Chapter 40

Chapter 40: The Forest Brotherhood (1)

Early morning.

“Everyone, come out and see this!”

As Anagin and Robe Girl were preparing to leave, an irritating voice reached their ears.

When they stepped outside, a crowd had already gathered.

“From this day on, you are free!”

At the center of it all, some greenhorn was shouting at the top of his lungs, holding up a woman’s head.

“Isn’t that… the Aoi family…?”

Some of the older villagers half-recognized the head’s owner, though they couldn’t quite believe it.

The Aoi family.

The very family Anagin had planned to visit today.

They had their doubts, but soon those doubts turned to certainty. The man holding the head confirmed it.

“That’s right! Sharp eyes on you, old man. This bitch is Aushi of the Aoi family! She got above her station with that arrogant cunt act, so our great Boss Paia personally gave her a lesson. Take a look.”

The young man puffed himself up as if he’d done the deed himself, then tossed the severed head in front of the villagers.

Thud! Roll, roll, roll……

The head, once beautiful, landed on the ground and rolled wretchedly across the dirt.

The villagers looked at it more closely.

At the head that had been torn off by brute force.

“Hiiik…!”

Even the people of Pond Village recoiled—the woman’s face was frozen in an expression of utter agony.

Riding the momentum, the young man shouted.

“The Aoi family that oppressed you has been crushed by our Forest Brotherhood. So from now on, you can rest easy and cooperate freely with the Forest Brotherhood. Just like the other villages!”

None of the Pond Village folk could say a word.

The reason they had refused the Forest Brotherhood’s earlier request for cooperation was fear of retaliation from the Aoi family—an Ascetic Family. They had claimed that if they got involved with the Forest Brotherhood bandits, the Aoi would not let them be. In truth, what they really feared was the Forest Brotherhood’s exploitation and demands.

But now that excuse had vanished. Because the Aoi family had vanished with it.

Now they had no way to refuse their demands. Neither by excuse nor by force.

If they refused, every villager would end up like the head on the ground.

The greenhorn bandit, reading the mood, asked with a triumphant smile—as if the answer had already been decided.

“Any more questions?”

“Did you kill everyone in the Aoi family?”

Through the frozen crowd.

Anagin walked out with heavy, unhurried steps.

He picked up the head from the ground and examined it.

Judging by the rough cross-section at the neck, it hadn’t been cut off—it had been torn off by force. Anagin knew, because he’d done something similar several times himself.

‘Though I’m not a beast.’

As Anagin, whose presence carried a different air from the ordinary villagers, stepped forward, the greenhorn bandit twisted his face and asked.

“Who the hell are you?”

“Anagin.”

“Ana…gin?”

The greenhorn bandit’s frown deepened. The name sounded familiar somehow. And his face was oddly familiar too.

“You didn’t answer my question. Did you kill everyone in the Aoi family?”

“……Yeah. Got a problem with that?”

“No, none. Actually, that works out well.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I came here to ask you to hand over the bounty.”

Bounty…!

The greenhorn bandit finally remembered who Anagin was.

“You…! Right? The Ascetic killer!”

---

“Puhahahahat! I really am a lucky bastard! And you’re lucky too, meeting me!”

Paia, a member of the Forest Brotherhood. The greenhorn bandit under Paia’s command had recognized Anagin immediately and offered to take him to his boss.

Anagin accepted the offer. The reason was…

“Why does your boss want to see me?”

“Orders came down. You were listed as a recruitment candidate. Well, with a fancy nickname like Ascetic killer, I can see why…. Tell me. How many Ascetics have you killed? And how did you do it?”

The greenhorn bandit slapped Anagin’s shoulder and pestered him like a child begging for a fun old story.

But Anagin had nothing to tell, so he kept his mouth shut.

“Hmm…. Did you steal this pretty one from an Ascetic too? I heard some Ascetics keep pretty boys and girls as servants.”

When Anagin didn’t respond, the bandit switched targets and mentioned Sphinx. Even with the robe pulled deep over her head, Sphinx’s beauty showed through, and he was leering at her.

“Hey.”

“Oh, so now you react?”

“If you’re a nobody, act like a nobody and just guide the way. Stop running your mouth above your station.”

“A nobody? Hey, who do you think—”

“—A nobody is someone who walks around a village squawking with a severed head in his hands. Or should I cut off your head and carry it to your boss? Think he’d avenge you? Think he’d welcome you?”

“……”

Under Anagin’s blunt threat, the greenhorn bandit shut his mouth.

He knew the answer himself.

Anagin’s reputation as the Ascetic killer, and the orders that had come down to recruit him. The Forest Brotherhood valued Anagin highly. Compared to him, what was his own worth? It wasn’t a question that required deep thought.

The reason he’d been pestering and prodding Anagin from earlier was simply to seize the upper hand in advance. If Anagin joined the Forest Brotherhood, he wouldn’t even get that chance.

Having roughly taken the measure of things, the greenhorn bandit wore a thoroughly displeased expression and led Anagin without another word.

After climbing for a good while, they came upon five armed figures planted squarely in the middle of the road.

A bald axe warrior, a one-eyed archer, a swordsman covered in facial scars, a pale man in a cloak, and…

“The youngest is back?”

A hulking man draped in red boar hide.

“Hehe…, Boss.”

True to his youthful looks, the greenhorn bandit was indeed the youngest—he ran up to the hulking man in boar hide with a grin.

Then whispered something in his ear.

“Can you hear what he’s saying?”

“He says he brought the Ascetic killer. He’s also telling him how you threatened him.”

“Hmm….”

When the whispering finished, Paia rose from his seat.

And then it became clear just how big he was.

Even sitting, it had been obvious he was no ordinary giant, but standing, he was far larger.

He had to be at least two meters tall, his shoulders were broad and hulking, and thick fat lay heavy on his belly. On top of that, his sideburns were so shaggy and unkempt that he gave off the impression of a beast.

“So you threatened our cute youngest?”

“He kept pestering me. I’m a little thrown off, honestly. Didn’t expect him to go running off to tattle.”

Anagin glanced at the greenhorn bandit. Whether he had some pride left or not, the young man’s face flushed and he avoided Anagin’s gaze.

Paia, on the other hand, was utterly shameless.

“My brothers are as close as blood siblings. So you asked whether I’d avenge our youngest if you cut off his head and brought it to me, or welcome you?”

Creak.

Paia stretched his body. His frame, a blend of muscle and fat, let out an ominous sound.

“What do you think? Still think I’d welcome you?”

“No. I think you’d welcome me just fine now.”

“……”

“If not, you’d have thrown the first punch right away.”

“…Kahahahahahahat!! Boys, take a look at this! This one—he’s got a sharp eye, doesn’t he?!”

Paia pointed at Anagin and spoke to those around him, and his subordinates immediately burst out laughing along.

An unexpected sea of laughter spread across the road. Everyone except the greenhorn bandit.

“Haah…. This is why you should only believe half of what’s in the newspaper. When I heard ‘Ascetic killer,’ I figured he was some madman who didn’t look before he leaped, but turns out he knows how to use his head?”

“Did you call me here just to find that out?”

When Anagin got to the point, Paia grinned. Amusingly enough, the boar hide on his head seemed to grin too.

“Of course not. But before we get to business, tell me why you came. From the looks of it, you’ve got your own reasons for being here.”

Paia’s guess was correct.

Anagin wasn’t the kind of man to follow just because someone told him to.

He had his own business here as well.

There were two reasons in total.

One was…

“Did you really kill everyone in the Aoi family?”

Instead of answering, Paia pulled a bundle of severed heads from beneath the boar hide draped over his body.

Four women who looked to be in their thirties to early forties, and five who looked to be in their teens to twenties. All showed signs of having had their heads torn off by force.

It was a sight horrible enough to make a man’s legs give out just from looking, but Anagin counted the heads, then checked the one the greenhorn bandit held as well.

“One’s missing. From what I know, the Aoi family has eleven members total, but there are only ten here.”

“Hooh, you know that much?”

“Just answer the question.”

“Hmph…. One ran away.”

“So ‘everyone’s dead’ was a lie?”

“One or so doesn’t matter. For all intents and purposes, the Aoi family has fallen. Don’t nitpick the small stuff.”

It wasn’t wrong. Nor did Anagin have any reason to nitpick.

“Is that all you came to us for?”

“For now.”

“For now? …Fine. Then I’ll tell you why I called you. Join the Forest Brotherhood.”

“I’ll pass.”

Anagin refused without a single moment’s hesitation.

He’d already heard why he’d been called—for recruitment. He’d decided his answer in advance. He hadn’t left his village to become a bandit in the first place.

Naturally, some of them twisted their faces into ugly scowls at Anagin’s attitude—coming all this way just to refuse.

“Everyone, wipe those looks off your faces! I’m not particularly disappointed anyway.”

Paia barked at his scowling subordinates.

He genuinely wasn’t disappointed by Anagin’s refusal.

“Let’s get this straight first. I don’t care whether you accept our offer or not. I’m not all that interested in you.”

“Good to hear.”

“But the problem is, there’s someone who wants you recruited.”

“Unfortunate. Who?”

“Peripetes.”

“Lanky Baldy?”

Anagin thought of the man he’d briefly met in the Ruins Village. Over two meters tall, bald. The Forest Brotherhood’s fixer, was it?

Paia asked.

“What’s Lanky Baldy?”

“Lanky baldy.”

“Are you insane?”

“Why do you think he took a liking to me?”

“I don’t know…. Ah! He did say it’s been a while since he met someone as fearless as you. From where I’m standing, he just looks like a man who can’t tell shit from piss.”

“Cut the commentary. Just the business.”

“Haah, it’s been a while since my patience was tested like this…. He told me to recruit you if at all possible. Even if it means offering the best possible terms.”

Best possible terms…. Anagin felt no particular interest.

He knew exactly what kind of “good terms” bandits could offer.

At best, gold and treasure. Or maybe protection.

They’d protect Anagin, who carried the false charge of being the Ascetic killer.

For Anagin, that held no appeal whatsoever—

“—He said he’d teach you the self-chosen ascetic path.”

“…What?”

“Looks like that caught your interest? You heard it clearly, so don’t pretend you didn’t. I said the self-chosen ascetic path—the one where you acquire a star by your own choice.”

“How does he know? That I’m looking for an ascetic method. And a self-chosen one at that.”

“Because a half-baked nobody like you has no other option than the self-chosen path. It’s the only one that fits the way you act.”

Anagin, a half-baked nobody….

Not just Anagin himself, but even Sphinx, listening from the sidelines, was dumbfounded.

She had seen firsthand how Anagin behaved, which made it all the more absurd.

She knew exactly how insane this madman Anagin was—

“This one’s not a hero trying to save people, but he’s not a man who lives for his own desires either….”

Paia assessed Anagin based on the rumors.

Rumors of the Hero of the Fringe who had defeated Bander, Diodia, and the Monster Merchant, and the Ascetic killer who had crushed the Dolos family—all of it.

“A man like that can never become a proper Ascetic. You need firm values and consistency.”

Values and consistency…. Anagin showed interest.

“What does that mean, specifically?”

Paia grinned.

“Follow us and find out.”