This ludicrous excuse didn’t even make sense to Lacey herself. Kargo stifled a smile and replied, “Oh, all right.” Lacey felt embarrassed and instinctively hid her face under her hat.
She was worried about Allen, but since she wanted to be considerate of his feelings, she felt that she couldn’t let him know this. Allen would be coming back to Plume Village along with Lanze today. Tee and Noi had come along with her out of curiosity, but they seemed to have gotten tired of watching her repeat the same movements and had promptly gone off to play. Lacey recalled how they had looked up at her, chirping and oinking with half-bored faces.
Maybe he’s right, it would be fine to just wait at home. If she went home, they’d come by the mansion anyway to report the sales figures. Coming down into the village herself would only make a few hours difference.
She walked around in a circle and raised her head when she thought she heard them, only to be disappointed when it wasn’t. She kept repeating this while Kargo watched with a wry smile.
After quite a few iterations of this, she heard the sound of a carriage and raised her head. This time, it was definitely them. Allen and Lanze came down from the driver’s seat.
“Welcome back,” Lacey called to them.
“Big sis Lacey, were you waiting for hours again? Don’t you think you’re worrying too much?” Allen said with exasperation.
“Urk...” Lacey didn’t have a good response and clammed up. Meanwhile, Lanze and Kargo—the two adults—were looking at each other and holding back laughter.
“Um, er, I’m not worried, exactly, but it’s more like, well...”
Like Allen had suggested, her eyes were darting around as if they were minnows while she tried to find the right words to say. Lacey pressed her index fingers together bashfully, then suddenly lifted her face and patted Allen’s back.
“Wh-What?”
“Allen, did you meet a mage somewhere?”
“A mage?”
“Yes.”
Lacey had noticed that there was investigation magic tangled around the boy.
It’s a very crude spell, though.
One light pat from Lacey had easily fractured the formula and made it fall off. It made a cracking sound as it broke apart, becoming just fragments of mana that dripped and vanished into the ground. If Lacey had cast it, she would have weaved the formula thinner than thread so that it couldn’t be detected. There was no point in investigation magic if the person it was cast on noticed it.
“I ran into some soldiers, but a mage? I don’t think I did...”
“Oh.”
It was only natural that Allen would be at a loss. In the first place, one couldn’t tell just from appearances whether someone was a mage. Since the spell hadn’t been there when Allen set out from Plume Village, it must have been cast on him when he was in the capital.
But would you really cast investigation magic on any random boy you met in the capital? Lacey’s brow furrowed as she looked down at the minuscule remnants of mana.
“Big sis?” Allen looked at her worriedly. Just then, the sound of numerous horse hooves echoed down the road.
Not many people came by Plume Village. It was all the same visitors, usually traders. That was why Kargo and Allen were much more disturbed by this abnormal occurrence than Lacey. Kargo shot Allen a look, which Allen immediately comprehended. He headed away toward the village center.
“Hey!” One of the men on horseback shouted at Allen from behind, but a man as round as a snowman ponderously stretched out an arm and signaled for the other man to stop.
“Never mind him. Don’t make a fuss.”
The snowman-like man dismounted and haughtily surveyed the village.
“What a dingy town this is,” he spat.
Lacey felt more bewildered than offended at his words. With her hat pulled down low on her head, she looked at the man. Judging by his arrogant attitude and sumptuous clothing, this fat man was probably a noble. That meant that the men accompanying him were likely his personal soldiers. They were wearing the same uniforms, so they weren’t mercenaries.
In the time that the noble and his soldiers were taking a look at the town and disparaging it, Allen returned with a large group of people. Granny was there too, carried on a villager’s back. Since the noble had brought soldiers, they were naturally alarmed.
Watching as more people gathered, the noble spat again. “Must country folk act like this?”
Several villagers scowled indignantly. Meanwhile, Granny gently came down from Allen’s back and solemnly stood up front as their representative. She was far too vulnerable. But against a noble, commoners had no choice but to act submissively.
Lacey kept her gaze trained on them and stretched her fingers to the miniaturized staff in her bag so that she would be ready anytime in case something happened.
Granny put her arms into her ample sleeves and bowed.
“I’m the leader of Plume Village. I can see that you are a noble. Would you do us the courtesy of telling us why you’re here?”
“Hmph, why I’m here, you ask? It would normally be unthinkable for me to even speak a word to you simple country folk. Very well. In recognition of your achievements, I will grant you the honor of knowing my name. I am Marlado Lomigos, and by His Majesty’s grace, I hold the status of count!”
The villagers whispered among themselves when they heard the word “count.” The corners of Lomigos’s mouth turned up in a smile, and he looked terribly pleased.
Before Lacey knew it, the majority of the villagers had gathered. Lacey quietly slipped into the crowd. She watched Allen’s expression uneasily.
“Yes, your achievements! I already know that this village is where the Aster goods are produced! Stand down and yield the rights to me!”
“Y-Yield the rights, you say?!” Lanze uttered in surprise. After hearing him, the villagers started to buzz. Even Granny’s wrinkled face twisted into an apprehensive look.
Lomigos seemed to be closely observing them with great pleasure. As the murmurs grew louder, he let out an “Oh dear,” pursing his lips, blinking, and suppressing a grin before explaining himself. “Excuse me, ‘rights’ was a poor choice of word. I’m not that cruel.”
Everyone breathed sighs of relief. The magic artifacts that Lacey made were no longer just her own. They were the business of the entire village, and the residents were trying to reclaim their pride from when they were called the feather-decoration village.
Lomigos promptly continued. “I will simply be overseeing the future production of Aster goods. I can’t bear how disorderly the distribution is. I shall grant you my protection from this point forth. In exchange, you will create and present to me goods according to my specifications.”
Whispers spread. The villagers exchanged looks when they heard Lomigos’s words, trying to digest and interpret what he had said. There was something off about it, but they didn’t know how to respond.
It didn’t take long for the whispers to change into chaos. Nobody at all understood the situation.
The one exception was Lacey. She simply observed Lomigos calmly. His strategy had been effective. He began by throwing down a condition, and after the other party became agitated, he relaxed it a little. Though it was basically the same as the initial condition, this pretense made it emotionally easier to accept.
This is a pickle...
The noble by the name of Lomigos had said he had come for Lacey’s magic artifacts. While Lacey herself didn’t think the items she made held that much value, she didn’t want the villagers to get wrapped up in all of this. She pondered if there was any way to peacefully resolve things. Meanwhile, Lacey wasn’t the only one who had noticed the fallacy in what Lomigos had said. The first to step out in front of Lomigos was Kargo.
“Wait a minute!” His face, lined with echoes of laughter, was now tense and he had one arm stretched out defensively in front of Granny. “Isn’t that essentially contracting us into being slaves? Why do we have to let a noble we’ve never seen or met before oversee what we make? Plume Village doesn’t need protection. I’m sorry, but please leave!”
“Hah! You don’t have the right to refuse!”
“Slaves” was a very strong word, but it was very close to what might actually happen in Lacey’s estimation. Judging by Lomigos’s expression, he would demand excessive production speeds and monopolize all the profits as a protection fee. The villagers would only receive a pittance. Lacey had seen many villages while on the quest. This was by no means an uncommon situation.
However, whether the villagers would accept it being thrust upon them was a different story.
“Like hell!” somebody shouted.
“Yeah, we’re not gonna stand for that!”
Angry voices rippled out. Everyone started to shout, giving their support to Kargo.
This isn’t good! Lacey suddenly realized, looking around. Behind Lomigos stood men with drawn swords. “N-No, calm down...!”
“Silence!!!”
Lacey raised her voice, but Lomigos raised his even higher, overpowering them all. The huge snowman had gone red in the face and there was even steam coming off his head. He looked like he was about to melt. Suddenly realizing that he was huffing and puffing, Lomigos took a deep breath. Then, sweat still dripping down his face, he feigned a composed tone and smiled.