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Chapter 326
The Hole in the Shoe (1)
The slums of Camyu had become considerably brighter than they used to be.
Taxes had been lowered, and the lord protected the people from merchants who unfairly withheld their wages.
The tyranny of the officials had also been eradicated, so the people no longer had to spend days performing forced labor on an official’s farm or at his house.
These changes, which had taken place over the past year, were not limited to Camyu’s slums. They were a protective shield provided by the lord that extended to everyone in Camyu and, further, to all the people of the territory.
Linda stood in the middle of the street in the slums and spread her arms wide.
Bright sunlight poured into the once-dark slums, and a cool breeze blew through the streets.
I’m proud of the lord.
Whenever she thought of Ian, who had led the changes throughout the territory, her heart began to race.
A healer could save people, but a lord could save far more people all at once.
The lord who had once lost his memories and learned to read and write from her had, before she knew it, begun accomplishing things as a lord that made her proud of him.
He’ll be returning to the castle soon, right?
She had heard from her father that the lord had visited Copena, and she wanted to see his face again as soon as possible.
“Big sis, what are you doing standing in the middle of the street?”
Kubi, a boy whom Linda had once treated, asked as he saw her standing there with both arms spread wide.
“Hello, Kubi. I was thinking about the lord.”
“The lord?”
“That’s right. Around this time last year, there were so many sick and starving people on this street.”
“Ah, that’s right. Back then, Dad told me several times not to walk around alone at night.”
As he spoke, Kubi took off one of his shoes to remove a small stone that had gotten inside his hole-ridden shoe.
“How is this street now? It’s clean, and you don’t see sick or starving people anymore. Do you know who we have to thank for that?”
“Of course. It’s all thanks to the lord.”
After removing the stone from his shoe, Kubi replied with a wide grin.
Linda, who had been talking about the lord, seemed bothered by what Kubi was doing and pointed toward his shoe.
“Where did you get those boots with the holes in them? They look much too big for you.”
The boots looked strangely out of place on the small boy because they were far too large for him.
“Hehe, you caught me.”
Kubi waved one of the boots, which had a hole so large that all of his toes could be seen through it.
“I got these shoes from a workshop. They’re so old and worn out that repairing them would cost as much as buying a new pair, so apparently a customer abandoned them a long time ago. I got them from the workshop.”
“But they’re useless to you too. They’re only big. Why did you take them?”
“They’re just a lucky charm.”
“A lucky charm? What kind?”
Kubi struggled to pull the boots, which came all the way up to his knees, back onto his feet. After wiping the sweat from his forehead, he answered.
“They say these shoes were worn by a soldier from the guard unit before he threw them away at the workshop. So if I wear them, I’ll be able to become a soldier someday too.”
“You want to become a soldier?”
“Yes. The strong older brother who lives next door became a soldier this time. They say he gets paid a lot. And on top of that, he said the lord personally poured him a drink.”
Quite a few young men from the slums had become soldiers this time.
After enduring harsh training and becoming proper soldiers, those who had come home on leave were filled with loyalty toward their lord and pride in protecting their territory.
Watching them had made Kubi dream of becoming a magnificent soldier himself.
“Like you said, big sis, the lord is a good person, right? So I have to protect him. And our village too.”
Linda looked down at the bright-eyed, smiling Kubi with a smile of her own. Then she bent slightly at the waist until their eyes were level.
“Kubi, they’re building a school in Camyu right now. You know that, don’t you?”
“Yes, I heard about it.”
Before leaving for the Pirate Archipelago, Ian had given several instructions during a meeting in his office. One of them was to build a school in Camyu.
“That place isn’t just for nobles and wealthy people. It’s for all Albern people who want the opportunity to learn.”
“That’s great.”
“Becoming a soldier is good too. Like you said, it’s a noble thing to do—to protect the lord and the territory. But I think it’s a little too early for you to start wearing a torn boot as a lucky charm. Why don’t you think about school first?”
“I don’t like studying. I like this.”
Kubi used the stick he had been carrying like a spear and stabbed repeatedly at the empty air. His mind was already firmly made up about becoming a soldier.
Linda, slightly embarrassed, straightened her back while maintaining the smile on her face.
I forgot. There aren’t many people in this world who actually like studying.
Even if they opened a school, it didn’t mean that all the people of the territory would cheer and take an interest in it.
Some people simply weren’t suited to studying, while many others needed to continue living their daily lives by working their fields even a little harder rather than reading books.
Maybe, as the lord said, it would be better to teach things like how to increase crop yields, hunting techniques, fruit cultivation, how to dig drainage channels, and how to build houses.
Educating each person in the things they actually needed.
In a way, perhaps that would be the true kind of school for the people of the territory.
“Linda.”
At the familiar voice coming from behind her, Linda was startled and turned around.
Ian stood there wearing a hood.
“My lord!”
As her eyes widened, Ian smiled and gestured with a finger to his lips.
“Your voice is too loud.”
“You’ve returned. How long have you been watching?”
Linda lowered her voice and asked happily.
“Since that little brat started explaining his torn boots.”
A few meters away, Kubi was so absorbed in swinging his stick around that he hadn’t even glanced in their direction.
“Then you saw everything? Even a child that young wants to become a soldier for your sake.”
“That’s what you get when you’re popular. It’s not like I can stop it by force.”
Ian exaggerated his expression and acted smugly. Linda let out a small laugh, but then her smile faded.
“And who is that gentleman behind you…?”
The white-haired old man standing beside two horses had been staring at her repeatedly, making it seem as though he was connected to Ian.
“He’s going to become an elder of our family.”
“An elder?”
“Wait a moment. I’ll introduce you shortly.”
Ian passed her and approached Kubi, who was still swinging his stick around.
“Is it all right to swing a stick around carelessly in the street? What if you hit someone?”
As Ian approached with the sword at his waist swinging slightly, Kubi nervously hid the stick behind his back.
“I-I’m sorry. Please, go ahead.”
Thinking that he had been blocking the man’s way, Kubi stepped aside.
“What is your name?”
“K-Kubi. Why do you ask?”
“So, Kubi, you want to become a soldier?”
“How did you know?”
Ian pointed toward Linda, who was standing several meters behind him. Kubi’s gaze turned toward her.
“Linda and I are friends.”
“Ah… yes.”
Only then did Kubi relax, visibly relieved.
“That’s right. I want to become an Albern soldier. I’ll become your soldier and protect this place, my lord.”
Seeing the boy speak so boldly, Ian deliberately used a stern voice.
“And a fellow like you thinks he can rely on luck while wearing torn boots?”
“Ah, no. These are just a lucky charm…”
“If you keep wearing shoes that don’t fit your feet, they’ll injure you. If it gets bad enough, you might even have to have your feet amputated. Take them off.”
“Don’t worry. There’s good medicine that the lord gave to the people in the slums at a cheap price. If I put that on, it’ll heal right away.”
Ian’s eyebrows drew together at the unexpected backtalk from the boy.
“So. Are you saying you’ll keep wearing them because you trust that medicine to work? If I tell the lord about this, you’ll be in serious trouble. I’ll tell him you’re wasting precious medicine just because you want to walk around in boots with holes in them.”
At Ian’s words, the boy’s expression fell.
“All right. I’ll take them off. I just really want to become a soldier.”
Sitting on the ground, the boy struggled to pull off the long boots. Both of his feet had turned black with dirt and grime.
Ian stared down at his feet for a moment before taking a silver coin from inside his clothes and placing it in the boy’s hand.
“Use this to buy yourself a new pair of shoes that actually fit.”
“Oh, no. I have a pair of shoes that my older brother gave me.”
“It’s fine. Take it. I’m giving it to you as Linda’s friend.”
Kubi glanced at Linda, who was smiling, then stood up and bowed deeply to Ian.
“Thank you.”
“A soldier has to risk his life and fight at the very front when an emergency arises. You also need a spirit of self-sacrifice. If you’re still prepared to do that ten years from now, apply to become a soldier. If you aren’t, you’d better give up.”
Kubi thought over Ian’s words before nodding.
“I understand, mister. But ten years from now, I’ll be an awesome soldier. I’ll definitely receive a cup of liquor poured by the lord himself, too.”
Clutching the silver coin tightly in his hand, Kubi looked at Ian and Linda in turn before turning around and running toward the other end of the street.
“Thank you, my lord. I was worried about his shoes anyway, and you solved the problem perfectly.”
Linda moved the torn boots to one side before approaching Ian.
“Do you think Kubi will be a soldier ten years from now?”
Ian muttered while watching Kubi’s retreating figure.
The sight of the boy declaring that he would become a soldier for the sake of his lord and territory had stirred something inside him.
“Who knows? We’ll find out when ten years have passed. We’ll see what decision Kubi makes.”
“You’ll still be by my side then, won’t you?”
At Ian’s direct question, Linda’s eyes trembled.
“If that’s what you want, my lord.”
Just as the two were looking at each other in an oddly intimate atmosphere, Milleianus approached them, leading two horses.
“Sorry to interrupt such a nice moment, but where can I find a place to relieve myself around here? My stomach hurts.”
“Report it, don’t report it. Report it, don’t report it…”
The treasurer continued agonizing over what to do with the bribe Kalzen had accepted on his behalf some time ago, counting the petals of a flower in a pot in his office.
The jewels that had come as a bribe were worth approximately ten thousand gold coins. It was enough to repay the debt he owed to the head of the Margerty Merchant Guild—as if the person who had sent it knew his circumstances perfectly.
“This is driving me insane. Who could have sent such an enormous bribe?”
If he had known who had sent it, he could have returned it even reluctantly. Not knowing who the sender was made the situation even more difficult.
Should I just close my eyes and accept it this once, like Kalzen said?
For someone in his position, desperately needing to repay a debt, it was an incredibly tempting offer.
No. If the lord finds out, everything I’ve worked so hard to build up could collapse in an instant. That would be a problem.
The treasurer let out a long sigh and watered the flowers in the pot.
“You’re lucky. You get showered with affection just by sitting there looking pretty. I have to work myself to death just to hold on to my position.”
After reflecting on the bad things he had done in the territory over the past few years, he was desperately trying to keep his position as treasurer.
Of course, he was also doing it so that he wouldn’t have to experience the lord’s spanking on his backside again.
“My butt has lost weight, so getting hit with a cane would hurt even more.”
After finishing watering the flowers, the treasurer returned to his desk and sat down.
“All right, I’ll report everything. It’s not like I did anything wrong, right? Kalzen was the idiot who greedily accepted the bribe without thinking.”
He laughed heartily while tapping the desk, but his expression soon darkened.
“No. There’s no way I can repay the debt through legitimate means. And I can’t sell the house and land my father left me, either. Damn it! What am I supposed to do?”
The treasurer grabbed at his hair in frustration.
“At this rate, I’m going to go insane. Why did that idiot Kalzen have to accept something like that?!”
While suffering from an increasingly intense inner conflict, the treasurer raised his head at the sound of a knock on the door.
One of his subordinate officials hurried inside.
“My lord has returned to the castle. He has ordered you to come to his office.”
The treasurer, still unable to make up his mind, rose from his seat with a troubled expression.
“Prepare the carriage.”
