That nuisance was the two to three hundred captured bandits. Though these bandits had come to block the gates of Fengyata Town, they hadn't managed to attack the settlement or even exchange blows with the garrison before Lorist and his few companions had swept them clean. Their leaders had all been killed, and the only remaining big-bearded bandit chief had surrendered and promptly become one of Lorist's loyal subordinates, heading off with Josk and the others to counterattack his own former stronghold.
And so these two to three hundred bandit prisoners had become Lorist's personal spoils of war. Meaning that before a final decision on what to do with them was reached, Lorist still had to look after their food, drink, and lodging.
The Garrison Captain, whose face had been a mask of misery not long ago, was now beaming with smiles — grinning like a chrysanthemum in full bloom, which made Lorist sick of the sight the moment he laid eyes on him. The captain circled around Lorist, fawning and obsequious as though he owed the man a hundred gold coins, terrified that he might not be attending well enough.
At the moment, Lorist was sitting in an upholstered armchair the Garrison Captain had sent over, slowly sipping fine fragrant tea also provided by the captain. Beside him, the captain was still hurrying his subordinates to bring hot water and fresh towels so that Lorist could wash his face and dust off the grime…
If this scene were taking place on a hotel balcony, Lorist would have found it quite pleasant. But the problem was that right now he was facing two to three hundred bandit prisoners kneeling or squatting on the ground, and it made him feel as though he were some kind of performing monkey — every last one of those captives was watching him like an audience.
"You're certain you lot can't take charge of these bandits?" Lorist asked once more.
"Absolutely, my lord. These men are your prisoners and your spoils. We cannot infringe upon a nobleman's private property…" the Garrison Captain declared righteously.
Lorist waved his hand in irritation. "Then tell me — what am I supposed to do? If you won't take them, am I supposed to spend money feeding and housing these bandits like honored guests? Or should I just release them all?"
My lord, whether to release them or not is your private affair, but I must remind you — these are bandits. If you let them go, you're just letting them return to terrorizing the common folk. If word of that got out, I'm afraid it would have an impact on your reputation..." The Garrison Captain wore a look of genuine concern for Lorist.
"Damn, if I'd known this would happen, I should've just killed them all and saved myself this trouble..." Lorist muttered under his breath.
The Garrison Captain shuddered. This young noble certainly radiated a murderous aura. But he didn't doubt Lorist's words for a second. Who had ever heard of just five people single-handedly wiping out four or five hundred bandits? And that Gold-tier bandit leader, Panshan Wolf, who had made the local lord suffer two devastating defeats — he had lost his head after just one encounter with this young noble. The Silver-tier bandit chiefs had been similarly slaughtered. All of this had happened right before everyone's eyes, and he had watched the whole thing clearly from the city walls.
It wasn't just him. Every member of the garrison now regarded this young noble with the reverence due to a god. In a single morning, the bandits who had entrenched themselves along Panshan Road and plagued the region for years had been reduced to ashes. It felt like a dream.
The Garrison Captain stepped forward. "My lord, there's no need to rush. When the bandits were blocking the gate, I already sent word to the lord of this territory asking for aid. We only need to wait a day or two, and the lord will surely arrive in this town. At that point, you can hand these bandits over to the lord, and he will give you appropriate compensation. In my estimation, every one of these bandits is a gold coin."
"I don't lack gold coins. What I'm afraid of now is the hassle. Tell me — where am I supposed to lock up all these bandits? How about you lend me the garrison barracks?"
"Er, my lord, I'm afraid that won't work. The garrison barracks are quite small and can't hold this many people. Besides, the barracks are inside the town — locking up so many bandits there, if something went wrong it could easily cause a huge commotion. I think the best approach would be to set up camp right here." The Garrison Captain explained with a pained expression.
Setting up camp on the spot was indeed a good idea — only, this good idea would cost Lorist money. First, he'd have to pay the local lord a camp management fee. Then he'd need to purchase tents, palisades, and other supplies. The camp would need firewood and fresh water, which meant yet another resource usage fee to the local lord. This was someone else's territory — even a single stone was the lord's private property, and failing to pay was an affront to the sacred and inviolable. Though the fees weren't much, they still required paperwork and registration, and paperwork was exactly the kind of thing Lorist despised most.
"Damn..." Lorist stood up, pulled out a coin purse, and tossed it to the Garrison Captain. "Never heard of a rule where you have to pay for cleaning up after killing bandits. I'm not dealing with this anymore — I'm going back to rest first. There are over twenty gold coins in that purse. I'll trouble you to handle the paperwork and purchase the camp supplies and materials. Any leftover change can serve as compensation for the garrison brothers' trouble."
The Garrison Captain bowed with the deepest respect. "Rest assured, my lord. I will see to everything properly..."
"Reedy..." Lorist called out. "I'm leaving the place in your care — be careful out there. Also, have those men gather up the weapons and gear on the ground, and keep the heads of those bandit leaders and that Panshan Wolf safe. We'll need them to collect the bounty..."
"Yes, my lord." Reedy's response was crisp and immediate.
"Damn it, I can't have killed a bunch of bandits only to end up at a loss..." Lorist muttered under his breath.
……
Lorist crawled into bed and slept like the dead.
Early the next morning, Lorist woke feeling refreshed and invigorated — the exhaustion from seven days of travel and yesterday's charge into battle had been completely swept away. He had breakfast sent to his room and was halfway through eating when he suddenly recalled that Serdikamp had come in the previous night and said something. It seemed he had told the man to handle things as he saw fit and then gone right back to sleep.
So Lorist got up and went to check Pat and Serdikamp's room — neither was there. He then headed to Reedy and Josk's room. Reedy was gone as well, but Josk was sound asleep.
Lorist figured Josk had been just as drained as he was yesterday, so the man was due for a good rest. He didn't disturb him, quietly closing the door behind him as he left. After a moment's thought, he decided to head outside the city and check on the bandit prisoners.
The moment he stepped through the city gates, Lorist spotted that big-bearded
Huh? What was going on here?
Lorist looked around and found over a dozen garrison soldiers standing off to the side, watching the spectacle…
Big-bearded Ovigis spotted Lorist's arrival and hurriedly barked an order for the hundred-strong formation to stand at ease. Then he trotted over to Lorist and snapped off a salute: "My lord, the guard squad is currently in training. Awaiting your orders!"
Since when had a guard squad been formed? How come I didn't know about this? Lorist didn't bother dismounting. He pointed with his whip at the hundred-odd men standing over there, curiously craning their necks to peer his way, and asked, "Where did you recruit them from?"
Ovigis puffed out his chest and answered loudly: "Reporting, my lord! There were originally thirty-eight men under my command here. After yesterday's bountiful haul at the bandit stronghold, Lord
"Hmm…" Lorist nodded, thinking to himself that he had been half-asleep last night and had no idea what Sedekamp had said to him. He gestured with his whip at Ovigis's layered armor. "Are the men reliable? And — chain mail on the inside, mail armor on the outside — you're Silver rank so it's fine, but can the rest of them handle the weight?"
"My lord, not to worry. Every one of these men is well-known to us. They turned to banditry out of desperation, and they haven't done much real harm. Most importantly, they all witnessed your lordship's overwhelming might yesterday. The chance to serve you and shed the bandit identity is something they'd leap at. I guarantee their loyalty — they won't desert. As for the equipment, Lord Sedekamp outfitted them. They've all awakened their combat force, so carrying two sets of armor is no problem. Lord Pat said that strong defense means fewer sacrifices, which means they can better protect you."
"Damn — protect yourselves, will you? Do I even need you lot protecting me?" Lorist snorted in mild annoyance.
"Where's Sedekamp?" Lorist asked.
"Reporting, my lord — Lord Sedekamp and Lord Ledi went into the city this morning to make purchases. Lord Pat is at the camp," Ovigis replied, standing at attention.
Only then did Lorist notice that the encampment ahead had been split into a large section and a small one. The larger camp was being guarded by the garrison soldiers on the outside — apparently it was where the captured bandits were held. The smaller one must have been the military camp Ovigis had mentioned.
"All right, if you're willing to serve under me, then you're one of us. You don't need to be so formal all the time. But what are women and children doing in the camp?" Lorist asked.
"My lord, the women and children in the camp are family members of some of the garrison soldiers and my bodyguard unit. The ones in the larger camp are families of those bandits. Lord Josck was very merciful — after bringing the bandits' families back from the stronghold last night, he allowed them to reunite with their kin. Among them are relatives of those stronghold leaders you killed yesterday, as well as several wives of Pan-Shan Wolf. Some of the women are quite beautiful, my lord. If you're interested, I could have them brought out to attend to you personally..." Ovigis said with a perfectly straight face.
Lorist cracked him across the back with his riding crop. "Mind your own business. I don't need you playing matchmaker for me."
"Yes, my lord!"
……
Lorist rode into the camp and saw Pat respectfully escorting an old man out of a tent.
When Pat noticed Lorist approaching, he hurriedly pointed at Lorist and introduced him to the old man. "Master Hede, this is our Lord Lorist..."
The old man completely ignored him. He held his head high and drifted past Lorist without so much as a glance, never looking back.
Lorist dismounted and turned to watch the old man walk away. He looked back at Pat and asked, "Who is that old man? What terrible manners."
Pat spread his hands helplessly. "There's nothing I can do. He's a master — we had him tied up and brought here yesterday. Naturally he's still angry and being rude about it."
"What kind of master is he? Why did you tie him up?" Lorist asked curiously, thinking to himself that Pat and the others had certainly gotten to play the part of kidnappers and bandits to their hearts' content.
"My lord, this old man is an absolute treasure. He's an armour-crafting master. You'd never guess — the hundred-odd sets of chainmail we stripped off those bandits and the two hundred-odd sets of ring mail were all made by this old man over the course of three years. On top of that, he's an expert at prospecting for ore. We found an iron deposit near the bandit stronghold, and according to that big-bearded Ovidges, it was this old man who discovered it. All the iron they mined was used by the old man to forge armour and weapons."
"So you just tied him up and brought him here?"
"...Master Cide, so we invited his entire household of ten or so people along as well," Pat said with a hint of embarrassment.
"Fine, fine — having him here is better than leaving him to go to waste. After all, the fact that he served the bandits means he's our war prize now, and that puts him under our jurisdiction. What did Serkamp and Reddy go off to buy?"
"My lord, there are two reasons. First, we've seized a great haul of supplies from the stronghold and need to transport them back. Second, as you've noticed, we've added an entire guard squad, plus their families, and then Master Cide's household on top of that — we need a large number of long-haul wagons and mounts. Serkamp went to town to arrange all of that," Pat explained.
Wonderful. Yet another convoy had been conjured out of thin air.
Lorist looked at Pat with resignation. "Pat, our goal is to get back to the family fief as quickly as possible. Isn't this rather counterproductive? A convoy can haul supplies, yes, but it's going to slow us down considerably."
"No, no, my lord — Serkamp and I already worked it out. We covered two thousand li in just seven days. There are a little over two thousand li left to go, but we have more than twenty days to do it, so we're well on schedule. As long as we cover a hundred and fifty li a day from here on out, we'll be back on family territory before March. Last time we left the family convoy behind, we were in too much of a rush to bring any supplies. Now that we've wiped out this stronghold, this is the perfect chance to bring them all back — they're resources the family is in desperate need of!" Pat pleaded.
"Didn't we bring gold coins with us?" Lorist said.
Pat smiled bitterly. "My lord, you'll understand when we get back to the Northland. Even with gold coins, there's nowhere to buy these supplies. And if you could find them, the prices would be at least double what they are here — and that's a fair deal. Generally, they'd cost two or three times more, and you'd still have to be grateful because at least you could actually buy them..."
"Fine, do as you please," Lorist said with a wry smile of his own. From what Pat had said, he could tell just how remote and desolate the family fief was, and how desperately short it was on supplies. He wondered whether everyone would be sorely disappointed once
Lorist decided he'd stop worrying about these messy affairs and leave them all to Pat and Serkamp. They were clearly enjoying themselves anyway. The bottle of red wine he'd ordered at the Inn of Red Wine and Weary Birds yesterday had been quite good, and paired with the tender roasted lamb chops, it had been a truly exquisite meal. It was almost noon — he should head back and check if Josk had woken up yet. If he had, they could grab lunch together.
Josk was still asleep, so Lorist went downstairs to eat alone.
He was savoring the taste of the red wine when a young woman approached his table. She wore a black dress with a waist-length half-cape and a black veil draped over a woman's hood. She gave Lorist a graceful curtsy. "My lord, might I trouble you for a moment?"
Lorist promptly rose and bowed his head in return, then pulled out a chair for her. "What can I do for you, miss?"
"I'm terribly sorry for the intrusion. I've heard that your people are looking for carriages bound for the Northland, and I was wondering if you might be willing to take us along. We're also trying to get to the Northland, but we haven't been able to find the right traveling companions heading in the same direction, so we've been stuck here. Would you consider this small request of mine?" The young woman's voice had a magnetic huskiness to it that was quite pleasant to listen to.
"Oh? You're headed to the Northland as well? It's a vast region, though. Where exactly in the Northland are you going? I'm not sure if our routes even overlap," Lorist asked.
"We're looking to reach the
...