I Was Reincarnated as a Marquis in Another World

“Yes, what happened?”

The messenger who had rushed in as a mercenary said with a smile.

“It’s a victory for our side. There are no casualties or serious injuries.”

No matter how confidently Helmut and Balt spoke, I was worried because battles can unfold unpredictably…

I’m just relieved that no one was hurt.

I patted the messenger on the shoulder and continued speaking.

“Alright, well done. Thank you for bringing the good news.”

“Yes, thank you!”

“Did Balt and Helmut send any messages separately?”

“They said to take about ten serfs for cleanup and come up to the place where the bandits are hiding.”

“Let’s do that. Please wait a moment.”

I then handed the messenger a pouch containing several silver coins that I had prepared in advance.

After the messenger stepped back, I shouted loudly enough for the serfs to hear.

“Nobody was hurt, and we won! Only ten of you follow me, and the rest can return home and rest! I will return as soon as the cleanup is done. That is all!”

A moment of silence passed, and cheers began to rise from various places.

“Hooray!!”

“The bandits are all dead!!”

“I told you so! Everyone would be safe!!”

“Geez, if I had known this would happen, I would have gone with the mercenaries… If I had gone, I might have received some loot.”

The serf who said he would follow the mercenaries was just trembling a moment ago, worried about dying while keeping watch. It was amusing to see him bragging now that victory was certain.

When he returns home, he’ll probably hold his wife and children and start bragging again.

He’ll lament that he should have taken off the bandits’ heads, but unfortunately, he couldn’t due to the lord’s orders.

“Disperse!”

As those words came out, the serfs started to return home, each carrying farming tools that could serve as makeshift weapons.

I also headed up the mountain to finish the bandit extermination, following the messenger.

**

The path up the mountain was more rugged than I had expected.

In an age where the roads are barely maintained, it was a path only the bandits used, so there were no steps, just uneven stones.

Moreover, due to the shadows of the trees, I couldn’t even see the holes, and I almost tripped several times.

With the serfs following behind me, I couldn’t scream out in surprise, nor could I show any signs of exhaustion…

If I had come alone, I would have taken breaks many times.

After about an hour of climbing the mountain path, only watching the messenger’s back, I saw the mercenaries standing guard with spears.

As soon as they spotted us, the guards stood at attention and greeted me.

“Your Lordship, thank you for your hard work! The captain and Sir Balt are in the innermost part of the bandit hideout.”

I patted the shoulders of the mercenaries and moved to where they had indicated.

As I entered deeper into the hideout, the scene was more horrifying than I had imagined.

There were pools of dark red blood on the dirt floor, and pieces of bandit flesh and innards were scattered everywhere.

Some bandits, perhaps not dead yet, were groaning in pain, clutching their wounds.

Rats and flies crawled over the already decaying corpses.

At least it was a relief that the smell of rotting corpses was not yet present…

As I ventured further in, I found Balt and some other mercenaries binding the surviving bandits with ropes and making them kneel in the center of the hideout.

Roughly counting, there were about ten male survivors, twenty females, and around fifty children of both sexes.

As soon as I started counting the people, Balt greeted me with a beaming smile.

“Oh, have you arrived, young master? Look, didn’t I say I could take them down without any problem?”

Seeing Balt boast, I smiled and replied to his comment.

“That’s true. It was a bandit extermination, but not a single one died, and it was dealt with so quickly… I guess I was worried for nothing.”

“But since this was your first battle, it’s much better than being reckless. If you had foolishly suggested that I go to the front lines, I would have tried to stop you.”

“Really?”

Balt wiped away his previous smile and spoke with a serious expression.

“Yes, we are somewhat accustomed to battles where we kill people, so we don’t die easily in such simple fights. However, for you, young master, who is going into battle for the first time, you could easily fall against such bandits. Ah, just to clear any misunderstandings, young nobles who graduate from the Knight Academy often die in their first battles against foes of this inferior level.”

“I see.”

“Yes, please, come inside. The loot and the slaves inside have been left untouched.”

**

Following Balt and Helmut’s guidance, I entered the prison where the women suspected to have been abducted by the bandits were being held.

The inside was not very large, about 20 to 30 pyeong.

There were two shabby wooden chairs for the bandits acting as guards, and on either side of the room, there were wooden bars.

Inside the wooden bars, there was a floor covered with straw, wooden buckets to collect the waste of the prisoners, and wooden blocks that served as makeshift pillows.

And the shocking thing was…

There were dozens of women who seemed to have been kidnapped from nearby villages or towns.

They all looked as if they had not washed for days, or even months, and were all wrapped in tattered cloth.

As I looked on with a shocked expression, Helmut, standing beside me, spoke in a somber voice.

“Young master… actually, these women were brought in here without their clothes. They were likely used as playthings by these bandits…”

“I see…”

I had a rough idea that the scum called bandits were garbage who violated women and killed people, but I honestly hadn’t thought they would do such insane things.

No, I had a vague suspicion, but witnessing it in reality was overwhelming.

I almost felt sick at the deeds of these wicked men, but I managed to hold myself together and spoke.

“Protect all the women here and send them to Windheim. No, since their physical condition seems poor, they might not be able to travel down the mountain. Helmut, tell the serfs to bring a cart they can use to transport them.”

“Yes, understood.”

I looked at Balt with a sharp voice and asked.

“Balt, what about the loot these guys have stashed away?”

“It’s in the large hut in the center of the hideout. Follow me.”

**

I entered the central hut.

The structure inside the hut was so lavish that it would put a bailiff’s mansion to shame.

There was a fireplace and a stove, and the beds used by the bandits looked quite soft, covered with fine fabric.

In addition, I noticed various boxes that presumably contained treasures and weapons scattered on the walls and in the corners.

When I opened one of the boxes, I found some gold, silver, and bronze coins, along with weapons.

Seeing that there were dozens of gold coins inside that could cover 100 days’ worth of food for a single serf…

It seemed like the bandits had quite a haul; these scum even kidnapped people to use them as playthings, right?

I turned to Balt beside me and said.

“Really, this is all there is, right? The mercenaries didn’t take anything separately.”

“Yes, young master. I made sure to stop them; I told them not to take anything since you would distribute it properly.”

For a mercenary, he was quite trustworthy and obedient.

From what I know, regular mercenaries plunder whenever they feel like it, regardless of whether they have money…

Huh… Is there any way to recruit friends like them?

“Tell them to distribute all the loot in this box to the mercenaries, regardless of their wages. Oh, and you can take the sword inside this hut, Balt. It looks quite good.”

Balt looked at me with a shocked expression and asked.

“Is it really alright? Beyond treating the mercenaries generously, this would be giving it away.”

“Since you and the mercenaries did well, and now our territory is no longer threatened by these scum, we should do at least this much. Tell them to take it. But let’s do the cleanup together.”

“Yes, understood.”

**

After putting all the loot and the women who had been captured as slaves onto the cart and sending it to my mansion, I headed to the central square of the hideout to interrogate the bandits.

As I entered the square and sat in a somewhat nice chair that the mercenaries had prepared, the bandits began to sneer.

“Pfft, what a lousy young master! Trying to play the good guy by sending away the slaves without touching them? Are you a eunuch? You are a eunuch, right?”

“No, they say young masters don’t taste women before marriage. So that must be it. Tsk tsk, hey young master! I saved some for you, but now I’m really disappointed!!”

These disgusting scum, I had no intention of sparing them anymore…

Even so, to talk such trash in the face of death, pretending not to be scared, showed incredible nerve.

Then I should meet their bravado.

“Hey, spear user, just pick someone and deal with them.”

“Yes.”

As I said this, the spear user briefly put his spear on the ground and drew the sword he had at his side.

Then he approached the nearest bandit and struck down on his left shoulder with the sword.

Immediately, that bandit’s left arm separated from his body, and blood began to spurt out.

The bandit who lost his arm initially seemed confused about the situation, looking down at the place where his left arm had been.

Soon enough, he started screaming.

“My arm! My arm has been cut off!!”

… I thought they would give him a few hits if asked to deal with him, but they actually severed his arm.

I was greatly surprised for a moment, but I pretended not to be shocked and continued speaking.

“Alright, are you ready to talk now? If you want to live, answer me properly, bandits.”

The bandits, now seemingly prepared to talk, nodded their heads without a hint of a smile on their faces.

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