Chapter 80
He crossed the deep blue grassland, feeling as if he had stepped onto a strange land for the first time.
On the gently rolling hills, dozens of plump foals and mares were grazing.
“More than a hundred foals were born at this ranch this year alone. All of them carry the bloodline of Nornec Mountain fine horses.”
Daren Dru Siarkan, who had been quietly following behind him, explained in a tone filled with pride.
Varkas turned to look at the man, who had an upright impression that seemed somewhat stubborn, and asked,
“How many trained warhorses are there?”
“There are three thousand at this ranch alone. If we include the ranch to the north, there should be around six thousand three hundred.”
“That is fewer than the number I was reported.”
At his remark, red rose over the man’s face.
“You were in the central region, Young Master. Realistically, it is difficult to convey every detailed matter beyond the regular reports.”
The man avoided his eyes and added as if making an excuse.
“A month ago, one horse ranch in the northeastern region suffered great damage from an attack by the Ziin. Afterward, retaliatory battles broke out, and we lost a considerable number of usable warhorses.”
Varkas furrowed his brows.
“Why was no report sent to the imperial family?”
“Why would we, when we can resolve it with our own strength?”
The man shrugged with an indifferent expression.
“His Grace the Grand Duke’s belief has always been that the East’s problems should be solved among easterners. The retainers agreed with that as well.”
“The East is also territory of the Roem Empire.”
Varkas refuted in a dry tone.
“We, too, are imperial citizens. Just as the East is loyal to the imperial family, the imperial family has a duty to protect easterners.”
The man pressed his mouth shut. He seemed to feel an instinctive resistance to the word “protect.”
The self-conscious warriors of the Khan people regarded outside support as humiliation.
Instead of correcting that mistaken idea, Varkas turned his horse’s head toward the village located below the hill.
Most of the residents living outside the castle walls lived harsher lives than the city dwellers.
As proof of that, the buildings lined along the muddy dirt road were all worn and shabby.
As he looked over them with indifferent eyes, something suddenly caught his gaze.
Varkas narrowed his brows and rode toward the center of the village.
Then he saw something hanging from a large tree located in the square.
When he moved a little closer, he could recognize what it was.
Three corpses, beginning to rot purple as if they had been dead for a long time, hung limply with ropes wrapped around their necks.
“They must be heretics who were executed not long ago.”
Daren said, wrinkling the bridge of his nose.
Varkas turned to him and asked,
“Are heretical forces spreading in Kalmor?”
“As you know, Young Master, there are many easterners who have not abandoned their ethnic faith. Among them are those who worship spirits like gods or are obsessed with superstition.”
The man let out a heavy sigh.
“Especially recently, reports concerning heretics have increased. It is probably because conflicts with the Ziin have become more frequent. They are all people obsessed with spirit worship, are they not? Because hostility toward heretics has intensified, religious trials are frequently occurring at the village level.”
“In just a few years, it has become a mess.”
An unpleasant look appeared on the man’s face.
As if trying to hide it, he forced a smile around his mouth and shrugged his large shoulders.
“His Grace the Grand Duke has been bedridden for a long time, so it cannot be helped.”
Varkas looked up at the corpses with a thoughtful expression, then jerked his chin toward his subordinates.
“If they are left like that, there is a high chance they will become ghouls. Bring down the corpses and perform a simple funeral procedure.”
The man raised his thick eyebrows.
“For heretics?”
Varkas looked at him with cold eyes.
“Do I have to say it twice for you to understand?”
Daren stared intently at him for a while, then soon shouted at the knights who had stepped forward.
“What are you doing not following the Young Master’s command at once!”
The men immediately dismounted and cut the ropes that held the corpses.
The corpses fell heavily onto the dirt ground with a thud.
He quietly looked down at the head, bent at a strange angle as if the neck bone had broken from the fall.
Maggots swarmed inside the hollow sockets where the eyeballs had been removed, and inside the lips cut away with a knife, all the teeth had been pulled out.
All of it was a measure against ghoulification.
Corpses that had not undergone a purification ritual had a high chance of becoming undead, and because of that, heretics often had their eyeballs, teeth, and even fingernails removed.
What a pointless act.
Ghouls could use tools as much as they wanted according to the memories they had in life. To prevent danger, it was better to completely incinerate the corpses or perform a purification ritual.
He watched the soldiers drag the three corpses to a corner of the open ground, then turned his head and looked over the farmers in shabby clothes gathered on one side of the square.
Most of them looked frightened, but a few had dissatisfied expressions.
He pointed to one of them.
“You, call the priest immediately.”
The man who had been singled out sluggishly walked toward the chapel located on one side of the village.
Soon after, the priest came running and performed a simple purification ritual.
Varkas silently watched the scene, then left an order to bury the corpses in a suitable place before leading his horse out of the village.
At that moment, a discarded wooden statue at the end of the wide road caught his eye.
A statue of a dog, no, a wolf with three heads, had been split halfway by an axe blade and left alone on the path leading to Argand Forest.
It was clearly a sign of a curse.
Daren, who belatedly discovered it, stiffened his face and shouted loudly at the soldiers.
“Remove it at once!”
Varkas looked down at the statue with calm eyes, then turned his gaze toward the village.
Judging from the fact that someone had placed it there in anticipation of their visit, it was clearly an act filled with malice.
He let out a dry laugh.
It seems there are people who are not pleased that I have returned.
He had no way of knowing whether it was the work of heretics obsessed with superstition or a provocation by anti-imperial forces, but he had a feeling life here would not be easy either.
“Shall we search for the culprit?”
Daren asked while watching his mood.
Varkas lightly shook his head as he pulled the reins.
“Leave it. If we make a fuss over a single statue, what would that make us except a laughingstock?”
The man swallowed a sigh and nodded.
“That is true.”
Although he agreed for the moment, he seemed unable to calm his anger, and his eyes were fierce as he looked back at the village.
Varkas thought he might drag his subordinates there and cause trouble.
He had only watched briefly, but the man had a particularly belligerent temperament even among the mounted warriors.
Feeling a strange fatigue sweep over him, Varkas spurred his horse.
When he arrived back at Raedgo Castle, the sun was leaning toward the west.
Varkas lightly dismounted, handed the reins to the stable keeper, and crossed the wide training ground.
When he entered the main castle, the chief butler, who had been directing the servants, ran out.
“You have returned, Young Master.”
He accepted the greeting with a nod and stepped onto the stairs after passing through the chaotic hall.
The man hurriedly followed behind him and said,
“Lords from various regions have come to see you, Young Master.”
Varkas frowned and looked back at the chief butler.
“Regional lords?”
“They are retainers who govern the southeastern region.”
The man cautiously added,
“It seems they have come to make an impression before you hold the succession ceremony.”
He lightly rubbed his chin with his gloved hand, then continued up the stairs and spoke indifferently.
“Prepare a banquet for the guests. After changing clothes, I will go to the hall.”
“Well…”
Just as he was about to head toward his bedroom prepared on the second floor, the chief butler drew out his words.
Varkas looked at him over his shoulder.
After hesitating for a long while, the man carefully opened his mouth.
“Would your wife also be able to attend the evening banquet…?”
Varkas narrowed his eyes.
The chief butler, watching his mood, quickly continued as if tattling.
“She is the one who will soon become the lady of the Grand Duke’s house, is she not? Everyone is curious what kind of person she is. But she has not come out of her chamber all day…”
“Chief Butler.”
Varkas cut him off in a low voice.
“Do you think Her Highness the Princess should endure discomfort simply to satisfy the curiosity of my relatives or the servants?”
The blood drained from the butler’s face.
Varkas added coldly.
“Her Highness suffered a serious accident only a few months ago. Her body has not yet fully recovered, and she has endured a difficult journey lasting several weeks. She must recuperate for the time being, so tell everyone not to bother her over pointless matters.”
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