Interlude 4: Cliff
In the viscounty of Cottoness, there was a village that was especially poor. As the viscounty was already considerably impoverished, the village was quite badly off, and their situation had only worsened when they’d been attacked by monsters six months before. While they’d suffered no human casualties, their fields had been damaged by the onslaught, and the villagers’ food supply had been left in a precarious position.
Desperate, the villagers had begged their viscount to lend them aid, and to exempt them from taxes for one year. The response they’d received had been simple and utterly merciless—taxes would be collected that year, just as they had been every year before.
Pressed for options, the villagers had turned to crime. They traveled into the neighboring territory so they wouldn’t be caught, and then planned to attack a carriage that appeared to be carrying valuable cargo. They decided their preferred target would be a vehicle belonging to aristocrats, which they now deeply abhorred, and which had as few guards traveling alongside it as possible.
Fate had been in the villagers’ favor—or had been, perhaps, against them—for they’d soon found a carriage that fit their requirements. It had been traveling alone, and had borne the crest of some aristocratic family on its side. In addition, no mounted guard had accompanied it, and it had only had a single driver to direct the horses. Add this to the fact that it had been a small carriage, which could only carry around four passengers, and the villagers believed they’d found the perfect prey. They surrounded the carriage at once.
Until then, everything had gone according to their plan. Alas, as soon as they’d chosen that particular carriage as their target, their failure had been predetermined.
Several months had passed since that day, and the villagers of the aforementioned village in Cottoness Viscounty were currently gathered around their village head, having a meeting.
“A messenger arrived from Dolkness County yesterday,” the village head declared. “They’re ready for us now, so they’re finally going to ask for Viscount Cottoness’s approval.”
“Are we really going to move?” one villager called out. “Like, all of us?”
After all, the carriage the villagers had attacked had ended up belonging to the infamous Yumiella Dolkness. She’d taken no retribution at the time, and had invited them all to move to Dolkness land, but that didn’t mean they wouldn’t face punishment later on. It was possible she’d use her power to do something as drastic as wiping out their entire village, leaving it a vacant field.
Even if they were at fault, the villagers weren’t willing to just sit there and watch as their home was destroyed. Although they’d ended up agreeing to Lady Yumiella’s plan to move to Dolkness County on the spot, they’d also discussed fleeing the situation entirely depending on how things panned out.
“I think we’re actually getting quite a good deal,” the village head assured his people. “From what I’ve been told, we’ll be moving to an area that is already equipped with housing, and has fertile land that gets plenty of sun.”
“You can’t be serious,” one of the villagers exclaimed. “This is Dolkness County we’re talking about! It’s the county ruled by a black-haired Demon Lord!”
“Plus, doesn’t it sound too good to be true?” another villager pointed out. “And what about those rumors that she feeds people to her dragon?”
It seems that no matter how optimistic I am, they’re all determined to be quite critical, the elderly village head thought. He raised a hand slightly and waited for the murmurs to quiet down.
“I think we can trust the people of Dolkness,” the village head declared. “Did the food supply they promised not arrive just when they said it would? They even sent us quite a bit of financial aid.”
“That’s true, the things they sent over did help us...” one of the villagers admitted.
“In the end, we no longer have a choice,” the village head said firmly. “We must move to Dolkness County.”
The villagers fell silent, pondering their leader’s words. The viscount of Cottoness had already forsaken them, so it was clear they could no longer remain where they were. And, even if they fled somewhere else, it was highly unlikely that they’d be able to find a territory other than Dolkness County that would agree to take in a community of over one hundred villagers. Still...they were talking about moving to that Dolkness County, the one governed by Yumiella Dolkness, who was famed for feeding any subordinates she wasn’t fond of to her dragon.
Seeing that the villagers were struggling to come to a decision, the village head spoke up, explaining the plan he had in mind.
“That said, I think it would be a good idea if we scouted out Dolkness County to see what living there is like. I’ve decided to hand the responsibility for that mission over to Cliff.”
Out of all the other villagers, Cliff was in the best shape, and was in general quite popular. At times he would even act as a leader in place of their elderly village head. When they’d been planning out how to rob a carriage, he’d served as their commander.
“So, all I have to do is go check out Dolkness County?” Cliff asked. He seemed entirely unafraid of completing the dangerous task he’d been given.
Murmurs rose from within the crowd of gathered villagers. All of them seemed sure that they could trust Cliff with the responsibility the village head had bestowed upon him.
“If I don’t return...I want you all to run,” Cliff told the rest of the villagers, voice serious. “Even if we all get separated, I’m sure we’ll be able to live and laugh together again one day.”
These determined words brought tears to the other villagers’ eyes. They held them back as Cliff headed out of the village, brushing off all those who tried to stop him. It was time for him to take a trip to the exceedingly perilous territory of Dolkness County.
◆◆◆
“So, where are you visiting from, Cliff?”
“Um...from way up north.”
“Wow, you’ve made quite the journey from such a cold place.”
It had been roughly half a day since Cliff had left his village. He’d walked north for the majority of that time, and had soon crossed the border into Dolkness County. At the moment, he was wandering around, gathering what information he could while pretending to be a traveler from a faraway land.
The place he’d arrived at was a small village that was around the same size as his home. He’d called out to a villager that happened to be working in the fields, and they’d begun chatting with him with a gentle smile.
To tell the truth, Cliff was stunned—the area he’d traveled through so far seemed far too idyllic and peaceful to belong to a territory supposedly reigned over by a Demon Lord, let alone one that let her dragon run wild.
Is...Dolkness County not a dangerous place after all? Is this all my responsibility, that I built up such determination to do, is going to come to?
Concealing his shock, Cliff tried to get the middle-aged male villager he’d been speaking with to chat some more. “This place is in...Dolkness County, is that right? How’s the economy out here?”
“Things were pretty awful until recently,” the villager admitted. “Then we got our new countess, and our lives improved by leaps and bounds practically in an instant. The roads got cleaned up, so now there’s more merchants, and on top of that, she reduced the tax rate to zero this year to celebrate!”
He sounds so happy and excited, Cliff thought. It certainly seems like he’s telling the truth.
“I see,” Cliff said. He decided to act as if he’d suddenly developed an interest in the countess, to see how the villager responded. “Seems like your new countess must be a good person.”
“Oh, yes!” the villager burst out. “She’s a god, after all!”
Cliff wasn’t sure how to take that. He could tell the villager was deeply grateful toward the countess, but calling her a god seemed a bit much.
Then, all of a sudden, the villager began to walk away. “Hey, mister, follow me. This way.”
Cliff did as he was told to and was led to a shrine made out of stone. “What’s this?”
“It’s a shrine for the mountain god, otherwise known as our countess!”
“What...?” Cliff’s stomach dropped. “The countess is claiming that she’s a god?”
There’s no way an aristocrat who refers to themselves as a god is anything but a lousy person, Cliff thought dispiritedly. But...this guy seems so proud of that shrine. Maybe I’m not fully grasping the situation.
This was confirmed when the villager hurriedly shook his head. “Oh no, no. It’s just that, sometime before I got married—around ten years ago, I believe—a mountain god appeared. They went around defeating all the monsters that appeared around here. And recently, all these years later, we found out that the mountain god was actually Lady Yumiella. Isn’t that incredible?”
“It sure is...” Cliff said obligingly.
Truth be told, he had no idea what the man was talking about. Ten years ago, Lady Yumiella would have been a little girl under ten years old. Was the guy seriously saying that she’d been taking down monsters at such a young age, and had ended up being mistaken for a god?
After that, Cliff stuck around for a while and listened to various other stories about Dolkness County. The whole time, not a single negative word was said about Lady Yumiella.
◆◆◆
Cliff knew visiting only one village wouldn’t be enough to see the full picture of how Dolkness County was faring, so he continued to travel further into the territory on foot. He next arrived at a village full of people who’d come from outside Dolkness County.
Is this...a tourist destination? he wondered. Well, at least no one should find me suspicious here.
Looking around the village, Cliff found that there were a variety of different lodging options. There was everything from renovated housing to entirely new construction. It was obvious that until a little while ago, this area had been just another regular farming village.
It’s so calm and tranquil here, even with all the people, Cliff thought. I quite like it.
After a while, he decided to follow the crowd, and ended up arriving at a lake a few minutes later. It was a perfect circle, and there were several small boats floating upon its waters. Standing among a large group of people, Cliff gazed at the surface of the lake, mesmerized by how it glimmered and reflected the light. His attention only flickered away when he heard a man, who was carrying a nobori banner from a rental boat shop nearby, sharing information meant for tourists. Cliff followed those around him as they drew closer, and listened in.
The first thing he heard was, “This lake was made by the owner of this territory, Countess Yumiella Dolkness!”
Cliff’s brows scrunched together in confusion. What does he mean, she made the lake?
“The countess launched an enormous boulder high into the sky, which landed here and created a round hole! Rainwater then collected in that hole, which created this beautiful lake,” the man continued.
Cliff’s brows scrunched even further. Why would Lady Yumiella launch a boulder into the sky...?
As if the man had heard Cliff’s thoughts, he went on, “The countess knew this all along, which is why she threw the boulder in the first place.”
At this point, Cliff’s face couldn’t get any more baffled. I mean, did she really think that far ahead when she threw this boulder?
“This lake is also known to bring success to romantic relationships. There’s no doubt that you and your partner will have a great relationship if you get on a boat together!”
Wait, and where did these supposed relationship powers come from?!
Cliff felt completely and utterly lost. There were just so many things he didn’t understand about this strange, Yumiella-made lake. But before he could give in to despair, the man from the boat rental shop switched out with a woman from a gift shop. She held a plain wooden sword up high, so that everyone could see. Cliff noted that the handle had “Dolkness County” engraved on it.
“This is our most popular souvenir—a wooden sword! These are the real thing, made under the supervision of Lady Yumiella Dolkness, and only available here! Even the countess herself trains with a wooden sword like this, so if you get one for yourself there’s no doubt you’ll be able to grow strong! Keep in mind though, you can’t buy them in bulk!”
I don’t get it, Cliff moaned internally. How does a simple wooden sword have that intense of an effect on a person?
Despite his doubts, Cliff himself later fell victim to the gift shop woman’s intense persuasion, and bought a wooden sword with what little travel fare he had left.
◆◆◆
After that, Cliff visited several other locations in Dolkness County, then returned home to his own village safe and sound. Once everyone had gathered, he reported the results of his scouting to them all at once. His trip through Dolkness County had been filled with strange things that he hadn’t understood, he told them, but there was one thing he was certain of.
“Dolkness County is not a bad place like we’ve heard it was. It’s actually a pretty good place. But...”
“But?”
“But...it’s weird.”
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