“Yo, Merchant-san. You seem to be in trouble.”
“……Yeah.”
He nodded as if he had given up.
Even if I was just a low-ranked bandit, he probably thought that clinging to a piece of straw was better than having nothing at all.
“As you can see, I’ve been captured by your boss.”
“Are you really a big shot from Tranquilica, Mister?”
He hesitated on whether to answer my question, but then he probably figured that speaking the truth might change the situation. If he was going to grab a straw, he might as well go all the way.
After a slight hesitation, he replied.
“I am scheduled to be the next Lord. Until now, my elder brother served as the Lord, but his health declined, and I, who had been away from the capital, was called upon.”
“His health declined? Wait, what happened to the heir? Usually, the Lord’s child takes over, right?”
“The cause of his decline is psychogenic. The loss of his heir affected him deeply.”
According to his story, the powerful Kingdom of Calzahari, which was on the verge of becoming a unified nation, fell, and now wars are breaking out everywhere thanks to people trying to seize hegemony.
This area is quite far northeast of the capital of the former Calzahari Kingdom, but even such a place is heavily affected by the war.
Most likely, the Lord of Tranquilica lost his family in that chaos.
“And so, to succeed him… wait, why were you dressed as a merchant?”
“In these times, nothing is more foolish than walking around with a face that clearly says ‘I am a noble.’ And it wasn’t exactly a disguise. Until just the other day, I was truly making a living as a merchant.”
According to him, the reason he wasn’t protected by the knights of his hometown was that he had come from far away, and the internal affairs of Tranquilica were in such chaos that they couldn’t spare the men.
He wasn’t a knight, but he had hired guards—all of whom were killed by us bandits.
Well, I don’t remember doing it, but my apologies.
“A future Lord shouldn’t be so defenseless and plan-less.”
“I have no words to refute that. However, if I do not hurry, the Tranquilica my brother built might be invaded by other territories. I want to protect Tranquilica, which is my brother’s life’s work.”
“You really care about your brother.”
“He was my pride. He was the one who encouraged me when I wanted to become a merchant. My brother and I both longed for freedom. He was the one who entrusted that longing to me.”
His voice was filled with kindness and melancholy.
To have those emotions overflow even while captured by bandits—he must truly love his brother from the bottom of his heart.
…A precious thing, huh?
“But you’re right. This is the price of being defenseless and plan-less.”
“Seriously. Fix that once you become the Lord.”
I took out the hand-axe hanging from my waist and swung it down at the lock.
This kind of thing isn’t about brute strength; it’s about the “knack.” When you’re a bandit, you learn how to break locks.
This wasn’t a professional or sturdy one; an old lock like this breaks easily with this axe.
It didn’t even make a loud noise. And even if it did—
“Gyahaha! Don’t take it off, that’s gross!”
“Mine is bigger!” “Hyahahahahaha!”
With that drunken riot going on, there was no way they’d hear the sound of something breaking.
On the other hand, the future Lord-sama was staring blankly.
Even though he wanted to be saved, he seemed confused that I had actually done it without him offering any benefit in return.
“Look up. See the space continuing up there? There are lots of bumps, so it’s easy to climb. You should be able to get outside easily. From there, there’s a path. If you walk for half a day, there should be a town. A bandit can’t get in, but you should be fine, right? …What? Don’t tell me you didn’t want to get out of here.”
“N-No. Of course I want to leave. You’ve saved me. But what profit is there for you? If you let me escape, your leader will surely put you through something terrible.”
If you ask me why, it’s hard to say.
I understand killing and being killed in a fight. In this era, I accept that.
But keeping someone in a cage just doesn’t sit right with me.
In short, I just hate things that make me feel bad.
Even as a bandit, I’d like to wash my hands of it if possible. I just don’t do it because I know I’d be killed by the Boss or the other bandits if I tried.
Even with “Respawning,” the process leading up to death is usually, literally, painfully agonizing.
I don’t want to die if I can help it.
“I don’t know why. I’m just possessed by the delusion that if I were an adventurer, I’d help someone in trouble.”
“If you were an adventurer?”
“I wonder why. I’ve always admired adventurers. The kind that show up in bedtime stories.”
“A hero who helps those they want to help, fights the enemies they choose, and walks their own path. I, too, remember being told such stories when I was young.”
“It might be a childish story, but ‘admiration’ is a good enough reason, right? Now, go, quickly. If the Boss’s mood changes and he comes back here, both you and I are finished.”
He nodded firmly and headed toward the escape route in the ceiling.
“My name is Rizerka of the House of the Count of Tranquilica. I will not forget this debt of gratitude for generations to come.”
“By the time those generations pass, I’ll make sure to show my face in Tranquilica and let you all pamper me.”
He’s a man with the guts to try and return to his territory alone.
Even though he’s a noble, he climbed the rough escape route nimbly and soon vanished from sight.
I could have run away with him, but the more time I buy, the better it’ll be for him.
I sat back down on the half-rotten chair and decided to pretend to be asleep. Actually, maybe I’ll just really sleep.
✘✘✘
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT LOCALIZERMEERKAT.GITHUB.IO
With a loud thwack, I was punched and went rolling off the chair.
“Who told you to sleep?! He’s escaped!”
“Eh, well… he was here just a moment ago…”
Well, obviously. If a prisoner escapes while you’re sleeping, of course the boss is gonna be pissed.
Judging by the candle, several hours have passed since then.
He probably had a drink, took a nap, and came by because he was bored.
“You piece of trash, can’t even handle guard duty?”
I saw his hand reach for his sword. Being killed for nothing is a bit annoying.
Once in a while, it’s not bad for bandits to scrap with each other.
The moment the Boss drew his sword, I tried to pull out the hand-axe at my waist.
The Boss’s strike was faster. I felt my neck get sliced before I could even draw.
You do find them once in a while—guys so skilled you wonder why they’re wasting their time being bandits.
I died, but I bought plenty of time.
I’m sure the future Lord-sama will do just fine. For a cheap life inhabiting this body, I’d say I made a pretty good trade.
✘✘✘
“Dammit, you useless piece of shit. I can’t let that moneybags get away. Hey! Get ready to—”
“Boss! A-Adventurers! They’re here!”
“Did that guy who escaped already call them? No, that’s impossible. Does that mean… they just happened to show up…!? Shit, talk about bad luck!”
Clicking his tongue in irritation, the Boss immediately ordered defense preparations.
No matter how skilled he was, the odds were against him when facing adventurers who come to raid a bandit’s nest.
They weren’t prepared for an intercept; most of the underlings were still drunk.
The ones who appeared weren’t there to save the next Lord; they were just adventurers looking to make a daily wage by wiping out a bandit nest they happened to spot.
Causality comes full circle.
Those who prey on others become prey for even stronger predators.
That is the way of the world now, and it didn’t even take an hour for these bandits to be completely exterminated.
—
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