Elf Tensei Kara no Cheat Kenkoku-ki

We rode until the horses were exhausted before stopping. Finally we were able to see the village.

We’d gone so far and hadn’t run into any soldiers.

「Lucy stop. Stop the horses.」

I gave the order to stop the horses before we reached the village.

「What’s wrong Cyril?」

「I just need to arrange the luggage a bit.」

I went to the top of the wagon and focused my magic power and partially activated 【Samsara Recursion】.

It was a technique that maintained my current appearance and only changed the internal structure of my body into one of my previous incarnations.

This Partial Activation of 【Samsara Recursion】 used 3-5 times the normal amount of internal magic power so I could only maintain it for 10 minutes at best. Furthermore the revived abilities I received dropped in power by several levels. Finally the restriction on using 【Samsara Recursion】 again within twelve hours was completely the same as using it normally.

I didn’t want to show Lucy my body morphing into another person. For this slightly ridiculous reason I wasted my magical power and only used partial activation.

「【Item Box】」

I took out all the things I had stolen from the supply base and arranged it on the wagon.

Typically this kind of wagon could only carry 4-5 tons of goods. The amount I had stolen was only around 3 tons so there was still capacity left over.

「Fuu, that should be fine. Lucy let’s set off……oh wait something just came up. Wait here for a bit.」

I said and used wind magic to increase my movement speed as I dashed into the shadow of a hill that created a blind spot from most directions.

「【Item Box】」

As I stood in this secluded area I took out half of the swords and armor I’d stolen before hiding them.

After finishing this job I released my partial activation. There’s no reason to waste any time in this magic wasting form.

I had stopped it at around the half-way point. My body was assaulted by a feeling of exhaustion as it tried to compensate for the sudden disappearance of half of my magic power. It appeared that instead of lengthening the time I could stay in Deet’s form, my increase in magic power had simply increased the level he would appear at. My consumption had increased proportionally to my magic power.

I hid my tiredness behind a smile as I returned to Lucy.

「Sorry about that I forgot something important.」

Lucy hadn’t seen me hide the armor. She probably thought I had gone to the bathroom or something.

「That’s fine, but why did you take out all the stuff here? Now we’ll have to move it to the village storehouse so it’s twice the effort right?」

「You don’t get it Lucy. Once we get back to the village the Headman and everyone will run over right? They’ll check if we’re alright and take a peek to see what’s in the wagon. If they see nothing there then they’ll be disappointed. There are even people who won’t ask any questions and might scream or try to hit us.」

People were that kind of creature.

If you don’t understand that then you might get the rug pulled out from under you. You have to consider and predict people’s reactions and emotions to avoid difficulties.

「But it’ll be difficult to get everything into storage.」

「I won’t be the one carrying it so I don’t really care.」

「You have a convenient magic spell right? You can just store the stuff again and take it out in the storehouse.」

「You’re saying some interesting stuff Lucy…but do you think I can use such a convenient magic freely? I have to wait at least 12 hours to do it again.」

「…..what a waste.」

Lucy seemed dissatisfied.

「Plus in the end I think we’ll have to help anyways. We’re young and strong.」

「I don’t think so. I can confirm that.」

「Why?」

「The Headman and his ilk don’t want us to see the storehouse. They can easily embezzle some of the things the Empire gives to us so it’s certain that the only people allowed in the storehouse are those with the support of the Headman. I bet the honey mead this time will end up being embezzled away first.」

I expected at least one portion of the honey mead would end up in the Headman’s pocket instead of the storehouse.

「The Headman and the others wouldn’t do that!」

「Really? Every time the Empire sends us goods it happens. You think the Empire doesn’t send us any pepper, vinegar, or alcohol? Nope, they send a little of that every time.」

「No way!」

「It’s true. If you look at the son of the Headman’s fat stomach you can tell right? They’re only able to get fat in this situation if they’re doing that.」

Honestly, I didn’t intend to persecute the Headman for doing this.

The Headman had many duties and heavy responsibilities. He should be allowed some privilege in exchange.

Furthermore, this kind of thing was instigated by the Empire itself. My father had refused their temptation and instead chose to fight them.

However, this Headman uncle had accepted their offer.

The top of the village watering things down made control easier.

Even if the villagers were suffering the top would try to suppress their dissatisfaction to maintain their status. That prevented much rebellion.

「We can’t let them monopolize the things that Cyril worked so hard to get. We have to find out some way to stop…..」

「No we can’t. It’d make it impossible to live in the village. Plus even we drank the honey mead. We’re accomplices. I think it is fine for the Headman and those who work hard normally to get some small luxuries. It’s just like we worked hard and got some for our efforts.」

This was another reason I had tempted Lucy into drinking the honey mead.

There was a high chance of Lucy realizing the Headman’s embezzlement this time. Lucy, with her sense of justice, would try to right this wrong. I could foresee a wretched future after that.

That’s why I had to make us accomplices to the embezzlement.

If were just Lucy then she would point out the injustice of what the Headman was doing, but since it involved me as well she had no choice but to be silent.

「The Headman has enough good sense and conscience not to take things too far. You don’t have to worry.」

「Un, I can’t really accept it, but I understand.」

Lucy said with a face full of sullen dissatisfaction.

「Thank you Lucy. If things go too far then we will definitely stop it. Just don’t do anything unnecessary if you don’t need to.」

Suddenly I felt uneasy.

This wasn’t like the usual deliveries from the Empire. There was no guarantee there would be another one. The delivery this time was much more attractive, and no one could accurately guess how much I’d stolen.

It was practically an excuse to do as you please. I just wonder how well the Headman’s common sense will work…….I just had to pray.

In the worst case the Headman would steal everything in the carriage and run away to another village under the Empire’s control. He could sell it off and live off of the proceeds for about 10 years.

Food and supplies for a village of 200 for three months would last that long. For a single family they could make it last for years.