Of Course I Wasn't the One Doing the Punching
The mansion grounds were cramped with all the tents, so Boromioshi, his soldier subordinates, and the bandits were all gathered in the center of the village.
"Haaah... I'm never getting on a horse again."
"Yeah, me neither."
"My feet couldn't even reach the stirrups. I was too busy clinging to the saddle so I wouldn't get thrown off."
The dwarves grumbled amongst themselves.
T-thank you for your hard work.
"Hey, Niichan, why'd you send the dwarf uncles with Baron-sama? Wouldn't that be dangerous if something happened? Those guys are craftsmen, aren't they?"
"Chico, dwarves are certainly skilled craftsmen, but at the same time, they're warriors."
"Huh? W-warriors?"
I mean, just look at them. They were built like barrels and covered in muscle.
They looked strong.
"Ou, kid. You're worried about us, huh? But the Young Master's right. We're craftsmen and warriors both. We ain't gonna lose to some pathetic bandits."
"Honestly, the horses were scarier than the bandits."
"GAHAHAHAHAHA! That's what he says."
They must've been really scared of the horses. And yet they still cooperated with the plan.
Yeah, I definitely need to get them some alcohol somehow.
"Huh. Okay, so the uncles are strong. But why send them with Baron-sama? Couldn't the dwarves have protected the village by themselves?"
"Yeah, I considered that too. But I figured there'd probably be an ambush waiting over there."
"As a racial trait, all dwarves can see in the dark. Better than nocturnal beasts, even. That's why the Young Master brought us along, to spot anyone lying in wait."
"Whoaaa~ That's amazing!"
And the prediction had been correct.
The bandits had been lying in ambush for Father and the others as they chased the self-proclaimed barbarians.
"Bunch of idiots. If they hadn't kept poking their heads out from behind rocks, even we might not've noticed them."
"They sure seemed nervous. Made 'em easy to spot."
The dwarves laughed. Even with excellent night vision, they couldn't spot people hiding completely out of sight.
Seriously, thank goodness they were idiots.
Though honestly, even if the ambush had succeeded, there was no way our knights and the dwarves would've lost.
And once the fighting started, Father's Light Magic illuminated the entire area like daylight. One side knew beforehand it would suddenly become bright.
The other side got blindsided by it. You didn't need to ask which side had the advantage. And there was probably a gap in ability, too.
"Der!"
"Aniue!" "Niichama!"
"Hahaue, Zeke, Tiffany. None of you are hurt, are you?"
I asked, then immediately realized how strange that sounded.
I was the one who told them to evacuate somewhere safe, and Mother could even use healing magic. There was no way they would've been injured.
"Are *you* alright? You're not hurt anywhere?"
"Yes. I'm fine, Hahaue. It sounds like Chichiue’s side finished things without any casualties as well."
"I see. That's good, then."
With that, Mother pulled me tightly into an embrace.
Warm. The wasteland became brutally cold at night, so that was probably why it felt so warm. That had to be it.
"B-Baron-dono! I only came to retrieve my own money! W-why am I being treated like this!?"
Wow, he's saying some pretty incredible things over there.
*His* money? Pretty sure he meant the village's money. And even if we gave him a hundred concessions and accepted that, it'd still be the kingdom's money.
"The salary for a frontier supervisor should be one hundred twenty thousand pere a year. Even if you saved every coin for fifteen years, that would only amount to one million eight hundred thousand pere. The gold stored in that hidden room was at least one digit beyond that amount."
"T-that's not true. Hahaha... hahaha..."
"Besides, if it truly was your money, why would you come to collect it in the middle of the night while everyone was asleep?"
And with a bandit gang in tow, no less.
No matter how you looked at it, he hadn't come to *retrieve* anything.
He'd come to *take* it. And this guy...
"Chichiue. He said he was going to kill me."
"Wha... what...? Kill my son...? My precious son...?"
The atmosphere changed.
Father. Father.
Y-you've got flames surrounding you.
Let's calm down, okay?
"Dear, calm down and suppress your mana."
"Ah. Katia, I got carried away. My apologies."
Honestly… I wish he'd remember just how much mana he had.
Boromioshi and the bandits started trembling in terror.
"S-save me, Baron! I-I was forced into it! It was all them! Yes, all their orders!"
"The hell are you saying!? You're trying to pin it all on us!?"
"I didn't do anything wrong! L-look! H-how about this? I'll give you twenty percent of that money. Huh? N-no, thirty... forty... fifty percent! How about it!? I'll give you half! Alright!?"
*Sigh.* It was depressing how far gone he was.
"That money does not belong to you. I will report it to His Majesty the King and await his instructions. Not a single gold coin belongs to you."
When Father said that, Boromioshi's face twisted as though he'd bitten into something bitter.
Didn't seem like he'd reflected on his actions much at all.
"Baron-sama! Do we really need to keep a man like this alive!?"
"That's right! We've suffered for years because of him!"
"Baron-sama!"
The villagers raised their voices.
The culprits were tied up, and seeing them like that had probably caused all the resentment they'd been bottling up to erupt.
But we couldn't execute them here.
If they'd committed crimes, they had to face judgment under the law.
That said, the villagers weren't likely to calm down either.
"Chichiue. It'd be bad if they died here, right?"
"Y-yes. We need to investigate various things. We also need to verify the details of their dealings, and there are probably others who profited from this as well."
Those people needed to be arrested too. Which meant we couldn't let them die.
"In that case... would this be alright?"
"Hm? Well, I suppose... what are you going to do?"
"Yes. Punch them."
"Hm? Just punch them?"
That's right. Just punch them.
Of course, I wasn't the one doing the punching.
"Everyone, please listen. This man must be interrogated and judged under the law. Therefore, we cannot execute him here."
Grumbles of dissatisfaction rose immediately.
"So instead, I'd like each of you to punch him once. Just once."
"One punch...? W-we can hit him...?"
"Go right ahead. Just don't kill him, please. Ah, he's tied up, so don't worry, he can't fight back. While you're at it, feel free to do the same to those soldiers and bandits over there. Hmm... I suppose each of you could manage about fifty punches apiece."
When I said that with a smile, the villagers smiled back.
Yep. That should help ease their anger.
The screams of men echoed through the wasteland night.
Well then. Time for bed~
~ Read Chapters 32-82 in Advance on Patreon ~
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