Chapter 86
Chapter 86
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 86
Chapter Title: Uniting Against the Bandits
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“There’s a way out of this situation.”
“A… way?”
Herrilda furrowed her brow slightly. The others all murmured, focusing intently on Lian’s words.
“A way?”
“What kind of way?”
They asked.
What could possibly be a way out of this hell?
Lian gave a short answer to their questions.
“We’ll capture all the bandits in the neutral zone and hand them over to the kingdom.”
“…What?”
“We’ll completely uproot all the bandit groups here.”
Herrilda’s expression hardened at Lian’s words.
‘Eradicate all the bandit groups…?’
If that were possible, it could work.
Peace would come once the threats against them were gone. But,
“That’s nonsense!”
Herrilda shouted at Lian.
“Those guys are strong. And there are several times more of them than the ones we saw earlier.”
The numerical difference was incomparable. On top of that, they didn’t even have proper weapons.
“How are we supposed to take down guys like that… No. I hate to admit it, but we’ve survived this long because they haven’t bothered to cut our lifelines.”
The one thing she least wanted to admit, but had no choice but to.
It wasn’t that they had endured—it was that the bandits had only pressed them enough to keep them alive.
“They have to pillage us bit by bit over a long time… They’re filthy and despicable, but clever and strong. How do you plan to eradicate all of them!”
Herrilda’s furious shout trembled faintly.
There had been more than a few days when she wanted to give up.
But as long as she was alive, she had to do something, so she clung on desperately.
Lian responded calmly to Herrilda’s outburst.
“If we’re lacking, we gather more.”
“Gather what?”
“It’s not just us people in the neutral zone. We need to unite everyone in the neutral zone.”
“…”
“I’m not forcing anyone. But I’ll say this clearly: I plan to wipe out all the bandit groups here within a month.”
By now, Lian’s tone toward Herrilda had changed.
He knew for sure that polite coaxing wouldn’t work on her.
Herrilda bit her lip hard at Lian’s somewhat forceful words.
“Unite everyone?”
“Yeah.”
“Fine, let’s say we unite everyone according to your plan. Even if we gather every person here, can we beat them? Just the Black Ogre Group you mentioned has over five hundred men! And how many monster-like guys are in there…!”
“We can do it.”
Grit!
Herrilda’s eyes flashed at Lian’s words.
Then she said to him.
“You must have the ability to back up those words, right?”
Shing.
Herrilda dragged a sword from the ground slightly as she looked at Lian.
Her eyes had turned fierce in an instant.
Though young, Herrilda was the strongest among the people here.
She could fight on even terms with a Black Ogre Group executive, making her more than just a leader—she was their spiritual pillar.
Herrilda said.
“Then prove it.”
“…”
Lian sensed he couldn’t avoid the fight after her words.
But that was fine.
From his perspective, this situation was actually more comfortable.
As the others’ gazes fixed on him, Lian took a step back and said to Herrilda.
“Come at me.”
“Haa-!”
With a shout, she spun her body and swung her sword.
He didn’t know where she’d gotten it, but it was an excessively heavy sword for her to wield.
Lian’s eyes darkened as she swung it using rotational force.
That greatsword symbolized Herrilda perfectly.
‘I think it was said the sword she wielded weighed nearly 15kg?’
A typical longsword weighed about 1.5kg.
Even a two-handed sword was under 5kg.
But the sword she was said to have used in her past life exceeded 15kg.
She had wielded an absurdly heavy weapon.
That was why tales of her terrifying destructive power had been passed down.
Rumors abounded that she had cleaved enemy generals in half, armor and all, along with their weapons.
‘I thought it was exaggerated…’
Watching her now, he wondered if the rumors had actually understated it.
Whoosh-!
Lian stared straight at the sword swinging right in front of his nose and dodged backward.
Slash-!
The sword wind sliced his nose bridge slightly, drawing blood. But Lian didn’t flinch, just watched her.
“Haaa-!”
He didn’t know the weight of this sword, but she compensated for lacking raw strength with rotational force.
He’d thought the spin would leave openings,
‘Pretty good speed, though?’
Her quick speed covered that flaw.
At this level, mere bandits would cower and back away from her swinging sword.
‘And then die in one hit.’
He could see why she was like a guardian deity here. But,
‘Against anyone a bit stronger, it’s fatal.’
She had more than one or two things to fix.
Lian dodged her attacks, analyzing her combat pattern and strengths and weaknesses.
Whoosh-!
Boom!
The moment her sword slammed into the ground, Herrilda glared at Lian like she wanted to devour him and shouted.
“How long do you plan to keep dodging!”
Blood trickled down from her tightly gripped hilt, but her momentum didn’t wane.
Lian clenched his fist as she spun and charged again.
No need to watch anymore.
“I had something to confirm. Sorry about that.”
“Shut up!”
Her sword then drew a semicircle and fell toward Lian’s head.
This time, he didn’t dodge early, so her sword aimed to smash his skull without mercy.
“Wha?!”
“B-Be careful!”
A few onlookers shouted in shock. At that moment, thud!
Lian’s figure suddenly shot forward into Herrilda’s embrace like a弹.
Most people here probably hadn’t even seen how he moved.
With impossible speed, Lian burrowed in and struck her right side with his left fist.
Boom!
A dull thud echoed, like striking a rock.
The moment his fist connected, Herrilda’s eyes bulged, and her rigidly gripped sword clattered to the ground.
“Urk-!”
Knocked flat in one blow, Herrilda vomited and writhed on the floor, gasping.
Unbearable pain spread through her body, choking her breath.
“Is this enough?”
He’d hit precisely where her liver was.
Plus, he’d channeled a bit of aura into his fist, weak as it was.
No untrained woman could withstand that.
She probably wanted to pass out, but the pain was too intense even for that.
‘Better to etch the difference in class deep for her type.’
For someone like Herrilda, overwhelming power was more effective than half-hearted mercy.
Lian turned from the fallen Herrilda to face the others.
“H-Herrilda…”
“She went down that easily…”
They couldn’t believe their eyes at Herrilda collapsing in one hit.
Lian said.
“Does this verify it?”
“You dog… Not yet… Far from it…!”
Then Herrilda forced herself up and spoke to Lian.
Her breathing hadn’t returned, and her twisted face looked on the verge of death.
Lian couldn’t hide his surprise at her rising.
Her willpower deserved high praise.
Lian approached and offered his hand.
“I’m Lian. One month from now. If I can’t take down all the bandits by then, I’ll leave without a word.”
“Y-You…!”
Any more fighting was pointless.
Better to give her a choice.
A month wasn’t that long.
Herrilda stared at his hand, then bit her lip and straightened up with a deep breath.
“Ugh… Hoo… Haa… One month?”
Nod.
As Lian nodded, Herrilda took his hand.
“Fine. One month… I’ll trust the strength you just showed over your words.”
Lian smiled faintly at her words. And at that moment, clop… clop…
A strange sound suddenly came from the darkness.
Startled by the unexpected noise, people flinched and looked toward it.
“Wh-What? What’s that sound?”
“Sounds like… horses?”
Murmurs of agitation spread.
Some grabbed weapons and took defensive positions toward the sound.
Soon, it emerged from the darkness.
“…A carriage?”
“What’s that?”
A massive carriage pulled by four horses.
People whispered at the sudden appearance, but the man on the driver’s seat muttered softly.
“Looks like we’re in the right place.”
The coachman hopped down from the stopped carriage.
It was the same man who had taken Lian to Kurtein before.
Lian greeted him warmly.
“Mr. Pauls!”
“Hoho. Good to see you again, Mr. Lian.”
“Thanks for coming. Was crossing the border tough?”
Pauls shook his head at Lian’s question.
“It was smooth thanks to Mr. Adelson’s help.”
“As expected of Adelson.”
After greetings, Lian headed to the back of the carriage.
People’s gazes followed him.
Lian opened the carriage door.
It was quite large, so the door felt heavy even to open.
Creak-.
Inside the opened carriage came into view.
Some couldn’t contain curiosity and peeked in.
“Eek!”
“Gasp!”
They couldn’t hide their shock at the contents.
What was loaded in the carriage.
Wheat, dried vegetables, jerky. And…
Clang.
Lian picked up a spear from a pile in the corner.
Satisfied with the well-crafted spear, he smiled at the people.
“To fight from now on, we need to eat well… and have weapons, right?”
“H-How did you get all this…?”
Herrilda stared at the supplies, unable to hide her bewilderment.
To them, always scraping for food, this was too unreal.
Lian held out the spear to the people and said.
“Now, let’s do this properly.”
A faint spark of hope began to flicker in their eyes.