CHGD 25

Chapter 25

Judging by his attitude, it seemed he was more offended by the residents’ anger than they were. I could practically feel him thinking, ‘How dare they glare at me like that.’

The village representative appeared to be the head of a household, with a child around ten years old clinging to his leg in fear.

Their clothes were ordinary, but dirty with mud. The peculiar thing was that all the residents had unusually large eyes.

‘He said fish… So they’re like fish monsters.’

Despite Ikavel approaching, they couldn’t contain their anger and kept shouting. I couldn’t hear clearly from a distance, but it was definitely cursing.

“……!”

“……”

Ikavel had a brief conversation with them. Surprisingly, Ikavel spoke calmly, while the village representative’s face turned red with rage, veins bulging in his neck.

Was he actually planning to resolve this through dialogue? As I watched with newfound curiosity, Ikavel suddenly reached out and grabbed the village representative by the throat.

“Guh!”

“Dad!”

The son, witnessing his father being attacked, let out a shrill scream. His voice was so loud it pierced through the distance and dug into my ears.

Ikavel began dragging the village representative back toward me, handling him like a wild animal.

“Hoo.”

‘Looks like it won’t end well.’

A headache starting to form, I pressed my brow and sighed.

I suppose I should be grateful it ended this lightly—Ikavel’s face, now turned toward me, was flushed red with anger.

Thinking I should remain calm and composed, I took a deep breath and waited for the village representative.

“Here he is.”

“Urgh!”

Ikavel tossed the village representative to the ground in front of me. Covered in swamp mud, he squeezed his large eyes shut and coughed repeatedly. He must have been choked quite hard, as clear finger marks remained on his neck.

“Are you alright?”

Since he was technically a commoner, I should have spoken informally, but he was still a monster, so I addressed him politely out of courtesy.

As I pulled out a handkerchief to wipe the mud from his eyes, Ikavel, who had been watching the village representative with a contemptuous gaze, spoke.

“You don’t need to be kind to him. These bastards are all mouth and no substance. Even if you treat them kindly…”

“Get away, you lowly human! You vulgar woman who hasn’t even received the grace of the sea, don’t touch me!”

“…He’s being rude.”

Before Ikavel could even finish, the village representative sprang up and swatted my hand away.

He brushed the mud off his own body and face himself, then shouted at me, dazed by the curses I hadn’t heard in a long time.

“Tch, from your hair color to your eyeballs, they’re worse than the mud on the tidal flats. Were your ancestors moles?”

“…Ikavel, this is…”

“These bastards are always sincere like this. Didn’t you see how they cursed at me too? They even do it to Lord Haster.”

If they weren’t in charge of the crucial water supply, they would have been wiped out long ago—he muttered through gritted teeth.

“Your ear holes must be clogged. Humans who can’t even understand dolphin speech are hopeless. The mantis shrimp I raise are far superior.”

‘…This must be a species trait.’

It seemed my plan to resolve things through dialogue was fundamentally flawed.

This guy, this fish monster, required a firmer approach.

I could use command authority to force submission, but then he’d just bow his head with an annoyed expression.

What I needed at times like this was…

“Village Representative.”

I wrapped my handkerchief around my hand and grabbed his dirty shoulder, pulling him closer.

“Where do you think you’re touching! Who do you think you are, you insignificant—”

“I came here to try and get along with you. If you act like this, it puts me in a difficult position.”

“Ridiculous! How dare a mere human try to get along with us, who serve the noble one! You’re being arrogant just because the yellow one is by your side!”

And so, he squandered even his last chance. It seemed I had no choice but to handle things my way from now on.

“…Oh dear.”

Noticing the change in my expression, Ikavel recoiled in horror and stepped back.

“It’s a shame that even after I showed you such respect, it was useless.”

“Get lost, you insignificant thing. I can hardly bear to look at your ugly face any longer.”

I looked past the village representative’s shoulder at the others watching from behind him.

Among them, the village representative’s son was stomping his feet anxiously.

“If I can’t communicate with you, I’ll have to call someone else.”

“What do you mean…”

I pointed with my chin toward his son. The village representative, turning to follow my gaze, spotted his son and went pale.

“Your son is quite handsome, isn’t he?”

“……!”

Seeing his ashen face, I continued in a lighthearted tone.

“Your son—no, I can use command authority on your son too, can’t I?”

For those who’ve missed their last chance, formal speech is a waste.

If you ignore me, I’ll just have to make sure you can’t ignore me—by making a friend (hostage).

The village representative gasped as if to flee backward, but my shadow happened to be gripping his ankle. I squeezed his shoulder firmly.

“Let me get a better look at your handsome son’s face, shall I?”

I wonder why he’s trembling so much just because I want to see his son’s face.

Beside me, Ikavel muttered in a frightened voice.

“Here we go again.”

Shut up, Wendy.

After the commotion subsided, I took the village representative to the reception room. The swamp wasn’t a good place to continue the conversation, and the other villagers had been shouting so loudly that I needed a quieter venue.

Of course, I didn’t bring the village representative’s son along.

It was just a joke to change his attitude—I wasn’t angry enough to expose a child to such harsh conversations.

So I told them to let the child go, but Ikavel hesitated as if wondering what I was going to do next.

‘Is my image really that bad?’

It seemed I would need to have a sincere conversation with Ikavel one of these days.

Arriving at the reception room, I called for a maid and ordered tea.

“First, before the tea comes, go wash up.”

“Right now?”

The village representative’s tone had become slightly more flexible than before. I didn’t expect him to use respectful speech, so I answered appropriately.

“Yes, you’ll get the sofa dirty. There’s a bath on the first floor for servants—go ahead and use it.”

At the word ‘dirty,’ the village representative looked ready to flare up, but then lowered his gaze. He seemed to know who held the sword by the hilt.

Watching him leave the reception room hesitantly, I called out to Ikavel.

I wanted to clear up my remaining questions before the village representative returned.

“Ikavel, is that species always so foul-mouthed?”

“As I mentioned earlier, yes. They originally worshiped the being of the sea, so they strongly reject other religions.”

They were a notorious species of fanatics. In their prime, they expanded their power by forcing humans to follow their religion.

They used to communicate via telepathy, but after being reduced to human form, they began speaking verbally.

Since they had communicated through telepathy and never learned to hide their true feelings, their aggression became openly apparent.

‘So they’re fanatics who don’t know how to pretend.’

I didn’t know who the ‘being of the sea’ was, but since they had their own religion, it was difficult for outsiders to understand their nature.

“Besides, from their perspective, Lord Haster is the enemy who killed their parents, ancestors… basically everyone they worshipped. So their resentment won’t easily subside.”

Both Loaz and these villagers—there were quite a few enemies who hated the Count.

‘With a face that looks like it couldn’t even kill an ant.’

The image of that splendid, handsome face committing genocide against an entire species’ ancestors was a chilling description that felt completely unreal.

Recalling the Count’s gentle voice calling ‘Deliana-,’ I continued my questioning.

“Did the Count just sit there and take those insults?”

“Yes.”

“That’s surprising. Insulting the head of the family like that should warrant severe punishment…”

In the Empire, treating a noble that way wouldn’t just get the offender killed—their entire family would be exterminated under the law of collective responsibility.

Ikavel shrugged and said,

“Does a human get angry when a fish insults them?”

“…So he doesn’t even feel insulted, I see.”

“Those bastards are merely convenient tools for supplying the castle’s water and offering fish. Whether they curse or not, they have to obey orders. Why should he bother paying them any mind?”

‘You were the one who got angry when the fish insulted you, though.’

Then again, it was unlikely Ikavel and the Count shared the same sentiments.

Regardless, viewing the residents as tools wasn’t a healthy mindset. Loaz’s words came to mind—that the Count saw beings and humans all as the same.

‘If he treated the residents so coldly, there’s no way relations would be good.’

Rather, it was surprising they had managed to carry out their duties with such animosity. That meant the command authority held formidable coercive power.

I would need to be careful when using command authority in the future.

“They seemed to have strong family bonds. Is that common among your kind?”

“There are many beings that bear offspring, but those bastards are particularly strong in that regard. Usually, parent and child individuals are separated at birth, or bound in a hierarchical relationship.”

Considering the relationship between the mother-in-law and the Count, human-like family ties probably weren’t common.