Chapter 103
With the injured set aside, we bound up the rest of the villagers—who were little more than bandits—and Ashu stepped out to find me.
She must have figured things were over since the area had gone dead quiet.
“Kirgil…”
Ashu took in the gruesome scene around us, then looked at me. Her face looked like she might burst into tears at any moment.
Emotions she'd been holding back seemed ready to spill over, but she clenched her teeth and forced them down again.
“That kid over there's hurt. And that one too. Mind taking care of them?”
“It's not you I'm worried about... Got it.”
Ashu hurried off to treat the child impaled by a bolt. I watched her go, then drew my sword from its sheath again.
A few of the bound villagers around me flinched and let out screams.
I hoped they wouldn't get any funny ideas about exploiting Ashu's mercy.
The healing and binding continued even after the sun rose and the roosters crowed.
Then the door to the inn—silent until now—suddenly flew open.
I thought it might be someone hiding, but...
“These bastards drugged the food... Ugh... What the hell?”
Paradilan stepped out spear in hand and froze at the sight before him.
Villagers lay dead or tied up, and I was wandering around with my sword drawn.
He stood there, spear aimed, staring intently at the scene for several seconds.
Finally, he lowered it, using it like a staff to steady his wobbly, drugged body.
He'd sized up the situation.
“Tch, that guy's gone and taken care of everything again.”
Some folks think you have to rise at the rooster's crow. Servants who need to prep before their masters, merchants readying their shops—they're the types who start work at dawn.
Paradilan was one of the sensitive ones who'd noticed the drugs, but most hadn't. They dragged themselves out of bed despite feeling like hell, habit carrying them outside one by one.
Every one of them freaked out at the sight. Each time, Paradilan explained that I'd protected everyone through the night.
Grumbling all the while, but he knew exactly what needed doing.
All the villagers were bound, and the wounded had been treated.
The one I'd skewered with my spear died from delayed care, but the two kids pulled through.
One of them, still tied up, shouted tearful thanks to Ashu.
These weak people, who cherished their families so much...
How could they commit such evil acts?
The world was full of tales about wicked strongmen threatening everything, but this drove home that the weak weren't inherently good, either.
If this were a proper kingdom, some noble's territory, there'd be someone in charge to take responsibility. But this was a lawless dead-end village where everyone fended for themselves.
They'd have to bear the blame themselves.
Now it fell to me to...
“Hey, Kirgil. Why don't you head in and rest?”
Paradilan's words snapped me out of my dark thoughts, like waking from a nightmare.
“You fought all night. Leave the watch and cleanup to me and the others waking up.
Go sleep. Your face right now? It's no joke.”
“Yeah. Kirgil, come on inside.”
With even Ashu chiming in, I sheathed my sword and gave in.
The moment I did, she grabbed my hand and tried dragging me back to the inn.
“Me too~ I got dragged around all night.”
Ragi joined in, heading toward the fancy rooms we were using.
She must have figured this was her chance to crash in a real bed instead of that hard wagon. With the owners gone, plenty of empty rooms now.
“If you don't get up on time, I'm leaving you behind.”
Paradilan saw through Ragi's scheme and tossed her a snide jab.
The second we got inside, Ragi ditched her hood for the first time, shaking out her hidden hair.
Golden strands with a pinkish tint. Slinky figure, wavy locks—she was one seductive woman.
She blew us a playful kiss, then slipped into the farthest room from ours.
I stood there in my room, dazed for a few seconds.
I needed rest, but I just couldn't relax.
“Kirgil, come sit here.”
I obeyed without thinking, settling beside her.
Suddenly, she yanked my head into her chest in a fierce hug.
“The you in my arms is still Kirgil.
Put down that sword in your heart now.
You once said you liked seeing me mad.
I feel the same. I love when you tease me.
I love the you that makes me angry sometimes.
So put down that sword in your heart.”
Ashu stroked my hair, soothing me like a lullaby.
I wrapped one arm around her back, touching her back and hair.
My other hand roamed her thigh and hip.
Not out of lust or a desire to make love.
I just craved human warmth.
I groped for that warmth across her body. But what I truly sought wasn't in the feel of her skin—it was in the glimpse I caught of her face.
Ashu's expression gazing down at me was so serene, so warm. In this moment, it felt right to compare it to a mother about to nurse her baby.
“Ugh…”
Tears came flooding out. I couldn't stop them; I buried my face in her chest and sobbed.
Honestly, I didn't even know why I was crying.
I hadn't killed innocents or acted out of greed. I'd protected Ashu and the travelers.
But something had shaken me to the core. I couldn't put my finger on it.
Maybe that's why I felt like a baby.
Like a newborn wailing vigorously to adjust to the new world. Maybe these tears were my way of adapting too.
Either way, I cried it all out. Exhausted like a real infant, I passed out in her arms.
…So warm.
I woke well past noon.
Ashu had tenderly wiped my tear-swollen, bloodshot face. No way I could face anyone like this, she said.
No mirror, so I had no clue how bad it was.
Since I'd turned into a kid anyway, I just obeyed my "mom."
“Hm! There. Now we can go out.”
After about an hour of primping, my face was presentable enough for her approval.
The moment we stepped out, she hooked her arm through mine. Kinda embarrassing.
But she seemed in such high spirits, it was infectious.
“Hey~ His Lordship finally graces us.”
Paradilan greeted me with a grin, raising his spear in a soldierly salute.
But "Lordship" didn't sound like a joke anymore.
“Lordship all of a sudden?”
“You conquered this village overnight. Their lives are in your hands now.”
Ashu didn't argue or contradict him. She had no intention of it happening that way, but this was the natural outcome.
This land bordered Darania—a buffer zone of sorts. Becoming its actual lord would be a nightmare.
“I want to make sure nothing like this ever happens again. Any good ideas?”
“Got one.”
The voice came from behind. Ragi, freshly up, yawned as she strolled out hood up.
“To set an example, burn the whole village down and wipe it off the map. Kill the people... Nah.
Some crybaby kept me up all night, so sell 'em as slaves to spread this valuable lesson far and wide for years.”
She dropped that bombshell out of nowhere.
“Hold up. Burn the houses, but leave the wells. Clean water's crucial.”
I figured Paradilan would snap at Ragi like usual.
Nope. He was negotiating the "burn it all" plan.
I glanced at Ashu.
“A relay village for travelers and wagons turning to banditry? Unforgivable.
There's a saying: 'No need to show courtesy to a host who won't protect their guests.'”
That "courtesy" was basically human rights back in my old world.
This was the brutal common sense of this one.
In the end, I played lord for the day and lit the torches.
The ex-bandit villagers would be handed off as slaves.
Even if some escaped by luck, they shouldn't have anywhere to go. Fugitive slaves could band together and turn bandit again.
To prevent that, burn every house. Kill any thought of flight and eliminate future threats.
That way, even if a new village rose here, it'd be full of different people, a different vibe.
So yeah, spare the wells.
With the flames fading behind us, our wagons rolled out before sunset.
We were way behind schedule, so we'd keep going into the night.
The moon was bright, and we had stout adventurers who'd crushed the bandits.
The former villagers—bandits just yesterday—marched bound. Kids and elders were loaded like luggage into commandeered village wagons.
Keeping up with a wagon while tied isn't easy.
Horse pace forces you into a brisk jog. Some tripped and got dragged.
Merchants and passengers weren't merciful enough to halt for them. They knew it could have been them tied up instead.
If the horses balked, they got dragged anyway.
If they stopped, a beating got them moving. Worst case, gag 'em, blindfold 'em tight, and ditch 'em by the road. Execution, basically.
So the bandits marched through the night for dear life.
The next village's chief gawked at our wagons, then panicked at the line of bound thieves.
Thought we were raiders, probably.
We explained yesterday's mess, and he spat on them, cursing the scum deserved death.
His reaction brought me unexpected relief.
The chief urged me to sell a few slaves cheap.
Too many strong ones in a small village could spark rebellion, so offload the old and young who couldn't run far.
No matter how bitter the taste, I couldn't shake my old world's ethics. Doing so would make me someone else. So I left it all to Paradilan.
Told him to keep the money too.
Frail elders and kids, starved and parched, would mostly die before reaching the academy.
Forcing them into lifelong labor in this backwater was the least bad end everyone could stomach.
This road we were on—was it called the "Path of Learning"?
Bitter, but I'd agree now.
I'd never forget what happened here.
…Never.