Chapter 15: The Baron Who Raised Bandits

The man who came running in a panic helped the fallen young man to his feet.

Then, without warning, he started yelling at me.

“You bastard! Do you even know who this person is before doing such a thing?!”

Needless to say, his intimidation didn’t work on me at all.

I frowned and pointed at the disheveled man and woman.

“I don’t know who you people are, but I can clearly see this is dogshit behavior. Why are you doing it?”

“It’s sport for the nobility.”

“Wait, so you’re saying you’re not slave hunters?”

“That’s right! This gentleman is—”

The man’s face turned crimson as he tried to shout, but the fallen youth suddenly raised a hand slightly.

A gesture to shut up.

Then, with elegant movements, he stood up as if nothing had happened.

Whoa! He’s completely fine after taking that kick?

I had put considerable emotion into that spinning kick, yet he withstood it effortlessly.

His grit alone deserved praise.

Of course, the fact that he was engaging in the bizarre activity of human hunting was still a huge minus.

“There’s no need to say it. In these lands, not knowing me would be the strange thing. Who are you, and where are you from?”

The youth asked while flicking his brown hair.

He showed not the slightest guilt for what he had done.

I hadn’t been in this world long, so I wasn’t fully versed in its culture.

But this was the first I’d heard of human hunting being a thing.

“Hey. Who are you people?”

Ignoring the youth’s question, I addressed the ragged man and woman.

Relieved that they might survive, they began wailing and pouring out their grievances.

“We were on our way to relatives in the capital! We are free people, not runaway serfs or slaves!”

The story was simple.

They had been traveling a familiar road with confidence when they were suddenly attacked.

“Can you prove it?”

“Of course. Here is a travel permit issued in Marof territory.”

The pair had considerable travel experience.

Normally only merchants carried such documents.

When crossing multiple territories, all sorts of things could happen.

They must have thought they wouldn’t suffer major injustice.

At least until they met psychopaths hunting humans in broad daylight.

“I’ve confirmed the two of you are free citizens. Now it’s time to find out who you are.”

“Ha! What an utterly rude bastard!”

The youth’s servant bristled and stepped forward.

But a single graceful gesture from his master stopped him again.

Was the concept here that the servant made a fuss while the master pretended to be refined?

The servant, squirming in frustration, finally bellowed in a booming voice,

“Do you even know who this is? The eldest son who will one day lead the great House of Count Brayden—Lord Alonzo!”

“Ahem!”

As expected, it sounded utterly pathetic to me.

Not even a noble himself—just an heir?

Even if Count Brayden himself stood before me, I could crush him with authority alone.

I just let out a hollow laugh of disbelief.

The servant’s eyes widened in outrage.

A silent demand: why aren’t you prostrating yourself already?

Finally, Tobias stepped forward, shaking his head.

He let out a short sigh and said,

“Hoo. This is His Highness Duke Carius.”

“A duke or whatever—huh? W-what did you say?”

Shock spread across the servant’s face, and Alonzo’s head snapped up.

I slowly dangled the golden necklace in front of their eyes.

The imperial crest and the extravagantly ornate design.

Even at a glance, anyone could tell it was no ordinary item.

Now it was clear who should be kneeling on the ground.

I looked at Alonzo and his servant with cold eyes and said,

“Kneel.”

There were many advantages to high status.

Most things could be solved with a single word.

If I had been a commoner filled only with a sense of justice,

I would have been the one in trouble in a situation like that.

But I was not some naive champion of righteousness.

They’re just dump trucks. Those two are nothing more than mantises.

Alonzo and his servant knelt trembling.

And standing before me, personally begging for forgiveness, was Count Brayden himself.

“The boy is young and lacks judgment. Please show leniency.”

“I did a little looking around the area. This doesn’t seem like a one- or two-day thing. I alone met more than thirty victims.”

“That is…”

“To be precise, probably far more than that. The way he whipped from horseback was no joke.”

Count Brayden squeezed his eyes shut.

With most nobles, negotiation would have been possible.

Stuff some money in their hands, secure cooperation.

Or dig up dirt on the other side and counterattack.

But I was the Chief Justice of the capital court and the Emperor’s favored cousin.

No duke could touch me.

“Everyone involved in this will be punished. If you want to save even your son’s life, act sensibly.”

Unless it was a major city like a duchy or march, local judicial authority belonged to the lord.

In fact, they practically held all power.

As long as no one higher appeared.

“Y-yes, understood.”

Count Brayden nodded heavily.

Once I knew, his son’s crime could no longer be covered up.

“I will thoroughly investigate and send up the evidence.”

“Good. Work hard.”

“It pains me that we meet under such circumstances, but would you care to rest at the castle and recover from the journey?”

Since escape was impossible, the bribery attempt came immediately.

A desperate effort to soften my heart.

But I rejected it outright.

“No need. I’m in a hurry, so I’ll be going.”

Count Brayden looked at me regretfully.

I turned decisively and boarded the carriage.

A glint appeared in Tobias’s eyes.

“A pity. Nobles unaffiliated with any faction are rare.”

He really had been a decent person.

If I pulled Count Brayden into the imperial faction, the Emperor’s authority would be strengthened.

But political standing could not influence judicial judgment.

“With great power comes great responsibility. Those in power must be judged even more harshly.”

When such people have moral failings, the damage is far greater.

Look at this incident.

What if the human hunters had been commoners?

Far from hushing it up, Count Brayden would have caught and killed them already.

For daring to cause trouble on his land.

I turned my head with a bitter smile.

And at that exact moment,

A line of text suddenly popped up before my eyes.

「You have stopped the atrocities of Alonzo, the Demon of Brayden Territory.」

「A reward will be given.」

「If you continue to bring positive change to the world, even greater rewards await.」

What the heck—suddenly?

Until now, my system had been extremely passive.

It only displayed simple information about people I knew.

Well, there had been one exception—when combat skills unlocked.

But never had this much text appeared.

As I stood there stunned, a thought struck me.

Then everything I’ve done so far…

I had caused quite a storm in the capital.

Wage theft cases had plummeted afterward.

But apparently that hadn’t been considered a big enough ripple.

It was easy to understand once I thought about it.

Between a few coins and human lives, which weighed more?

“So there’s a chance human hunting could be eradicated from now on?”

That’s what the system had said.

Bring positive change to the world, and receive even better rewards.

Didn’t that mean I had been walking the right path all along?

It almost felt like the system was cheering me on.

Anyway, I’m curious what changed.

I stared at the text.

Using the system was extremely simple.

Just willing it made it respond.

In a way, it felt far more useful than a smartphone—no need to touch anything.

“But what exactly changed… wait?”

I casually glanced at Tobias and immediately noticed the difference.

<Person Information> Name: Tobias Wilkin Status: Baronet Position: Butler Loyalty: Average Condition: High enthusiasm for duties, slight puzzlement Overall Ability: C

The information was now far more detailed than before.

Especially the addition of the overall ability rating—it was impressive.

This will make separating the wheat from the chaff even easier.

It would be much more reliable than when I hired the mercenaries.

There could always be cases where rank and actual skill didn’t match.

Also, the way conditions were described had changed.

Before it was just keywords; now it showed degrees.

It’s a bit of a shame detailed stats don’t show up.

As far as I knew, Tobias wasn’t particularly good at fighting.

So his C rank must have come from other talents.

I’d have to piece together how to use people based on the overall information.

Still, that alone would be more than enough.

You can roughly tell what someone’s suited for after trying them out a few times.

“We’ve been delayed, so let us hurry, Your Highness.”

“Do so.”

I answered Tobias absentmindedly and became absorbed in examining the status windows.

It was surprisingly fun.

It felt like peeking into people’s inner thoughts.

But I had to stop soon.

There were too few targets.

To check someone’s info, I needed at least to exchange names.

This will be useful in trials too, beyond just handling people.

Bad guys were highly likely to have the word “misdeed” in their recent condition.

It took a full two weeks to reach the Lelbrant barony.

Even though we drove the carriage without rest.

It was that long a journey, and I was suffering from crushing boredom.

Why hasn’t even a single monster shown up?

Normally this should have been an adventure full of action.

Local territories often had terrible security.

I guess we were lucky; the party reached our destination without incident.

But the real incident was just beginning.

“Y-Your Highness? The entire territory is practically a bandit den.”

“Good heavens, I can’t believe this.”

The Lelbrant barony was a complete disaster.

Bandits running rampant—fine, that could happen.

Plenty of places had poor security.

The north where Abel had lived had been in constant skirmishes.

But this place wasn’t even that remote.

There’s no way they’d let it rot without reason. A functioning territory means revenue for the lord.

I walked around inspecting the castle.

Because a stranger was snooping, someone soon followed.

A soldier on guard duty approached and spoke.

“Where might you be from?”

Perhaps because of my clothing, his tone was fairly polite.

To gather even a little information, I threw a question back.

“Isn’t it courtesy to introduce yourself first?”

When I lightly jabbed, his face stiffened slightly.

But the unpleasant expression lasted only a moment.

He immediately saluted and answered,

“Shemar, captain of the guard at Lelbrant Castle.”

At that exact moment, my brow furrowed mercilessly.

What he said and what his status window showed were completely different.

“No you’re not. You’re just a bandit.”