Chapter 32: Intruders

Since Father isn't here, there's no dungeon exploration today. While I was entertaining Siegvalt at the mansion, Jin suddenly rushed in.

"Why are you in such a hurry?"

"It's… terrible! Intruders have broken into the brewery!"

"What?!"

I listened to Jin’s report and quickly headed to the brewery, taking a few soldiers along.

"This is a disaster..."

The inside of the brewery was in utter disarray.

"Lord Toma! This is serious!"

Ram was visibly flustered.

Given the extent of the mess, it’s understandable he'd be upset, but was there something even worse?

"The koji for brewing sake has been stolen!"

"What?!"

Jin was even more frantic than I was.

Upon checking, I found that despite the chaos, only the koji had been stolen.

It seems the intruders’ primary target was the koji.

"If the koji was stolen, they could start brewing Horse King elsewhere. What should we do?!"

"Calm down for now."

"How can I calm down?! The koji has been stolen!"

Jin shouted, nearly spitting as he spoke, but there was no need to yell—I could hear him just fine.

"It's unfortunate that it was stolen, but let's clean up first."

"Why are you so calm, Lord Toma?"

"Calm? Do I really seem calm?"

"Yes. You do."

"I’m very upset, too. But shouting here won’t solve anything. Let’s focus on what we can do."

"Ugh… I apologize for getting worked up."

"It's fine. I understand how you feel."

Yes, I understand very well.

But Jin needn’t worry; Horse King’s koji is unusable anywhere else.

The koji for Horse King has a built-in safeguard.

If it’s taken below an altitude of 300 meters, it undergoes a change that prevents it from producing Horse King.

Ashud territory sits at an elevation of roughly 300 meters, so brewing Horse King here poses no issues. However, if it’s ever taken below that altitude, it will become useless.

Of course, there’s a chance it could be smuggled out by a route that never dips below 300 meters, but topography makes this almost impossible, something I've confirmed in advance.

Upon using my information-reading ability to assess the situation, I discovered that not only had the intruders stolen the koji, but they had also gone to the trouble of poisoning the equipment, barrels, and malt intended for brewing.

"Hey, what happened here?"

"This looks awful…"

It was Ben and Sharmi, both armed.

While Father is away, I act as the deputy lord, which means I can't enter the dungeon myself. So they had been going through the first and second layers lightly.

It looked like they were about to head into the dungeon.

"Intruders broke in and caused all this."

"That's terrible. I’ll help clean up."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course."

"I'll help too."

"Thank you, both of you. Ben, could you call Mr. Bowman for me?"

"My dad? Sure."

"Sharmi, could you ask the Elder to send more people to help with the cleanup?"

"Got it!"

"And Jin, please check the sake storehouse to ensure it's secure. Look for any signs that the locks might have been forced open."

"Understood."

"Ram and the soldiers, please dig a hole for discarding the malt. We’ll be discarding everything prepped for brewing."

"What, all of it?"

"If there’s any poison, it could have devastating consequences. It’s unfortunate, but it’s best to discard it. We’ll also thoroughly wash all empty barrels and equipment. Doing things thoroughly now means that, if rumors arise later, we can confidently deny them."

Following my instructions, everyone moved to action.

Ben was the first to return, remarkably quickly. Mr. Bowman is light on his feet.

"This is quite a disaster, young master."

"This is the price of neglecting security. I’ll ensure we improve it from now on."

"You're discarding the malt?"

He seemed to have noticed Ram and the soldiers discarding malt into the pit they’d dug.

"We don’t know what might have been done to it, so everything in the brewery will be discarded. I’d like you, Mr. Bowman, to inspect the distiller to see if it can be repaired or if it’s better to make a new one."

"Ah, they broke that too, huh? Those bastards!"

The distiller Mr. Bowman had crafted with much trial and error was damaged.

The intruders didn’t seem to understand what the distiller was, so they hadn’t poisoned it, only broken it.

"Ah… it’s in bad shape."

"Can it be fixed?"

"Hmm… I think it’d be quicker to make a new one, young master."

"All right. Please make a new one. Here’s something to cover the cost."

"Got it. Hey, Ben, let’s load this up."

"Sure, leave it to me!"

As Mr. Bowman and Ben loaded the distiller onto a cart, Sharmi returned with the Elder and several men.

"Young master, it’s unfortunate what happened."

"We can’t change the past, so we’ll move forward. I’d like your help in cleaning and sanitizing the barrels and equipment. Would you be willing?"

"Of course, we’d be happy to help."

With the Elder’s support, the villagers willingly agreed to assist without a hint of reluctance. They’re good people.

I had already neutralized the poison with my transformation ability, but to eliminate any residual risk, everything would be washed thoroughly.

"Lord Toma, the sake storehouse is secure. There’s no sign of forced entry on the locks."

"Thank you for checking."

"Are we discarding everything?"

"Yes, it all has to go. It’s frustrating, but it’s necessary."

"Indeed… I suppose it can’t be helped."

Over the next three days, we cleaned everything from top to bottom.

The villagers helped whenever they had free time, which was a huge help.

After Jin confirmed the storehouse’s security, I double-checked it for good measure.

Just as Jin had said, the storehouse was safe. If the intruders had managed to breach it, I don’t know how we would have recovered.