Chapter 26 : Chapter 26
Chapter 26
The territory of the Moner Duchy spanned the entire Demonic Beast Forest, but the only lands actually used were the bustling city of Lier at the entrance of the forest, Central Hold where the Lord's Castle was located, and Front Hold, which was at the heart of the forest and served as the border.
Unlike other families who designated the city where their Lord's Castle was located as the capital, the Moner family had the safest city, 'Lier', as its capital.
Central Hold, where the Lord's Castle was located, was a secondary defense city in case the border was breached.
As it was designed from the beginning for the safe evacuation and clearance of the domain's residents, Lier and Central Hold were connected by a grand highway called 'Failsafe'.
"So..."
The Black Noble Order and Ian were hiding near that Failsafe.
"Bandits?"
Lina, wearing a black hood, asked in bewilderment.
"That's right.
We'll wait here and rob the merchants transporting food."
What kind of goblin-college-bound talk was this?
There were no bandits on Failsafe.
No, in the first place, there was only a well-paved highway with no mountains.
"Where are the bandits on Failsafe!"
"That's exactly what we're aiming for.
The road from Lier to Central Hold is just a peaceful highway with no bandits or monsters."
The Moner family suffered from a chronic shortage of manpower.
In a domain where anyone who could hold a sword could become a soldier or a hunter, there was naturally no way for bandits or thieves to exist.
The fact that not a single person had starved to death even when bread mixed with sand was being distributed was because the average income of the city was that high.
As such, the safest road in the kingdom would be this Failsafe.
"Then, would the merchant guilds coming here bring escorts?"
"They probably would, wouldn't they?
Any merchant guild would have brought escorts to Lier..."
"Then that would cost more money.
I bet a hundred out of a hundred of them left their escorts in Lier and came with just food and workers."
Lina, who had been thinking for a moment, tilted her head and asked.
"Then why bandits?"
"......?"
Lina looked around and continued.
"There are no mountains around here, and all there is is an endless road, so... um... aren't we just robbers?"
Ian flinched at her cruel fact-checking, delivered with an innocent face.
"What are you talking about, robbers?
Robbers aren't cool, so no.
The proud Black Noble Order's first mission being robbery?
Absolutely not."
"...and being bandits is fine?"
Right.
Ian, who was momentarily at a loss for words, mumbled.
"Anyway, we're bandits.
Our target is every merchant that passes through here."
"Not robbery, but banditry.
What an incredibly honorable first mission."
"The first mission was protecting the cathedral.
That was a truly honorable mission."
"But the Duke said this was the first mission."
As I was feeling that Lina was treating me more and more casually as time went on, Reina and Puck approached and announced the approach of the merchants.
"Young Master, a merchant guild with the Centaur flag is approaching from a distance."
"Captain!
There are so many people!
So many people, so many horses, and so~ many carriages!"
'The Centaur Merchant Guild.'
The Centaur Merchant Guild was a merchant guild run by the second son of the Obsol domain, one of the three domains bordering the rear city of Lier.
Rylae had told me that they were making tens of times the profit by selling the food they had forcibly collected from their domain's people at a low price to the Moner family.
"Shall we start our business?"
As Ian stood up from his seat, 21 members of the Black Noble Order in black hoods and Reina, still in her maid uniform, followed behind him.
* * *
"Move it, move it!"
Crack!
At the shout of Treci, the second son of the House of Count Obsol, the sound of a whip tearing through flesh echoed.
"You sluggish things!
We have to deliver the goods today to be able to return to the domain by the weekend!"
Treci had no intention of spending a single day more in this ominous domain located in the Demonic Beast Forest.
'I can't live forever feeding the guard dogs' food.
I have to go to the center eventually.'
As the second son who would not inherit the title of Count, this merchant guild was the only means by which he could obtain a title for himself.
For that, he had to return to the domain as soon as possible and prepare to attend the upcoming royal banquet.
"Walk faster!
Those who slow down will be left behind!"
The more Treci, on horseback, swung his whip, the more the porters collapsed, slowing down the march, but it didn't seem to matter to Treci.
"Leave the fallen ones to die here!
They're useless anyway, just take the luggage and keep moving!"
When they had moved about halfway, the aide who was leading the merchant guild from the front approached, scratching his head.
"Young Master, there's a group blocking the road about an hour away, what should we do?"
"What, are they stragglers from another merchant guild?"
Unless they had two or three lives, they wouldn't have come all the way to Central Hold in the Demonic Beast Forest alone, so they were probably stragglers abandoned by a merchant from a nearby domain.
"Alright, if they're in good condition, we'll pick them up, and if they're in bad shape, we'll leave them."
"Then we might be further delayed..."
"We've also thrown away a lot of trash on the way, so we need to fill up a bit.
That's all money, you know."
It was a common occurrence when passing through Failsafe.
Since they had to walk a tedious road for several days, if a slave or porter fell ill, it was better to abandon them in the middle of the road than to slow down the march.
The abandoned ones would either be lucky enough to walk to Central Hold or be picked up by another merchant guild walking the road.
It was strange that the slaves were blocking the road instead of running away after seeing the merchant guild, but he thought that a group of slaves on the verge of starvation was probably trying to cling on to survive somehow, and he urged the merchant guild on.
"Now!
Pick up the pace!"
At his shout, the whip cut through the air, and as always, a straggler was abandoned by the merchant guild.
* * *
"Hmm..."
Ian, wearing a black mask, was contemplating the decision of a lifetime as he watched the approaching merchant guild from a distance.
"How about 'Leave the carriages and go!'?"
"Absolutely not."
For a bandit, there was nothing more important and impactful than the first words.
Didn't the first line of all the villains in novels determine their weight?
"Then, how about 'If you don't get out right now, you'll all die!'?
Is that too classic?"
"It must be nice to live so comfortably, Duke."
As I was wondering what that meant, Lina continued.
"They won't listen to whatever we say.
They'll probably think we're stranded slaves."
"Slaves?
In the middle of the road?"
"Slave trade is illegal in the Moner domain, but the merchant guilds from outside use more slaves than workers.
They're treated worse than livestock, so if they're deemed useless, they're often abandoned on the way."
Indeed, since Ian himself would be sold as a slave inspector in a merchant guild 10 years later, slaves in this world might be more common than I thought.
"Then the slaves are also their assets?"
"...I suppose so?"
"Our domain has good wages and good treatment..."
As Ian's eyes curved pleasantly as he looked at the approaching merchant guild from a distance, Lina, who had read his intentions, asked.
"Are you going to steal the slaves too?"
"Steal?
I'm just suggesting we politely offer them employment."
Slaves were an all-purpose resource that could be used as soldiers, laborers, or hunters once they returned to the domain.
'In Locke, there's nothing more important than food and manpower.'
"Shall we go and receive our new recruits?"
With an expectant look, Ian began to move with the Black Noble Order.
of.
"Stop!"
Ian shouted at the approaching procession of the merchant guild, his voice imbued with mana.
In fact, it was quite uncool for the bandit leader to shout, so I had asked Lina, but at her opinion that they would ignore them even more if they knew a woman was at the front, I had no choice but to step forward myself.
'I should bring Rick next time.'
As I was thinking that, a man with a rat-like mustache came out from the merchant guild and shouted.
"We're busy, so I'll only say this once!
Anyone with all their limbs intact, except for the sick, follow behind and share the load!
There will be only one meal, served upon arrival at Central Hold!"
The man, who had said that, joined the procession of the merchant guild as if he had nothing more to say, and only Ian and the Black Noble Order were left standing there, looking at the merchant guild that had started to move again.
"......"
"Pfft!"
I heard Lina's laughter from behind.
She could control even her breathing with the trait 『Dark Lord』.
In other words, that snort was a deliberate sneer.
"Hah..."
This is why I tried to prepare an impactful threat...
Weren't banditry usually not settled with threats?
"Well, it can't be helped."
Clang!
As Ian raised his right hand and spoke, the sound of all the members of the Black Noble Order drawing their swords echoed.
Despite facing a merchant guild of over a hundred, not a single one of them trembled and just waited calmly for the order.
"Begin."
As soon as Ian's lips parted, the 21 figures spread out in all directions like ink on a drawing paper.
* * *
The battle was one-sided.
The merchant guild, which had no combat personnel in the first place, was caught off guard by the appearance of the Black Noble Order and could only be beaten.
"Get on the ground right now!
We will not attack those who surrender!"
As soon as Lina's voice echoed, dozens of slaves quickly got on the ground, and the Black Noble Order quickly subdued the porters who couldn't grasp the situation by stabbing them in the knees.
"Stop them!
Stop them!
Can't you even catch a single woman?!
Throw your bodies at them and stop them!"
Treci continuously swung his whip and hounded the slaves, but the workers who had seen the sword that pierced their thighs without even blinking had already lost their will to fight.
Just about ten minutes.
Before even twenty minutes had passed, the Black Noble Order had subdued the Centaur Merchant Guild and dragged Treci away.
"Eeeek...!
What are you guys!"
As Treci, who had been subdued with a rope and dragged on the ground, shouted, Ian replied with a bright face.
"Us?
Can't you tell by looking?
We're bandits."
Treci, unable to hide the humiliation and injustice of being dragged on the ground, raised his voice and denied it.
"Don't lie!
Where are the mountains around here!
Who sent you?!
The Lyt domain?
Those snake-like bastards, how dare they!"
His suspicion was reasonable.
Failsafe was directly managed by the Moner family and had been one of the safest trade routes with not a single accident in the past 10 years.
There couldn't be, and there was no reason for, bandits.
"The Obsol family will never forget today!"
Treci shouted with his veins bulging, but Ian didn't even pay attention and was lost in thought.
'If this goes well, things might get more interesting than I thought.'
The original plan was just to steal their food here.
Considering the strong solidarity of the Merchants' Association, I had thought there was no room to squeeze in between the three domains.
"How dare you!
Do you think I don't know what you're up to?!
I will repay this humiliation no matter what!"
Seeing Treci, who didn't stop shouting even in front of an opponent with a sword, as if he thought he would never be killed, Ian smiled.
"Well, I don't know what you're talking about."
Ian, who had replied with an exaggerated gesture and an awkward tone, approached Treci and said.
"We are not knights from the Lyt domain."
"Don't lie!
Is there another shrewd bastard who would do such a cowardly thing?!"
"There is no knightly order similar to ours."
"No!
That... that... right!
The Fable Knightly Order!
I clearly remember... guek!"
Ian, who had been nodding at the excellent performance of the sucker who was misunderstanding as he wished, knocked Treci out by hitting him on the back of the head and then turned to Lina and said.
"We're taking all the food and slaves they brought and leaving."
At Ian's order, the Black Noble Order began to move busily, and Lina came to Ian's side and asked.
"Shall I have some people get some souvenirs from the three domains?"
Ian, who had smiled at the vicious idea, replied.
"That's it.
Not just any souvenirs, but ones with the knightly order's emblem emblazoned on them.
Got it?"
If their solidarity was not as strong as it seemed, they would collapse from an unexpected internal division.
To profit from the conflict of others.
Just the thought of that sweet fruit made Ian smile and smack his lips.