Chapter 78 Two Options

Although Aion wanted to capture the remaining bandits as soon as possible, he decided to rest fully and then leave only on the next day. The reason for that is that he wanted to confirm if they had some informants in the town. Until now, that was the only place that hadn't been targeted since the number of guards stationed there was too high for a few dozen bandits.

On the morning of the next day, Aion returned to the prison in the town. At the entrance, he only found two guards sitting around a table while chatting… they soon got up when Aion arrived, but that wouldn't fix the impression that he already had.

"Where is the captain of the guards?" Aion asked.

"He said that he was going to visit your estate, sir, early in the morning," One of the guards replied.

That sure was bad timing… Regardless, Aion went downstairs to see the prisoners after confining that his orders had been followed. The bandits looked a bit better since they had access to water and food when it was time. In any case, the prison sure was a depressing place. It was barely used, so that it couldn't have been worse.

"Have you guys considered my offer?" Aion asked. "Are you going to tell me where the others are, or should I decrease your meals to once a day?"

"... There are no other groups," the nails guy said. "There aren't enough villages around for us to attack."

"What about the villages in the territories of the other families?" Aion asked.

"Attack them is difficult since they have a lot of guards to spare," the nails guy said.

"Why do they have guards when we are shorthanded here?" Aion asked.

"The last lord of this territory died three years ago, so the guards decided to be hired by those families," the nails guy said. "Besides, their regions weren't attacked that often when invasions happened."

"You are well informed… What is your name?" Aion asked.

"Rarth," the nails guy replied.

"Usually, I wouldn't bother talking with someone that tries to bite their opponents, Rarth," Aion said. "But you don't sound totally stupid considering the profession that you decided to follow. Since you decided to speak, I will reward you. I will free you from that block of earth. Thanks to this, you might have the chance to escape, but if you know what is good for you, you won't try that."

It seemed that Rarth wanted to get on Aion's good side since he was a kid and did what he had promised. Not to mention, he also kicked Rarth's ass. Aion was also aware of that, and he was fine with that. If he was stupid enough to try to use him, then he would be better disposed of.

"You are from Rosberg kingdom, aren't you?" Aion asked. "Why do the people from your kingdom usually attack this territory? It couldn't be something that they started to do recently."

"I am not aware of the details, but the history of your family might be the cause of that," Rarth replied.

That made sense… Aion read in the books that his family was one of the oldest, and since they were guarding that part of the border, many people would target them. Even more so the mutated people who could live for many more years. Still, to think that they would hold such grudges for so long…

"Putting that aside, what are you guys' plans?" Aion asked. "The reports said that you didn't kill anyone, so you were avoiding enraging the soldiers of my territory. Even though I think that they can't be that scary or competent."

"... What will you do once we answer that?" Rarth asked.

"That will depend on what you want," Aion replied. "My guess is that you wanted to recruit more people for whatever reason since you left your treasures stored in your bases and not that well hidden. You wanted to get more recruits for your cause… You couldn't be planning to create a militia or mercenary group when you started as bandits, right?"

"No… we just want to go somewhere else," Rarth said. "We are outcasts, and while it is true that we were planning to draw the attention of others with money, our original goal was to buy a ship and sail to somewhere else. A place where we can create our new homes."

That sounded like nonsense. It made more sense for them to buy a ship to become pirates. Nevertheless, they all had their reasons to become bandits, and again, Aion couldn't care less. Crossing many territories of hostile people probably was impossible for them, they wouldn't last long, but with a boat, their chances would be better.

"A single ship costs around three hundred gold coins… you guys have been operating for what two years? What you got, how much? thirty gold coins considering all the loot?" Aion asked. "It seems that being a bandit isn't that profitable, and it will take at least ten years for you guys to get enough money."

"... What is your point?" Rarth asked.

"Work for me," Aion said. "If you do everything I say, in five years, you will have your ship and you will be free to go wherever you want."

"Hah, even if you are the lord of this territory, that much gold isn't something that you can obtain or spend on your own," Rarth said. "We aren't going to fall for that."

"Do you know who I am?" Aion asked. "I am the guy who defeated Horis the immortal. I also have five inns in the capital that make me money even when I am not there. In five years, I will make this place grow so much that three hundred gold coins will be nothing to me."

They heard some things about Aion, but even so, that seemed like too good of a proposal. Also, Aion didn't have that much confidence in his management skills, but his mother was very skilled at that. So, it wasn't an impossible goal."