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Chapter 128: The Isted Vige (2)
The vige began to appear as they passed through the forest.
Ketal muttered, “It’s a small vige.”
However, it was different from the viges they had seen so far.
The viges Ketal had seen before were all neat and orderly.
The shapes of the houses, the paths within the vige, and the roads were all perfect, giving off the feeling of a nned city.
But this ce was different.
The houses were built haphazardly, with no proper roads, and the vige was cluttered.
Large rocks were embedded here and there, as if they hadn’t been cleared away.
It didn’t end there.
“It doesn’t look like it’s in very good condition.”
The houses made of wood and grass were rotting and seemed about to copse at any moment.
A vige hidden in the forest, on the verge of falling apart.
Ketal smiled faintly.
‘If it’s a fantasy, there should be at least one vige like this.’
He felt satisfied but had one question.
“Why is there a vige in such a ce? It doesn’t seem suitable for living at all.”
It was not good for farming, and it was hard to contact nearby viges.
It had some charm, but it seemed full of inconveniences for living.
“It must be because they can’t live anywhere else.”
Nas seemed to understand.
“Let’s go and see.”
They walked toward the vige.
And as they arrived at the vige entrance, as expected, chaos erupted.
“Barbarians!”
“Eeeeek!”
The vigers screamed and hurriedly moved about.
Nas, as if anticipating this, showed no particr reaction.
Barbarians were fundamentally objects of fear and dread.
To these people, it must have felt like monsters were invading their vige.
“Why have youe to our vige?”
“Go back!”
The vigers armed themselves and threatened them.
However, what they held were wooden spears and pitchforks, not really threatening.
Their thin arms trembled, possibly fromck of food.
Their ragged, dirty clothes looked pitiful.
“Step back for a moment. Let me handle this.”
“Understood.”
Ketal took a step back.
Nas stepped forward and spoke politely.
“We came across your vige while passing through. We have no intention of causing any trouble.”
Nas spoke courteously.
“May we stay for a night? We willpensate you for it.”
His polite demeanor and words, along with his attire, left the vigers wide-eyed.
“…A servant of a god?”
They nced back and forth between Ketal and Nas.
“…A priest with a barbarian?”
The vigers were bewildered.
Nas could understand.
It was indeed a strangebination, even to him.
After calming down for a moment, a middle-aged man stepped forward.
“I am the vige chief. May I ask which god you serve?”
Nas replied,
“I am a priest of Kalosia, the god of lies and deception.”
“…Oh.”
The vige chief hesitated.
His face quickly showed signs of rejection, simr to the reaction when he saw the barbarian.
Nas smiled wryly.
“We have no intention of causing any trouble. I swear in the name of Kalosia.”
“Hmm…”
The vige chief’s expression was uncertain.
Just as Nas was about to step back, sensing the obvious rejection, Ketal stepped forward.
“Please.”
“We don’t intend to cause any trouble.”
His low, yet firm words resonated.
The vige chief’s eyes trembled wildly.
“A-alright. Pleasee in…”
He spoke, trembling.
They were led to an empty house.
Ketal smiled as he spoke,
“They’re good people, epting outsiders like this.”
“……”
Nas and Heize remained silent.
The house was extremely shabby.
It was a shack on the verge of copse.
However, just having a roof over their heads was a relief.
Heize sat on a straw bed and rubbed her legs.
Ketal had been guided to a different house.
“Hmm. No matter how I see it, they seem like good people,”
Nas muttered.
Nas muttered,
“He seems to have a very good personality. Heize, are you sure you’re not mistaken? He doesn’t seem like someone with issues.”
During the two weeks of travel, Ketal hadn’t caused any problems.
On the contrary, he had been considerate and attentive to them.
No matter how he thought about it, Ketal didn’t seem like a problematic person as Heize had suggested.
“No,”
Heize denied firmly.
“Nas, you just don’t know. I don’t think he’s a bad person either.”
Heize had received many favors from Ketal.
She didn’t harbor any hostility towards him.
“But that doesn’t mean he’s as good as you think he is.”
Ketal’s values were different.
They were in a realm that they couldn’t understand.
“I’m not trying to challenge your judgment, but… I just want you to keep that in mind.”
“…Hmm.”
Nas stroked his chin.
‘He doesn’t seem problematic.’
Heize’s strong words made Nas reconsider.
‘Am I viewing him too favorably?’
In hindsight, his first impression had been very strong.
Since then, whatever Ketal did, he had seen it favorably.
He decided to view things more objectively.
The next day, the moon set and the sun rose.
“Did you sleep well?”
“Yes,”
Nas replied quietly.
Ketal smiled.
“That’s good. Rest is important since we have a long journey ahead.”
“…Indeed.”
As they paid their dues and prepared to leave the vige, someone arrived.
“Come out!”
“Where’s the vige chief?”
A rough voice echoed, clearly filled with hostility and menace.
Three men, dressed in tattered leather armor, were swinging rusty swords threateningly.
“Come out, or do you want to die?”
The vige chief rushed out frantically.
“Wh-what’s the matter?”
“What’s the matter?”
One of the men twisted his face grotesquely.
“You still haven’t paid this month’s tribute!”
“We… we’re in a dire situation. We don’t even have enough food to survive…”
“Shut up!”
The man roughly cut off the chief’s words.
“That’s your problem! We’re protecting you, aren’t we? You need to pay for that!”
The man red, and the vige chief trembled.
Ketal, who had been watching the scene, muttered,
“They really look like thugs.”
He found it fascinating that such people existed in this world too.
Apparently hearing his voice, the man red in his direction.
“Who the hell is that?”
“Who dares to talk like that?”
They looked in the direction of the voice and their eyes met Ketal’s.
Ketal smiled and waved.
“Nice to meet you.”
“…Huh?”
The man’s eyes widened.
He seemed to think he was seeing things, shaking his head.
But when he looked again, Ketal was still there.
“…We’ll be back, so be ready next time!”
They stammered and hurriedly left.
“Seems like there’s a problem.”
Ketal smiled.
[Trantor – Night]
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* * *
“What’s going on?”
Ketal asked the vige chief.
The chief stammered.
“It’s… it’s our problem. You don’t need to worry about it.”
“Still, sometimes talking about it can be relieving.”
Ketal spoke softly.
“Why don’t you tell us? You never know, we might be able to help.”
“Uh…”
The chief’s eyes clouded, and he began to speak hesitantly.
“B-bandits are threatening us.”
“Bandits?”
Ketal’s eyes gleamed.
“There are bandits here?” n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
“There are quite a few,”
Nas said calmly.
“The basic guards or mercenaries are mainly tasked with managing the dungeons near the viges.”
In other words, most of the manpower was invested in the dungeons, making it difficult to manage the roads beyond the viges.
Thus, the number of bandits and thieves controlling the paths between viges was not small.
The vige chief nodded.
“Yes, that’s correct. There have been bandits around this area for a long time.”
So far, they had not been discovered, but recently the bandits had found the vige and started making various demands.
“We want to fight back, but our weapons and condition are too poor… There’s a strong one among them, so we have no choice but toply.”
The vige chief hung his head in despair, his emaciated arms trembling from hunger.
“Can’t you request assistance from nearby viges or territories?”
Ketal’s question was reasonable.
If a vige couldn’t handle a problem on its own, it would seek help from the territory.
This was amon practice, as seen when they had gone to Barkan’s territory to deal with demons.
However, the vige chief’s face darkened.
“Well…”
“I’ll exin from here,”
Nas interjected.
“When you first discovered this vige, you wondered why a vige was in such a ce. The reason is simple,”
Nas said.
“These are refugee outcasts.”
“Refugees?”
Viges near territories had to pay taxes to the territory owner, who set the tax rates.
While the kingdom offered some protection, it was rarely enforced.
Those who couldn’t endure such exploitation and oppression fled to remote, hidden ces where they wouldn’t be tracked.
This vige was one such ce.
“Oh,”
Ketal said, stroking his chin with interest.
“That’s why they can’t seek help.”
“Exactly.”
There was no one to help those who had fled.
Their fate was to either be perpetually exploited by the bandits, return to the oppressive lord they had fled, or resist and risk their lives.
It was not something they should get involved in.
Cases like this weremon.
People fleeing their responsibilities and duties, and bandits exploiting such people—Nas had seen it countless times during their travels.
As Nas was about to leave, Ketal spoke up energetically.
“How unfortunate!”
The chief, caught off guard by Ketal’s sudden reaction, stammered.
“It’s a shame! Being exploited like this! And by bandits, no less!”
“Wh-what?”
The vige chief was taken aback.
Ketal continued, ignoring the chief’s surprise.
“This is fate; it’s a good opportunity. I’ll help you!”
“What?”
Nas’s eyes widened in surprise.
* * *
The vige chief was astonished.
He had never expected Ketal to offer help.
He repeatedly asked if Ketal was serious, and each time Ketal nodded.
The chief, deeply moved, expressed his gratitude over and over.
Nas approached Ketal.
“Why are you doing this?”
“I apologize for not discussing it beforehand. You can leave if you wish. I’ll resolve this quickly and catch up with you.”
“No, that’s not the issue. I’m asking about your true intentions.”
Nas stared intently at Ketal.
“Why did you say you’d help them? These people have no right to protection.”
Objectively, Ketal had no reason to help.
The vigers were fugitives who had abandoned their responsibilities and duties.
They were being exploited by others who had simrly forsaken their responsibilities and be bandits.
It was merely a difference in power dynamics.
There was no reason for them to intervene.
This was themon worldview of their world.
Yet, Ketal had offered to help.
“What’s the reason?”
Nas could somewhat understand Ketal aiding Kalosia’s church due to his friendship with Heize, but the vigers were just a passing acquaintance.
Nas narrowed his eyes, trying to gauge Ketal’s intentions based on his answer.
In truth, Ketal didn’t have any profound reason.
‘I just wanted to see what the bandits are like in a real fantasy world.’
He was simply curious about where the bandits were based and how they lived.
It wasn’t anything grand.
However, he couldn’t say that, so he searched his memory.
‘What do people usually say in situations like this?’
Ketal recalled a suitable response.
“Does a person need a reason to save another person?”
Nas’s eyes widened.
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