◈ 194. [Side Story]
Prison of the punishment unit Crossroads.
blah blah!
Quylan blew magic into his fists and tore off the metal handcuffs that bound his wrists.
“Ughhh, stupid imperial bastards.”
Then, after tearing off the handcuffs that restrained both feet, Quylan released his free body with a bang.
“I am Quylan-sama who catches bears with her bare body. Did you think you could tie it up like this?”
Quylan looked around the inside of the prison. I could see colleagues and refugees resting on the inside of the iron bars as if they were collapsing.
‘How long will it take to get everyone to escape?’
This place was brought to the fortress city of Crossroads. It is a front that fights monsters in all four seasons. The level of the soldiers must also be considerable.
‘… I’m going to have a hard time. shit. It was a mistake to touch the prince.’
I made the judgment that everything would be wrong to earn a few pennies.
But a misjudgment is a misjudgment, and now you have to think about how to escape. If you stay calm, everyone’s neck will fly off.
Quilan loosened his fists and thought,
“Cough Coke! Ku Kuylan.”
Someone called his name with a dry cough. Quylan looked in the direction where the voice came from.
It was a young man with a red braid identical to Kuylan’s, wrapped around his neck.
A skinny body, a face with clear traces of the disease, and one particularly skinny leg.
Quylan grinned at him.
“Kureha.”
He was Quylan’s older brother, Kure.
“Collock Coke!”
Kureha, who coughed violently, smiled faintly.
“Quylan. You loosened the handcuffs.”
“Now I will release you too. I’m going to release my men and let’s all escape together.”
“Don’t do that, Quylan.”
Kureha shook her head slowly.
“You run alone.”
“what?”
“Even if it’s you, it’s impossible to leave with everyone trapped here.”
Kureha nodded outside.
“Go alone.”
“… .”
“You’ve worked hard taking care of the sick me and these idiots. I live for you now, Kuylan. Stop doing bandits… … .”
Blasphemy!
Instead of answering, Quylan bent the iron bars of the cell where Kureha was confined and opened them. Embarrassed, Kureha shouted.
“Quilan!”
“Don’t talk nonsense bro.”
Cuilan opened the iron bar completely and sat down in front of his brother with a grin.
“Your brother raised me and protected me all my life, but I just want to give up and run away?”
“… .”
“We can all escape together. More than anything, who am I? The Kuylan of Kangun is the Kuylan of Miracles.”
Quylan smiled confidently and pointed at himself.
“Anytime, in any situation, like a miracle, I managed to find a way out. It’s the same this time. Trust me and rest a little more. brother.”
“… .”
Kureha just looked up at her little sister with wide eyes.
It was then.
match. match. match.
“A very touching story~!”
From the entrance of the prison, applause and sarcastic voices were heard. Surprised, Quylan and Kureha looked that way.
“Didn’t you know that the bandit king, famous for being vicious, had such a brotherly love?”
Prince Ash and his knight Lucas were entering the prison.
“But you’d better not even dream of escaping, bandit friends. If there’s a rampage in my city, then it’s really… … You will be treated less beautiful.”
Smiling wickedly, Prince Ash traced the lower part of his neck with his hand.
“Chit… !”
Quylan clicked his tongue and raised his fist forward.
Everyone would be executed anyway, so he was trying to create a variable by rushing at the prince himself after he had freed himself from the restraints.
Sreung!
However, it was much faster for Lucas, who had approached at once, to aim his longsword at Quylan’s neck.
Moreover, Lucas subtly slipped the direction of his life behind Quilan – toward Kureha. The intention was clear.
– If you do nonsense, I will kill your brother.
“Kuk!”
Cuilan had no choice but to stop, grinding his teeth.
Ash looked around the prison and laughed cruelly.
“Everyone must be wondering why I suddenly came here in the middle of the night. yes?”
Horror flashed in the eyes of the bandits and refugees. The cruel smile on Ash’s lips grew thicker.
“Is there any other reason? For the punishment has been appointed for you.”
punishment.
Perhaps it was because the words came out of the prince’s mouth, and the echo was louder. The prisoners’ faces went white.
“You bandits have been raiding the people of the empire and causing huge property damage, and you refugees have tolerated it. Besides, he dared to kidnap me, a member of the imperial family.”
Ash’s black eyes widened.
“Should I pay for my sins?”
rumble!
After Ash said that, Ader and the soldiers entered one after another.
‘Are you sure you want to be executed right now… … !’
The moment when Quylan, convinced, clenched his teeth.
Soldiers began going around the cells of the prison and putting food in them.
“… ?”
The bandits and refugees looked puzzled after accepting the unexpected meal.
I was starving for a full day and I was hungry, but I couldn’t understand why they were giving me meals at this timing. Is it to have a last supper before the death penalty?
“Listen while eating. The punishment I will bring upon you is… … It is ‘forced conscription’.”
Ash started making strange noises, still laughing wickedly.
“Bandits. You are forcibly conscripted here as a ‘punishment unit’ on the monster front.”
penal unit.
It refers to a military unit where prisoners serve to atone for their sins.
Ash chuckled wickedly.
“The service period is three years from now! And the first half year is a probationary period. During this probationary period, only 70% of the wages of existing soldiers are paid.”
“… ?”
“No veto! Wages will be paid on time on a weekly basis, lodging will be provided, meals will be provided separately, but anyway, you are forced to fight monsters on this front!”
The bandits’ expressions became bewildered. It was a face that said he couldn’t understand what the punishment was.
“And you refugees. You too are subject to forced labor.”
Ash also let out an evil laugh at the festering refugees.
“I started a large-scale business, but since this city is in a remote area, there was a shortage of manpower. Your probationary period is half a year. During the probationary period, only 70% of ordinary workers are paid.”
“… .”
Refugees looked at each other with puzzled faces.
Now, is this prince saying that he will hire refugees from other countries as workers?
“And Kuylan!”
Ash snapped his index finger at Quylan, who was also bewildered.
“Your sick brother will be forcibly hospitalized and treated in the city temple. In a single room, intensively under the supervision of all priests.”
“… ?”
“Kuh-kuh If you’re worried about your precious older brother’s life, then you’re responsible for managing and supervising your subordinates. And you should listen carefully to what I have to say.”
The expressions of Kuylan and Kureha also became strange.
“The ideal is your punishment.”
Ash shook his head as if he was afraid of his own wickedness.
“The forced conscription is terrible, but the probationary period is half a year, and during that time, the salary is only 70%! What a terrible punishment this is!”
He is forcibly conscripted into a dangerous frontline fighting monsters.
If you become a soldier, you have to fight monsters directly, and even workers who do not fight directly on the frontline may face danger unexpectedly.
In a way, it is undoubtedly a punishment. however.
“… Aren’t you just saying you’re going to hire us?”
In other words, it also means providing decent jobs.
Quilan, taken aback, asked Ash.
“Are you serious about this?”
To be honest, it was an embarrassingly good proposal for someone who was prepared for the death penalty.
So it was even harder to believe, and I doubted myself.
“We are bandits and refugees from your country. Besides, did it harm you? You want to accept us as your subordinates? why?”
“There are many reasons, but I will tell you just two.”
Ash grinned and held up his fingers.
“first. Crossroads needs people. Even one person needs a lot of soldiers and manpower.”
Crossroads has always been chronically understaffed.
In this situation, the SR-rank character Quilan, his party, and the bandits trained in real battles were talents that Ash did not want to miss.
‘If you can keep the leash securely, it’s worth using.’
And coincidentally, Quylan had a sick brother.
If you put it in the temple for treatment, Quylan will have no choice but to follow the orders of this side.
“second. Your sins are not that heavy.”
Quylan was a bandit notorious for raiding only the people of the Empire. However, he was a bandit who kept a fixed line.
Property was taken, but life was not taken recklessly, and the hostage was released cleanly when the ransom was received.
There was a reason why the Imperial Army didn’t try to capture it with great effort, even though it had a reputation for a long time in the southern part of the continent. It didn’t buy a lot of grudge.
‘Whether it’s because of my beliefs or simply to be less tracked, I moved after setting the principles.
These teeth can be fully rehabilitated.’
and third.
I didn’t have to tell them, so I swallowed it in my heart.
‘Crossroads took a different route from the imperial family.’
What does the readership mean after all?
Instead of receiving any support from the imperial family, it meant that the operation of the front lines here could be carried out without paying attention to the imperial family.
In other words, it also means that there is no need to follow the stance of the existing empire.
‘Those whom the Empire has made enemies of in the meantime. Those who were despised and despised. Those who were kicked out of the realm… … Everyone can be accepted.’
Not just refugees, but knights from countries destroyed by the empire. loser… … There are even heterogeneous people. I was able to embrace all kinds of wanderers.
Those accepting this time were just the beginning. Ash intended to gather exiles from all over the continent to the front here.
‘And Kuylan. I know where you and your brother come from.’
Ash glanced at the red hair of the brothers Kuylan and Kureha.
Red hair was not uncommon in this world. Even Lily was caught right away. But the purity of the red was different.
Lily and the other redheads were closer to reddish brown hair.
But these two brothers had red hair as pure as flames.
‘Oh, friends of different races in this world must be tired. Lineage is revealed by the color of hair… … .’
Four major heterogeneous races of the continent – Elf Dwarf Mermaid Wear Beast.
Quylan inherited the blood of the wear-beast beasts among them.
Ash suddenly finds himself among the green-haired elven shadow corps members. And he thought of a serenade with blue hair that inherited mermaid blood.
All bright colors stand out.
‘Anyway, if I recruit Kuilan, it will be helpful when rallying the remnants of different races in the future.’
That’s why Ash wanted to recruit Quylan all the more.
“You said you were lucky, Quylan. Indeed it is.”
Ash smiled and pointed at himself.
“Because you met me.”
“… .”
Quylan stared at the prince with fierce and deep eyes like a tiger.
“Come under my command for the next three years. I will provide you with everything you need.”
“… .”
“Did you say you need a lot of money? Rather than an irregular income that only aims to make a fortune, the savings I give you every week will accumulate much more?”
Ash gestured to Ader. Ader handed Ash a draft of the contract he had prepared in advance.
Seeing the amount written down, Quylan’s shoulders trembled. Ash laughed sinisterly.
“This is a basic salary, and there will be more incentives depending on how hard you work.”
“… .”
“Of course, first of all, I have to spend half a year diligently during the probationary period.”
“… .”
“So what do you want to do?”
Suddenly, Ash remembered the time he recruited Jupiter.
Then and now, on Earth and here, there is always only one way to get a character definitively in a draw.
Keep fighting until it comes out!
“… .”
Finally, Quylan’s head nodded heavily. Ash nodded his head in tandem with a smile.
Likewise, the capitalist Indian rain ritual was always successful.
