The very next hour, Josh and Elaria, with Leo acting as a coachman once more, set out for Daim Village. This time, no guards accompanied them. Elaria insisted that she was enough to keep him safe.

  To be fair, I even prefer it that no guards accompany us. I already have two dead men on my shoulders.

  The memory of that night still made him wake up with cold sweat from nightmares. The two young guards died just so that he could survive. And they did it for what? To protect a Lord of two days. A Lord who didn’t even memorize which one was Bert and which one was Bart.

  Out of nowhere, Josh started laughing manically, running his hands through his messy black hair.

  Elaria, with her eyebrows knitted together and eyes filled with concern, asked, “Ward Josh?”

  “It’s nothin–” his hysterical laughter interrupted him. “It’s nothing, Magus Elaria,” Josh wiped down the tears of laughter from his face. “I just remembered how funny life can be sometimes.”

  Laughing at the cost of two people that died for you…

  Way to go, Josh!

  He awkwardly climbed into the carriage as Elaria shot him disapproving glances.

  ***

  As the journey approached its end, they could see the walls of the village. Dozens of serfs blocked their way as they worked on repairing and building new roads. Leo had to get out of the carriage and shout for them to scatter.

  “Is that why you can’t afford to pay me? Baron Josh,” Elaria asked as she gazed at the serfs scattering. “To build roads?”

  “I wish so. We are paying them by taking it out of their serf debts,” Josh scratched his chin before continuing. “There’s a popular saying from my old world. ‘All roads lead to Rome’. Which kind of means that everything starts with roads.” He took a deep breath as he added. “I think so, at least? It might have meant that everything leads to the same final destination. But anyways, roads are a vital part of any civilization.”

  “Vital enough for you to write off their debts?” Elaria asked.

  Josh nodded, a serious expression on his face. “Yes, because having the people living in my lands accept me as their leader is way more important than a couple of gold coins written off their debts. A year or two in the future, it will all be paid off. Also, I don’t really approve of the current serf system that resembles slavery, so more people paying off their debts is good and should relieve some of the economic burden we are facing.”

  “I’ll take your word for it, Lord Josh.”

  “Thanks,” Josh replied.

  Wait, she called me a Lord. Does that mean I won her approval?

  “Where should we go now, Milord?” Leo interrupted the chatter after they entered the village.

  “Leo, I would love to go straight to the village hall,” Josh replied.

  Leo just grunted in affirmation and urged the horses with a whip to pick up the pace.

  Not long after that, they stopped before the only stone building in the village, better known as the village hall.

  Leo stopped the carriage in front of the hall and turned towards its passengers.

  “Milord, I’ll go get the village chief.”

  “No, it’s okay. Let’s not force the busy village chief to come out all this way. You should just look for a place to park the carriage. At the same time, Elaria and I will go visit the village chief, “Josh replied while disembarking the carriage together with Elaria and heading straight for the entrance of the village hall.

  “Halt! State your purpose,” a young guard with a grizzly beard shouted at them as they entered the stone halls of the village hall.

  It seems that not having Leo might have backfired. Actually, I think I got this.

  “How dare you stop your Lord within his lands,” Josh shouted back extravagantly as he slightly bowed toward Elaria. “Magus Elaria, please forgive this one's servants. They didn’t know any better.”

  “Forgive this one, Milord. I’ll go get the village chief. Please wait a second,” the guard stammered nervously

  “This magus honor has been torn into pieces. What are you going do, Baron Josh?” Elaria asked Josh, her arm covering her mouth, though her eyes held a glint of amusement.

  “I’ll have that young man quartered by the horses, dear magus.” With exaggerated hand movements, Josh replied. “Jokes aside, I don’t think we should wait. If I’m right, he doesn’t have the permission to stop me anyway?”

  “Technically, yes. But it would dishonor the village chief if you were to rush in,” she replied coldly.

  Josh chuckled. “That’s what we are here for.”

  Following the young guard's steps, they entered the next room, which had the village chief, several public servants, and servants all around serving them a table at tea. They either listened to the young guard's report about Josh and Elaria or chit-chatted within themselves.

  As Josh was about to shout to announce his presence in the room, Elaria was a second faster.

  “[Draconis Praesentia],” she chanted, her voice resonant, as a dragon’s presence descended into the room. Pushing the servants who were standing to the ground, unable to withstand the pressure. The people who were sitting fared a bit better, but not by any means well as they spilled their teas or stumbled into the table.

  Josh nodded thankfully towards his mentor and shouted out, his voice loud amongst the new silence.

  “You have half an hour to get all the ledgers and documents regarding the four villages in front of me.” As he approached the table, he said, “I think you don’t need to know what will happen if you fail, do you?” With his most menacing gaze, he looked straight into the eyes of the chief.

  The sweaty, plump chief's face just nodded.

  “Elaria, may you?” Josh, getting the memo, asked her to dispel the spell.

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  Instead of replying, Elaria waved her hands around and dispelled her last spell. As soon as the spell got dispelled, the village chief and his entourage scuffled away, leaving Josh and Elaria alone. She turned towards Josh.

  “Are you sure that was the right way?”

  Hell nah, I'm not sure about anything I’m doing so far.

  “Yeah, I’m pretty sure,” Josh replied.

  Elaria just shrugged at his reply and sat down at the now-empty table. Josh, with a contemplating look, joined her.

  ***

  Leo barged into the room where Elaria and Josh were resting with a shout.

  “Milord, care to explain?” He demanded some answers.

  “I’m just doing my duty as your Lord,” Josh replied with a sigh.

  “Your duty?” Leo slammed his hand on the table. “Does your duty include intimidating a man who has been loyal to this land and family for decades?” He pointed threateningly at Josh. “I even entrusted the family treasure to you. Yet you repay the trust like this,” Leo threw a sharp glance at Elaria, clearly thinking it was her doing.

  Josh stood up and walked towards Leo, putting his hands on top of Leo's shoulders.

  “Leo, it’s not that I don’t trust you.”

  “Then what is it, Milord?” Leo grabbed Josh's shoulder in turn.

  Josh sighed. “ I don’t know any of this, being a Lord, a Mage, or a Knight. All of this is new to me and not something I ever thought I’d be. And this world… It’s different, to say the least. “ Josh sighed as his eyes wandered around. “The world I’m from advocates equality before all, and here? I’ve seen Gaius. No, I’ve seen a servant leaving the Village Chief’s office with her body riddled with bruises and her eyes filled with anguish.” Josh stepped away, his back facing Leo. “ So you see, Leo. It’s not you that I don't trust. It’s this world, it’s just different.”

  As soon as Josh finished his little talk, Leo seemed to deflate a bit and joined them at the table to wait patiently for the village chief to deliver the documents. It was already closing in on the half-hour deadline Josh had given to the Chief.

  “Milord, I was pondering what you are trying to find out from these documents. Gaius is a loyal man. His family has been serving as village chiefs for the past century.” Leo inquired.

  Really? A whole ass century of the same people being in charge?

  “It’s unusual back in my old world for one man to be in charge for so long, especially when having complete control over the accounts of four villages, let alone when he isn’t even the owner of them.” Josh sighed. “Even the purest of hearts get allured by the riches if enough time passes

  “It’s just unusual back in my old world for one man to have complete control over the accounting of four villages, let alone when he doesn’t even own them. Even the purest of hearts get allured by the riches if enough time passes. Well, anyway, we’ll know the answer in less than an hour.”

  Hopefully, right. Because if he isn’t corrupt, then… I don’t even know. Though he’s definitely not staying as the village chief if it’s within my power.

  “You are right, Milord, let’s wait and see,” Leo replied.

  “They are coming back.” Elaria, who was silent for this whole debate, alerted them with her eyes fixed on the doors.

  As soon as she had alerted them, the village chief entered the room holding a big stack of papers, with a servant next to him holding another stack.

  I never really considered it, but the paper here is pretty good quality, almost as good as the paper back on Earth.

  “Gaius, just leave those papers on the table. Our Lord will browse through them, and you will be free to continue your job by then,” Leo instructed the Village chief.

  The village chief nodded in affirmation, then bowed low as he approached Josh, left the documents atop the table, and backed away towards the door.

  “Magus Elaria, would you like to share a cup of tea with me as we review those documents?” Josh inquired politely.

  “I’d be delighted, Baron Josh,” Elaria replied with a faint smile.

  “Leo, may you?”

  “But, Milord,” Josh’s stern gaze made Leo reconsider saying anything further. “It would be my pleasure, Milord.” He took a deep bow and left the room, taking the village chief and his servants together with him.

  “Shall we?” Josh turned towards Elaria. Instead of answering, she cast [Oculus Comprehensio] and took a stack of papers into her own hands. Josh, to not be left out, took another stack of papers for himself to read through.

  ***

  The continuous sound of rustling paper filled the room. A room that otherwise would've been silent, two half-empty cups of tea laid on the table, obscured by documents and papers all around the cups. An empty plate that was once filled with pastries was now just left with crumbs, it occupied the only spot that was empty of paper on the table.

  “It doesn’t make sense,” Josh cried out in frustration. “Fifteen years' worth of ledgers, and you have what, three gold coins missing?” He shouted again nervously, threading his fingers through the hair. “It just doesn’t make sense.”

  I can’t be wrong about this. I just can’t.

  “Any luck on your side, Lady Elaria?” he asked.

  Elaria sighed, setting down the document she was reading on the table. “Think about it for a second. I believe our past interactions proved you smarter than you act now.”

  Of fucking course, who in the seven hells would hand over documents that actually incriminated them?

  “We won’t find anything, will we?” he asked.

  She clapped in a mocking tone. “Congratulations, it only took you an hour and a half to realize,” she replied sarcastically.

  He threw the papers he was holding back to the desk. “B-but, if you knew why, you didn’t tell me?” he grabbed her hand forcefully.

  With no effort, she freed her hand; after all, she was both an Elf and a Magus, physically vastly superior to Josh.

  “I’m your mentor, not your nanny,” she coldly stated.

  He slammed the table again out of sheer frustration, and a flicker of uncontrolled crimson fire caused the nearest papers to instantly catch fire.

  “Calm down,” Elaria said as she grabbed Josh by the hand pulling him in close, her mana dousing the fire. “So far, I’ve played along to your games. I’ll play along tomorrow and the day after that. Keep in mind, though, that I will not be used. And if you want my help like I helped you today or how I will help you tomorrow? You will need to respect me, Baron Josh.”

  She let him go. “Take this whole thing as a lesson rather than a failure. After all, you still have much to learn.”

  Josh sat down heavily, his mind racing through the sharp words his mentor had just imparted on him

  Played to my games?

  A game?

  He suddenly broke into uncontrollable laughter, leaning back in his chair.

  Of course, it’s a fucking game…

  That makes…

  Everything…

  So…

  SIMPLE.

  Elaria observed him questionably, one of her eyebrows raised. Josh stood up, his laughter gone. He patted Elaria lightly on the shoulder and gave her the best smile he had as he said, “Thank you. I’m calm now, I owe you one.”

  “You owe me nothing.” She sat back down, taking a sip of her now cold tea. “So, what are you going to do now?”

  Instead of replying, Josh took a pen, grabbed one of the official accounting documents, and quickly, decisively jotted in some numbers, which made it look as if the village chief skimmed several platinum coins rather than the few gold coins that were missing.

  After all, it’s all just a fucking game.

  “Oh no, would you look at this?” he said, handing the document to Elaria. “It seems the village chief has embezzled dozens of coins. Could you help me to arrest him, Lady Elaria?”

  “That’s a dangerous game you are playing,” she sighed. “But like I said, I will play along for now.” She stood up and started walking out. Looked back at him, straight into his eyes. “Let’s go. We have one corrupt village chief to arrest. Don’t we?”

  Josh took hold of the documents and frantically followed her. “Of course, we do, Lady Elaria.”