Chapter 12: It seems that the promised bandit event has occurred
It takes about 15 days to get from the Kingdom of Wolg to the Kingdom of Forrell by carriage, but a dragon can get there in a day.
The Kingdom of Forrell is located just above the Kingdom of Wolg on the map, and although itās only about 500km in a straight line, you canāt go straight there. Thereās a mountain range where dangerous monsters come out, and the road is steep and not maintained at all, so you will have to bypass the mountain range and travel by the foot of the mountain.
However, if you use a dragon, you can go over the mountain, so you can get there in the shortest amount of time. Many of the mountain monsters are strong and dangerous, but it seems that there are no strong flying monsters that can challenge a Drake. Even though itās the weakest dragon species, itās still a dragon.
The drake has a high flight speed, though not as ridiculous as a fighter. Although it has big wings, it doesnāt fly by flapping them, it seems to fly by flight magic peculiar to dragons, and I think its maximum speed when flying well in a good wind is about 200 km / h.
We fly normally, at about 60-80km / h without overdoing it, we plan to take three breaks in between before arriving at the Forel Kingdom in about eight hours. Unlike machines like cars, dragons are creatures. Breaks on the way are important.
Now with the mountain crossing over, we just arrived at a Margrave territory of the Forell country.
Entering without notice is a problem as it is, so weāre reporting our passing to one of the Margraveās gatekeepers whoās at the border.
āWelcome your royal Highness Jail and Luke! We have confirmed your report. If youād like, we have received a message from the lord that you should take a break at the mansion.ā
My brother will handle this kind of thing easily.
āIām sorry. We need to head to the Duke of Forest as soon as possible so Iāll have to refuse this time. Will you tell the Margrave for me?ā
āI understand. The lord has told me not to impede your journey. I pray for your safe return.ā
āOh, thank you. Letās go.ā
Jail is the first prince of a great power ⦠Itās a hassle, but diplomacy is one of his important jobs cause heās going to become king someday.
āExcuse me, will you buy some flowers?ā
Huh? A girl selling flowers ā¦
A girl about 12 years old called out to us with a basket full of flowers.
āHey! This person is a noble! Donāt call out to them so brazenly!ā
āIām sorry!ā
The gatekeeper was a bit harsh with his words, but if she always sells around here, he probably knows this child. Perhaps he was harsh and tried to keep her away so that we wouldnāt do anything to her. Some nobles use violence against the general public for no reason.
āTheyāre beautiful flowers, how much is it?ā
āFeh?ā
āHeās telling you that he will buy it. Quickly give him an answer?ā
āYes! One bundle is 50 Jenny.ā
Cheap ⦠Itās a bundle of about 15 tulips in pale pink or purple bundled together.
Other than that, the seasonal wildflowers that this child picked up are bundled together nicely.
I donāt know if itās for pocket money or to help her household, but letās cooperate.
āTheyāre cute flowers. Can I get the whole basket? Is this enough?ā
I hand over one gold coin.
A basket can be bought with a thousand Jenny, so itās actually an over payment, but itās a reward for a cute hard-working girl.
āThat ⦠I donāt have change for a gold coin ā¦ā
Gold coins are worth about 10,000 yen when converted to Japanese yen.
Bronze coin: Ten Jenny
Iron coin: Hundred Jenny
Silver coin: Thousand Jenny
Gold coin: 10,000 Jenny
Mithril coin: 100,000 Jenny
Orichalcum coin: Million Jenny
itās a value standard that uses the decimal system. Itās called Jenny.
It seems that the value is about the same when converted to Japanese yen.
āYou can keep the changeā
āEh!? But ā¦ā
āHeās saying itās alright. You just have to take it and say thank you.ā
āYes! Thank you! This will cure my motherās injury!ā
What was that!
āWait a minute! Your mother is injured?ā
āYes ⦠She can be cured with a recovery potion but it will take about 5 days until my father who has money returns ā¦ā
From the girlās story, it seems that her house is not so poor that they canāt afford it. Her father, who has an adventurer card to withdraw money, was away, and it seems that the price of this sale is not enough to buy a recovery potion.
The flower selling itself seems to usually be pocket money for this girl, but now sheās trying hard to sell flowers and buy medicine as soon as possible ⦠Sheās a good girl even though sheās young.
My brother came to my side and handed me an intermediate recovery potion. You can buy a beginnerās recovery potion for 10,000 Jenny, but since we donāt know the extent of the wound, my brother handed ne an intermediate potion just in case.
As expected of brother!
āTake this with you. Itās an intermediate recovery potion.ā
āEh! But I canāt take such an expensive item ā¦ā
āItās all good. Now, go home quickly and heal your motherās injury.ā
āThank you noble oni chan!ā
She bowed deeply and ran with the recovery potion in her hands,
It gives me a big smile!
āLuke, youāre kind to kids ⦠yet not popular.ā
āYou donāt need to say it like that brotherā¦ā
I wanted to take a peek at the Margrave, but I gave up because my brother glared at me.
Since we left early in the morning, the time was still 1:00 pm ⦠We ate lunch, but since we had time, I wanted to pick up something strange in another country.
Itās a dayās ride from here to the Duchy, but a dragon arrives in about an hour.
* * *
About 45 minutes away from the Margraveās territory, we saw a battle taking place on the highway.
āBrother ⦠Isnāt that a bandit attack?ā
āWell ⦠Yes it is ⦠but I canāt place you in danger till Iāve delivered you safely ā¦ā
We hover and check the situation far above the battle.
There are eight knights guarding the carriage and about 40 thieves attacking it.
It seems that two knights have already fallen, and the rest are outnumbered and inferior.
Luke has never killed before, of course neither have I.
Wow, Iād really be killing someone ⦠If I get involved, Iāll have to murder.
To be honest, I wasnāt prepared for this when coming to this world.
Why does the cliche bandit event have to happen ā
In a world where this kind of behavior happens frequently, itās impossible for me, a part of the royal family, not to murder. The knight academy that nobles attend is an institution that specializes in teaching such things.
A knight is a person who protects a village, town, or country from threats. Of course, threats include demon beasts, but also include bandits, thugs in towns, and even other countries in the event of war.
In case of an emergency, nobles need to be at the forefront of the fight to protect the commoners. For that reason, the commoners who do not have power pay taxes to the country. Since theyāre having a hard time paying taxes, Iām sure theyāll riot if we donāt protect them in such an event. To prevent this, the sons of nobles go to the knight academy to learn how to eliminate threats.
āSince brother became a dragoon, do you have killing experience?ā
āNo ⦠Iām still an apprentice, so I havenāt been to very dangerous places or missions.ā
Itās only been a year since he graduated from school.
āAh! One knight was killed by magic!ā
āLuke, the emblem on that carriage belongs to the Forell royal family ⦠Itās probably someone from the royal family being attacked.ā
āWe canāt overlook it as members of the Vorg royal family, right?ā
āIām on a mission but I canāt overlook this, Iāll drop you somewhere safe, so wait there.ā
āIf father knew that brother was going to help and I didnāt, he would get angry ⦠If anything happens to you I wouldnāt be a son in law.ā
Weāre three boys. The first two are the children of the first wife, and both are extremely excellent, so I was passed the responsibility of this timeās marriage. If the eldest son dies, the second son will succeed the throne, but there is a risk of illness, so theyāll need me for insurance ā¦.
My brother seems to be going to drop me somewhere and join the fight ⦠But if he does that, Iāll regret it for the rest of my life ⦠I have no hero complex or no saint-like desires, but ⦠I donāt want to overlook someone being attacked.
I donāt do foolish things like a special attack or chasing a useless death by fighting 100 opponents, but this time theyāre not opponents at all. By nature, bandits are weak ⦠because the bandit business is where those who canāt become knights or adventurers fall.
To be honest, Iām scared ⦠because Iām definitely weaker than the regular knights fighting below. If the knights are struggling, even if my brother, a dragoon apprentice, and I, a child, participate, we wonāt be a big force ⦠he knows that, so my brother isnāt saying heās going to save them, heās saying heās going to help.
But itās not that thereās no chance of winning, We have a dragon! Thatās why my brother decided to help.
āNi san, what will happen to my future position if I, who will be taking care of this country from now on, doesnāt act here?ā
āItāll be awkward, but can you fight? Are you prepared to kill people? If you freeze up, youāll die?ā
āThis āOrc princeā also has resolve! If I run away and hide here, Iāll regret it for the rest of my life! Iām also a member of the Wolg royal family!ā
āNow youāve said it! Then weāll descend and help! If we manage to get rid of the crowded wizards and archers standing behind, weāll be able to overturn the battle!ā
āBrother, please wait!ā
āWhat! If we donāt go quickly, theyāll lose no matter how you look at it!ā
āPlease remove the [Magic bracelet]! I canāt do anything with this!ā
āOh! I forgot ā¦ā
I had him remove the bracelet in a hurry, but ⦠what the heck!