He hung his mouth open like a dead fish. “Huh?” Maybe he didn’t understand me. I ignored him and kept talking.
“And since there’s no time to prepare the gallows, we’ll carry out your sentence here and now.”
“W-w-wait just a minute!” He was in utter panic. He probably knew he had no chance at negotiations, much less threats. Should he be tried by the commune, there was a chance he’d be able to escape with only light punishment. “You sure you wanna do that? My brother runs the Salters’ Guild!”
Yeah. I knew. Though, I didn’t have to tell him that. Instead, I let out a chuckle. “Wow, that makes things tough. So, the Salters’ Guild is implicated in this too. Seems like I’ll have to punish them as well.”
“What?!”
“Neurath, seize the Salters’ Guild’s headquarters immediately…”
“W-wait!” Now his face was white. He opened his mouth in a panic, almost as if he was going to let out a bloodcurdling scream. “It was me! My brother has nothing to do with this!”
“So, you admit to your crimes?”
That was all I needed. There was nothing left for him to say, nor did I have anything left to say to him. I leveled my spear and ran it through his throat. Then I called out to my men without even bothering to look at his now-crumpled corpse. “Display his body alongside the bandits! And capture anyone else you can! Our first order of business is to take control of this place.”
“Y-yessir!”
The mercenary who had brought the man before me alongside Schünzel dashed off in a panic. I hadn’t barked orders at the lower-ranking mercenaries with such force before, so I couldn’t blame him.
“Was it all right to do that, Lord Werner?”
“Yeah,” I answered curtly. Here in Anheim, I was at once an upstart far too young to be deputy, and an outsider from the previous lord’s rival faction. That would make me a target of condescension, and compared to that, it was more advantageous to be feared. As long as I kept my blade trained solely on criminals, others would start to come around to me.
“What shall we do with the guildmembers?”
“Let’s put that on hold for now.”
It was true that the younger brother was the lowest of the low, but that wasn’t necessarily true about his siblings. Just like noble houses could harbor wantons who abused their station, commoner families might be troubled by members who turned to crime. It was possible that the younger brother was threatening his elder brother. As long as the head of the guild didn’t harbor any ill will toward me, I’d prefer not to stir the pot.
“And if the guildleader is an accomplice?”
“If they’re cut from the same cloth, taking out those bandits made it clear that we’re his enemies. It’d just mean we pruned his younger brother first.” In other words, the next step remained the same. I’d leave him be depending on what he did next.
Just as Schünzel returned, one of the mercenaries approached, reporting that a room clearly used as dungeon had been discovered deep in one of the safes in the building.
“Was anyone inside?”
“Two young women. According to one of them, there had been five until just recently.”
“It seems like we’ll have to question those who are still standing, or at least look over the documents kept here.” There may have been other bandits they were in league with or crimes we didn’t know about yet. I decided to leave any questioning for later and told my men to simply search the building for now. “Bring the women to the lord’s manor for the time being and tell Sir Behnke to prepare treatment for them.”
“Yessir!”
We took custody of the remaining gang members, and I ordered them to be held in the gardens of the lord’s manor until we could question them. Outside of the dungeons, I figured, I could make an example of them. Such thoughts were in my mind as Sir Holzdeppe, who I’d put in charge of upholding the peace, approached.
“What is it?” I asked. I’d been in the middle of answering other people’s questions.
“The head of the Salters’ Guild would like to see you. He’s accompanied by a number of men bearing large sacks.”
“Right.” As disappointed as I was, I granted them permission to enter.
The figure who finally stepped into my sight was a middle-aged man with a countenance that could rival his brother’s in malice. Given the way he carried himself, I figured he was no stranger to hard labor, though I doubted he had fighting capabilities worth worrying about.
“Lord Deputy! To think we’d be meeting at a place like…” When he opened his mouth, he wore a smirk that’d make you think he was about to start rubbing his hands like a cartoon villain. However, as soon as he caught sight of the bloodied body, he froze with his mouth open in shock.
I pretended not to notice his change of expression as I turned to the men with sacks. I then returned my gaze to the guildmaster. “The criminal before us admitted to conspiring with the bandits, so I punished him under my authority as deputy count.” Seemed like he hadn’t expected his brother to die while he was preparing a bribe to buy his freedom. He met my gaze, eyes seething with anger. “I see you had no connections to this, but he was trafficking women and children. I sure you have no objections to making an example of such a criminal?”
There was a long pause. Then, “Do as you wish.”
His tone made it clear he was trying to hold back his wrath. I didn’t really mind, though. For one, I was currently entrusted with the impossible task of fighting a Demon Commander, a leader of the Demon army. I had no intentions of claiming victory with the men under my command alone, but I’d have to hold my ground until the knight brigade arrived. Anything getting in the way of preparing for that event was nothing but a pain. While there were countless measures I could take against any blatant interference, the last thing I wanted was for these preparations to be sabotaged.
Of course, the ideal situation was one in which I had no enemies. Given my age and position, though, that would be impossible. I had accepted this state of affairs and decided it was best to let any malcontents play their hand now rather than later. I wasn’t expecting this outcome, but if he did make a profit knowing his brother was compromised, I didn’t mind using those profits for my own gain.