After Patrick left. Marianne was left alone in the room, and her personal maid cautiously approached her.
"Um, my lady...."
"Emily, did you hear?"
"Yes. I heard. It couldn't be helped...."
"He said he loves me."
"..."
She wanted to ask, 'When did he say that?', but seeing Marianne cupping her reddened cheeks with both hands and speaking shyly, she couldn't bring herself to open her mouth. And Marianne said.
"He said he couldn't stay here because he was afraid my father would misunderstand. That means he doesn't dislike me, right?"
"Yes. That's true."
"And not disliking me means he loves me, right?"
"That's a bit extreme."
"No. He was just shy and couldn't express himself actively. It's practically the same as him saying it."
"..."
'Sigh....
Here we go again.' The Marianne that Emily knew had a somewhat arrogant tendency, but she was always a wise, sharp, and capable young lady. However, once she got fixated on something, she wouldn't listen to what anyone around her said.
To put it nicely, she had great drive. To put it badly, she was thoroughly single-minded. When she decided to enroll in the academy, she fought with the Count, who was against her leaving home, for three days and nights, and in the end, she succeeded in taking the entrance exam.
It seemed that this time, she had set her sights on a man named Patrick Schneider. She twirled her hair with her finger and said.
"He loves me, but he has to back away because he's worried about my father. That means he cherishes and loves me that much, right?"
"Yes. Well...."
"Your answer isn't very enthusiastic."
"There isn't a man in this eastern territory who dislikes you, my lady."
"See? Right?"
"Yes. Well.... Generally speaking."
'Though there can be exceptions sometimes,' she didn't bother to add. As the personal maid who had served her and grown up with her since she was learning to walk, she knew. Once Marianne was convinced of her own opinion, persuasion was impossible.
"Hahaha, right. So that's how it is."
"..."
"..."
"He's backing away because he's scared of my dad. Hmph, that's kind of cute."
"..."
"..."
"If he likes me that much, what can I do? He says he can't live without me, I can't just tell him to die, can I?"
"..."
"..."
"Come to think of it, rather than meeting an accomplished man from the start, it seems more my style to catch a man with potential beforehand and raise him to my taste. Don't you think? Emily."
"Do as you wish, my lady."
You won't listen even if I try to stop you, right?
"Thank you for your support."
"..."
"Hahaha. Then, how should I dote on him?"
Watching her speak with a full smile on her face, Emily thought to herself. 'Poor Young Lord Schneider.'
Mount Phils.
This mountain, located in the center of the eastern territory, was high and had rugged terrain, so it was a place where people rarely ventured to live. As a result, those who had committed crimes in their fiefs or were driven out for not paying taxes began to enter one by one, settling down and living as slash-and-burn farmers.
Up to this point, it was a minor issue. But as the population in such a place gradually increased, the slash-and-burn farmers inevitably began to turn into bandits.
It was unknown how large their scale was, but recently, their range of activity had extended beyond Mount Phils, attacking merchants traveling the nearby roads and even raiding the residents of perfectly fine fiefs.
To subjugate these bandits, Count Parmas gathered a subjugation force, and its number exceeded a whopping 5,000. This was an excessive number to subjugate a single bandit group. Was that why?
"Don't fall behind! The vanguard is the share of our House Freis!"
"We must be the first to ascend. The entire army, advance at a quick pace!"
"The vanguard belongs to our House Haspir!"
The three families leading the charge up Mount Phils were climbing the mountain competitively. Baron Schneider sighed as he watched them competitively push forward, not even minding that their formations were becoming somewhat disorganized.
"I don't think competition is what's important."
And he spoke to his son next to him.
"What do you think?"
"About what?"
"Those three families taking the lead."
"It's a complete mess, isn't it?"
"... They have bravely volunteered for the vanguard. Should you be insulting them?"
"Yes. A brave, complete mess."
"..."
From Patrick's perspective, this didn't even count as an insult. Right now, the Schneider family was in the rear unit, positioned slightly behind the vanguard. Behind them, Count Parmas was situated in the center, with the other lords supporting him from behind.
And Patrick had been wearing a displeased expression for a while now.
"Is this how you subjugate bandits? This is why amateurs are...."
"Isn't this your first time subjugating bandits too?"
"..."
"Why would it be my first time? I...."
"You?"
"It is my first time. But I've done it a lot."
"What kind of nonsense is that?"
"Ugh, this is so frustrating."
He couldn't tell the truth, and even if he did, no one would believe him. Patrick could only suffer in silence. In his past life, Radiant Dragon Grandmaster Jin Cheon was truly an expert in bandit subjugation.
「Is the security of your village unstable because of bandits? Is trade difficult because of bandits? Rest assured now. The Twin Dragon Sect's Radiant Dragon Grandmaster Jin Cheon will solve it for you with a single stroke of his sword at an affordable price. - P. S. The request fee will be determined after consultation, and the price may be subject to change.」
It wasn't a joke. He really made flyers with that exact content and distributed them all over the martial world. Other sects ridiculed him for making money off of righteous deeds, but what could he do?
He had to do something to make a living. In any case, the number of mountain strongholds that had disappeared under the blade of Radiant Dragon Grandmaster Jin Cheon exceeded one hundred. That was how experienced Patrick was in bandit subjugation.
And in Patrick's expert opinion, what they were doing right now was the work of complete amateurs among amateurs.
"Incompetent, so incompetent."
Seeing his son constantly grumbling, Baron Schneider spoke.
"What exactly is the problem?"
"Father, let's try to switch perspectives. Let's imagine you're a bandit who has settled on this mountain."
"Why am I a bandit?"
"Just try to think about it. Don't they say you have to know your enemy and know yourself to win?"
"Who said that?"
"... I'm going to lose my mind. Seriously."
Patrick felt like just giving up on everything, but he continued speaking with patience.
"If you were a bandit and a large army of over 5,000 was coming for you, what would you do?"
"Well... I'd probably run away?"
For bandits, an army of 5,000 was too overwhelming a force to handle. A noble who knew honor might choose death over retreat and fight to the last, but there was no way bandits would have such honor.
"Yes. That's right. They might not run away immediately, but they definitely wouldn't face us head-on."
"Hmm, I see."
"In that case, what should we do to prevent the bandits from escaping?"
"..."
Watching Baron Schneider think deeply, Patrick waited patiently. Right, finding the answer slowly isn't the problem. If only he could think for himself and find the right answer......
"I'm not quite sure."
"..."
Oh, Father.
My innocent Father. 'If he weren't my father, I'd just knock him out,' Patrick thought. Anyway, this pushover was a good person, but his abilities were just so incompetent...
"Hmph, it's alright not to know. Then what would you do?"
"I'd set the mountain on fire."
"What?"
"After stationing troops at the main paths, I'd just set fire to the mountain. Then the bandits will pop out on their own, so I'd catch and kill them one by one..."
"Wait, wait...."
Baron Schneider pressed his brow firmly and then spoke.
"If you do that, wouldn't the whole mountain burn down?"
"You have to do it skillfully."
"How do you set a mountain fire skillfully? What if it turns into a huge wildfire?"
"People come first."
"..."
In this world, there are people who don't care about the means to achieve their ends. Baron Schneider knew that much. 'But I didn't know my son would be one of them.'
Receiving his father's 'Are you even human?' gaze, Patrick said bluntly.
"What's important in war is finding and using a move that the opponent doesn't expect. Or a move they might expect, but hope to God you don't use."
"Hmm...."
Hearing it like that, it seemed to make sense. And Patrick's words continued.
"But right now, our army isn't thinking about the bandits' position at all and is just doing whatever we want."
"You mean we have to think from the enemy's perspective?"
"Exactly. Now we're getting somewhere."
"Honestly, I don't think high-level strategy is necessary for something like bandit subjugation."
"Oh, Father... my dear Father who knows nothing of the world."
What?
What's with my kid? Why are you beating your chest and lamenting so frustratingly? Patrick let out a deep sigh and said.
"Father, those bandits have brains too, and they do what they consider thinking."
"Well, that's true."
"But right now, our army is treating the bandits as if they're just ignorant, stupid scarecrows and fighting without any thought."
"..."
"We might be able to win this way. It's possible, but if we win like this, it won't be because we did well, but because the enemy was pathetic."
"Hmm, you're right about that."
"Of course I'm right. I'm always right."
"That's not true."
"Ahem, and besides, they say there's even a black mage behind these bandits, don't they? Do they know what those bastards might do, to be so reckless..."
Just as Patrick clicked his tongue...
"Arrrgh!"
"It's a trap!"
As if on cue, screams from the front, along with the cries of soldiers, were heard.
"I knew it."
Patrick placed a hand on his forehead and let out a sigh. Just as Patrick had said, the bandits were neither foolish nor thoughtless. Every human desperately uses their head to survive, so why would the bandits, with a subjugation force right before them, stupidly wait inside their base?
The closer they got to the bandits' base, the more traps prepared by them were waiting.
"Cowardly fiends! Did they think they could stop us with such despicable traps?"
Actually, they were a bit stuck right now. It was a classic trap of digging a hole in the ground and placing sharpened wooden stakes at the bottom, but nearly ten soldiers had been sacrificed to that trap. They couldn't just charge in recklessly...
"Traps are nothing! All troops, advance!"
Ah, just think a little...
"The bandits' base is right there. All troops, advance."
"Show them that they cannot stop us with traps like these. Knight order, take the lead and clear the path!"
"Yes, my lord."
The three families in the vanguard, despite suffering losses from the traps, considered it a minor setback and continued to maintain their pace of advance. As a result...
"Arrrgh!"
"Dodge!"
"Rocks are falling."
The traps set by the bandits were crude, but there were many of them. Rocks fell, snares were waiting, and logs flew in from the side. But the three families, competing as if they were blind to everything but being first, did not slow down their advance and continued to increase their speed.
Soldiers were getting caught in traps, but as if some losses were unavoidable, they only shouted "Advance, advance!" at the top of their lungs.
"These hopeless bastards...."
Patrick was displeased. He had a bad feeling. Watching from behind, he had a very strong feeling that this would end badly.
'They're doomed.
If I leave these bastards alone, they're doomed.' This was a problem. If he just stood back and watched the guys who were clearly headed for disaster, it would be hard to just maintain his position appropriately.
If it becomes hard to do things appropriately, he would have to work hard. Working hard meant a world of pain. A world of pain would mess up his life and hurt his heart.
If his heart hurt, he would have to take it out on those around him. And if Patrick started taking out his frustrations on those around him, that frustration would lead to more frustration, and eventually, violence would run rampant in the world, and in the end....
"The world will be destroyed."
"... What will?"
"To prevent the destruction of the world, I think I have to do something about this moment, right now."
"What are you talking about?"
"I'll be back after a quick trip to the front."
Watching Patrick urge his horse forward, Baron Schneider thought. His son was becoming harder and harder to understand by the day.
"Is it puberty?"
It would be a relief if that was all it was.