Chapter 36
“Most of it is farmland. Up until recently, Delgain and Nurha were jointly managing both territories in cooperation. Thanks to that, public security improved, and Delgain’s agricultural profits increased considerably. But this year, they can no longer rely on Nurha, so the area they need to patrol has grown. That means there’ll be more damage to farmland from monsters. And recently, a fairly large bandit group has appeared as well.”
“Where are the bandits located?”
“Southeast of Delgain.”
“How large are they?”
“There’s a rumor going around that they have about thirty bandits armed with spears, but such rumors tend to be exaggerated.”
“Thirty bandits with spears….That’s a pretty decent size, isn’t it?”
Not large—decent.
Amy immediately understood what I meant by that.
“…Are you suggesting we become bandits?”
“Why not?”
It was a radical strategy. From a noble’s perspective, even voicing the idea was shameful. But Hebron wasn’t House Breio. The advantage of being a low-ranking noble was that they could wage dirty brawls in the open without pretense.
Amy’s eyes lit up.
Once the limits that had been weighing on her were swept away, her mind seemed to clear.
“Th-Then, I’ll draw up a plan. Will that be alright?”
“I’ll leave it to you.”
“Thank you, my lord! I’ll do my best.”
“Good. Let’s do our best to become bandits who’ll be remembered in history.”
“…Excuse me? Ah… Yes, sir.”
Amy’s excitement dulled slightly.
Even if this operation ended in success, there would be no one to recognize it. The best they could hope for was acknowledgment from me. After all, it had to remain a secret from the outside world.
* * *
The next morning, Amy came to me looking disheveled.
“We’ve received intel that Delgain’s subjugation force is planning a surprise raid on the Bebe Bandits at dawn tomorrow. We should hit the bandits tonight. If we leave now, we can arrive before sunset.”
Amy smiled with puffy, swollen eyes.
I liked that smile. It was sly and devious.
“Perfect!”
* * *
Amy had mobilized sixty slave soldiers instead of regular soldiers.
Deploying Hebron regular soldiers trained in the Monolith Spear technique was considered, but due to the secrecy required for this mission, slave soldiers were chosen instead. They were tight-lipped, and the terrain of Mount Tobe—where the Bebe Bandits were based—suited them better.
Thirty were stationed at the border of Nurha, and I personally led the remaining thirty. We moved swiftly under the cover of darkness, cutting across the uninhabited lands. Likely because of the news about bandits in the area, there wasn’t a soul in sight.
The slave soldiers, trained in Sardian swordsmanship, climbed the mountain with masked faces and unhesitating steps.
Slice!
At the front of the formation, I beheaded a bandit. That was the signal. From there, the slave soldiers surrounding Mount Tobe launched a surprise attack on the bandit camp.
“Gah!”
“Enemies…! Urk!”
Before the alarm could even spread, the slave soldiers had wiped out twenty-three bandits. Their gear was in disarray, and they were completely unprepared.
The bandits couldn’t even think of running away because the slave soldiers suddenly appeared like ghosts, using Sardia Maneuvering Footwork.
Twenty-three corpses piled up in the middle of the bandit camp.
“Strip their clothes.”
We removed the ragged clothing from the dead bandits and searched the camp for spares.
“Change into their clothes and smear mud on your faces.”
The thirty slave soldiers obeyed my command. They quickly changed and mixed dirt with water to slather onto their faces.
“From today, we are the Bebe Bandits—so fearsome we can even silence a crying infant. While acting as bandits, the only response I want to hear is Bebe.”
“Bebe!”
The corpses were moved to the side.
We scattered herbs over them to prevent decomposition, though it didn't matter if some parts began to rot.
That night, a soldier I had sent returned with a report.
“Delgain’s forces have begun ascending the mountain. The estimated strength is around fifty.”
Fifty soldiers was excessive for dealing with the Bebe Bandits. Even Baron Delgain must’ve thought so. But it was to make an example—wipe out the first bandit group in the region and show that the Delgain barony had no tolerance for such criminals.
“Prepare for battle.”
“Bebe.”
“Avoid killing them if possible. They’ll become Hebron’s soldiers soon enough.”
“Bebe.”
Soon after, the slave soldiers vacated the camp.
They crossed over to the opposite ridge from where the Delgain soldiers were ascending and set up an ambush.
“Inferno, when I give the signal, set that place ablaze. Don’t show yourself.”
The bandit camp was full of flammable materials. A few bottles of low-grade oil had also been found, and those were poured over the thatched huts made of dry firewood and woven grass.
—Will that be enough?
“It’s more than enough. Unfortunately, I can’t afford to go all out today.”
—Hmph.
Delgain’s assault began.
Leading the fifty-man force was Sir Sniff.
He was said to be the most skilled swordsman in Delgain.
Though it was supposed to be a surprise attack, Delgain’s soldiers made no effort to conceal their presence. They likely intended to overwhelm with sheer force. You could feel their confidence in chasing down any enemies who fled in fear.
They crossed Mount Tobe and arrived at the bandit camp. The soldiers were breathing heavily—it turned out that night marches in full gear were no easy task.
Sir Sniff shouted toward the camp.
“Bandit chief Bebe! Face the judgment of Baron Delgain!”
Delgain’s soldiers were brimming with confidence.
Their faces already bore the glow of victory, and they were ready to raise cheers at any moment.
One of the soldiers inspecting the area approached Sniff and reported.
“It looks like the bandits knew we were coming and fled in advance.”
Sniff lashed out and kicked a nearby campfire. Flames spread to a piece of cloth on the ground. Seeing that, Sniff chuckled. It clearly looked like the scene of a hasty retreat.
“They couldn’t have gone far. Track them down!”
“Yes, sir!”
Delgain’s soldiers split into teams of five. Eight teams crossed over to the opposite ridge—where Hebron’s slave soldiers lay in ambush—while two remained to search the camp.
“Inferno.”
At my whisper, fire burst forth all across the camp.
The oil caught fire instantly, and the huts and dry firewood flared into tall flames, lighting up the entire area.
“F-fire!”
The soldiers who had been descending the opposite ridge turned around and looked back to see fire erupting from the camp.
In that moment, spears flew at them—crude wooden spears like the ones the bandits used.
Whoosh, whoosh! Thud, thud!
“It’s an ambush—! Ahhh!”
Several unlucky soldiers were skewered and died instantly.
At the same time, the slave soldiers leapt out with a battle cry.
“Uwooooh! For Bebe!”
But they weren’t wielding wooden spears. They were armed with steel swords.
The Delgain soldiers had no time to question this inconsistency—they simply collapsed helplessly.
Hebron’s slave soldiers had the advantage of surprise. And in this kind of terrain, those trained in Sardia Maneuvering Footwork held overwhelming superiority.
“We’re under attack! All Delgain soldiers, rally to me! Form lines and fight! They’re just bandits! We are Delgain’s elite! Don’t panic!”
Sir Sniff raised his voice to rally his men.
But his words were drowned out by the growing flames engulfing the camp. The soldiers, driven back by the fire and huddled together, looked pitiful—like mangy dogs.
Only thirteen managed to regroup. The rest had been subdued by Hebron’s slave soldiers.
The soldiers who had finished the fight climbed back up the ridge. Ten of the thirty returned, excluding the twenty assigned to guard the captives.
They all wore hoods. There were bloodstains on their clothes and hoods, but it was the blood of bandits, not soldiers.
“So you’re Bebe, you vile scum!”
Sir Sniff shouted at Bernie, one of the slave soldiers. Bernie did stand out the most. Rumor had it that one of his ancestors was an orc. Whether that was true or not, he was naturally strong and broad-shouldered.
Bernie fought and defeated Ambrod and he was an aura initiator—one who had begun gathering aura in his dantian. He couldn’t compare to a knight who’d devoted his life to the sword, but he was good enough to hold his own against a careless one.
Bernie came at him with full force from the start.
He closed the gap with Sardia Maneuvering Footwork and launched a desperate attack. The Delgain soldiers, rather than aiding their commander, recoiled in fear and stepped back. Before anyone realized, it had turned into a one-on-one duel between Bernie and Sir Sniff.
Their swords clashed in the air.
Clang!
Sniff hastily drew on his aura, but he couldn’t hold his sword. It flew from his hand, his grip torn apart.
‘He underestimated him.’
It was a common outcome in duels between knights—those who looked down on their opponents often paid the price. The less self-aware the knight, the more likely this was to happen.
Skilled knights never underestimated their foes. It was how they avoided a dishonorable, meaningless death.
Bernie’s sword now pointed at Sniff’s throat. Meanwhile, the slave soldiers had surrounded the rest of Delgain’s forces.
Clatter! Clink!
One by one, the soldiers dropped their weapons without needing to be told.
They raised their hands to show they no longer intended to fight.
“You cowardly bastard!”
Sir Sniff growled, eyes wide with rage.
At my signal, one of the slave soldiers stepped forward and stabbed Sniff in the shoulder with his sword. It was a mechanical motion, devoid of emotion.
A hole opened in Sniff’s shoulder.
“Aaah!”
Not a single soldier moved to help him as he collapsed.
They instinctively sensed that something was wrong—these slave soldiers were not ordinary.
“Bebe.”
Bernie turned to me and addressed me respectfully.
I tried to make my voice as deep and commanding as possible.
“You, there.”
The soldier I pointed to shot his right hand into the air.
“Y-Yes! I’m Elco, a soldier of House Delgain!”
“Go back and tell Baron Delgain this—if he wants to save his knight and men, he has to bring 1,000 gold.”
Without looking back, Elco descended Mount Tobe. The other soldiers watched the back of his head with eyes full of envy.
“We’ll give you ropes. Tie each other up. We’ll be checking anyway, so don’t bother with any tricks. Let’s not make this more unpleasant than it has to be. Kaak, phew!"
Spitting up a phlegmy wad felt like the final touch to becoming a true bandit. That kind of a night.
* * *
Two days later, a letter arrived—not from Delgain, but from Hebron.
A small, fast carrier bird called a bimae had flown in, a note tucked into the leather case strapped to its leg.
The message was encoded in Amy’s cipher.
“Five hundred gold, huh… Trying to be clever.”
Baron Delgain had requested Hebron’s aid in subduing the bandits. The agreed price was 500 gold. But he made no mention of his knight and 50 soldiers being captured.
“He probably figured that since a full force of soldiers and a knight were defeated, Hebron would also suffer losses. If we clean up the bandits, he gets his men back for half the ransom. It’s a win for him either way.”
Amy had accepted the offer without my permission. I had given her full authority over this operation, and it was clear Delgain’s response had played out exactly as she predicted.
“They’re offering 500 gold. Of course, we take it.”
Delgain had sent 100 gold as a down payment. The rest would be paid after the job was done, though from the look of things, they expected Hebron to fail.
‘Well, when your entire force—one knight and fifty soldiers—gets captured, it’s only natural to think Hebron won’t succeed unless they commit fully.’
That afternoon, 30 slave soldiers stationed on the Nurha border began moving toward Mount Tobe. They were dressed in military uniforms provided by Hebron, and their movement was reported to Delgain.
“Training begins.”
“Bebe.”
The slave soldiers who had remained on Mount Tobe and those who had newly arrived raised their swords against each other.
This was a common training practice in Hebron ‘live combat drills’.
“Uwoooooooh!”
The slave soldiers, eyes ablaze, began attacking one another in earnest.
