“No need to listen! These guys will whine no matter what you do!” The man who had been making fun of them resisted the threatening gestures of the knights, but he was relentless. Already captured, facing the Grand Commander, and probably due to the desperate situation of having to stand trial in the village, he was powerless.

The man struggled fiercely, eyes bloodshot and veins bulging in his neck. “We can’t even eat properly, and this woman is wandering around freely. Fine, I get it. Just because, huh? Do you think we want to rob? From the start, you did well by the emperor. You turned your back on the empire, and this is what happened. If you had groveled a bit, my mother and wife wouldn’t have starved to death!”

Brody saw Idan’s hand holding the reins tighten. She couldn’t see what Idan’s expression was at the moment, but it wasn’t hard to imagine.
Even if I had a hundred bodies, I would give them all up for someone else. “No need to listen! These guys will whine no matter what you do!” The man who had been mocking them resisted the threatening gestures of the knights, but, in turn, he couldn’t meet Idan’s eyes.

Perhaps it was the moment his cold expression became apparent. Was it the awe-inspiring tone in which he spoke that overwhelmed them? “Well… well, anyway. Since it’s a life already doomed to die. Do as you please! I, too, have the freedom to curse the king and die, don’t I!”

Even if there were no honorifics, the moment had changed to polite language. Idan responded with the same calm voice. “Yes, you have that freedom.”

Although the decibel of the man’s shouting was much higher, Idan’s calm voice buried it. For a moment, static filled the air.

Brody was moved by his response. No, is he even tolerating this unreasonable attitude from the thieves? At this rate, they might blame everything on the Grand Commander, even for the lack of goat milk in the village!

Brody’s lips, nibbled on, trembled. If Idan didn’t say something, a harsh word might soon burst out of her own mouth. However, before that, Idan spoke first.

“But if you receive punishment, it won’t be because you cursed me. It will be because you, feeling your own hardship, trampled on someone weaker than yourself. Remember that.”

Silence. Although it was an extremely ordinary tone, the bandits shook their shoulders at those words, and the knights also stopped their movements.

“Since there’s no time to waste, go ahead. I’ll leave the rest to you.”

Idan spoke indifferently and urged Kais forward.

The black horse and the two riders dashed like a storm once again.

Today, it was certain that they had picked the wrong day to trouble Idan.

Everyone seemed determined to make Idan’s day difficult.

From the moment they entered the village and faced the village chief and the people, Brody felt a strong premonition.

The village chief, with wrinkled waist and a stubborn expression from the start, welcomed them with a reluctant demeanor.

“Hmm, cough cough. Sending only the knights would have sufficed. You went through a lot to come here.”

It definitely wasn’t a welcoming sight. Although there was curiosity in the eyes of the villagers, the aura of dissatisfaction was much stronger.

As they moved into the village, people murmured around them.

The voices were audible to Idan and Brody but were not directed at them. The crowd buzzed with a sizeable level of discontent.

“Instead of providing direct relief, they want us to work?”

“No, what are they expecting us to do with this? Stick it on someone’s nose? Can I survive until next spring?”

“I heard the rations from the empire are quite generous. What’s the big deal?”

“They’ll give it if you work.”

“We don’t have anyone to work in our house. I carry my child and carry loads, whatnot, Sida? Do I have to go to some distant place?”

“What did you hear? Houses without workers receive a lot of distribution. The problem is houses like ours, with only one strong young man.”

Please let me know if you need any further assistance.
“Sigh, but will they really pay properly to someone who actually works? Are they lying to divide among the nobles?”

“Well, this person. He wouldn’t be the Grand Commander for nothing.”

“No, why. People can change. He might not have been someone chasing after women like that.”

“But it’s not just women. He’s the one who cultivated potatoes and saved the North.”

“We were supposed to win the war. But instead of complaining, we should have witnessed and enjoyed the harvest. We’ve been hungry for a day or two, and there’s nothing in our hands right now.”

“Well, yeah. I feel like I’m going to die of hunger.”

Listening to the voices from all around, Brody frowned.

He understood their words. Brody had expected such reactions as his opinion suggested. It was already well-discussed with River.

But it was still distressing.

Brody, he was fine. It was a feeling he could accept within the predicted range.

But Idan… it seemed impossible.

Already a person who blamed herself for her own helplessness. Yet, she silently endured the overwhelming tasks given to her.

She tried not to show it, but her distorted brow increasingly revealed her pain.

Regardless of people’s reactions, Idan, like in other villages, continued to do what she had been doing.

She paid respects at the graveyard, listened to the village chief’s report, and then went back to the village, looking around for things that needed help and solving them.

As people felt the sincerity in her actions, the ominous atmosphere that circulated among them gradually softened.

However, as night deepened, knights arrived with about a dozen captured bandits, and the village started buzzing again.

We already lack food, and now they want us to feed those damn bandits.

There were people who had their legs broken by those bastards, in addition to those who lost their jobs due to severed trade with the neighboring village. On top of that, there were reports of increased deaths due to not being able to go into the forest for gathering.

The bandits, having already surrendered their lives, growled and sneered, contributing to the murky atmosphere.

Having first thrown the bandits into empty houses, the knights, sweating on their foreheads, came to report to Idan.

“It seems difficult to leave these guys in this village. But don’t worry about it. Whether we make them receive punishment, force them into labor, or send them somewhere else, it’s something we can handle sufficiently. Your Highness can move according to the original plan.”

Indeed. It was a response befitting a member of the Wolf Knights, who were directly under the Grand Commander.

Idan looked at the knight squarely, conveying gratitude with a nod.

The knight continued speaking.

“Oh, Your Highness. Do you know about Ice Valley here? It seems that it snowed recently, and a small spring has formed. If you wish, you can go and take a bath.”

Upon hearing this, Brody’s expression, who was listening to the conversation next to Idan, turned pale.

Ice Valley? Take a bath in a spring in this cold? Is that something a human can do?
However, as the night deepened, Idan said to her.

She said, “I want to take a bath. Can you come with me by any chance?”