Village Situation
Accompanied by the two, I left the room with Irinya. Once outside, I was able to take in the full view of the village. When I looked through the window, I thought it was a large village, but it was surprisingly compact. Or rather, every house was small. There seed to be a reasonable number, but it felt like the bare minimum of a settlent.
「Ah, that...」
「... Looks like you noticed.」
As I gazed at the village landscape, two won by the well noticed us and began whispering. It seed their gaze was directed towards . Despite being aware of this, Mikel and Rolf led the way as we walked through the village. By the way, Mikel's beast ears pointed upward while Rolf's pointed downward; that's how they could be distinguished. Even so, they often got mixed up, so Mikel tied his hair back to differentiate himself.
Now, there were around thirty simple log cabin-like houses in the village. There was only one well, and nothing much else. Walking through the village were about two or three adults and around five children running around.
Everyone was a beastman. Irinya had said that forr slave beastn had built the village, and the children seed to be those born here.
Thinking this, it felt like the adults were watching cautiously, while the children watched with pure interest and curiosity.
「Ah, you've t the village chief, right?」
「Oh, yes.」
As we walked, observing the village, Mikel, who was walking ahead, suddenly asked Irinya as if he'd rembered. Irinya responded promptly.
「Eh? Does that an Mr. Abel is the village chief?」
When I asked about their conversation, Irinya nodded.
「Yes, it seems Mr. Abel is the village chief.」
When I heard that, I instinctively began to observe the village again. People who hadn't been there earlier were now walking around, and I spotted several people peeking out from windows. However, there didn't seem to be any elderly individuals. Still, Abel appeared to be in his early thirties, which seed quite young.
「Are there not many old folks?」
I asked, but Mikel and Rolf exchanged difficult looks. As I tilted my head in confusion at their silence, Irinya shook her head sadly.
「Master Lars, um... it's quite difficult to grow old in this village...」
Irinya said this with difficulty before falling silent. I heard it, and suddenly, it made sense to .
The life of the beastn must have been extrely harsh. Dragons appeared outside the forest, after all. In this forest, anything could appear. They must have suffered many losses.
However, it also raised another question. Given the harsh conditions, they could have just given up living in the forest after spending years or decades clearing it and moved to a larger town. I thought that, but then reconsidered, realizing that even that might be difficult considering the situation beastn were in.
The servants within the count's household were properly managed, so even with a low status, there seed to be no issues with employnt. But what about within the town?
Occasionally, a new servant, sotis a beastman slave child, would arrive. Human debt slaves or criminal slaves were strictly managed as servants and were probably employed because they were inexpensive.
However, beastman slaves were neither debtors nor criminals. Once, curious about this, I asked Irinya, but she responded with a sad expression that left feeling puzzled. Although I appeared as a child, inside I knew better, and I could sowhat sense the truth from Irinya's deanor.
Beastn were frequently treated as inferior to humans. This ant that they sotis couldn't get jobs or were employed at abnormally low wages. In a town where no one would help them, many beastn beca rcenaries, where they could negotiate their paynt to so extent. As rcenaries, they could take on money-earning jobs such as subjugating magical beasts or fighting bandit groups.
However, being a rcenary was dangerous. One wrong move and they could end up dead. And when a rcenary dies, their children would struggle even to find food. A compassionate rcenary group might take them in, but it would be impossible if they suffered near-annihilation damage.
Orphaned beast children might end up sold to slave traders by unkind humans or surviving rcenaries.
Could that be the situation with Irinya too?
Thinking this, I understood why beastn would cling to an environnt where they could live freely, even if it was harsh.
「It's tough, isn't it?」
Not knowing what to say, my response was awkward. However, Irinya nodded quietly, and Mikel and Rolf exchanged looks.
The beastn were all kind people, and many of them had excellent physical abilities. They weren't lacking in intelligence. So why did they have to endure such unfair treatnt?
The feeling of unease in my chest seed to have grown larger at that mont.
-------------= Author's Notes -------------=
If you found yourself curious about 'what happens next,' it would make happy if you could press the ☆ button at the bottom of the page!
It motivates the author!・:* .\(( °ω° ))/.:
-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
【ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌ )】
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