BXBX NOVEL Chapter 16: Fall Of Nambonan
「Still, the city is quieter than I imagined. I had the impression that they\'d resisted until the end.」
「The lord of this city—I mean, the council was it? The representative of the city has requested their surrender, and they are currently preparing the place for discussions. The citizens probably can\'t do anything about it. Furthermore, the city guards are actively hunting the resistance.」
Looking at the citizens of Nambonan walking down the road, they appeared very vigilant towards the people who looked like guards. They most likely couldn\'t feel at ease since the city guards who lived and kept the order of this city were now keeping an eye on them.
「If the people were to rise in revolt now, Nambonan would be in a disadvantage during the negotiations. That\'s why for the people governing the city, they are desperately stopping any sign of uprising.」
「Even though we\'ve already controlled the city, they\'re still thinking about fair negotiation, as expected from the city of merchants.」
Commercial City, Nambonan.
Located nearby a river, Nambonan was formerly one of the cities under Jinkaen Empire. The disturbance caused by the succession to the throne that started with the death of the second emperor greatly changed the empire\'s map. Nambonan, a very common city located inside of the Empire, had changed into a border city in a single night. And of all places, the border city was located between the Levios Kingdom and Jinkaen Empire.
At that time, the noble from the empire in charge of governing Nambonan had a cowardly character, and he judged that there was no way to protect this land. He quickly pulled his soldiers and went to defend a different city far away from the border. However, the citizens had nowhere to go. While praying to the great spirit of the sun so that they could avoid being engulfed by the flames of war, the people decided to govern the city on their own without relying on the nobles to protect their homeland.
In the end, Nambonan was able to avoid being pulled into the war. Instead, they\'d become valued by the peddlers as their stopover because the city had a better public order than the other borders. The city that had lost its vested rights along with the governance of a noble was a dream city for the merchants.
Influential merchants were elected to the council that was established as the government system and developed the place as a commercial city which no one had seen before. Self-government had been developing in Nambonan.
Noticing that Nambonan had turned into a pot of gold, the former ruler tried to return as its lord but was repelled by Nambonan\'s army. Nambonan was no longer a border city of the empire, it had obtained its own independence and could already be called a city-state.
Nambonan evolved from a common city to a border city, and then to a commercial city. The time it took for that transformation was only 20 years. That was Nambonan\'s turbulent history.
「Oh, isn\'t it Wilk-dono.」
While I was talking with my guard, a person called from behind. The person standing there was a toad man… no, it was a middle-aged man wearing a strange smile with his toad-like face and very fat body. It was Viscount Galliana. He sure looked like a villain.
「Oh, so its Viscount Galliana. To be in a place like this, do you have any business here?」
The city was under the control of the allied army, but there was no guarantee that there wouldn\'t be any guerilla. Even if the soldiers from our army were standing ready in the important locations in the city, it was still weird for a Viscount and the current head of Galliana to walk around casually.
「I\'m here for the same reason as Wilk-dono. 」
Viscount Galliana\'s face as he displayed a smile looked so evil that it made me wonder whether he was really an ally. Well, if he really had the same objective as me, it was no wonder that he was showing an evil smile.
As for why I went as far as to go inside this city even though it was in disorder, it was to have a sex. Perhaps my grandfather noticed that I\'d been restraining myself since the campaign, he suddenly went to my camp this morning and told me to sleep with a woman. As expected of my grandfather, he was understanding. And so, I entered the city immediately after finishing my breakfast.
「Still, as one would expect from the eldest son of a Marquis, only taking several bodyguards with him. I\'ve also heard about your action on the battlefield, that you were like a demon.」
There were five guards surrounding me and probably several more in the shadows, but it still wasn\'t much. Looking at Viscount Galliana\'s surrounding, there were around thirty bodyguards. When I activated detection magic, I sensed that there were many experts among them.
「I know that there\'s no one possessing a large magic power in the city through the wide area detection magic. I originally planned to walk by myself, but my grandfather assigned the bodyguards.」
The enemy\'s magic users weren\'t a big deal. If there were powerful ones, it would be the nobles in the Quordentz\'s allied army.
I could tell that my bodyguards had become very alert. Viscount Galliana possessed enough magic power to attack me. They were wary of an assassin who might\'ve slipped inside while the city hadn\'t regained its peace yet.
「I was a member of Nambonan\'s council for several years. This place is like my own garden. I just felt like I wanted to look around inside since it\'s been a while.」
He narrowed his eyes and looked nostalgically afar. He was originally a common merchant before rising to become a viscount. Still, it was my first time hearing that he was a council member.
「Depending on what it is you\'re trying to find, I might be able to provide some assistance.」
Even though I didn\'t ask him, Viscount Galliana began to talk about the information on the city. He talked about the places such as the upper-class district with many sheltered young ladies, the commoner\'s district, and the red light district. Since I wasn\'t familiar with Nambonan\'s geography, the information was useful for me.
「Where does Viscount Galliana plan to go?」
「The business district. The person who\'d troubled me back during my merchant days should still be in there. I\'ll go and have his wife and daughter in front—ooops…」
Giving an intentional cough, he stopped on his words. He really was suited to be a villain.
Since I was worried about whether I\'d be able to get to the other districts myself, I went along with Viscount Galliana up to the business district.
「Oh, its open.」
There was a shop running despite the city being under our control. Based on the signboard, it must be a bar. There weren\'t any rules about underaged being unable to drink in this world, but I somehow felt that it would affect my growth, so I made sure to avoid drinking as much as possible. I\'d drink during social parties, but I would drink alone only once I\'ve reach above 20 years of age.
Maybe because of the dry air, I felt slightly thirsty, so I went inside the store. I hope there was a non-alcoholic drink.
「Welcome!」
「Give us any drink as long as its not alcohol.」
My bodguards were letting out a slightly dissatisfied voice because they couldn\'t drink alcohol. Aren\'t you guys still guarding me? You can\'t drink.
Six mugs were placed on top of a nearby table. They were probably telling us to sit there, so we followed.
「Young Master, there is no problem with the drinks.」
The bodyguards assigned to guard me were all magic users, and some could use a poison detection magic. Just in case, I also activated detection magic and then confirmed that the drink was safe.
「Is this a tea?」
There was steam coming out from the warm tea inside the wooden mug. It smelled slightly like a jasmine tea.
「Its a tea made of leaves found in a nearby place, customer.」
「Hm? I see. It smells nice.」
「Since you don\'t know this, then you must be a mercenary? It was tough for you guys, wasn\'t it? At times like this, its best to drink tea and forget about it. The tea is also delicious during normal times, though.」
Immediately after saying that, the waitress went to bring alcohol to another table. It seemed like they didn\'t know we were from the army occupying the city. Perhaps they\'d mistaken us as mercenaries since I left the mantle with my family\'s crest and my guards were wearing brown mantle to avoid standing out.
In the first place, the ordinary soldiers weren\'t allowed to go outside the camp which was set up the important locations inside the city. As long as the people didn\'t intentionally go to see them, they wouldn\'t come in contact with the Quordentz\'s army.
While drinking the tea to moisten my throat, I observed the atmosphere in the bar. The bar which looked as big as a school\'s gymnasium had a gloomy atmosphere.
「We could\'ve continued fighting! Why did the council surrender!」
「In the first place, It was wrong to meet them in the field! Why didn\'t we hide in the city?!」
「Holing up inside the city even though we don\'t have any reinforcement, what are you expecting!? Are you going to wait until you starve to death?」
「It\'s unforgivable that they quickly abandoned the defense line after using the high taxes we paid to establish it. For what purpose did they even establish it?!」
「To begin with, It was a mistake to go against the Quordentz.」
「Those damned rebels from the Quordentz!」
「Engaging the allied army of nobles in the field was in itself a suicide act!」
「It\'s the foolish council\'s fault for being unable to protect Nambonan\'s independence! I won\'t forgive them!」
「Don\'t worry Viscount Galliana is among the nobles in the army occupying the city. He\'ll definitely protect us.」
「There\'s no way we can win siege warfare!」
「Those greedy bastards from the Quordentz! Who do they think there are!」
「This city was done for the moment the surrounding territories became a territory of the Quordentz!」
「Damned those mercenaries for running right away! You guys were hired using our tax, so you should\'ve fought till death!」
「What did you say?! You lied to us and told that we\'d fight against the current head of the Quordent, but the one in there was the red demon, you\'re dirty! A merchants city that couldn\'t even protect its agreement, its only natural that you\'d lose!」
「Nambonan\'s star, Viscount Galliana was there?! I\'m glad! Nambonan will be saved!」
「We\'re done for! It\'s all over! Our beloved Nambonan is done for!」
There seemed to be a great number of mercenaries and citizens who loved this city.
Once in a while, there would be people who were calling to fight until the bitter end, and they\'d get taken by the city guards. It was an interesting sight. This bar might be a place used to gather and capture these disturbing elements within the city.
Viscount Galliana who was being treated as a savior should be attacking his formal rival\'s shop right about this time.
There were people fighting here and there. Some drank too much and were vomiting. Some others were laughing while smiling. It was that kind of a strange scene.
「Nambonan\'s people sure love their city.」
「You understand?」
I was only talking to myself, but the beautiful waitress picked up my words.
「Nambonan became a border city when I was only six years old. It all started at that time. We abandoned the nobles who ran on their own. Its a city that the people have started.」
The history of Nambonan that she described was mostly the same as the one I\'d read in the warehouse. However, the chaos during the time the city had changed into a border city and the hardships they experienced were quite interesting. These events weren\'t in the record and could only be known by the people on the scene at that time.
The abandoned people and the abandoned city. It was a story about how these abandoned people established their own government and developed it to become the merchant city of today.
When I noticed it, the bar had become silent, and everyone was listening to her Nambonan\'s Story of Success.
Perhaps feeling emotional, A man who appeared to be a citizen was bowing on the table while crying without caring about the surrounding\'s looks.
「I feel it because I\'ve been serving in this shop for a long time. This district\'s liveliness wouldn\'t lose to the imperial capital. We can live without needing to be servile to a noble. It\'s the best district.」
The men listening around would sometimes shout-out their support. Apparently, she\'s been this bar\'s idol since she was six years old. She seemed greatly cared for by the people and merchants who were present during those troubled times.
Considering Nambonan\'s history, the reason they treat her as an idol despite being 26 years old now was most likely due to that. This bar was supposedly the biggest bar in this district, so there should be many people who had seen her mature. On top of that, she was beautiful.
「The place has gotten gloomy, so let\'s not talk about this! We must not feel dispirited because our fight has just begun! Nambonan definitely won\'t lose against those Quordentz!」
As if wiping the tears that gathered at the corner of her eyes, she gripped her fist and smiled towards everyone in the store.
「Right! We will never lose!」
「Anna-chan, we\'ll protect you!」
「Your the symbol of Nambonan! Make sure not to lose!」
「We won\'t let that Quordentz army touch Anna-chan! Don\'t worry!」
「Well said! She\'s our pride!」
The bar instantly became cheerful, and the bright atmosphere filled the place at once.
「You\'re embarrassing me! But, do you understand Nambonan now? Hey, where did you come from? You came here to join the war, right? Let me hear about you guys. I like listening to stories about other towns.」
She turned around here shyly and spoke as if to hide it. I felt like my inner sadistic self was breaking out, or rather, my lust was starting to rise. I\'d restrained myself for ten days.
「Yes, we came to participate in the war.」
「Just as I thought. So you\'re a mercenary? Seeing that the youngest one looks like the leader, are you perhaps a warrior with magic power?」
I knew that the others were listening to our conversation. I smiled broadly and denied.
「You\'re not a mercenary? Didn\'t you come here to participate in the war?」
I stood up. Everyone was paying attention to me.
「I did come to participate in the war. It\'s just that, you\'re wrong about my opponent.」
I looked at everyone in the store.
The city guards were observing us closely.
Loud and clearly, I slowly said:
「I came here to trample on Nambonan.」