The hunters lacked the courage to fight the lord to the death. Altogether, they had barely more than a dozen fighters.
Sigg Town had far more guards than that.
The hunters had hoped to use force to intimidate the lord, make their stance clear, and force him to back down.
As long as the lord did not dare enter the mountains, they could continue living as they always had.
But Romain's attitude was firm.
The hunters had no choice but to submit.
He did not even need to send troops to suppress them. He only needed to blockade the mountains and cut off all barter between Sigg Town and the hunters, and their quality of life would plummet.
In this era, hunting alone could hardly satisfy all of one's needs.
The mountain stronghold the hunters had established relied on many sources of income: gathering berries and mushrooms, farming, hunting, and more.
They regularly brought furs, mountain goods, game, and other goods to Sigg Town, or sought out merchants, trading them for grain, cloth, and iron tools to carry back into the mountains.
Mol, the Agricultural Officer, had no way to tax them.
Living off the mountain's resources, the hunters enjoyed a far better quality of life than Sigg Town's farmers—the mountain land could not grow much grain, but Mol did not take half their harvest either, so they generally had enough food and clothing. That kind of life could practically be called prosperous.
The resources the hunters consumed were only a tiny portion of Mol's concerns, so there was no need for him to risk a bloody clash with them.
Otherwise, no matter who won, both sides would lose.
Now, a lord and two well-trained War Knights had completely changed the situation.
Romain demanded that all hunters evacuate the mountain stronghold within a month and move to Sigg Town.
The demand put the hunters in a difficult position.
Romain did not care how they felt. The mountain's resources could only support the few dozen people in the stronghold, but once they moved out, the wealth they created would increase dozens of times over.
He needed a large population next, and he was even preparing to buy slaves.
Afterward, Romain asked Dota about the bandits in the mountains. Unlike Mol, Dota had grown up in the mountains and knew those people better.
Hunters were hunters, while the dangerous outlaws mostly had their own separate dwellings.
But after living there for so long, they naturally had dealings with one another and knew some basic information about each other.
Because news was blocked, the journey was long, and Mol had never reported them, their true identities had not spread beyond the area.
And Sigg Town's residents rarely encountered those dangerous people.
Dota did not hide anything. He said directly, "Dirty Doctor is called Garin. Both us hunters and the people of Sigg Town respect him. He is knowledgeable and can cure illnesses, but no one knows where he came from."
"Jet, the battlefield deserter. He had nowhere to go after abandoning the battlefield without permission, so he came here."
"Dick, the Traitor Knight. They say he killed the noble he served and was wanted by the nobles. Somehow, he wandered here."
"Bandit Borg. You should have heard of him... He also killed a noble and stole all that noble's wealth, distributing it among the commoners. But after he left, another noble sent every one of those commoners to the gallows. You had better not approach Bandit Borg. He is dangerous..."
Just then, a beast's roar sounded faintly from deep within the mountain range, interrupting Dota.
"A magical beast..." Dota's expression turned grave as he looked toward the depths of the mountains.
Powerful beasts were magical beasts. Possessing terrifying destructive power, they were practically incarnations of nature within forests and mountains.
Once hunters encountered a magical beast, even a large group would suffer heavy casualties.
But magical beasts could bleed and be seriously wounded as well. It was a conflict both sides tried desperately to avoid.
These powerful beasts rarely attacked human settlements.
Of course, some omnivores would still destroy crops in the fields.
Humans had claimed part of nature, but they had not driven magical beasts into a corner. The beasts still had vast territory to survive in this wilderness, and this was merely the outer edge of the mountains, where magical beasts all had fixed territories.
Hearing the roar, Dota felt uneasy. Romain frowned as well, then continued asking, "What about the last one? There should be more than just these people, right?"
Dota hesitated when he heard Romain's question.
He did not want to talk about it, but Romain stared directly at him.
He was an archer. His gaze was intensely focused, carrying a sense of pressure that made Dota nervous.
"The last one is... Misfortune Witch Gevra..."
At an unknown time.
Bandit Borg found Dick, the Traitor Knight.
The difficulty of living alone in the mountains was beyond ordinary people's imagination. Even extraordinary individuals could not obtain a sufficiently stable source of food.
Even so, they had remained hidden in these mountain forests far from the world, living in seclusion and refusing to leave.
Dick had once been a powerful War Knight, possessing a fief granted by a noble, until he killed his own liege.
From that moment on, there was no longer a place for Dick in this land.
Borg came to Dick's wooden cabin and said, "An Evil Dragon has entered the mountains."
Dick merely glanced at him.
Borg muttered to himself, "That Evil Dragon should not have come here! Why does he have to disturb the peace here?!"
Dick remained silent.
Borg's voice grew increasingly vicious. "He will not allow us to remain here. The Evil Dragon will send his lackeys to capture us. Those weak hunters will not resist; they will only feed the Evil Dragon's arrogance. When that happens, you, me, Jet, and Dirty Doctor will no longer be able to stay here. And that unlucky little Witch will be sold to the Church. Dick, can you bear to watch that little Witch get burned alive?"
Dick finally spoke. "What did you come to me for?"
Borg's expression twisted hideously. "Make him die an unnatural death, before he destroys the peace here!"
Dick sighed. "Your madness has worsened day by day in these deep mountains. Your delusions will bring about your own destruction."
Borg continued as if he had not heard him. "Dick, let us do this together! Only then can we protect this last pure land. The noble will see everything here as his treasure, but those treasures do not belong to him. He is merely a plunderer, a bandit. He does not deserve any of it!"
Dick shook his head. "I will not help you."
As though he had heard nothing, Borg babbled madly, "Together! Kill the Evil Dragon! I want to make him bleed and see whether that blood is truly red! Then I will distribute the Evil Dragon's treasure to everyone!"
Dick sighed again. "Why did you not seek out Jet? Why come to me?"
Borg stared fixedly at Dick. But Dick was not afraid of the mad bandit.
Dick heard Borg say, "That deserter is a coward. He will not support me!"
But Dick said, "No. Jet is very brave. He came to the mountains precisely because he knew what he was doing... Borg, leave. I will not join forces with you either."
Borg suddenly flew into a rage. "Both our hands are stained with the Evil Dragon's blood! I fight for everyone on this land, yet you stand by and do nothing!"
Dick sighed. "Who are you really fighting for? Are you going to kill Romain Armor-Splitting, or are you going to kill that shadow you have never been able to shake? You cannot break free from it. You often dream of those who died miserable deaths. You think you strangled your mother with your own hands... You cannot sleep peacefully. You often wake from nightmares in the middle of the night, and you have woken me many times."
Dick looked at his neighbor with eyes full of pity. "Bandit Borg, you went mad long ago."
Borg insisted, "I am not mad! I know what I am doing!"
Dick said, "Then what do you intend to do?"
Borg said coldly, "A magical beast riot! A noble's miserable death!"
Dick shook his head. "Do you think you can easily kill a descendant of the Armored Breaker family? Even if you can, Grand Duke Armor-Splitting's fury will flatten Sigg Town... Borg, you are repeating the same mistakes. You will get everyone killed. And where will you run to this time?"
Borg muttered feverishly, "No! No! I will not run again. I finally understand. I will kill Romain Armor-Splitting and that fat pig in Sigg Town. I will distribute the Evil Dragon's grain and Gold Coins to the poor who cannot afford food. I will give Sigg Town's land to them too. As long as they become masters of this land, they will follow me to kill other Evil Dragons! Kill every Evil Dragon on this land! As long as all those Evil Dragons are dead, completely dead, everything will get better..."
Dick still shook his head.
Borg's crazed expression suddenly calmed.
He looked at Dick, waiting for his final response.
Dick silently gripped the rust-speckled knight's longsword.
Borg turned and left.
Dick watched Borg's departing back in silence.
Dick knew that no one could persuade a bandit, especially when his heart was filled with mad thoughts.
He slowly took a blackened silver necklace from his clothes, gazed at it for a moment, then finally clasped it in his hand and let out a faint sigh.
Before you continue