“Are you sure you don’t want to stick around a little longer?” one of Raoul’s soldiers asked.
Only one day had passed since Raoul regained consciousness. He was already preparing to march back to the capital with all five thousand of his men, fully assembled and ready to go.
“Shut up,” Raoul snapped. “If we stay here any longer, the troops will go soft.”
That was unnecessarily harsh.
“I mean, I thought we treated you guys pretty well,” I said.
Honestly, we’d gone out of our way to welcome them. The soldiers had lived in comfort...maybe too much comfort.
(“Man, I wish we could’ve stayed longer...”)
(“Yeah, I don’t wanna leave either. It’s like vacation’s over.”)
(“I’m gonna miss the booze here...”)
Hmm, come to think of it, the soldiers looked pretty depressed. Just yesterday, they’d been bursting with energy.
“That’s not what I meant, damn it. Tch! Now I get why people are flocking to this city,” Raoul muttered bitterly, then turned to his men. “We’re heading back to the capital. Move out!”
The army began to march slowly.
“Wait, where did the labyrinth of walls go?!”
“Oh, that? It was in the way, so I deleted it,” I said.
“D-Deleted it?” Raoul looked like he wanted to say something else, but I just waved and watched him go.
“Come visit again anytime!” I called.
“Yeah, right! Like hell I’m ever coming back to this place again!” Raoul shouted angrily.
His yelling that he’d never come back hopefully meant he wouldn’t attack us again, so I took that as a win.
“They’re gone,” I said.
Myria appeared beside me as I watched Raoul’s army recede into the distance.
“Wonderful work, Lord Luke.”
“Thanks, Myria.”
“To think you managed to appease Lord Raoul! I’d expect nothing less from you, my lord!”
“I didn’t really, though...”
If someone were capable of that, we’d have world peace by now.
“Our interests just happened to align, that’s all.”
Still, that meant our village was finally safe.
“Lord Luke!” A man I vaguely remembered came running over.
“Huh? Wait, aren’t you...” I couldn’t place him until I saw Seren and Sirius trailing behind him. “Earl Bazlata?”
It was the head of House Bazlata, and Seren and Sirius’s father. I instinctively tensed up.
“Thank you so much for taking care of my daughter and son!”
Wait, what?
“But most importantly, I’m amazed! To think you built a city like this in such a short time! It’s truly remarkable, Lord Luke! I was shocked when I heard you had gone off to reclaim the wilderness, but clearly the marquess must’ve believed in your potential all along!”
Hm, I thought he just came to get his kids back, but that doesn’t seem to be the vibe here...
“You’re switching sides after Luke won? I know you came here itching to support Raoul!” Seren snorted with exasperation.
“That’s not true, Seren! Father brought troops to support us!”
“Y-Yes, of course! It’s just as Sirius says!”
Riiight...
“Anyway, Lord Luke, please continue looking after my children! I’ll be taking my leave now!”
Apparently, he was in a rush to get back. He said he’d left his territory in a hurry, so he couldn’t stay long.
“Why don’t you rest in the village for a bit before you leave?” I suggested.
“Don’t you dare let him do that!” Seren and Sirius said in unison.
“Well, the least he can do is have a meal...” I began.
“Nope, not that either!”
I didn’t understand why they were being so adamant about it. Maybe they didn’t have a good relationship in that family.
“We’re all doomed if he says he doesn’t want to go home...” Seren muttered.
“We can’t have our lord abandoning our territory, after all!” Sirius said.
“Huh?”
I didn’t totally understand why they were so worked up, but at the very least, I guessed it meant that Earl Bazlata approved of their move to the village.
Awesome!
After their father left, I headed to the now vacant apartments where Raoul’s army had been staying. The place was eerily silent now that all five thousand soldiers were gone.
Well, not all five thousand.
“I know someone’s hiding in there,” I said.
“Ack!”
“It’s okay, I’m not mad. Come on out.”
A nervous young man peeked his head out of a closet. He was one of Raoul’s soldiers.
“Everyone else left, you know,” I said.
“Y-Yes, I know, but...”
“But?”
“This village is way too amazing! I don’t wanna leeeaaaavee!”
Wait, that’s why?
I thought the tough military life had just worn him down, but it turned out that he wasn’t the only one who’d deserted. There were about thirty total hiding across the buildings.
Under normal circumstances, it would’ve been tough to find thirty people spread throughout such a massive structure, but I tracked them down in no time thanks to the map function.
Still, how did they forget thirty of their men? Maybe nobody had done a head count in their rush to go home.
“Please let us stay here!”
“We’re begging you!”
They bowed deeply to me, practically sobbing.
I asked them for details, and they told me they were all part-time conscripts, which meant they were just civilians who only got called up in emergencies. If that was the case, I doubted this would turn into some diplomatic mess. They would’ve just been dismissed when they got back anyway.
“It’s fine with me. But make sure you talk to your families and your local authorities first, okay? You can bring them here too, if you want,” I offered.
“Thank you so much!”
I sent the men off for now, but they weren’t the only ones who wanted to stay.
“Huh? You aren’t going back to Liesen, Dant?”
“No, I’d like to remain here, if you’ll allow it, Lord Luke,” he said.
Apparently, Dant and his people wanted to settle here too.
“Of course it’s fine with me. But are you sure?”
“A new governor will be dispatched soon anyway. It’s unlikely my family will be allowed to continue managing the North after everything that’s happened.”
He had a point. He’d openly defied Raoul. It wouldn’t be an easy road even if he were allowed to remain in charge.
“All right, then. I look forward to working with you.”
“Th-Thank you!” (“Thank goodness! My wife enjoys life in this village, so if I told her we had to go back to the city after this, she’d have my head!”)
For some reason, Dant got teary-eyed, but I just assumed he really felt sad about leaving his post as governor.