It was an incident that happened a few weeks ago. The army of the Feudal Lord who ruled over the village as an enclave suddenly advanced.
Being a minority, the village of Urd had been under the protection of that Feudal Lord until now. By paying taxes, the autonomy of our race was recognized for many years.
『Search everywhere! Look inside the houses, even in the livestock pens! 』
However, the Feudal Lord simply marched his army and forcibly searched the village without hearing words or reason. I have no idea what he was looking for. Anyway, he rummaged through the whole village as he was looking for something.
『You still haven"t found it? …Or are they hiding it? Hey, take all the Urdians except the old ones and the children! 』
After the search, the lord gave the soldiers that ruthless command. Threatened with weapons, all the adults in the village, aside from the old people, were taken away. Furthermore, the grain stockpiled and the domesticated animals were also taken away.
『I don"t plan on killing you here. But if you resist, I"ll kill all the Urdians right at this moment. 』
With violence and horrible words, the Feudal Lord threatened those in the village who tried to complain. Since we the people of Urd loved peace in the first place, the adults decided to obey those orders with overwhelming sorrow.
And thus, Urd Village became a village with nothing but children and old people, in need of food.
“After that, bad things continued to happen…”
Liscia continued to talk with a sorrowful tone.
A rumor spread that the Feudal Lord had abandoned this remote region, and bandits started to appear in the surroundings. The village became financially isolated since the peddlers started avoiding the road to the village.
“We"ve relied largely on peddlers for daily necessities…”
There was a plan to go out to buy from the town. But with no adults to count on, it would be over if we were attacked by bandits.
“The biggest problem of all remained. The food shortage…”
The food and livestock had been taken away by the Feudal Lord. That was the reason why Liscia had taken the risk of going to the forest to hunt.
“And that is the story of this village…”
Liscia"s sorrowful explanation came to an end. The village was in a rather unreasonable and unfortunate situation.
“I see, a though situation indeed.”
Listening to her story, I could understand the situation in which this village had fallen. From my point of view, coming from a different world, this was indeed a considerable crisis.
There was no energy in this village, the air around it felt stagnated. The eyes of the villagers sitting on the roadside had lost the light of hope. It pained my heart just by looking at them.
“We have survived so far with fish from the lake and river, and some wild gra.s.s, but when winter comes, surely this village will…”
Staring at such a scene in the village, Liscia"s face involuntarily turned to sorrow. Her previous cheerful expression was probably her forcing herself.
When I looked at her exposed neck and arms, she indeed appeared thin, similar to the other villagers. For someone her age, it wouldn"t be weird to have some bulges in a couple places. Perhaps she has had to endure it since she was the Village Chief"s granddaughter.
“I"m sorry for just keep complaining. Look, that will be Yamato-sama"s borrowed house. Feel free to use the drinking water and kitchen, and also the firewood.”
What Liscia showed to me was a small one-story house on the outskirts of the village. An old house made of wooden planks and mud walls.
“Since no people lives in it, feel free to use it as you please. If you want… you can stay for a while.”
“Only one night is fine.”
“Is that so…? I"ll be at the Village Chief"s house in case you need something.”
Having said that with a slightly lonely expression, Liscia left. After all, since she"s the Village Chief"s granddaughter she likely has many jobs to do.