Children of the Holy Emperor

CH 34

On the western side of the continent lies a long, rugged mountain range stretching from the south to the north.

This lengthy range starts from the border between the kingdom of Flanders and the Asein Republic, passing through Rohan, climbing northwards, and getting increasingly treacherous until it ultimately becomes the boundary of the habitat of the sea beasts.

In the past, it was called by various names like the White Eagle Range or the Blade Range, but now, the people of the continent simply referred to this colossal range as the 'Western Range.'

At the beginning of the Western Range, near the Flanders kingdom border, there existed a small flower village, established only a few years ago. It was a small village built by a minority of Flanders people who had lost their homeland during the war with the Carthago Republic and sought refuge in the mountains.

Recently, the village population ballooned to nearly a hundred as refugees flowed in from Rohan. Needless to say, there was a severe shortage of housing, supplies, and food.

The transformation of the little flower village into a den of bandits was almost instantaneous.

One reason was that many of the new refugees were former thieves who had fled from Rohan, being chased by the Rohan's suppression squad.

Coming down from the mountain with a few rabbits caught in his traps, having not had much luck with hunting, Aslan noticed a strange carriage parked in the village square.

'It's smaller than usual...'

Aslan asked the man standing next to him, "What did they steal this time?"

"I'm not sure. It seems to be a peddler crossing from Asein to Flanders."

"Ah, really... what are they all doing? This is already the nth time this month. What will they do if the Asein Archduke organizes a suppression squad?"

The man shrugged as Aslan scowled. "Well, what of it? It doesn't seem like a proper merchant, and would Asein really care? They say it was an easy score with no escorts."

Listening to the man, it seemed the peddler and his party were found by a search party scouting the mountain. With just one carriage carrying a sack of food, three prisoners, and two low-ranking mercenaries, they were stealthily slipping out of the old trade route, which merchants seldom use these days. The merchants and mercenaries, upon encountering the bandits, immediately abandoned the carriage and fled.

"There were prisoners?" Aslan asked, puzzled.

Why would a peddler be transporting prisoners across the border?

"They're all guys who received capital punishment. Sometimes, Carthago sells these guys for a cheap price. They put them in the dark mines and make them dig until they die."

The dark mines of Carthago were the absolute worst. It would probably be better for those guys to just die here.

The man said this, shook his head and walked away.

Sure enough, three men were dragged out of the carriage following the sacks of food.

One was completely disfigured with burn marks all over his body, making his face unrecognizable. Another had a hollowed-out eye socket and all of his fingers cut off. Seeing their horrific appearances, Aslan unknowingly furrowed his brows.

The last man, who looked relatively unscathed on the outside, had a dark brand on the back of his head visible above his loose robe. Even from a glimpse, one could tell it was a dreadful brand given by the heresy judge.

The mark of a devil worshipper.

In some sense, he was the worst condemned criminal among the three.

The three were transported to the leader's place.