Chapter 25: Territorial Defense Battle

On the outskirts of Jago Barony.

A rag-tag group stood here, facing several squads of guards in a standoff.

“I warn you, leave here right now!”

The Captain on the guards’ side shouted loudly.

“Leave? Since we’re already here, how could we just walk away?”

The tattered leader curled his lip, carefully sizing up the spears and numbers in the opponents’ hands, and reached a conclusion: the other side had too few men! Although they carried wooden spears that looked somewhat lethal, they were far too few… only half his number by eye. Two fists cannot beat four hands, and once you got in close, those wooden spears would pose little threat.

“Charge!”

With that thought, the bandit leader rushed forward with his men like a swarm of bees.

The territory’s guards had never seen such a scene before. However, their previous training still had some effect. Rather than turn and flee, they forced down their fear and charged with their spears.

“Form up! Stop these bastards!”

The Captain bellowed.

Less than a minute into their standoff, fighting broke out and the two sides became a tangled melee. Wooden spears could indeed kill, but after stabbing through one man they stuck fast and could not be pulled free. Under the opponent’s heavy pressure, there was no guarantee every spear would kill a man. Thus, the clash soon turned into bare-handed combat.

One portion of the bandits met the guard corps head-on; the rest charged straight toward the nearby village.

“Hand over all the food, now!”

“Damn it, grab the women too!”

“Since when was there a village this big here?”

While directing his men to loot, the bandit chief felt puzzled. He had passed by before yet had never seen a village of this size… it was as if it had sprung up overnight.

When they noticed intruders, male villagers rushed over to stop them.

“Damn you, let go of my wife!”

“Your wife’s pretty nice; thanks, I’ll be taking her!”

The bandits sneered, kicked the man to the ground, then ransacked house after house: women dragged out, children tossed aside, men knocked down, and all the food hauled away. In less than ten minutes, the village was a complete mess.

The commotion drew other commoners, who arrived excitedly, shouting, “Bandits! Kill them!” “Merit! Merit!” “Slaughter these bastards and beasts! We can claim a reward from Lord Farra!”

After looting a few houses, the bandit chief realized his roughly two hundred men were now surrounded by village defenders.

“Fine, fine, I’ve robbed so many villages and this is the first time anyone’s dared face us head-on! Brothers, kill them!” he roared.

With no weapons, it came down to experience and physique. Though the villagers lacked bandits’ training, their constitution was stronger… making the fight evenly matched. After a dozen minutes, spectators farther out parted to open a path.

“All of you stop! Irrelevant people, get back home to avoid accidental injury!”

Farra shouted, and with 300 half-beastmen he charged in to forcibly break up the brawl.

He spent some time separating villagers from bandits, then called out, “Lord Farra!”

“Enough, everyone go home! Tomorrow each of you may draw an extra jin of wheat!”

“Yes! Thank you, Lord Farra!”

Bruised and bloodied, the crowd left in high spirits. Only the intruders remained.

Farra hefted the iron sword he had not used in ages and began a one-sided slaughter. Blood rapidly stained the ground red. Bare-handed resistance against weapons was futile. After more than ten fell, the rest knelt and begged for mercy.

Farra had seen scenes like this many times before… on the road from the royal capital. Every bandit the Imperial Guard had surrounded was slaughtered. He bore no wounds yet was drenched in blood. The last was the bandit chief, cowering behind his men.

“Lord Farra, I… I didn’t know this was your territory…”

The chief’s bravado vanished; his legs shook.

“Well, now you know.”

Farra gave him a sidelong glance and swung his sword at his neck.

“Drag all the corpses away and bury them properly.”

He then ordered Mas, who had arrived on notice: “Yes, Lord Farra…!”

After suppressing every bandit who’d slipped inside, Farra led the Imperial Guard back toward the still-raging fight at the territory’s edge. All three hundred guards stood firm… not one had retreated. They fought the bandits to a standstill.

“Kill them all; leave none alive!”

Farra instructed Harrington.

“Yes!”

Three hundred half-beastmen leveled their wooden spears and charged the fleeing bandits. Their greater strength made the spears spring free after piercing an enemy. In no time, the one-sided slaughter ended… just as Farra ordered, none were left alive.

When the last bandit fell, a System achievement notification popped up:

Achievement: Territorial Defense Battle

Reward: 100 bronze swords

That night, Farra held a grand celebration… a whole roast chicken banquet. Standing before the huge bonfire, he delivered an impromptu speech:

“Every warrior who defended the territory deserves a reward! After today, everyone who fought will receive one jin of wheat as a prize!”

The crowd raised their roast chickens and cheered, “Oh-oh-oh! Glory to Lord Farra!!”

“You are the territory’s sentinels. The moment you take up arms, you must protect your land, your homes, your families, and your grain. To keep the domain blessed by the Goddess of Plenty unharmed, tomorrow I will march out with 300 guards and 300 Imperial Guards to eliminate every hidden threat! May the Goddess of Plenty’s blessing protect you forever!”

“Oh-oh-oh-oh! Glory to the Goddess of Plenty!!”

The men were so fired up they wished they could join the guard corps tomorrow and do their part! Unfortunately, not everyone could bear arms… each had work to do at home.