Morning in Dreisburg no longer smelled of misery.
The steam of freshly baked bread mixed with the cold air of dawn, and for the first time in years, the sound that woke the village was not the crack of hunger, but the murmur of living voices.
Kaito watched the scene from the low hill overlooking the settlement.
Children running. Women talking as they carried clean water. Men repairing fences and rooftops with tools that had never existed here before.
It was not prosperity.
But it was no longer abandonment.
"They're getting used to it quickly," Adelheid commented beside him. "That's dangerous."
"Dangerous?" Kaito asked, never taking his eyes off the village.
"Hope is loud," she replied. "And noise always draws attention."
Kaito knew it. From the moment he decided to feed Dreisburg, he understood he had crossed an invisible line.
And yet—
"If this place is going to fall," he said calmly, "I'd rather it fall after having lived a little."
Adelheid did not reply. She only watched him, her expression impossible to read.
---
A child was the first to see them. He ran from the main road, breathless, eyes wide.
"They're coming…! Soldiers from the kingdom!"
The village froze.
Villagers looked at one another, and fear—that old acquaintance—returned by instinct.
Kaito immediately descended toward the central square. Adelheid was already there, issuing orders in a firm voice.
"No one runs. No one confronts them. Let me speak first."
"How many?" Kaito asked.
"Three," a subjugated soldier replied. "One looks like an officer. The other two are escorts."
Kaito frowned.
"Only three…?"
"They didn't come to fight," Adelheid said. "They came to mark territory."
Minutes later, they entered.
Three men in the armor of the Kingdom of Avernor. Not shining. Not glorious. Bureaucrats clad in steel.
At the front walked a middle-aged man with a trimmed beard and calculating eyes. He carried no drawn sword—only scrolls.
He stopped in the middle of the square and looked around.
Repaired houses. A working well. People… fed.
A thin smile appeared on his face.
"Well, well…" he murmured. "It seems Dreisburg has had… an unexpected improvement."
Villagers lowered their gazes. Some trembled.
Kaito stepped forward.
"Who are you?"
The man looked him up and down. Black hair. Simple clothes. Hands rough with fresh calluses.
"I am Roderick Valen, an authorized tax collector of the Kingdom of Avernor." He raised one of the scrolls. "And I have come for this village's overdue taxes."
A murmur rippled through the square.
"It—it's impossible…" an old man whispered. "We have nothing…"
Roderick raised a hand.
"Oh, I know. For years, Dreisburg was… irrelevant." His gaze locked onto Kaito. "But today I see repaired wells, food, order. That changes things."
Kaito felt Adelheid tense beside him.
"This village does not belong to the kingdom," Kaito said firmly. "It was abandoned years ago."
Roderick smiled.
"The kingdom never abandons. It merely… disengages temporarily. But everything that prospers on these lands—" he tapped the ground with his boot "—belongs to Avernor."
He unrolled a scroll.
"Five years of back taxes. Plus a fine for unregistered economic activity." He looked up. "You have three days."
Absolute silence.
"If you fail to pay," he continued calmly, "the village will be confiscated. And its inhabitants… redistributed as labor."
A child began to cry.
Kaito clenched his fists.
"That's slavery."
Roderick shrugged.
"It's law."
Adelheid stepped forward.
"Leave," she ordered, her coldness enough to freeze blood. "This village is under the protection of Commander Kaito."
Roderick looked at her. For the first time, his smile faded slightly.
"Commander…?" He studied her closely. "An interesting title for someone without an official banner."
He glanced around once more, memorizing faces. Details. Gestures.
"Don't worry," he finally said. "I'll return in three days."
He turned away, and before leaving, added:
"Oh—and a word of advice, young man. If you plan to play at founding a kingdom… make sure you have permission to exist."
The three soldiers withdrew.
When they vanished down the road, the square erupted in panicked murmurs.
"They'll take everything again!"
"They said they'd take us away!"
"This is what happens when you attract attention!"
Kaito raised his voice.
"Listen to me!"
Silence slowly returned.
"No one is taking this village. Not today. Not tomorrow."
A woman stepped forward.
"And how can you be sure…?"
Kaito met her eyes.
"Because if they come for you… they'll have to go through me first."
That night, the central bonfire burned with a different kind of tension.
Villagers slept restlessly. Soldiers kept watch in silence.
Kaito and Adelheid sat alone before the fire.
"Three days," Kaito murmured. "We don't have that kind of money. Not even if we sell everything."
"Money isn't the problem," Adelheid replied. "The problem is that now we exist. And the kingdom has noticed."
Kaito closed his eyes.
"If we attack the tax collector…"
"We confirm ourselves as rebels. If we flee… Dreisburg will be punished."
Kaito opened his eyes.
"So there's no clean way out."
"There never was," Adelheid said, leaning slightly closer. "Welcome to true leadership, Commander. Where every correct decision… condemns someone."
The fire crackled.
"What would you do…?" Kaito asked quietly.
Adelheid didn't answer at once.
When she did, her voice was barely a whisper.
"I would make the kingdom tremble… before it ever sets foot here again."
Kaito stared into the flames. Thought of the children. The well. The trust he had earned.
And he understood—
Saving Dreisburg meant standing against the world.
And that night, for the first time since he took command,
Kaito realized that being seen…
was more dangerous than having been forgotten.