Now that the thieves were apprehended, the night had turned calm once again. Fudge tied up the unconscious robbers using their own rope and gathered them up in one bunch.
Michael was about to speak, when all of a sudden, he felt another presence coming from the wilderness.
"Someone is coming," he said.
This person's pace was steadfast and strong, the complete opposite of the thieves who sneaked around with malicious intent.
And even if the moon only gleamed a sliver of its light down on the ground, Michael could still see its brightness reflected upon the steel armor worn by this person.
It only took a few seconds before a man wearing full metal armor entered their camp.
The chocolate merchants looked at this stranger with surprise and a little bit of excitement in their eyes. They recognized him from the insignia born on his chestplate.
"Forgive me for intruding. I am Sir Jon, a Knight from the Order of the Heavenly Knights." Experience more tales on My Virtual Library Empire
Sir Jon approached the chocolate merchants, for he judged that they were the ones in charge of the camp. He took one look at their carriage and rightly judged that they were peddlers.
"I came here to warn you that thieves had plagued this wilderness as of late. But worry not, I am in pursuit of them. They are not far from being apprehended," he assured the merchants.
But instead of seeing relief on their faces, the Knight saw the merchants look back towards an unassuming golden-haired kid on the back.
"A child?" Sir Jon uttered. "Be careful out here, young man…"
Just then, he caught sight of the thieves he had been pursuing. He would not mistake those faces.
His eyes showed surprise as he saw the rope tied around the thieves, like they were cattle caught in a ranch.
"Who apprehended these thieves?" Sir Jon asked, confusion and a little bit of admiration showing in his tone.
"We did," Michael said.
"You?"
"Yes…well, my friend over here did," Michael said as he pointed to the violet slime perched on top of his head.
"A tamed monster?" Sir Jon said with recognition and amazement.
He looked around the camp and saw signs of fighting, with burned patches of grass and overturned soil all around. And seeing the campfire already snuffed out, he correctly assumed that the thieves struck in the deep night and caught everyone by surprise.
"I have never seen such a talented tamer that could defeat thieves of this caliber. Five against one. This slime of yours is impressive, and you even more for nurturing the slime to this degree while being so young…"
Michael didn't correct the Knight, who just kept on praising him for his 'taming' ability.
And while Sir Jon talked with the chocolate merchants, Fudge tapped on Michael's head.
"Master, who is he?" asked Fudge.
"Just a passing Knight. No need to worry about him," assured Michael.
"But what about the thieves? What should we do with them, master?"
Michael looked at the pitiful thieves and only had one solution for them. "Take them to our prison. Maybe they'll change once they experience being locked up," he said to Fudge.
Ever since the Nation of Reborn welcomed visitors from all over the Kings region, there was an immediate need for a security system. There were quite a few troublemakers who didn't follow the rules of the nation, varying from minor offenses to serious ones.
Either way, they were all sent to the Nation's very first prison, meant to jail those troublemakers until they could repent their crimes. Of course, Michael had to follow the rules of his previous world, having a justice system that based one's time in prison depending on the severity of their crime.
Of course, they could always make their case and plead their innocence, which was made possible through the talented lawyers in their nation.
These thieves would probably have to serve a lot of years for their crime of trying to harm a Reborn citizen.
"As you wish, Master. I'll send them off to prison."
Fudge had a skill called [Shadow Transference] created by Michael which could substitute one of his clones for something else, just like how Michael could take the place of a clone.
Shadow flames grew from the ground and soon engulfed each thief from their foot to their head. By having Fudge's clone inhabit the entire body of the thieves, he would then be able to replace them with the clones he had back in the Nation of Reborn.
But just as Fudge was about to activate the skill, the Knight noticed what was happening.
"What are you doing with them?" he asked hurriedly.
"We're taking them to our place," Fudge explained.
The Knight looked a little bit flustered as he realized the slime could talk. "...you…you can't do that. They should remain in the custody of our Court."
Sir Jon raised his axe and tried to cut through the very shadow flames that engulfed the captured thieves.
But just before his axe cleaved through the Fudge's shadow clones, he suddenly changed the direction of his swing to his back.
A resounding TRING echoed as his blade met with the Orcupine Orc's quills.
Surprised at seeing the appearance of ten Orcs behind him without any warning, Sir Jon exerted his real power to try and overpower his axe away from them.
The Orcs were pushed back for a few meters.
Seeing no other choice, the Orcs took out a single bar of chocolate from their pockets and unwrapped it right in front of the Knight.
A sense of unease showed on the Knight's face for a second. His instincts were telling him that they were about to get stronger, like a cat showing its claws.
But just as the Orcs were about to consume the chocolate in one go, the veteran peddler suddenly jumped in the middle of the two.
"Stop! Wait, Sir Jon! We are citizens of the Nation of Reborn! And since the thieves attacked us, then we have the authority to take them prisoners!"
The Knight, realizing his mistake, quickly lowered his axe and returned it to his back.
"I apologize," he said to them. "I didn't know."