The prison at Crossroad.
Crack!
Kuilan poured Magic Power into his fist and tore off the metal cuffs that bound his wrists.
"Heh heh, stupid imperial bastards."
Following that, Kuilan, who tore off the cuffs that bound his legs, loosened his now-freed body with a snap.
"I am Kuilan, who catches bears with my bare hands. Did they think they could bind me with this?"
Kuilan looked around the prison. Inside each iron-barred cell, he could see his comrades and refugees lying down to rest, almost as if they had collapsed.
‘How long will it take to escape and take them all with me?’
This place where he was brought to was the fortress city Crossroad, a frontline constantly battling with monsters. The level of the soldiers here was quite high.
‘...I’m in for some trouble. Darn it. Messing with the prince was a mistake.’
He had made a decision that threw everything away just to earn a few measly coins.
But a mistake was a mistake, and now he had to think about escaping. If they stayed put, they would all be killed.
As Kuilan loosened his fist, lost in thought,
"Cough, cough! Ku, Kuilan."
A dry cough, along with someone calling his name, reached him. Kuilan looked towards the voice.
It was a young man with the same red scarf wrapped around his neck as Kuilan’s.
His lean body, face showing the traces of sickness, and a particularly frail-looking leg.
Kuilan grinned at him.
"Kureha."
He was Kuilan’s older brother, Kureha.
"Cough, cough!"
After a rough cough, Kureha gave him a faint smile.
"Kuilan. You’ve freed yourself from the cuffs."
"I’ll free you too, brother. And the followers. Let’s escape together."
"Don’t do that, Kuilan."
Kureha slowly shook his head.
"You should escape alone."
"What?"
"Even for you, escaping with everyone here is impossible."
Kureha gestured towards the outside.
"Go alone."
"..."
"All this time you have taken care of me, the sick one, and these wretches. Now live for yourself, Kuilan. Leave behind banditry too, and..."
Clang!
Instead of answering, Kuilan swung open the iron bars of the cell where Kureha was imprisoned, leaving a surprised Kureha yelling.
"Kuilan!"
"Don’t talk nonsense, brother."
Fully opening the iron bars with a grin, Kuilan squatted down in front of his brother.
"You’ve raised me and protected me all my life, and now I should just give up and run away like this?"
"..."
"We can escape together. Most of all, who am I? I am Kuilan of Kangwon, Kuilan the miraculous."
Kuilan pointed at himself, laughing confidently.
"They say I always make miracles happen in any situation. It’ll be the same this time. Just trust me and rest a little longer, brother."
"..."
Kureha just looked up at his brother with tearful eyes.
That’s when it happened.
Clap. Clap. Clap.
"Very touching story indeed~!"
A mocking voice accompanied by applause came from the prison entrance. A startled Kuilan and Kureha looked in that direction.
"I never knew that the notorious bandit king had such brotherly love?"
Prince Ash and his knight Lucas were entering the prison.
"But dreaming of escape would be a mistake, my bandit friends. If you cause a commotion within my city, then truly... You will suffer a most unsightly fate."
Prince Ash wickedly smiled, drawing his finger across his throat.
"Damn...!"
Kuilan clicked his tongue, fists raised.
Since they were all doomed to be executed anyway, he intended to rush at the Prince himself and create an unexpected turn of events.
Swish!
However, Lucas, who had swiftly approached, was much quicker, pointing his longsword at Kuilan’s neck.
Moreover, Lucas subtly shifted the direction of his murderous intent toward Kuilan’s back—toward Kureha. His intention was clear.
- If you make a false move, I’ll kill your brother.
"Ugh!"
Kuilan had no choice but to stop, gritting his teeth.
Ash looked around the prison with a cruel smile.
"You all must be curious why I’ve come in the middle of the night, right?"
Fear filled the eyes of the bandits and refugees. The cruel smile on Ash’s face deepened.
"What, you think there’s a special reason? It’s because your punishment has been decided."
Punishment.
The word carried more weight coming from the Prince’s lips. The prisoners’ faces turned pale.
"You bandits have attacked the citizens of the Empire, causing substantial financial damage, and you refugees have turned a blind eye to it. Furthermore, you dared to kidnap me, a member of the Imperial Family."
Ash’s wicked eyes widened.
"You must pay for your crimes, right?"
Roar!
As Ash spoke, Aider and the soldiers filed in one by one.
’Could it be, are they going to execute us right now...!’
Just as Kuilan was grinding his teeth in certainty, the soldiers began going from cell to cell, distributing food.
"...?"
The bandits and refugees accepted the unexpected meal with puzzled expressions.
They were starved after a whole day without food, but they couldn’t understand why they were being fed now. Was it their last meal before execution?
"Eat and listen. The punishment I’m imposing on you is... ’Forced Conscription.’"
Ash continued to speak, his wicked smile unchanged.
"Bandits. You will be conscripted into the monster frontlines as a ’Penal Squad.’"
Penal Squad.
A unit where prisoners serve to atone for their sins.
Ash laughed wickedly.
"The term of service is three years! The first six months is a probationary period. During this probationary period, your salary will be only 70% of that of regular soldiers."
"...?"
"You have no right to refuse! Your wages will be paid weekly on time, accommodations will be provided, and there will be separate meal allowances, but nevertheless, you must fight the monsters on this frontline!"
The bandits’ expressions became bewildered. They couldn’t understand what exactly was meant by punishment.
"And you, refugees. You will be sentenced to forced labor as well."
Ash cast a malicious smile at the emaciated refugees.
"A large-scale project is starting, and since this city is in a remote area, there is a shortage of labor. You also have a six-month probationary period. During the probationary period, your salary will be only 70% of that of regular laborers."
"..."
The refugees looked at each other with puzzled faces.
Was this prince now saying that he would employ them, foreigners and refugees, as laborers?
"And, Kuilan!"
Ash snapped his fingers at Kuilan, who was equally stunned and frozen in place.
"Your sick brother will be forcibly admitted to this city’s temple and treated. He’ll be intensively cared for in a single room, under the watchful eyes of all the priests."
"...?"
"Heh heh, if you’re worried about your dear brother’s life, you’ll have to take responsibility for your subordinates and supervise them. And you’ll have to listen to me, too."
Kuilan and Kureha’s expressions turned strange.
"This is the punishment you will receive."
Ash shook his head as if he was frightened by his own wickedness.
"Conscription is dreadful, but setting a probation period of a whole half-year, and during that time, paying only 70% of the wages! How terrifying a punishment this is!"
Being forcibly drafted into the front lines, where fighting monsters was incredibly dangerous.
Becoming a soldier meant fighting monsters directly, and even those who did not fight directly on the front lines could unexpectedly face danger.
In a way, it was undoubtedly punishment. However.
"...Isn’t this just saying you’ll employ us?"
On the other hand, it was also a promise of decent employment.
A bewildered Kuilan questioned Ash.
"You mean this sincerely?"
Considering that they had been facing execution, it was an offer that was frankly surprising and too good to be true.
So, it was all the more unbelievable and suspicious.
"We are bandits, and they are also refugees driven from your country. Plus, haven’t we’ve done harm to you? You’ll take people like us under your command? Why?"
"Well, there are several reasons, but I’ll tell you just two."
Ash grinned and counted on his fingers.
"First, Crossroad needs people. It needs as many soldiers and laborers as possible, even if it’s just one more person."
Crossroad had always suffered from chronic labor shortages.
In this situation, an SR-grade character like Kuilan, his party, and the battle-hardened bandits were talents that Ash did not want to miss.
’If I can just secure them firmly, they’ll be worth using.’
And fortunately, Kuilan had a sick brother.
By placing him in the temple for treatment, Kuilan would have no choice but to move according to Ash’s orders.
"Second, your crimes are not that grave."
Kuilan was a notorious bandit known for attacking only the citizens of the empire. However, he was a bandit who kept to a set line.
He robbed wealth but did not casually take lives, and if he received ransom, he cleanly released the hostages.
He had long made his reputation known in the southern continent, but there was a reason the imperial army did not take the trouble to capture him. He hadn’t greatly aroused their hatred.
’Whether it’s because of a belief or simply to avoid pursuit, they’ve set principles and moved accordingly. Such fellows can surely be reformed.’
And third.
Though he did not need to tell them and kept it to himself.
’Crossroad has embarked on an independent path from the Imperial Family.’
What does an independent path mean?
It means that in exchange for not receiving any support from the Imperial Family, he could run the front line here without regard to the Imperial Family’s opinions.
In other words, there was no need to adhere to the principles that the existing empire had maintained.
’Those who had been considered enemies by the empire. Those who were despised and scorned. Those who had been driven out of the territory... All can be accepted.’
It was not just refugees, but also the knight orders of nations destroyed by the empire. Mercenaries... Even different races. All kinds of wanderers were now to be embraced.
Those who were accepted this time were just the beginning. Ash was thinking of gathering the exiles from various parts of the continent to this front line.
’And Kuilan. I know the origin of you and your brother.’
Ash glanced at the red hair of the Kuilan and Kureha brothers.
Red hair was not uncommon in this world. Lilly had red hair as well. But the purity of the red was different.
Lilly and other redheads had a color closer to brown with a red tinge.
But these two brothers had pure red hair, like flames.
’It must be tiresome for our mixed-race friends in this world. Their lineage is revealed through their hair color...’
The four great mixed-races of the continent were elves, dwarves, mermaids, and werebeasts.
Kuilan had inherited the blood of the werebeasts.
Ash suddenly thought of the green-haired elf members of the Shadow Squad and Serenade, who had blue hair from inheriting mermaid blood.
All had vivid colors that caught the eye.
’Anyway, having Kuilan on board will help when gathering the remnants of different races later on.’
That’s why Ash wanted to recruit Kuilan all the more.
"You said you were lucky, Kuilan. Indeed, you are," Ash said, smiling slyly and pointing to himself. "Because you met me."
"...”
Kuilan stared at him with fierce, deep eyes like a tiger.
"For the next three years, come under my command. I’ll provide you with everything you need."
"...”
"You said you needed a lot of money? Rather than living on an irregular income by gambling and banditry, saving the regular wages I give you will accumulate much more, won’t it?"
Ash gestured to Aider, who handed him a draft contract prepared in advance.
Upon seeing the amount written, Kuilan’s shoulders twitched. Ash laughed ominously.
"This is the base salary, and there will be incentives depending on how hard you work."
"...”
"Of course, you’ll have to complete a six-month probationary period diligently."
"...”
"So, what will it be?"
Suddenly, Ash recalled the time when he had recruited Jupiter.
Whether then or now, whether on Earth or here, there was always only one way to secure a character in a draw.
Spending until you get it!
"...”
Finally, Kuilan’s head nodded heavily. With a beaming smile, Ash also nodded in return.
Indeed, the capitalist mentality always succeeded.
--TL Notes--
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