102 Grassland Rules
The nomads of the grasslands, called savages, seem to be a race somewhere between the East and the West.
At first, I thought they might be similar to Mongolians, but when I saw them, they were taller and taller, and had a clear outline like Westerners.
However, it is not like Arabs or Indians. It was a little more Asian than that.
Although this place is similar to Earth, I felt that it was definitely a different world.
Rudy glanced at Goruka.
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Despite a sprained leg, he refused to help or ride in the carriage, and asked to borrow a horse.
It didn’t look like it was sick at all when I gave it to him and mounted it.
‘He certainly rides a horse naturally.’
Treat it like your own hands and feet. It was understandable enough that the soldiers of the empire could not catch up with the nomads if they rode horses so naturally.
Goruka recognized him as soon as they met.
This is because the report detailed not only appearance and clothing, but also height and impression.
The one who wrote and sent the report was a special agency set up in the border city because of the people of the steppe.
They are not directly involved in the governance of this province. He was only in charge of collecting and analyzing information about barbarians and border cities and sending them to the ecliptic.
In the report sent by the agency, information about Goruka was packed, but her age was not listed. The estimate was written that it might be only in the late teens.
But it will be around the early 20’s.
Imperial people are the same race as Westerners on Earth. I’ve rarely seen Asians, so I guess I’m not good at guessing my age.
From the point of view of Rudy, who was originally an Asian in his previous life, it seemed so clear that he could not understand why he mistook him for a teenager.
Goruka is not the only informant of barbarians who cooperate with the Empire. There were several people.
However, a special agency recommended Goruka as a meadow guide.
Goruka is the youngest and most thoughtful of the informants, and knows the meadow well. It was written in the report that his personality and skills were beyond reproach.
In addition, Goruka’s situation was appropriate.
I don’t know for sure, but some sources say that Goruka’s parents were killed by one of the steppe tribes.
It was the Black Rock tribe who wanted Lilitha as their wife.
It doesn’t seem like it’s a very secretive thing.
The barbarians often engage in inter-tribal warfare, and Goruka is said to have helped from the shadows several times by selling weapons or food to the other side of the Black Rock.
The black rock seems to be hearing complaints not only from Goruka, but also from other tribes and people. It was written that it was a fairly violent tribe.
Rudi slightly pulled the dark horse’s reins while occasionally watching Goruka, who was going from a little distance away.
The report says that Goruka has almost no facial expression, but if you look at her, her emotions are richer than you think.
‘Did I think he looked expressionless because he had a face close to an Asian?’
Maybe it’s because he was an Asian in his previous life, but when he sees Goruka, he feels a little strange. It felt like a tickling feeling, like missing something and regretting it, hit my throat.
By the time Rudi and the soldiers reached the lord’s house, people who had heard the news ran out from inside.
It seems that the person running from the back in a hurry is the lord.
He was quite old, but his face was powdered and red cosmetics were applied to his cheeks to create a ruddy face.
It’s like a third-rate actor who jumped out of a play on the outskirts stage.
Rudy lowered his voice and asked Boris next to him.
“That man, why is he acting like that? Is there some reason?”
Boris chuckled and laughed.
“Imitating the latest fashion of the ecliptic in its own way. It must have wanted to show off as a special person.”
“Isn’t it really popular in the ecliptic?”
“A look like that briefly became popular about 10 years ago. The only time you wear makeup like that is when an actor in a theater is clowning.”
I was a little relieved. I think it would really hurt my eyes to see men like that fill the streets.
The lord ran up to Rudy and bowed exaggeratedly in front of the horse.
“Your Majesty! It’s a shame that you’ve taken me to this shabby frontier. A small person is in charge of this city…”
The words are verbose and long. The lord moved his chubby belly, constantly saying greetings that he himself didn’t quite understand.
Rudy raised one arm slightly to block the lord’s words.
However, the lord’s mouth did not stop, whether he didn’t know what Rudy’s movements meant, or he did it even though he knew it.
It was only after the official from the special agency standing in front of Rudy stopped him that the lord closed his mouth with a dissatisfied expression.
There are people who lose their sight when they hold power beyond the limit.
It seems that the lord has even forgotten his position as he wields unbridled power in this remote area.
Rudy looked down at him with cold eyes as he recalled the report on the lord’s actions.
“Let me ask you one thing. Haven’t you been told to let Goruka stay here as my guest?”
The lord made a slightly troubled expression.
“Your Majesty, I heard that, but the officials of the special agency do not know the situation here.
Boris’s whip, which had been listening quietly until then, hit the ground next to the lord with a loud noise.
The whip seemed to have barely grazed the lord’s body. There was not a single wound on the skin, but the round sleeves of the clothes were torn and looked through.
“Hee!”
The lord was startled and sat down on the floor.
“It’s rude!”
Boris glared at the lord with an icy face. Cold air emanated from the low voice, as if frost were about to fall.
“I, I, I.”
The lord tried to say something, but this time Rudy spoke first.
“Don’t you know what I just said? You defied the imperial order.”
“Uh, um, I don’t mean that.”
The lord’s face turned pale.
“To violate the imperial decree and make His Majesty’s guests end up like this, even if I die right away, I won’t have anything to say!”
Boris glared at the lord with a frosty face.
Yeongju fell on the ground with his whole face shaking.
“Yo, please forgive me, Your Majesty. I, I, did not mean to do that at all. Please forgive me for my merits in ruling this desolate land.”
“Oh, meritorious work.”
Rudy laughed.
“Tell that lord what that merit is.”
After Rudy ran out of words, the official from the special agency began to speak loudly.
“During the 13 years he was appointed as the lord and worked here, he embezzled public funds sent by the central government to repair the border cities, and used his blood relatives to collect taxes higher than those set for each region. Not only that, but the documents There are traces of counterfeiting and misappropriation of public money to be used for various fixtures, and fabrication of tax books. There are cases where the people of this place, which is under the direct control of the imperial family, are kidnapped at will and taken as maids or concubines, or even killed.”
The lord’s face grew whiter and whiter.
Long ago, even in this remote area, there was a proper lord.
However, in adverse conditions such as continued looting and war, the lord’s bloodline was gradually cut off.
In the end, he tried to find a blood relative in another region and made him the successor, but finally he was returned to the imperial family because his descendants were completely cut off.
Since then, most of the area around this area has been governed by Daegwan as a lord under direct control of the imperial family.
The same goes for the current lord.
However, since it was so far from the center and was plundered, coming here tended to be accepted as exile or relegation.
No one wants to come here voluntarily.
So I just closed my eyes to some embezzlement.
But now it has gotten to the point where I can no longer close my eyes.
Before coming here, Rudy stopped by most of the areas along the border and bordered the grasslands to check the current situation.
Because the grassland was so vast, there were several fairly large villages in the border area.
However, most of the villages had walls, but they were demolished enough to do so, and there was no liveliness.
It is said that in the past, most villages in the border area were somewhat active.
However, I heard that it gradually declined as barbarians broke through cracks in the collapsed walls and plundered or attacked people who entered and exited.
However, people still live in such villages.
When savages plunder, they take women with them, but do not kill people as much as possible.
Since they only took as much as they could carry on a horse, even if they were plundered today, they didn’t die of starvation right away.
It’s hard, but I barely have enough left to live on.
As a result, the plundered villagers were in an awkward situation to abandon everything and run away.
I don’t know if I can go somewhere else and live well, but if I run away without the lord’s permission, I won’t be able to live properly in another place.
Even if it was somewhat plundered, the place where they lived until now remained intact here. Houses, rice paddies, and if you are lucky, even livestock are left in large numbers.
It may be plundered again next year or the year after, but it is better than leaving right now.
At least there is a roof to shelter from the rain and land to hold next year’s hopes.
In the end, the residents of the declining border area stayed where they were born, like frogs who did not know that the temperature of the water was gradually rising and their bodies were getting ripe.
If left as it is, the number of people will eventually decrease, and eventually even the thriving border town will fall. I have to do something about this situation now.
‘It won’t be something in an instant, but at least it would be much better if I drove out this lord and his clan.’
Rudy looked at the lord being dragged away pleading, and turned his head.
The special agency investigated the local officials as far as it could, and compiled a list of useful persons.
He had to choose officials who would work properly, and at the same time go to war with the grassland tribes.
For the time being, I will be busy without a bird to open my eyes.
Rudy smirked at Goruka, who blinked in surprise.
“I’ll have to talk to you first.”
Goruka lowered her head slightly.
***
The boy emperor was a strange person.
He told them to put the crying lord in prison, and as soon as he entered the lord’s house, he called Goruka to his room.
There was only one man in the room holding a whip.
I wondered if the emperor could afford such a lax escort.
The strangest thing of all was that the emperor was a very young boy.
‘Will this boy become the commander-in-chief of the war?’
At first, I thought that this boy emperor was a decoration and that someone else was actually conducting it, but looking at the situation, it seems that is not the case.
It seemed that the boy emperor was the real commander-in-chief.
Still, whatever it is, it will be better than that pig lord.
As Goruka stood dumbfounded and waited for his words, the boy emperor invited him to sit in the chair across from him.
“Is it okay for a barbarian to sit in front of His Majesty the Emperor of the Empire?”
It was strange, so Goruka asked, and the boy emperor smiled.
“It’s okay. My neck only hurts when you’re standing.”
After sitting down as the boy suggested, he said something strange.
“Tell me how to fight in the meadow.”
“…”
It seems that Goruka made a strange face. The boy emperor tilted his head and said.
“Was my question a little hard to understand? If so, I’ll change my mind. I know that most Imperial soldiers are no match for the steppe tribes. But they’ve won at least once in a while. Still, the marauders haven’t diminished at all. “I know it’s gotten worse. How can I make them think twice when they’re plundering?”
Goruka had never heard anything like this from an imperial official.
Empires have imperial ways. They wouldn’t trade it for the tribes of the steppes they call savages.
Goruka straightened her posture and answered.
“There are grassland rules in the grasslands. If you follow them, there will be fewer plunderers simply out of greed.”
The boy emperor grinned.
“Teach me the rules. Oh, before that, I’d like to ask you to guide the meadow.”
Goruka thought for a moment before opening his mouth.
“If your Majesty follows the rules of the grassland, I will guide you. But if you do not intend to abide by the rules, I cannot guide you.”
“Okay, then I’ll tell you the rules.”
The boy emperor smiled brightly. His smile was so bright that he doubted whether the boy was really listening to him.
“The tribes of the plains don’t kill people when plundering. They only carry what they need on horseback. The same goes for women and food. But when there is a war between tribes, it’s a different story.”
The boy emperor quietly listened to Goruka’s words.
“If the opponent declares surrender in a war, that is the end. Withdraw their swords and negotiate compensation with the opponent. But if they do not surrender and will fight to the end, they will be annihilated.”
“hmm.”
The boy emperor did not show much reaction. I just nodded slightly.
Goruka thought that the emperor did not understand what he was saying.
“When you exterminate, you kill everyone except women who can bear children. Not to mention women who are less likely to have children over 40, and in the case of men, they kill all the one-year-old babies and the fetuses in their wombs. .”
“Even the fetus? One year old is when you can’t even speak properly, so why kill such a young child?”
“Because men are taught that way ever since they were born.”
In the grassland, even if a woman is plundered or defeated in a war and goes to the other tribe, she obeys her husband and bears and raises the man’s child.
I was educated that way by my mother, and I also educated my child that way.
A woman who has no way to survive in the grassland by herself needs someone’s protection, and in the end, it has become settled that she obeys any man.
But boys are the exact opposite.
Men are the ones who make the tribe prosper by protecting women, children, and livestock. When the enemy invades or plunders, the reason for existence is to kill the opponent until the end and protect the tribe.
Because he is such a man, he never forgets the grudge when his tribe is trampled on. As long as he has his life, he constantly strives and sharpens his sword to repay his grudge.
Just like Goruka himself.
So the man must be killed. The exception was only when he admitted he had lost.
The Empire has never done that. If they tracked down and captured them, they made them slaves instead of killing them, leaving young children and old men and women alone.
Because of that, the grudge remained as it was, and the Empire was looked down upon as a fool.
The empire laughs at the tribes of the grasslands as barbarians.
However, in the grasslands, on the contrary, they were treated as cattle that were eaten by raising an empire.
Even if they fight and lose, the Empire has neither the guts nor the ability to kill itself. So even if you plunder to your heart’s content, there is no backtracking. I thought so.
As Goruka explained, the boy emperor muttered with a bitter expression.
“I see. I got it.”
Goruka looked at the boy emperor quietly.
So now what are you going to do
At Goruka’s silent question, the boy emperor smiled and said,
“I understand the rules of the meadow. Take care of the guide.”
＜ Rules of the Grassland ＞
＜ Crisis of the Black Knight ＞
