Chapter 364 – The Cotton Field
After the commotion was over, Trisian, who seemed to have calmed down to some extent, regained his original calm appearance.
“Anyway, the administrator struck first with the replacement of the guards’ blankets.”
“Huh. While you, the captain of the guard, were away, did you try your hand at the bagger who was acting as a substitute?”
“Okay. As it stands now, I’m sure you’ll be reprimanded for wasting your budget twice as long as you buy blankets from the Black Moon.”
“I can’t just sit still.”
Tricker, the older brother of the lord, Earl of Verolder, and his gang are eager to bite and humiliate Trisian, the lord’s aide.
If the story spreads that the replacement of the guards’ blankets was handled with the manor house’s budget for wintering, they would undoubtedly insult Trician by ignoring the circumstances and claiming that she was an incompetent person who could not manage the budget alone and needed help.
And showing it like that will affect the perception of officials. As a result, it will affect the position of Lord Barolder.
“Anyway, if I carry out the lord’s instructions, I will be able to interfere with the manor house’s wintering plan and the matter of changing the blankets of the guards he wore. If that happens, the magistrate will end up being undermined by his own greed. I will give you information about the merchants who do business with the magistrate.”
Administrator, you must disrupt Baron Simir Jack’s preparations for the wintering of the manor house.
Then, the lord, Earl of Verolder, can make a cause to get involved with the administrator, and we can sell the fabric to the lord to make a profit.
Clearly, that was the deal.
And Trisian decided to provide the information needed for the job instead. Trisian opened his mouth to fulfill that promise.
“If you go out through the eastern gate of the West Way and follow the road to the northeast for about half a day by carriage, you will find a small village called ‘Ajio’.”
“Oh no? I heard it’s a mall on the outskirts of town.”
“Even though it is far apart, the town is also managed and taxed by the Denevalve family. If there is a problem that cannot be solved by the guards dispatched to the village, we will dispatch it.”
“So it’s a mall on the outskirts of the city?”
“Okay. It is a village that builds cotton farming, and it is a village that processes and sells the cotton that comes out of it. The village headman, a man named Curtain, is a merchant who supplies processed goods such as cotton blankets for the winter to the administrative officer.”
“It’s a story that if you set fire to the cotton wool warehouse of that guy called Curtain, you won’t be able to meet the delivery date, and the administrative officer’s work will be disrupted.”
“It seems like that is what the lord is aiming for.”
The story itself is not a difficult one. We only have to do as the lord asks. However, in the process, we must not reveal our identities.
As I was organizing my thoughts, Trisian’s face with a strange expression came into my eyes.
“What’s the matter?”
“Um, how many people are planning to go to Ajio Village?”
“To the village? Well… First of all, it is best to be inconspicuous, so it would be better if the number of people is as small as possible.”
Elena and Thermia had almost no fighting ability, so taking them with them wouldn’t help. Rather, it would be helpful to handle the affairs of the Black Moon from this side. So except.
Then what about Germi? She is the president of Black Moon. She had a lot of work to deal with because she was away because of her last request. It will be difficult to be together on this one. Therefore excluded.
Trisian is the captain of the guards and has work to do on this side. So of course excluded.
The only ones left are Natalia and Roin. Perhaps these two are skilled and easy to handle.
“Maybe three?”
“Miss Natalya and Miss Roin?”
“Huh. That’s right.”
“If you end up going to Ajio Village, you better be careful.”
“Hmm? Why, what is there?”
To my question, Trisian found some papers piled up on the desk and glanced lightly at them to answer.
“It is not a very safe town. There is no end to all kinds of petty crimes.”
“Misdemeanor?”
“Yes, since it is a remote village away from the main road leading to the capital. Unlike in a big city like Westway, the guards aren’t properly deployed, so it seems that there are many cases where a group of bad thugs sneak into the town for the purpose of stealing.”
“There’s no way those petty robbers can beat Roin or Natalia. You do not have to worry.”
“I know the skills of you and the other two women. Don’t worry about that You haven’t forgotten the purpose of going to Ajio Village, have you?”
“My purpose? I know you well.”
That’s arson, of course. I, Han Seong-gi, the arsonist of love who is good at setting fire to women’s hearts, is now going to commit real arson.
“Since it is a remote village, the villagers know each other’s faces well. However, various minor crimes do not stop. The villagers must be very wary of outsiders. In other words, even if you don’t do anything special, you can stand out just by being in that village.”
“That’s right…”
“From the point of view of the villagers, you who suddenly come to the village become people to be wary of, not knowing when they will commit a crime.”
“Ah… I understand.”
If a stranger visits the village and a fire breaks out shortly thereafter, the villagers will of course think of us as the culprit.
Above all, when a fire breaks out in Agio Village, it is the administrator who suffers the most.
Tricker’s people will be dispatched to Ajio Village to find out the truth about the fire, and the villagers will accuse us. Even if there is no clear evidence, it is only a matter of time before he is accused of being a criminal under various circumstances.
“Above all, it is a town with nothing but cotton fields. The fact that three young men and women came out of nowhere seems strange to the villagers.”
“Or, why don’t we go secretly in the middle of the night and set fire to the warehouse where the cotton is stored?”
“Do you know where the cotton warehouse is?”
“No.”
“It’s probably the most important place, but if you blindly set fire to any building, they’ll make thorough preparations. Then it would be more difficult to set fire to the cotton warehouse. We need to confirm the location of the cotton wool warehouse before setting it on fire.”
“Are you saying we have no choice but to go into the village and do some scouting… It’s a way not to be suspicious…”
But then the villagers will know of our existence. As I was thinking about it, thinking that it might be more trouble than I thought, Trisian took out a small, round metal plaque from the drawer of the desk.
“Yes, it would be fine to use this.”
“What’s this… ?”
“It is an identification card that proves your status as a sheriff.”
“Is it like a mercenary card?”
Trisian nodded at my question.
“Not similar. Hmm… Okay. Minor crimes often occur in Ajio Village, so I would like you to investigate Ajio Village as a sheriff.”
“Aha… A setting like that?”
“With this, even if you go to Ajio Village, you won’t be misunderstood as a suspicious person. Because I have a purpose to visit the village.”
“It doesn’t change the fact that you will be noticed.”
Trisian took the sheriff’s plaque from the desk and put it in her bosom.
“Still, wouldn’t it be better to have a sheriff dispatched from the city than a suspicious person?”
“Hmm, then when I go to town and people ask me what I’m here for, all I have to do is show this?”
“In Ajio Village, there is a unit dispatched by the guards for the purpose of maintaining public order. Show the sheriff’s plaque to the captain of the Ten, who is in charge there, and they will prove your identity to the townsfolk.”
“Good. At least we have an excuse to answer if you ask us why we were in that town after the fire.”
“Well, you know it well, but we have to deal with it so that we don’t get stepped on as much as possible.”
“I know. You shouldn’t let that guy called the captain of the tens find out either, right?”
“Okay. Arson is a serious crime, and if caught, it is punishable by death. So never get caught.”
Trisian deserves to be worried. I started to realize how dangerous I was getting my hands on.
“But what is the unit that is said to have been dispatched to do so that misdemeanor crimes do not cease?”
“It would be nice if crime prevention was thoroughly done, but it is not a part that the guards can actively deal with if an incident does not happen. If you think that you can reliably catch the criminal even after the incident has happened, you can see that you are doing a good job.”
“That too.”
There is truth in Trisian’s words. Thinking that way made me feel like my doubts about the troops dispatched to Ajio were cleared.
“When are you going to leave?”
“I’ll leave right away tomorrow morning.”
