I Choose The Villain Duke

"What's with all the noise?!"

A woman clad in armor emerged out of the tent. She had her long dark brown hair plaited in a fishtail braid. She was obviously high-ranking. Her outfit was a mix of metal and leather. The chainmail she was wearing fitted her perfectly, showing off her muscular figure. She was also wearing a crimson cape with a lion painted in gold on her back.

"HELP! IT BURNS! PLEASE!" the large man shouted, pointing at the woman while clutching at his face in agony.

Yuzan touched the man's face for a second then removed his finger. The man collapsed on the ground in exhaustion, relieved from the excruciating pain.

"Who are you?" the woman asked.

She pointed her rapier to Yuzan's throat. He didn't even notice her pulling it out. She was good. Better than those three men in the woods.

Azmir wanted to run away already but Yuzan was standing his ground.

"Are you the leader of this troop?" Yuzan asked.

The woman narrowed her eyes at him.

A soldier who was listening to their conversation approached them.

"You are in the presence of the commander of this kingdom, Princess Sua. Bow down," the soldier said in a disapproving look.

Azmir was about to bow down but Yuzan stopped him.

"We are not here to pay respects to you. We are here because your soldiers have poisoned a whole village and three of those even had the guts to dare violate my friend," Yuzan said.

The princess looked confused.

"A village? I've never . . . Come. Let us discuss this further," Sua said.

Yuzan and Azmir followed the princess to a huge tent that looked more like a conference room than a tent. It had a round table with elegant chairs decorated with gems around it.

The three of them sat down.

"So, tell me. Who are you?" Sua asked.

She had none of the feminity and fragile aura that princesses usually have. Princess Sua looked like she was made of steel.

"My name is Mir. I am a traveling merchant and this is my companion, Yuzan. He is an adventurer who appeared in Feylantis," Azmir said.

"And what made an adventurer attack my soldier? A poisoned village, you say? I've never commanded anything like that," Sua said.

"If what you say is true then you should know that your soldiers, well, perhaps not all of them but I am not sure, have tried to extort the village outside Vyridian Woods. The villagers could not give their demands and after that, their well had been poisoned. I think you can connect the dots yourself," Yuzan said.

The princess frowned but remained silent.

"If not for Yuzan, all of the villagers might have already perished after a month. They were just skin and bones when we first arrived. They were really weak and were only surviving from rotten fruits. We believe the poison came from here in Faresh," Azmir said.

"That is a huge accusation against us and what of the other thing you said? You were violated?" Sua said to Azmir.

Azmir blushed.

"Almost. I stopped the three soldiers who tried to do something to him. They also stole his purse but I got it back for him," Yuzan said.

"I see but you do not have any proof and I can have your heads chopped off if you are merely spouting lies," Sua said.

Thud!

Yuzan placed the sword that he took from the soldier on the table in front of the princess. She inspected it for a while. Her fingers traced the lion engraved on the sword's hilt.

"Yes, this belongs to Faresh. Where are the soldiers who attacked your friend?" Sua asked.

"I've left them in the woods. They should still be alive albeit suffering fron a poison I gave them," Yuzan said.

"I see. I shall have them retrieved if they haven't been eaten by the beasts of the woods yet and when they come back, they will be punished accordingly," Sua said.

Yuzan had a feeling if those three were still alive, they would be dead once they reach Faresh.

"And about the poisoning in the village, do you have proof of that too?" Sua asked.

"No, but I trust you can investigate that yourself," Yuzan said with a shrug.

Sua nodded. "Yes but I do need something to start with. Can you tell me what poison was used?"

"Corpse seed," Yuzan said.

There was no such thing in his original world but he knew all the types of poison and its strange names ever since the god gave him his poisoning ability.

Sua clenched her fist.

"I know where that's from," Sua said.

Each platoon in Faresh had their own deadly set of weapons and one team in particular was in charge of the corpse seeds. The corpse seeds were only to be used in war in case they needed to weaken an enemy first before subduing it. Using it to innocent villagers and using a rare commodity for a disgusting reason such as extortion was punishable by death.

Sua was going to make sure those responsible will die a painful death and those who knew but remained silent will follow them in the underworld too.

"I'll take responsibility in ensuring that those soldiers are punished and I shall compensate the village. I apologize for what those soldiers have done," Sua said.

"If you're going to apologize it should be to the villagers and to Mir. The only fault that you had was you failed to keep your soldiers in line. I trust that you won't make the same mistake twice," Yuzan said.

Azmir felt that Yuzan was speaking like an authority figure. He must be an important person back in his original world. Someone who had the authority to give commands and not bow down to others.

"Yes. You are right," Sua said and turned to Azmir.

"I apologize for the behavior of my men. Would you like to be treated here first before you leave? I see that you have a bruise there," Sua said.

"It's fine. It doesn't hu-" 

"Yes, he'll take the treatment," Yuzan interrupted.

Azmir gave Yuzan a dismayed look. He didn't want to stay another minute in a camp full of trained soldiers who can easily kill them.

*

*

*

Sua sent a medic to apply ointment on Azmir's bruise. He was also given a chest full of gems which Azmir tried to refuse but Sua didn't want to take it back.

It had gotten too dark already to go back to the village. Yuzan and Azmir were given their own tents to sleep in.

Azmir was scared but Sua said she had told her soldiers to treat them as very important guests. Their tents were filled with plush pillows and silk blankets. It was so comfortable, they couldn't even feel the hard ground under them.

Yuzan was about to fall asleep when he heard a rustling from outside his tent. He was prepared to touch anyone who would go in his tent and poison him instantly when he heard her voice.

"Sir Yuzan, it's me. Are you still awake?"

The princess.

Yuzan rubbed his head. He was already feeling exhausted but he should invite her in as he was being treated as a guest.

"Yes, Princess? What can I do for you?" Yuzan asked.

"May I go in?" Sua asked.

Yuzan lit the lamp in his tent then opened the flap of his tent.

She had let down her long brown hair and she was wearing a gray nightdress. She still had a warrior's gait, straight and determined, but the night seemed to have lessen the harshness of her look. She almost looked like an ordinary woman instead of a commander of an army.

"What brings you here, Princess?" Yuzan asked.

The two of them sat on the pillows facing each other.

"I would like to converse with you as you have come from a far away land and I have never met an adventurer," Sua said.

Yuzan was tired already but the princess treated them really well despite what he did to her soldiers. 

"What would you like to know?" Yuzan asked.

"Why did you help the villagers? It's not a well-known village and if your goal is to be a hero, no one would know of what you've done except for the villagers themselves," Sua said.

"There was a little girl," Yuzan said.

Sua waited for him to continue. Yuzan sighed.

"She reminded me of my little sister so I healed her. After that, I was just persuaded by my friend to heal the rest of the villagers," Yuzan said.

"That must have been difficult," Sua said, impressed.

"Yes but Mir said my sister would like it if she knew that I healed a whole village," Yuzan said.

"And your sister? Where is she?" Sua asked.

"I'm looking for her. We . . . were separated and she might be in Aderlan," Yuzan said.

Sua nodded sympathetically.

"I see. I apologize. You must be feeling tired already and here I am interrupting your rest. It's just been a long time since I've conversed with someone who doesn't treat me like a commander," Sua said.

"What about your family members?" Yuzan asked.

"My parents have retired from duty. They're residing in a peaceful village away from here. I'm just keeping everything in place as my duty to the people of Faresh," Sua said.

"Would you leave if you could?" Yuzan asked.

Sua smiled sadly.