Chapter 16
Chapter 16
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 16
Chapter Title: No Bandit Without a Backstory
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"Don't worry, we're just ordinary bandits."
My Weeping Horse-Slaying Barrage continued until dawn broke.
"I pledge my loyalty to you, Boss...."
In the meantime, Red Flame Boss lived up to his name—not just his beard, but his entire face turned red. That was because I'd turned it into a bloody pulp with my fists.
Yawning, I addressed Red Flame Boss, whose face was swollen like a balloon.
"Hey, between us, what's with all the formal 'Boss' crap? I'm giving you special permission to call me Big Brother."
"...Thank you, Big Brother."
Anyone could see that Red Flame Boss looked a good ten years older than me, but whatever... In the bandit world, the strongest guy was always Big Brother.
"Boss, we're done cleaning up here too."
It wasn't just Red Flame Boss, the leader of the Muak Mountain Brotherhood, who'd been put in his place. The rest of his crew had all been subdued by Little Eastern Dragon and were sprawled out on the ground.
"Yawn~, good job. Little Eastern Dragon."
"You look exhausted. I'll handle the cleanup, so why don't you catch a little shut-eye?"
I nodded at Little Eastern Dragon's suggestion. I'd gotten hammered last night, and moving around until dawn had left my eyelids weighing a ton.
I let out one more massive yawn, then asked Red Flame Boss, who was kneeling in front of me.
"Hey, little bro."
"...Yes, Big Brother."
"That biggest building in the center over there—is that your place?"
He flinched for a second, then gritted his teeth and nodded.
"...Yes, it is."
"Then I'm gonna crash there for a bit. You help Little Eastern Dragon with the cleanup. The camp's a total mess."
Of course, the camp was a mess because of me and Little Eastern Dragon, but I didn't feel the least bit guilty. I was just way too sleepy.
"Oh, and by the way, Little Eastern Dragon outranks you, so treat him with respect. Got it?"
"...Yes."
"Ah, what a half-assed response. Hey, Little Eastern Dragon. This guy's all bulk and no balls, so don't hold back—boss him around however you want."
"Yes, Boss. Go on in."
Leaving Little Eastern Dragon grinning behind me, I headed into what used to be Red Flame Boss's house (now mine) and flopped down.
The moment I lay down, sleep hit me like a brick. What an exhausting day it had been.
**
"Boss."
"...Mmm."
"Boss!"
"...Mmm? Ah."
Someone kept trying to wake me, so I forced my eyes open. There was Third Room standing in front of me.
"...Damn it, Third Room. You trying to die? Waking the Boss from his sleep...."
"No, the sun's high in the sky—time to get up. Lunch is almost ready, so I woke you."
"...Lunch?"
"Yeah, these Muak Mountain Brotherhood guys... I mean, our new underlings... whipped it up real quick."
Sure enough, through the slightly open door, the savory, appetite-whetting aroma wafted in from outside.
I sat up, and Third Room poured me some water as he said,
"Speaking of which, Boss, looks like top-shelf rice wine does the trick. You drink, pass out, wake up, and suddenly we've got forty-three new underlings."
"...You little shit. Do you have any idea how much me and Little Eastern Dragon suffered last night while you, Bongchun, and the Maknae were chugging away?"
"Sorry about that. But after we sobered up, the three of us managed the new guys hard, so don't be too mad."
As Third Room explained, I staggered outside.
"Hey, bring more firewood over here!"
"I said wipe up that blood, what are you all doing?!"
Unlike me, who'd been out cold, they'd started their day ages ago. The camp was buzzing with activity everywhere.
Were they still following my order to clean up? I spotted guys scrubbing away diligently first.
But even those quick-moving fellas...
"Uh...."
The moment I stepped outside, everyone froze.
And then...
"We greet the new Boss—!"
...As if on cue, they all bowed toward me.
I stood there blankly for a moment, and Third Room whispered proudly from beside me.
"The deputy and us told 'em to give you a formal greeting the second you wake up. Pretty good, huh?"
"Good my ass..., ha...."
I hated stuff like this—it made me super uncomfortable.
Looking at those creepy guys, it hit me what I'd done last night.
I'd only done it because rebuilding a new camp and settling in sounded like a pain in the ass, but somehow I'd ended up as the Boss of dozens of bandits.
"I prefer small crews..., like One Piece."
But whatever... no helping it now. Couldn't just ditch them.
I'd just go with the flow—good things were good.
Especially since my stomach was killing me; I desperately needed some hangover remedy.
"Hey, you there..., bring me a hot bowl of soup."
"Yes—!! The Boss wants soup—!!"
"The Boss wants soup—!!"
Over forty underlings shouting at once made the mountains echo.
**
After a quick bite to fill my gut, I gathered all the underlings in one spot.
I found a wide open clearing in the camp and had them sit there. Even though it was pretty spacious, with that many people, it filled up fast.
I called out to Red Flame Boss, who was sitting demurely at the front.
"Hey, Red Flame."
"Yes, Big Brother."
For the record, Red Flame Boss's real name was Red Flame. Apparently, his parents named him that because he was born with red hair.
Anyway, I'd decided to call him by his real name, Red Flame.
"How many in the Muak Mountain Brotherhood total?"
"Forty-three including me."
"Forty-three..., that's a lot. No, with our five, that's forty-eight now."
I hadn't gathered these forty-eight tough guys for no reason.
"Hey, Red Flame."
"Yes, Big Brother."
"Why'd you become a bandit?"
"...!"
Red Flame flinched at my question. Seemed like there was a reason, but he didn't look eager to spill it.
So I raised my fist high and asked again.
"Want another round of Weeping Horse-Slaying Barrage?"
"I-I'll talk...."
Well-trained as he was now, he answered on reflex the second I raised my fist. Then, cautiously, he began to explain.
"The truth is..., we weren't bandits to begin with. We were regular soldiers drawing pay from the state. I was the captain of a hundred."
"Huh? You guys were soldiers?"
That explained why their movements seemed too disciplined for ordinary bandits. I'd suspected as much, but soldiers?
"All forty-three of you?"
"No, just the original twenty-six who started with me were soldiers. The rest joined later."
"How'd soldiers end up as bandits?"
"......"
Red Flame's mouth clamped shut again, but figuring I'd raise my fist, he gave up and continued.
"Eight years ago..., me and my men were out on patrol to a village on the outskirts. It was a tiny county seat, but it meant a lot to us. Some of my men were born there, others had family—parents, wives. I had family there too."
"So it was your hometown."
"Yeah. A lot of our unit was from that village, so the locals always treated us great. Whenever we came by on patrol, they'd share booze and food, and it'd turn into a big party."
Red Flame's eyes seemed to light up with the happy memories. But that didn't last.
"But that day, the village was weirdly quiet. Strange, right? Even for a sparsely populated place, it wasn't this dead..., and the strangest thing was...."
"......"
"The overwhelming stench of blood hanging over the whole village."
"Blood?"
Red Flame spoke calmly, but his words carried an unmistakable devastation.
"We felt uneasy and headed straight for the village head's house—the biggest place there, so we figured we'd find someone. And we did meet someone.... Yeah..., we met someone...."
"......"
"......"
When Red Flame struggled to continue, I glanced at the other underlings behind him. They were all gritting their teeth, holding something back.
"There was this crazy bastard chugging booze in the village head's courtyard. Sitting on a pile of villagers' corpses. That motherfucker."
"......"
"My family was there too. The parents who named me Red Flame. My wife.... And my men's families as well."
"Urk...."
Finally, someone in the back couldn't hold it in and broke into sobs.
Even so, Red Flame pressed on with a trembling voice.
"My men charged to rip the psycho apart on the spot..., but we were state soldiers back then. Foolishly, I thought we couldn't punish him privately. So I held them back. Said we'd drag him to the magistrate's office. Kill him, but by the law of the land."
"...And?"
"We tied him up and hauled him to the county magistrate. The crazy fuck just giggled the whole way, didn't resist, walked right into the yamen on his own two feet. So I figured he'd given up on life. But.... But you see..., fuck. That motherfucker...."
From there, it got too much for him—even Red Flame, who'd held it together so far, started shaking badly.
"That motherfucker opens his mouth in front of the magistrate. Says he's the young master of such-and-such sect, and he mistook the villagers for some evil faction goons he was chasing and killed them by accident."
"......"
"Of course, it was total bullshit. There were no signs of a fight. Just..., traces of a massacre. No idea what payoff he got, but that bastard rounded up our villagers, slaughtered them all at once, then spouted that crap about mistaking them for evil faction thugs. Naturally, I told the magistrate the truth. But...."
I could already guess what came next.
"Officials and Warriors Do Not Interfere.... That fucker invoked Officials and Warriors Do Not Interfere, saying the yamen couldn't touch him."
Officials and Warriors Do Not Interfere.
The yamen and the martial world couldn't infringe on each other's domains.
Just like in any wuxia tale, this world had that rule too.