Chapter 7

There is a part of the kingdom called the southern border of the Kingdom of God.

In this part of the kingdom, where Casserole and Pastry are living , there are one count and two barons, the most famous and well-known families in the center of the region. The three families are the Counts of Rhaetesh, who dominate the maritime trade, the Baron Bourbach, an old family with a tradition since the establishment of the country, and the Barons of Sargret, a prominent family in the Great War. Each of these noble families is considered one of the most famous among the many aristocratic families on the southern border.

There is a road that passes through Baron Salgret from the countship of Ratesch to the baron Bourbak. The road, called the Rockerla Road, is the most crowded road in the southern border of the Kingdom of the God of Prahlig. In recent years, the road has seen a lot of horse-drawn cart traffic to transport trade goods from the port towns of Count Ratesh’s domain.

“Will the bandits appear?”

“They will come. Since His Lordship Rhaetesh informed us in advance, they will surely appear.”

The street, which is usually crowded with horse-drawn wagons and passersby, is now empty of them. Instead, it would be unfair to say so, but the men on the street are looking very serious. They are the joint forces of the Barony of Sargret and the Barony of Bourbak. There are four riders, including the head of the family, and three riders, for a total of seven. Twelve and fifteen men, a total of twenty-seven, are heavily armed. In addition, there were ten mercenaries and about 120 private soldiers from the local people, for a total force of just under 170 men. Armed with weapons in their hands, the riding men in armor were glaring at their surroundings.

What were these ferocious men doing? They had blocked off the roads and were on guard, turning away all those who came through. Three guards were set up in shifts, and a warlike security network was being constructed.

Today is the fourth day that they have blocked the road with a heavy guard. The reason why such a security system has been established can be traced back to the letter of the other day.

A few days ago, a band of bandits who had been rampaging through Count Ratesh’s territory were driven out by the Count’s army. The letter was circulated proudly, but many people felt uneasy about the fact that the contents of the letter were not about elimination or defeat. In particular, the heads of the two baronies that were directly connected to Count Ratesch along the road felt the need to take action . Therefore, they decided to form an allied force to eliminate all the bandits in one go due to their common goal.

The bandits, who had been driven out of the Rhaetian territory, were probably moving along the road, assaulting passersby. The allied forces were convinced that the bandits would appear at the end of the road, so they made a plan to eliminate the bandits there, and that is where they are currently deployed.

“Your Excellencies. It is getting dark. We have prepared a tent house for you, so please take dinner.”

“Yes.”

With an army of close to 200 men, even the commanders were expected to be of high rank. In a union army such as this one, it is common practice for the highest-ranking commander to assume overall command. This time, however, it was a coalition of two lords, and both lords were of equal rank .

Baron Bourbak is slightly fat. In his youth, Baron Bourque was a renowned military officer, but his well-trained muscles have been replaced by flab before he knows it. Baron Sargret, on the other hand, is an old man with a slightly cool head. He is the current head of the Sargret family, an old family that has existed since the founding of the country.

In terms of ability and achievement, Baron Bourbak should be entrusted with the job, but in terms of tradition and prestige, Baron Sargret is more suitable. After arguing over which of the two should be the supreme commander, the two stood side by side as supreme commanders and gave orders by joint decision only a few days ago. The two lords, whose interests are often in conflict because of their neighboring territories and who often quarrel over petty interests, do not even think of compromising with each other.

A tent house prepared only for appearance. It is a roofless tent in appearance, but there is no doubt that it is a standout for setting up camp outdoors. A lot of people think that the more they stand out, the more appealing they are to the others.

Hence, the two supreme commanders would eat their meals in the tent, which was set up for show in the midst two different flags fluttering in the air.

“But they don’t show themselves here so far.”

“Yes, indeed. Perhaps they are afraid of the might of our army, I wonder what they think of it.”

Baron Sargret’s shoulders twitched when Baron Bourque referred to allied army as “my army. But he seemed to have decided to let it pass as a provocation. He answered while eating a piece of soft white bread.

“I think they are observing the situation. The other side is a skilled they managed to escape from the Count. If we keep an eye on the road, we should be able to spot them.”

Baron Sargret responded while eating, and this time, Baron Bourbak’s soup spoon trembled slightly in his hand. He takes a sip of the soup as if to calm himself down, then takes a breath and speaks up again.

“Then we can”t do nothing. We have enough money in our reserves, so we can go into a long battle, but you can’t.”

“No, don’t worry. Unlike some poor territories, ours is a very fertile territory. I think it is time for you to start worrying about your own money.”

“Hmph. Our territory is a place with a long history. A stranger from somewhere else would have no traditions , not have been a noble for very long, and not have much money in reserve.”

“How dare you !”

Baron Sargret kicked his chair and stood up with a thud. A man rushed into the tent with heavy atmosphere. Both commanders asked the man, who was out of breath , what was going on.”

“We are under attack. The enemy has appeared from the side of the road!”

It was nightfall, a subtle time of day that could not be taken as either night or day. The timing was perfect, for the soldiers were distracted by preparations for the meal. Trained soldiers. If the army consisted only of knights and retinue, there would be full-time meal staff and caretakers. However, the militia recruited from farmers and villagers were completely unaware of the common practices of the military. They do not have servants to take care of them. If they did not make their own preparations, there was no way they would be served meals. People need to eat to survive, and people of all ages, men and women, of all ranks, are always need meal . In the midst of a campaign that had not changed for days, the unfamiliar members were almost all preoccupied with the meal.

The bandits’ skill was such that they took advantage of the opening created by the situation and attacked. The bandit’s sense of scent, which should be called ” sense of smell,” accurately struck a vital point.

“Aaah!”

“Ugh !”

Screams were heard here and there. Normally, the guard would have prepared lights in case of a night battle. However, they were not completely ready at the time, as the sun was just about to set. All the lights that stood out were turned off, and darkness covered the area as time passed. The people , who were not only unfamiliar with night battles but were new to them, had no choice but to run for their lives in a state of panic.

They can’ t see where the attack is coming from. It is hard to see.

A psychological state in which everything that moves looks like a bandit.

Even among allies, many of them were unfamiliar to them. It didn’t take long for the friendly fire to begin.

“why are your men attacking us?”

“Shut up, you geezer. Can’t your upstart monkeys even handle the disciplining of their own men? You are the ones attacking my soldiers!”

Normally, it is the role of the commanders to clean up such a mess. If the commanders are fighting with each other, the chaos will not only be contained, but it will only get worse. And the turmoil only benefited the bandits.

The leader of the bandits. His name is Helm. He is two feet taller than the average person, and his muscles are massive to match his height and width. His hair, which has not been properly washed, is greasy and grows carelessly, and his beard, which has not been shaved, is messy Originally, he was the leader of a mercenary group that based in the royal capital, and he is a skilled men who has achieved many victories in the past. . He was aware of the roadblock and carefully checked out the situation before carrying out the raid, and his skill in leading the attack was superb.

He was able to lead the raid after carefully checking out the situation.

“All right, kill them and we’ll be left with the small fry. You guys, let’s get to work!”

“Oh!”

The experience of once leading the band of former mercenaries had given him the ability to take on the regular soldiers of the count’s territory, as he had done earlier. Even when he was clearly heavily outnumbered, as he was this time, Helm did not give up. Like a predator hunting a prey larger than himself, he would strike with a single, well-aimed blow to a critical spot. The only vital point of the aristocratic army in front of him is the aristocratic commanders , no matter who thinks about it. In the confusion, Baron Sargret and Baron Bourbach were left with only their necks before they could escape.

“We got the head of the great aristocrat!”

“Ooh!”

The civilian and mercenary army fled at once when their commander was killed in the midst of the battle. The knights and retinues were outnumbered and demoralized by their running allies, and it was either too soon or too late for the bandits to take over.

Once they had pushed away most of the troops, the rest were left to steal. The wounded, who would have been captured in a fight between nobles or countries, were mere prey for the bandits. They are stabbed to death without a shred of consideration. The number of those killed cannot be counted on the fingers of both hands. The bandits take off the bodyguards of those they kill, and use the knight’s armor and swords that they can use. Not to mention the provisions they carried around their waists, and the few coppers the local residents had in their possession, they were also snatched from them.

“How about this?”

“Well, did you find anything to eat?”

“It was too soggy. There wasn’t much.”

“Shit, they must have fed the pigs there, for the most part.”

The one who was called “pig” was a man who was in command of the nobleman’s side. Both of them have a lot of blubber on their stomachs. The men were stripped of all their fine clothes and stripped naked and left headless. The first head kicked the head of the lord of the body with a vindictive look.

‘What happened to the others?’

The man was concerned that the number of those who were robbed did not match the number of his men. By his own estimation, the numbers do not match by more than ten. It’s not that there are more, but the numbers don’t match on the lesser side. The head of the group, who is well aware of the dirty nature of the aristocrats, is wary of the possibility of a surprise attack by a small group of men.

“Ah, I’m sure there are some guys over there shaking their legs,”

“Why woman are here ?””

No one knows what happens to women who are captured by bandits. Of course, the head himself was aware that they were also the bandits as it is common sense. When dealing with them, it would be suicide to take a woman to the battlefield. The morale of the bandits would be boosted by the sight of a woman in front of them. The bandit job forces them to be abstinent because they can’t go to brothels because they can’t stop by towns, and they have limited means of venting their lust. They will attack women regardless of whether they are beautiful or ugly.

“No, that’s ……”

“What?”

‘I heard that those guys are guys who get their asses handed off to them. I heard there was a kid who looked like a girl.”

” you idiots. I don’t care if they get ill.”

The poor victim was probably one of the men brought in as a servant. The real one a lot better.

A squire is a servant of a nobleman. Helm had no intention of showing any mercy to them.

.”Let me cut her off at the right place, and if you put a rope around her waist and pull her along, she can enjoy herself until she collapses.”

The area was already dark and filled with the smell of blood. Only a madman would want to stay long. Helm remembers how he came to work as a bandit on such a smelly battlefield. It has been more than ten years ago, he thinks with a faraway look in his eyes.

In the war in which he participated as a mercenary, he was caught in a tight corner by the absurd orders of a foolish aristocrat, and was abandoned as a useless pawn. After fleeing on his own, he was turned into a criminal because of his escape. He was left alone, having lost all his friends, the few possessions he had saved, and his lover. He was alone. He clenched his fists and said, “I won’t forgive you.”

“So, what are you going to do now?’

oneof his men asked. If they pass through the road they are on, they will find a town. But if they attacked a place where there were a thousand people, the resistance would be strong. The towns in the baron’s territory are probably well-defended and often have stone walls.

“We should avoid the large towns and go through the villages. If we cross the border into the mountains, we can’t mess with them, can we?”

“What about the villages along the way?”

“We’re going to get the entire thing.”

The head of the group was looking at the territory of the Riptauer. After roughly seeing the land, he looked further away.

Far beyond of his line of sight, was territory of the Baron of Mortain.