Chapter 68: Kingdom of Caerleon (5)

The people on the streets kept begging for food from the mercenaries. However, as much as the man wanted to, the soldier firmly said no to the villagers. Since the townspeople knew that the mother needed the food the most, they agreed to the decision and went to their original post.

As soon as we ended the conversation with the mother, we continued forward on the road. However, the street never changed despite moving past the alley. Wherever we went, the children looking for scraps were the only image present.

"What happened here?" I asked the leading man.

Back in my world, we also have this condition. Poverty was a problem that the government had yet to fix, despite the fundings and taxes they collected. I couldn't believe my eyes when the same event happened in this magical game world.

The mercenary turned to me and replied, "After the previous king died, a new one sat on the throne. But instead of helping the people, our present king kept funding the military. Despite the peace contract that we had, our current king vowed to take his revenge on the Kingdom of Camelot."

The continuity from the story came to life after hearing the story. It had the same structure as the mercenary narrated the situation.

The king of Caerleon died because of an accident, and the people blamed the king of Camelot. However, instead of pursuing war, every kingdom signed a treaty. That paper still affected Albion, making it arduous for anyone to attack each other.

Since the world was in a state of famine, no city attacked the neighbouring towns. Instead of conquering islands, sharing bounties and nourishments became the solutions.

The mercenary told me all of this information, which also came from the game's introduction. Despite knowing this story, the characters involved remained oblivious to me.

"The adventurer guild wanted to change, but the king was too stubborn for his age. His majesty asked to demolish the guild and reconstruct the place as the 'mercenaries guild'. But that did not go as the king expected," the mercenary continued, explaining.

At the end of his lines, the warrior stopped walking and stared in front. A rundown building greeted our eyes, mixed with creeping plants all over the walls. It almost felt like the structure got abandoned by the villagers and became a shelter for ghosts.

However, the mercenary in front of me proved me wrong as he introduced us to the place.

"This establishment is our new temporary base. Since the original guild building would get taken down, we need a place to stay. And this was the only house we could afford since we lacked funds!" the man exclaimed, accompanied by a wry laugh. Forgive us if we would pay you a little. Now that you know the condition of this town, our people could not purchase their necessities. Paying a large sum for an adventurer would cripple us more. Apologies."

Before Fenrir could even retort, I stepped forward and gave my assurance. "It's okay. Tell me how we could help this town."

"You can't," an old man's voice replied. "Unless you want to make an enemy out of the town?"

The voice felt familiar to my ears. It almost sounded like someone my party had met before arriving in this place.

And that hunched proved me right as the man who replied to us emerged from the shadows. A figure of an old bloke welcomed us, with more petite people standing behind. The man wore a mage's cape with a cran clipped in his hand. Those villagers behind him also had sticks and staffs imbued with faint magic. Some warriors armed themselves with knives and pointed metals as their blades.

"Oh, you're the old man who couldn't walk before!" Fenrir shouted without reading the atmosphere.

I had to interrupt while giving our respects to the leader of this guild.

"We're adventurers wandering around these plains. I just hoped that we could be of help to the town. Our reward would be a sum of money, carriage, horse, and nourishments. What can we do to this town?"

"Boy, I think you're listening to me," the old man groaned, while resting his head on his palm. "My people can do nothing about the king. How could we even help us when our enemy is the king? Do you want to be an opponent of Albion? If you do, be my guest."

"What do you mean by making the kingdom our enemy? We just need to talk to the king, right? We could also protest our rights and-,"

Before I knew it, the people surrounding me exchanged looks. Those mercenaries wandered the nonsense I spoke about.

But for me, those words were the only option we had back on Earth. If people disliked something about the government, protests on the streets would do the work. The law would take care of these corrupted officials and elect another one if necessary.

However, the government in this world differed from mine.

"Being a pacifist would mean nothing to the ones seated above. If you really want to help the town, fight with us. You're an adventurer, right? You should have some tricks under your sleeves to annihilate those soldiers on our way," the man continued, with his eyes glued to mine. "The day when our building crumbles to the ground would be the day my people would fight. We have nothing to lose and everything to gain. We are doing this for the next generation... children."

"Look around you, kid. Can you see those stranded children clinging to hope?" the man said, with his forefinger pointing at a broken family. "That's our king. We serve the children and the people. Those kings never cared about these things, except for their greediness in waging wars. If it's a war they want, a war they should get."

After the man's marvellous speech, he went in front of me told me to stay around a vacant room. There was only one room left inside this building, and that man gave us the freedom to use it.

"You're a valuable piece for this game, kid. But if you don't plan on helping us, you could run some errands like gardening, delivering meat, and protecting merchants for their trades. It would be a great help for the economy of this town," the man continued, with his eyes still looking into mine.

"I am Galehaut Fate, a previous court magician of Camelot castle. You may be wondering why I would stay here in a different kingdom. Well, it's because of love."

When the man mentioned family, a mother and a child approached Galehaut. The three of them tightly embraced each other. That scene was enough to make a grown man cry while sad music would play in the background.

"Get your filthy hands away from me! I will kill 'em!" a voice shouted from behind.

We turned our heads at the crowd and noticed a small group struggling in the middle. As we squinted our eyes, a man glared in our direction and shouted the same phrase we all heard a while ago.

"I will kill 'em! Let go of me!" the man yelled once more, with his eyes still locked on mine.

Fenrir growled at the struggling man as if he was her enemy. Now that I stared at the bloke, the image of a mercenary that assaulted us came into mind. That man who wanted me to kill was a member of those ten people that cut off my arm.

If it were not for Fenrir and Merleen, I would have died in that forest because of blood loss.

However, instead of taking revenge, I shook my head and forgot everything. It already happened, and I interfered with their work. I did not regret my decision since I saved Fenrir and her puppies. But that memory remained inside my head, haunting me every time my eyes saw those mercenaries.

"What's wrong?" Galahaut asked, and raised his right hand.

The man who stood between the mercenary let him go, allowing him to talk. "Do you remember me, asshole! You killed two of our people and injured all of us from our previous battle! We went home empty-handed! We did not even get ourselves the herbs since you crushed them with those burning trees!"

The man afterwards glared at Merleen. Since she was the one who did all of that while I was still unconscious, the blame went to her.

"You killed them! I treated those people like my family… Those were my friends, you fuckers!"

Before Fenrir could act and attack the emotional man, I went forward and returned the mercenary's gaze. "You attacked the defenceless puppies! How could I ever allow that to happen?!"

"Defenseless? Those wolves you helped ruined our crops! And that land was the only livelihood we had! Now that we cannot pay our taxes and feed our families, what do you want us to do!"

The conversation became a heated battle, with the rest of the mercenary group appearing beside the man.