"We will lend you a cart to escort these prisoners back. While preparing, you should clear things out between you and your lover, young man."
The village's chief came in and thanked them for helping defend their village from the bandits.
The casualty would be much higher if they didn't get the warning.
"Thank you for the help…. And she isn't my lover. We are just partners."
Seth humbly accepted the villager's help.
He planned to send someone back to call for pickup, a good thing he doesn't need to know.
But before they can return, Seth has to talk things out with Alessia. First, he asks the villager to keep an eye on the bandit while he is at it, so they can't get away while he isn't watching.
If they run now, they will die. He knows it, the villagers realize it, and Alessia is the one who will do it.
"Hey. Do you feel better now?"
Seth sat beside Alessia, who was sitting under a tree alone.
Her eyes have a shade of black from her makeup mixed up with her tears.
She is crying out heavily and messing up her look almost beyond recognition, but she is still beautiful, brokenly beautiful.
"Can I kill them now?"
Alessia raises her eyes like a broken animal, looking at Seth, begging for permission to kill these bandits.
Her green eyes are pure and tempting but also primal and rageful.
"No."
Seth strongly disagrees.
He had to admit that her charm was frighteningly compelling, she, without a doubt, was the prettiest woman Seth had ever seen, but still, he wanted to save people's lives more than create a new one.
"Then no…"
She returns to her gloomy state, watching the ground with emotionless eyes.
"Alessia!!"
Seth shouted and grabbed her head to pull them up and force her to look him in the eyes.
Alessia's heart jumps and starts to beat so fast that her face glows red.
"What I want you to do is give these people a chance!! They are your people, remember?! Do you know how hard it is for 1 life to grow? It takes years and a lot of effort to raise someone! Cutting down your people doesn't sound economically viable, does it?"
Killing someone is the last point of punishment; once you do it, there is no going back.
You can't fix them, can't heal them, can't teach them, and most importantly, if you don't care about morale, you can't use them.
She said that her territory is lacking in the economy, and she still wants to kill her workforce.
"If it can protect others, I think it does."
Alessia wanted to kill the bad one so she could protect the good one.
In her eyes, there is no going back when someone goes the criminal route. They must die.
"It sure does, but that is what prison is for. We capture them, bring them in, teach them a lesson, and hope they will restart their life for the better when they get out."
Seth agreed it could work, but it was the lazy way out.
If the root of the problem is still not fixed, there always will be a new bandit to kill.
He may fail to help the criminal in his world, but in this world, he will not let it go again.
If he can save Jayden, he can save everyone!
"You are too optimistic! These people are killers!"
"And? You, too, killed other people, so you are like them?!"
"N-No! I have my reason."
His logic forces Alessia to back down.
"They also have it, too. Let me show you."
Seth walks up to the bandit group and pulls out the youngest member.
"Hey! Yes, you, come with me."
He pointed at the youngest kid with a knife.
"Please! If you are going to hurt someone, hurt me, I force them into this!"
The bandit's leader pushes his way in to block the way and volunteers himself, thinking it is torture.
"Don't worry. I try to help you all from that murderous woman over there. Stay calm and quiet, and don't try to escape."
Seth calmed the bandit's leader, pulled the boy out from the bandit group, and took him back to Alessia.
"Hi!"
The boy said nervously.
He is still traumatized by the picture of his friend and neighbor getting turned into pieces by Alessia.
"Relax. We just want to talk. Can you introduce yourself? My name is Seth Anderson, I'm a soldier, and this lovely lady is Alessia Treehelm, your landlord's daughter."
Seth patted the boy's shoulder and introduced him and Alessia.
'He calls me lovely?!' Alessia's face turns a little red.
'She is the landlord's family?!' The boy's face is now pale as a thin paper.
"M-M-My name is Jim. I'm a farmer with my brother, Jeff, my uncle, John, and cousin, Josh, and my neighbor Bob. Please don't kill us."
He stuttered while trying to follow Seth's command.
The fear of getting annihilated is too much for such a young fellow to handle.
"Why did you become a bandit? You know it's bad and risky, right?"
Seth asked without any prior knowledge.
This also is a test to check if the criminal in this world has the same roots in his world.
"B-Because, our crop didn't sell as it used to, a lot of corn was left in the barn, and our money ran out, so we have to… or else we will starve! And we can't pay your family to keep our land too! I'm so sorry, I, no, we will hurry and try to make money as fast as possible. Please, let us go!"
Jim begs before he starts crying, making Seth panic.
"Calm down. It's ok. Let's get you back to your family."
Seth walks the boys back to his group of friends and family, and they quickly soothe him after experiencing such a traumatic event.
He knows his world lawyer will have a field day if they know he interrogated a minor without supervision, but this is another world.
"See? What is the problem?"
Seth asked.
"…The corn?"
Alessia wasn't sure what to answer, so she replied with an afraid voice, fearing to her core to get it wrong.
"Yes! It's corn! Not them! They can't sell the corn! All you have to do now is fix it."
Seth's face lit up from sheer positivity.
He can fix her.
If she at least acknowledges the roots of the problem, then there is still hope for her to help them fix it!
"How?"
But she didn't know how to do it.
She was raised as a mage and a bride, not a leader.
Finding bandits is the first time she starts doing this kind of thing.
"I don't know. It's your job as a noble to fix it. Your land, your people, your property. I remember you said you have a problem with a business deal. That should be the start. Or maybe educate your people to sell something else, such as wheat? The village I was in yesterday seems ok."
The most critical first step of his plan to help Krista and the people is having someone on the top have the same goal as him.
If he wants to influence the direction of this land, the quickest way is to borrow.
And he is sure it can't start with Peter. Look at what he forced the prisoner to do!
He makes them silent, not even workout, just dead silent to keep the peace inside the prison.
Also, he and he are co-workers, and Peter is his superior.
Changing someone's mind when they are your superior is much more complicated than changing someone on the same level.
Having Alessia interested in him is a blissful thing that can happen in his situation.
"I can't… only my father has such authority, but he is missing, and my mother…."
Alessia is reluctant to speak of her mother's current "situation."
"Your mother?"
Seth got piqued by it because her mother is his target.
If he can make her mother forgive Krista, half of his problem is solved.
"She… is stressed."
She spoke implicitly.
"Ok. I understand the situation now, your father, the landlord, is missing, and the second in command or your mother is stressed, which leaves you, the daughter, trying her best to deal with the bandit in the hope of her father returning. Am I getting this all correctly?"
Seth summed up all the problems the land has to offer and what the girl before him must endure.
It was far worse than he imagined.
"Yes, that is precisely what happens within our territory…."
Alessia hated to admit this, but it was the truth. Her family land is a failure with no hope in sight.
Thank the militia's capability to keep whatever stability they have left, but it is about time everything crumbles down.
"Seth, do you still want to help me?"
She is afraid that he will leave after he knows how deep their trouble is.
Unlike her, he doesn't have to fix any of this. He can go to another territory and live a happy life.
"Of course I do. We had a deal, remember?"
But Seth always keeps his promise.
The deal is that he will help. All she needs to do is prove her prediction is correct, and she does.
Not only that, he still has Krista to save and innocent people to protect.
It all boils down to his core; he wants to help people in need.
"Thank you, thank you so much!"
Alessia burst out a big smile and hugged him wholeheartedly.
She had been enduring it for so long.
While her family's legacy is falling apart, her mother always pushes her away, the militia keeps her out, and her father is missing.
She struggled with all this alone for months, but not anymore. She has him now.
"It must be hard for you, but don't worry, we will pull through this together."
Seth gently patted her head, feeling pity for her.
He couldn't imagine the suffering it would be in her shoes.
Compared to him at 18. He only had to fear his college exam, but she had to face a crisis of this magnitude alone.
"Yes… together…"
Alessia whispered silently.
No one could know what face she was making underneath his hug.
"Uh… The cart is ready, and we still have around 2 hours before sunset. Do you want to go now or stay for the night? We have a spare hut."
The villager who got tasked to bring the two back doesn't want to interfere, but the sun is setting, so he suggests an alternative option for both to take.
"Yes? Yes! Let us go now. We can't leave prisoners in the open at night, aren't we?"
After realizing what this looked like, Seth unwrapped Alessia's arm and started escorting the prisoners onto the cart.
"Also, you guys, don't ever speak about anything between her and me, or I will send you to her care, if you know what I mean, got it?"
Seth threatens the prisoners with trembling legs.
If the news got misinterpreted, it could foil his plan.
He doesn't want the militia to think he is a traitor working under Alessia to infiltrate their rank.
Also, he DOESN'T wish for Alessia's mother's attention unless he has something to show her first.
Having Alessia crying in his arms is the kind of thing that can go quickly out of hand.
The bandits looked at Seth, looked back at Alessia, and spoke in unison.
"Yes!"
Because what they saw was a creepy smile on Alessia's face when she was looking at Seth.
That smile told them; If they failed Seth, she was more than willing to avenge him.