I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 76

North of Crossroads, the hills are undeveloped. All the land north of the front lines that could be cultivated has already been cleared. Even though it’s not as fertile as the land south of the front lines, they have to scrape every inch of land to survive. The fact that some areas remain undeveloped even in these harsh conditions means,

“This mountain is a bit… rugged.”

The terrain is treacherous. Naturally, there are no proper roads. It’s just a raw mountain path. Having lived a life far removed from refreshing hobbies like mountain climbing, I quickly became exhausted and started panting after climbing just a bit. This is killing me!

“Are you alright, my lord? Shall I carry you to our destination?”

“Oh, really? Is that okay?”

I was about to hop onto Lucas’s back when,

“…….”

Evangeline’s sharp gaze from behind was piercing…….

“……What is it, junior? That look.”

“No, it’s nothing in particular.”

She says it’s nothing, but then immediately opens her mouth.

“I was just thinking, I’m envious. You even have your own personal transport.”

“…….”

“While your subordinates are struggling and sweating as they climb, you’re being carried comfortably on a knight’s back. Truly befitting of royalty.”

“…….”

I glanced behind me. I could see dozens of soldiers following us up the mountain. At first, I said I’d go alone, but Lucas vehemently opposed it. So, when I tried to take only Lucas, Evangeline, who had somehow heard the news, vehemently joined in. And when I tried to take just the two of them… it was a repeat of that. I didn’t bring Damian on purpose. He had already pushed himself too hard, and this might be a situation where we have to fight. Anyway, everyone was struggling with the sudden mountain climb, and Evangeline was calling me out for trying to be comfortable alone.

“Alright, let’s do this.”

I raised my index finger at Evangeline, who was about to complain more.

“I’ll carry you.”

“Huh?”

Evangeline’s eyes widened.

“Y-you’re going to c-carry me, senior?!”

“Yeah. And Lucas will carry me.”

My serious nonsense made both Evangeline and Lucas look dumbfounded. I crossed my arms and chuckled.

“I’m taking care of my subordinates and making myself comfortable, it’s a win-win!”

“Wait a minute. Then Lucas will be incredibly tired!”

“No, in the first place, we can’t carry both of you…….”

While we were exchanging such ridiculous jokes and climbing the mountain path, an officer who was following behind bowed his head deeply to me.

“I am so sorry, Your Highness… because of our mistake…….”

I glanced at the man. This officer is the captain of the prisoner transport unit. They had an accident while transporting five death row inmates to Crossroads.

“No, no. Thanks to you, I got some unexpected exercise, so it’s all good. Oh, my back~”

“I am truly sorry, Your Highness! Please, show us your mercy!”

As I groaned, the officer almost glued himself to the ground.

“Hey, hey. I’m just kidding. Kidding. Can’t I even say anything? Do you think I’m going to eat you or something?”

Evangeline shrugged at my flustered reaction.

“You do have a history of causing trouble in the capital, senior.”

Ah, right. Before I possessed him, Ash was a menace in the capital. This officer and the transport unit members also came from the capital, so they must think I’m that ferocious, tyrannical Prince Ash. It’s natural for them to be frozen in fear.

“Anyway, the escaped death row inmates fled into these hills, right?”

“Y-yes, that’s correct. As you can see, their tracks lead into this mountain.”

On the rough mountain path, there were scattered footprints of people who had come before us. There were also traces of something heavy being dragged.

“If they were going to go somewhere, why not a good road? Why this rugged mountain…….”

Evangeline, a local, solved my question.

“There are bandits living in the hills north of Crossroads. They’ve been a nuisance for quite some time.”

“Bandits?”

“Yes. They’re vicious people who attack merchants and war refugees and plunder them.”

Evangeline picked up something that had been discarded by the side of the road. It was a broken spear.

“It seems like there are bandits living in this mountain too.”

“Hmm.”

I carefully surveyed the surroundings. Indeed, broken weapons and cartwheels were scattered here and there, indicating that people had been passing through. Lucas, who had picked up a knife buried in the dirt, narrowed his brow.

“Could the escaped death row inmates coming here be related to the bandits?”

“Well, if their goal in escaping was to become the bandit king, it wouldn’t be a bad new start, I guess.”

There are too many things that don’t make sense. ‘Five former soldier death row inmates from the capital escape from a transport carriage all at once. Then, they accurately choose to flee into the hills where bandits are…’ Something feels off. I glared at the transport unit captain again.

“There’s no lie in your report, is there?”

“N-no, of course not! How could I possibly lie to Your Highness?”

The transport unit captain immediately waved his hands. Hmm, well. I’ll find out soon enough. After about ten more minutes of climbing, Lucas, who was at the very front, suddenly sharpened his eyes.

“I see something, my lord.”

“Let’s see~”

Following Lucas, I could see it too when I reached the ridge. It was a mountain fortress. The bandits’ hideout, surrounded by wooden fences. The fortress, built on a flat area halfway up the mountain, was surprisingly large. It looked like it could house at least thirty people.

“There might be enemies.”

Swish-

Lucas drew his longsword from his waist and gave me a look.

“I’ll go check first.”

“Just check. Don’t push yourself.”

“I’ll go too!”

Evangeline followed Lucas. She didn’t draw her spear, but took out her shield and equipped it on her left arm. The two knights took the lead, and I and the rest of the soldiers followed slowly behind. I was worried that we might be showered with arrows as we approached the fortress, but strangely, there was no sign of anyone at the fortress. Instead, as we got closer, a certain smell became stronger. This is…….

The scent of blood.

“I smell blood.”

I nodded, hearing Lucas’s whisper from the front. Could there have been a fight inside? Lucas, standing right next to the wooden fence surrounding the fortress, gripped his sword tightly. Evangeline adjusted her shield.

“We’ll breach. Three, two…….”

One!

Bang-!

Lucas charged into the fortress, slamming his shoulder against the main gate. Evangeline and the soldiers poured in after him. I leisurely walked in after them.

“Hmm.”

The inside of the fortress was… a mess. Dead bandits (or what appeared to be bandits) were scattered everywhere, and the whole place was chaotic with blood and broken weapons. ‘There were bandits here. But now they’re gone.’ I was examining the blood-soaked fortress with a slightly disgusted feeling when I heard Lucas’s voice from over there.

“My lord! There’s a survivor here!”

I quickly ran over and saw a boy who looked to be in his late teens, trembling with a pale face.

“U-uh, ugh, uuu……!”

“Calm down, bandit kid. We’re the royal army.”

I crouched down in front of the kid Lucas was holding and spoke in a warm voice.

“Of course, depending on your charges, you could be hanged or made to eat prison food, but I won’t kill you here.”

The trembling young bandit spat out as if in a desperate struggle.

“W-we, we didn’t do anything wrong…! W-we just robbed a carriage coming from the capital…….”

“Robbed a carriage?”

“Y-yes! It was a fancy-looking carriage, so we thought the contents would be valuable too… We thought we could make money by selling the contents and the carriage…….”

I clicked my tongue.

“But when you opened the stolen carriage, there was nothing delicious, just some prisoners. And those prisoners beat you all up. Is that the situation?”

The young bandit nodded frantically.

I turned sharply to the transport unit captain.

“Transport Captain. You clearly said the prisoners escaped on their own, didn’t you? But according to this kid, it seems like the transport carriage was just robbed by bandits.”

“T-that is…….”

“I think I understand. You’re the prisoner transport unit from the capital, so you wouldn’t want to lose face by saying you were robbed by mere bandits in the countryside.”

“I-I’m sorry. It’s not that I was trying to avoid responsibility…….”

I growled fiercely.

“But, Transport Captain. I can forgive you for losing prisoners to bandits, but I can’t forgive you for lying to me……?”

“Y-your, your, I deserve to die, Your Highness!”

“I forgive mistakes, but I don’t forgive intentional actions. There will be appropriate punishment, so keep that in mind.”

The transport captain trembled and collapsed to the ground. Why did you lie when it would be so easily discovered? Did you think I was the type to just listen to reports and believe them without going to the site myself? ‘……I guess you could have thought that.’ Anyway, now I see the whole picture. The transport unit was attacked by bandits while transporting five death row inmates to Crossroads in a carriage. The bandits seized the carriage, brought it to their fortress, and opened it, only to be beaten up by the prisoners inside. The transport unit made a false report that the prisoners had escaped on their own, and now that their lie has been exposed, they will be thoroughly punished by me when they return. ‘The situation has been explained, but…….’ So? Where are the five death row inmates in question now?

“Senior!”

At that moment, I heard Evangeline’s voice from inside the fortress.

“Here, this way! Come quickly!”

I got up and headed towards her. Inside the fortress, Evangeline was standing with a flustered expression, pointing to the courtyard in the center of the fortress.

“Look.”

“……!”

I was also surprised and widened my eyes when I looked there. In the center of the devastated fortress. Five people dressed in the black uniforms of the Everblack Empire were sitting. No, they were sitting, but……. Clang. Clank. They were bound by chains, self-imposed. They were kneeling, blindfolded and gagged. Everyone who entered the courtyard of the fortress one by one was stunned by the sight.

“Welcome, Prince. And everyone from Crossroads.”

The man sitting in the middle of the five prisoners slowly opened his mouth.

“We five death row inmates have been waiting for you to come.”

He was the only one among the prisoners who was not blindfolded or gagged, but he was bound by chains just like the others. ‘Did they bind themselves?’ Why? They had a chance to escape, so why didn’t they run and instead bound themselves and waited for us?

“We have no intention of escaping or fleeing, and we hope that our sentences will be carried out as quickly as possible and that a report will be sent to the higher-ups.”

The man slowly raised his head. Under the hood of his tattered, dirty imperial uniform, a clear, lime-green hair fell down. I was surprised and slightly opened my mouth. In this game, there is only one race with that hair color. ‘An elf……?!’

“Please, everyone.”

The elf man bowed his head and repeated.

“Please execute us as soon as possible. If not, you can cut our heads off right here.”

The other prisoners also bowed their heads deeply. They kept saying things that were hard to understand.

“Please, kill us quickly.”

“…….”

No, what do you mean kill you? I screamed inwardly. ‘I’ve already marked you as my sub-party! You can’t die!’