After the battle

What followed was simple. With two of their leaders killed in battle, the bandits immediately broke. Even their remaining leader could not stop them from fleeing and eventually fled with them. But Allen was hardly going to let him escape. He and the villagers pressed their advantage and soon captured the bandits. Apart from a few who had run fast at the outset, virtually all of them were taken prisoner.

That included the burly bandit leader. After the battle, Allen had the villagers begin rescue efforts and clear the battlefield at once. After resting for a while himself, he brought the bandit leader in for questioning. "Tell me your name and where you're from."

The bandit leader looked nervous, his body trembling slightly as he answered, "My lord, my name is Fland. I'm from Lordaeron."

Allen had visibly relaxed after the battle and teased his captive. "Fland, one look tells me you're scum. Tell me, what would you like me to do with you?"

The bandit leader immediately burst into tears. "My lord, please, don't kill me! I'm not really a bandit at all. It was Vincent and the others. They forced me to do this. Yes, that's right, they're the bandits. I'm a victim too. Don't kill me!" Allen could not stand the sight of a burly bandit sobbing before him. It was unbearable to look at. He kicked him to the ground. "Get away from me, you filthy piece of trash. Forget it, I can't be bothered going in circles with you. Tell me where your main camp is and where you hid everything you stole."

When the bandit leader heard Allen ask about their hideout, his expression began to relax. "My lord, if you spare me..." Allen knew what he would say and interrupted before he could finish. "If you won't talk, forget it. With this many prisoners, I'm sure someone will know what's good for him."

The bandit leader cried out at once, "No, no, no! You can't kill me! No one but me knows where Vincent hid his treasure. As long as you spare me, I'll tell you. Vincent hid a lot of gold coins, more than a thousand that I know of alone. My lord, all I need is one small act of mercy from you, and then you can have untold wealth."

To be honest, Allen was already tempted, but he also knew there could not possibly be over a thousand gold coins. Otherwise, these bandits would not have been so poor that they had to rob villagers. But he needed money badly to get to Dalaran, and he did not want to pass up any chance to obtain it.

Allen pretended to think for a moment, then put on a greedy expression. "All right, I agree. Now tell me where the treasure is hidden."

The bandit leader rejoiced inwardly, secretly pleased with himself. It looks like he's just another greedy man. As long as that's the sort of man he is, I can find a way out. He began making plans, but before he could speak, the boy standing beside Allen-the same boy who had asked him for help earlier-grew anxious. "My lord, this piece of trash is lying to you! Don't believe him. We should execute him immediately..."

The boy was about to say more, but Allen interrupted impatiently. "He's my prisoner now. I believe I have the right to decide what to do with him, even if that means releasing him. Do you understand, boy?"

Hearing that Allen intended to release this scum, the boy flew into a rage. "My lord, this piece of trash killed so many of us, and you're actually going to let him go? How could you do that? You must kill him immediately!"

Angered that the boy would actually give him orders, Allen snapped, "Shut up! Are you questioning my authority? Is this how you treat the man who saved your lives? I believe I'll give him a fair punishment. Do you have a problem with my fair punishment?" With that, Allen immediately exerted pressure on the villagers with his mental power.

Seeing Allen behave so unreasonably, the boy grew so agitated that he was about to step forward and attack him. But the village chief behind him immediately caught hold of him and scolded him. "Enough, little Will! Lord Allen saved our lives. I trust him to handle this matter properly. Stand down!" He then had the villagers beside him drag Will away.

Allen said nothing at this and let events take their course. But at the sight, the captive bandit instantly felt there was hope of escaping. Still somewhat uneasy, he said to Allen, "My lord, before I tell you where the treasure is, I beg you to grant me one small request."

Allen looked at him in surprise. "You know you have no right to bargain with me." The captive bandit immediately knelt and pleaded, "My lord, I'm not questioning your noble character. It's just that, as you saw, the villagers here have a slight prejudice against me."

Allen said carelessly, "They won't dare touch you while I'm here. Don't worry. If need be, I'll send them all away when the time comes."

The captive bandit still hesitated, so Allen continued, "Rest assured, as long as you take me to the treasure, I guarantee it on my honor as a knight and the honor of my family. Surely that puts your mind at ease?"

Seeing Allen swear so solemnly, and knowing that nobles valued their family's honor above all else, the bandit finally relaxed and agreed to take Allen to the treasure the bandits had buried.

Allen immediately ordered someone to untie him. The villagers were deeply reluctant, but under the pressure of Allen's authority, they still released the captive bandit.

Meanwhile, after being taken to a room, Will immediately pushed aside the villagers blocking him and said to the village chief, "Grandpa Chief, how could you stop me? Don't forget that bandit is the one responsible for murdering our villagers!" The chief wanted to kill that wicked bandit as much as anyone, but Allen had saved their lives, and he was also a mage. During the chaotic battle, the chief had happened to be near Allen and had seen him cast spells, killing the two bandit leaders in just a few moves. There was no question that Allen was extremely powerful compared with them.

As the head of a village, he naturally could not act on impulse like a child. Most importantly, he did not want to bring disaster upon the village. After much persuasion, the chief finally made Will realize how serious the consequences of defying Allen would be. But Will still refused to accept it. His fiancée had been defiled by that scum, and he had to kill him, even if it meant antagonizing Allen. He was clever enough not to tell the chief or the others, however.

Back with Allen, he and the captive bandit had reached a secluded stretch of wilderness. "Is it here?" he asked the bandit uncertainly.

"Yes, my lord. It's buried underground," the captive replied respectfully. "All right, go and dig it up." Despite Allen's words, the captive bandit did not obey.

"My lord, I've fulfilled my promise and told you where the treasure is. I hope you'll keep your word and spare my life." The cunning bandit still did not trust Allen and planned to escape while Allen dug up the treasure. Allen looked at him for a while, then answered, "All right. But before that, there's something I want to tell you."

The bandit watched in confusion as Allen approached. Suddenly, Allen drew his staff, and a wind blade flew toward him. "I forgot to tell you. I'm no noble or knight, and I don't care about their damned honor. I'm just a farmer's son, no different from the farmers you killed." Allen's cold words filled the bandit with despair. He still tried to put up a final struggle, but the wound from Allen's wind blade soon killed him, leaving him to die unwillingly.

After seeing him die, Allen called toward the bushes behind him. "Come out. I knew you were following me all along, boy." Will was still staring blankly at Allen from the bushes, as though unable to believe it was real. He slowly emerged from behind a tree, still saying dazedly, "M-my lord, you killed him."

Allen found it a little amusing and answered jokingly, "I remember saying I'd give him a fair punishment. Well? Was that punishment fair enough?" Will suddenly came to his senses and said apologetically, "My lord, I'm sorry I was so rude to you earlier. I really..."

Allen cut off his clumsy apology. "Enough. I know what you were thinking. Now bring the villagers here, and let's see whether there really is any treasure hidden here." The boy immediately agreed and ran off to fetch the villagers. After learning the whole story, the villagers were deeply grateful to Allen and also agreed to help him.

With their help, Allen soon found the bandit's so-called treasure. It was only an earthenware jar containing some silver coins and copper knuts, with just a few gold coins. But Allen had already prepared himself for this. He knew the bandits must have been too poor to put food on the table to resort to robbing villagers.

"My lord, we only found one jar of money. There's nothing else." To Allen, who had recently made a fortune off the dead, this really was very little money. But to the villagers, it was no small sum. Some of those impoverished villagers at the very bottom of society had never seen so much money in their entire lives. Allen understood that feeling better than anyone. After all, he had been born a farmer too, and before making his fortune off the dead, he probably would have thought this was a considerable sum.

Allen had the villagers take the money from the jar to the river and wash it, then took all the gold coins and most of the silver for himself. He distributed the remaining copper knuts and silver coins among the villagers. These villagers had spent their entire lives in the village without ever leaving, so they were still fairly simple and honest. At first, they were unwilling to accept Allen's gift, but after he explained the state their village was in following the bandits' destruction, they finally accepted it.