Chapter: 20
“That’s your standard. Here, we count strictly by headcount. Knight or old man—it’s all the same.”
The black mage accepted my negotiation with a smug look.
I narrowed my eyes and pressed on.
“But there was no prior notice. One sack for four people is excessive. It doesn’t even divide evenly with the number we brought.”
“Then two sacks for seven people. That’s final.”
When the black mage spoke firmly, Baron Harwin nodded.
“Fine. Let’s do that.”
I stared at him in disbelief.
Satisfied so easily—when he’d never grown a single grain of wheat in his life….
“Right, we’ve brought the knights to carry the wheat sacks too… Let’s wrap this up quickly. Ugh, this place makes my skin crawl. I want to leave as soon as possible.”
“Wait.”
I stopped Baron Harwin and shot the black mage a glare.
“You should show us the wheat first. Who trades without properly inspecting the goods?”
“Hah.”
The black mage snorted, then asked Baron Harwin,
“Is this young lady your daughter? She’s quite bold.”
Before Baron Harwin could jump in to deny it, I spoke first.
“Dahlia Harwin.”
There was nothing to gain from revealing my true identity here. That was why I’d wrapped myself in a robe in the first place.
Fortunately, Baron Harwin hurriedly nodded along.
“Y-yes.”
He was afraid the deal with Sebon might fall apart if they realized I carried blood from the Kingdom of Liente.
“She’s my daughter. Clever since she was little.”
Even with the robe wrapped tightly, my eye color was still visible.
Luckily—or unluckily—we both had pale sky-blue eyes.
Baron Harwin puffed out his chest.
“My child is smart and meticulous.”
“But she looks rather arrogant.”
“That’s true. I’m trying to discipline her, but it’s not easy to fix.”
At that, the black mage muttered in Sebonese.
“Assete kibana ayultakum… (That’s just bad discipline…)”
I scoffed and replied to the black mage in Sebonese as well.
“Setene kibanata atom. Asiaki ataban. (I think so too. This man raised his child poorly.)”
The black mage’s eyes widened.
He muttered in a daze,
“Then it seems the ‘clever’ part is true….”
“Hurry up and show us the wheat. For all we know, you could’ve filled the sacks with rotten grain.”
The black mage rolled his eyes briefly.
“Suspicious, are you.”
He gestured to someone behind him. Soon after, that man headed to the warehouse to fetch a wheat sack.
So the wheat is in that warehouse.
I’d gained an important piece of information.
Warps were activating all over the harbor.
Aside from us, it seemed other lords were also bringing people to sell in real time—small boats were already lined up across the sea.
The entire harbor has been taken over.
I scanned the surroundings.
Granted, Delfoben Harbor was small and remote.
They must’ve let outsiders in over a long period and driven out the locals one by one.
After preparing steadily like that, seizing full control the moment the monster wave cut the area off would have been easy.
I don’t see any western locals.
People were gathered everywhere, but not a single trace of the distinctive western accent could be heard.
Baron Forman seemed to be thinking along the same lines—his expression was dark. After all, this was happening on his land.
Meanwhile, one of the black mages came back, grunting as he carried a wheat sack over his shoulder.
“Here. Check it.”
I personally opened the sack and inspected the grain.
Harvested last autumn. The variety is—
That was when—
“Uaaaaaah!”
“We’re under attack! Attack!”
“It’s the Nogen Order!”
I slowly lifted my head.
Baron Forman’s tracking scent must have reached the nearest knight order.
Now!
I quickly signaled Wendy.
Bound together with the captives, Wendy swiftly loosened the knots around her wrists and removed her gag.
In one motion, she drew a dagger from her clothes and cut down the black mages who had been guarding them.
“Aaagh!”
After clearing the area in an instant, Wendy untied the captives and shouted,
“Now—seize Baron Harwin’s men!”
Having dealt with the black mages, Wendy immediately struck Baron Harwin on the head.
He collapsed, losing consciousness on the spot.
“Here!”
Naturally, the captives followed Wendy, charging straight at Baron Harwin’s knights.
My own knights were far too solid for them to rush, and they were swept up by Wendy’s command anyway.
More importantly, the one who had made the decision to sell them was Baron Harwin himself.
Of course, there was a reason we dealt with Baron Harwin and his knights first.
In unexpected situations, enemies on the inside are always the most troublesome.
Better to cripple them first than get stabbed in the back later.
Wendy bound the unconscious Baron Harwin and his helplessly captured knights.
Tears welled up in her eyes.
“Now… now…”
Her voice trembled with emotion.
“Now I can eat potatoes again….”
A few days earlier.
Wendy had begged me, saying she was sorry and asking me to let her eat potatoes again.
“You trained alone while everyone else was planting potatoes.”
I said coldly.
“At the very least, you need to earn your meals through training before the potato ban is lifted.”
That was why I used Wendy as bait.
Keeping her with the hostages would make it easier for her to take out the guards from within and help them escape.
Baron Forman had also been freed and was now hiding behind Wendy, panting.
“Gah!”
The black mage who had been dealing with me panicked. The sudden arrival of the western forces had clearly left him completely rattled.
“What the hell is this… damn it. We need to withdraw for now.”
After saying a few words to his companions, he rummaged through his pocket and handed me a slip of paper.
“Since the baron is down, I’ll pass this to his daughter instead.”
I accepted the note without thinking.
Lowering his voice, he whispered,
“Bring Brisa Sears.”
My eyes widened instantly.
“We’ll pay fifty sacks of wheat. Understood? The warp address is written here.”
Earlier, when I said one sack of wheat for two people, he had looked extremely flustered for a reason.
In the original story, I and the maids were worth fifty sacks of wheat.
That was why I’d thought that was the market rate—but it turned out it wasn’t even half a sack per person.
And they paid strictly by headcount, regardless of whether it was an old man or a knight.
The difference was far too large to be explained by mere noble status. There had to be another reason.
They wanted me badly enough to pay that price.
Hiding my confusion, I asked calmly,
“Why Brisa?”
“That’s none of your concern.”
“She’s innocent.”
“Probably.”
“You’re not planning to do something terrible to a child, are you?”
“That’s exactly what we always do—urk!”
The whispered exchange ended there. Philip, who hadn’t realized I was talking to the black mage, smashed him hard on the head, knocking him out.
The other black mages couldn’t come to help. The western knights had already begun cutting down the white-masked figures.
Before long, the harbor descended into chaos as the western knights butchered the black mages.
In the midst of it all, feeling detached from reality, I clenched the note tightly in my hand.
They want me brought to them… for fifty sacks of wheat?
