In the camp…
Tara watched on with a deadpan expression as Shuvichi, the Elixirblade from the Shuvlok tribe, toyed with the leader of the group of ruffians.
Barbara stood to her side with her arms folded in front of her chest, and a proud expression adorned her face. Her eyes were filled with contempt as she looked at the group of five. She did not even bother to hide the fact that she thought of these troublemakers as nothing more than a bunch of clowns.
The ruffian leader gritted his teeth. He wielded twin daggers in both hands and lunged at Shuvichi. He was quite fast, but not fast enough.
Shuvichi easily parried one of the dagger strikes and dodged the other. He hit the ruffian leader's wrist with a flick of the dull edge of his blade.
Pain coursed through the ruffian's arm, enough to make him drop the dagger. However, the sad thing for him was that this was not the first time this had happened.
He glared at Shuvichi with pure hatred. This damned barbarian wasn't even taking him seriously. He was being humiliated in front of everyone.
The other Shuvlok Berserkers stood next to his "friends," their axes in hand, preventing them from interfering in the fight.
Shuvichi was an Elixirblade, but right now, he wasn't even using the "Elixir" part of his skillset.
"What's the matter?" Shuvichi asked the ruffian leader. "Pick your dagger up."
Some of the Shuvlok tribesmen chuckled, and the frustration and shame of the ruffians grew. They had not expected there to be more tribesmen, and most importantly, they had not expected them to be so strong.
Unable to take it anymore, the ruffian leader shouted, "Enough!"
Since fighting wouldn't work, perhaps talking would. "This is not the time for us to be fighting each other. Don't you want to get out of this place too? Don't tell me you proud Shuvlok warriors are fine just being citizens of this Barony!"
When Tara saw the ruffian leader switching from warfare to diplomacy like this, she couldn't help but curse him for being so shameless. But a bit of worry also accompanied that anger.
Right now, the total population of Hiro's Realm was 23. The vast majority of these people wanted Hiro to exile them so they could leave the Desolate Lands.
Hiro might be able to handle them right now, but what would happen when there were 100 people? 1,000 people?
What Tara did not stop to consider was whether they would even survive until that point.
Tara was still ignorant about the true horrors of the Desolate Lands.
Before Shuvichi or anyone else could say anything in response to the ruffian leader, a flash of light appeared in the camp, some distance in front of Tara.
The flash of light did not go unnoticed. Once it faded, an extremely handsome man with deep and mysterious gray eyes stood revealed. The clothes he wore were more lavish than those of anyone else present. They naturally set him apart from the rest, giving him an air of nobility.
Hiro had finally arrived.
'Did he just teleport!?' That thought dominated the minds of the citizens as they froze in place, their eyes locked on Hiro in awe and shock.
Teleportation was not exactly a conventional mode of transportation, to put it mildly.
As everyone stared at Hiro, he, too, took his time to scan the faces of the newcomers, taking in every unfamiliar presence.
Finally, he spoke, his voice as easygoing as ever.
"I only left the settlement for a few hours, and things have already gotten so lively here. Awesome."
Although his eyes darted around at the beginning of the sentence, they finally settled on Shuvichi and the man wearing the Soulbound leather armor.
At this point, the ruffian leader was quite intimidated. It wasn't because of Hiro's easygoing tone, obviously. It was because these Shuvloks, who were clearly strong, seemed to show some deference to Hiro. The fact that Hiro could teleport only deepened his unease.
But since the Baron's eyes were locked onto him, he couldn't stay silent. First, he had to confirm something.
"Are you the Baron of this place?" He tried to smooth out the roughness in his voice. He understood that his daggers were unlikely to be of much use right now—at least not on their own. He needed the support of others.
In response to the man's question, Hiro said, "I think my identity is quite obvious, is it not?"
Hiro's smile widened ever so slightly. The looks these people were giving him were not the looks that citizens should be giving their Lord.
They clearly needed to be taught some respect. So, still addressing the same man, he said, "Now that you know that I'm the Baron, why don't I see you bowing to your Lord?"
A dangerous light flashed in the man's eyes for a brief moment, but he managed to restrain himself.
"Bow? Yes, yes, of course, my Lord." After saying so, he tilted his head downward while his upper body bent slightly. His gesture could barely be considered a bow and was quite rude for a first meeting.
In fact, the man had more to say. "It is just that I don't think you will be hearing me address you as 'my lord' for much longer, my Lord."
"Oh? How sad." Hiro chuckled. "Why do you say that?"
"You see, many of us here do not wish to be part of this Realm. Who in their right mind would willingly stay in the Desolate Lands? Right?"
The man turned his head, locking eyes with some of the other new arrivals as well as a few of the Shuvlok tribesmen.
He was trying to secure their support in case things went wrong. However, he could feel the distinct lack of conviction in their gazes.
'These bastards want me to take charge while they just stand back!'
He hatefully realized what was going through their minds. He was being treated as some kind of test subject. If he got Exiled, then the others would get the option of voluntary exile too.
Hiro, on the other hand, pretended not to realize what the man was getting at.
"Hoh… For a mere refugee, you sure have some nerve!" Hiro smiled and started moving closer to the man. With each step Hiro took forward, the man took one step back. His eyes darted around, searching for anyone who might come to his aid.
"If I were you and wanted to escape this Realm, I would have silently sneaked away to the edge of the Barony. Then, you could've become a refugee once again. Instead, here you are, speaking nonsense to me."
…
A strange silence spread throughout the camp. Hiro didn't quite understand why the man wasn't saying anything, at least not until Tara telepathically spoke to him.
"My Lord, once someone becomes a Refugee, the World does not allow them to take refuge in a different Realm for three more years. The only exception to this rule is if the person gets exiled from their new Realm."
Hiro's steps paused after hearing Tara's words. That explained the man's silence as well as the strange look in his eyes.
'There I go, showing off my ignorance in front of all my citizens. Way to go, me,' Hiro thought.
But could he be blamed? There were so many damn rules! Still, this rule made sense. It was probably the World's way of ensuring that seeking refuge carried some risk. It was not something to be done lightly. There was a very real chance that a refugee would end up in a Realm worse than their old one.
Now that he understood this, Hiro decided to diffuse the awkwardness in the air.
"Cough... I was joking, of course. You've just arrived, so there's no way for you to seek refuge again. Therefore, you want me to exile you instead. Is that right?"
Hearing this, although the ruffian man thought that the Baron had a strange sense of humor, he decided to focus on the matter at hand.
He nodded with some uncertainty and said, "Yes. It does not benefit you to forcefully keep citizens who don't want to stay here. Let us go. We will inform the other Selune-worshipping Realms of your predicament as well. I'm sure they'll find a way to get you out of here too. That's the only way for all of us to get out of this situation alive."
He regained some confidence after speaking at length. A Ruler could not exile himself. His whole talk about requesting outside help for Hiro was complete bullshit. But it was still better than nothing.
'The Baron should look favorably upon this offer. That is his only path to survival after all,' the man thought.
The other citizens also felt that there was some logic to his words. Unfortunately for them, Hiro did not respond the way they wanted him to.
Hiro shook his head. The smile on his face faded until it was barely there. A certain coldness appeared in his eyes. He made something clear to everyone present in a decisive voice.
"I have no intention of using [Exile] on any of my citizens. You people came here as refugees. You should know the risks associated with seeking refuge. Now that you're here, only two options are available to you. You will either live and act like citizens of my Realm, or you die... Nobody's getting exiled."