Slave Harem in the Labyrinth of the Other World (LN)

Actually, Roxanne, you have already fought against him, but its just that you dont realize it.

Still, it terrifies me how she can say such scary thing like wanting to fight powerful Bandits with a smile on her face and without a hint of fear in her voice!

Well, I appreciate your enthusiasm, but it is impossible now. They are the same Bandits we defeated in Harubas Labyrinth a few days ago, so you wont be able to fight against them anymore.

Huh? The Bandits from the other day?

Most likely. I think. Probably.

That reminds me, one of the Bandits that we fought against was a Wolfkin. So according to what master is saying, was he Simon the Mad Dog? Then, this Rapier

Roxanne looks at the Rapier in her hand with a complicated expression.

In comparison to the infamy of the name that he made for himself, the weapon that he was using was actually in a pretty beat-up state. Is this really supposed to be a weapon that belonged to a notorious Bandit that Roxanne is now using after I gave it to her when our battle when we were ambushed by them was over? Or maybe he is actually hiding his better weapons somewhere else, and that was just a spare that he was using? Or maybe, contrary to what everyone was saying about him, he is just an ordinary Pirate with nothing special going on about him? Well, if even Kobo Daishi can make mistakes with his brush, then I guess it would be unavoidable for the people of the Hartz Duchy to make a mistake while judging the level of threat possessed by every Bandit, huh?

Its okay, Roxanne, theres no need for you to be worrying yourself about it too much.

I know. But still, to defeat someone as notorious and dangerous as Simon the Mad Dog. as expected of Master, your amazingness never stops to surprise me!

Well, thats definitely nice to hear, however

If we assume that the Pirate whom I have defeated was indeed Simon the Mad Dog, then I guess that all of the credit for defeating him should go to my Equivalent Exchange Bonus Spell, since it was that magic that defeated him and not my swordsmanship, so a part of me feels like counting this as my own victory is a kind of a foul play that does not do justice to the events that really transpired.

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If anything, I guess I should count myself lucky that I managed to kill him with magic without the need of going against him with my sword alone.

In the meantime, Sherry fuses the Skill Crystals while I had this conversation with Roxanne. Just as I was expecting of her, she managed to successfully create yet another Sacrificial Misanga.

Ahh, you did it, Sherry. Just like I expected of you.

Thank you for your praise, master.

Sherry says while handling the Sacrificial Misanga over to me, and I receive it from her gratefully.

This Sacrificial Misanga is going to be yours to wear, Sherry. Now, where do you want to be wearing it?

I think I will put it on my foot, if that is okay with master.

Of course, go for it. Or you know what, allow me to put it on for you. Here, show me your foot.

I tie the Sacrificial Misanga around Sherrys ankle, just like she wanted me to do. Her feet are so small and delicate, and cute, just like Sherry herself.

Even after I finished binding it, there was still a good amount of the thread left, probably exactly because her feet are so small. As I was trying the Misanga for her, looking at her feet made me want to rub my cheek against them to feel how soft and smooth they are.

The Knight Order of Hartz Duchy seems to be in quite the trouble because of these Bandits. They are even going to stop checking the Intelligence Cards of the people who will come to them in order to claim the bounty for the Bandits because of it.

When I was tying the Sacrificial Misanga over Sherrys ankle for a second time to make sure that its going to be fitting just right without the risk of falling off, Sherry said something interesting that immediately caught my attention.

You really think that theyll not do that?

Well, it is written as such on the wanted posters, so I guess that means that this is what theyre intending to do?

Sherry said while pointing to the part of the wanted posters that apparently listed that information. Well, since I cannot read the letters of the Brahim language at all, theyre just some unintelligible mumbo-jumbo for me, so I have no choice but to take Sherrys words at face value.

So theyre not going to be checking the Intelligence Cards of the people whod want to claim the bounty for killing Bandits? If thats the case, then thats great news to me, since if my Intelligence Card is not going to be verified, that means that I can go and turn in the Bandits Intelligence Cards in exchange for the prize money right away!

That being said, I wonder why did they decide to handle it in such a way? Is it really okay for them to be doing something like that?

You really think they are not gonna do the verifications of the Intelligence Cards?

Yes, I think they really mean it if they wrote it on the posters. If they do that, then other Bandits will not bring the Intelligence Cards with them next time.

Oh, so this is a kind of a trick in order to make other Bandits bring the Intelligence Cards to them?

Precisely. After all, the one who knows best where a Bandit is and what he is doing is a fellow Bandit of his. If you pay them enough money, then just like mercenaries, they will kill anyone without asking questions, even if the target was a fellow Bandit of theirs. It is a technique that has been used in the past already each time when a particularly strong Bandits and Thieves were making their appearance in the Empire.

So this is a strategy where they want to force a snake to bite another snake so that they would kill each other without them having to intervene?

Well, I guess its true that the only people whod know how outlaws are operating would be other outlaws. Theyre the ones who know their own ways the best, and letting the Bandits kill other Bandits is the most efficient approach to the problem here, because no matter what happens, the numbers of Bandits are going to be reduced one way or another.

In other words, the current bounty system, which doesnt allow rewarding Bandits, will conversely protect Bandits from betrayal of or by their fellow Bandits, because if a fellow Bandits Intelligence Card can be sold to the authorities for cash without them asking questions about it, then this will prevent Bandits from forming groups.

With the way things are now, the Duke and the nights are going to encourage Bandits to kill each other off quietly just so that they could get their hand s on a reward, which is going to make betrayals among their ranks more frequent.

Okay, I get that much, but uhm but if thats the case, then why do they normally conduct the checks of the Intelligence Cards and not resort to this method more often instead?

Certainly, I think it is better to hand over the prize money regardless of who brings the Intelligence Card. But the Empires laws prevent rewarding outlaws since it will financially benefit them, and that is not what the Empires rulers and law enforcement want to achieve.

Sherry seems to be in favor of rewarding Bandits with the bounty for killing other Bandits. Well, it does seem like the most rational thing to do, especially if you take into consideration the current security standards of this games world.

Maybe this worlds administration does not want to resort to this method because of their own pride? If so, then I can understand that, because theres no telling if that system would work in the long term or not. For all intents and purposes, it might only work in the short term.