Den turned his head to the side.
Crimson eyes were staring directly at him.
Ian had somehow climbed onto his shoulder and placed a blade against it.
The question of how Ian still had a sword after dropping it was quickly answered.
Upon closer inspection, Ian was holding a dagger.
It was a spare dagger he always carried.
That dagger was now embedded in Den’s shoulder.
And on that dagger…
Whooosh—!
A blue glow began to rise.
“You… you bastard!”
Den had thought Ian was too exhausted to maintain his aura, but Ian was still standing strong.
[The duration of Instant Acceleration has ended. For 10 seconds, attack speed and movement speed are reduced by 50%, and attack power is reduced by 20.]
The duration had ended just in time. It was indeed short.
But it didn’t matter.
“You tricked me!”
Den no longer had any thoughts of capturing Ian alive.
All he wanted now was to throw Ian off his shoulder and crush him.
But things didn’t go as he planned.
Ian had a few words for Den, who was shouting at him.
“If you’re going to rant, do it after the game is over.”
And then.
“Mana Eruption.”
Kwaaaaah—!
In an instant, Den’s shoulder and head vanished without a trace.
[Mana Eruption skill has forcibly terminated the aura.]
[MP has been depleted.]
[Werewolf Subjugation 1/1]
[The quest ‘Appearance of the Werewolf’ has been completed.]
[Level has increased.]
Ian’s vision was flooded with message windows.
“Phew, why didn’t this guy let his guard down? I even pretended to be exhausted.”
In truth, Ian’s apparent exhaustion and desperate situation were all part of his act.
The only way to defeat Den one-on-one was to feign defeat and lure him into complacency.
When Den thought he had won, he would disarm his opponent and toy with them by severing limbs.
That was when he was most careless and vulnerable.
If Ian had attacked before Den fully let his guard down, Den would have remained cautious until the end. So, Ian had to play the role of being on the defensive.
In the end, Ian bided his time, deactivated his aura, and faked exhaustion to make Den drop his guard.
‘Well, if I couldn’t finish him, I was planning to leave it to Sir Oswell or Hubert.’
That would have been a bit embarrassing in front of the soldiers, but at least everyone would have been safe.
In any case, since he had taken care of it himself, it didn’t matter.
Ian retrieved his sword from the ground and pointed it at the remaining bandits.
Just then, the sun rose behind him, and its light reflected off the blade, making it gleam menacingly.
“Anyone else want to fight?”
“…….”
What followed was self-explanatory.
[The bandits are gripped with fear upon witnessing your might.]
[With the death of the bandit leader, the enemy’s morale has plummeted, and they have lost the will to fight.]
Having witnessed the absurd battle with their own eyes, the bandits dropped their weapons and raised their hands in surrender.
[Bandit Subjugation 1/1]
[The quest ‘Bandit Subjugation’ has been completed.]
[The territory’s security has increased by 10.]
* * *
After receiving the report on the results of the battle that had lasted all night, Ian learned that they had captured over 70 bandits from Den’s group.
The casualties on their side were 7 dead, 12 seriously injured, and 30 lightly wounded.
Thanks to the bandits surrendering, there were no further casualties.
While the damage was lighter than expected, the problem lay with the seriously injured.
One had lost an arm and would undoubtedly have to retire, while four were teetering on the brink of death.
The rest were conscious but still in critical condition.
It was likely that the death toll would rise.
The increasing casualties and the limitations on recruiting more troops were a significant concern, but there was no time to dwell on that now.
“Brother, what was that? Why did you suddenly charge at the enemy like that? Are you out of your mind?”
“Young Master Ian, please value your life!”
The reason for this was the nagging from Hubert and Oswell.
Ian had rushed out without a word and taken on the werewolf alone.
His impulsive actions had left them utterly shocked.
However, Ian had his own reasons.
‘I had to be the one to take it down for the experience points!’
Of course, he could act so boldly because he trusted that Hubert and Oswell would step in if things got too dangerous.
“I’ll try to be more careful.”
Hubert and Oswell let out deep sighs.
They were genuinely worried, but the person in question was only half-listening.
“Hubert, don’t be too hard on him. The outcome was good, wasn’t it?”
“Even so…!”
“Enough. The young master is tired. Instead of wasting time on this, you should figure out what you need to do here. Since I have nothing more to teach you, I’ll take my leave now.”
What kind of “taking leave” was this?
No one could make sense of what he was saying, but they assumed even the great Ian must be exhausted and rambling.
“Sigh, alright. I’ve really learned a lot from you, brother.”
Participating in this bandit subjugation had taught him many things, for better or worse.
“Sir Oswell.”
“Yes, young master.”
He had a faint hope that Ian might finally take his advice to heart and apologize, but…
“Isn’t it a relief that Hubert won’t imitate my actions now?”
That tiny hope was foolish.
It seemed the young master had no intention of listening to his advice.
If he wasn’t going to listen, there was no point in saying anything.
‘I’ll just have to keep an eye on him from now on.’
His duties remained unchanged, but it seemed he would have to continue worrying and serving.
Such was the sorrow of a loyal retainer.
“Oh, and make sure to take good care of the vice-leader separately.”
“Huh?”
“I have a separate use for him.”
Though he didn’t know what Ian intended to use him for, Oswell nodded and decided to carry out Ian’s orders.
Thanks to that, Ian was able to take a moment to quietly gather his thoughts.
There was one thing on his mind.
Den’s bandit group, which had come here because of the mithril.
Originally, they would have arrived after receiving a secret commission from Count Erce.
Before the territorial wars began, the count wanted to gauge Schrantz’s strength while simultaneously weakening it.
‘But they came here of their own volition, not because of a commission.’
The overall flow hadn’t changed much, but there were clear differences.
‘Is this the butterfly effect caused by the changes I’ve made?’
Den had explicitly demanded mithril.
The undeniable success of the unexplored territory’s development and the discovery of resources had drawn them here.
‘If I keep causing changes, won’t things start to spiral out of control in ways I didn’t intend?’
Knowing how the future would unfold was one of Ian’s strengths.
But the changes he had initiated, though small, were undeniably altering the course of events.
‘Couldn’t this lead to everything becoming completely chaotic in the future?’
Wouldn’t that mean his advantage would disappear?
‘So what? What am I supposed to do about it?’
But Ian had no real choice in the matter.
‘I’ve already set things in motion. Stopping now is impossible.’
So what if things got twisted?
If the changes were caused by the butterfly effect of his actions, then the distortions would be the result of what he believed to be the right decisions.
“I’ll just have to deal with situations as they come.”
At this point, he was like an 8-ton truck with a broken steering wheel, driving forward with no way to stop.
Whether it turned out good or bad, he’d figure it out when the time came.
‘It’ll work out somehow.’
It was an undeniably optimistic way of thinking.
“Alright, let’s get what we need.”
Having finished his thoughts, Ian headed toward Den’s headless corpse and began searching for something.
After rummaging around for a while, he found something half-submerged in a pool of blood.
“Ah, here it is.”
Without hesitation, he reached into the blood and pulled out the object.
His hand was now sticky with blood, but he didn’t care.
It was a crude-looking necklace with a gem the size of a fingernail.
The necklace Den had been wearing from the beginning.
Though rough in appearance, it had a blue gem embedded in it.
<Blessing of the Lycanthrope>
Defense: 1
[Effects]
―Night vision is enhanced.
―Movement speed +5% at night.
―Attack power +5% at night.
―Magic resistance +5% at night.
―Additional 5% effect during a full moon.
The necklace was a magic item!
Though its effects only activated at night, its performance wasn’t bad.
No, it was actually quite good.
Obtaining such an item wasn’t easy, after all.
“Young Master Hubert, we’ve finished the cleanup.”
“Make sure to double-check for anything we might have missed.”
The soldiers had already gathered the bandits’ corpses in one place, cremated them, and collected all the bandits’ equipment and loot from the base, loading it onto the wagons.
The three wagons they had brought were nearly full.
“Just how much did these guys plunder?”
“They were a notorious bandit group, after all. They must’ve amassed quite a haul.”
The soldiers were astonished by the sheer quantity.
There were precious metals, boxes filled with silver coins, and about ten horses.
They were even using the bandits’ own carts because there wasn’t enough space in the wagons they had brought.
Even after distributing rewards to the soldiers who participated in the bandit subjugation, there would still be a significant amount left.
And the remaining items would be claimed by Schrantz and put to good use.
* * *
Ian returned to Rosen after subjugating Den’s bandit group.
Despite the size of the bandit group, the operation had been completed in just one night.
As a result, their return was swift, and his absence hadn’t caused much disruption.
However, things had been happening at the lord’s castle during that time.
“While the young masters were away, the lord lost consciousness again.”
“Again?”
“Fortunately, he regained consciousness, but his condition is deteriorating rapidly.”
Upon hearing Jurdan’s report, Ian and Hubert immediately headed to Hugo’s sickroom.
When they arrived, Hugo greeted them with a smile.
“My proud sons have returned.”
“Yes, Father. We’re back.”
Hubert approached Hugo and took his hand, while Ian stood silently behind him.
“I thought it would take a few more days, given how notorious that bandit group was.”
“Our soldiers are no ordinary soldiers, are they?”
“Even if each soldier is strong, if the commander doesn’t lead them properly, they can’t fully utilize their strength.”
Hugo gave a small smile.
From what Jurdan had heard, Den’s bandit group was infamous for its cruelty.
The villages they swept through were left barren, as if nomads had raided them.
Even regular armies sent to subjugate them had been defeated, such was their ferocity.
And hearing that their leader was a werewolf had been shocking.
Once again, Ian’s exploits were recounted.
“Did you learn a lot from Ian?”
“Yes. Seeing it firsthand, I realized that Brother didn’t achieve all that through luck alone.”
Thanks to Ian, they had successfully subjugated the bandits with minimal casualties and captured a significant number of them.
But while Hubert had learned many good things, he had also learned some harsh truths.
“It’s truly heartwarming to see brothers working together to lead the family.”
Hugo gripped his hand tightly, clearly proud.
