01x23 - Orchestrated Catastrophe and Appropriate Retribution

[bunniefuu]

A shoemaker in Enberch died
after eating bread.

That bread was made from wheat
from this village.

Ridelius' Hellfire, huh?

Ride... what?

It's poisonous wheat
that's infected by disease.

The poison is undetectable,
so nobody notices until someone eats it.

An official messenger will arrive soon.

But Enberch is trying to send the wheat
back to our village.

If they're sending it back,
does that mean...

Yes, we will have to return their money.

Elder, what should we do?

We already bought pigs and chickens

and repaired our scythes and spades
with the money.

That's not all.

This year was a bountiful harvest.

So I procured
the finest food and drinks for my bar.

And you all used your money on that too.

It's a much bigger problem.

The most terrifying part about it is that
it doesn't just end with a death.

So long as you don't know
where the poison is hiding,

all of the wheat that was harvested
this year cannot be consumed.

Our village's wheat reserve
is empty already.

What are we going to do?

We can bear being poor,
but not being hungry!

That's exactly right. However...

They're the ones who mixed in
the poisonous wheat!

He said he brought wheat into the village!

That's right!
You went to the water mill to make flour!

I bet you're in cahoots with the miller
and trying to destroy our village!

Yeah, where did that liar go?

I'll tie them up and make them
tell us which wheat they poisoned!

-Wait, please!
-This is no place for a woman!

-Get back!
-What did you just say?

Evan is in the church.

What we have to focus on right now
is the wheat that's going to be returned

and how we are going to
pay back the money.

What can we do? We don't have the money.

They'll have to wait until next year.

-If only it was that simple.
-What do you mean?

Enberch might use this opportunity to

revert our relationship with them
back to what it was.

What are you saying!

This village is off limits!

Isn't that what Father Franz did for us?

I told you Elsa wasn't cut out for it!

-Of course they look down on her!
-That's right!

She's cooped up in the church all day
and doesn't work on the field!

This year's wheat harvest was
bountiful thanks to Lord Truyeo!

-The church girl did nothing...
-That's enough.

All of you, check how much money
you have left from the harvest

and how much provisions
you've reserved for winter.

At the earliest, the messenger from
Enberch will arrive around dawn.

Everyone is dismissed for now.

Elsa, I know it must be hard,
but please bear with it for now.

Ms. Iima, stay with Elsa in the church.

Some hot‐blooded people might
come barging in.

You can count on me.

Mr. Lawrence, like the other villagers,
I am also suspicious of you.

But I hope you don't think I am foolish
enough to jump to conclusions.

If I was in your position,
I would say the same thing.

For your own safety,

and in order to prevent
incurring any further suspicion,

please come over to my house.

ORIGINAL STORY BY ISUNA HASEKURA

Everything seems too timely.

No matter how you look at it,
this is nothing but Enberch's plot

-to regain control over Tereo.
-I agree.

However, Elsa's patron will no doubt
take action against such an obvious trap.

That's why Enberch needed
someone else to take the blame.

And that's when we waltzed in.

They're probably going to
make an offer like this to the village:

"If you hand over the culprit who poisoned
the wheat, we can delay your payment."

Are you going to let them do that?

Of course not. However...

If we run, we will be admitting
that we did poison it.

A wanted poster will go out for you...

And that will be the end
of my career as a merchant.

What about asking your guild for help?

My guild? If I can do that...

Oh, that's right.

If I ride on your back, can we get to
another town quicker than on horseback?

Of course.

It'll be a huge problem if word gets out
that a merchant used poisonous wheat.

So the guild will no doubt
defend me by all means.

If that happens,
the people who are trying to frame us

might just give up.

But who will take the blame then?

It'll be Evan,
who is already viewed as untrustworthy

and had the opportunity to add in
the poisonous wheat.

Then I'll carry him too.

But then...

If that girl is in danger too,
I'll carry her as well.

You are a foolish little softy, after all.

-My goodness, you're such a pain.
-Sorry, but I appreciate it.

Well then, who in the world are you two?

I have already told you.

You did, indeed.
And I believe you told me the truth.

You two were looking for Diendran Abbey.

What business do you have there?

A person we met in Kumersun
told us about the abbot there.

So, you two weren't sent here by Enberch?

We did, indeed, stop by Enberch.

But it was just a stop along the way.

We were looking for Diendran Abbey

strictly for personal reasons only.

D... Don't lie!

We have nothing to do with the dispute
between Enberch and this village.

Everything I know
about the dispute is based on

what I saw and heard in this village

and what I deduced through my experience.

So you really...
You really have nothing to do with it?

-I don't.
-If that's the case...

If that's the case,

will you lend us your wisdom and money?

I can lend you my wisdom. However...

I'm not asking for it for free.

It will be in exchange for your safety.

-Are you threatening us?
-The only reason why I don't have you

bound up is because you came
to greet me with a bag of wheat.

All right, fine.
I guess I have no other choice.

However,

in the event that we are able to
conquer this situation,

I will request a reasonable reward.

Understood.

All right. Let me start off by saying

that this whole ordeal
is a plot written by Enberch.

-Please continue.
-Okay.

Enberch's plan is most likely this...

The village is not able to return
the money for the returned wheat.

So what they're going to do
is buy up next year's wheat

and tell you to deduct that
from the amount you owe them.

What does that mean...

It means setting a price now and buying
wheat that will be harvested next year.

But that involves paying money
for something that doesn't exist yet.

So they'll beat the price down.

You'll have to make up for the difference
with next next year's harvest.

That cycle will keep repeating
and it'll get harder year after year.

And ultimately, they will take advantage

of your weakened state and pressure you
into revoking Father Franz's contract.

All I wanted was for them to stop
taxing our village.

That is why I did what I could to protect
everything Father Franz left us.

But who knew they'd use
Ridelius' Hellfire...

Let me ask you, just to be sure...
Is there really no way

that poisonous wheat
got in there accidentally?

That cursed wheat is dark and sticky.

Everybody in the village can recognize it.

I can't imagine that a lethal amount of it
would get mixed in by accident.

I had a little chat with Elsa earlier,

and she apparently
suspected Enberch right away.

How pathetic of me.

I thought we could live peacefully,
as long as we could sell our wheat.

I never thought anything else
could happen.

Who knew they would use
such methods to get back at us.

I would like to speak with Ms. Elsa.

You want to see Elsa?

Elder Sem promised us our safety
in exchange for borrowing

my wisdom and assets.

And so, I want to speak with Ms. Elsa
to get more accurate information.

Elsa... Elsa!

-What's wrong?
-I'm here to speak with you.

Will you be okay?

I can't vouch for their character,
but they've proved to be reliable.

After all,
these two know how to pray, at least.

All right.

Come in.

You stay outside.

-Why?!
-Please.

-Fine...
-Evan.

Losing their coin purse would make
any merchant cry.

Hold onto mine as proof of trust.

I can't believe Enberch
would use such tactics.

My patrons are only backing me up
for the sake of my father.

If I ask them for more,
they will probably cut ties with me.

I think so too.

What do you think
will happen to us now, Ms. Elsa?

You're asking me?

You and Ms. Iima
are probably the only ones who can

predict the outcome of
this theatrical play that Enberch wrote.

Aside from the two of you, right?

We are thinking about escaping.

Even if you have a horse,

I doubt that you two can manage to escape.

That would be true,
if my companion was just a normal girl.

Then why haven't you escaped already?

First, we haven't finished reading

the books in this church.

Second, we know who is going to be

next in line to take the blame
once we're gone.

Are you confident enough to escape
along with Evan?

Not just him, but you too.

At this point, I have no reason to
refuse you regarding the books.

But will you have time?

There is just one book that
we need to look at.

I hid it under the altar.
As long as I can read that one...

In these circumstances,
I'm not going to ask for more.

-Jeez...
-Oh...

Apparently, there's a book
under the altar, so bring that to me.

Okay!

I will neither
stop nor encourage your escape.

But until you do, will you please
lend me your wisdom regarding business?

I can't promise that I'll give you
satisfactory answers, though.

Merchants sure like to use that phrase.

We tend to be cautious.

I brought the book! But isn't this one of

the pagan folktales that the priest...

Whoa!

Please excuse me, Ms. Elsa.

Hey, if I rip the book apart in anger,

will you apologize to her for me?

I don't mind apologizing, but just don't
rip the pages to wipe your tears.

Well, you would buy

my tears for a good price, wouldn't you?

It'd be a waste
if I didn't cry in front of you.

As with gems,
I have to make sure it's not fake.

Give me some time to read it on my own.

Tell me about it later.

No matter what happens, I'll be with you.

There's nothing to be worried about!

If you want, I can go somewhere else.

So, how can I help you
with my knowledge and experience?

According to Elder Sem,

we would need to pay more than


Seventy Limar coins?
That's quite a fortune.

That's not the only thing we need.

The wheat we had stored
cannot be eaten anymore.

So we need money to buy food too.

I didn't think we'd have to
worry about these things

as long as we were
under my father's contract.

You weren't wrong for thinking that.

It's just that the villagers completely
lacked appreciation for that provision.

My father had told me that

in other villages,
people devote themselves to side jobs

even during the winter,
when they're not on the field.

In order to make enough money

to protect their village's land.

-But look at us...
-That's right.

However, now is not the time
to be lamenting about that.

You're right.

If he saw me crying about this now,
my father...

Father Franz would scold...

Ms. Elsa?

-Elsa! Elsa!
-Ms. Elsa!

Hey, Mr. Lawrence,

the villagers think
that you and I did it, right?

-That's right.
-Of course they do.

I was eavesdropping

and heard you say that you could escape...

You heard, huh? Yes, we can escape.

This is just my selfish desire,
but I'd like to take you two with us.

That's not selfish at all!

I don't want to die here.

I know Elsa wants to
get out of this village too.

The villagers say
that Mr. Franz saved them,

but they've never really appreciated him!

They have no intention
of listening to a priest.

They offer a mountain of tribute
to the village's ancient deity,

but they don't offer
a single crumb to the church.

If it wasn't for Elder Sem and Ms. Iima,
we would've starved to death by now.

The outside world
is not an easy place to live either,

but it might be better than this village.

-Ms. Iima...
-You, there. Um...

My name is Lawrence.

Mr. Lawrence,
if you are able to escape with them two,

I think that would be best.

Actually, I want you to escape with them.

Then I'll have to persuade Elsa.

This might be a little late,

but how are you planning
on escaping anyway?

If there are

people out there who've come across
a maiden brewing beer in the mountains,

then chances are that other people have
met equally mysterious beings as well.

Did you come across a fairy or what?

You could say that.

-Is everyone in agreement?
-More or less.

I've already achieved my goal.

Oh yeah?

-If you're curious, go ahead and read it.
-Okay.

"The gods of that land
fled as fast as they could.

Within the time it takes for
a fruit to drop from a tree branch,

Yoitsu was torn apart
by the bear's claws."

This is it?

I have a feeling you're looking at me
in a way that would annoy me.

-Or is it just my imagination?
-I am not!

All right, I was. I'm sorry, okay?

Don't get so mad.

I'm satisfied just by knowing that
my old friends escaped safely.

That is all there is to it.

The world never goes
the way you want it to, does it?

Tell me about it.

So, what are we going to do?

If we're escaping,
you'd better make your decision fast.

Of course, we're going to escape.

This time,
you're going to suffer quite the loss.

I have no choice. It's not like
we can take the wheat with us.

If only it were something
portable and valuable,

we would be able to do something about it.

Something like the pepper
you bought a while back?

But there is something that
weighs less than spices

and is valuable yet portable.

It's trust.

Then if I gain enough trust from you,
I'd better sell it off.

Did you know that I've started

doubting everything
because you tease me so much?

Then let me win your trust again.

Don't you get it? I've become this way
because you do things like this.

Lies undermine trust, you know?

Still, you never blamed me even once.

I'm genuinely happy about that.

If I didn't say
that I wanted to come here,

you wouldn't have suffered a loss.

Then you'd better cut back on how much you
eat and drink to make up for that loss.

You really don't hold back nowadays,
do you?

Bring out the merchant and his companion!

We know it's their fault!

The miller better come out too!

Come on!

Come out!

Hey!

Come out!

Don't come this way! Stay in the back!

But...

-I will go out and persuade them.
-Don't be stupid!

But!

You'll only be adding fuel to the fire.

After all,
they know you're chummy with Evan.

They might report you as a heretic

just to get on Enberch's good side.

Listen, there's no use
in staying in this village anymore.

If life is tough anywhere you go,

might as well start a new life
with someone you can trust.

You may have to leave behind many things,

but you will surely obtain
just as many new things.

No matter what kind of journey it is,

you must be decisive
when choosing your path.

I agree.

I want to escape.

You can count on me.
But I have one condition.

No matter what you see from here on,
think of it as nothing but a dream.

I'm a beer fairy, after all.

I'm drunk and won't remember anything.

Then you can count on me. However...

I can easily hop over the people outside,
even while carrying all of you,

but I don't know
if all of you can withstand that.

Does this church have a backdoor?

Father Franz said that there is a pathway
deep inside the basement.

Let's use that.

Ms. Elsa and Evan,
quickly get ready to leave.

-Okay.
-Cheer up.

At least you get some time
to prepare for your departure.

It's not like your hometown is going to
disappear tomorrow.

At least yours exists still.

Oh, the fairy doesn't have one either?

Don't lump me in with
those frail little fairies.

I'll get ready right away.

All right, go on!

I have to admit, she has
a more dignified appearance than me.

Don't worry.

This is the only human form
I can transform into.

That's too bad.

I prefer a more curvaceous figure,
after all.

Ouch! What?

Hurry up and open up the basement.

All right, are you ready?

-Yeah.
-Yes.

Next time, "The Snake God's Path
and Wisewolf's Answer."