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Chapter 170

「You are the soldiers in charge of the security of the empire. So why would a riot like this work, what were you all thinking!?」

The dog-girl’s angry voice rang out through the sparsely populated streets. The Imperial soldiers blockading the middle of the street showed only disgusting smiles on their lips without any signs of retreating, even in the face of the dog-girl’s threatening attitude.

With the carriage parked on the side of the brick road, I, Lynette, His Highness, and Shald walked toward the quarreling group, and the atmosphere between the warrior dog-girl and the Imperial soldiers was getting thicker and more critical by the second.

The young boys and girls riding on the wagon were completely frightened, and were shrinking back on the coachman’s platform, but the dog-girl and fox-girls each had their tails raised and their teeth bared in a show of hostility.

Once again, these girls looked different from the other beast people we’ve seen in the empire or in the kingdom. They, and their equipment, are definitely from the eastern countries.

So I thought it was strange that they’re all the way out here in the distant Romal Empire, but based on the statements the dog-girl made and the flippant attitude of the Imperial soldiers, the fault likely lies with the Imperial soldiers.

As soon as we separated from the rest of the mourning team, His Highness changed into commoners’ clothes from the empire, and with his hand resting on the longsword at his waist, he spoke.

「Those two in the wagon are probably siblings, but they aren’t citizens of the Romal Empire. They must be Elkens, the original inhabitants of this land」

The fortress city Elkeney, which we were heading towards, was originally the capital city of the Elken race. It was named Elkeney because it means “the capital of the people of Elken.”

「So this is a combination of the conquered and the conqueror. I remember there were advocates who said that those who obeyed the Romal Empire would prosper, and those who didn’t would meet the sword, but these soldiers really don’t have any tolerance, do they?」

「Hundreds of years have passed since Elkeney was annexed as part of the Romal Empire’s territory. In that case, of course they’ll forget the national policy. Besides, it’s probably easy for the conqueror to look down on the conquered」

「I sincerely hope that our country will not be the same, Leon」

I called him by the same fake name I had used when he had called out to me in the royal capital, and His Highness grinned, as if to say he understood my intention. Just like His Highness, it was already decided that Shald would go by the alias Charles as well.

Since his face is already known to the upper class of the empire, changing his name is not much of a comfort, but it’s much better than doing nothing.

While His Highness and I were having that casual conversation, the voices of the Imperial soldiers and the dog-girls began to rise, and even though no one had asked them about the details of how this had happened, they began to talk about it anyway.

The Imperial soldiers’ equipment consisted of leather armor with small metal scales layered on top, a round metal helmet, and a dagger and a longsword at each side of their waists, and then a large, oval-shaped shield on their left arms. Several of them had spears or crossbows instead. Fumu, so there were no mages or priests, then.

Only one of them wore a crown of red feathers decorated on his helmet, with equipment that was of much higher quality than all the rest. That man stepped forward, and looked down at the dog-girl with an attitude of pure arrogance.

「Third class subjects, and those who are not even subjects and are from other countries, must pay a toll to pass through here. If you pay, I’ll let you pass, that’s what I’ve been saying since earlier, but are those animal ears of yours just for decoration or something? Well?」

Since the ears of beast-people are actually animal ears, most of them aren’t offended by the term “beast ears,” but to be called an animal is a blatant insult.

The dog-girl, who was already so angry, unconsciously almost reached for the sword at her waist.

The dog-girl was obviously enraged, so it was hard not to notice her, but the fox-girl next to her also seemed to be quite angry as well.

I casually checked the arrangement of the Imperial soldiers, to see who I should strike down first.

「Like I said, that toll or whatever should have been paid already yesterday, or rather, earlier this morning, when I passed through here. No one had heard that a notice like that was issued by the Governor-General.

If you say that it is a law with solid grounds, then fine, but if you have no grounds nor any reason to accuse me, then I will not pay a single penny!」

The dog-girl’s sentiments were spoken sharply, and although in comparison, the fox-girl was suppressing her anger, she continued in a low and muffled voice. In the midst of the cold winter air, the only thing that burned hot was the flame of these two beast-girls’ anger.

「Hachi’s right. What you all are saying is obviously suspicious. Whether you are truly blocking our way due to official orders from the governor-general, is extremely doubtful」

It seems the dog-girl’s name was Hachi.

The fox-girl’s argument didn’t change anything in the Imperial soldiers’ faces, because they hadn’t been paying attention to the two’s protests since the very beginning.

From the looks of it, it seems this was an everyday occurrence for the Imperial soldiers, and there was a possibility that even the upper class from the Governor-General’s office were tacitly approving of these soldiers’ activities.

If it was a territory under the direct control of the Grand Duke or the princess, they wouldn’t allow their soldiers to show such a low level of skill and morale. I wonder if the Governor-General’s office, which is in charge of this area as well, is too absorbed in hunting for profits.

「These beast women sure have a habit of talking too much. But we are soldiers of the glorious Governor-General. Compared to the words that come out of our mouths, your protests are light as air.

Now then, if you want to return to Elkeney through this road, you must pay the toll of 2,000 Pels per person, and 500 Pels per horse, and another 1,000 Pels per carriage car」

Now that’s a hell of a price. If you convert 2,000 Pels to the currency of the kingdom, it would be about the same amount a family of four would use for a month of food expenses.

I don’t mean to be rude, but it doesn’t look like those siblings in the wagon would be able to pay that amount. Or maybe the Imperial soldiers don’t think they can pay the toll either.

I was curious what His Highness thought of this scene, so I asked him.

「Does this mean that other races and other species should leave the city, and never come back?」

「I guess the theory is that the city is theirs if they conquer it, even if they came later.

That might be one reason for driving them out, but they must be trying to get something in return, in exchange for the toll. That might be what’s really going on.

If the soldiers of our country ever did the same thing, I would be so sad, I couldn’t bear to watch it. I’d have to punish them all severely, including their superiors」

His Highness seemed to have realized just as I had, that the Imperial soldiers were looking for something they could get in exchange for the sum of money that their targets couldn’t possibly afford.

Since there were a lot of strawberries in the luggage rack, those would be worth a lot of money, but that wasn’t all they wanted. That Imperial soldiers have been looking at Hachi and the others with disgusting and creepy, lust-filled gazes for a while now!

It seemed like the situation would break out into fighting, but as I turned my focus to the longsword at my waist, I heard Hachi’s angry voice ringing out again. But she is a girl who roars often.

「Wha-, you’re already telling us to pay a toll that we have no need to pay, but it’s even such a ridiculous price, what the hell are you thinking? You have no intention of letting us enter Elkeney!」

「What are you saying? That’s not true. We just can’t let you pass unless you pay the toll. If you must enter Elkeney no matter what, then there’s something else you can give us instead of the toll」

「Instead of the toll?」

Hachi glanced back at the wooden crate full of strawberries in the back of the wagon, but from what we could see, it wasn’t something that these siblings could just hand over, as it was a part of their livelihood.

The Imperial soldier didn’t seem to want the strawberries either, and he snorted before he proudly announced what he really wanted.

「You can spend the night with us, as a little compensation for our services. Day and night, we maintain order in Elkeney, and contribute to the prosperity of the Romal Empire. That’s why you third class subjects and foreigners have a duty to serve us」

The commanding officer of the Imperial soldiers said that without any hesitation, as if he had said similar lines like that many times before, and none of the other soldiers seemed to be disturbed or feel any pangs in their conscience.

I had heard that the treatment toward the conquered peoples and demi-humans in this area was particularly harsh, but this was asking for too much.

I would like to think that the people in front of me, even though they are from a different country, are some of the worst people among the many Imperial soldiers.

「There’s nothing you people do that you can be proud of!」

Hachi’s patience finally ran out as she grabbed her sword, just about ready to draw it. On the other hand, the fox-girl saw Hachi’s fur standing on end, and instructed her siblings to get out of the wagon and hide behind it.

For the Imperial soldiers, this turn of events was just as they expected, and in front of the growling Hachi with her fangs bared, they raised their weapons, looking composed due their advantage in numbers.

「Fumu, I guess we walked a little too leisurely」

Just as I muttered that, the captain of the Imperial soldiers raised his right hand, and the other soldiers all raised their weapons in unison and began to circle around Hachi and the others.

「Don’t kill them. If they die, they can’t pay the substitute for the toll fee」

As he said that, the captain’s gaze was fixed on the boy hiding behind the wagon, who was holding his little sister in his arms. Ah, I’ve heard that homosexuality is not that shunned in the empire, but this captain is one of them.

I’m not saying that homosexuality is wrong, but in this man’s case, there is no love, just one-sided lust driving him. What that man is trying to do is nothing but scornful.

「Come on!」

As the Imperial soldiers began to move, both Hachi and the fox-girl took out their swords and daggers, and prepared to fight back.

No matter how outnumbered they were, their opponents were still two armed beast people. Since the Imperial soldiers did not want to cause any unnecessary injury, they were surrounding Hachi and the others cautiously, or to put it worse, they were cowering around them.

I don’t have a shred of sympathy for them, but I’m sure the soldiers don’t want to get injured, not because they want to warm their pockets, but because they want to release their pent up sexual desires.

「Fuuko, there is but one target!」

「I understand」

When outnumbered, the standard tactics are to target and crushingly defeat the opponent’s commander, force them into a situation where they can’t take advantage of their numbers, or to simply flee the scene, but Hachi and Fuuko the fox-girl seem to have chose to crush that vulgar captain.

While dodging left and right to avoid the blows of the Imperial soldiers’ spears, Hachi swung her sword, keeping the soldiers at a distance as she ran toward the captain, who had retreated to the back row.

Fuuka protected Hachi’s back, and kept a sharp eye on their surroundings as she wielded her small dagger. These two… are stronger than normal?

「Hmph, your movements are good for beasts, but you two aren’t the first of your kind that we’ve faced」

Just as the captain said, it seems this was not their first time doing something like fighting against third class subjects or people of different races.

It’s true that Hachi and Fuuka’s movements were fast, but the Imperial soldiers did not panic, and surrounded them with their large shields on their left arms. Behind the front row who had their large shields, there were more soldiers ready with their spears and arrows.

They were probably getting ready for when Hachi and Fuuka would make use of their abilities as beast people, and jump over the Imperial soldiers with the large shields.

Hachi and Fuuka were slowed down by the Imperial soldiers taking up a sturdy formation to wait for them. From the looks of it, Hachi is not skilled enough to cut through iron, and her prey’s swords are not that great either.

Fuuka was also hesitant, unable to decide what to do in the face of the spears and crossbows of the Imperial soldiers waiting in the back lines.

At this rate, their only choices were to be crushed by the Imperial soldiers slowly closing in on them, or to be beaten down by those large shields, but we were working to prevent that from happening.

As impatience showed clearly on Hachi and Fuuka’s faces, Shald and His Highness used the longswords still in their scabbards to strike down the Imperial soldiers in the front line holding the shields.

Jeez, Shald, who didn’t admonish His Highness, is one thing, but His Highness is another story, who punched them with the energy of a fish leaping out of the water.

Well, just from the fact that he didn’t overlook this situation, that is a noteworthy thing.