Oliver was a diligent farmer.

More precisely, he was a farmer who couldn’t afford not to be diligent.

Unless one had enough wealth to treat farming as a half-hobby or outsource it to others, a lazy farmer was just right for starving to death.

Work, eat, work, sleep, wake up and work again.

If there was one joy in the grueling daily routine that repeated like a hamster wheel, it was the pleasure of watching his own flesh and blood grow up.

If the lord was the type to squeeze the people dry with harsh tax rates or unpaid overtime, the very existence of children would have felt like a burden, but that wasn’t the case.

The real owner of the territory, Marquis William Hemming, was someone who spent more time in the distant royal court than in the territory, and his representative was a person who held the idea of just doing the bare minimum.

Instead of passionately developing the territory, it was more like “as long as the account book doesn’t go into the red and no accidents happen in the territory, it’s fine,” so there was no reason to implement harsh oppression in normal times, except in emergencies. Such oppression itself would be the cause of accidents.

Therefore, Oliver could love his children with peace of mind.

Until just recently.

“…”

The sickle and plow, which should have been as familiar as extensions of his hands and feet, felt heavy.

His body, which had repeated the same process for over decades, moved smoothly according to the set routine, but his consciousness was focused elsewhere.

Children fallen into sleep inside the house, unaware of the world.

A daughter who didn’t even stir no matter how desperately he called her name, and a son who didn’t respond even when shaken violently.

The complexion of his beloved children was peaceful, as if they were having happy dreams, but Oliver knew.

That the siblings’ bodies were getting thinner day by day.

Oliver’s wife was making watery grain porridge and forcing it into the children’s mouths, but they swallowed little properly and spat out a lot, so the results were poor compared to the effort.

Among the villagers, there were quite a few who just gave up, saying one could just have more children, and their number was escalating, but Oliver’s wife didn’t give up.

Neither did Oliver.

However, questions arose.

Why?

Why did this happen?

Why must I, my wife, and my children suffer like this?

Then, someone whispered to Oliver.

《Of course, it’s because of the lord.》

Beside Oliver, a traveler, who had appeared at some point, continued speaking with a faint smile.

《Because the lord made a foolish choice, other lords became hostile to this territory. And innocent people like you end up bearing all the damage from that.》

《Is that all? I got rid of all the mice that were tormenting this territory so terrifically, but the lord didn’t give me proper compensation and drove me out.》

《It’s punishment. Punishment. Heaven has sent down punishment, angered by the lord’s wicked heart. The punishment the lord should have received, you are all receiving instead now. Just because you live in his territory!》

《How unreasonable is this? How twisted is this reality? The one who committed the sin is separate from those who have to pay the price.》

It was an excessive leap in logic.

No matter how uneducated and poorly schooled Oliver was, that didn’t mean his head itself was bad.

If it were his usual self, he would have felt doubt, suspicion, wariness, or anger at the traveler’s whispers.

Saying, “Wasn’t it you who put the children to sleep?”

But Oliver’s current state wasn’t normal.

As if enchanted by something, Oliver muttered with blank eyes, “Because of… the lord…?”

《That’s right. It’s all because of the lord that you’re suffering, that your wife is struggling, and that your children are in danger of death. No, it’s not even a danger anymore. Soon they will meet death. Then the lord will say, ‘I did my best, but it couldn’t be helped!’ and that will be the end of it. When the lord, who is like heaven, says so, who would dare to rebel?》

The scene the traveler described appeared in Oliver’s mind.

A lord uttering empty apologies, people bowing their heads and submitting to such a lord, and the cold corpses of children underground.

For a mere imagination, the scene was too vivid and clear. As if someone had directly inserted such a scene into his mind.

Oliver unknowingly clenched his fist tightly.

As if he had just experienced the death of his children right now, uncontrollable anger reddened his eyes.

Creak.

The sound of a door opening was heard from behind.

Oliver’s wife, her eyes also reddened, met his gaze with a sickle in one hand.

The Oliver couple nodded simultaneously without a word of discussion between them.

The traveler, who had been whispering beside him until just now, was somehow walking far away, playing a flute.

It was an unreal situation, but Oliver didn’t realize its strangeness.

The couple set out to follow the traveler without hesitation.

To avenge their children who had met an unjust death.

Leaving behind their children who were still alive at home.

***

The traveler had appeared.

When he first heard those words, Marquis William Hemming couldn’t contain his joy.

This bastard has come asking to be killed!

There was a saying about a tiger using a cat’s power.

When William was alone, he felt anxiety and wariness about the traveler’s mysterious abilities, but with the Tin Knight’s party by his side, he no longer felt fear.

When they were enemies, they were like nightmares, disasters, and messengers of death, but weren’t they allies at the current moment?

“Ha! The criminal has shamelessly returned. Where is he! I must see that face myself!”

Marquis William Hemming straightened his back and waist, and declared in such a resounding voice.

And exactly 5 minutes later.

The Marquis’ eyes shook madly.

“W-what is this?”

Around the lord’s mansion.

An enormous number of residents were shouting, each openly displaying emotions of anger.

“The wicked and incompetent lord must take responsibility immediately!”

“It’s because of you that other territories are tormenting our territory! Do something quickly!”

“Pay the traveler proper compensation right now!”

“That’s right! Are you not afraid of heaven’s punishment!?”

The atmosphere among the residents could be described as on the verge of explosion.

Madness overflowed from their appearance as they all shouted while holding weapons or tools in their hands.

It was truly a bewildering situation for William.

“No, what have I done so wrong…?”

Up to the point where the territory’s economic situation had worsened due to checks from surrounding territories, well, it could be said that it was unavoidable for the people to be angry.

William himself didn’t want to be at odds with them but was forced into it due to threats, but anyway, William himself was the cause.

But the other things weren’t.

The appearance of swarms of mice was just a pure natural disaster, and the children falling asleep was clearly the traveler’s unreasonable act.

Of course, it wasn’t like William had particularly bestowed anything on the suffering people, but at least he hadn’t taken more from them either. That level would be considered fairly decent among the many lords in history.

But now the people were vehemently denouncing William as if he were some tyrant who had continued oppression for decades.

Not just the content of their words, but from the rough way they spoke, unhesitatingly pointing fingers, it was already far beyond what mere commoners should direct at a noble lord.

“S-stand back! Get back, I say!?”

“You bastards! I’ll cut you down if you come any closer!”

At that unprecedentedly fierce momentum, even the soldiers guarding the mansion only threatened and didn’t dare shed blood recklessly.

It was obvious that once blood was spilled, the situation would worsen uncontrollably.

But that too was only a matter of time.

The crowd surrounding the mansion was only growing, and if the lord continued to remain silent like this, they looked like they might even climb over the walls.

At that moment, the traveler stepped forward.

“Now! Wicked lord! The time has come to pay for your sins! If you pay the just compensation I demanded and apologize, even heaven will withdraw its anger and release the children!”

William answered with a red face, “What heavenly anger, you damned fool! You torment the children with your wicked sorcery and blame it on heaven!? No, more than that, wasn’t it you who brought the mice in the first place!?”

If he could enchant mice with flute sounds and drive them out of the territory, it wouldn’t be difficult to do the opposite.

In that sense, William’s point was correct, but upon hearing those words, the people foamed at the mouth with anger!

“Such a shameless bastard!”

“Are you trying to put ridiculous false charges on our benefactor!?”

“W-what…”

At the sight of William, who could only gape in bewilderment, Dorothea, who had been silently observing the situation from behind, said with a sigh, “Give it up. To begin with, they’re not in a normal state right now.”

“What do you mean?”

“They’ve been enchanted by that guy. They’d probably believe it even if he said he was using ice as firewood for a campfire right now.”

Seeing Dorothea, a momentary look of bewilderment crossed the traveler’s face.

But that was only for a moment.

He looked around at the people around him and confidently shouted, “It seems you’ve brought in new guests in the meantime! But think carefully, Marquis! Are you, the lord of the territory, saying you would point swords at your own people?”

The Tin Knight tilted his head.

[The ‘Tin Knight’ wonders what he’s talking about now!]

Sophia answered simply, “He’s taking the people hostage. He means something like, ‘Surely you wouldn’t harm all these people to get to me?’”

[The ‘Tin Knight’ evaluates that he indeed has the mindset of a bandit!]

[The ‘Tin Knight’ comments that after always fighting big-scale battles, coming back to a low-level zone after a long time makes both the combat power and schemes seem somewhat clumsy, which feels nostalgic!]

“That’s right. The ability itself seems quite powerful, but it feels a bit sloppy somehow.”

“Then, what should we do?”

To Adelaide’s question, Dorothea answered simply, “If anyone tries to stop us from catching that guy, just break all their legs. We can fix them later, right?”

***

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