The Hero Becomes the Duke’s Eldest Son

Chapter 171

After some time had passed, Muscleless woke up.

“S-sorry……. Please have mercy…….”

Muscleless’s face, now looking like a mangled steamed bun after being nibbled by a dog and a cat, along with the entire bandit gang, knelt in front of Aden and his party.

There was no more will to fight or resist.

Their leader, whom they had trusted, had been defeated by the youngest girl in the group, who looked the weakest, leaving them utterly demoralized.

“The way this guy talks is irritating. Elise, give this guy some treatment for now.”

“Okay!”

“T-thank you…….”

After receiving treatment from Elise, Muscleless’s swollen face returned to its original state.

He was both amazed and forced to accept reality at the same time.

He, who had believed that muscles and strength were everything, realized that he was just a frog in a well.

“You’re giving up quite easily.”

“……We know that we can’t stand against you.”

If even a non-combatant priestess girl, who was just a child, was this strong, how powerful could that young Sword Master be?

He couldn’t even imagine.

“I heard that a Master can cut mountains and split seas, but it seems that was true. Seeing that even the young priestess in your group is this strong.”

“First, let me correct you. Even a Master can’t do that. Maybe a High-level Sword Master could.”

“Haha…… Are you saying that people can really do such things? There really are some terrifying people in this world, my lord.”

“If you ask me, it’s more terrifying that you survived being cut by an Aura Blade. But what’s this about you being a lord?”

“We are bandits. We live by the law of the wild, in harmony with nature. Since you’re stronger than us, we lost, so we have no choice but to serve you as our leader.”

“I don’t like having a younger brother like you.”

“A-ah, please, my lord!”

“Who said I was your lord? And to be precise, didn’t you lose to Elise, not me? So you should be calling her ‘sister.’”

“T-that’s a bit……”

“Eek! No way! I don’t want to have an older brother like that hairy old man!”

Elise shuddered as if she was overwhelmed, and Muscleless, with shaking eyes, began to sweat profusely.

No matter how much pride he had, calling someone over 20 years younger than him ‘sister’ would be a painful blow to his pride, akin to a terminally ill patient.

“This guy, I see he’s trying to save face somehow. It’s easier for his pride to say he lost to the companion of a Master rather than admit he lost to a kid, huh? Am I wrong?”

“…….”

Since everything was true, he remained silent.

Seeing this, Aden spoke in a voice tinged with irritation.

“If you ask me, it seems better for the world if I just cut off all your heads and leave……”

“I-I pledge my loyalty! I’ll do anything you ask, just please! I’m more confident in my strength and muscles than anyone!”

“Ah, I could tell that even without you saying it.”

The way he had broken Bali the priest’s mace with his bare hands without using mana had left quite an impression.

“How did you do that earlier? You don’t look like a mana user.”

“There’s infinite potential in human muscles, and after long training, I’ve awakened it. Just like how iron becomes stronger the more you hammer it, nature is like a wild flame, and I’ve merely forged my muscles in that flame. Do you understand?”

“…….”

No. Not at all.

What kind of nonsense is this?

Just as Aden was left speechless, Hermit, smoking a spare pipe he received from Cassie, let out an intrigued “Ho.”

“A human who has awakened the ‘Origin’ by themselves? This is remarkable.”

“Hermit, do you know something about this?”

“All living beings have a fundamental life force within their bodies. This is called the ‘Origin.’”

“The Origin? Is that different from Aura or Mana?”

“The Origin is simply the source. It’s the spark of life that all living things carry within them. Mana amplifies the power of the ‘Origin’ to create visible phenomena, which is what we call ‘Aura.’”

Simply put, the ‘Origin’ is the spark, and mana is the wood that fuels the fire, with the resulting flame being ‘Aura.’

“In the case of that bandit, through extreme training, he increased the innate amount of Origin he was born with. It requires talent and effort, and even with both, it’s nearly impossible, so it’s quite impressive.”

Moreover, that bandit king Muscleless Roider had increased his ‘Origin’ so much that it was as large as a fireball rather than just a spark, allowing him to strengthen his body without mana.

“However, if you increase the Origin so crudely, ninety-nine out of a hundred would die, so don’t even think about trying it. The efficiency is low, and since you’re already familiar with mana, it’s impossible for you, Aden.”

“Hmm, I see.”

“Anyway, what do you plan to do with them?”

“Well, does anyone have any opinions?”

“I’ll follow your decision, Aden.”

“Me too!”

“Tsk. It’s not like I have a choice anyway.”

“Everyone’s leaving it to the handsome young master?”

Roe and the others, including Elise, left the decision to Aden.

Aden rested his chin on his hand and fell into thought.

“Hey.”

“Yes, my lord!”

“First of all, drop the ‘my lord’ nonsense. How many of you are there?”

“Pardon?”

“I’m asking how many bandits, including those in the hideouts under your control, are in this area since you’re the bandit king.”

“Ah, yes! Including the hideouts from number 1 to 36, there are about 800 men. Including women and the elderly, about 1,500 in total!”

“……1,500? Hah, why are there so many?”

He was momentarily taken aback by the sheer number.

And if you included the non-combatants, the total reached 1,500. This wasn’t just a bandit group; it was practically a small territory’s armed force.

When he heard the title ‘bandit king,’ he had scoffed, but if his followers numbered that many, he could indeed be called a king.

“This area is so poor, and the lords’ tyranny is so severe that there were many slash-and-burn villages, bandits, and thieves, but I absorbed them all.”

“Hmm.”

“There are also some who fled here after hearing rumors because at least there’s no high taxes.”

Thanks to the surrounding territories fearing the bandit king Muscleless and even offering him tributes, there was no worry about starving, so many people gathered.

From what he heard, they didn’t seem as bad as he had thought.

They became bandits just to survive, so who could blame them?

If he simply killed this guy, the forces under his command would splinter and go wild without a leader.

Doing so wouldn’t bring any profit, and it would only leave him with bad dreams.

Of course, it wasn’t justifiable to let these bandits go, but it was a waste not to make use of them.

“You said you’d do anything I asked, right?”

“Yes! Just give the order! If you want us to retire from being bandits, we will!”

“If you’re harboring any hard feelings about this…….”

“Oh, don’t even mention it! We lost because the master and his party were strong. We only follow the law of the jungle, so there’s no reason for hard feelings!”

“Is that so? Then you lot, stop being bandits and come to my land.”

“……What?”

“I won’t even charge you high taxes, so bring all 1,500 of you and come live on my land. I’ll accept the non-combatants as citizens and the bandits as soldiers.”

It just so happened that the city construction in Frozen was nearing completion, and it was time to start accepting residents.

The mana stone mine had already begun production, and the contracts with the merchant guilds through Niketa were finalized, so it was only a matter of time before the profits started rolling in.

‘Handling 1,500 people should be easy enough.’

Muscleless Roider and his bandits were, fundamentally, physically superior.

If trained properly, they could be used as a self-defense force for the Frozen Autonomous Territory.

‘I should start building my own forces in earnest now.’

Aden planned to completely overthrow everything, as his targets for revenge and Chaos were connected.

However, to do that, he needed sufficiently strong forces and power.

These guys seemed like a decent start.

“Now, I’ll give you a choice. First, you bring all the hideouts you control to my land.”

“Uh, uhh……”

“Second, I cut off your head right here. So, what will it be?”

“…….”

Muscleless’s choice was already determined.

* * *

Not being suicidal, Muscleless Roider naturally chose the former.

He persuaded—using both reasoning and his bulging muscles—the other thirty-five hideout leaders besides the 18th one that Aden’s group had visited, leading to a mass exodus.

The bandits didn’t live in the mountains because they liked them.

They were only there to survive, but everyone would prefer to live in a city with proper amenities.

Now, someone was offering them a chance to live in a city and even providing them with houses.

The thirty-six hideout villages all packed up and moved to Frozen.

Of course,

Aden didn’t just leave it at that.

He visited the lords of the territories who had been troubled by the bandits one by one and made deals with them.

“If I take care of those bandits, how much would you give me, my lord?”

“I’ll give you everything! I’ll give you my entire personal treasure vault, so please take care of those damn bandits!”

“Alright. Leave it all to me. I’ll handle it in no time.”

“Oh, thank you! Sword Master Aden! You are truly a righteous man!”

“Haha, don’t mention it.”

“Oh, right! Here, take this as a small token of my gratitude……”

“Oh, you didn’t have to.”

“Haha. Don’t be shy. Please accept it, and please remember me well……”

“Then I’ll take it without hesitation.”

Aden filled his Subspace Pouch with the rewards for dealing with the bandits and bribes from those eager to gain favor with the youngest Sword Master.

Ah, the satisfaction of a pouch filled with gold coins and jewels.

—I’m truly impressed by your swindler’s spirit, Dragon Slayer King.

‘Swindler? I clearly said I’d take care of the bandits, never that I’d exterminate them. And as long as the outcome is good, it doesn’t matter.’

Aden was pleased that he gained useful manpower while also getting to raid the lords’ pockets, and the lords were happy not to have to pay tribute to the bandits every month.

This was a win-win situation, killing three birds with one stone.

No, it was actually four since he planned to have Unknown rob the lords’ secret vaults later.

It took about fifteen days for all thirty-six hideouts and 1,500 people to move to Frozen and settle in.

Finally, the city started to take shape.

Hermit, who had come to Frozen, expressed her admiration.

“Oh, this is quite a nice place. The snowy mountains and the lush flowers make for a splendid view, don’t they?”

“Well, I’m glad you like it.”

“Especially the combination of fire mana and the mana of extreme cold. It’s quite an impressive environment.”

Aden’s land, Frozen, was warmed by Pyrones’s magic, which melted the ground and warmed the air, allowing flowers and shrubs to grow. However, the rest of the area remained frozen, deeply influenced by the Winter Queen’s mana.

Thanks to this, the unique scenery where you could enjoy both spring and winter simultaneously was a highlight.

Aden instructed the dwarves to build a mansion in the location with the best view, and he moved his residence from the temporary shrine to the mansion.

“By the way, what’s your next move?”

“What do you mean? You should attach a subject to your sentence so I can answer properly.”

“Well, you’ve brought them all here, but they’re all gathered around that bandit king as their focal point. Even if you’ve subdued that man, it doesn’t necessarily mean his subordinates will follow suit, right?”

Aden and his group had thoroughly crushed only the 18th hideout, and the others had just followed Muscleless’s lead to come here.

In other words, they were not entirely Aden’s forces but were still under the bandit king’s influence. Hermit was pointing that out.

“Oh, so that’s what you meant.”

But Aden shrugged it off, unconcerned.

It was a simple matter.

“I’ll just have to establish discipline and show them who the real master of this land is and who their boss is.”

Aden flashed a sinister smile.