Chapter Seven: I Can Keep My Promises
JUST as His Excellency suspected, the two-century-old documents aren’t of much use to the prince’s efforts in Longhurst. He’ll have better luck relying on his talented aides who are actually trained in disaster management.
What the territory needs is governance that plans for its future. The region suffers from its unique landscape and its people’s unusual distrust of outsiders, so the crown may resort to force to secure its submission. Even so, they’ll have to truly understand Longhurst if they wish to continue their rule. The locals proved ignorant and violent enough to attack us in the presence of royalty, and that danger will only increase if more officials are posted there.
The administrative manor no longer contains any record of Longhurst’s history, and a number of its villages have been destroyed in the flooding. And when we approached the nobles of neighboring territories for more information, nobody had anything to offer because their relationship with Longhurst was confined to trade.
The small country we’re investigating seems to have suffered the same fate, yet I somehow feel that something else spurred its ruin. A sentiment that I’ve shared with Prince Dominic.
It occurred to me when we were in Longhurst, driving the criminals into the forest as sacrifices to the dragon. The earl’s former assistant had once talked about his hometown, mentioning that its inhabitants commonly studied the forest’s monsters and plants and how to harvest them for human use. And his hometown is the very same unmarked village that was recently destroyed by heavy rains.
Because he referenced it in passing, I had no clues regarding its location but figured I’d find it if I did some research. I hadn’t imagined that it wasn’t recorded on any map… In the end, Rickman was the one to track it down: the hometown of the former assistant and Brianna, a hidden village situated between the city of Longhurst and the annexed country.
If the hero who killed the Monster King had been sent by the country’s king, they might very well have passed through that village on their way to the forest. That would also mean their army illegally crossed the border into our kingdom, but perhaps our capital was too far away to notice what was happening.
And if Prince Dominic is unaware of the event, the killing of the Monster King must have been a secret operation, and records pertaining to it are still somewhere in the annexed country instead of the capital’s forbidden archive.
“But they’re not!” I groan in frustration.
“It’s rare that your hunch is wrong, Master,” Rodney says.
Evening has arrived, and although I’ve been searching the town hall’s archives since the previous morning, I’ve yet to discover any reference to the village.
The small country was likely self-sufficient at the time, but I’m guessing its king was interested in the far more fertile Longhurst. In that case, there should be surveys of the territory’s farms—or village population.
“Either way, I’ll pass whatever we’ve found to His Highness… Maybe Rickman or the others will manage to extract something useful from it.”
“That’s fair… But what will we do, Master?”
“What will we do about what?”
“This! It’s been roaring constantly! For almost two full days! Aren’t you curious about it, Master?”
“Of course I’m curious! It just won’t shut up!”
“Even the trustee and townspeople have been giving us worried glances.”
“Didn’t they insist it’s just the wind? Why are they worried now…? What are they expecting me, a lone soldier, to do in the mountains?”
I am curious, that’s true.
We’ll pass the peak on our way to the capital the following morning, and when I tell the trustee that I’ll look into the noise, he smiles widely in return.
“Wonderful! That the glorious Viscount Noel has offered this is a relief! Our people are too scared to venture into the mountains for fear of getting cursed or incurring the wrath of the gods! Everyone knows that the monster worshippers live there!”
Is that so?! Why didn’t anyone tell me sooner?!
“Tell me more, now,” I demand.