Once the banquet ended, we were led to an impressive mansion that was nearly a replica of the mayor’s house. And if my memory served me right, this building hadn’t existed when we were given the tour earlier.
He must’ve used his Gift to build it... But still, it’s shocking he can put something up like this at the snap of his fingers.
“Please use this house tonight. It’s big enough to comfortably accommodate your guards as well.”
“Thank you, Lord Luke.”
My men and I cautiously stepped inside, half-expecting some trick. But it was no illusion. The interior was fully furnished and utterly real, right down to the last piece of furniture and decoration.
It even had bathtubs and flush toilets. It was hard to believe this was something created by a Gift.
I sat down on the sofa in the living room across from Bazara. “So what do you really think of this village?” I asked.
“It’s unusual. Incredibly unusual,” he said.
I honestly couldn’t have agreed more.
“There’s something I need to apologize for, Lord Dant,” Bazara admitted.
“Apologize? What is it?” I asked.
“Just before we arrived, I assured you you’d be safe as long as we were here. I must take back that statement.” Bazara was a seasoned warrior, but he spoke with a stiff, uneasy expression. “I mean, it’s impossible to guarantee, my lord. Even our elite squad wouldn’t last one minute if they decided to ambush us. I don’t think our entire forces combined could capture this village.”
“Hrm, I see...” Honestly, I’d suspected as much, but it was becoming clear that this place was far too powerful to be called a village.
“I never imagined so many of them would have combat- or magic-type Gifts. I was under the impression that most of the villagers were refugees from the west, or people who fled from our domain...” Bazara said.
“What if he bestowed Blessings upon them?” I wondered, remembering a building that looked like a church in the village. Strangely, it hadn’t been included during our tour, which I’d thought was odd at the time.
“Blessings? But where would they get a priest?!”
Normally, only priests with the divine Gift of Oracle could grant Blessings, but all of them were under the church’s control. There were certain exceptions, of course, but they were strategic ones. In the end, only the church itself could even bestow the Gift of Oracle in the first place.
But what if this village had found a way around that system?
“Even if ordinary villagers could receive Blessings, how would that explain the sheer number of Gifted here?” Bazara asked.
“I’m not sure. The church insists that less than one percent of commoners have Gifts. But what if they’re wrong?”
✦ ✦ ✦
“But that means...”
If the church ever found out what was happening here, they wouldn’t be able to ignore it. Even in times of war, the church still held a certain degree of power.
“Lord Dant, what do you plan on doing about this village? Will you report it to Marquess Arvale?” Bazara asked.
“No, I won’t make any reports,” I said, shaking my head.
“What?!” His eyes widened in surprise.
“His lordship is currently focused on preparing for the next battle. I hear he’s left most of the political matters within the domain to Lord Raoul. Of course, he’s assigned aides to support him, but still...”
I suspected that once he’d won his battle with House Schneiger, the lord would claim that territory for himself and leave the Arvale domain to Raoul.
“In other words, any report I made would have to go through Lord Raoul first, and from what I’ve heard, he’s always viewed Lord Luke, his half brother, as a threat. He wouldn’t take kindly to learning how much influence Lord Luke has now.”
Lord Raoul had inherited the Gift of Sword Mastery, which had all but guaranteed his succession as the next lord of the domain. And if he saw Lord Luke as a genuine risk to his power, there was no telling what he’d do to eliminate him.
“He might try to destroy the village before Marquess Arvale even finds out about it,” I said.
The church was definitely one threat to the village, but Lord Raoul might pose an even greater one.
“B-But Lord Dant, if anyone finds out you concealed this...” Bazara started.
I let out a sigh. I was a governor under House Arvale’s command. If word got out that I’d gone rogue, I wouldn’t live to see the consequences.
“I know, but I want to bet on this village, Bazara. I want to bet on Lord Luke.”
I’d spent my whole career as a governor doing what I was told and enforcing my lord’s orders. I told myself it couldn’t be helped, even though I knew the people were suffering. I collected ridiculous taxes without mercy. Sometimes I even used force to keep the people in line, according to my orders.
It was who I was: A selfish coward always looking to save my own skin.
Yet here I was, ready to make the biggest gamble of my life on a village in the middle of nowhere.
“Lord Raoul isn’t fit to inherit House Arvale. It should be Lord Luke. And I believe without a doubt that he will become the greatest ruler this domain has ever seen,” I said.