56 A bedside story

After the incident at the governor's mansion happened, I apparently passed out with several bone fractures and some other major injuries. Luckily, there was a large clinic reasonably close to the mansion, so my companions and I were able to receive treatment on time.

Since my injuries were serious, I've been bedridden for the past week. The potions administered to me were apparently effective enough at improving my body's natural regeneration rate that I can now move around normally, although my body still feels extremely sore right now.

I'll be discharged this afternoon, but it's probably best if I recap on what happened this past week.

* * *

May 18

* * *

"Would you like to have a peaceful death?"

The clinic's nurses asked me that question very frequently after I regained consciousness.

"What?"

"We can end your life in a painless manner if you'd like."

"No, thank you."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure."

"Are you absolutely sure?"

"Yes… Who would even choose to die, anyways?"

"People like you, for example."

"People… like me? I may be disabled right now, but I'm not suicidal."

"I'm sorry, that's not what I meant."

"What did you mean to say, then?"

"You're neither a resident of Mitana city nor a member of the standing army, so medical expenses are going to be a little bit high…"

"How high?"

"Probably around 50000 doviti a day, and you look like you're going to be here for at least a week…"

I reckon it's understandable that one would rather die if a day in this clinic cost as much as an ordinary citizen's full month's worth of savings, but still…

"I think I can afford that. Still, isn't it more important to save lives before charging money?"

"Well, yes, but the city's in a financial pinch, so we can't risk giving treatment to someone who can't pay for it…"

"Doesn't that policy hurt the poor?"

"There isn't much we can do because of our limited budget, but on the bright side, the number of people straining the city's finances is gradually decreasing!"

"…"

"…"

The nurse left me alone to rest after we awkwardly stared at each other for a while.

* * *

May 19

* * *

"Alright, I just need to ask you a couple of questions."

A tired and disinterested-looking investigator from the city police came over for inquiries. I hope I'm not about to get in trouble for destroying that mansion…

"Were you in the governor's mansion on the night that it burned and collapsed?"

I couldn't sense any magic or the presence of any magic items, so it didn't seem like this investigator cared that much about whether or not I was going to answer with the full truth. For a moment, I considered lying about being present at the mansion, but I reckon the investigator wouldn't have come here to make inquiries if he didn't already know beforehand that I was an involved party.

I suppose I'll have to answer truthfully for now…

"Yes."

"Were you in the kitchen before the fire started?"

My heart started beating a little bit faster as soon as he asked that.

"I was."

I kept thinking to myself about how I should keep calm. He simply asked whether I was in the kitchen, he didn't imply that I started the fire.

"Were you hungry?"

Huh? Is he asking me strange questions to make me drop my guard?

"I was at a large banquet a few hours prior, so no, I wasn't hungry at all."

"Then you weren't the one who scattered all those spices and food crumbs all over?"

"I am not."

"Do you know who scattered it, then?"

"Um…"

Obviously the answer to that question was "Lica," but I felt like getting her in trouble would make me feel really guilty for a long time. I might not have a strong emotional attachment to her since she was just pushed onto me as a slave less than half a month ago, but she did save my life a couple times, after all.

At the same time, I didn't quite know how to answer the investigator's question, since I didn't know whether or not Amber and Lica had been questioned yet, nor did I know what they would have said if they were asked about the incident. If I said something absurd that didn't match with the statements the girls gave, then it would just draw more suspicion towards me.

Wait a minute… Is this investigator trying to trick me into answering that question after attempting to drop my guard? If I gave a definite response, then that would mean that I definitely witnessed something happen in the kitchen area, otherwise I wouldn't have known that there were food crumbs scattered all over the floor in the first place. I suppose I'll just have to give a vague response and deflect responsibility…

"…There was food scattered all over the kitchen? I didn't notice that. Maybe some rats knocked over some containers or something."

"Hm…"

The investigator started scratching his chin and nodding in silence.

"Uh… Did I say something wrong?"

"Huh? Oh, sorry, I was thinking about how logical things were."

"Logical?"

I hope I didn't just say something outrageous enough to draw suspicion onto me…

"Yes. Rats, huh… The police chief already came up with a very logical theory about how the fire started, and what you said just now confirms that some giant rats were responsible for the incident."

"…"

How can rats even start a fire? Are the rats here some fire-breathing mutated beasts or something?

"Well, it looks like I can go complete that report now. Thank you for your cooperation."

"That's it?"

"That's it. I don't have any more questions. By the way, if your girlfriends visit you later, tell them I no longer need to question them, since the case is closed now."

"Eh…"

As the investigator walked out of the room, I could hear him gleefully shout in the hallway about how he could now take the rest of the day off while still being paid a full day's wage.

* * *

May 20

* * *

"So I heard the police came to question you."

Today, general Denato came to visit me. He looked as healthy as ever, despite the tough fight he had a couple days ago.

"An investigator came, but he only asked me a couple questions and then left."

"Good. Just as expected."

"As expected?"

"Those incompetent fools are so underpaid that they'll be satisfied with hearing any kind of explanation that makes sense, since they can finish their work early and still get a full day's wage."

"Isn't that a serious problem if the police aren't doing their jobs properly?"

"I'll have to admit that it's because of their incompetence that Tuha could get away with all his misdeeds, but I've learned my lesson after that incident. I just need to keep my guard up."

"Wouldn't it be easier to instead get more capable personnel for the city offices?"

"Yes, but I'd prefer to keep things the way they are. It saves me the trouble of having to do unnecessary paperwork, and I can continue exploiting the flaws of the civil offices."

"Did you just admit to-"

"Yes, I occasionally siphon funds from the city treasury and eliminate my rivals."

"Eh…"

"Well, I don't know about the elimination thing, but the siphoning is more widespread than you think. You already saw that lavish dining room in commander Mavuto's mansion when you first came to this territory, right? His regular salary definitely couldn't have afforded that."

"…"

"This is a large territory with a low population, Blaze, so it's not that hard to hide money. Just be glad the commander and I do our best not to make it obvious that we're siphoning funds, otherwise you would have been in trouble already."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"You're involved in all of this because of those war supplies the commander purchases from you almost every day! He receives a substantial budget allotment to purchase those supplies, but you not only gave a substantial discount, but also supplied enough that on some days he doesn't need to purchase any."

"Does nobody ever check where the budget goes?"

"Yes, the northeastern province's general and I are tasked with that since our province's rotation on the battlefield come immediately before and after his province's. We simply stamp the report papers and pocket the massive amount of money that was saved."

"So that's why you and the commander are so friendly towards me? Because I'm essentially you're money-making machine?"

Come to think of it, they didn't seem to concerned about me being in several life-threatening situations over the past two months here, either. This is probably because they could easily pocket the entire sum of however many hundred thousand doviti they're allotted with daily if they keep the news of my disappearance a secret.

Wait a minute… Does this mean one of the three plans on taking my life at some point? Is that why he's telling me all this stuff about his corruption now, just so I know why he wants me dead? After all, the army is already self-sufficient from plundering the conquered territory that I feel like I'm not even needed here any longer.

I wanted to flee right now, but I'm currently still disabled in this bed…

"At first, yes, although you ended up being someone rather easy to get along with. That's why I wound up fighting to save your life on several occasions."

Or maybe I'm just overthinking things and over-worrying over nothing…

"And don't worry, we won't dispose you when you become unneeded. You're the one who significantly boosted our wealth, after all, so consider all the freedom you've had since coming here a reward for that!"

The general lightly patted my head and laughed.

"…So why exactly did you tell me all of this?"

"Well, if people knew about what happened the other day in the mansion, then I would likely end up having large scale investigations and internal conflicts starting within the provincial army. Because of that, I just wanted to make sure you don't tell anyone anything that goes against the official investigation report, by making you fully aware that you're an involved party in a corruption ring."

"Wouldn't telling me everything put you at a disadvantage instead?"

"Considering how it's being run by three of the most influential people in this territory, I think not. We won't hesitate to make the public aware of some fund siphoning going on and shift all the blame onto you, since you're the one who's least aware of the laws in this territory. Everyone would most likely believe us three over you."

"…"

"But like I said, don't worry about us getting caught, since we're doing our best to make it as inconspicuous as possible. Just continue cooperating with us and you can continue enjoying living life normally! Haha!"

General Denato rubbed my head, then walked out of the room.

"…Oh, I almost forgot. Some new laws were ratified recently. Tell your girlfriend to read it to you later."

The commander came back and dropped off a piece of paper, then left again.

In any case, why do people keep mistaking Amber as my lover?

* * *

May 21

* * *

Amber and Lica's injuries were less severe, so the two girls were fully recovered as of yesterday. Amber decided to wait until now to visit me since she wanted to make sure I was well-rested.

That's what she told me, at least. The nurses told me the two girls went out to eat and celebrate their full recovery last night, and completely forgot about me.

Regardless of the reason, there wasn't much for us to talk about since we already live with each other, so Amber just read out the contents of the piece of paper the general left for me, while Lica ran outside to play after briefly saying hi.

"Effective on the first day of June, the following offenses will have new penalties imposed in all of Badoth territory:

- Theft: death

- Assault: death

- Arson: death

- Kidnapping: death

- Forgery: forced slavery

- Threatening officials: depends on severity, may be punishable by death

- Fraud: forced slavery

If responsible parties commit offenses before this date but do not receive timely convictions, then they will receive the new penalties mentioned above if found guilty for such crimes.

Signed by the Prime Minister."

Amber set the paper down without adding any remarks of her own after she finished reading it.

We awkwardly stared at each other for a few seconds afterwards. It was as though Amber was expecting me to say something in response to the info on that piece of paper.

"Those punishments are quite severe."

"I agree."

"Any idea why they made it that severe?"

"Because they conquered too much territory in Kitrod."

"Conquered too much?"

"We captured one tenth of Kitrod territory so far, and over five million people live there."

"That's quite a lot."

"And this territory's population is ten million."

"Oh. So the new laws were introduced to scare the five million people into submission, since it's hard to manage people who number half the current population, is that right?"

"Yes."

"Well, I hope I never end up on the receiving end of those punishments…"

"As long as people don't find out you committed arson on the governor's mansion, you'll be fine."

"…"

I started fearing for my life again. Unfortunately, blackmail wasn't on that list of new punishments, so I sure hope general Denato doesn't try to make me do unreasonable things in the future…

* * *

May 24

* * *

The soldier I fought against a week ago came to apologize. General Denato accompanied him to make sure he wouldn't try to do anything to me. The soldier left after delivering a seemingly sincere apology, then left the room.

"You're not going with him?"

"Not unless you were planning on leaving this room, but I've been told you have to stay in that bed for one more day."

"I'll have to admit, I never expected that soldier to come and apologize for trying to kill me the other day."

"Tuha's dead, so that guy's now under my control. He probably feels bad for what he did last week now that his allegiance changed."

"Are you sure he's on your side? What if he's secretly conspiring against you?"

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that. That stooge is just a complete idiot who's all brawn and no brain."

"What do you mean?"

"He can hardly think for himself. All he ever does is follow orders exactly as they're given, so I just ordered him to remain loyal to me. It's also because of that idiocy that you avoided death last week."

"Eh…"

"Tuha's exact order for him was 'Stay here and make sure Blaze doesn't escape,' so that's why he remained in that one spot and just hurled rocks at you."

"Is that why he didn't move out of the pit after I set it on fire?"

"Yes, but even if he could think for himself, he wouldn't be able to leave the pit anyways."

"Wouldn't he just simply need to leap out and roll on the ground to extinguish the burning oil?"

"That would only work if he was a normal soldier. His power allows him to withstand any attack aimed at him as long as he can breathe in fresh air, but he loses all his muscle strength after being deprived of air for an extended period of time. That's why your fireballs were completely ineffective, but soaking him in oil and setting him on fire turned the fight around completely."

"Is that so…"

"In any case, there's no need for either of us to worry about that one idiot anymore. I've also disposed of the other soldiers who were siding with Tuha that night, so you can enjoy the rest of the week in this city in peace."

"…Disposed?"

"Just don't tell anybody about what happened, okay?"

The general winked at me, then left the room.

* * * * *

And those were all the notable interactions I had. I'll be discharged from this clinic later today, May 26.