Shadow King Chronicles: Building a Kingdom From Behind the Scenes
Chapter 9: The Bandits and Subjugation preparation part 1
* third point of view
three days after the holidays of three brothers, Arthur gathers his family in his study.not only his family anyway, employees who have been helping Arthur work are also present. this is not the first time Marquisdom Randall has fought bandits.
however, the Randall region is a region that is often used as a transit point by many people who will travel to the imperial area.therefore the level of mobility in the Randall region is very high. they entered the territory of Romeon by paying a levy. After in the city they rented lodging, paid for meals, and replenished stock before continuing the journey.
with such a high level of mobility, it is natural that many people try to take advantage in a dirty way.one of them is bandits.they target caravans of merchants and even nobles. so far they have been eradicated but for some reason in their era, they are very difficult to overcome.
" today there are at least two reports that we get from the testimony of the merchants whose merchandise was plundered by the bandits." Arthur put some paper on his desk.
the paper contained reports of the activities of the bandits who were constantly monitored by the scouts sent down to monitor the movements of the bandits.
in the end the contents of the paper were just reports that the surveillance team could not detect the movement of the band of robbers at all.
while in another paper containing the testimony of traders who survived after escaping from the bandit attack, the testimony contained more or less about what the bandit group looked like and how they acted. including the point where the bandits attacked.
supposedly this witness report could have been very helpful.but somehow every time the Marquis' army moved, the robbers were not found.
their number is uncertain because every operation they always use black masks and robes, but there is no way they can move very quickly while carrying a lot of booty. most likely the bandits had artifacts that served as a place to store their spoils.
but if they had, who would actually give that thing to them? Storage artifacts were rare artifacts that were even treated as national treasures in the Heinz kingdom.
this is only Arthur's hypothesis, but he is convinced that one of the nobles who has been an opponent for Marquisdom Randall, Duke Conrad. Arthur suspects Duke Conrad's interference this time.
but even he did not have enough evidence to complete his analysis piece. He was also sure that someone had deliberately leaked the movements of the soldiers to the bandits, but no matter who did it he had no idea.
after his family got together, Arthur finally started his meeting. Arthur sits at the very end, while to his right are his wife and two sons, Albert Randall the second son and Geitz Randall, Arthur's first child.
to his left are some employees who have been helping Arthur in organizing and cultivating Randall's territory, while next to them is Misha, Sasha, and of course their favorite sister, Issac.
"as you know, lately bandit activity has become more massive." Arthur begins the meeting while opening a map depicting his territory.
" according to reports from traders, they are in action in these areas." Arthur marked some locations with his pen.
"but when the soldiers were sent to the location, the bandits had already run away and what was much more troublesome was that they depleted the merchandise as well as the food supply brought by the merchants and couriers.
they left no evidence of anything other than the cart that had been burned and the horse that died because they killed.Their operation was completely tidy for the robbers' class.".
all the audience listened with the focus of Arthur's speech. There was only one person who put his head on the table lazily.who else if not the slacker Issac.well, well, Issac is considered lazy when talking about meetings like this.
Albert who saw the behavior of Issac shook his head.God this child.of course in his heart he complained. Although his gaze towards Issac was quite cold, he was actually caring and affectionate with Issac. it's just that how to love him is different from his sisters.
" Issac, your actions are disturbing us. If you do not intend to attend the meeting, you can go out and play around the mansion.If you want to go to the city you can bring guards."
" No nii-san.I'm sorry because yesterday I slept too late and now I'm sleepy.". again Albert shook his head while exhaling. how does a little boy sleep too late.
" next time don't sleep too late.I'll ask the waiter to make a refreshment.I'm sorry father for his intrusion.please continue his meeting."
Arthur finally continued, "the scouts we sent to watch over the bandits also returned empty-handed.
we also sent a patrol team to ensure the safety of the line to the Randall area, but it even seemed like the movements of the robbers were so deft that even the patrol team could not get to the scene in time.
in the end, the opinions of the merchant caravans and nobles against the Randall Region became rather ugly.well thanks to the construction of various entertainment facilities in the region their opinions and views were not too bad. but if this continues to be allowed a crisis of confidence will ensue and it will be a nightmare when the palace troops finally intervene." Arthur ended his explanation.
" Dad! Why don't we deploy a large army to go deep into the forest?! wasn't that much more effective than sending a small portion of soldiers to patrol and scout?! if the commanders are afraid, let me lead this army straight away!!"
Geitz, Arthur's first child with immediate emotion, is now studying at the Academy with Albert. he returns to Randall's territory after being given special permission from the academy to help solve problems in his territory.
to be honest, in Issac's view, Geitz was just a son of a lousy nobleman who often used his father's name to do silly and stupid acts. actually, whether it was Geitz or Albert educated well as long as they are in the Randall area, including not to be arbitrary to anyone.
but since Geitz lived in the capital, his behavior began to change. Instead of focusing on his studies, he chose to spend his time doing useless things. even often on behalf of his father to do inappropriate things, there was a possibility that this was the result of his association between him and the nobles in the capital.
" fool brother, I've guessed that the contents of your head are not as big as your thumb, there is no guarantee that the headquarters of the bandits are in the forest. instead of dealing with existing bandits you will be dealing with troublesome high-level monsters.".
hearing the reproach from his sister, Geitz clearly went up in black.he almost threw a punch at Albert if not stopped by Arthur.
Arthur sighed, "Albert, do you have a better suggestion?" Albert thought for a moment, then shook his head.
" i think there's a. We should still have a chance to hunt down the bandits. It seems that the bandits' activities, although seemingly random, they seem to have a pattern in carrying out their activities." Albert began to explain his idea.
he suggested to put some small troops in the location that was once the action of the bandits.This location is based on reports of bandit victims. Albert also suggested putting a team in a potential location where the robbers were doing their thing.
Geitz, whose advice was not approved, vehemently left the meeting site while others listened to Albert's explanations and ideas.
Issac certainly listened, but in his heart he grinned coldly.
****
that night, a young man walked through the deserted city of Romeon.Cold wind blew piercing his skin but he felt nothing. suddenly an arrow shot before him and fell right in front of his feet.
on the arrow, there is a piece of paper that is rolled up. in the paper there is a writing.
" Prepare is complete. Operation Hell Penalty Ready to be carried out." Look at the contents of the letter, the young man grinned. Tonight, something bloody will begin.