NOVEL NEXT Chapter 17 - Refugees and Thieves (3)
Soldiers on horses surrounded and guarded the captured bandits.
“Knights, chase the fugitives!”They quickly spread out and ran after the bandits, who had fled.
“Soldiers, capture all the bandits and search their homes. Bring out anyone hiding in houses and confiscate supplies.”The bandits, tied in rows and rows like a bundle of cords, converged in the center of the mountain camp.
Many of them were discovered while hiding. Some were even caught in the latrines and dumping pits.
But the number of bandits was unexpectedly large.
“How many people are there? What is this?”In response to my mumbling, Axel did a rough count and reported back.
“We have over 150 captured and 20 killed. We’re tracking fugitives, so there’s going to be more.” “If it was head-on, there would have been damage.”We could certainly crush 200 of them. But there would be casualties on our side in the process.
The good thing was that no one got hurt.
I commended Winnie for her magic. I couldn’t have done this without her magic.
“Well done, Winnie. You managed to take them down without too much damage.” “Of course I’ll help you out, you’re giving me a recipe. Hoho~”Winnie chuckled and looked over the seized supplies.
The amount of food and equipment they raided was considerable.
It would take a lot of wagons to carry everything, so I sent a messenger to the castle to fetch them.
Then a soldier reported what he found in the armory.
“My lord, you should see the armory for yourself.” “Is there anything unusual?” “The weapons are all military-grade.” “What?”Hearing what he said, I immediately went there and looked. The average bandit uses a variety of weapons because they usually recycle what they steal.
But the weapons in the armory were all the same material, shape, and size.
It means a weapon made according to standards.
“Do they look like weapons from any of the armies?” “They look familiar, I think they belong to the soldiers of Rhône-Alpes, I’ve seen them at checkpoints.”At the border between the two territories, there are no special garrisons. They’re not hostile, and stationing soldiers on the border would only increase tensions.
However, they do have checkpoints to conduct basic inspections. This soldier must have seen these weapons at the checkpoint.
“You’ve got good eyes, take a few more loots.”The manor has little money, so it’s better to make up for it with loot than to reward him.
“Thank you. My lord.”The soldier bowed and left.
And I’m left with a problem,
‘This must be a tactic by the Rhone-Alps to weaken our resources.’
Perhaps they’re trying to supply the bandits with weapons to disturb the peace.
In the long run, if the bandit raids continue, the Rhône-Alpes may use the excuse to conquer as an excuse to send in troops.
And now they’ve decided to curry favor through secret negotiations with Countess Karin.
It made me feel dirty.
‘I’d like to beat the crap out of those Rhône-Alpes guys. I’ll see what I can do.’
In addition, the amount of gold, food, etc. that the bandits had stored was considerable.
Except for the loot given to the knights and soldiers, it would all be sold and used for the manor’s budget.
Martin seemed satisfied with the amount of goods collected.
“I feel like a thief trying to rob someone.”I laughed at what he said.
“You are Red Riding Hood? I am the one who is supposed to be Red Riding Hood. Eighteen years without being able to call my father—”Then we heard a scream
“Argh! My lord, please spare my life-“ “Shut up. That’s for the lord to decide.”Raul has captured the leader of the gang. He was wearing so much jewelry that it was easy to recognize him.
“My lord, this is the boss. I confirmed it by cross-examination.” “Good job. Bring him here.”I examined the leader of the bandits.
He was a high level Sword User by the looks of him.
‘This guy’s a thief? That’s suspicious.
Leer Morale
.’
》Leer MoraleCharles Orthorne(28 years old)
➺ Son of Knight Edward Orthorne.
Puck—As soon as I saw the information about him, I was furious and punched him in the face.
“No! Please help me!” “Don’t panic. What knight order are you from?”Everyone in the room was surprised to hear that the bandit leader was a knight.
Then, the leader, who had been acting like a fool, stood up straight and took a good stance.
“I guess I got caught. Give me the sword. I cannot be taken prisoner, so I will meet my end here.”It seems he wanted to be an honorable knight rather than a thief. He wants to die a chivalrous death without surrendering, but on his own terms.
He smirked, then delivered a heretical side kick.
“Don’t hold back, you bastard.”The kicking began, I also started to fight back.
Puck, puck, puck— “Argh! urk! Ugh!” “Don’t be so hard on yourself. Where’s your chivalry?”How long has it been since then?
Puck, puck, puck— “Please don’t kill m, Eek! Please let me live— ugh!”That’s when they stopped beating him and dragged him into a warehouse.
Only Martin and Raul came in with me. I didn’t want anyone else to know who this guy was.
“Phew, I’m getting tired. Okay, now tell me which knight order you are.”The leader managed to pull himself up as he brushed off his dirty clothes.
He began to answer with his hands and feet shaking from exhaustion.
“It was the Gray Wolf Knights of Dijon.” “Not Rhône-Alpes?” “Yes. I have the support of Rhône-Alpes, but they don’t know I’m a knight of Dijon.”There’s a mastermind behind the scenes, and another pulling the strings.
Why is it so complicated? Is Marseille everyone’s sweetheart and public property?
It was ridiculous, but I went ahead with the questioning.
“Why did Dijon send you here?” “I don’t know the details. I was just told to disrupt Marseille.” “How long have you been here?” “It’s been three years. They told me that if I complete my five years, they’ll rescind my punishment from the Knights…”The estates of Dijon are connected to the estates of Westphalia. Last year, the Count of Dijon’s daughter married into the estate of lord Noah.
‘What the hell do the Dijon’s want? Do they want Marseille, as well? Is the marriage a ploy?’
The complexity of the situation made my head hurt.
For now, I set aside my concerns to organize the place. I need more clues to come to a conclusion.
Thwack—And I pulled out the Soul Reaper.
This story should be silenced. There would be no good to be gained in Dijon.
Pointing his sword at his throat, Eric said,
“Sir Charles, I have no choice but to take your life. Do you understand?”The knight, Charles, trembled with fear.
“Please, just spare my life. Let me be your slave, please.” “Slave?”Raul, who had been watching, stepped in.
“You’ll get a slave imprint, like me, to serve as a mark of servitude.”Technically, Raul was not being sentenced to slavery, he was just doing his job. He’s been promised that if he works as a security chief for five years, his slave imprint would be removed.
Speaking of slavery, he’s protesting that he’s working hard.
“You little prick, do you want me to send you somewhere else?” “No, no, no, I’ll work harder!”Raul throws up his hands.
If he was sold elsewhere, he would become a gladiator. Minus the tail, since he has to fight for his life.
Anyway, when I thought about it, there was no need to kill this one.
With the bandits we captured today, we could brand them all with slave imprints and sentence them to servitude.
They’re sturdy enough to work in the boreal forest clearing.
“Okay. I’ll let you live. But never reveal that you are a knight of Dijon. If you say a single ‘d’ in Dijon, I’ll take your head off.” “I’m too ashamed to tell anyone about it.”It’s a family disgrace that a knight stole as a bandit. It would be better to die than to reveal it.
“Ten years as a slave, and I’ll set you free. But you will have to work hard alongside your men.” “Of course. Thank you, merciful Viscount of Marseille.”Sir Charles rubbed his palms together, bent over as if his back would break.
‘That’ll wear out those fingers.’
Other violent crimes committed should be investigated and punished separately. Until then, everyone gets a standard ten-year sentence.
I stepped out of the hut and instructed Axel.
“All those arrested will be sentenced to labor, so don’t kill them. We will rest until sunrise, then burn the quarters.”If left alone, another bandit might creep in. It’s better to burn them neatly so they never use them.
The first raid has been successful.
One of the most encouraging effects of the raid was the reduction in the overall number of bandits.
All those captured were branded with the slave imprint and sentenced to ten years of hard labor, depending on their crime.
This scared off many of the residents who had previously defected to the bandits and brought them back to the slums.
In the meantime, of course, no one left to become a thief.
During a meeting of the chief officers, Pascal spoke up in anger,
“My lords, I think we can breathe a sigh of relief. The number of bandits has been greatly reduced.” “Don’t feel confident yet. There’s still a lot more left.”Chief of Trade Diego also reported on the progress.
“We’ve collected quite a bit of loot and sold it through the auction house. The proceeds went into the estates’ budgets.” “It’s all spent on settlers in the frontier towns. It’s something we have to do, even if it depletes our budget considerably.”The bandit raids have continued to take place since then.
With the help of Winnie the Witch, the raids have been successful each time, and fortunately, there are no casualties.
Only a few soldiers were injured from a fall or stumble.
Meanwhile, somewhere in the mountains, far away from the castle.
It had been taken over by bandits and used as their hideout.
Anton, the leader of the bandits, was eating a leisurely meal.
“Boss, Boss, we’re in trouble!”One of his men comes running up to him.
Anton frowned as he stopped eating.
“Hey, I told you to be quiet while eating, right?” “But boss, we’re in real trouble.”Anton was annoyed and threw the chicken leg he was eating.
“Just hope it’s no big deal. I’m going to hang you all day.” “Charles’s gang has been taken down.” “…What, is that Charles, the leader of the Red Lions?” “Yes! The new lord of the manor has taken them down!”His face contorted.
Charles, like himself, was a knight of the Order of Dijon. He had been a close friend before his accident and being thrown here.
“How dare you speak of a lord of a small town!” Bam—Enraged, Anton slammed his hand down on the table, breaking it in half.
Slightly intimidated by the unexpectedly strong reaction, his subordinate stammered,
“One more thing, boss, the other gang are being raided one by one…” “Phew! Stop whining because they caught a few of those guys.”Anton, a seasoned knight of intermediate Sword Expert rank, was confident in his abilities.
The knights and soldiers of the village of Marseille would be no match for him.
“I guess we’ll fight! We launch a strong attack!” “Oh, boss. They’ll all run away.”No matter how many bandits are there, they are like toddlers in front of a trained army.
If it’s known that they are going to go toe-to-toe with the bandits, everyone would flee.
“We’re not just fighting them. We have a plan.” “Huh? What plan?” “Hehehe— We’re going to take hostages, and then we’re going to slit the lord’s throat.” “Eck!”Thinking that even a band of bandits could be such bastards, the subordinate realized that he had to escape tonight.