397 - Leonardo's Perspective - Empire Soldiers and Bandits 1
Crossing the border guarded by the Restham Knight Order was quick, as expected, but on the Empire side of the border, we were made to wait. I believe there should be no such distinction in the first place, but at the Empire's border, treatment clearly changes depending on one's status as a merchant or one's rank of nobility. That said, being made to wait even longer than a merchant not much older than Cody is probably because Cody is an honest young man. Noticing a merchant slipping a bribe under the table to the soldier inspecting the cargo, I realize Cody's turn has been pushed back yet again. Unless he offers a bribe to the soldier, or as long as people giving bribes keep coming, Cody's turn will never come no matter how long he waits.
"Let's see? Cargo is Nuzer, dried Ikaku, and preserved apples in syrup? And Pusal Brandy. Got any stronger booze?"
"Huh!? Even if you say that, I heard they made good Pusal Brandy this year, so that's all the alcohol I've got."
Cody's turn finally came, and a soldier with a thoroughly annoyed look peered into the wagon. His gaze went to Jean-Jacques sleeping beside the wooden crates filled with guidebooks, then to me still sitting on the driver's seat. He raised a suspicious eyebrow, but that was all.
"...What's this bobbin lace guidebook?"
"Yes. It's a popular lace in the Divine King's Territory of Quebia. I heard the guidebook was printed at the Menhishumi Church in the Ivizia Kingdom, so I poured my entire fortune into buying stock!"
"Can't eat books, can ya? That kinda stuff ain't gonna sell here in the Empire."
To the soldier who laughed it off, saying books would never sell, Cody put on an exaggerated lament. The story was that he had poured his entire fortune into buying these books expecting them to sell, and had even hired a mercenary this time as special escort for those guidebooks that amounted to his entire fortune. If the guidebooks did not sell, Cody would lose everything.
The soldier seemed somewhat convinced about us having a mercenary along, but after that he kept grumbling complaints as he inspected the wagon.
...He sure talks about alcohol a lot, does not he?
Cody did not seem to notice at all, but Jean-Jacques appeared to have caught on to the same thing. The soldier was demanding Pusal Brandy from Cody as a bribe. Realizing this, Jean-Jacques made a face like he was thoroughly annoyed and rummaged through the box of Pusal Brandy. Then he held up two bottles where both Cody and the soldier could see them.
"Well, well. Honorable Empire soldier, tough duty you got there. Please, use this to recharge your spirits tonight."
"Hey, stop that! That's an important product...!"
Jean-Jacques handed the Pusal Brandy to the soldier and covered Cody's mouth with his free hand. Cody was getting angry at Jean-Jacques for touching the merchandise, but the soldier who received the other bottle grinned.
"Tough break havin' a boss who don't know how things work."
"We keep gettin' held up everywhere like this. Yours truly'd like to sleep at an inn with cute women tonight, y'know..."
"There ain't no pretty prostitutes around here. If ya go as far as Potsdahl, there might be..."
"Honestly face is secondary, if they got big tits and the goods are good..."
"The goods depend on how the husband trained 'em. In that sense, you can enjoy the women around here plenty. Got nothin' to do in winter, so that's all they do!"
At the vulgar conversation exchanged above him, Cody's face turned red, still with his mouth covered by Jean-Jacques. I had thought he seemed like an innocent young man, but it seemed he had no experience with women. He was at an age where having a wife would not be strange, but even as a merchant, always traveling on the road, he probably had no prospects for marriage.
...Not that I can talk about others.
Age-wise, it would not be strange for me to have a child or two either. But I have had no luck with encounters, and I am still single. In recent years, having gained Tina as family, I have lost any motivation to take a wife. I do have some longing for blood-related children, but that is all. There is no need to force marriage.
...I only need my little sister Tina.
I wonder how Tina, who I have been separated from for a whole year, is doing now. Her short-cropped black hair was found, but by now it should have grown long enough to be properly even. She had a small build compared to other children her age, but I wonder if she has grown any taller.
As I was thinking such things, Rannvald's image suddenly passed through the corner of my mind.
I had heard from Tina that he resembled me, and indeed, the overall atmosphere felt similar. Not so similar as to be twins, but there was enough of a likeness to feel something like a blood connection. That said, I had no older brother, and considering him to be a father whose face I do not know is impossible age-wise. Then perhaps I had a half-brother, one might think, but in that case it would mean my father is Ethelbert. If my mother was a prostitute in the capital, I could not say the possibility is zero, but there is no way there would be any connection between Ethelbert and a prostitute from a city far from the capital.
...If someone from Rannvald-sama's mother's side had descended into commoner society, would there be some possibility?
Thoughts deepen about Rannvald, who gives me a feeling resembling a blood connection. Even as I think it cannot be, I wonder what coincidence would have to work to connect me and Rannvald.
...No, there is no need to think about it. Rannvald-sama is royalty, and I have Tina as family.
Noticing myself starting to think that I do not need any family other than Tina, I lightly shake my head as if to brush away such thoughts. By denying that I do not need family other than Tina, I realize I have been thinking about the possibility of family other than Tina.
...For now, just think about Tina. Black hair and black eyes are not such rare colors.
There are others out there who happen to have the same colors. As for me resembling Rannvald, it is just in vague things like build, hair color, and atmosphere. At this level, I could probably find other similar people with a little searching.
With the soldier in good spirits thanks to Jean-Jacques's bribe, the inspection of Cody's wagon was quickly finished. Or rather, once they have accepted a bribe, it seems the Zugarri Empire's border is practically the same as doing no cargo inspection at all. Quite different from the Ivizia Kingdom.
Cody, who apparently had never used bribes before, seemed to have been made to wait quite a long time at the border each time. He kept tilting his head at the soldier's offhand attitude after handing over the bribe.
"The scenery is not much different from the Ivizia Kingdom."
Sitting on the driver's seat, I look around. We have passed the border and entered the Zugarri Empire, but as expected, the scenery is not much different from the Ivizia Kingdom. I have heard that the Empire's people live in such poverty they cannot even secure daily meals, but they do not seem to be living such a harsh life.
"I hear this area has only been swallowed by the Empire for less than twenty years."
"...So the further in we go, the worse it gets."
"The towns and villages near the imperial capital are really bad. Roofs have holes but there is no money to repair them, or there simply is not enough manpower, so they are practically abandoned buildings even though people live in them."
I started to worry whether one could do business under such conditions, but it seems it is only commoners who have no money, and the nobles who suck up the gold that commoners earn through a year of sweat and toil have warm pockets. Normally Cody does not do business with nobles, but he procures goods that can be sold in the Divine King's Territory of Quebia or the Saenard Kingdom, trading for food and other necessities. They have no gold and no food for themselves, but they can make crafts in their spare time from farm work. They trade those for food from traveling merchants, somehow managing to scrape by.
"What are the Empire's sovereign and territorial lords thinking? If their people collapse, they will not be able to sustain themselves either."
"The only ones who say that are Quebia and the Ivizia Kingdom. My country is not as bad as the Empire, but it is similar... ah, but it seems Prince Conrad has been reinstated, so if he becomes the next king, things might get a little easier."
"You trust Prince Conrad quite a bit."
"The Alsuta territory he governs is the most vibrant territory in our country. The atmosphere is completely different from the territories governed by his other siblings."
As I listen to stories about the Saenard Kingdom while being rocked in the wagon, Jean-Jacques pops his head out from the cargo bed. I had thought he was sleeping in the back, but it seems he was listening to our conversation. With a preface of "Not that it matters, but," he pointed out Cody's way of speaking. Right now, we are in a relationship of employer and hired mercenary, so the power dynamic is reversed from usual, where Cody is a merchant and I am the lord of a fortress. He said it is strange to speak politely like usual.
"You are right about that... I mean, you are right, huh? Ugh, it feels weird..."
Even considering the power dynamic of employer and mercenary, Cody struggles, finding it hard to use casual speech with someone older than him. This seems to be a habit of his as a merchant. Due to ingrained habits, he unconsciously reforms his speech.
Jean-Jacques and I talk roughly, while Cody practices breaking down his speech with us, and we talk about various things as part of the training. According to Cody, in the Ivizia Kingdom I am celebrated as the incarnation of the War God Herkeles, but in the Saenard Kingdom, where I would face them in battle, I am feared as a messenger of the Death God Uaksu. Indeed, since we would kill each other when facing off on the battlefield, and since I am alive like this, for my opponents I must surely be a messenger of the Death God Uaksu. Almost no one who has faced me on the battlefield has returned alive.
It came out when Jean-Jacques carelessly told an old story about me, but when Cody learned that I was the model for the protagonist of the popular children's tale 'Silver-White Leo,' he was astonished. He was amazed at how many names I had, but I only have two. 'Leonardo,' the name given to me by Saromon, Tina's father, and the name given to me by the mother who sold me. In the first place, being called the incarnation of the War God Herkeles or 'Silver-White Leo' are just things people around me started calling me at some point. They are not my names.
After several days of travel by wagon, the appearance of the towns and villages coming into view began to change. In towns and villages near the Ivizia Kingdom, there were no houses with dilapidated exteriors, but now grimy houses catch the eye.
"The villages around here are all like this... like this, I mean."
Cody was getting used to breaking down his speech, but whenever he let his guard down, he reverted immediately. As for me, who has to make an effort to use rough language, I was coping by reducing the number of words I spoke. Since Yurgen teased me for looking like a bandit, I figured if I do not talk much, I would look the part more.
...No, I am not a bandit, I am a mercenary. For now, anyway.
Maybe it was bad luck to be thinking about bandits. Speak of the devil, as they say. When we stopped the wagon at a slightly open area off the highway, intending it as tonight's campsite, and were carrying water for the horses, grimy men appeared around the wagon.
...Three are on horses, the rest are on donkeys, huh? Well, I suppose this is the type where villagers, unable to find food, turn to banditry.
A group of about twenty in all. In their hands they held what looked like weapons, axes and hatchets. At this point, even I cannot mistake it. We are clearly surrounded by bandits.
I push Cody, who gasped, into the wagon. Even if it is just a cover for infiltrating the Empire, a mercenary is a mercenary. If we are truly attacked by bandits, we have no choice but to work as mercenaries.
"Leave all yer stuff behind and we will let ya live. You two are mercenaries, right? If you join us..."
"We refuse both."
Cutting off the bandit leader's long-winded speech, I grab the spear I had placed on the wagon when I pushed Cody inside. If they do not dismount, having the longer reach is advantageous. Their weapons, axes and hatchets, certainly have sufficient killing power, but they are meaningless if the attack does not reach.
...Now then, what were the laws concerning bandits in the Empire, I wonder?
Time is up.
Will fix typos and errors at a later date.