115: Aristocratic District 1

June 25, 2022 – 2 minutes read – 419 words

The next time I return to my territory I make my move.

The breweries, distilleries, and storage facilities are all guarded by my territory’s militia, but there are shadowy figures only a short distance away.
There are plenty of men skulking around trying to get a peek into the inner workings.

If they were to stay outside of the premises, I would have no recourse, but some chose to enter the walls of my properties.
Now they have a problem.

I approached the first one from behind and punched him in the side as hard as I could.
As he bent over in pain, I put a knee in his stomach, then pushed him back and kneed him in his face.
He lost his will to fight and was tied up.
He was turned over to the militia and put in jail, now time for the next one.

By the time I got ready to head back to the capital, I had captured 137 spies.
Of course, I made sure to interrogate all of them.
Their faces have turned a bit gaunt, maybe the food didn’t agree with them, or they were too frightened of me?

I head for the Royal Capital with the spies in wagons guarded by my militia.
A short distance before the capital I have the spies moved out and tied into a procession to enter the capital.
I led the procession, followed by the militia guarding the spies.

“Lieutenant Colonel Patrick, who are these people?” Gate Guard

“I found some rats in my territory.
I’m thinking about letting their masters take them in and teach them some manners.” Pat answered with a cold smile

The guard looked a bit shocked, but managed to keep a somewhat neutral face.

It seems my ‘Grim Reaper’ smile may have scared him.

“I’m looking forward to our next training event, Captain Jayjay of the Third Army.” Pat whispers to the guard

“Hey! Please forgive me! Forget everything!” Gate Guard sits down and apologizes

“Come on” Pat commands to his procession

“Am I now marked for death? My Army General doesn’t even know my name…” Gate Guard gives up and sighs with a blue face

My group walks down the main street, slowly, for emphasis.
The commoners look on in confusion.
In the crowd, someone spots a person they know in my captured spy line, his face flushes before he runs off somewhere.

The procession heads to the aristocratic district, where the mansions of the nobility line the streets.

Editor Note: Right now, I'm heads down on wrapping up the last chapters for Volume 1 (translation and images).
Then I've got to tweak the combined chapters to make them cohesive and so on.
I've never tried to edit a book-length text before, it's…
interesting.