NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 16 - Refugees and Thieves (2)
Magic was expensive.
Bringing in a wizard from another realm’s large city would be costly.
The impoverished finances of Marseille’s estates would not afford a wizard.
“Wizards? They’re too expensive. We need to save money.”For now, they’ve just had a good harvest and are able to survive on taxes, but at the beginning of next year, the estate faces a budget deficit.
At that point, we need to issue bonds, and if we don’t get a good deal, no one would buy them.
Either we make a lot of money or we save money to prepare for next year.
“No, I’m sure we can get cheap [silence] magic to reduce noise. I’ll look into it.” “Where are you going to find one?” “Aren’t there some magic shops in town, and I heard one of them is owned by a wizard?” “There’s a wizard in town? I’ve never heard of him.”Wizards are a high-level class of individuals found in the magic towers of large cities.
There are some lesser wizards who have learned a spell or two and operate a magic tool, but they’re referred to as
‘magicians’.
As far as I know, Marseille has many magicians, but no wizards.
“I didn’t know that, but Captain Adrienne told me there’s a witch living in the tool shop.” “A wizard and a witch are different, they’re just manipulating mana.” “Oh, is that so, I thought female wizards were called witches…”Martin’s face flushed as he realized his mistake.
But witches are rare in the kingdom, so it’s not surprising he didn’t know. I’ve heard that the Sun Cult once banished them all.
“Well, it might be worth meeting her anyway. Witches do use magic, after all. Everybody, follow me. We’re going to the shop.”We immediately headed to the commercial district.
In front of a magic shop in the middle of a commercial district.
Martin pointed to the sign,
“This is the place.”The sign says 【
Winnie’s Tool Shop】
and there was also a sign that said it doubled as a dispensary and sold some kind of potion. Jingle—As I walked through the door, a wind chime rang, announcing the arrival of a customer.
“Welcome, what are you looking for?”A girl who looked to be around 20 years old greeted us.
“I’m looking to see the owner, is he here?” “Uh, aren’t you the lord?” “…”I tried to hide my identity, but I got caught.
It’s all because of the blessing of the God of Prosperity. After holding up my shining hand all day, everyone in town recognizes it.
“Ahem. I am Eric of Marseille. Do you own the place?”She greeted politely,
“Nice to meet you, my lord. My name is Winnie.”Intrigued by the idea of a witch, I ran
[Leer Morale]. 》Leer Morale Winnie (185 years old)➺ Daughter of Emily, the ‘Witch of the Dark Forest.’
‘Wow!’
I’ve never seen anything so old in my life. I was even more surprised that Winnie was just an old human, rather than a super old-looking person.
“Are you a wizard or a witch?”I calmly asked a question, hiding my real intentions.
“I’m a witch.”That’s bad. But even witches could use magic, so I kept asking.
“Can you cast a [silence] spell or something similar? I’m trying to clear out a bunch of bandits, but the sound scares them away.” “Oh my, are you finally going to catch those bad guys?” “Yeah. They are a big problem for resettling people.”Winnie smiled slightly, then made a suggestion,
“If you let me take a look at your lordship’s body, I’ll help you.”Pascal, the head of civil affairs overheard from the back, rushed forward.
“How dare you desire my lord, you lustful one!” “Pascal, you’re being ridiculous, and it’s not polite.” “But, my lord. She looks no more than twenty years old, and yet—” “Hush, I’m not twenty.” “What?”Then Winnie winked at Pascal and trembled in fear of the unknown.
I held out my hand to Winnie.
“Here. You’re going to try to convert mana, aren’t you? Try it.”As a child, several wizards had examined my body. They wanted to see if there was any way to awaken the talents of a knight or wizard.
It failed, of course.
Winnie seeks to do something similar to what the wizards did. Curiosity, perhaps, to see what form my blessed power takes.
“Oho, thank you.”Winnie grabs my hand. Then she channeled her own mana into mine.
“Hmm. You are unique. I’ve never seen anything like this. Let me look a little deeper.”Winnie frowned, trying to do something but not knowing what.
At that time…
System alarm!We have detected an attempt to hack the server through the Hunter system client. Rule out hacking attempts… 3… 2… 1… “That’s dangerous!” Snap—!
I struck Winnie’s hand and knocked it away.
System alarm! Failed to eliminate the hacking attempt. Re-attempt, and immediately enforce exclusion. “Whew, that almost got me in trouble. Winnie, stop hurting yourself and come to your senses.”Winnie’s eyes are wide open and she looks a little shocked.
“Huh? Yeah. What was that?” “You’ll never know. You almost died.” “Was it the god?”asked Winnie.
“Something like that. Pretend you don’t know.” “…Uh, okay.”I said I wanted something warm to drink to calm my shaken state.
Winnie led us to a table and served hot tea.
Martin stopped drinking his tea and asked,
“But what about the [silence] magic?” “Oh, by the way. Winnie, can you help us take out the bandits?” “Sure, as long as you give me a small benefit.”What profit? I came here to save money.
“We can’t spend the budget. I’ll pay you with something else.” “With what, may I ask?”I thought of her shop, I remembered Winnie selling medicine.
“I’ll show you a way to make medicine.”Winnie’s eyes sparkled.
I had never heard of a witch who made money, because witches who live alone in the deep woods don’t make money.
This witch must be very unusual.
Anyway, that doesn’t mean anyone could teach how to make good money with a few spells.
“Instead, create a monopoly in which I have a controlling interest, and the dividends will go to the fief’s budget.”Winnie’s face brightened, realizing that a monopoly would mean that she’d have a stake in it.
“As you wish. But can you tell me what kind of medicine it is?” “First, I’ll teach you how to make a medicine to stop diarrhea.”In this world, diarrhea as a disease could be terrifying.
Many people die from diarrhea. With diarrhea comes dehydration, electrolyte imbalance, and malnutrition.
One of the methods of preventing it from happening, was an anti-diarrhea medicine.
Winnie asked, looking a little confused,
“If there was such a method, it would have been known.”That’s true. But knowing how to do it and making it are two different things.
As a Westphalian bastard, I was powerless to accomplish anything.
“I haven’t done it yet because I never had the chance. Of course, some clinical trials are needed, but don’t worry, it’s easy to make.”Winnie nodded, as if my words were credible.
That’s when Commander Axel’s impatience showed,
“So, can you help us defeat the bandits, Witch?”Winnie made a circle with her finger, and Axel was delighted.
It was time to hunt down the bandits.
A few days later, at an impetuous hour.
More than a hundred horses rode out the north gate of the castle.
Riding with me were knights and soldiers, Martin, Chief of Guard, Raul, Chief of Security, Axel, Commander of the Knights, and Winnie the Witch.
For this trip, we borrowed many horses and selected men who could ride. Improved their riding skill and trained them in formations for several days.
Martin watched the soldiers on their horses complain.
“Isn’t it too quiet?” “Quiet is just right.”It was different from the usual
[Silence]magic.
Somehow, their horses rode silently, no hoofbeats, no vibrations.
Not even their breathing could be heard.
For Martin, trained as a knight, this silence was strange and awkward.
It doesn’t have the same pounding in the pit of your stomach as you ride in battle.
“Do we have to remain silent when we leave the gates?” “Of course. There will be spies from the bandits within the castle. They’ll use pigeons to alert the bandits to our movements.”So they sneak out the north gate at night.
“Move quickly to the target. Speed is of the essence in this operation.”As I spurred my horse faster, my men followed.
A couple of hours later.
Arriving at our destination, we fed the horses beans and water for a final rest.
Still, I couldn’t even hear the horse chewing the beans.
[Silence] For the timing of breaking the spell, I called Winnie.
“Winnie, how long does this spell last?” “About three hours from now.” “It’s good to have a sound when the warhorse charges, so break the spell then.”The thudding of the ground as a mighty warhorse charges demoralizes enemies and scatters their will.
Especially since our target tonight consists of a ragtag band of poorly trained bandits.
“I understand, my lord.”After a short rest.
A knight showed up and gave a report,
“We found a house. It doesn’t have a fence, so I think a full-horse charge will work.”He instructed his men to ride off immediately.
“Let’s move everyone.”A hundred horses silently approached the house.
The bandits would have no idea that a sweeping force had arrived.
Deep in the night, when even the moonlight sounds like a lullaby.
The bandits had deeply fallen to sleep, and the one who stood guard was snoring softly.
Only a few campfires are flickering, lit to light the way.
Meanwhile, in a field near the hut.
“Prepare to attack.”On my command, the knights, and soldiers lined up.
It doesn’t matter if there’s an untrained soldier with them. The horses lined up on their own.
When we were ready to charge, I instructed Winnie.
“Disable the [Silence] spell.” “Yes, my lord. [Cancel Spell].”The silence spell on the horses dispelled, and I could hear the heavy breathing of over a hundred horses.
The warhorses, realizing they were about to charge, grew excited. The sound of jostling and hooves scraping the ground spread out.
Hearing it, the knights and soldiers became furious. I could hear the clattering in my ears.
The preparations are complete.
All that remains before us but to strike.
I held the Soul Reaper high, and then slowly lunged forward.
“Charge!”My voice was weak, but everyone heard it.
“Come on!”A hundred horses galloped forward in unison.
Thud, thud, thud—The thieves in the lodge heard the sound as the ground rumbled beneath the bandits’ feet.
“What is this noise?” “It sounds like something is pounding.” “It can’t be orcs or trolls, can it?” “Do they play drums?”Waking up, the bandits came out of their shack and listened.
“Does that sound like a horse?” “No way. I’d know a horse if I heard one.” Thud, thud, thud—The sound soon turned into an earth-shaking roar. The bandits’ hearts shook accordingly.
“Hey, what’s going on, is it an earthquake?”One of them, who was once a soldier, sighed.
“Ugh, we’re screwed. They’re knights.” “What?”Just then.
Out of the darkness, warhorses leapt.
“Go! Charge!”Axel shouted at the top of his lungs, and the bandits instantly recognized that this was a raiding party.
‘Come and defy us now, we are a beacon before the wind.’
They threw down their weapons and cowered.
“Run!” “Where to? What the heck. We’re all dead.”Some scramble to get away, others cower in their seats, waiting for the end.
There was a bonfire, but it was late at night and the visibility worsened.
I immediately ordered Winnie,
“Winnie, light up!” “[Light].”A ball of light rose into the air and illuminated the area.
With the visibility secured, the soldiers quickly completed the encirclement as they had practiced, and the knights struck down the few bandits who resisted.
To the bandits, the power of a disciplined army must have seemed like the grim reaper.
“Surrender!” “My lord, please spare my life.”The sound of thieves in distress came from everywhere.
There was no point in slaughtering them indiscriminately, so I decided to round them up.
“Disarm yourself and gather around, and we will spare your lives!”Shouting loudly, I called out, and the scattered bandits gathered.