Another year has passed. It was the 21st year of my life.
Knowing that the leader was not a Knight, but only a Squire, I was able to kill him and all those who disagreed.
Although I soon had to take off my armor and there were a couple of minor problems, but the next severed heads of the infidels finally convinced everyone that even without set of armor I could kill any of them.
I already knew that there were only three Knight Apprentices in this city, two of them were the local lord Viscount Rashford and one of his guards. It was their man named Mark who visited me after the massacre in the gang and notified me of who I should give most of the proceeds to.
He was extremely dissatisfied with the massacre and warned that if due to my actions the revenue falls, then nothing good awaits me. I killed a lot of people who were already lacking in the gang.
I had no choice, so of course I maintained all previous agreements with the local lord through his intermediary.
The local gang basically controlled various brothels, gambling and the like.
Literally any person could become a bandit in the current realities, both a peasant who lost his harvest and a merchant who lost his goods. Therefore among other things, we made sure that we did not have any competitors in the city, thereby essentially maintaining order in the city for the lord.
At times we have operated inside or outside the city on a tip from the lord or on occasion.
But despite the promotion and the fact that all the gang money was going through me, I was even more disappointed.
Magic crystals were extremely rare in this part of the continent. There was no fixed price for them, and for the possession of them, the nobles are ready to bite into each other's throats. The turnover of money in the gang was far from enough to expect to get at least one of these in the coming years. At this rate a lifetime might not be enough for me to get what I need.
So a year ago, I started to expand my network of spies in nearby cities in the hope of hitting the jackpot more.
I also occasionally visited orphanages run by the gang and changed overseers of children with additional instructions.
For example forbade maiming or torturing children. Even hired a teacher to give them basic education and was going to train them to fight. At least for this I had more than enough money.
Partially I was influenced by my own life experiences, but I did this not only because of personal experience and a sense of compassion.
There were also quite a few informants in my gang, both from the lord and from other influential people in the surrounding cities. And in fact everyone had their own thoughts, they obeyed me only because of the power. Therefore, I will need these children in the future.
I studied the information on the current children in the gang. Making sure that they have no connections or relatives. I chose seven 13-year-old children who managed to build up some muscle mass over the past year.
Without prying eyes, I gave them a small initial part of the Knight Technique lasting only 10 seconds, hiding this part in the middle of other stupid exercises.
Carefully observing the results, I noticed a reaction from one of the guys. Although the others followed the instructions with no problem, this one seemed suddenly sweaty and tense.
Letting the others go, I stopped the boy. He burned with shame and began to apologize.
- Excuse me, Mr. Tarrister. I suddenly felt unwell ... - he said, lowering his head.
I laughed. The guy is pretty straightforward.
- Everything is fine. Remind me what's your name?
- Sellinger. I am Sellinger sir.
- All right, Sellinger, I have a serious conversation with you.
Then I began to tell him about the same thing that Gray once told me back in the day. I needed to make sure no one knew that he was practicing the Knight technique. Obviously the guy had talent. Of course I was going to keep an eye on him in case he started talking too much.
- I understand, sir. I swear on my life that no one will ever hear or see me practicing the Knight technique.
Realizing that he had the talent of a Knight, Sellinger's eyes burned with delight.
- Good. Pay more attention to simple physical training. Use the technique only once a day and do not dare to overdo it. If after a minute it becomes difficult, then do not continue further. I hope I don't have to repeat what I said twice. - I narrowed my eyes severely.
- Yes Mr Tarrister.
Finally I let the guy go.
The next day I sat in a tavern and watched the local contingent, while wandering in my thoughts and considering options for further action.
A red-faced man was walking next to me, his gait was unsteady and he was distracted by one of the women in the tavern, he stumbled and spilled some wine on my table, but continued to walk on without noticing anything.
Seeing how splashes of wine touched my clothes, I went berserk.
I got up without a word and took out my sword, after which I blew his head clean with a sweeping blow. The headless body fell to the floor, splattering blood all around. There was a noise around.
Most of the patrons were horrified, but were smart enough to simply leave the tavern quickly. However, one stupid woman began to yell.
- Killer! Killer!
I looked at her and frowned, then took out a dagger from my belt and launched it in her direction. The dagger pierced her forehead and she quickly died with open eyes and horror on her face.
Finally, the tavern was quiet.
One of the middle-aged men in leather armor approached this woman and took out a dagger, after which he began to carefully wash it with wine. After cleaning and wiping the dagger dry, he approached me.
- Here you go boss. - he said with a smile on his face, holding out the dagger to me.
I nodded and returned the dagger to its place, continuing to drink wine.
Soon the city guards came, seeing me they twisted their faces but remained silent. Finding volunteers among the locals, they ordered them to carry away the corpses.
On this day, a lord's intermediary named Mark visited me off schedule.
- Mr. Tarrister, I strongly advise you to refrain from such occurrences in the future. - replied the old man in neat clothes with an expressionless face.
I did not know my last name, so I used the last name of Gray, considering him to be my family.
- Are these your words or the words of your master? - I asked, glaring at him.
However, he ignored my question.
- If you are not satisfied with your situation, this can be quickly corrected. Don't forget yourself Mr. Tarrister. Did we understand each other?
I squinted and there was a tense silence in the room. But soon I smiled and answered politely.
- I am very ashamed of what happened and I guarantee that this will not happen again. - I replied.
Mark nodded dryly and that was the end of the conversation. As soon as he left, the smile left my face.
Obviously, I had reached the limit of the lord's patience, even one Knight's Apprentice would be enough to kill me, so Mark wasn't exaggerating.
It was a bad idea to kill the inhabitants of the city in front of everyone. The lord was the guarantor of the safety of the people of the city and my actions clearly tarnished his reputation, he will not tolerate this for long.
I looked at the picture hanging on the wall. On it, a small warrior in brilliant armor fearlessly rushed at the dragon. Most of the picture was occupied by this very dragon being ten times larger than the Knight.
Of course the quality of the painting was questionable, but I decided to keep it anyway. Looking at the picture, I thoughtfully knocked on the table, wandering in my thoughts.
Soon there was a knock on the office and I gave permission to enter.
One of the deputies came to me with an envelope in his hands, but he did not come alone.
I looked at Risa with the baby in her arms. She said the child was mine. But we broke up four years ago, and judging by the appearance, the child could not have been more than two years old. Although I knew that Risa was not particularly smart, I did not expect this.
Obviously, she heard that things were going well for me here and decided to find her own benefit. I rubbed my whiskey and said.
- Do you know what I do?
- B..bandit? - uncertainly answered Risa.
- Right. I recently cut off the head of a man who soiled my sleeve. I don't remember exactly how many people I managed to kill.
Risa fidgeted in her chair as I continued.
- You may not know, but there are Mages in this world. I am familiar with one of them. If I pay a sufficient price, he can check if my blood really flows in the veins of this child. However, I have killed people behind a crooked look. Do you really think that if I pay for the services of the Mage and find out that this is not my child, you can still stay alive? Both you and your child will go to feed the pigs! - I raised my voice towards the end.
Of course the Mage part was a lie. But it didn't matter.
I managed to scare Risa, only I overdid it. She looked at me with wide eyes and it seemed her brain stopped thinking.
I had to calmly explain the situation. Her crime was not too severe, just a women looking for a better life. Realizing what was happening and realizing that nothing good awaited her, she finally admitted that the child was not mine.
I gave order to give her some money and send her back home. Forgetting it as an insignificant episode.
Finally, I took the envelope and opened it, reading the contents.
One of the informants reported an interesting cargo. There was only one carriage, quite decent and unmarked. Carriage was accompanied by about 20 people, which was quite unusual.
From the city where they left, there were only two main routes, and if I leave now, then with a probability of 50% I will be able to intercept the cargo.
Recently my patience has been rather limited, so without much hesitation, I took people and went to intercept the cargo.
This was the second time this year that I decided to personally go on a mission outside. For the first time, I managed to get a rather unusual sword and about a hundred gold including silver.
Quite a large amount for me, but at the same time it was far from enough, I needed bigger fish and I hoped that this time I would be more lucky.
Soon thirty armed horsemen under my leadership left the territory of the city.