Chapter 120 : The Days Toward the Rostingia Marcher Lordship (4)
Chapter 120: The Days Toward the Rostingia Marcher Lordship (4)
At some point, Shatien had long since surpassed the level of an ordinary mercenary.
The combat experience gained as a mercenary, the accumulation of techniques received from his master, and the swordsmanship refined through duels with knights.
Finally, Shatien was now a true knight in his own right.
A knight who had established his own style.
And right now.
“A-Arghhhhh!”
“It is a crazy monster!”
“Where did such a monster knight come from?!”
He descended as an incarnation of battle.
There was no one who could block his swinging sword.
Whether they tried to block with a spear or a shield, they were sliced through as soon as they met his blade. Trying to stop him by grouping together with mass was also of little use.
The more they bunched up and the more tightly they set their shields and spears, the more exquisitely Shatien's sword moved to aim for the gaps.
Each flash of the sword resulted in the blood of two or three men being scattered, and if a dull sound rang out, it was the sound of a skull being shattered by the impact of a steel boot.
What was even more terrifying was that all of this occurred within the span of about five breaths.
Clearly, just a moment ago, dozens of mercenaries had been gathered in a formation, but with this single charge, the area was cleared in a wide circle as if a bomb had exploded.
“C-Charge! What are you doing! Help Shatien!!”
Centurion Jenga shouted hurriedly, unaware that he himself had been watching the situation with a stunned expression.
To anyone's eyes, this was momentum.
By riding the momentum Shatien had created and crushing their skulls, they would be able to win the battle very easily.
“W-Woaaaah!”
“Charge!”
“Long live Shatien!”
“Long live the Black Ravens Mercenary Company!”
It was a bit of a clumsy appearance, but the timing was appropriate. The mercenaries, who immediately followed behind Shatien, poured a fierce attack toward the intruders in the forest with wild shouts.
-Clang!
-Clang! Clang!
-Crunch!
The gruesome sound of tearing flesh echoed, and screams and shouts erupted from all sides. However, for the most part, the targets were the enemy, not their allies. Seeing the monstrous figure of Shatien mounted on his horse, most of the enemies could not endure and turned their bodies to flee.
-Thud!
-Thwack!
The Black Ravens Mercenary Company simply moved forward, and forward again, crushing the skulls of those who fled easily.
“Whoa! Whoa! Dammit. Shatien! Calm down!”
“Ah? Miles? I haven't lost my mind, you know?”
“……? This is you not having lost your mind?”
He was covered in blood and looked like a demon climbed up from hell. Miles swallowed hard at that terrifyingly nonchalant expression without realizing it.
“A-Ahem. If you say so, then I guess you haven't lost your mind.”
“Hey, I really haven't.”
“Ah! Right. Sure. You haven't. I believe you.”
“Goodness….”
Shatien sighed inwardly, wondering why this man was acting this way again.
“I'll have them pursue the bastards into the forest for now. And give me support of ten cavalrymen.”
“Are you going to follow them to the end?”
“Yes. I think it would be tiresome if anyone happens to survive. Besides, while I was killing one of them earlier, I heard him mention something about a 'Young Master.' It seems some of them are related to a certain Count.”
“Hmm…. That makes sense.”
Confirming it now, their equipment was better than expected. Some of the bastards seemed to be connected to Count Joberham. And that meant….
‘There is no need to leave behind unnecessary future trouble.’
As the saying goes, the dead tell no tales.
No matter how much of a black sheep a child might be, they were still blood. It was true that it hurt to lose them. Wouldn't the result sometimes be more important than the process? Given the nature of nobles who value honor, they wouldn't openly do harm, but they could turn around and harass from behind.
“Very well. I shall add ten swift cavalrymen. We must deal with every single one so that not a soul escapes today.”
“Understood. Just leave it to me.”
Miles thumped his chest and immediately led the cavalry toward the forest.
Likely, no one would return alive from the forest today.
“P-Please spare me.”
“I was wrong.”
“I was blinded by money and…. At home….”
“Ah, you have an elderly mother at home?”
“Yes, yes, yes! I have an elderly mother. If I am gone, my mother will….”
“Ahhhh. Well, that is quite unfortunate. My own mother passed away because of bandit bastards like you!! Hmm?!”
“Arghhh!”
The situation was mostly settled.
The enemy was numerous, but they were merely a group of defeated soldiers. Both morale and discipline were low. Furthermore, since Shatien had personally charged and shown monstrous skill, there was no way they could hold out further.
They soon began to be subdued one by one, and those who were unharmed were gathered in one place to begin an interrogation that was not quite an interrogation.
Shatien looked at them and asked indifferently.
“Who are you? Are you truly an army commissioned by Count Joberham? We are an army under the Marcher Lord of Rostingia. Yet you dared to attack. Did Count Joberham intend to rebel against the Marcher Lord?”
“H-Hieee! No!”
The captured soldiers shouted in horror. Rebellion. This was a charge that guaranteed a gruesome death. Furthermore, was the weight of that charge not incredibly heavy?
It was a situation so great that not only themselves but their entire families could be killed miserably. They began to pour out the facts one after another while shedding tears and snot.
“That's right. No. We just. Really just…. The Young Master said we should make some pocket money, so we did it.”
“That's right. There were many groups of defeated soldiers nearby, so he promised them money and tried to rob you.”
“Rebellion makes no sense. Count Joberham has absolutely nothing to do with this.”
“Young Master?”
“Yes, yes! The Young Master. He is the child born to Count Joberham's second wife.”
As expected. The prediction was always correct.
Shatien asked back with a slightly hardened face.
“Where is he?”
“He, uh, died. He was hit by a spear during the first charge….”
“Oh? That is quite unfortunate. I shall offer my condolences. In the name of God.”
It was unfortunate for them, but quite a relief for Shatien.
If he had missed him, he would have had no choice but to spare these people, but if he was already dead, the story was different.
“Kill them all.”
“Yes!”
“W-Wait! Spare—ack!”
“Arghhhhh!”
He could finish the cleanup of everyone with peace of mind. They were trash who had intended to kill and loot others anyway. There was no way he would feel a sting of conscience for killing them.
On the contrary, there was only the satisfaction of ensuring they paid the deserved price.
Consequently, the mercenaries set about taking the lives of the remaining bastards with excitement.
“Whew, is that the end?”
With this, the unfortunate(?) accident that occurred in this area became a tight secret known only to the Black Ravens Mercenary Company and the merchant group led by Marhen.
Shatien settled the battlefield appropriately and then looked for Branch Manager Marhen.
Fortunately, the wagon Marhen was riding in was peaceful, as if it had not received any particular attack.
“Was it an attack by mere looters?”
“Well, yes. Fortunately, we dealt with them all. But do you have something in mind?”
Marhen shrugged her shoulders.
“The merchant guild is massive, and its inner workings are as complex as noble society.”
“Ah!”
Only then did Shatien understand what Marhen was trying to say.
“For now, it seems there was no intervention from Count Joberham. It appears a black sheep Young Master of the family did something crazy to try and make some pocket money.”
At that, Marhen asked back as if it were absurd.
“He didn't know that we were moving under the orders of Viscount Ragnarsson?”
“He didn't. But is it not natural for political sense to drop the further one is in the backwaters?”
One should not make the mistake of thinking that all nobles would have a developed, delicate, and precise political sense like high-ranking nobles.
On the contrary, local nobles who reigned like kings in their own fiefs tended to have a narrow vision and only looked after their own interests and their own families.
Especially as one went further into the regions, invisible martial force often became a more attractive option than hollow honor. There were far more conflicts between nobles and ordinary free people than there were between nobles and other nobles.
Therefore, it was not an unusual thing for the child of a local noble to do something stupid.
Of course, this time….
“It is truly amazing that he didn't know this was an affair large enough to cost his father's head if a proper claim was made.”
It was a large scale incident, just as Marhen said.
“Well, but no one will know now anyway. Let's just pass over it quietly, Branch Manager Marhen.”
“I was planning to do that anyway. Since we need Count Joberham's territory to restore the trade network, there's no need to create trouble.”
Shatien nodded at her sharp words. Being a merchant, she certainly did not pay attention to useless things.
“Then… is the situation all settled now? Shall we move?”
“Yes. The cleanup will be finished soon. We can move. Shall we go up like this? Without meeting Count Joberham?”
“Yes. No matter how secretly we handled it… it's a bit uncomfortable, isn't it? If we go and someone makes a mistake, it'll be a disaster. Let's change the plan and head north like this.”
“Hmm. Very well.”
Indeed. She was very thorough.
Shatien agreed with Marhen's plan and immediately returned to the main unit to give quick instructions on the situation.
“We must cross as much as possible today. Organize things quickly and efficiently.”
Digging the ground to dispose of the corpses,
Stripping the equipment to recover everything.
It was a foul-smelling and, in a way, horrific task, but there were no complaints from the working mercenaries.
Shatien had announced that all this booty would be distributed equally among the participants. After all, money was the best for raising the morale of mercenaries, followed by more money, and the absolute best was still money.
From that perspective, Shatien, who was relatively devoid of greed and knew how to be generous, was truly the best employer and the best centurion.
Then again, one wondered how many leaders there were who would spend their own money to provide equipment for their subordinates.
“Whoa! Shatien. We dealt with all of them.”
“Are there no survivors who fled?”
“Yeah. We took care of the whole lot. But one of them was quite fierce. It almost became a major issue.”
“Didn't you catch a knight?”
“Ehehe. A knight? I don't know. But his skill was truly extraordinary.”
Perhaps because they had fought a bloody battle, one side of Miles's armor had a large sword mark on it.
If it had been cheap armor, he would have died. It was a stroke of luck.
“In the future, just let them go. Don't fight while risking your life like that.”
“Aww. It'll be a disaster for us if we miss them.”
“Miles is more important. Much more!”
“Ah… Shatien!”
Leaving the moved Miles behind, Shatien spoke to Marhen and moved the unit again.
There was still plenty of time before the sun set. Even if they were to rest, they had to move to the next outpost first.
-Unit advance!
-Move out!
-Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!
And as the merchant wagons led by Shatien and Marhen were moving toward the free city of Friesland.
“Stop!”
“Are you perhaps the merchant group moving under the orders of Viscount Ragnarsson?”
“?”
A sudden messenger arrived.
“That is correct. Who are you?”
“We are messengers of Count Joberham, the legitimate ruler of this area. His Excellency the Count wishes to invite the merchant party. Please, do not refuse the invitation.”
“…….”
A somewhat uncomfortable messenger.