Chapter 44

Chapter 44. Bandit Subjugation (3)

The leader nervously watched Mitchell.

He had surrendered, but he seemed afraid to speak.

“Why? Are you afraid to talk? The Wild King is scary, but I’m not?”

“Well...”

“Fair enough.”

Mitchell nodded and drew his sword.

“You didn’t think I’d spare you just because I sent the other captured bandits to Ranga, did you?”

He placed the tip of the sword against the leader’s chest.

The man’s pupils trembled.

When the sword tip slowly began digging in, the leader squeezed his eyes shut.

“I-I’ll tell you everything!”

The leader immediately began talking about the Wild King.

“The Wild King suddenly appeared a few months ago with his subordinates.”

“Subordinates?”

“Yes... There weren’t many of them, but every single one was an expert.”

Rydrick frowned.

Then he turned toward Mitchell.

“Then they aren’t real bandits. It looks like someone sent them here for some reason.”

Someone else...

The first places Mitchell thought of were Braxton, Winslow, or Ashton.

However, the leader’s next words told a completely different story.

“I’m not certain because I only heard it in passing, but I think they came from the capital. I heard them talking about how this place was different from the capital or something like that.”

“Did the Wild King say that?”

“No. I heard the subordinates he brought talking among themselves.”

Mitchell wondered for a moment whether it could be the Imperial Family.

But there was little for the Imperial Family to gain by sending bandits all the way out here.

Mitchell cleared his complicated thoughts for now.

Getting more information came first.

“What rank are the Wild King and his subordinates?”

“How would a lowly bandit like me know that? But every single one of his subordinates is stronger than me... Around forty of those monsters suddenly came here. We couldn’t even fight back. We had no choice but to submit.”

The leader was around the beginning of the 3rd Rank.

Normally, people called 3rd Rank and above the core combat force.

If all the Wild King’s subordinates were stronger than him, that meant they had considerable strength.

“Why would people like that come here and act as bandits? There’s nothing around here worth targeting except our Runei Family.”

“I don’t really know... Back when Raphel was still around, there was enough profit for us to continue banditry. But after Runei destroyed Raphel, we were thinking about moving somewhere else. Then the Wild King suddenly appeared, gathered the bandits together, and watched Runei’s movements.”

Then it was certain that the Wild King’s target was Runei.

Mitchell continued asking the leader about the Wild King, including different stories and his current location.

After a long time, Mitchell asked the same questions again to check whether the man’s answers changed.

No matter how many times he asked, he received the same answers.

It did not seem like the leader was making up lies just to escape.

“Looks mostly true.”

The leader relaxed at those words.

Mitchell quietly looked at him before kicking him in the abdomen.

Crack!

The powerful force shattered his Aura Hole.

The leader groaned in pain, but no one here felt sorry for him.

Mitchell gestured, and one martial artist approached, took the leader away, and disappeared.

Only then did Rydrick look worriedly at Mitchell.

“If all of them are 3rd Rank or above, then perhaps they aren’t Braxton?”

“It would be difficult for Braxton to spare that much force right now.”

Over forty martial artists above the 3rd Rank.

It would not be an enormous number for Braxton, but they were currently at war with two families.

It would not be easy to separate that many people from the main force.

“Still, we can’t be certain. The Braxton martial artists who attacked us before numbered around the same, didn’t they? They may have never returned and instead disguised themselves as bandits. Of course, since they mentioned the capital, there’s also the possibility they came from the Imperial Family or somewhere else.”

“If it’s the Imperial Family, shouldn’t we step back?”

Mitchell thought for a moment at Rydrick’s words.

But Bendrick, standing nearby, immediately objected.

“What are you saying?! They tried to stab us in the back! Imperial Family or not, we should subdue them first!”

“Don’t think about it so simply, Bendrick. If we make a mistake, the fight could become much bigger.”

While Bendrick and Rydrick argued, Mitchell finished thinking and spoke.

“Nothing is certain yet. And whoever they are, it’s certain they targeted us first, so we can’t simply leave them alone.”

If they had come from the Imperial Family, it would not have been the Emperor’s will.

The Emperor was unconscious right now.

Then it was probably another faction trying to restrain the Second Prince.

If so, there was no need to scare themselves based on assumptions.

“What are you planning to do?”

“We’ll show them clearly that even a worm wriggles when stepped on. Please help the martial artists recover their stamina as quickly as possible.”

“Understood.”

After the twin brothers left, Mitchell wrote something on a piece of paper and slipped it into Nox’s saddle.

“Nox, go to Grant as quickly as possible. When you get there, give him the paper in your saddle.”

Nox understood Mitchell and nodded.

Then he increased his speed and ran toward the iron mine.

If Nox ran at full speed, he would reach the iron mine almost instantly.

Meanwhile, Mitchell sat down to handle his own task.

Screeeeeech!

Mitchell began converting the souls he had gained during today’s battle into energy.

The screaming bandit souls broke apart and became Dark Aura.

The energy passed through the core and only a tiny amount was absorbed.

So little...

The quality of bandit souls was already low.

With Nox gone, the amount absorbed was even smaller.

But the purity remained unchanged.

Mitchell was satisfied with that and opened his eyes.

[If you’re done, hurry up and practice Heaven-Breaking Shatter.]

Calian urged him on.

Heaven-Breaking Shatter was the third form of the Heaven-Breaking Sword.

Calian had taught it to him quite some time ago, but Mitchell still could not use it perfectly.

Calian believed that was because Mitchell was working on both the mana car and iron mine.

[You still can’t use Heaven-Breaking Shatter because you keep wasting time on pointless things. Tsk, tsk.]

Of course, that was not the real reason.

Except for mana car and iron mine work, Mitchell spent all his time training.

In fact, it was more accurate to say that after training until his limit, he handled family business during the remaining time while recovering his energy.

Mitchell was just as much of a training fanatic as Calian.

“I’ll train properly once this matter is finished.”

[Hmph. Of course you should. ...Still, you seem to have gotten the feeling for it. Try succeeding before Grant gets here.]

Mitchell nodded, picked up his sword, and stood in the clearing.

Then he began gathering energy into the blade.

Heaven-Breaking Shatter released a sword strike that exploded in succession.

It was the technique Calian had used when he took over Mitchell’s body and dealt with the remnants in Ranga.

Like Heaven-Breaking Flash, it basically compressed energy.

But when the attack was launched, the outer membrane of energy was weakened while the inside was made unstable, causing an explosion.

It did not sound easy even when explained with words.

Still, after spending several months on it, Mitchell had finally begun to understand the feeling.

Mitchell launched the Heaven-Breaking Shatter he created.

BOOOOM!

The energy exploded before it even reached the tree he had aimed at.

[Your energy is too strong, so the shell can’t withstand it. Make the outer membrane slightly stronger. The reason someone as quick to learn as you still hasn’t succeeded in Heaven-Breaking Shatter is because of the pure Dark Aura created by your core. It increases the pressure inside even more.]

“You said earlier it was because I wasted time.”

[You brat! Don’t talk back! With your talent, you should’ve succeeded by now, core or no core!]

Mitchell laughed and raised his sword again.

“That was a huge compliment.”

[What compliment?!]

“Stop being angry and watch again. Like you said, I’ll succeed before Grant comes.”

[Hmph. You think it’ll be that easy?]

“I think I understand now. If I adjust it a few more times, I should succeed.”

Mitchell began practicing Heaven-Breaking Shatter again.

With a battle against powerful opponents ahead of him, he absolutely had to learn Heaven-Breaking Shatter.

If only to reduce Runei’s losses.

“Not there! Put it here!”

“Get the pillar position right! If you mess it up, everything could collapse!”

A clearing near the iron mine.

Countless workers were busy with construction.

Grant was watching them together with the master of the Golden Pillar Guild.

The guild master looked at Grant and smiled.

“We should be able to finish the first section within the deadline.”

“That’s good.”

“This is all because Lord Mitchell is doing such a good job subjugating the bandits. Hahaha!”

The workers had suffered heavy losses because of bandit attacks.

But after Mitchell began eliminating the bandits, there had been no additional worker casualties.

On top of that, travel had become safer because the number of bandits decreased.

Rumors also spread throughout the region that the wages were high.

Now people came to work not only from Ranga but also from nearby villages.

As a result, finding workers had become much easier.

“By the way, how long will Lord Mitchell continue subjugating the bandits? I think it would be better if he returned and saw this place now.”

The guild master asked while glancing around.

He was worried something might happen to Mitchell and delay construction.

After arriving here, he had heard that all the money for this construction had come from Mitchell’s pocket.

Even if Runei took over if something happened to Mitchell, they might not continue spending such enormous amounts.

Grant noticed the concern and reassured him.

“Don’t worry. He’s famous as the Silver Reaper, and the martial artists are famous as the Gray Wraiths. I heard all the bandits are trembling in fear, so it’ll be finished soon. Most of the nearby bandits have already been dealt with.”

“That’s a relief. So many workers have been gathering that the advance payment Lord Mitchell gave us is almost gone.”

“I’ll tell Mitchell when he comes. So don’t worry and—”

While Grant was speaking, a loud disturbance came from behind.

“What’s with that horse?!”

“Who let it in?! Get it out!”

The supervisors shouted, but nearby Runei martial artists stopped them.

“That’s Lord Mitchell’s horse! Quickly tell Lord Grant!”

Before anyone could report it, Nox followed Grant’s energy on his own and approached him.

Grant had become fairly close to Nox.

He patted Nox’s back and asked,

“Nox, where’s Mitchell? Why did you come alone?”

Neigh.

Nox stretched his head forward and pointed toward the direction he had come from.

Then he looked toward his saddle.

“What? There’s something in the saddle?”

Grant looked at the saddle and noticed the paper.

“Mitchell sent this.”

He reached out, took the paper, and unfolded it.

The guild master’s eyes widened.

There were many intelligent horses, but a horse that could answer people like this was another matter.

“Does he actually understand what you say?”

“Yes. But I need to go somewhere.”

“You said you would inspect the site today...”

“I’ll inspect it later with Mitchell.”

Grant did not wait for the guild master’s response.

He climbed onto Nox’s back and headed toward the people focusing on the mana car design.

“Lauren, I think I need to go to Mitchell.”

“What happened?”

Grant handed him the paper.

Lauren initially looked confused.

Then, after realizing the seriousness of the situation, he frowned.

“If their strength is really that great, I’ll go with you.”

“What about this place?”

“No matter who they are, I doubt there are maniacs who would slaughter this many civilians. Sylvia is here, so the work should be fine.”

Lauren handed the paper to Sylvia as he spoke.

She read it and nodded.

“I’ll protect this place. Please be careful.”

Grant immediately went outside, climbed onto Nox, and looked at Lauren.

“Lauren, you have to ride too.”

“What? You want me to ride a magical beast?”

“Even you would have trouble keeping up with Nox’s speed.”

“Urgh... Fine.”

Only after Lauren climbed onto Nox as well did they leave.

And the moment they reached a place with fewer people—

Clatter-clatter-clatter!

Nox began running at incredible speed.

“U-Ugh! S-Slow down a little!”

Lauren’s face went pale as he desperately grabbed Nox’s neck.

And he remained that way until they reached Mitchell.