I met a girl in the next village who likes Emmett.
I don’t know what she told him, but Linde hurriedly took us away. We slipped through the back of the buildings. The situation in the village, visible through the gaps, seemed strange. The laughter that had been audible disappeared, and there were no children to be seen.
“This way, quickly, go in here. Don’t come out until I call for you.”
We were led into a nearby empty house. It was reasonably sized, so it wasn’t a problem, but I wondered why they were doing this.
“What’s wrong? You suddenly…”
“The army is here for an inspection. It’s not that guests aren’t allowed, but they’ll ask a lot of questions if they find you,” Linde replied quickly to Philiana’s question and left the room. Nina peered out the window with a puzzled look.
“An army inspection? Here? But their country is much farther away, isn’t it?”
According to the map, their country was indeed far to the east, with several villages and towns in between. It should have been a considerable distance. As we waited patiently, after a while, Hunter Harpies in armor appeared in a procession. I could tell from their appearance that they weren’t from around here.
“Those are the army guys. A grand procession with flags waving.”
There weren’t too many of them, but horses were waiting behind them, and eagle emblems fluttered. The man at the very front was talking with the man who appeared to be the leader of the village guard. We couldn’t hear what they were saying, but the army man surveyed the village, narrowing his eyes, as if wondering what could be found in such a remote place.
He pursed his lips, looking displeased. In contrast, the village guard was earnestly explaining something. Linde was also behind them, her face looking disappointed. Then, the soldiers dispersed and began their inspection.
I hurriedly closed the curtains.
“What’s with those guys, acting so high and mighty? Just looking at them makes me sick.”
“So this is what it means for the army to have power. It feels unpleasant, they were so overbearing.”
We waited for Linde to return in a strange sense of tension. After a while, as things started to get noisy again, we heard a knock on the door.
“Is everyone here?”
“Linde, did the army people leave?”
“Yes, I’m sorry. For locking you up in here.”
When we went outside, the cheerful atmosphere from before was gone, replaced by a somewhat murderous one. The ground was marked with hoof prints, likely from the soldiers’ horses.
“You came all this way, and it just turned into a disappointment.”
“It’s okay, I’m used to this sort of thing.”
We comforted Linde, saying we were all used to it. She looked utterly dejected. Just then, another guard arrived.
“The army people are gone now. Let’s get back to work.”
“Okay, and please feel free to use that house from earlier. I’ll see you later.”
With that, she returned to her work. We decided to rest before our next journey. We also needed to replenish our supplies. We had food, but we needed to look for anything else that might help us on our journey.
Leaving everyone else, Sharilin and I went out to shop. Thanks to the departure of the army soldiers, the hustle and bustle were beginning to return. The shops mainly sold meat. Large chunks were displayed prominently in front of the stores. They also sold sake in large barrels, which seemed to be sold by the barrel. I suppose the quantity was different because they were large.
“It’s all meat. I’m starting to miss fish.”
“Yeah, and there’s not much in the way of vegetables either. Ah, but there are some for sale.”
Amidst the rows of meat, vibrant green and orange colors caught the eye. A Flower Harpy woman was doing business there. Her goods were selling one after another. Across the way, a Naga was selling feathered ornaments. Perhaps they too had been hiding when the army arrived.
After browsing the shops for a while and getting everything we needed, we returned to the rented house. It had taken longer than expected because we had looked at so many things.
“We’re back, we’re back.”
Inside the house, everyone was spending their time differently. Some were sleeping on the sofa, while others were chatting over tea. Piyo immediately came to rummage through our luggage.
“What did you buy?”
“Nothing particularly interesting. We couldn’t afford to waste money, you know.”
Just then, we heard a knock on the door from behind. It was Linde who had come to visit.
“I’m sorry for being so dismissive earlier. Do you need anything?”
“No, we just bought things, so we’re fine. More importantly, are the army people coming back?”
We didn’t want to run into them again as they were leaving. Linde tilted her head, thinking.
“Hmm, yes, they come quite often lately. They say it’s for improving water and sewage systems in remote areas, but I’m sure that’s a lie. They just want to do construction work to utilize this place because it’s not under the army’s influence.”
The Flower Harpy village chief had said before that the war happened because the army had become too powerful. Had nothing changed?
“Can’t you refuse?”
“We do refuse, by saying we don’t have enough manpower. And what’s worse, they’re trying to make us do that construction work. We’re different from the people living in their home country. They look down on us because we’re a ‘barbaric race’.”
Even within the same race, they decided superiority? It was a regrettable thing, but it was something we humans did too.
