Chapter 124: CH 118

It was almost sunrise. Smoke rose around us and the bandits were running away. I didn’t have any obligation to spare the bandits, so I ordered my men to keep attacking them.

“No need to force yourself to pursue them but as long as it is still possible, take them all down without mercy.”

“Yes, sir!”

The first thing I did when I entered the Anheim region was to leave the transport team and go fight the bandits. I mean, it would be hard for me to do anything in Anheim if the roads connecting Anheim to other territories were full of bandits, plus I wanted to evaluate the ability of the knights and soldiers the kingdom had given to me.

I instructed Sir Holzdeppe, the knight who was the representative of the military officers given to me as a governor, to attack the bandits as I was fighting the bandits with my spear on the frontline. We were fighting with many bandits, but since we succeeded in catching them off guard, the bandits couldn’t put up any organized resistance against us.

Although it was normal for a commanding officer like me to stand back and watch my subordinates work, I couldn’t do that this time. Just like how I was evaluating the soldiers and knights given to me, they were also evaluating me, their new governor.

To begin with, the difference in strength between the bandits, knights, and soldiers was actually quite large, proven by what happened in the Jacquerie.

(T/N: The Jacquerie is a peasant rebellion that happened in 1358 in northern France.)

“Viscount, some of our enemies have started to escape!”

“The enemy on which side?”

“The enemy on our left side. They seem to be running toward the valley.”

“You don’t need to chase them, then. I’ve already sent Schunzel and the mercenaries to wait in that area, so we just have to wait for Schunzel’s report here.”

The kingdom gave me 30 knights and 60 infantries. Neurath was attacking the bandits on the right side with 20 infantry under his command, while Schunzel was standing by in the valley with 20 mercenaries.

As for the transportation unit, they were waiting for me while being escorted by 5 knights, 10 infantry, and half of Gekke-san’s mercenary team. That was more than enough force to kill any bandits that tried to attack them. The officials given by the kingdom and Frenssen were also traveling along with the transportation unit.

“Urghhh!!”

“Too weak!”

Perhaps out of desperation, a bandit rushed at me but I repelled his attack and pierced through his torso with my spear. His movements were slower than Gargoyle and his skin wasn’t as tough as the Alligator Warrior’s. I think I could defeat the bandits around this area as long as I didn’t let my guard down.

I originally thought that my evaluation would improve in the eyes of my new subordinates if I killed more bandits. However, all the surrounding bandits had already been killed, so I could not do that.

“Well done, Viscount.”

“It’s all thanks to the information I got from the Marquis.”

Sir Holzdeppe seemed to have acknowledged me as his superior. That was good. My reply toward Sir Holzdeppe’s words wasn’t me trying to be modest or anything though, since it was true that the information I had gotten from the Marquis was a big help.

I went to greet Marquis Knap in the capital before I set off to Anheim. I was prepared for the Marquis to be hostile toward me since I was the governor of his former territory, but the Marquis looked at me with sympathy instead. He thought of me as a poor young noble who was being kicked out of the capital despite his excellence because I had offended an influential person in the capital.

I felt like a student who got a straight C despite his hard work and was being pitied by his teacher. When the Marquis said, ‘Sir’s hard work will bear fruit in the future’, I honestly didn’t know how to react.

Although because of that, I was able to hear the detailed situation of Anheim from the Marquis and the situation was… pretty bad.

In short, because the Knap house lost quite a few knights and soldiers in the Veritza Fortress incident, coupled with the fact that refugees came to Anheim from time to time, the Knap house was facing a serious lack of staff.

In the meantime, the bandits who were active in the now-ruined Triot escaped to Anheim to avoid being killed by the demons in Triot. As a result, the number of bandits in Anheim had increased explosively, yet because of the lack of staff, the Knap house was unable to exterminate them all. All of this led to these bandits becoming unruly and often attacking the vulnerable citizens and the refugees in the Anheim region.

The Knap house was able to maintain the public order in the town and its surrounding area somehow, but not in the whole Anheim region. Although I was grateful to the Marquis for helping me to gain the location of the bandits’ hideout along with double checking the geographical information of Anheim, the situation of Anheim was still a headache.

After hearing about the situation of Anheim from the Marquis, I decided to make my move even though I hadn’t taken up my position as the governor of Anheim. I mean, it would be terrible if I battled the demons in an area that had poor public order. It wouldn’t be funny if the bandits stole the army’s supplies while we were fighting with the demons. That was why I decided to clean up the bandits as soon as possible.

I had just destroyed the second bandits’ base even though I hadn’t even stepped a foot into Anheim Town, the heart of the Anheim region where it got its name from.

I was able to catch the bandits off guard because I had spread the rumor that I would send out a large force to exterminate the bandits after I arrived at the town. That was why they didn’t think that I would attack them even before I arrived in the town.

At first, Sir Holzdeppe was one of the people who insisted that I should go to Anheim Town first before exterminating the bandits, but after I destroyed the first bandits’ base with the mercenaries and told him that he didn’t have to come with me if he didn’t want to, he changed his attitude.

I think he just didn’t want the mercenaries to take all the credit for defeating the bandits, so this time I attacked another bandits’ base, mainly with the knights and the infantry, along with the motivated Sir Holzdeppe. I was glad that we brought a lot of magic lamps here since it made our night surprise attack on the bandit a lot easier.

“We’ll move to the next location after Schunzel returns.”

“Pardon??”

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Even bandits weren’t idiots. Since we had destroyed two of their bases, they would soon notice that we were here to exterminate them. Still, they would most probably think that since we had already destroyed two of their bases, we would now return to the town. So, this would be the best time to destroy another one, even if it meant that I would need to take a bit of a detour to the Anheim town.

I would just ignore Sir Holzdeppe’s confused expression.

“Will the official not complain?”

“I’ll hear their complaints after we reach the town. So, will Sir come with me or not?”

“…Please let me come with you.”

Well, I was planning to go with Neurath and Gekke-san’s mercenary team if Sir Holzdeppe refused to come with me. Anyway, should I order the cavalry to take another way so I could make a surprise attack on the bandits? But if I did that, considering the terrain of Anheim, the cavalry might become useless instead.

According to the information I received from the Marquis, our next target created their base in a place where they would have an easier time robbing the citizens without really caring if the base was easy to defend or not. It would be more trouble than it was worth if the bandits there were to escape because I decided to attack them later.

If we eliminated this third bandits’ base, we could ensure the safety of the road that led to the place where Viscount Grellman was appointed as a governor, albeit only to a certain extent, so there was no reason that I shouldn’t destroy them. We might have to take a bit of detour to the town, but we should go and destroy the third bandits’ base before heading to the town. I should send a message to the town that I would arrive there tomorrow morning.

I decided on my plan as Schunzel’s team returned.

Just like what I had expected, we arrived at Anheim town in the morning the next day. Normally, the arrival of a new governor wasn’t something that would garner a lot of attention but this time, I arrived in Anheim along with the captured bandits, cavalry, civil officials, infantry, and mercenaries, so I garnered a lot of attention.

I didn’t want to stand out, but by making a grand entrance like this, I would be able to plant an impression that I was not an ‘easy to control’ puppet governor to this town’s influential people, so I had no choice but to enter the town like this.

Although I felt a lot of attention toward me, I could also feel the town’s lack of enthusiasm. The town itself probably became more deserted after Triot was destroyed.

This town, which had the same name as the region in which it was located, bordered the now-destroyed Triot, so it prioritized its defense over commerce. After all, even though Triot had an amicable relationship with the Bain Kingdom, it was still a foreign country. Anheim Town was a fortress town designed to be able to defend itself if it was attacked by an enemy.

As a town intended to protect the border, the number of guards stationed throughout it was large. Ballistas were also placed on the town wall. From a glance, it looked like there was no need for me to modify the town wall, although I still needed to check it carefully, just to be sure.

The town guards and the officials were waiting in front of the administrative building where the official business of this town would be conducted. I needed to leave an impression that I was powerful in front of them, so while riding my horse toward the administrative building, I put on my noble mask.

“Thanks for coming. I’m Welner von Zeavert.”

“We have been waiting for your arrival.”

They were appraising me, although carefully, so they wouldn’t come out as rude. Well, I expected this, and I, for my part, would also not let them take me lightly for being young.

“Good work. First, throw these bandits to prison for me. Their leader will be executed in 3 days.”

“…Yes?”

One of the officials was surprised, but I ignored him.

“Did you not hear me? Their leader will be executed in 3 days. This territory is now His Majesty’s territory and I am a governor appointed by His Majesty. As such, I will execute them per the rule of this kingdom.”

A Marquis could create rules unique to his own territory, so the procedure for judging criminals here when it was still a part of Marquisate Knap might be different. But now Anheim was part of the royal family’s territory, and I needed to firmly make that fact clear.

“I will say this one last time. The execution will be carried out in 3 days. Notify the whole town about the execution.”

While I raised my voice to say this, my surroundings burst out in cheers. Good grief.

Just like in Medieval Europe, the execution was a form of entertainment for the commoners here too. Of course, execution wouldn’t be held willy nally just for the sake of entertainment, but there was no doubt that execution carried a value of entertainment for the commoners in the medieval period who had too few forms of entertainment.

Of course, not everyone enjoyed the execution. Lily, for example, wouldn’t want to go to execution. Still, the fact that there was a demand for ‘entertainment’ via execution remained.

Truthfully, I also didn’t enjoy looking at an execution, but here, the executed people were bandits who had been running rampant in Anheim. I had to show the people that I had executed them, so there wouldn’t be any groundless accusation that I secretly let them escape. Ordering their execution here calmly should also help me manage the territory in the future.

“I need to take a bath before meeting the Pledgers, so lead the way. Show my subordinates their lodging and lodge for the mercenaries, too.”

“Y…Yes, sir.”

“U…Understood.”

I gave a signal and entered the administrative building along with Neurath, Schunzel, Frenssen, and Sir Behnke, one of the civil officials. It was normal for the administrative building to have a bathing facility, since there were simple accommodations in the administrative building for the visitor that came from afar.

I could probably only take a simple bath here, though. At most, I would just be able to wash myself a bit with cold water taken from the nearby river. But that was fine. It wasn’t like this was the first time I experienced something like this. It was important for me to at least clean myself before meeting this town’s important people, after all.

After this, a new ‘battlefield’ was waiting for me.

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