Chapter 129 – 129. Duke’s Eighth Disruption (3)

– One –

“No, chief! You said that he would definitely turn a blind eye to our marriage, and that he would talk well with high-ranking people!”

“Kh-hmm! I’ve told you your story well, but oh well, don’t they say that the law is strict, and they can’t accommodate you that much just for your sake? Too bad for you anyway.”

A young man glares at the old man impatiently.

Tendons bulged out of his tightly clenched fists and trembled.

“What’s with that hand? Hey, are you ready to hit me right now…?”

Pudeudeuk.

“…Isn’t there anything you can’t do?”

The man gritted his teeth and shook his shoulders.

He was ready to stretch out his fist at any moment.

“Hey, look at this guy who doesn’t have any quirks? Hey, you bastard! Can’t you say that I did my best in my own way! High-ranking people concluded that you two couldn’t get married, did I make that decision, huh?”

“Then why did you take the money, saying that you would tell them well? You must have taken half the price of the bride from me while arguing loudly! Did you think I wouldn’t know that you took care of it!”

Flinch.

The old man averts his eyes in surprise at the man’s screams.

“If you can’t marry Hadith in this village, I’ll take that money and go somewhere far away and settle down without anyone knowing, so please give me that money back!”

A man’s scream follows.

The old man’s back bends down more.

Soon the old man bit his lip.

Quarters rise in the old man’s eyes.

“Casillero, your innoom! What nonsense are you talking about?! Ehhh? Did I ask for money first? I asked for money first! So, I just told you not to expect too much, but you and old Hadith came to me and gave me money that I didn’t even ask for, and now they come back and treat me like garbage who eats me up?”

Cassillero, a young man, opens her mouth wide in bewilderment.

“Chief, have you already suffered from dementia? If you give money, you can tell the superiors to make it go away. Didn’t the chief mention money first?!”

“Chi, dementia? This, this, look at the bitch! There’s nothing I can’t say to an old man, draw!”

“Don’t be mean, be clear. I didn’t give you the money first, the chief asked for it!”

The village chief snorts his nose.

I cross his arms and turn his head.

“Do you have any proof?”

“… Yes…?”

“Do you have evidence, I mean this. Proof that I asked for money first, where is it? Bring it if you have it.”

“That…”

Cascilero has nothing to say, only to open his mouth.

He was preparing to marry his lover, a sub-race woman, Hadith.

But one day, the country forbade marriage between a sub-race and a pure-race.

This is a remote slash-and-burn village, so it took a long time for such information to arrive after the enforcement of the law.

So while they were preparing for the wedding for a long time, they only found out about it belatedly.

Still, they couldn’t give up on each other, so they offered money to the lord through the village chief to ask him to cover up the violation of the decree and turn a blind eye to their marriage.

Of course, in the process, it was unmistakably true that the village chief approached them first, saying that he would actively intervene.

“Kheuheum! If you’re going to gossip about serious slander without proof, get out of my house right now.”

“…”

They wondered if there would be a big problem if only two slash-and-burn farmers got married in a small village of slash-and-burn farmers in a barren backcountry.

But now, with only three days before the wedding, the village chief confesses that he could not turn a blind eye to their marriage.

This afternoon, soldiers directly sent by high-ranking people will visit and conduct due diligence to find out whether the two secretly got married.

“Nimi, slut. A young laborer with no quirks, where does he say something back and forth? Won.”

Casillero and Hadith faced each other in a village for nearly 20 years and were scammed by the village chief.

Cassillero, who has come to argue, can no longer distance herself from her objection and hangs her shoulders.

For him, who was not yet 20 years old, the current situation was just overwhelming.

Can’t rely on the law.

In the first place, he and his lover Hadith gave a bribe to the village chief to avoid the regulation of the law.

No, even setting aside all that, the village chief has all the jurisdiction over these slash-and-burn villages.

Even if you accuse the chief of fraud and embezzlement, it will be more difficult for the chief to find a reason not to acquit himself.

Turtle, turd.

A poor prospective groom and bride-to-be will not be able to hold a wedding ceremony or run away at night.

This is because half of the property that had been accumulated for a long time to be mutual was robbed.

It was a small amount of money in the eyes of others, but it was absolutely not a small amount of money for them.

With less than a penny of money left to them, they would not be able to settle down in a foreign land.

No matter how ignorant people live in a slash-and-burn village, they know that much of the world.

Sigh.

Casillero powerlessly pushes back the wooden door on the porch of the village chief’s house.

The moment he was about to leave the village chief’s house,

“If you intend to live in this village, it would be good for both of you to strictly control your mouth so that stern rumors do not spread in the village.”

“…”

He hears the village chief’s threat behind him.

He didn’t look back.

He just swallowed Bunru and shook his shoulders.

Kudang.

The door closes.

– 2 –

“Who are Casillero and Hadith?”

Casillero steps forward with Hadith hesitantly.

The spirit of the soldiers, dressed in armor and holding spears, lined up in rows with fives, is ferocious.

A flag bearer stood at the head of the soldiers lined up in front of the villagers, holding up a military flag bearing the Whiskey family seal.

They were all enlisted soldiers under the Whisky family.

“Me, me and this woman.”

The residents of the slash-and-burn village had no chance to see soldiers like them.

Not only Casillero and Hadith, but all the villagers who had been summoned were intimidated.

“Hmm…”

Two men and a woman stand in front of what seems to be the captain of the soldiers.

The captain was looking at them up and down with disapproving eyes.

He was at a loss as he led 50 soldiers on a mountain march to such a backcountry where no stream flowed.

“I heard that you two are getting married in three days.”

“Yeah, it was.”

“So, are you still thinking of breaking the law and going ahead with the marriage?”

“That, that, that, that, that, that…”

Casilero swallows her bunru and drops her head.

Hadith was also tearful.

‘Why… Why should we be unhappy… ! Why! The country didn’t do anything for us, so why is it stopping us from getting married… !’

Hadith screamed inwardly.

She couldn’t seem to get her anger out on the inside.

Is it because of that?

The captain standing in front of the soldiers read her disapproving glance.

“What is that look in your eyes? Are you saying that you have any dissatisfaction with setting the national law right?”

Flinch.
Parr.

Hadith trembles her body mercilessly.

With the suffocating life spewed by 50 soldiers, Hadith felt as if she would get tired of peeing.

“Tell me. What are you so dissatisfied about, why are you looking at me like that?”

“That, that’s…”

“You guys stay still! Aren’t you asking that bitch?”

On Hadith’s behalf, Cassillero came forward to give her an excuse, but she couldn’t get her money back and she withdrew.

She stuttered her mouth open in suffocating fear.

“Why, why… Why are we alone like this… I, in the country, did something, did it…”

Hadith struggles, however, when she reveals herself too frankly,

Sereung.
Visor!

The captain draws his sword and points it at her neck.

“Hee, heehee…!”

Hey hey hey.
Squeeze.

She urinates on her, staggering her body as if she would pass out at any moment.

The captain’s face was frowning like a demon.

“Now, now, now, now,”

“Don’t ask what your country can do for you, ask first what you can do for your country. What have you insignificant slash-and-burn farmers contributed to the empire? While occupying, without paying taxes, they burn forests and cultivate fields, which are the assets of the Empire. Parasites that live and feed on the assets of the Empire, what on earth do they want from the Empire?”

“Okay, wrong”

“If even your marriage is viewed in that context, it is for very selfish reasons to harm the empire! The Goddess herself, when a sub-race and a pure-race unite, the couple will be possessed by demons and cast spells, and their offspring will destroy the empire. He prophesied that it would be destroyed! We are only regulating you for the sake of the national interest, and we are not trying to encourage your unhappiness on our own, so what are we so dissatisfied with?!”

“Hee, heehee…!”

Everyone catches their breath and shuts their mouths.

All the villagers were overwhelmed by the spirit of the captain.

“The country took pity on you, neither levied taxes nor forcibly disbanded the village. It only prevented the union of sub-races and pure-races for the benefit of all the subjects of the empire. Even so, while thinking arrogant thoughts like this, complaining Can you complain?! Are you guys really scumbags? If you really think that way, aren’t you guys ungrateful, wormy bastards worse than animals!”

“Huh, huh…”

Hadith bursts into tears.

But Casillero could not appease her.

We were lovers until today, and we were supposed to be married in three days, but we can’t do that anymore.

They have to become strangers by their will from today.

“Only after the Empire exists can the lives of your worms be respected! The Empire protects you and protects your property! Without the Empire, you would always be invaded by thieves and your property and life plundered. I can!”

Hadith was frightened and could not speak, but he did not keep his mouth shut because he had nothing to refute.

The slash-and-burn village where she lives does not receive any protection from the empire.

There are numerous cases of food, property, and women being plundered by bandits.

It was common for villagers to lose their lives in the process.

This is a slash-and-burn village, and therefore, a village abandoned by the Empire for not paying taxes.

What he said was just wrong.

“If you spit out such nonsense again, I’ll slit your neck right now!”

However, the state forces them to sacrifice for the national interest.

For those who are in the blind spot of welfare and benefits, only obligations without return are imposed.

Absurd

But her anger has gone nowhere.

“Answer!”

“Yes, yes… Hehe…”

It was because she did not have the strength to step forward and retaliate against the sad soldiers, the high-ranking people who sent them, and Nara-sama, who devised such a ridiculous policy.

“Tsk. So, hey, what’s your name?”

“This is Casillero.”

“Yes, Casillero. You said you certainly wouldn’t marry that ungrateful bitch. Is that right?”

“Yes, yes!”

“In that case, let’s give them a subsidy so they can move and live somewhere else.”

“Is that really?!”

“That’s right. It’s thanks to His Highness, the great Duke of Whiskey, who showed grace to those who kept the laws of the land. In order to abide by the laws of the land, they canceled the marriage that was scheduled for them and broke it off. By granting them a small amount of compensation, they conveyed comfort and at the same time conveyed consolation to all peoples of the empire. It’s to raise consciousness.”

Jiggle.

A heavy money bag falls on the palm of Casillero’s folded hands.

Even if all the things in that pocket were cheap copper coins, they would be several times more than the amount that Casilero had been swindled by the village chief.

“Three hundred silver coins, bestowed by His Highness the Duke of Whiskey. Take this money and go anywhere and settle down.”

“Go, thank you! Thank you, be good!”

“However, after this time, get out of this town right away. If you don’t get out right away, the money will be refunded immediately.”

“Ha, but…”

“Anyway, with that money, isn’t there any problem in settling down anywhere?”

“That, yes…”

“I’m glad you found out. There’s no turning back. By the way, even if you settle somewhere else, don’t ever think about uniting with a different race. Never.”

Sparks fly from the eyes of all the villagers who were listening to the conversation between the captain and Casillero.

Especially,

Quickly.

The village chief could not hide his anger as he grinded his teeth.

‘Me, me, me! How dare a young laborer with no blood on his head guzzle all that much money? The money I received thanks to making me abide by the laws of the country… ?’

The village chief was blinded by the reward money Casillero received.

“Uh, uh…”

Hadith was the same.

Even though she is currently experiencing the ongoing pain of breaking up her marriage, she could not understand why she was being compensated only by Casile.

It may be a small amount, but 300 silver coins is more than enough money for a villager from a slash-and-burn village.

“I’m better…!”

“Hmm? What?”

“Why, why, only Cassiller…”

So she bravely inquired.

A grown girl had urinated in front of the townsfolk in the horror of her death just before, but her greed for money made her completely forget about it.

“Ah? Ahh… Isn’t it a migration and settlement subsidy? If you are forced to move away from the place of life you love, it is a law that requires compensation. The enforcement of the Empire’s laws is always fair to all people in the Empire.”

“I-I’m moving too…”

“Hmm? Only one of the two needs to move, is there any reason to move until the fourth year? Considering the possibility of reunion later, isn’t it reasonable to leave one here? If you sneak in and bring the two together, won’t that justify the right enforcement of the law?”

“I’m not going to get married…”

The captain’s impression is getting more and more frowned upon.

Her family snugly grabs her by the hem of her dress.

“I don’t know about that. Since the purpose is to separate the two for sure, what is the reason for the country to take on the risk of a reunion while providing double compensation for up to four years? Do you think the country’s money is infinite?”

“Yeah, but…”

Even if Hadith forced herself, even after she had been slapped on the cheek, she wanted to get 300 silver coins like Casilero.

She honestly has an eye for her money.

So how offended her captain was, she hadn’t taken into account at all.

“Oops, have you seen a worm like dog trash! If you’re greedy for money, don’t think about working hard and working hard, just thinking about enriching yourself by embezzling national money for things that don’t contribute to the country? …!”

Sereung.

The captain draws his sword again.

“Hee, heeheeiik…!”

Just before the captain swings her sword,

“Now, wait a minute, wait a minute, better!”

The mayor steps out.

“What?”

The village chief was quick-witted.

He reasoned that if it were clear that all the remaining villagers were parasites that did not serve the Empire’s national interests, the captain might send those soldiers to slaughter them all.

So, so that the captain’s planting would not become more uncomfortable here, he thought he had to step up and desperately stop it.

“Sir, if we do any good to the country, then will you forgive us?”

The chief’s brow widens.

The chief did not ask for compensation, but because he asked for forgiveness.