novelraw Chapter 42
Chapter 42
Chapter 42
Even though our territory was poor, theft cases were almost nonexistent.
That was partly because everyone knew each other, and also because we all lived similar lives with nothing worth stealing.
But one of the newly joined Black Lion warriors went ahead and caused a theft incident.
“Why in the world?”
The most abundant resource in the territory right now was meat.
Honestly, it was to the point where it felt like we were harvesting meat directly from a field.
That was why we would just hand out freshly butchered meat to anyone who wanted it.
In other words, if you wanted meat, all you had to do was ask the livestock ranch manager, and it would come out right away.
“It was late at night, and he said he was starving.”
“…Really?”
“Uh, sorry, Bear. The Black Lions aren’t very good at enduring hunger.”
“Well, that’s…”
The reason was so plain and straightforward that I had nothing to say.
What could you even do if someone said they were just hungry?
‘It’s not like it’s such a big problem.’
Honestly, stealing a few horned rabbits from that half-grass, half-rabbit ranch wasn’t something that would cause much trouble.
Nobody would even notice.
We didn’t even know exactly how many rabbits were in that ranch to begin with.
So, if he hadn’t been caught, it wouldn’t have been a big issue.
But that fool tried to eat the horned rabbit on the spot, and of all times, he got caught red-handed by the livestock ranch manager during his patrol.
The ranch was open to everyone, but at the end of the day, it was still the lord’s property.
A Lion Tribe warrior who stole rabbits from the ranch was caught as a thief of the lord’s property.
Something that could have been quietly brushed aside ended up becoming a public matter.
‘He just had to get caught. What a headache.’
“Hah, well. Fine. Whatever the case, he has to be punished.”
“I admit it. Since I became a member of this territory, I’ll accept any punishment.”
“Well, that’s good to hear.”
Since he was caught in the act, punishment was unavoidable.
If we let it slide, order in the territory would fall apart.
At least the Lion Tribe’s response was a relief.
It would’ve been troublesome if the Lions, who still hadn’t adapted to the territory, protested. But since Leisha was responding like this, there didn’t seem to be any need to worry.
If it was a punishment Leisha agreed with, the Lion Beastmen wouldn’t hold a grudge either.
Still, how should I punish him in this case?
“Butler, how was theft punished in the territory before?”
“They were beaten until they came to their senses.”
“Oh, really?”
Well, that was primitive.
‘It’s like beating up your youngest son who’s lost his way.’
‘Ah, when you put it like that, I guess it makes sense.’
Since everyone knew each other, maybe it was just about hitting them enough to wake them up.
“Beating a Lion Tribe warrior? That doesn’t sound very meaningful.”
Just how much would you have to beat a Lion warrior before he came to his senses?
You couldn’t nearly kill him just for stealing a rabbit.
‘Still, I’d like to at least instill some sense of caution.’
The Black Lions still hadn’t adapted to life in the territory.
I didn’t want to hand down a severe punishment, but at the very least, I wanted them to gain a sense of awareness.
After all, they were now members of Johnson Territory, and if we were going to live together, they had to follow rules and order.
But I had no idea what would be a fitting punishment.
“Leisha, what do the Lion Tribe warriors hate the most?”
“You mean us? Hm, probably going hungry.”
“Oh, really?”
Starvation, huh.
That actually didn’t sound too bad.
This all happened because of appetite in the first place, didn’t it?
If he stole food, then making him go hungry for as much as he stole sounded pretty reasonable.
So then, how long should I make him starve?
For the Lion Tribe, especially the Black Lions, even going without food for a single day would be tough.
‘Is that so? Then maybe I’ll make it two days.’
One day felt too short.
Two days seemed like it would be a fair punishment.
We’d lock him up in a sturdy warehouse and make him fast for about two days.
Of course, completely starving him would be too harsh, so I figured giving him water and a small piece of bread would be fine.
Even the residents would probably see that as reasonable.
For them, being locked up might actually feel like a bigger punishment than going hungry.
“Alright, let’s punish him like this.”
The punishment for the horned rabbit thief was carried out swiftly.
Considering he was a warrior, we locked him up in the sturdiest warehouse and allowed him only a bit of water and a small piece of bread for survival.
“…You’re really going to do that?”
“Why? What’s wrong?”
“Bear, you… you’re a terrifying male.”
“Huh?”
Leisha’s reaction was a little odd, but I didn’t think much of it.
I just wanted to get this trivial yet annoying situation over with quickly.
But I should have thought it through a bit more.
“What’s this?”
I started feeling that something was off on the day the thief was released, after his two-day fast.
I had given the order to lock him up and then forgotten about it, but since I had time, I thought I should go meet him.
After all, he was the first beastman punished by my command.
I intended to give him some comfort and a bit of encouragement for the future.
“Indeed, Brother, you are not normal. Of course, you weren’t before either, but now it’s even more so.”
That was Rudick’s strange reaction.
The Lion Tribe warriors were speaking to each other in beastman tongue I couldn’t understand, avoiding my gaze.
The closer we got to the warehouse where the culprit was locked up, the stronger the strange feeling grew.
And when I finally arrived, I realized something had gone quite wrong.
“This is the smokehouse, isn’t it?”
“Didn’t you tell us to lock him up here, Brother?”
“Did I?”
“If it’s the sturdiest warehouse, isn’t this the one?”
“…I suppose?”
One of Johnson Territory’s traditional foods was smoked sausage.
You’d stuff finely ground meat and herbs into well-cleaned animal intestines, boil them once, and then smoke them gently over special firewood brought in from the Forest of Illusions.
It was a magical dish that could make even foul-smelling or tough meat palatable.
We valued sausage so much that we even built a dedicated smokehouse.
There wasn’t a single person in Johnson Territory who disliked smoked sausage.
And ever since we began raising horned rabbits, we had been constantly making sausages with them.
Especially in autumn, when winter was approaching, the territory stockpiled a large amount of sausage, so right now was the season when sausages were smoked the most.
And coincidentally, the sturdiest warehouse in the territory happened to be right in front of this smokehouse.
‘So when the smokehouse is running, the smell of sausage would come straight in here?’
My mouth waters just thinking about it.
Being locked up here while fasting must have been torture.
‘Exactly.’
-As expected of my Master. To come up with such a diabolical idea.
The beastman, who had survived two days with nothing but a single piece of bread while locked up by the smokehouse, staggered out of the warehouse, his eyes bloodshot.
He looked half-dead in spirit.
For a Black Lion, with their powerful appetites, fasting for two days in this environment was indeed a harsh punishment.
“You’re a demon. A demon has returned.”
“That mana bomb thing too, or whatever it was.”
“It’s weird, but incredibly effective.”
“And giving him tasteless bread on top of that was just cruel.”
“The Lion Tribe doesn’t even eat bread, right?”
“Somebody, bring that poor guy a sausage later.”
Even the knights of the territory, after seeing the Lion Beastman’s condition, averted their eyes with expressions that said, ‘This is a bit much’.
I couldn’t help but feel wronged.
It wasn’t like I normally locked people up in such a place and starved them.
This was far too inhumane.
-But you did it, didn’t you?
‘…Shut up.’
‘Wait, the Lion Tribe doesn’t eat bread?’
‘What are they, carnivores? Why wouldn’t they eat bread?’
-You didn’t know? Beastmen of the carnivore type have different digestion cycles than humans. They don’t need grains, as long as they have meat.
‘This insane fantasy world, seriously.’
In this awkward atmosphere, I didn’t know what I should say.
It felt like I’d done something petty with food.
The situation was far from what I intended, but seeing the Black Lion warriors avoiding my gaze made me feel as though discipline had been unintentionally established.
‘Maybe this isn’t so bad?’
For unpredictable fellows like them, having a leash of this level might actually be fine.
Besides, what could I do?
The deed was done.
I hadn’t intended it, but since it worked as an impressive punishment, I had no choice but to make use of it.
“…From now on, we’ll use this place as a prison. Remember that.”
So I sent a message that such punishments would continue.
Even if I thought it was petty, if it was effective, there was no reason not to use it.
-Doesn’t matter. You’re used to being the villain anyway.
‘I am not.’
I hoped this incident would at least instill some caution in the Black Lions.
The effect of fasting + confinement was more effective than I expected.
The most representative example: the Black Lion warriors were quickly learning the human language.
Because if they made a mistake by not understanding the lord’s words, they feared they might end up in that hellish prison.
I never planned to punish them just for failing to follow instructions, but it seemed they believed otherwise.
“Still, none of the warriors are expressing discontent, right? I expected at least some resistance.”
They were clearly tough warriors, so I thought there would be some pushback, but surprisingly, there wasn’t.
Of course, beating Limond had secured me some legitimacy, but if that was all it took, Leisha wouldn’t have worried in the first place.
“Lord, Leisha. I… uh—”
“Doesn’t the lord share meat generously? When they’re full, they don’t feel discontent.”
Limond, who had just begun speaking human tongue with stammers, was about to answer, but Leisha smacked the back of his head and answered in his stead.
It was the abundance of meat that was suppressing their complaints.
It was a convincing argument.
Thinking back to the thief who looked utterly broken after just two days of fasting by the smokehouse, I found myself nodding unconsciously.
“So, the Black Lions don’t really have any particular complaints?”
Right now, the territory meeting was in session.
It was the routine work of receiving reports on the situation.
Since it wasn’t an emergency meeting, Peter wasn’t present.
That guy was too busy these days, buried in research at the workshop.
“There are none. Everyone is satisfied.”
“Seems so.”
In Peter’s absence, Leisha and Limond attended as representatives of the Black Lion Tribe.
If a problem arose on their side, those two would bring it to me.
“The Rabbit Tribe also has no complaints.”
“Oh, really?”
The Rabbit Tribe was represented by their elder, Luxa.
Luxa, who had led the tribe when they first settled in our territory, was chosen as the Rabbit Tribe’s representative.
Because he had been the first to believe in the Guide’s existence and had led his people, his support within the Rabbit Tribe was quite strong.
Well, that was fine.
I knew him personally, and he was fairly devout in his faith toward Lord Bestia.
“In winter, when there’s not much to do, it would be good to build even a small temple for Lord Bestia.”
“Oh, that’s a fine idea. Everyone will be pleased.”
Since the Rabbits had no complaints at all, I suggested building a temple.
With the Guide having appeared, they surely wanted to do something in honor of Lord Bestia.
Seeing Elder Luxa nodding with satisfaction, it seemed my guess wasn’t wrong.
“By the way, there’s still no word from the south?”
“Should we send someone again to Haken Territory?”
“No, let’s wait for now. We’ve already met Lord Haken directly, so there’s no need to press him.”
Although the territory was running smoothly, not everything was without worry.
Haken Territory, where we had sent people for trade negotiations, had yet to send any clear reply.
It seemed they were still deliberating, but I hoped a decision would be made before winter.
“…Hm? Limond? What’s wrong with you?”
As we were discussing trade, Limond’s expression suddenly turned odd.
It looked like something had just occurred to him.
So I asked him what it was, and his answer was ridiculous.
“I forgot. For a moment.”
“Forgot what?”
“The Lion Tribe Chieftain. He said he would meet the human lord.”
“What? The Lion Tribe Chieftain? When?”
“When we left. He said he’d come. Probably tomorrow. In person.”
“…Really?”
Apparently, when the Black Lions met with their chieftain before leaving their tribe, the Lion Tribe Chieftain had said he would visit our territory.
Limond had completely forgotten about it, but upon hearing about trade with the southern territory, he suddenly remembered.
“Shouldn’t you have told us about that earlier?”
“I forgot. Sorry.”
“…Ah, well.”
He apologized so confidently that I had nothing to say.
‘Ha, these Black Lions, seriously.’
First the theft case, now this—these guys were troublemakers in their own way.
If the trade issue hadn’t come up, we might have ended up meeting the Lion Chieftain with no preparations at all.
I could finally understand a bit of what Leisha must have felt, sighing at her Black Lion warriors from time to time.