Lord of Caldera

Andy often forced Sylas to keep watch while he worked in areas with good lumber

Most of the best wood had already been taken from safe areas, so good lumber was usually found in regions where wild animals and monsters roamed. Andy often came to Sylas's grandfather and asked him to act as a guard while he worked. When Andy came, they had to abandon hunting and help him, costing them time and resources.

The more Sylas thought about it, the angrier he became.

Sylas suppressed his frustration and maintained a calm expression. For now, gathering information was the priority.

"What brings you here?"

"I caught some game this morning. I was wondering if anyone might want to buy it."

"Oh, really?"

Andy's eyes gleamed. In a small village, it was rare to get fresh meat on an ordinary day. But in Brick Village, they could buy Sylas's family's meat for much cheaper. Thanks to that, the villagers had grown quite fond of eating rich meat.

"What did you catch? Let's have a look."

"This guy."

"A pigeon."

Seeing the plump pigeon, Andy's mouth watered. He was already thinking about how to cook it to make it taste even better.

"You came at just the right time. I'll buy this pigeon from you."

"For how much?"

"Hmm, let's see."

When Sylas asked, Andy kept eyeing the pigeon, trying to find a flaw to complain about while suppressing his greed. Unfortunately for him, the pigeon was in excellent condition. Finally, unable to find any issues, Andy reluctantly said,

"Well, it can't be helped. How about seven coins?"

"This guy?"

Sylas smirked inwardly at Andy's tone, as if he were doing him a favour. If he took it to the market, he could easily get 15 coins for the pigeon's condition. Yet, here Andy was, offering less than half the price, pretending he was doing Sylas a good turn.

"What's going on?"

"Oh, Village Chief!"

At that moment, an old man appeared, and Andy greeted him enthusiastically. Meanwhile, Sylas had to suppress the urge to scowl. One of the worst villains from his previous life stood before him—the village chief.

"Calling this guy trash would be an insult to trash."

Despite his appearance of a kindly old neighbour, the village chief was filled with greed. He was the one who led the effort to keep treating Sylas's family as outsiders so they could exploit his grandfather. Without thinking, Sylas's hand almost clenched into a fist, but he stopped and took a deep breath.

"Hello, Chief."

"Well, well, you two seemed to be talking about something."

"Oh, nothing much. I was just about to buy some meat from him."

Andy grinned and pointed to the pigeon in Sylas's hand.

"A pigeon, huh. How much are you offering for it?"

"We settled on seven coins."

Even though Sylas hadn't agreed to anything yet, Andy acted as if the deal was already done. Hearing this, the village chief's eyes shot up.

"What! Seven coins for a pigeon?"

"Wh-What's wrong with that?"

"Of course, it's wrong!"

Andy flinched at the village chief's sudden outburst. Pointing to the pigeon all over, the chief spoke quickly:

"Look at this! This one's quite old. And it hasn't even been eating properly recently. Its feathers are in poor condition too, so seven coins is far too much!"

"Oh, you're right!"

'These crazy people…'

Sylas clenched his teeth as the conversation between the village chief and Andy continued. They had already haggled the price down by more than half, and now they wanted to cut it even more? Moreover, the village chief's grumbling was baseless, and as a hunter, Sylas found it laughable.

It was like a farmer lecturing a fisherman on how to sell fish. After nitpicking for a while, the village chief stroked his beard solemnly.

"So, five coins is the fair price for this pigeon."

"Hmm, Sylas, what do you think?"

Both men turned their eyes to Sylas. Though they asked, it was more of a veiled threat—if he didn't agree to sell at this price, he'd face consequences later. Sylas quickly smiled and said,

"Of course, I'll sell it at that price."

"Hahaha! That's right, a man should be honest! Absolutely!"

Andy laughed heartily and patted Sylas on the shoulder. As he watched Andy and the village chief exchange winks, Sylas could only sigh. By this point, it was hard to even get angry anymore.

'Thanks for reminding me of something I'd forgotten, you bastards.'

Before his return, he'd left the village in a rush, without getting proper revenge. After that, he'd been too busy adjusting to life in his family to care. He had long forgotten about it, but now that he was facing this situation again, his perspective had changed.

In this life, these trash bags wouldn't get away without shedding tears of blood.

"Village chief!"

At that moment, a young man from the village came running from afar, panting heavily as if he had rushed all the way there.

"B-Big trouble !"

"Trouble ? What happened ?"

"A knight has arrived !"

Sylas's eyes widened at the young man's words. There was only one reason why a knight would come to such a rural village.

'A knight from the Corleone family !'

The Corleone Count's family. It was the place where Sylas's father served as the head, and it was a noble family with considerable power in the eastern region. When Sylas was fifteen, the Corleone family had visited Brick Village twice.

It was to take Sylas, the illegitimate child, back to the family. This was surely the first of those visits.

"A k-knight? Why would a knight come all the way here !?"

Unlike Sylas, the village chief's face turned pale. What was a Knight? To a commoner, they were nobles whose eyes they couldn't even meet, and slaughterers capable of defeating dozens of soldiers.

If they displeased him, he could easily kill someone like a mere village chief, just like swatting a fly.

"How many soldiers? How many soldiers did the knight bring?"