Bounty
-Splash splash.
The splashing sound of water from below made me glance absentmindedly at the ground.
Instead of water, it was a pool of blood, with unidentifiable chunks of flesh bobbing around on its surface.
And not just one—there were over a dozen such pools. I'd made them myself, but the scene was straight out of hell.
"Sorry for getting blood all over the carriage."
Boris, who was loading the bandits' spoils onto the carriage with me, wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve and said,
"It's fine! We can just repaint it!"
A lot of the bandits had tried to flee on carriages, so the tops were splattered with quite a bit of blood too.
The hideout had a decent pile of their stuff—not just swords and rations, but even some money and jewelry, which wasn't all that rare.
"I don't know much about this stuff, but... can we really take it?"
"Yes! They take a tax cut, but spoils like this usually go to the adventurers who take down the bandits!"
Boris explained that I wasn't an adventurer, but since I'd been the one to drop the bandits, I had the right to claim the loot.
"By the way, what did you do with the head of that escaped leader?"
"That pathetic bastard? I cut it off but didn't bother taking it."
"A gang this size... he might've had a bounty on his head."
"Oh, yeah. I'll grab it."
Hori said that and headed out of the hideout to fetch the bandit leader's head.
Watching her back as she left, I turned to Boris beside me.
"I've never really been close to women in my life, so maybe I'm off, but are girls usually that resistant to corpses and blood?"
She'd bashed a bandit's head with a rock earlier, and now she was off to grab a head. The kid wasn't quite right in the head.
"Miss Hori... is a bit unusual, yeah."
His awkward expression told me even Boris thought she was off.
A little later, Hori returned with the head, and we left the hideout with the carriage.
"To claim the bounty, we need to head to a city around here, right?"
"Yes, there's a city about half a day's ride away where the lord resides."
The way it worked was showing the head and loot at the adventurers' guild or guard post there for the reward.
"You two go on ahead. I'll catch up with Silence in a bit."
"Ah, right—I forgot about your horse, Junior Baron. We'll head out first then."
Boris and Hori climbed onto the carriage, bowed to me, and vanished over the horizon, trampling over the bandits' corpses.
I crossed the underbrush, retraced my steps, and reached the campfire where Silence was waiting.
Silence, who had been sleeping peacefully next to the dogs and the bandits' corpses with the most relaxed expression, perked up her ears as I approached and slowly opened her eyes.
"Silence, rested enough?"
"……."
Instead of answering, she just stood up from her spot.
Before leaving for good, I packed up the tent I'd set up last night and mounted Silence.
A light kick to her flanks, and she bounded forward through the dense trees with vigor.
The cool wind whipping past us, we raced ahead and soon burst out of the forest.
The pitch-black sky had softened to a pale blue, and the sun was slowly rising over the horizon.
'Might have a bounty on him, huh.'
Perfect timing—I had a sword I wanted to buy.
*****
After exiting the forest, I followed the map west for about half a day when a small city wall, roughly 6 meters high, came into view in the distance.
Seeing how it stretched widely around the area, I could tell this territory was far more developed than our shabby barony.
'We didn't set a specific meeting spot...'
Eh, I could just head in and check the adventurers' guild or guard post.
With that thought, I headed for the gate to enter the city—and spotted familiar faces surrounded by spears.
"Suspicious bastards! Back off!!"
"W-We aren't suspicious!"
"R-Right! This blood is, uh... "
Boris and Hori on the carriage had their hands up, surrounded by guards with spears.
"Hey, you!!"
Worried they might get arrested or skewered, I rushed over and wedged myself between the guards and the two.
"Those two aren't suspicious!"
The guards shoved their spears at me as I barged in, their faces pale as ghosts.
"And who the hell are you?!"
"Who cares? What did they do to deserve spears in their faces?"
"What did they do? You blind? You see that carriage?!"
"The carriage? Oh... "
Boris's carriage was caked in bandits' blood, giving off a seriously creepy vibe.
On top of that, it was loaded with bandit swords and such, so it was no wonder the guards found it suspicious.
"And what the hell's with you? You look like you took a blood bath...!"
I was just as sketchy—my body was splattered with blood from slicing up the bandits, making me look like a slasher from a horror flick.
"We can't just let suspicious types like you through! Come to the guard post for inspection...!"
"You'd better watch who you say that kind of rough talk to."
I scowled, and the guard froze, staring blankly at me.
"What're you... "
"Exactly what I said. You're in no position to point spears at me or them. My name's Ian Bar Tow, Junior Baron. Lowly as it is, I'm still nobility."
"J-Junior Baron?! Don't lie to... "
Even as he called it a lie, his eyes wavered—he was wondering if it might be true.
This world had a strict class system.
Even on duty, pointing a spear at a noble like me was unthinkable.
"Don't believe me? Take a look. Dunno if you can read it."
I pulled my academy admission certificate from my pack and showed it to the guard.
Even a lowly guard could recognize the royal seal—his face went deathly pale.
"Proof of my status. This blood's from wiping out a bandit gang nearby. Boris, the head."
"Y-Yes...? Ah, got it! Junior Baron!!"
Boris, who'd been sweating bullets moments ago, lit up like he had during the bandit interrogation by the fire.
I took the head from Boris, grabbed it by the hair, hoisted it high, and declared,
"See this? It's his head. Not sure if there's a bounty, but he said they were local mercenaries originally—folks who know him will recognize."
"M-Murderer Brad!!"
"Brad? Famous guy?"
"Y-Yes... a vicious criminal with a 200-gold bounty... "
The guard's voice trailed off as he realized what he'd done.
"Believe we're not suspicious now?"
"Y-Yes!! F-Forgive our grave sin!"
The guards dropped their spears and knelt in a scramble.
Reminded me of some historical drama I'd seen once—I nearly smirked but held it in.
"Forget it. I'll chalk this up to you being diligent in your duties—a minor mistake. Now, can you clear the way?"
"Yes! Of course!"
The guards parted, and my horse and Boris's carriage proceeded smoothly to the gate.
On the way, Boris rode up beside me, grinning ear to ear.
"Whoa... Junior Baron, that was insanely cool just now!"
"What was?"
"You made those guys kneel with just words! Incredible!"
Hori on the back was excited too, but Boris seemed even more thrilled.
Maybe as a traveling merchant hitting multiple cities, he'd built up a grudge against gate guards?
I'd heard some places had guards shaking down folks at checkpoints—sounded like Boris had been hit hard.
"Eh... I just crushed them with status. I wanted to handle it differently."
"Differently? Like how?"
"Battōjutsu."
"Pardon?"
If I'd had a bit more guts, I could've settled it with a single draw—no need for status.
"I'm ashamed I didn't have the courage."
"That doesn't sound like a lack of courage... "
After that, we entered the city without issue, claimed the bounty, and sold the loot from the bandits.
Total haul: 260 gold coins.
Three gold could buy a katana, so that was like 86 katanas' worth.
An insane profit.
"I'll take 200, and we'll split the remaining 60 three ways fair and square."
"What?! W-We didn't do anything—how can you... "
He said that, but he couldn't hide his joy—his mouth twitched.
"You moved the loot with your carriage."
"F-Fair enough for Boris, but I didn't do a thing... "
"What're you talking about? You grabbed a rock and went full psycho interrogating those bandits—what do you mean 'nothing'?"
Her madwoman routine smashing that bandit's head was still fresh in my mind.
Hori blushed, shaking her head—maybe it had been an impulsive rage thing.
"F-Forget that. I was just so mad."
"You sure you're okay with this?"
"I said it's fine. Consider it pay for your all-nighter. I don't need that much money anyway."
220—no, half that—would be plenty for the sword I wanted.
"Th-Then, shameless as it is, we'll gratefully accept. Junior Baron! Thank you so much!!"
Boris shot up and bowed so deeply I got secondhand embarrassment.
"...I'll take it too. Thank you. With that, I can finally make the potion I've wanted to try!"
"Good. So, what's next for everyone? I'm crashing here one night, buying some fresh clothes, then heading back to the academy."
"I'll head back to my original city for now."
Boris said some of his prepared goods had broken, so he needed to restock.
"I... if it's okay with you, Junior Baron, can I travel with you to the academy?"
"Why not? We'll leave tomorrow then. I'll go scout a place to stay."
"Yes, I need to hurry too, so I'll head out. Junior Baron, thank you again!!"