NOBLEMAN ADVENTURER

Water

We spent the night with one eye open. In the middle of the night, a loud ruckus appeared outside my bedroom. I hastily threw on a coat. Garlan and Bacchanal had already exited the house.

Outside, I joined their sides as we fought the unknown enemy.

The fight didn't last long, as our side had outnumbered the enemy.

I approached a male enemy, intending to end his life, when an old man appeared and cried, "No, please don't kill my son."

"What's going on here?" I angrily demanded.

"We apologize. Please don't kill us. We were hungry. There was no food, so our children had to turn to banditry to obtain just enough to keep us from starvation. We don't mean to kill. We only sought a way to live."

The old man, one of the villagers, explained through his snot and tears.

I was not who bullied the old and weak. And when I thought of the early days when I was a servant without enough to eat, I could understand how hunger could drive people to do the unthinkable.

"Bah! You're all shameless murderers!" Garlan spat these words out.

Indeed, Garlan had a point. These villagers-turned-bandits would have killed us, if it was us who had been defeated.

"Sir, you don't know," another old villager bravely stepped forward. Our king oppresses his people. Every year, we pay taxes. When the drought happened, he didn't care and stole our women and children to serve him or the nobles. There are even rumors he sold them as slaves to foreign countries. With no other choice, our sons had to do what they had to in order to continue to live. I beg you to have mercy on us!"

Then in unison, the villagers and bandits shouted out, "By the grace of the goddess, please have mercy on us!"

"Just who is this goddess? That her followers think they can escape by evoking her name," Bacchanal said, with a sneer on his face.

It was difficult to make a choice.

Reducing it down to the core of the matter, it's about whether to punish or not to punish.

I didn't know if I should punish these individuals. I'm sure they killed, as the miasma densely surrounded them.

If we killed them, it would be the end for them. If we released them, they would only go back to banditry, once starvation overtook them. It would be an endless cycle of banditry.

As I was about to issue the order to kill them, I saw Raine staring intently from the crowd. Somehow, under her fervent gaze, I couldn't kill them.

I deliberated some more, and finally came to a possible solution, which would help the villagers and keep them from banditry.

"Take me to your cistern," I commanded.

The cistern was underground. It was a manmade underground room, big enough to fit fourteen carriages. If the cistern was full to the brim, the remaining villagers could live for at least a year with no concerns.

Then, I told them not to enter. I used my tradeshop to purchase water and filled it to the brim. Then I exited the cistern and told the villagers.

"I prayed to the merciful god Septimus and his divine consort Eris. For the love of mortals, they answered my plea. They have filled your cistern with water."

The villagers rejoiced. "Praise to the god and his divine consort. Praise them for their mercy."

I continued, "You have received the blessings of the gods. Forget the evil in your heart. Wait for the rains to come."

Under her approving eyes, I turned around. I was still uncertain if I had made the correct choice.