Episode 59: Rescue. The recapturing battle ended.
“Hiiiii, monster!? ”
“Retreat! ”
The mercenaries escorting the slave merchant scattered and escaped after hearing the distressed order to retreat.
Fleeing from an enemy was a clear violation of a contract for mercenaries, but everyone present valued their life higher than gold.
“Sub-leader, what about the merchandise!? ”
“Leave those brats! Hurry up! ”
And especially with their client, the slave merchant, in the state he was. After all, like the saying goes, “Dead men tell no tales”, the mercenaries had no obligation to stake their lives protecting the goods of a dead person.
(What is this about a “monster”? are they referring to me?)
Yamato recalled that certainly, he had charged alone into the mercenary group, and killed the slave merchant along with about a dozen mercenaries by himself.
After that, a person the mercenaries called “Leader” came wielding a battle axe, but he too was defeated alongside a few more mercenaries.
However, Yamato remembered he gave them the option to surrender just before the a.s.sault started, to refrain from unnecessary bloodshed.
And even after giving them that choice, he felt it was rude to treat him as a “monster”.
“What do we do about the guys fleeing? Ani-sama.”
“No need to chase after them. Let"s leave this place with the cage carriage for now.”
“Yes! ”
The mercenaries who were the last to leave the place were welcomed by the newly arrived light bow cavalry from the Han clan, led by Kuran.
Alongside the road in front of her, the tragic scene of mercenaries" bodies littering the highway could be seen.
And in that place of death, only one person was moving.
“Alright, Mountain Dog Group, let"s go back.”
With the cage carrying the children successfully secured, they decided to leave that place before the border guards came.
“This far should be enough.”
They had moved a considerable distance away from where the raiding took place.
Yamato spoke to the group in order for everyone to relax and calm their alertness.
“Haa, finally.”
“It"s tiring to be quiet all this time, right?”
The children of Urd who were riding the horse-drawn wagon opened their mouths and all at once started chatting.
Of course, they still kept their alertness, but young children still loved to talk a lot.
“I really wanted to see Yamato-niichan"s charge…”
“Yamato-ani-sama"s figure was amazing while he fought… with all those movements that could hardly be seen.”
“For real!? We also wanted to see it.”
The children of the crossbow squad, who had joined the group later, were envious as they heard the story from the Han clan girl, Kuran.
It seemed that the charge of Yamato towards the slave merchant and him defeating him in a single hit was a sight to behold.
By the way, the children who were rescued had been moved to the wagon from Urd which came later.
The horses were set free and the wagon was destroyed in the mountains in order to get rid of the evidence.
This way, Yamato felt they couldn"t be charged with robbery and therefore, returned to the village with a bit of peace of mind.
“Will you take “the children” to the village, Yamato-sama?”
“Yeah. It"s a choice they themselves made, after all. Like the Han clan children, we will welcome them in the village.”
“I knew you would say so, Yamato-sama.”
Liscia anxiously glanced at the crestfallen children riding the Urd wagon.
Those kids were children of the Majiri people.
After being rescued, Yamato presented them with a choice for their future.
『Will you go back to your hometown? Or do you want to go to Urd village with us?』these two choices.
“Everyone was killed…”
“Papa and mama were also…”
According to the children, the Majiri adults were slaughtered by the slave merchant and his mercenary group.
Even if they were to return to their hometown, they, being orphans and alone, didn"t have the ability to survive.
Therefore, everyone expressed their intention to go to the village of Urd.
And right now, feeling again the sadness of losing their families, the children simply looked down, depressed.
But Yamato knew that after going to Urd, and feeling the warmth of an ordinary life and work again, they would gradually recover, just like the Han clan children did.
The people of this different world, a warring world, lived their lives strongly, and were even strong when facing adversity and suffering.
“Seems like the children in the village will increase again, Yamato-sama.”
“Yeah, it seems so.”
Looking at the children with a gentle gaze, Liscia said to Yamato.
Not counting the children of Urd, some tens of children from the Han clan were rescued from the windmill bandits.
And now that some tens of children from the Majiri people were joining, the population of children in the Urd village would be quite high.
Aside from them, the only adults were the old people from Urd and the elders from the Mountain Clan People who came back after reclaiming the rock salt mine.
The only two adults who could be considered proper ones, were the little Liscia and Yamato, who came from another world.
If one were to think about it carefully, the population ratio was something out of the ordinary in the village.
“I"ll have to recalculate the housing, as well as the clothing and food…”
“Yeah. Sorry, I"ll be counting on you, Liscisan.”
All the children in the village were hard workers and their physical abilities were also high.
But regardless of that, their mental ages were still low, so they left the final saying in everything in the village to Liscia and Yamato.
And as a result, Yamato felt the hardships and future management plans of the village will increase even more.
“It"s okay, I like children after all… just like you do, Yamato-sama.”
“Sorry, I"m not really good with children.”
Ever since he was in j.a.pan, Yamato was never good at socializing.
And in particular, dealing with small children was what he found the most difficult.
He smiled wryly as he remembered when he pa.s.sed near the kindergarten children in his neighborhood, they cried and ran away every time he smiled at them.
“When you first came to the village, you had this unapproachable atmosphere, Yamato-sama. But right now, I think you are the most loved by the children in the village.”
While saying so, Liscia glanced at the Urd children riding the wagon and the Han clan children guarding the surroundings.
“Is that so… Maybe I should try more at practicing my smile.”
Saying so, Yamato raised the corners of his mouth and his eyes tried to make a smiling expression.
This was the basics of interpersonal relationships that Yamato had read in a book back in j.a.pan, the smile.
“Whoaa!? Yamato-niichan, what"s with that amazing face!? ”
“What"s wrong!? …! Everyone hide! ”
“Ptfff, what a face! ”
But still, it seemed the level of his smile skill was still low. The surrounding children all reacted at the same time.
(I guess I still got a long way to go…)
And so, together with a cart with new inhabitants, they all returned to Urd village.
OOO
You like reading but sometimes you don"t have the time? Sign up for a free trial on Audible.com and get two audio books for free using the link below!