Chapter 51 Territorial Dispute III

Translator: Isekai Shousetsu

This is so bothersomeI want to quickly go home.

Dont say that. This is our job, you know.

Thats right. We have to do this properly.

Ron, Roswald, and Soyon are policing the border with the DeBell Territory.

The patrol force consists of 60 cavalry and 100 infantry. Its a moderate scope.

Theres a reason they hand to send this much to patrol. That is a pact with Regal DeBell.

From now on, in the case refugees came again, DeBell wanted the Ars Clan to intensify patrols so they could be caught.

In other words, theyre implying that they will overlook last time but the next time would be unforgiveable.

Almis doesnt have any intention to completely antagonize the DeBell clan at present. Thats why we he conceded to the treaty and allowed the patrols.

Captain! There seems to be a conflict at that direction between the DeBell Territorys forces and a group that looks like refugees.

Is that so? Lets head there immediately. (Ron)

Ron and company gather together the light skirmisher soldiers and head out to the scene of the action.

The clear boundary that divides the Ars Territory and the DeBell Territory is a river. Its a river thats as high as a mans waist in its deepest points. Roughly at the eastern bank of the river is the Ars Territory while at the western bank is the DeBell Territory.

Ron and company arrives quickly and conveys to the refugees:

Citizens are barred from migrating arbitrarily. Be obedient and return peacefully to the DeBell Territory!!

After hearing this, the refugees drop their shoulders and stop all resistance.

They did not immediately follow the DeBell soldiers straddling the border. But the story became different when it came to the Ars soldiers they were on the lookout for. The failure of their escape was decided.

From the very beginning, they went and fled after hearing the rumor that some people successfully fled to the Ars Territory. That the lord of the Ars clan accepted the fugitives.

Therefore, the shock was great. They couldnt resist and got arrested by the DeBell soldiers.

By all rights, they would have been taken back uneventfully and that would be the end of it.

However, this time is different.

Hey!! What the hell are you doing!!

Roswald shouts.

The DeBell soldiers begin to massacre the refugees in plain sight of Roswald. Furthermore, they didnt do so by decapitating them.

They kill the refugees by hitting them, kicking them, breaking their bones, and various other horrible means. Its as if theyre putting up a show for Roswald and the others.

Hey!! Isnt that just a kid!!

The soldiers begin to mercilessly kill even the little children. Little by little they cut off their bodies. Ron hears the childrens screams

How cruel.

The soldiers rape the women right before Ron and the others. They strangled. They plucked out the eyes for fun. They violated the refugees as if they were toys.

Soyon reflexively buries her face on Rons chest. However, even if she covered her face, the shrieks continue to enter her ears. No matter how hard she tried to cover her ears, the shouts penetrate through the gaps.

However, they wont be able to do anything about them. The reason is they couldnt come over to the DeBell Territory.

The Ars soldiers dont have the power to challenge jurisdiction. If Almis were here, then everything could have turned out differently but

Roswald involuntarily bites his lips. They cant do anything.

It would only hurt if they stayed here any longer. Its time to decide to return.

Save us!!! They hear a little girls scream. Roswald reflexively looks back.

The little girl is being held down by several men. She was around five years oldshe probably hasnt even gotten her first menstruation.

Roswalds hand moves on its own. A spear leaves his hands and after a while hits the heart of the raping soldier.

From that point on, the Ars soldiers attacked the DeBell soldiers one by one and began saving the refugees.

We got em, huh. (Bermet)

As expected of my Bermet!! Regal is in high spirits.

Its a case where they make the enemy do the first move because, after all, taking the mine away by force would appear untimely. Its only natural to mobilize the army for defense if the enemy made the first move.

After that, they would make their own move after the enemy guards escape. After they secure the rock salt mines, they would send an emissary to Almis Ars in the confusion to make peace. They would ask for the control of the salt mine in exchange for overlooking the pre-emptive attack.

By Bermets estimate, they would probably be able to take about a third of the salt mine.

As expected, taking all of the mine would probably be impossible. The rock salt mine holds vast profits after all.

Nonetheless, theres a huge controversial point in the plan. People will hear of the scandal that they massacred refugees. Even if they were just refugees, people would fault you and argue that massacring them was overkill.

So, what do you do about that?

If they were criminals that deserved to die, then there wont be a problem.

In the DeBell Territory, there are a lot of villages that have defaulted on their tax payments many times over. In the DeBell Territory, the punishment for exceeding a certain number of years for tax defaulting is the death penalty.

Nonetheless, its not like dead bodies will turn into gold coins. You cant get something from nothing so it couldnt be helped. So, the custom was to just let them off.

Theyll be lent next years seed rice so that they could pay their taxes next year.

However, this time, they went with not forgiving the defaulters. Furthermore, they moved them to a prison with murderers and robbers near the Ars Territory.

A few will be execute