Kivamus looked at Calubo and began, "After a lot of discussion with my advisors, I have come to a decision." He added with a smile, "I have decided to support you."

Immediately, Calubo's eyes widened in surprise like he couldn't believe what was happening.

Gorsazo looked at him and gave a nod in support, while Feroy remained silent with his usual inscrutable expression.

Kivamus continued speaking to the former guard. "But before I explain further, you should know that it wasn't easy to come to this decision. The village's food situation is precarious at best, but I can't leave those stonecutters to starve after knowing that there isn't anyone else to look after them anymore - not after our guards have already killed most of the bandits."

"I..." Calubo faltered as he tried to speak. "I... I can't thank you enough for this! I will forever be in your debt, milord!" He continued with happiness etched on his face, "So will I get a full sack of grain?"

He carried on without waiting for Kivamus to respond. "But can I also get a horse to carry that sack to the quarry? That would make it much easier, but I'll even carry it on my back if you can't spare a horse right now. Although the snow is going to start falling soon, but..."

"Slow down, Calubo," Kivamus interrupted him. "Take a deep breath and let me speak first."

Calubo nodded quickly while holding his knees with his hands to stop them from shaking in nervous excitement. "I'm sorry, milord. Please carry on."

Kivamus nodded. 'I am not going to give you a sack of grain to carry to the quarry. Looking at you right now, even if you travel on a horse, you might just keel over on the way."

"But... but..." Calubo stammered with surprise.

"Let me finish first," Kivamus stopped him again. "Knowing how Nokozal is going to treat those slaves when he reaches there - especially since his raid has failed and he wouldn't have enough food even for himself - I have decided to rescue those stonecutters. Or you can say, we'll liberate them from the bandits."

Calubo seemed lost for words. "But... how?"

Hudan, who hadn't been present for the earlier discussion, also looked surprised by his decision, but he had a habit of following the orders of his superiors even if he didn't support them, and remained quiet.

However, Duvas interrupted them and said, "Are you really sure about this, my Lord? There is still an option to just send them a sack of grain."

"We talked about this, Duvas." Kivamus added, "You already know that even if we handed over a sackful of wheat to the bandits - and I'm not sure if I'm willing to do that - most likely they will just keep that grain for themselves, and the stonecutters will continue to starve."

"But... I still don't think that you need to do this..." Duvas said with a shake of his head.

Kivamus took a deep breath. "Do you really prefer the alternative then?" He asked the majordomo again, "Do you really want them to be killed in cold blood by the bandits if they can't afford to feed them, or if another bandit group tries to steal the slaves? Even when we could have saved their lives so easily?"

Duvas just sighed and shook his head slowly.

"Just think of them as getting more laborers for the village," he tried to persuade the majordomo. "They are trained workers, and once they get some good meals in them, they will help us a lot to finish all the construction on time."

He continued, "And luckily, the caravan was able to go on a third trip - which means we still have enough grain to feed everyone throughout the winter, even after including those stonecutters. That will certainly mean that we will be short on seeds for sowing in the next spring, but we can still buy more seeds after the winter." He added, "It will cost us for sure, but I think that's a small price to pay for saving so many lives. And all our guards are already back from the caravan trips, so we can also start sending hunting parties soon. That will give us an extra source of food, and it'll reduce our consumption of wheat. It's certainly not going to be easy, but I believe it's doable."

"I understand, my lord," Duvas said with a reluctant nod. "It's your decision after all, and I'll do my best to follow it. But I still had to give my opinions against that."

"Of course you should," Kivamus replied to him. "I always want all of you to be completely free in speaking to me and in giving your opinions - even if they go against mine in every respect."

"Alright." He looked at Calubo again. "Here's what we are going to do. We will send a squad of guards to that quarry, accompanied by you to show them the way, and their task will be to kill any bandits they find there and to bring back the slaves to Tiranat. Now that we have decided to rescue those slaves, we just can't allow that bandit camp to continue to exist." He snorted. "So far it has only been Zoricus trying to harm me and my village, but let's see how he likes the taste of his own medicine..." At everyone's blank expressions, he added, "Uh... a bitter herbal remedy."

As Gorsazo began to say something, Kivamus spoke over him. "I know what you are going to say, but it's not like I'm trying to go against him openly. I know very well how influential he is in the court of Count Cinran. But he has already tried to assassinate me, while his bandits have tried to raid and loot my village. So for us to retaliate in kind by killing every bandit in that quarry is only fair."

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Calubo looked stunned. "But... that's... I didn't expect this, but those bandits certainly deserve it. Thank you so much, milord!"

Feroy gave a fierce grin after that, while Hudan nodded as well.

Kivamus continued, "Doing this will give us one less bandit camp to worry about in this region and it will also deprive Zoricus of any income from that quarry for a while - since those slaves are basically free labor for him and they are giving him a regular profit from that quarry - profit which he is using to hire assassins against me!" He shrugged. "So why should we let Zoricus continue to profit from those bandits? Clearing that quarry of those lowlifes in retaliation is the least we can do."

Gorsazo thought about it for a moment, and said, "I agree with your reasons, but what if someone tells the Count about it? That won't end well for us."

Kivamus smirked and just looked at Feroy, expecting his reaction in advance.

The ex-mercenary grinned from ear to ear. "The bandits won't know what hit them before we send them to meet the Goddess!"

Kivamus laughed. "Exactly! Since none of the bandits would be alive to tell the story of who attacked that quarry, and the stonecutters will already be in Tiranat and are unlikely to say anything against us, Zoricus would never even know what happened in that quarry. So we don't need to worry about him trying to complain to the Count against us, as long as none of the bandits remain alive after our attack."

Hudan grinned. "I'll make sure of it, milord. Those lowlifes deserve that."

Calubo - who was still looking a little surprised at Kivamus' decision to assault the quarry and liberate the slaves - began to speak finally. "I like this plan. I don't see any reason why you should let Nokozal keep those slaves anymore - not after he has already attacked the village once." Then he gave a nod. "I think it's a good idea for you to take over those slaves for yourself. You will easily gain more than two dozen new slaves this way - for free - and I know that those people will do anything to get out from under the thumb of those bandits. I'll do my best to support you in this!"

Kivamus was going to interrupt him in the middle to tell him that he didn't want the stonecutters as slaves, but he waited to let the former guard finish his sentence. But before he said anything to refute it, the guard captain spoke up.

"You've missed a lot in the time you've been away from Tiranat," Hudan said while grinning and patting the back of Calubo. "There are no slaves here. Not anymore."

Calubo looked confused. "What do you mean by that? I know there were nearly half a dozen slaves under the previous baron!" Then he looked at Kivamus with horror. "Did you... did you kill them all? Because you couldn't afford to feed them anymore?"

"What?" Kivamus was the one to be surprised now. The things which people took as normal behavior for nobles in this world scared him a little. "Of course not! Why would I ever kill innocent people?"

"But then... how?" Calubo asked.

Duvas gave the answer with a tired smile. "Lord Kivamus has made a decree here that there will be no slavery in his domain. And he has freed the slaves which the previous baron used to own."

"You mean... they aren't slaves anymore?" Calubo asked with wonder. Then it seemed like something suddenly clicked in his mind, and he looked straight at Kivamus. "Does that mean... does that mean that those slaves at the quarry... no, those stonecutters... they won't be slaves anymore? They will be free men and women, like us?"

Kivamus smiled. "Yes, they will be just as free as I am."

"But that... that means..." Calubo looked lost for words once again, but then gave a huge smile. "How can I ever thank you for this, milord?" He stood up immediately, and gave a deep bow. "I will be in your debt for my life! Anything you need done, even if I have to risk or even sacrifice my life for that, I will do it on your command."

Kivamus was surprised that the former guard would be willing to give his own life for some stonecutters whom he had barely known for a couple of months. But then he remembered that Calubo had taken the name of someone earlier - a woman. He gave a small laugh. Of course, some things never change.

He looked at the former guard. "There is no need for that. And you can sit down now. We have a lot to discuss for this rescue mission."

*******

Hudan asked, "But how will we even transport that many people through the forest? They wouldn't be able to walk the whole way back in their conditions, especially in this freezing weather."

"We can just use our wagons for that," Kivamus replied, "now that they are back from the trip to Cinran."

Calubo interrupted him, "Actually, the bandits already have two wagons there, along with two nodors. They used to have three wagons in the past, but one of them was damaged recently, so they had used its planks to make a temporary hut for themselves, although its axles and wheels should still be there."

"That's... good news." Kivamus continued, "Those small nodors might not be able to pull enough men, but if we send our horses for that, they should be able to pull those wagons easily." He added, "Including the horses we got from the bandits, now we have enough of them that we can easily spare some of them for this rescue mission. Of course, you should bring those nodors back as well, even if they won't be pulling the wagons."

After Hudan nodded in reply, he continued, "Once those wagons are back, it will help us a lot in the construction. Even those spare axles and wheels would be useful for us if Taniok is able to build a third wagon with them, since he doesn't have to build the axles."

"I'm just glad to know that we are getting something from this trip," Duvas commented, "and it's not a complete waste of money."

Kivamus smiled at the thrifty majordomo and gave a nod.

Hudan began, "From what I know, there should be four bandits back at the quarry, not including the two who have escaped." Once Calubo gave a nod in confirmation, he continued, "If we leave on horses from Tiranat, there is no way that the escaped bandits would be able to reach the quarry before us, but we'll still need at least five or six men to take down the four bandits there with ease."

Calubo interrupted, "You might not even need that many guards, since those four bandits have to keep a watch on the stone cutters for all day and night - which means there should be at most two of them awake and ready at any particular time. Even then, they would already be exhausted with barely any rest in the previous week, since Nokozal left the quarry with most of the bandits. And of course, you will have the support of the stonecutters as well, so even four of us in total would be able to kill those bastards."

Hudan gave a slow nod. "That might be true, but there is still a possibility that some bandits from another group might have reached there before us to steal those slaves, and in that case it will be better to have more men to support us."

"Don't worry about it," Kivamus commented. "Now that all the guards are back from the caravan, we have enough men to spare for this rescue mission." He looked at Calubo, "You said there were around two dozen slaves there?"