Baron Volpen showed no mercy to the captured bandits.
The four surviving bandits were sentenced to hang by the furious Baron Volpen, and immediately, their necks were tied to a large tree at the entrance of Yalta Village.
“Serves them right!” “Filthy bandits!”
The villagers of Yalta each picked up stones and threw them at the bandits.
The bandits hung from the tree struggled for a while before going limp.
With every stone the villagers hurled, the bodies of the bandits swung back and forth.
“The Baron did the right thing,” said Sir Werner, riding beside Keldric.
He looked at the bandits hanging like fruits on the tree without batting an eye.
“It’s a serious crime to pillage nearby villages and harm or kill the good people of the estate. They deserve to be dealt with harshly.”
“…Yes,” Keldric replied.
“Defeating and capturing these bandits is an accomplishment. It must have taught the villagers a lesson, and Baron Volpen surely saved face as a result.”
Keldric nodded reluctantly.
There was little he could criticize about the event.
In this era, it was common to publicly execute criminals to deter crime.
To maintain order, lords would publicly punish offenders as a warning and lesson to the people of their lands.
These bandits, after all, were mercenaries who turned to banditry after losing in territorial wars.
And for banditry and murder, hanging was the inevitable punishment.
“Anyhow, we should get going.”
Sir Werner nudged his horse forward, and Keldric urged Boreas along, riding beside him.
“Ugh… I get chills whenever I see something like that.”
“Chills? That’s what happens when you go around robbing people like an idiot.”
“Everyone who tried that nonsense around me ended up dead,” murmured Jorgen and the other mercenaries from the Black Mountain Goat Company, watching the bandits’ corpses sway.
In the end, the bandits had once been mercenaries too.
But somewhere along the way, they chose to switch to banditry.
Keldric glanced at Alisa, who was riding beside him.
She was prepared for anything, her expression cold and focused straight ahead, giving the hanging bandits no attention.
“A Rock Troll… I wonder if fire will work on it.”
With a touch of concern, Keldric rode alongside Sir Werner, heading onward.
Baron Volpen needed to go to Carlton Village, and Keldric could hardly leave him in a dangerous situation.
He planned to take down the Rock Troll as quickly as possible.
That was why, right after dealing with the bandits, he joined up with Sir Werner, bringing along the Black Mountain Goat Company and Alisa.
“Sir Keldric.”
“Hmm?”
“Would you mind if we had a brief talk on the way?”
Keldric looked at Sir Werner, who was riding beside him.
The serious look on his face made it hard for Keldric to refuse.
“Not sure what you want to talk about, but if that’s what you wish.”
“Thank you.”
Though it wasn’t far to where the Rock Troll had settled, there would be time enough for a brief chat.
“A long time ago, I met Lord Volpen.”
Sir Werner’s sudden statement was not only unexpected; it was completely out of Keldric’s expectations.
Keldric nodded, puzzled.
He had no idea why Sir Werner was bringing up Lord Volpen.
“Sir Keldric, how much do you know about the Holy Land Restoration Crusade?”
“I suppose I know as much as anyone else…”
“That won’t be enough. It’s been over 20 years since then.”
Sir Werner, a veteran nearing fifty, had been knighted around the age of twenty and soon after set out on the crusade.
Keldric listened intently to Sir Werner.
He had heard some stories about the Holy Land Restoration Crusade from Jorgen, but hearing it from a knight who actually participated was another matter entirely.
“You know the Crusade started with the papacy, don’t you?”
“I think I’ve heard that.”
“It was a time when armies from across the continent were gathered.
The Kingdom of Brittas joined forces with the Kingdom of Frank, and we received reinforcements from the papacy and the Republic of Avalon.”
The crusade to restore the Holy Land drew in volunteers, clergy, nobles, and knights from across the continent, all with the singular aim of restoring the Holy Land.
Some sought divine favor; others saw it as a profitable endeavor.
“Among them was Lord Volpen.”
Sir Werner wore a nostalgic expression as he recalled the crusade from over 20 years ago.
“Lord Volpen was a remarkable knight. He was the only son of his family, so there were no issues with his inheritance, yet he chose to join the crusade, even though he didn’t have to.”
Keldric felt a strange emotion.
The Lord Volpen he knew was always quiet, sometimes stern, and not one to waste time on unnecessary matters.
The idea of him being a daring, passionate man who willingly joined the crusade, despite being an established heir, was hard to imagine.
“Why did he join the crusade?”
“Are you asking me, or are you asking Lord Volpen?”
“Both you and my father.”
“I… well…”
Sir Werner fell silent for a moment, and Keldric waited patiently.
The rhythmic sound of hooves filled the air as the mercenaries behind them yawned in boredom.
“There are those who, for whatever reason, feel compelled to do things even though they don’t have to,” Sir Werner finally said. “I was one of those people back then, full of youthful zeal.”
Though he hadn’t needed to join, the twenty-something Sir Werner was brimming with spirit and joined the crusade.
While many participated for selfish reasons, Sir Werner was focused solely on restoring the Holy Land.
While other knights and nobles slaughtered captured infidels, Sir Werner spared them.
Later, when the reclaimed Holy Land was recaptured, the captured civilians were released thanks to him.
“Lord Volpen was not like me, acting on youthful impulse. He joined solely with the aim of restoring the Holy Land.”
Occasionally, Sir Werner’s stories included cryptic comments that Keldric found hard to understand.
He began to imagine Lord Volpen as an overly zealous believer, obsessed with the idea of restoring the Holy Land.
…or maybe not.
It was a completely incongruous sight.
Keldric tilted his head with a subtle expression.
“I’m not sure. Was my father really like that?”
“Well, people inevitably change over the years. It’s no surprise you wouldn’t understand,” said Berner.
Keldric’s thoughts deepened as he listened.
Berner’s story made him think a lot—not just because it was about his beloved father, which would be a sentimental reason.
“Please, fulfill my lifelong wish….”
Keldric recalled the final words his father, Lord Volpen, had left behind.
He felt as if he finally understood what that wish was, though it eluded him like a leaf drifting in the wind.
As Keldric urged Boreas forward, he pondered for a long time.
“It seems we’re almost there.”
Berner’s voice brought Keldric back to the present, and he noticed they were already near the banks of the Ronawn River.
Keldric swiftly cast aside his thoughts about Lord Volpen; that was something to think about later.
“It’s time to begin.”
It was time to get to work.
The cave where the rock trolls were said to be holed up was a short distance from the riverbank.
Keldric carefully observed the rocky landscape blanketed in snow.
A cave, gaping in the middle of a cliff-like terrain, made strange sounds that seemed to beckon passersby, as if a witch might dwell inside.
“It’s the wind being drawn in that makes the sound. It’s just a little windier than usual today,” Berner murmured casually as he adjusted his helmet.
Wearing a bascinet helmet with a pointed visor like a crow’s beak, Berner exuded an intimidating presence.
His entirely black helmet perfectly suited his nickname, “The Crow.”
“Better prepare yourself,” he said, holding a shield in one hand and a battle axe in the other.
Not wanting to be outdone, Keldric drew the mace hanging from his waist.
Though the handle was wooden and somewhat unreliable, he felt that if he was careful with his strength, it would last through the fight.
As the two knights armed themselves, the mercenaries around them gripped their spears with tense expressions.
Keldric gazed into the pitch-black cave through his visor.
“What about the mage?”
“Are you ready, Alyssa?”
“I’m prepared,” replied Alyssa with a calm expression as she stood near a few small fires she’d lit with some of the mercenaries.
Keldric tightened his grip on the mace.
He wasn’t about to let his guard down, and he could tell Alyssa, having struggled in the last battle, was equally determined not to hold back this time.
“Sir Berner, should we try to lure them out?”
“Let’s light a fire at the entrance and send in the smoke. They’ll come rushing out, unable to stand the fumes.”
“What about blocking the entrance?”
“That won’t work. With rock trolls, they’d just smash through any barrier we set up. Better to force them out here.”
Seeing no flaw in Berner’s reasoning, Keldric nodded quietly.
Having never fought rock trolls before, it seemed wise to defer to Berner’s experience.
Following Jorgen’s orders, a few mercenaries approached the cave entrance with torches and dried straw.
They moved cautiously, but no sound came from inside the cave.
“Did they flee?”
According to Baron Volpen, the rock trolls had traveled all the way from a mining village.
There was a possibility they had moved on overnight.
The mercenaries piled straw at the entrance and set it alight.
“Be ready,” Berner whispered, gripping his axe tightly.
Keldric nodded in silence.
His grip on the mace tightened, producing a menacing creak.
“They’re coming!”
The shout from the mercenaries near the entrance came at the same time that a rumbling vibration shook the ground.
Keldric waited, knowing that Alyssa’s magic might not be enough to penetrate the trolls’ stone-like skin, making his and Berner’s roles essential.
“They’re out!”
The smoke that had been pulled deep into the cave was violently disrupted, and a stony arm broke through.
Keldric and Berner leaped forward in unison, weapons raised.
As they neared the cave entrance, the rock trolls finally emerged from the swirling smoke.
Each one was nearly three times Keldric’s size, with bodies covered in jagged stone and tiny, bloodshot eyes.
There were three rock trolls.
Squinting from the smoke, the rock trolls roared wildly, thrashing around.
Without hesitation, Keldric swung his mace.
“GRRRAAAHH?!”
Stone fragments flew in every direction as a crack appeared in the troll’s stony skin.
The troll let out a pained roar, but Keldric didn’t relent.
“Now’s our chance!”
With their adversary weakened, Keldric had no intention of giving it a moment to recover.
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