.
Garbage.
Smoke coming from the houses.
And something he didn't even want to guess the source of.
‘Fantasy stories really love romanticizing the medieval era, huh...’
A peaceful little village.
Beautiful wooden houses.
Clean streets.
Villagers smiling while carrying baskets of fruit.
Children happily running around.
“...”
Zeldryn looked outside again.
A man was pulling a cart through the muddy road.
Not far from him, a woman poured something from a bucket beside her house.
‘Reality isn't nearly that pretty.’
Actually...
Zeldryn had already started realizing that during the journey here.
The road from the Mansion to the village had passed through a forest.
However, many of the trees along the route seemed to have been cut down just to create a path.
And the road itself...
Was far from comfortable.
Muddy.
Uneven.
Covered in dirt.
That was exactly why his ass had been suffering throughout the entire trip.
“...”
Zeldryn shifted his gaze away from the window.
His eyes landed on Hera.
The girl was still sitting across from him.
And even now...
She was still looking down.
Zeldryn watched her for a few moments.
‘...’
But in the end, he decided to leave her alone.
There was no reason to force her to talk.
The carriage continued deeper into Lerta Village.
CREAK...
CREAK...
The wooden wheels continued making noise as they turned.
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The farther they went...
The more people began paying attention to the carriage.
A merchant stopped what he was doing.
Several people who had been talking turned their heads.
Children standing near the roadside looked over as well.
Some people even stepped slightly outside their homes just to watch the carriage pass.
“...”
Zeldryn could feel countless eyes directed toward them.
‘Well, I guess that's normal.’
Ever since they entered the village...
Zeldryn hadn't seen a single horse-drawn carriage like the one he was riding in.
There were carts.
People carrying goods by hand.
There were also several animals being used to transport things.
But an enclosed carriage clearly meant for transporting people?
Not a single one.
‘Maybe something like this really isn't common among ordinary people.’
Zeldryn was still thinking about it when suddenly...
!?
Someone appeared from the side of the road.
An old man.
His clothes were ragged.
His body was thin.
His hair was already filled with gray.
The old man hurried toward the carriage from the side.
!!
Zeldryn immediately turned his head.
The old man was now just outside the carriage window.
The moment he saw Zeldryn's face through it...
His eyes widened.
“L-Lord Zeldryn!”
“...”
Zeldryn stared at him.
The man continued following the carriage as best he could.
“Please, Lord Zeldryn... give me some bread or anything...”
His breathing grew heavier as he struggled to keep up with the still-moving carriage.
“My family hasn't eaten for two days.”
!!
Zeldryn fell silent.
‘Huh?’
‘He's asking for food?’
He stared at the old man's face.
His cheekbones were clearly visible.
His clothes were dirty.
And judging from his expression...
The man looked genuinely desperate.
‘What am I supposed to do?’
This was the first time Zeldryn had actually faced a situation like this directly.
Of course, back in his old world, he had seen people begging for money or food.
He had seen poverty too.
But this felt different.
The man in front of him wasn't asking for a little money just to survive until tomorrow.
He was saying that his family had not eaten for two days.
“...”
‘If I suddenly give him food...’
Zeldryn hesitated.
With the old Zeldryn's reputation, doing something like that might seem strange.
But on the other hand...
His conscience wouldn't let him simply ignore someone claiming that his family was starving.
‘Damn it...’
Zeldryn tried to understand the situation first.
But before he could make a decision...
The carriage suddenly stopped.
CREAK!
!!
Pertaz turned around from the front.
The moment he saw the old man still standing beside the carriage...
His expression immediately turned irritated.
“Shoo! Shoo!”
Pertaz waved his hand.
“Go away! Don't disturb Lord Zeldryn!”
But the old man ignored him.
His eyes remained fixed on Zeldryn.
“Please, Lord Zeldryn!”
He moved slightly closer.
“I'll do anything!”
“...”
“Just give me a little bread or anything, Lord... my family is truly starving.”
Zeldryn slightly clenched his fingers.
‘Ah, fuck...’
‘I really feel bad for him.’
But along with that sympathy...
Something else began bothering him.
‘How the hell did things get this bad anyway?’
Zeldryn looked around again.
Dilapidated houses.
Terrible roads.
Sanitation that couldn't even be considered decent by his standards.
Beggars.
And now there was a man telling him his family hadn't eaten for two days.
‘Who the hell is the village chief here?’
But the moment that thought appeared...
Zeldryn immediately felt that something about it wasn't right.
‘No.’
A problem this large probably couldn't be blamed entirely on a village chief.
If an entire area was really in this condition...
Then there was a higher level of authority that should also be responsible.
And Lerta Village was located within territory controlled by...
The Giorry Family.
“...”
‘Damn it.’
Zeldryn's gaze changed slightly.
‘So this isn't just a village problem.’
‘This is also the ruler's problem.’
The Giorry family controlled this territory.
They collected taxes.
They appointed officials.
They held power.
Yet one of the villages under their rule looked like this.
‘How the hell can the rulers of a territory allow one of their villages to become this fucking miserable?’
While Zeldryn was still thinking...
Pertaz grew increasingly irritated.
He had already told the old man to leave several times.
Yet the man refused to move.
Finally...
CLINK!
!!
Pertaz drew his sword from its sheath.
The metal flashed immediately.
“You wanna die, huh?!”
!!
The old man immediately flinched.
His feet instinctively moved backward.
But because the ground beneath him was muddy...
THUD!
He lost his balance and fell.
Mud splashed across his clothes and hands.
“...”
Zeldryn simply watched from inside the carriage.
The old man looked terrified.
But...
He still hadn't given up.
Slowly, the man looked back toward the carriage window.
Toward Zeldryn.
“P-Please, Lord...”
His voice was much quieter this time.
“I have one son and one daughter...”
“...”
“I can give you my daughter...”
!!??
Zeldryn's eyes immediately widened.
“...”
“As long as you're willing to give my family food for one month.”
!!??
‘HUH?!’
Zeldryn could barely believe what he had just heard.
‘HE'S SELLING HIS DAUGHTER?!’
And that wasn't even the worst part.
‘AND ONLY FOR ONE MONTH OF FOOD?!’
‘THIS GUY IS INSANE!’
But...
That thought only lasted for a few seconds.
Zeldryn looked at the man's condition again.
His thin body.
His ragged clothes.
The mud now covering almost his entire body.
The fear on his face.
The desperation that kept him begging even with a sword pointed at him.
“...”
‘No.’
‘Wait.’
Zeldryn slightly gritted his teeth.
The world of the novel he had entered did resemble the medieval era.
He knew the lives of ordinary people would obviously be much harsher than in the modern world.
He had already expected poor sanitation.
Primitive technology.
A more dangerous way of life.
But...
He had never truly imagined seeing something like this with his own eyes.
Someone was willing to give away his own child...
Just for one month of food.
‘Damn it...’
Then, without realizing it...
Zeldryn's gaze shifted toward Hera.
“...”
The girl was still looking down.
And suddenly...
Something made much more sense.
‘No wonder Hera endured everything the old Zeldryn did to her.’
Being hit.
Being yelled at.
Being treated however he pleased.
Yet she still continued working at the Mansion for years.
Zeldryn had once found it strange.
Why didn't she just leave?
Why stay somewhere like that?
But now...
After seeing the old man outside the window...
The answer felt much clearer.
‘At least if she works at the Mansion...’
She gets food.
A place to live.
Income.
And most importantly...
Her younger sibling can survive too.
“...”
‘She doesn't have to end up in the same situation as this old man.’
For some reason, understanding that made Zeldryn's chest feel slightly uncomfortable.
‘Ah, fucking novel.’
‘How the hell could someone write a world this cruel?’
But Zeldryn hadn't even finished processing everything when suddenly...
TAP.
Pertaz stepped down from the carriage.
This time, his expression was completely serious.
His sword was still in his hand.
He walked toward the old man who was still on the ground.
Then pointed the sword at him.
“Leave. Now.”
His voice was cold.
“Or I'll cut you down.”
!!
The old man's face immediately turned pale.
This time, he didn't dare try again.
The man hurriedly got back to his feet.
He nearly slipped in the mud once more.
Then he ran toward one of the narrow paths between the village houses.
Farther away.
Until eventually...
He disappeared from sight.
“...”
Pertaz let out a breath.
Then he returned his sword to its sheath.
After that, he turned toward Zeldryn.
“My apologies, Lord. Your journey was disturbed.”