The servants addressed her with respect, but they didn’t treat her particularly well.
She was the mother of an illegitimate child, and her status was lowly.
If Count Erce hadn’t ordered them to treat her well while she was confined to the villa, they wouldn’t even have shown her basic courtesy.
“……Understood.”
Hanna had no choice but to turn and head back inside the villa.
Just as she was about to step inside—
“Intruders! Multiple intruders have scaled the western wall! Hurry and reinforce that area!”
Suddenly, a loud shout came from outside the garden, and soldiers who had been hiding in various places rushed toward the west.
“What’s with all the commotion lately? Who dares to scale the walls of this place?”
“Right? Just the other day, there was even a small fire in the kitchen.”
“Isn’t it because the mother of that cursed child is here? Bad things keep happening.”
“…….”
The servants whispered among themselves, but Hanna could clearly hear them.
Yet, she couldn’t say anything and had to keep her mouth shut.
She was used to hearing worse in the slums, so this was nothing new.
She bowed her head and approached the servants, but at that moment—
Crash!
“If anyone moves, they’re dead. Everyone, hands up!”
Suddenly, the door connecting to the terrace burst open, and three masked figures pointed their swords at them.
Everyone’s faces turned pale as they raised their hands.
“W-who are you…!”
One servant, too shocked, tried to shout.
Thud!
“Ugh!”
The masked figure at the front struck the servant’s head with the handle of his sword.
Blood trickled from the servant’s head, and he collapsed.
“We’re Den’s bandits. If you want to die, go ahead and shout again. I’ll cut out your tongue and feed it to the dogs, then send you straight to heaven.”
The servants immediately fell silent.
‘Wasn’t Den’s bandit group wiped out in Schrantz?’
‘Are these remnants that escaped?’
They didn’t know if these were really Den’s bandits or not.
But if they were, they couldn’t afford to provoke them.
They had all heard of the infamous cruelty of Den’s bandits.
The villages they raided were burned to the ground overnight, and their brutality was enough to make anyone shudder.
Meanwhile, the two other masked figures exchanged bewildered glances at the one who had spoken.
These men were actually Ian and the bandits from Den’s group.
‘Is this guy really a noble?’
The bandits doubted Ian’s noble status after hearing his words.
His tone was far too familiar, even to them.
It was no different from how they themselves threatened others.
“Tie them all up.”
Ignoring their reactions, Ian pointed to the woman standing behind them with her hands raised.
“You, madam, will have to come with me.”
Hearing the voice of the one called “boss,” Hanna trembled and looked up.
His voice sounded as young as her daughter’s.
But that wasn’t the important part.
She wanted to run, but she couldn’t—not because she was afraid, but because of the threat to Nea.
‘Nea will be in danger.’
Count Erce had threatened to kill Nea if she tried to escape.
Even in this situation, a mother’s concern for her daughter shone through.
“Y-you won’t get much money by kidnapping me. I’m just a lowly woman who gave birth to an illegitimate child.”
All she could do was stall or emphasize that she was the mother of an illegitimate child.
It was true that the mother of an illegitimate child wasn’t worth much.
There was a superstition that being near her brought bad luck.
But Ian’s eyes narrowed.
She was the key to making Nea his vassal.
How could she be measured in money?
Hanna might not know it, but she was invaluable.
“Enough talk. Come with me.”
Hanna couldn’t resist and was forced to follow Ian.
—
* * *
—
Kidnapping Hanna had been far too easy.
If even one knight had been present, it would have taken longer, and there was a risk of soldiers swarming in.
‘It’s a good thing there were no knights here.’
There were many reasons, but Count Erce’s complacency was the biggest factor.
He had completely eliminated any chance of Hanna escaping.
He believed that by threatening her with her daughter’s life, she wouldn’t run—and he was right.
Thanks to that, there were only guards and servants watching over her, making the rescue straightforward.
“Look at this. They’ve really stocked up, huh?”
After rescuing Hanna, Ian regrouped with the bandits.
The group that had been distracting the guards and the group that had looted the warehouse had already joined up.
Ian had divided them into three teams: one to distract, one to loot, and one to rescue Hanna.
Rom had led the distraction team and had performed admirably.
They had stuffed their bags to the brim with loot from the warehouse.
Seeing this, Ian could only admire.
Their looting skills were an art form.
As expected of a veteran bandit group, they had managed to steal a lot in such a short time.
Judging by their satisfied expressions, they had taken plenty of valuable items.
“So, are we free now?”
They had successfully completed his mission and done as they were told.
Now it was time for him to keep his promise.
“A promise is a promise. Go.”
Rom was puzzled.
Ian was letting them go just like that.
In fact, Ian mounted a horse he had prepared earlier and rode off toward Shrantz with Hanna.
Watching his figure disappear into the darkness, the bandits felt like they were dreaming.
“Is he really letting us go?”
“I thought he might kill us now that we’re no longer useful. But he’s really letting us go?”
But soon, they realized this was real and rejoiced.
“We hit the jackpot this time. This’ll feed our families for life.”
“I’ll never turn to banditry again.”
“I’m starting a new life.”
They had looted the warehouse of a noble’s villa.
With enough wealth to last a lifetime, their faces were filled with joy.
The bandits dreamed of a bright future, starting a happy second life.
“Move quickly. We need to leave this territory before the pursuit arrives…”
Rom was about to lead them out of the territory when—
“Enemy attack!”
The bandits, startled by the sudden attack, quickly formed a defensive formation, but it was useless.
A single arrow flew through the air, followed by a mysterious man on horseback charging toward them.
In an instant, the formation was broken, and the attacker began swinging his sword.
One by one, the bandits’ heads flew into the air!
“W-we surrender! We surrender, please spare our lives…!”
Swish—!
One bandit hastily dropped his weapon and tried to surrender, but the mounted attacker showed no mercy.
The mysterious man silently and methodically cut them down.
It took less than two minutes to finish them all.
“Sixteen. All accounted for.”
The mysterious man confirmed that all the bandits had been dealt with.
Clip-clop, clip-clop—!
The sound of hooves echoed in the distance. The pursuit team was approaching.
He quickly turned his horse and galloped toward Schrantz.
—
* * *
—
In the office of Count Erce’s estate.
Leon di Erce, the lord ruling over the Erce territory, received a report from Nea, who had infiltrated Schrantz.
“Within less than a month of entering, she became Hugo’s caregiver, and now she’s the eldest son’s personal maid. It seems she’s doing better than expected. It might have been better if she had become the second son’s personal maid, but she’ll still have plenty of opportunities to get close.”
The report from Nea stated that she had become Ian’s personal maid in the Schrantz household.
Ian, who was assisting with the territory’s affairs as a member of the family in place of the sick Hugo.
With Nea now his personal maid, there was a good chance she could obtain valuable information.
As a caregiver, it would have been difficult to access certain details, but as a personal maid, she could get closer.
‘That Arne was nothing but greed. After all the effort to recruit him, how could he fail to control that reckless brat and end up getting caught for corruption?’
Arne, the former deputy butler of the Schrantz household, had been recruited by him long ago.
He had been useful in extracting internal information from Schrantz, but something had gone wrong.
Whether he had stirred up trouble or been caught red-handed, he had ultimately committed suicide when the investigation began.
At least his suicide made it difficult for Schrantz to prove any connection to him, which was somewhat fortunate.
Otherwise, he and his family would have been wiped out.
“My lord!”
At that moment, his advisor rushed into the office.
“My lord, urgent news from Gins Village!”
“Urgent news?”
“Intruders claiming to be Den’s bandit group have attacked the villa in Gins Village!”
“Den’s bandit group?”
He had heard of the infamous Den’s bandit group.
Though they were called a bandit group, they were said to be as powerful as an army.
Even though he knew they were moving toward Schrantz, he had deliberately left them alone for that reason.
‘But wasn’t it said that they were completely wiped out by Schrantz?’
It was possible that someone was using Den’s bandit group’s name, or that remnants of the group had resurfaced.
The village where the villa was located was quite close to Schrantz territory, after all.
Count Erce’s face turned red with anger at the audacity of bandits attacking his villa.
“Those bandits are getting bold. How dare they attack my villa? Was there any damage?”
“That’s not the main issue. They’ve kidnapped Lady Hanna!”
“What did you just say? What were the soldiers at the villa doing? How could they let her be kidnapped?”
There were thirty guards stationed at the villa.
What were all those people doing to let Nea be taken?
“While the bandits concentrated their forces on the west, they looted the warehouse on the east, and some of them kidnapped Lady Hanna.”
“Those lunatics…!”
Of all people, why Hanna?
‘Of all times…!’
If Nea, who had become Ian’s personal maid, heard this news, she would no longer have any reason to obey him.
He had sent many people, but none had infiltrated as deeply into Schrantz as Nea.
In fact, she had performed better than expected, and he had planned to use her for a long time.
This incident couldn’t be allowed to spread.
It wasn’t just about his reputation.
It was about Nea, who had infiltrated deep into the Schrantz household.
Count Erce knew that Nea hated him and would never willingly follow him.
The only reason she obeyed was because he held her mother hostage.
If this news reached Schrantz, she would immediately betray him.
There was even a risk that information about him would leak to Schrantz.
“But there’s something strange.”
“Something strange?”
“When the pursuit team caught up, they found the bandits who had looted the warehouse dead in the streets.”
“……What are you talking about?”
“The sacks they were carrying were filled with items from the villa. Their weapons and clothing matched the descriptions given by the maids and soldiers who witnessed the attack.”
Everything was shrouded in mystery.
But solving the mystery wasn’t the priority.
Securing Hanna’s safety was the biggest issue.
“Could it be that different bandit groups teamed up to raid the villa and then fought over the spoils? That could explain the conflict. And with the pursuit team closing in, they might have taken Hanna with them.”
In territories plagued by bandits, it wasn’t uncommon for rival groups to fight among themselves and self-destruct.
His territory wasn’t immune to such chaos.
But this was just the most plausible speculation given the current situation.
“Keep the fact that she was kidnapped tightly under wraps.”
“What should we do about the soldiers and servants at the villa?”
“Tell them to keep their mouths shut if they value their lives.”
They had failed to prevent Hanna’s kidnapping, so that should be enough to keep them quiet.
“If the bandits demand a ransom for Hanna, negotiate and inform me immediately.”
Though he didn’t like it, paying the ransom was the safest way to secure her safety.
But even after several days, no ransom demand from the bandits came.
