zChapter 65 - Arc 3, Waxing Moon Chapter 8 (2/2)

As Ganche spoke, the bandits retreated in alarm. At the end, six of them were dead, eight so wounded they were unable to move, all of their bodies scattered across the area.

“Lord Ernst, what would you like us to do with this lot?” Targes asked.

This commander of his occasionally did this, wanting to try things the way Ernst directed.

In this instance, however, Ernst felt as if Targes was actually testing him.

Are you truly able to bear the burden for your people?

Are you capable of choosing the correct course of action for them to take?

That was what the question seemed to be.

From his position on the horse, Ernst looked down toward the bandits who groaned in pain.

With a shallow inhale, Ernst came to a decision, and he gave his order to Ganche.

“Finish it.”

At those words, Ganche swung his spear down.

They safely exited the forest and reached Mutica fief.

Ganche had not been touched by even a single drop of the blood he had spilled.

Mutica fief, rather than being a land of agriculture, was better known as a fief of craftsmen.

With its forest being in the state they had just seen, it was apparent that Mutica fief did not clear the forests for farmland as Gris fief did. In this territory there were several places for bandits to hide, such as in this forest at the border between fiefs.

The militia troops advanced through Mutica fief, and they did not take off a single piece of their armor.

After they had traveled for half a day, Targes abruptly tried to strike up a conversation.

The way he spoke was as if he had unconsciously mumbled something to himself, so Ernst hadn’t realized that Targes had actually been addressing him, at first.

“It was surprising to me.”

“…What was?”

“I had wondered if you would try to help them, Lord Ernst.”

It took a bit of time for Ernst to realize he was talking about the bandits.

“Humm… If I had spared them, then what of the money, or rather, the lives they would covet next?”

It was impossible to believe that after being shown Ganche’s strength, they would have had a change of heart. In the first place, if such exceptional people existed, they would not have become bandits.

The next time they faced each other, they would only be enemies seeking revenge against Ganche.

And that which would deal Ganche the greatest blow –

Would be to hurt Ernst.

“Besides, even if I had not given the order, you had already ordered it done, had you not, Targes? …You ordered Brez to do it.”

Ernst looked back at Targes and saw the man’s wry smile.

Ernst faced forward. He said, resolute, “I made the decision to take their lives. There is no need for you or anyone else to bear the burden of this responsibility.” He reached out to grasp Targes’ hand, which clutched the horse’s reins.

Even soldiers could not become accustomed to taking another person’s life. Ernst had no desire for soldiers who would become accustomed to such a thing. Such people were nothing more than murderers.

Ganche enjoyed battle.

However, he did not wish to meaninglessly slaughter other people. It was only that, just as he could block his sense of heat, cold, and pain of his own will, so too could he temporarily block his sense of guilt.

Ganche had never spoken of this, but Ernst thought this was the case.

Ernst understood that the road he must walk as a lord was not a primrose one.

If there were people who stood as obstacles in his path, like the bandits from earlier, then Ernst had the conviction to reject any thought of encouraging them.

The heavy weight of deciding to kill another person was a burden Ernst wished to carry alone.

The burden of executing this decision fell on Ganche.

If Ernst had the power to freely swing about a sword as Targes and the others did, then he would take the execution of it into his own hands, he thought. But with Ernst’s weakness, no matter how hard or often he trained, he would only result in inflicting needless pain to the person whose life he attempted to take.

He had no choice but to order Ganche, unforgivably involving him in Ernst’s responsibility.

However, if Ernst had given his order to anyone other than Ganche, then Ganche would have taken it as a deep and sundering wound.

Ordering Ganche to do this, was also providing salvation to Ganche.

Ernst felt that he had done Ganche a heavy wrong. But this was the path that he and Ernst had to take.