1

"Be careful! Don't hesitate to run away if things get dangerous!"

"'Relax! You know that I'm strong, right?"

Erwin said confidently. After that, Haruki also put on a serious face and said.

"Don't worry about me too, while I can die! when it comes to humans! I'm pretty much unkillable"

Yes, Haruki also had magic. Though he never told what special ability he had. But considering that Haruki is a very logical person, I will believe that he doesn't overestimate his power.

"Princess, we are here too! I swear to protect Lord Erwin and Young Master Haruki with our lives"

"That's right princess, just leave everything to us"

In addition to Haruki and Erwin, the two of them also invited Herman and some of my slaves to carry out their mission. And that is to eliminate the bandits that are lurking close to my territory.

"Stop! You are my slaves! Nobody dies without my permission"

Herman and his colleagues looked at each other then smiled and excitedly said. . .

"As you wish! Princess!"

"As you wish! Princess!"

"As you wish! Princess!"

"As you wish! Princess!"

We couldn't allow those bandits to keep blocking the road to my place. While our partnership with the Alliance can help us buy things. They can only do delivery when we have bulk or massive order, so for daily necessities. Dangerous roads also mean more costly fees. And we don't want that. We mostly still rely on Jonas. The man who is going to be in bed for half a month or even more.

Forcing us to do shopping by ourselves.

Shopping may sound trivial. But for us, it's far from a leisure trip where you can have fun without thinking too much. First, we need to shop in the next town. And that place is far. It takes 2 hours to go there and 2 more hours to go back.

Second, we don't have a horse to pull a carriage, so everyone needs to walk. Walking for three hours while carrying heavy goods? yeah. That sounds like torture. And now we have bandits adding to our problem.

I didn't want any of my people to get hurt or die whether it was from bandits, winter, illness, or hunger. That's why we decided to take out those former soldiers turned bandits ASAP.

Of course, we couldn't just show up and strike them. We don't even know where they are. We simply didn't have enough competent people who could fight.

That's why. Erwin immediately modify some of the crossbows for my slave to use as a weapon, then he and Haruki also took the time to scout the enemy's position based on information from Jonas.

After five days of preparation. Finally, everyone agreed to carry it out today.

"Good!"

Finally, everyone finished transporting their weapons. I say weapons but all they brought were eight composite crossbows and an air rifle for Erwin who was more familiar with modern weapons. The modified crossbow is now easier to reload, more accurate, and stronger while the air rifle got some tweaks too. Now it shot a bigger pallet from much higher pressure. Making it more deadly. Even for someone with armor.

"I want to make a better weapon, unfortunately, we don't have the time"

"Don't you dare!"

"Erwin, you need to stop!"

Shouted Haruki and me at the same time.

We may not know what Erwin wants to make. But whatever it was, surely the weapon the boy was talking about was much better than what he was currently wielding. And making that kind of thing would definitely have an enormous impact. You could even say that the thing he created could change the world. Especially now when our country is in the midst of a major war.

If it's the water pump that's spreading, I have no problem. But imagine if his weapon spreads?

To be honest, I also wanted to stop Erwin from upgrading his weapon. But in this mission, everyone's lives were at stake. That's why I decided to keep quiet and let him make whatever he needed.

Because we were outnumbered and outmatched. The strategy we were going to use was very simple. Everyone just needed to attack from a long distance from inside Jonas' carriage, which we had reinforced with iron sheets.

"Never mind! Just believe in us and wait at home."

This time, it was Erwin's turn to place his hand on my head. But unlike Haruki who stroked it gently, Erwin rubbed my head like a happy father whose son had scored a goal. It hurt a bit, but I didn't hate it.

"Mm. . ."

I nodded. Then, they all left.

To distract me from the bad thoughts about Erwin and Haruki that keep creeping in. I decided to help my mom finish her work. However, by the time we finished at midday. Erwin and Haruki still hadn't come home yet.

Taking advantage of my free time, I tried to rest. But as soon as I had nothing to do. My anxiety was growing and I couldn't bear to stay still. In the end, I went back to see my mom in her room, and without even asking. I jumped straight into her lap.

"What's wrong Amelie?"

"Mmmm. . . ."

Instead of answering. I just pressed my face deeper into her chest like a spoiled child who didn't want to be separated from her mother. And this moment. I was indeed a spoiled little girl who didn't want to be separated from her mother. My memories from my past may make me feel mature but in the end. I'm just a child.

". . . ."

Mom looked at my face for a brief moment, after which she tightly hugged me in return. It seemed like she no longer needed any answers. As a child, it is their right to depend on their parents when they feel anxious, scared, and sad. And my mom readily accepted that duty.

The two of us continued to cling to each other while talking about unimportant things until the sun started to slip. Then afterward, we decided to have lunch near the gate and wait for everyone. There we continued to talk about many more pointless things, except with more participants.

My mother and I, the servants, gardeners, and guards, and then my slaves and the farmers and some of their children participated in it. Together, we all waited for everyone to come back. And after waiting until the sun was about to set.

Finally.

"I'm home. . . ."

Everyone returned safely. Without hesitation, I ran straight to Erwin and Haruki who had just gotten off the carriage, and wrapped my arms around them as tightly as I could.

"Hey, why are you crying?"

Erwin asked.

"I don't know!"

Yeah, I don't know why I'm crying. Seeing them return home safely should make me happy. But why are my tears pouring like this? And not just pouring. But I can't stop it either. It seems like since I was born into this world. I've become more and more crybaby.

"Hiks. . . ."

The day ended with everyone trying to get me to stop crying.

2

Interrogation is usually associated with physical torture. But unfortunately, or fortunately? In this place, no one has the knack for torture.

Of course, physically everyone can perform it. The problem is a mental one. I certainly wouldn't be able to pull it off, and I also don't want Erwin and Haruki or anyone else to even use that method to interrogate the three bandits we caught.

And sadly, those bandits also seemed to be aware of the dilemma we had. Making none of them afraid of the people around us.

"So, what are we going to do, Erwin?"

"I have ways to mentally break them, but all the methods i know take a long time"

The method Erwin was referring to was locking up the bandits in a separate room with all the interior painted white. Putting them in a room that was dark and completely silent. Or gagging them, blindfolding them, stuffing their ears, and then tying them up and locking them into a small iron coffin.

All the methods he mentioned made me want to ask.

You are not a former CIA agent, are you?

"Haruki, you have other ideas?"

"Leave it to me, I may not be able to break their spirit! but... ."

Haruki smiled.

"........ making them doubt each other is a different matter."

Wait. . . is he actually a cunning type? Even though he has such an innocent face.

"Don't look at me with that gaze?"

What gaze?

"The gaze that says I'm a bad kid"

Eh? Did I say that out loud?

"No, But I can simply read your face."

Ehh, really? Is my face easy to read or is it his skill just that high? Then how about I cover my face.

"Both, and hiding your face is pointless if your body won't stay put"

Once again, Haruki answered a question that I didn't even utter.

"Alright, I'll leave it to you!"

So please don't read my mind anymore.

"I'm not reading your mind!"

"Stop! Just go!"

I urged him on and along with Erwin and some of my slaves. They began to isolate the bandits from each other.

In Amteric. The punishment for simple things is also kept simple. And those simple punishments included doing hard labor for five years if you were caught as a bandit and then ten years if you were caught killing someone.

If your crimes are deemed too heinous, you will usually be reduced to slavery. Then if what you've done goes beyond even that, you'll finally be given capital punishment.

Capital punishment is used as a last resort not because people care about human rights. But because dead people can't be used for anything.

Of course with such a simple and vague law. There are many cases of abuse going on. But let's forget about that for a moment and focus on its usefulness to us.

What Haruki needed to do was simple. He would offer freedom to those who helped and were honest with us. Giving a light punishment by handing them over to the officers in the next town if they didn't say anything. And then we would sell them as slaves if they lied.

In Amteric there is only one type of slave. And they are people who are no longer considered human beings and have been turned into mere objects. There is no contract system where your status goes back to being a commoner after a certain amount of time. And here, slave status also passes down from parent to child.

You can buy your freedom, but most owners would hold onto their money anyway.

In other words. Once you're a slave, you can't really go back to being a normal citizen without the help of others. The slavery system in Amteric is so bad that many people think that being a slave in this country is worse than dying. And by looking at it, that is definitely the truth.

Erwin and I had completely forgotten that there was an option to threaten someone into slavery. The concept of slaves itself was such a nasty thing that I didn't want to think about it.

"I'll fix our equipment"

After Haruki left, Erwin proceeded to do his usual duties.

"Yes, I'll leave it to you."

I also need to do something. Correction, I want to do something too. I didn't want to be the only person who didn't contribute to solving our problem.

Let’s use this chance to make some connection to the lord next door. Having deeper ties to our neighbors ought to bring some benefit in the long run. Our territory consisted of strings of small villages with no proper governing body. So security is very lacking.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

If we have a good relationship with our neighbors, at least we can leave this kind of thing to them.

Our bandit problem is far from over. The three we caught are just stragglers separated from their group. So the group itself is still out there. While I hope that they just moved on. What’s actually happened is they are probably planning to free their comrade from us. Or maybe even taking revenge. But we will not give them a chance.

All this time, we have been passive because of my mother's risky position. Since she was a former commoner, many people looked down on her. Making any connections we established with other territories was just an attempt by everyone to take advantage of us.

But now we have money, and with money comes power. Just like M*karov said, Money can buy many things. Even power. If we can negotiate with our neighbors to send soldiers to train our own people for a fee. I can consider it a win.

Together with Mother, we drafted some plans for the negotiation. And by midnight, Haruki has successfully extracted useful information from the captive bandits.

Two days later, the operation to subdue the bandit group was carried out. But this time I won't describe how anxious I was in the lead-up to it. Why? Because the dangerous operation had already been concluded, it was a success, and everyone was able to return home safely.

At Haruki's suggestion, most of the bandits we had captured were handed over and taken away by soldiers from Punto, the neighboring town. One was sold as a slave, and the other one was released as a reward for the information he provided. And with that, the Tagave economic blockade case was over. For now that is.

Based on Haruki’s interrogation, those bandits are indeed former soldiers. Amteric’s soldiers to be exact. It seems their army has been decimated and they decide to desert the battlefield. Too scared to go home and too scared to fight, they decide to change class and become bandits.

This is worrying. Because it means this is not a one time thing.

While hitching a ride with Jonas who also happened to be finally heading back home. Me, Haruki, and Erwin went to Punto to send my mother's letter and inform the Alliance that from now on the road may no longer be as safe.

Considering that Jonas probably can't work for another month. We asked If we can move our exclusive deal to the Alliance while worrying that Jonas would hold a grudge.

I know he just got struck by disaster, and adding bad news to that is both emphatically lacking and cruel. But that business is not just about him and me. It was about my people too. One of the villages in my territory is almost fully reliant on that candle-making business. And we can't have them be unemployed for a full month.

But, when I talked to him on the way and asked him about it. Jonas only replied that he wanted to take a long, full rest and didn't mind being bypassed.

He said that while having a pale face. Apparently. This man had been traumatized by his experience of being attacked by bandits. Not wanting him to actually quit his job. I tried to cheer him up.

"Everything will be fine, Mr. Jonas"

Because my cute little girl power has been confirmed to have a high potency to cure anyone's mood I give a smile, a hug, or a head pat. I tried patting his head while smiling and comforting Jonas to make him feel better.

But instead of smiling back and looking at me with a warm gaze like everyone else. Instead, he looked at me with a miserable face, and then...

"Princesssss. . . . . ."

He cried.

Eventually, after two hours of traveling. We all arrived at the next town. And with Olympic spirit. We all...

. . . . . Just randomly wandering around.

Instead of heading towards the Economic Alliance office, our attention was constantly distracted by the goods being sold around us. For some reason, the variety of goods sold here was even greater than in the capital.

Amteric is a landlocked country that didn't have an easily accessible port. And the fate of a country like this is that it always has a distribution problem. Making the variety of goods we could find very lacking. Well, for the common people that is.

That's why all of us, including Haruki, were very surprised by what we found here.

Erwin found some mechanical tools from Albion, and I found textile products from many countries including those from Haruki's home in Yamato. Then Haruki himself was able to find Amteric trinkets which are currently said to be rare because the majority of craftsmen were forced to make weapons for the war.

Normally I would be thinking for a long time about how all these things got here or who provided them. This is after all pretty suspicious. But, surprise!!! curiosity, and my little girl's heart... or in this case. The hearts of the three of us little kids made us all just focus on what was in front of us.

As I said before. Just as the mind can affect the body, the opposite is also true. The body can also affect the mind and heart. That's why. The three of us were able to forget one basic law that we should always obey as children in a crowded place.

Do not separate from each other.

Because if a child, especially a weak and rich-looking child like me walks around alone in the crowd. It is tantamount to...

"Gotcha!"

Inviting someone to kidnap you.

3

"Erwin! Haruki!"

Without any shame, I immediately shouted the names of my two traveling companions for help. And swiftly, both of them reacted instantly and ran after me with all their might. It's just that both of them were basically distant away from me. They had trouble catching up to whoever this person was trying to kidnap me.

Hence why. As I was being dragged along, I continued to struggle. My attacks might not be able to hurt him, but as long as I could distract his attention. Making him unable to focus on running away. That would be enough.

And sure enough, even though it was only a little. The running speed of the person who kidnapped me started to drop because he was busy trying to hold me, who kept moving on his shoulders.

Haruki and Erwin are strong, ordinary thugs or random bandits are not their match at all. And with the two of them in one team, this kidnapper had absolutely no chance of defeating my two friends.

But their combat abilities are only useful if they can stop my kidnapper. And as long as I was on this guy's shoulders, they wouldn't even be able to do anything. Even if Erwin himself carries a rifle on his back. He can't use it fearing he might misfire.

"Erwin"

Realize that they couldn't just run. Haruki called out to Erwin and extended his hand. They didn't say anything, but Erwin immediately understood what his partner was trying to say. They nodded, then Erwin threw his rifle to Haruki before running off faster leaving the other boy behind.

Seeing that, I understood what they were trying to do.

". . . . ."

Although still far away I held out my hand to Erwin who was running towards me with all his might. He was running like a man being chased by a tsunami. And his efforts succeeded in quickly making him catch up with me and my kidnapper.

Then, once we were close enough.

"Amelie!"

Erwin extended his hand to me.

And as soon as our fingers came into contact with each other.

"Gahh. . . . "

Our bodies instantly became like a solid block of rock and instantly made the kidnapper fall to the ground. I and Erwin naturally fell too, but since our bodies had pretty much turned into stone, we weren't hurt in the slightest.

"What the hell did you just do!!!?"

Erwin had a special power that allowed him to lock the relative position of anything he touched. Or simply put, he could harden his own body and whatever he touched. And once the things he touched became hard, they would basically be immune to any kind of physical attack.

That's why. . . .

Pang!!

Pang!!!

The missed shots Haruki fired couldn't hurt us. And when. . .

"Gahk. . ."

One of his bullets managed to hit the target. It was a checkmate. At that moment, Erwin released his power and hurriedly stood back to try knock down the kidnapper. Of course, the kidnapper tried to run.

"Don't think you can escape!"

But Erwin is both stronger and faster. He immediately catches up to him.

On top of a large bridge over a great river dividing the town. The chase was finally over when Erwin tackled the man. And once the kidnapper could no longer escape. Erwin climbed onto the kidnapper's body and restrained him so that he could no longer move. Upon doing so, he looked into the face of the man beneath him and discovered that . . .

"You. . . . "

The man is someone we know. Not someone we know personally. But someone the three of us had seen and captured a few days ago. Because that person was a former bandit that we released not long ago.

Seeing that person's face immediately made things like patience, logic, and common sense vanish from Erwin's head.

"You. . . . bastaardddd!!!"

And once all of the things above were gone. There was no longer anything that could prevent his anger from spilling out freely.

"I'm just following ord... .gahh. . ."

The kidnapper's attempt to speak up was only met by Erwin's fist.

"I don't care!"

A fist enveloped by his power.

It made every punch the boy threw no longer just a punch. It was a blow that was as hard as when someone used a hammer to smash things.

"I. . . !!!"

Bak! Bak! Bak! Bak!

"I shouldn't have let none of you live!!!"

The kidnapper tried to block Erwin's attack by crossing his arms in front of his face. But his efforts were completely futile. Because Erwin's every attack came fast, heavy, and hard. And assisted by his special power, he didn't even have to be afraid of feeling pain. He just needed to focus on funneling all the pain in his heart into the real world and delivering it to the man below him.

Bak! Bak! Bak! Bak! Bak! Bak! Bak! Bak!

"I should have kill all of you...."

Hit! Hit! Hit! Hit! Hit! Hit! Hit! Hit! Hit! Hit! Hit! Hit! Hit! Hit! Hit! Hit! Hit! Hit! Hit! Hit! Hit! Hit! Hit! Hit! Hit! Hit! Hit! Hit! Hit! Hit! Hit! Hit! Hit! Hit! Hit! Hit! Hit! Hit! Hit!

Erwin continued to pummel the kidnapper's face. If I had to look for parallels, what I was seeing now was exactly like the final battle between a Kr*os and a B*ldur. Only, the opponent is not an invulnerable god who can't die. But an ordinary person.

If this continues, Erwin might. . .

"Erwin! That's enough! He can't fight anymore!"

The man who tried to kidnap me was already completely beaten. The skin on his hands and face had peeled off. Blood was already coming out of the parts where the skin was peeling off, from the man's lips, cheeks, and nose as well. In addition, although he still had his eyes open. The man is clearly on the border between life and death.

The fact that the man was still alive was proof that Erwin was still holding back. But not out of the kindness of his heart. There's nothing like kindness in that rage-filled face. He just wanted to punch the guy a lot.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!"

I could no longer bear to watch him continue to beat the man like a maniac. I can no longer just scream and tell him to stop.

"Erwin!! stop!! enough!"

I hold onto his body as strongly as I can. But as expected, I couldn't stop him at all. Erwin continued to throw punches at the kidnapper like I didn't even exist. The pull of my hand and the weight of my body did not even register as obstacles in his brain.

"Erwin! I'm okay! I'm fine! You saved me!"

I don't care if this bandit and kidnapper die. Even if I don't see it, he and his comrades have probably robbed and killed many people. Whether as bandits or soldiers in the war. As such, I don't care about his fate.

But even if he has to die, I don't want Erwin to be the executor. I don't want him to be a murderer.

"Erwiiinn! Come back to me!"

Of course, I wouldn't forbid him from killing someone if our lives were threatened. If I had to choose between our lives and the life of a criminal who wanted to eliminate us. I wouldn't hesitate to choose our own safety.

But that is not what is happening right now. The person Erwin was beating up was no longer even conscious. He couldn't fight back, he was no longer a threat, and none of us were in danger.

Erwin wanted to kill him just because his emotions were running high. And everyone knows that the actions you take at a time like that are basically just seeds of regret. We may have memories from our past, but that doesn't mean we're immune to trauma.

"Brother Haruki! Help me stop Erwin!!!"

The only people who could stop a person with special powers were people who also possessed special powers. Haruki should have enough power to stop the rampaging Erwin.

"Brother Haruki! Come here quickly!!!"

After failing to pull, I decided to push Erwin's body. But even though the method was different, the result was the same. I couldn't separate Erwin from the man he was busily beating up.

"Harukiiiii!!!"

I kept calling out to Haruki but the boy didn't come. Our positions were far apart, but we weren't that far away from each other. Curious about what's keeping him from coming to me, I looked back and found. . . .

"Brother Haruki?"

The scene of Haruki who is on the ground with a uniformed man on top of him. In addition, there were also two other men in uniform around him who were on guard to make sure that Haruki could not escape.

For a while Haruki and the man continued to wrestle at the ground. But instead of trying to catch the boy, I could see that the man was more focused on snatching Erwin's rifle from Haruki's hand.

I thought it would be better if Haruki just gave up and gave him the rifle he was holding. But my friend had other thoughts and fought back fiercely. He used all his martial arts tricks and even dirty moves like aiming for his enemy's crotch, spitting in his eyes, or aiming for his ears while throwing all sorts of taunts and insults at his opponent.

All of these things managed to make his opponent's blood boil until finally the man lost focus and Haruki managed to grab his gun. After that, without wasting time Haruki headed straight to the edge of the bridge.

Not to jump away, but to throw away his rifle as far as he could into the river below.

"You stupid brat!!!!!"

Not long after. The surrounding men who had lost their patience finally attacked Haruki simultaneously and knocked the boy to the ground again. And this time, they were not messing around. Everyone focused on holding him in that position.

Haruki was strong but with three people pinning him down and locking his joint like that. He can't do anything.

Diverting my attention from Haruki. I also found that several other uniformed men were heading toward me and Erwin while preparing to take out their respective swords.

"'Freeze!"

Hearing the warning, or perhaps sensing that some other danger was approaching. Erwin finally stopped. He looked one by one at the five people slowly encircling us with a wary gaze before finally asking. . .

"Who are you?"

"We are the guards of this town."

I see, no wonder their uniforms were different from the soldiers that came to Tagave.

"Huh. . . then you failed your duty"

"Shut up you brat!"

Without hesitation, one of the guards drew his sword and struck the flat side against Erwin's head. Although it wasn't the sharp edge, it was still a hard piece of iron. If the target had been an ordinary person, they'd have already been lying on the ground.

But the target was Erwin.

Someone who was basically immune to physical attacks.

Pang!!!

Therefore, when the guard's sword made contact with the left side of Erwin's head. What happened was that the sword bounced off as though it was hitting a rock instead of a human head.

" . . . . "

Seeing that all the security guards around us reflexively took a step back and pulled out their swords. Everyone's expressions, which were originally just annoyed, immediately changed to caution.

Meanwhile, Erwin, who was still in a bad mood, looked back at everyone around us with a piercing glare. Making the atmosphere increasingly tense.

"Hold on! Please lower your weapons."

Before things got any more dangerous, I decided to step forward and try to explain what was going on.

"My name is Amelie Irmhilde, the daughter of the king And he is Erwin Frank, the third son of Frank family"

Hearing the familiar names, the armed men around us immediately looked at each other. If they were part of this territory's government, they should be familiar with the names I mentioned earlier. I’m a princess, and the name Frank was also famous enough that even ordinary people knew who they were. One of the families with the greatest influence in Amteric.

"I came here on behalf of my mother to conduct some business, and Erwin is my bodyguard."

With that, I began to explain that someone was trying to kidnap me and Erwin was just trying to rescue me. I also explained that the person Erwin had just beaten up was a former bandit that we had let go.

"We promise we won't make any more trouble, so please let us go."

From the looks on their faces, I could read that they already believed the information I gave. But unfortunately, none of them seemed to want to just leave us alone. Which was understandable considering we had already made a huge ruckus in the middle of the city.

"Princess! Please come with us."

Said someone who seemed to be their leader.

" . . . ."

If possible, I just want to go home and forget all this has happened. But in our current state, I couldn't do that. Putting me and Erwin aside, I can't ensure Haruki's safety if we refuse to cooperate.

"'Very well, but please let go of that boy too! He is also my bodyguard!"