I Don't Feel Like We Can Lose
“Boromioshi, that government official, left this place the day before Baron-sama and your party arrived.”
“Eh, it really was right before we got here?”
“Yes. We received word a little earlier that Zenas would be getting a new lord, though.”
According to Village Chief Moot, the official named Boromioshi had apparently thought he would become the new lord himself. Then, two days before our arrival, news reached him that Father was officially coming as the new lord.
“He panicked and fled in quite a hurry, let me tell you.”
If the kingdom assigned a new lord, then naturally the official who had been overseeing the development project would finish his duties and return to the royal capital.
But if he was hiding that much money, then of course questions would be asked, and his embezzlement would be exposed. So he ran.
According to the village chief, Boromioshi had been assigned to Zenas fifteen years ago.
He left Zenas with almost all of the money he had spent fifteen years embezzling still hidden away here.
Could someone really give up on that kind of money?
If it were me, I couldn't.
And besides, the official had left the day before we arrived.
If he was heading for the royal capital, or even if he wasn't, there should have been a good chance of crossing paths with us on the road.
Not only us, but even the knights who had traveled half a day ahead of us said they hadn't seen anyone.
Now where could he be hiding?
---
“Alright, let's continue repairing roofs today.”
“Yep. There's no shortage of work. Let's get it done quick.”
Putting the matter of the official aside for now, today's job was roof repairs once again.
“Today's Chico's house, huh?”
“Yay! Now I won't have to clean my room~”
“What are you talking about, Chico? Just because sand won't blow in anymore doesn't mean you can stop cleaning!”
There had been a small hole in the roof of Chico's room. Apparently sand had been getting in through it.
While we were installing the bamboo roof, Chico stared intently at the work… no, he was staring at the dwarves.
“Hey. Why're you guys so short?”
Whoa. That's a direct one.
“Huh? What's this, kid? You don't know what dwarves are?”
“Dwarves? Is that your name?”
“Nope. Well, there aren't any dwarves living around here, so I guess it ain't strange you've never seen one. We're dwarves, a different race from humans.”
When the foreman explained that, Chico let out a loud cry of surprise.
“Ehhhh!? You guys aren't human!? Then what about Niichan?”
“No, umm... I'm human.”
“... Aww.”
Why do you look disappointed about that?
Why?
Cutting the bamboo and removing the nodes was done with alchemy magic. Everything after that was handled manually by the dwarves.
They built the triangular roof, filled in the wall gaps… and less than two hours later, repairs on Chico's house were complete.
“Yesss~! A brand-new roof!”
“The added wall section isn't new, though.”
“Tch. I was having a moment.”
“Hahaha. Sorry, sorry.”
Still, seeing him this happy made all the effort worthwhile.
“Hey, Niichan”
“Hmm? What's up, Chico?”
“You know, the thing Touchan told you about before? The bandits.”
“The bandits... ah, the ones who attack officials and merchants coming from the royal capital?”
Chico nodded and gestured for me to lean closer.
What was this about?
“Actually, y'know, I think those bandits are working with the old official.”
“Eh? Wo-working together?”
Chico nodded again and sat down in the shade.
I sat beside him and signaled to the dwarves to take a break.
“At the start of this year, my family got assigned cow duty. Oh, cow duty means taking the milk cows out to graze. There's a place about two days from the village where a little grass grows.”
Hardly any weeds grew around here.
There was a small grassland area at the southern foot of the western mountain. A few times a year, they would take the cows there and let them graze for several days, rotating the duty among the villagers.
“Anyway, that's when bandits attacked us.”
“They attacked you!? How did you drive them off?”
“Someone helped us. The Desert People. And, well, one of the bandits there? I saw him with the official afterward.”
“W-What!?”
I was so shocked I almost wanted to use an ASCII reaction face.
What kind of connection could they have… ah...
“Chico. Didn't those bandits always show up around the same time?”
“Huh? Umm... now that you mention it, they always came in spring and autumn.”
“Spring and autumn, huh? Those were the times when development funds were delivered from the royal capital, right?”
“Ah... y-yeah! That's right! Officials from the royal capital would always bring money, and then leave afterward! Last time those officials got attacked too!”
They got attacked too, huh...
If the officials from the royal capital were attacked before handing over the money… the kingdom would probably send additional funds.
No wonder there was such an absurd amount of money in that hidden room.
“So that's it... yeah, I guess he really can't give it up.”
“Huh? Niichan, what're you talking about?”
“Hmm. Just that bad people have a hard time giving up, which means we'll get to punish them.”
Chico tilted his head.
We had fifty knights here.
Even if all ten soldiers who had been stationed here joined Boromioshi…
“Chico. Do you know about how many bandits there are?”
“Hmm, not exactly. Maybe thirty or forty?”
That's a lot.
Numbers-wise, it'd be about even.
Well, our knight order is strong.
And besides…
“Hey, kid. Break's over. Time to get back to work.”
“Okaaay~ I'm coming~”
We've got some pretty dependable people on our side.
I don't feel like we can lose.
What do you think about this chapter?
