Chapter 8

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Chapter 8

This turned out to be quite interesting. What a fateful coincidence!

Forgetting that he had been almost scared to death just a moment ago, Noein Arkvist was delighted to meet them.

In the past, Noein had been able to gather some information about the outside world while under house arrest in a remote part of the Count Kivileft’s Territory. The source of information was mainly eavesdropping using Matilda’s hearing.

According to the report, Count Kivileft was an anxious man, a money-grubber, and a vicious lord who did not care what happened to the people below him as long as it benefited him.

I had also heard that as a duty of a great nobleman, he had hired many mercenaries who could be used up more cheaply than the regular army when he supplied troops to the conflict with the Pallas Empire in the east.

When I heard the story of these bandits who said that they were used up as ‘disposable by the southern aristocrats’, I thought that they might be able to help us, and I was right.

I asked them about it, and I was right. They too had been pushed around and thrown away by my father. What, they were in the same situation as me!?

“I see….. I see, I see. You guys were also discarded by that fucking decrepit old man who’s also my father ”

Suddenly, a feeling of compassion grew in Noein, and when he smiled at them, the thieves took a step back with a frightened expression for some reason.

Even the leader of the bandits, who looked so scary, broke in cold sweat.

Earlier, you guys were scaring me. Now why are you scared?

“… Hey, what’s wrong with you?”

The leader of the group asked as if he had made up his mind.

So, you want to know? Then I’ll tell you.

“I’m the son of Maximilian Kivileft, the man who put you all in this situation. I’m the son of a concubine and hence was forced to grow up trapped in the corner of a mansion and was thrown out to die in the middle of the bezel forest.”

・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・

I never thought I’d find someone who shared this hatred for my father.

With such a happy expression on his face, Noein spoke about his situation and his resentment towards his father.

No matter how much he said, the words came pouring out like a waterfall. He was amazed at how much resentment had built up in his heart.

The narrative contained a great deal of Noein’s subjectivity and hatred, so the content was very much tilted in Noein’s favour, it was appealing to the sympathy of the bandits.

“… I understand the situation. I also understand that you are not just some noblemen with a lot of money.”

When Noein had finished speaking his mind, or rather when he was out of breath and had physically stopped speaking, the leader of the group finally spoke back with a detoxified expression.

“I think, I’m not going to kill you. I’m withered. I can’t bring myself to kill a guy who was dumped by the same fucking aristocrat, at such a young age, expecting him to die in the wild. Are you guys okay with that?”

The leader of the group looked back at the rest of the group. His four subordinates nodded with expressions that seemed to have been carved into they’re faces.

“But what are you going to do? At your age, with a weak body, with only the slave and the golems to help you, and with not nearly enough money, are you really going to cultivate the forest that your father forced onto you? Why don’t you just run away?”

“I want revenge on my father. I want to take my revenge by living a happier and more loving life than he did.”

Noein replied with a calm expression to the man who sat down with a thump and asked in a half-confused manner.

“… Haa?”

“I resent my father. I despise him. So, I will take everything he took from me, everything he never had. I will never be like my father. I’m going to spend my life creating a territory where people can live happily, and becoming a lord who loves his people and is loved by them. That’s my way of revenge.”

Yuri listened to the kid’s words with disbelief.

It was too idealistic. It was too optimistic of a dream. And it was too hard to accept.

But his eyes were looking straight at Yuri, and Yuri couldn’t imagine the prospect that he was lying.

“Well, since you’re here, why don’t you come to my estate? Would you like to become my subject? I swear I’ll love you all my life and do my duty as a lord for you.”

“… Ha, Haaa?”

Yuri was even more confused. He couldn’t comprehend the meaning of those words even more than the previous words.

Is this guy for real?

Would you welcome into your domain the person who was trying to kill you just a minutes ago?

Love someone who was trying to kill you?

Aren’t we down to bandits now?

“We’re being hunted by your father’s army. And we were bandits, remember? We never killed or committed crimes other than robbing people of their cargo and property. Only what we needed to do to survive”

“I assure you, that son of a bitch of a father won’t have bothered to chase you guys to the edge of this kingdom for the fact that a few of his men were killed. Isn’t that the only reason all of you became bandits? Under the same circumstances, I would have done the same thing to stay alive.”

“… We were going to kill you, remember?”

“You guys didn’t know about my situation. But it’s different now, isn’t it? Then we’re done talking about it. It’s merely a trivial matter now.”

He called it a trivial matter that he was about to be killed.

“You lost your way of life because of my father, didn’t you? So why don’t you take your revenge on him with me? Let’s take our revenge on him by living happily ever after.”

…… Even then, his words were still beyond Yuri’s understanding.

If you can’t understand the words, you have to look them in the eyes and judge their true intentions.

Yuri stared into the eyes of this guy. Noein’s intense stare didn’t budge …… and Yuri realizes that he means it.

Yuri couldn’t believe that a kid this age could lie with such a genuine expression and this truthful look in his eyes.

His story is incomprehensible, but his words have a strange persuasiveness and charm.

Earlier I thought he was just a whiny kid, but now I can even sense a strange charm from this guy.

Appealing to the bandits who were filled with anger for the nobles, with words like ‘I will kill only the aristocrats’ resonating within them. He was bringing them more and more to his side. With a calm and cool approach. At least, he was so calm that they wouldn’t kill him just because he was an aristocrat anymore.

The hatred I had felt earlier now seemed like a childish notion.

“… What if your words are a lie?”

Yuri asked, despite having already fallen for his words.

“If you decide that I have become a lord unworthy of your love, a nobleman of the same kind as my fucking father, thengo ahead and cut me down.”

The same as before, this guy spits out such words as if the weight of those words don’t affect him. And yet the look in his eyes remains as serious as before.

…… I’m defeated, thought Yuri.

This offer was very tempting. We had always been mercenaries, and we had lived a reasonably decent life. We had become thieves with a grudge against nobility, which was a heavy burden to carry. If we could return to a normal life, we would be more than happy to do so.

I’m not sure what to make of it.

Yuri turns away from this guy and looks at his men. He looks into the eyes of his subordinates, who have chosen to follow him even though it meant becoming bandits themselves.

They’re the ones who have kept their vow to ‘not kill and not rape’ to maintain their honour even just a little, though they have become bandits. Even if I don’t hear their words now, I can confirm their intentions by looking into their eyes and nods.

Their thoughts seemed to be the same as mine.

In any case, they had lost their position and fortune, and had resorted to stealing. Even if they continue to run around the kingdom, they won’t be able to live a decent life.

If that’s the case, it would be a good idea to go along with this strange kid’s even stranger ideas.

After having his life destroyed by a rotten nobleman, he bets the rest of his life on a crazy nobleman’s kid who is that man’s very child. It’s ironic.

Yuri turned to Noein again, and decided to respond to the invitation.

“I understand. I’ll kill you then… but until then–“

Yuri turned his sword around and turned it downwards, thrusting his blade into the ground, turning his head down and kneeling… His four subordinates followed suit.

“–We will be your swords to defeat your enemies, your shields to protect you from your enemies. We will be loyal to you.”

These were the words of a well-known warrior’s oath in the Kingdom of Lordberg.

At this moment, new people joined the territory of Arkvist. For the very first time.

・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・

“Thank you. I pledge to live up to your loyalty.”

Noein returned the vow to the bandits who raised their swords and made their vows.

The head of the bandits, Yuri, who stood up after the impromptu ceremony, looked a little embarrassed and said awkwardly, “Well, that’s it. And now, about the future, ……,” he stammered.

Noein was also a little unsure of what to say to Yuri and the others, who until a few moments ago had been bandits trying to take his life. Bandits who were now his subjects.

The man who had stopped bleeding from the nose finally opened his mouth, as if trying to ease the air.

“For the time being, I’ll go and untie that rabbit woman….”

When he spoke that much.

“HAA-A-A-A-!”

Matilda jumped out of the bushes in a kicking stance with a battle cry, leaving the man, once again, bleeding from his nose.

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This translation is presented by Nocturne Translations.

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