Chapter 31: First Subjugation (2)
Chapter 31: First Subjugation (2)
After the trial by combat came the subjugation of the bandit gang that had settled in the northern forest.
Despite crisis after crisis, the city leadership remained calm. Unlike the trial by combat, this was a problem they could solve by throwing money at it.
"Now, once we dispose of those bastards, everything will return to normal."
"Normal? It will be even better. For the next ten years, no lowlifes will dare to look down on this city."
"They are not to be underestimated. Their numbers kept swelling and have already passed several hundred. I heard deserters and mercenaries bound for Roman were tempted into joining them."
As befitted a prime hub of trade where multiple nations intersected, Bonyard was always teeming with bandits.
Every so often, a charismatic boss gathered a large bandit force under him. Like an earthquake or typhoon, it was the sort of disaster that struck again just when people had begun to forget the last one.
"There were even reports of a bandit knight being sighted."
The bandits were unusually numerous and even had a bandit knight among them, yet no one seemed particularly tense.
"Do we not have knights here?"
"If anything, this works out well. It will be the perfect way to quiet the knights who have been complaining."
Even after excluding the knights who had left for various reasons, five still remained.
"All of the knights have expressed their intention to participate in the subjugation."
"Of course they would. Is this not a perfect situation to earn both money and honor?"
The remaining knights were those desperately wishing to catch the eye of an influential noble. Naturally, they would not miss such an opportunity.
"Gathering our full strength is good, but the losses must not grow any larger than this."
As if bringing the discussion to order, the Executor spoke, and everyone introduced the mercenary companies they had prepared.
"We have prepared five squads of the Hammer Brotherhood."
"The Suri Claw Mercenary Company will also arrive by tomorrow."
They varied in size and quality, but each was strong enough to defeat an equal number of bandits.
"And what sort of men has the Chief Magistrate prepared?"
At the Executor's question, everyone looked at Panis.
'If he earns more merit, he'll become troublesome in the next election.'
For those aiming at higher office, Panis had become someone they needed to start keeping in check.
"The Black Hand Mercenary Company."
"Black Hand? Dark elves have come to the city?"
"To call upon those sinister fiends."
Unlike dwarf mercenaries, who were welcomed wherever they went, dark elves divided opinion with their characteristic ferocity and cruelty.
The Black Hand Mercenary Company had been formed by a tribe that once made its living as assassins before leaving that trade behind. It was only natural that people found them unsettling.
"Yet, are their skills not second to none? They number only twenty. I intend to assign them to scouting or support duties."
"True. If that is all you plan to use them for, the role suits them perfectly."
"As long as they're not at the front lines."
Even those wary of Panis relaxed. With only twenty men, he was unlikely to earn any meaningful distinction. The leadership returned to discussing the organization of the mercenary companies.
"Chief Magistrate."
At that moment, Sorin approached and whispered to him.
Panis's expression changed at once. After a brief farewell, he left the meeting room. His part was already finished, so there was no need for him to stay.
"Forgive me for interrupting."
"No. Attending to Sir Eugene is more important than sitting through a routine meeting."
"He stayed longer than expected. It seems the Lady of the Forest offered him hospitality."
"He got on well with Sir Karas, so how would a mage be any different? Henceforth, report any matter concerning that person regardless of time or place."
"Understood."
When the two went out to greet Eugene, their jaws dropped.
They had set out as a party of two and returned as three, and the third member was someone neither of them could possibly have expected.
The woman on the ivory-colored horse radiated elegance. With her hood down, waves of golden hair streamed in the wind, stealing the gaze of every passerby.
"L-Lady of the Forest!"
The knight who had left after receiving her invitation had returned with an honored guest no one could have imagined.
"You may call me Varda. I have left the forest now, and I have so many epithets that even I find them confusing."
"I shall do so, Varda-nim!"
Panis bowed deeply, visibly overwhelmed by the honor.
"Will you prepare a place for Varda-nim to stay?"
"Of course! It is our honor."
Snap, snap!
When Panis snapped his fingers toward the back, the maids who had been standing by came running.
"If there is anything you need, please do not hesitate to ask."
"I thank you for your consideration."
She was perfectly capable of taking care of herself, but like a proper mage, she was equally accustomed to being waited on.
As soon as Varda was out of sight, Panis hurried over.
"How in the world did this happen?"
"When I accepted her invitation and paid my respects, she told me she intended to end her seclusion. I took it as fate and brought her with me."
"You make the most difficult things sound so simple, Sir."
Panis laughed hollowly. He, his predecessor, and the city's leading citizens had tried countless times to invite her, and every attempt had failed.
"It is awkward to say this after requesting hospitality, but I cannot guarantee she will take the field or aid the city."
Varda was nominally traveling with Eugene, but she was her own person. He could not give her orders the way he could Homi.
"Of course. Having her stay in the city is enough. If we are fortunate, we may receive a little magic from her, or at least some advice."
"I am relieved to hear you say that."
"This is, after all, how a city treats a mage."
Just as knights stayed on as honored guests and were treated well, mages too would often reside in cities or noble households in this fashion.
Unlike knights, whose only way to repay their keep was with a sword, mages were even more welcome because they could make themselves useful in many different ways.
"Before long, a subjugation force will depart for the north. The city guard will be the core, along with the mercenaries each council member has hired, and the invited knights as well."
Panis also introduced the Black Hand Mercenary Company he himself had hired.
"Sir Eugene, do you intend to take part in the subjugation as well?"
"Naturally, I intend to."
He had already been paid for the champion duel, but more money never hurt. The disparity between the two sides was so great that he could probably collect his daily pay just by tagging along.
"Excellent! Please, take command of my mercenary company."
"Will that be all right? I am only a guest here, not formally affiliated with the city."
It would have been another matter for a knight under formal contract with the city, but it was rare to entrust command to someone who was merely staying as an honored guest.
"I cannot place a great knight under the command of a mercenary band. That is why I recruited a small elite force."
To be honest, Panis was also worried about the notorious reputation of the Black Hand Mercenary Company.
The Black Hand Mercenary Company was the only force Panis could obtain immediately that was skilled, small enough for the Executor to overlook placing under Eugene's command, and available on short notice.
"Understood. I will lead them well and make sure they contribute to the subjugation force."
Goffrey had trained Eugene as thoroughly in command as in personal combat. A small unit of around twenty men would pose no problem for him.
"I am truly reassured. With you alongside us, Sir, victory is already ours."
"By the way, the Black Hand is a group composed of dark elves, correct?"
Goffrey ignored the countless mercenary companies that formed and disappeared, but he had taught Eugene about assassins in considerable detail.
-No matter how strong you are, you will not wear armor all day. I will not tolerate my disciple dying in a privy with his crotch split open while taking a shit instead of on a battlefield.
The Black Hand Tribe was famous for both martial prowess and assassination techniques. Goffrey had mentioned them several times, so Eugene knew them well.
"Does leading them perhaps displease you?"
Panis asked cautiously.
Noble knights treated mercenaries as base expendables. And were these not former assassins, the profession knights despised most? Even the magnanimous Eugene might find it distasteful.
"It saddens me, Chief Magistrate. Do you not know me well enough by now?"
"Of course! Naturally, I know you well!"
Panis bowed his head when Eugene assured him that he did not mind.
'A fearsome knight.'
A man wrapped in shining honor would normally have begun choosing his associates more carefully by now, yet Eugene always judged matters coolly by their practical benefit.
"Those Gord fellows pride themselves on being flexible warriors. They say the blood of merchants and warriors runs through them in equal measure."
"Seeing Count Andar pull out lots certainly made the merchant in him obvious."
"But compared with your perfect balance, Sir Eugene, they are nothing."
The knight before his eyes truly possessed both a knight's valor and a merchant's cool-headedness in equal measure.
"You are embarrassing me, so please stop there. More importantly, I have a question. Did the Black Hand Mercenary Company truly stab a noble who hired them?"
That was another reason their notoriety was so great.
"There were... circumstances."
Panis, who had to hand over those very mercenaries immediately, began sweating profusely.
"What circumstances could possibly justify doing that to a noble lord?"
"The employer did not pay them."
In this world, employers withholding wages was common. Winners and losers alike did it.
The cycle of unpaid wages leading to plunder had become as entrenched as tipping culture on Earth: the employer paid too little, so the workers made up the difference elsewhere.
The Black Hand Mercenary Company, however, simply put a blade into any employer who refused to pay them, and some of those employers had even been noble lords.
Because the family was exterminated in a territorial war, they faced no retaliation, but they earned considerable infamy.
-Even if wages are overdue, how does a lowly mercenary dare to raise a blade against a noble who hired them?
To the nobility, it was an unforgivable outrage, so nobles everywhere condemned them with one voice.
The only reason they could still work as mercenaries was entirely thanks to their great skill. And the Free Cities did not care much for such things.
"Their skill may be undeniable, but they are still savages. Circumstances can delay payment, but how could they draw a blade on a highborn noble? Tsk, tsk! I apologize for assigning such men to you. I had little choice in the matter."
Panis badmouthed the mercenaries he himself had hired while nervously watching Eugene, who was a noble too.
"If you stiff men who risk their lives fighting for you, of course you are going to get stabbed. They sound refreshingly decisive. I am looking forward to meeting them."
"???"
Panis stared, baffled, as Eugene's eyes lit up with interest. This knight always managed to surprise him in a good way.
"Are you comfortable here?"
"I feel as if I am surrounded by several vivacious Graces. The maids try to attend to even the smallest of things."
Varda sighed and pointed to her head.
Instead of the neat, straight hair typical of elves, she now wore elaborate braids. Four maids had swarmed around her and painstakingly created them.
"Now that they have the renowned forest mage to attend to, it is only natural they would be excited."
"Though they didn't seem particularly interested in the fact that I am a mage."
Varda's slender fingers moved her knight to capture Eugene's bishop. The two were playing chess.
Eugene picked up a pawn, considered several moves, then put it back where it had been. It was technically against the rules, but Varda let it slide.
Unlike Eugene, who had learned little more than the rules of chess from Goffrey as part of his general education, Varda had played with Grace since childhood.
Combined with Varda's sharp mind, that experience left Eugene getting mercilessly crushed. He was confident with a sword and shield, but hopeless at moving pieces around a board.
"You learn quickly. You will master chess soon enough too. You are good at everything else, so once you have this, there will be little left for you to lack."
Varda apparently wanted to turn Eugene from a 99% knight into a full 100% one.
"I have lost."
Faced with checkmate, Eugene tipped over his king, conceding defeat. Varda, who had been looking down at the chessboard for a moment, spoke.
"I will accompany you on the subjugation as well."
"A mage accompanying the campaign is more than welcome. But why...?"
"Does it not say, he who does not work, neither shall he eat? I have no intention of being a burden. I will be of definite help."
The news pleased Eugene, but it also gave him a minor concern.
'Aren't elves and dark elves on bad terms?'
He was fairly sure he had heard that elves and dark elves did not get along. The hired mercenaries would not dare try anything foolish, though.
"And one more thing."
"Yes?"
Varda set Eugene's fallen king upright again.
"From now on, when you play chess with me, do not topple your king even when you lose. Simply tell me you have lost."
"But that is proper etiquette after checkmate."
"I do not like seeing it. Your king should always stand tall."
"...Understood."
Goffrey's lessons had been strict, but there was something strangely ticklish about Varda's teaching.
His first true war fought with cold steel! This was a battlefield on an entirely different scale from duels or small skirmishes.
But a skilled mage and elite mercenaries would be backing him. Having chosen to live as a knight, all Eugene could do was trust his own strength and advance.