Among the fifteen marauders, except for the four that Alisa unseated, all had become cold corpses.
Although Keldric’s side was greatly outnumbered, it was quite encouraging to have won against fifteen medium cavalry.
“Wrap this up for me too.”
“Quit whining, you brat.”
“How are you still so unscathed?”
While some injured mercenaries tended to their wounds, Jorgen approached Keldric, who had dismounted from Boreas.
“Sir Keldric.” “Hm?”
Keldric turned toward Jorgen.
Even off Boreas, his great height made him still look down.
“Thank you very much. Thanks to your efforts, our mercenary group avoided major losses.”
“Oh, no need. You all fought well. I think you would have won even if I hadn’t been there.”
They might have won, but the damage would have been unavoidable.
Without Keldric, at least six mercenaries might have died, and Jorgen could have been one of them.
Bowing repeatedly, Jorgen expressed his gratitude to Keldric.
“It was an honor to fight alongside such a noble knight as yourself.”
“You speak as if we’ll never meet again.”
“Pardon?”
“We’ve dealt with the marauders, so now we should return to Bellam. Since we’re heading the same way, let’s travel together.”
Having such a skilled and good-natured knight was most welcome to Jorgen.
With his strength, small-time bandits would be no threat at all.
“Thank you! I’ll escort you to Bellam with utmost sincerity!” “Alright, but…”
Keldric’s gaze drifted behind Jorgen to where Alisa sat, pale and exhausted.
“The mage looks a bit unapproachable. I’d like to offer her some water, but…”
As Jorgen said, Alisa seemed even more on edge than usual. Keldric couldn’t quite understand why.
Was it magic that frayed her nerves, or did it affect her body in some adverse way?
“I’ll go check on her.” “Thank you, Sir Keldric!”
Relieved, Jorgen stepped back, while Keldric approached Alisa.
She glanced at him, slightly hostile, but he didn’t flinch.
“Ah, Sir Keldric.”
“Are you alright?”
“Yes, well… as much as one can be.”
“Would you like a cup of warm water? You don’t look entirely fine.”
“…In that case, I’ll accept it gratefully.”
He handed her a steaming wooden cup filled with melted snow.
They’d wisely built a fire as soon as the battle ended.
Alisa sipped the warm water, her body shivering as it spread through her.
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I’m fine. Thank you for your concern.”
“Your magic was impressive.”
She flinched.
Hadn’t he mentioned wanting to see her magic once?
“It’s nothing special.
When you took down seven men in a flash, I only managed to unseat four.”
“Maybe, but didn’t you wear yourself out more than I did?”
“…That’s true.”
“Then it was impressive. It means you gave it everything.”
Caught off guard by Keldric’s blunt logic, Alisa quietly drank her water.
His straightforward, knightly logic… wasn’t unpleasant.
“By the way, didn’t you use magic on the bandits two days ago? Jorgen told me.”
“Yes, they followed us by day and attacked our campsite at night.”
“And did you feel drained then, too?”
“There were campfires around then, so casting magic was easier. I could just pull fire from the flames.”
This battle hadn’t given Alisa the preparation she needed.
Keldric nodded thoughtfully.
Her point made sense.
Planning ahead for battle might seem strange, but all around them was only white snow; no fire could spring up on its own here.
“Perhaps you should carry a torch?”
“The winds here blow so fiercely that they go out quickly. And in the chaos, it’s hard to strike flint.”
Both Keldric and Alisa had their unique burdens.
As Keldric nodded, his gaze moved ahead.
Alisa followed it to the horizon, where the sun was setting, and a village surrounded by palisades came into view.
“Looks like it’s time to move.”
“Will we enter the village?”
“No need for us to go first.”
Alisa tilted her head in confusion.
Keldric silently pointed somewhere.
“It’s time for reckoning.”
Ahead, at the entrance to the village of Schappendorf, villagers approached Keldric.
Seeing the captured marauders, the villagers exploded with anger.
“You filthy scum! Crawling from the devil’s bowels!”
They charged at the four bound marauders and kicked them viciously.
“How dare you target our village! Cursed bastards!”
Spit and curses rained down on the marauders’ faces, now filled with hatred.
But no one feared the bound marauders.
The villagers’ anger only grew fiercer.
“You’ll pay for those looks!” “Bring a club! Let’s show them!”
With that, the villagers began to beat the marauders.
Keldric decided to watch quietly for the time being.
‘They won’t kill them, will they?’
The villagers’ anger was justified; some had lost loved ones.
Keldric was prepared to step in if they took things too far, but for now, he allowed them their release.
The villagers, emboldened by Keldric’s silence, continued their attack.
After a while, even the mercenaries and Alisa began to feel uneasy.
Eventually, beaten mercilessly, the marauders started begging, clutching the villagers’ feet.
Finally, the villagers ceased their assault and stepped back.
Keldric glanced at the marauders, now barely recognizable.
The mercenaries had roughed them up earlier, but nothing like this.
“…Are we done here?” “Oh! Sir Knight!”
An elderly man, finally calmed down, approached Keldric, bowing deeply.
“Please forgive this display. It wasn’t meant as an insult to you, honorable knight…”
“I understand. They brought great harm to your village.”
Assuming the villagers had intended to disregard him was foolish.
Keldric saw this as an opportunity to showcase his magnanimity.
The old man, greatly relieved, bowed again.
“Thank you for your mercy, noble knight!”
Marius bowed so deeply to Keldric that it felt excessive.
The villagers standing behind him did the same.
“If it wouldn’t be too much trouble, we would like to guide you to our village. What do you think?”
“That sounds good, but first, I would like to decide on the treatment of these individuals.”
“Ah! That’s right! I was short-sighted!”
Marius’s eyes filled with anticipation for a moment.
He was thrilled at the thought of making the captured bandits into slaves.
The village of Schafendorf was not a village granted as a fief to someone, but rather a direct territory of Baron Volpen.
Since there were no stationed knights, it was naturally the responsibility of Marius, the village chief, to lead the community.
Thus, all major and minor matters of the village had to go through Marius’s hands, and this case seemed no different.
However, present here was Keldric, a genuine nobleman.
“In place of the rightful lord of this land, Baron Volpen, I will decide the treatment of these individuals. By the grace of God, I am Keldric of the Bellaf family.”
There were mainly two situations in which a knight would reveal his name to commoners, who were neither mercenaries nor merchants: either to assert authority as a newly appointed noble or to follow legal procedures on behalf of his lord.
In Keldric’s case, it was the latter.
“I understand that you have suffered greatly, but these individuals are those we have been pursuing at the request of the Bellam City Council.”
Marius’s lips turned down slightly.
The sagging crease on his face conveyed his dejection.
“However, I cannot disregard the plight of you who faithfully pay taxes to Baron Volpen.”
“Wh-what do you mean…?”
“I will sell the horses and weapons they ride, and their armor at a reasonable price.”
Marius’s complexion brightened considerably.
The armor they were wearing was all made of metal plate.
The blacksmith of Schafendorf could repair it and resell it, but since it could also be melted down for its pieces, it was worth quite a bit.
On the other hand, Keldric had nothing to lose in this deal.
He would dispose of the corpses anyway, and as for the weapons and horses, he could either share them with the mercenaries or just take the reins and leave.
But it wasn’t the same with armor; he couldn’t move fifteen sets of heavy armor on a cart, and even if he borrowed a cart from the village, it would have to be pulled by either the mercenaries or Boreas.
The horses acquired as spoils could pull it, but Keldric didn’t want to go to the trouble of bringing them to Bellam.
It was better to sell them to the villagers for a cheap price and be on his way.
Schafendorf was a relatively large village, and it certainly had the capacity to buy up all the broken armor.
Moreover, since Keldric mentioned the name of Baron Volpen, the villagers would naturally develop a good impression of him.
This also served to uphold the dignity of Baron Volpen, who was responsible for the safety of the territory.
“I will adjust the prices according to your financial capacity. What do you think?”
“Oh, that’s a very wise judgment! I truly admire it!”
“Praise for the wisdom of the honorable knight! May God bless you with unearned grace!”
As the villagers smiled brightly and spoke Keldric’s name, Keldric stared at them blankly.
‘What’s so special about this?’
Unbeknownst to Keldric, the judgment he had rendered was absurdly merciful.
Frankly speaking, if it were another knight, they would have taken everything for themselves without a second thought, and there would have been no issue.
In that case, Baron Volpen, who governed Schafendorf, might feel a bit displeased, but it was customary for the spoils to go to those who defeated the enemy, so it wouldn’t have been a problem.
With many knights engaging in such behavior, Keldric’s judgment was indeed unusual.
The villagers looked at Keldric with envy and respect.
Jorgen, watching from behind, felt inexplicably proud.
Other mercenaries also seemed moved by Keldric’s merciful judgment.
As the atmosphere became more cheerful, Keldric and his party finally headed toward Schafendorf village under the guidance of the villagers.
“Marius, is there a blacksmith in the village?”
“Oh, yes! There’s a blacksmith with decent skills! Would you like me to guide you?”
“Please do.”
As soon as Keldric entered the village, he headed not to the inn but to the blacksmith.
Schafendorf was merely the first stop on the way to Bellam.
Since he couldn’t head directly to the artisan-filled Bellam, Keldric first needed to sharpen the dull blade of his sword and acquire some backup weapons.
‘The blade has become dull. I haven’t swung it many times.’
Keldric had easily won this battle, but he had been quite flustered when he found his sword unmanageable.
If he hadn’t reflexively gripped the sword upside down, no one could say how the outcome might have changed.
Through this battle, Keldric realized he needed additional equipment.
Among those, if he had to pick the most urgent one, it would be a spear suitable for use while mounted.
A spear was good for use even when dismounted, but it was even better when on horseback.
Knights were infamous for various reasons, but the charge into enemy lines wielding a cavalry spear tucked under the arm was a significant part of that reputation.
A long spear could stab from a distance that foot soldiers couldn’t reach, and combined with the speed of a running horse, it became nearly impossible to defend against.
Coincidentally, Keldric had just acquired several spears that were usable but needed a little work.
This was the reason he headed straight for the blacksmith upon entering the village.
“Uh… how is it?”
With a somewhat anxious demeanor, the blacksmith asked, and Keldric silently thrust the spear lightly.
The spear obtained from the bandits flew straight out.
“Looks good.”
Keldric, having acquired a decent piece of loot, smiled with satisfaction.
Although the blacksmith had done his best to straighten it out as it had been slightly bent, it still had sufficiently good performance.
It was a spear that was too good to be carried around by mere bandits.
After gathering his sharpened sword, Keldric finally examined the heavy piece of metal he held in his hand.
“This is the sturdiest one among what I have.”
It was a flanged mace, with thick iron plates affixed to the end of a wooden rod that was neither too long nor too short.
This was Keldric’s newly acquired secondary weapon.
A shield would have been nice too, but unfortunately, there were no proper shields in the Schafendorf blacksmith shop.
At most, there was a crude wooden shield made by haphazardly piecing together a few planks.
However, Keldric wasn’t worried.
He could either block or dodge the enemy’s attacks.
He planned to look for a proper shield once he arrived in Bellam, but for now, it was fine without one.
“I like it.”
“I’m honored to hear that.”
With that, Keldric was once again ready for battle.
Though he hoped the journey to Bellam would be safe, that was uncertain.