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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Bobto
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“So, how did it go?”
The mercenary who came running as a messenger said with a smile.
“It’s our army’s victory. There are no deaths or seriously injured.”
Even though Helmut and Varso talked with overflowing confidence, I was worried because you never know how a battle will turn out…
But fortunately, no one was hurt.
I patted the messenger’s shoulder and continued.
“Yes, good work.
Thank you for delivering the good news.”
“Yes, thank you!”
“Did Varso and Helmut have any other messages?”
“They said to bring about 10 peasants and come up to where the bandits’ mountain stronghold is for the cleanup.”
“Let’s do that. Wait just a moment.”
Then I handed the messenger a pouch containing a few silver coins that I had prepared in advance.
After the messenger withdrew from in front of me, I shouted loudly enough for the peasants to hear.
“Our army won without anyone getting hurt!
10 people follow me and the rest go home and rest!
I will return as soon as the cleanup is finished.
That is all!”
After a brief silence, cheers began to rise from here and there.
“Hooray!!”
“The bandits are all dead!!”
“I told you That everyone would be safe!!”
“Hey, if I had known this would happen, I would have followed the mercenary sirs too… If I followed, I could have received some spoils of war, right?”
The peasant who said he would follow the mercenaries was the one who was trembling in fear just a moment ago while standing guard, but now that victory was certain, it was funny to see him boasting.
When he goes home, he’ll probably grab his wife and children and boast again.
Saying that he regretfully couldn’t cut off the bandits’ heads himself because of the lord’s orders.
“Everyone, disperse!”
As soon as those words came out, the peasants began to return home with the farming tools they had brought that could be used as makeshift weapons.
I also followed the messenger up to the mountain stronghold to wrap up the bandit subjugation.
**
The path up to the mountain stronghold was more rugged than I thought.
Perhaps because it was a path used only by bandits in this era where roads are not well paved, there were bumpy stones, let alone stairs.
Moreover, even the holes were not visible due to the tree shadows, so I almost misstepped several times.
I couldn’t dare shout that I was startled or show signs of fatigue because the following peasants were watching…
If I had come alone, I would have rested many times.
After climbing the mountain path for about an hour, looking only at the messenger’s back, I saw mercenaries standing guard with spears.
As soon as the mercenaries on guard spotted us, they straightened their spears to salute and then said,
“Lord, you have worked hard to come!
The captain and Sir Varso are at the very back of the mountain stronghold.”
I tapped the mercenaries’ shoulders and then moved to the place they mentioned.
I entered the back of the mountain stronghold like that, and it was… more terrible than I thought.
Dark red bloodstains formed puddles here and there on the dirt floor, and lumps of flesh or intestines that must have belonged to the bandits were rolling around.
Some bandits weren’t dead yet, groaning “ugh” and clutching their wounded areas.
On corpses that had been dead for a while, rats or flies crawled around, gnawing at their bodies.
At least I’m glad there’s no smell of rotting corpses…
Going in a little further, Varso and other mercenaries were making the surviving bandits kneel with their hands tied with ropes in the center of the mountain stronghold.
Roughly counting, there were about 10 men, 20 women, and 50 boys and girls.
As soon as I finished counting the people, Varso greeted me with a smile-filled expression.
“Ah, young master, you’re here?
Look, didn’t I tell you I could crush them all without much problem?”
Seeing Varso boasting, I smiled and accepted his words.
“As you said.
Even though it’s bandit subjugation, not a single person died and you handled it so quickly… I guess I worried for nothing.”
“But it’s much better to see you not recklessly stepping forward for your first battle.
Because if you had recklessly said you would take the front line, I was going to stop you.”
“Is that so?”
Varso erased his smile from a moment ago and spoke with a serious expression.
“Yes, we are somewhat accustomed to battles where people die, so we won’t die in such an easy battle.
But young master, who is going into battle for the first time, could be defeated even by these bandits.
Ah, I’m telling you this in case you misunderstand, but even young masters who graduated from the knights academy often die to things below this level in their first battle.”
“I see.”
“Yes, please come inside for now. We left the spoils and the slaves inside as they were.”
**
Following the guidance of Varso and Helmut, I first entered the prison where the slaves presumed to have been kidnapped by the bandits were.
The interior was about 20-30 pyeong, not looking very large.
There were two shabby wooden chairs where the bandit acting as a prison guard could sit, and on the left and right sides of the room were wooden bars.
Inside the wooden bars were straw mats on the floor, a wooden barrel to collect the prisoners’ excrement and urine, and wooden blocks that must have been used as pillows.
And what was shocking was…
There were dozens of women who seemed to have been kidnapped from nearby farming villages or cities.
They all looked so dark as if they hadn’t washed for days, no, months, and they were all wearing old rags.
As I looked on with a surprised expression, Helmut beside me spoke in a dark voice.
“Uh, young master…
Actually, these women were kept in here with their clothes taken off.
Perhaps… they were used as playthings by these bandit bastards…”
“I see…”
I roughly knew that those called bandits were trash who raped women and killed people, but honestly, I never thought they would do such crazy things.
No, I had a vague idea, but the impression I got from actually seeing it was beyond that.
I almost vomited at the actions of these evil bastards, but I barely held it back and said,
“Protect all the women here and send them to Windheim.
No, all the women here are in poor physical condition, so they may not be able to go down the mountain path.
Helmut, have the peasants bring a cart to carry them.”
“Yes, understood.”
I looked at Varso with a sharp voice and asked.
“Varso, where are the spoils these guys hoarded?”
“They are in the large hut in the center of the mountain stronghold.
Follow me.”
**
I entered the hut in the center.
The structure inside the hut was luxurious enough to make the bailiff’s mansion jealous.
There was a fireplace and a hearth, and the beds the bandits used were covered with quite soft-looking cloth.
In addition, there were boxes to store various treasures and weapons on the walls or in the corners.
When I opened one of the boxes, I saw some gold ornaments, gold coins, silver coins, copper coins, and weapons inside.
Seeing that there were dozens of gold coins in this box alone, equivalent to 100 days’ worth of food for a peasant…
The bandits must have eaten well too, ah, these crazy bastards even kidnapped people and used them as playthings?
I looked at Varso beside me and said,
“Is this really everything here?
The mercenaries didn’t take anything separately, right?”
“Yes, young master.
I stopped them all, I ordered them not to take anything because you would sufficiently distribute it, young master.”
For mercenaries, they are very admirable and obedient.
Most mercenaries I know plunder when they are bored and plunder even when they have no money…
Whew… I wonder if I can bring in friends like these?
“Distribute all the spoils in this box to the mercenaries, regardless of their salary.
Ah, Varso, you take the sword in here. It looks quite good.”
Varso looked at me with a dumbfounded expression and asked,
“Are you really sure? This is beyond treating the mercenaries generously, it’s giving away at this point.”
“You and the mercenaries did a good job, so our territory is no longer threatened by these worse-than-dog bastards, so I should do at least this much.
Tell them to take it.
But tell them to help with the cleanup together.”
“Yes, understood.”
**
After loading all the spoils and the women who had been taken as slaves onto carts and sending them to my mansion, I headed to the central square of the mountain stronghold to interrogate the bandits.
As I entered the square and sat on a rather good-looking chair prepared by the mercenaries, the bandits began to sneer.
“Tsk, what a pathetic young master!
You sent away the slaves without even touching them to pretend to be kind, right? Are you impotent? You are, aren’t you?”
“No, young masters don’t taste women before marriage.
So that must be why.
Ah, tsk tsk, hey young master!
Young master, I even kept some untouched for you to use, what a pity!!”
They were worse than trash, I had no intention of sparing their lives from the beginning, but now…
No matter what, it’s amazing that they have the guts to curse like this, as if telling me to eat shit, even when they are on the verge of life and death, pretending not to be scared.
Then I should match that audacity.
“You spearman over there, make one of them suffer.”
“Yes.”
As I said that, the spearman put down his spear on the ground for a moment and drew the sword he was wearing.
Then he approached one of the bandits closest to him and struck down on his left shoulder with the sword.
Then, the left arm of one bandit was separated from his torso and blood began to spurt out.
The bandit who lost his arm at first stared intently at where his left arm used to be, as if not understanding the situation.
Before long, he began to scream.
“My arm! My arm was cut off!!”
… I thought they would beat him a few times when I said that, but he just straight cut off his arm.
I was extremely surprised for a moment, but I tried to pretend not to be surprised and continued speaking.
“Alright, are you ready to talk now?
If you want to live, answer properly, bandits.”
The bandits finally seemed ready to talk, nodding their heads with the smiles completely wiped from their faces.
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