The bandits knelt down in a line with hands behind their head. The caravan had taken over the bandit camp. All of the miners and former thugs stood around with clubs and pickaxes in their hands.

Siderius didn't have enough weapons for all of them so they had to use the available tools from the Rocky Pit. There were weapons in the guard's barracks of Mucktown, but Siderius didn't take them. Mucktown still needed to guard itself against outsider and beast.

The miners and former thugs also didn't have any military training at all. They wouldn't know how to use a sword properly, letting them use their most familiar tools as weapons was a wiser choice.

A bandit looked up to take a peek at Siderius.

"Lower your head, bandit! How dare you look at our lord." One of the men of the caravan shouted.

"I'm sorry!" The bandit lowered his head and averted his eyes away.

Siderius walked along the lines of bandits. His grizzly bear cloak was flapping under the cold wind of night. Nadia was right beside him, holding a piece of parchment and a quill.

Nadia was one of the few people of the caravan that knew how to read. She was listing the final number of surviving bandits and writing down their names.

"Your name?" Nadia said.

"Bug..." A bandit said.

Siderius walked with Nadia to look at each and every bandit. He wanted to take a look at them and measure their worth. Bandits were despicable but sometimes there was still hope left in them. Hope to be better and become something more than their pitiful life.

It was the same with Henry and Roland. They were more honorable than these bandits in some way and only targeted banks and caravans of the nobles. But still, their way was not the way. No matter how honorable they could be, they were still thieves. And thieves had no honor in society.

Siderius was there to change that. He could change these lost souls and make them into something more, something that they would be proud of becoming.

Siderius and Nadia stopped in front of an injured bandit. His leg was soaked in blood and his body trembled because of the pain.

"Your name?" Nadia said.

"Dale... Dale Patchwork..."

Siderius raised his eyebrows and observed Dale more closely. His hands were full of callouses and his biceps were fully developed. These were signs of a capable worker.

"Get someone to patch him up." Siderius said.

Nadia nodded, "right away, Lord Snow. Hey, someone get over here and help this poor bandit."

Nadia turned her head to her people and shouted.

"I'm coming, Nadia." A miner approached with a bag full of medical supplies. Inside the bag were bandages, disinfected booze, and a few medicinal herbs.

"Help all the injured bandits that we have listed also. We need them alive." Siderius said.

"Yes, Lord Snow!" Nadia ordered a few of her men over to take the injured bandits away. They only took the one that had already stated their names while the rest stayed still.

Siderius grabbed the hand of the miner that was approaching Dale and whispered in his ear.

"This man is a blacksmith. He is useful. Keep extra attention on him."

"Yes, my lord." The miner whispered back and nodded.

He and Nadia continued to identify the rest of the bandits.

"Your name?"

"Cole..."

"Your name?"

"Haland…"

"Your name?"

"..."

There were twenty-seven bandits in total in the camp, much less than Siderius anticipated. Ten of them were killed ruthlessly by Siderius before the bandits decided to surrender.

There were also the group of thirty bandits that attacked the caravan previously, only twelve survived.

After finishing identifying all the bandits, Nadia rechecked the list one last time before reporting to Siderius.

"There are 29 survivors, Lord Snow. 21 of them suffered minor injuries. 5 need at least a few weeks of healing. 3 suffers very serious injuries that need at least a few months laying on the bed."

Siderius nodded.

"Take their horses and tie them good. We will lead them to Santa Roberto also. The ones that are healthy can walk. The injured can join the passengers on the coaches. Split them out evenly to make sure we always have more people on our side than them. The injured also need to be restrained."

"Yes, my lord."

Siderius waved his hand to summon Kraus over.

"Yes, my lord!" He knelt down instinctively.

"Tell everyone that we will spend the night at this camp. We can use their structures to stay in. The rest can set up tents for the prisoners to stay and for those that don't have a room to sleep in."

"Yes, my lord!"

Kraus quickly moved away to arrange the night.

Siderius couldn't help but notice a puzzle look from Nadia. He smiled at her.

"What's wrong?"

"Excuse me for my stupidity, Lord Snow! But I don't understand why you are treating these prisoners so well."

Siderius' smile deepened.

"I notice that your attitude toward me has changed a lot recently."

"That is the right thing to do. After all, you aren't the same Snow I met, my lord. Back then, I thought you were only a simple healer.

But now you are a high lord. One that had killed the Bailiff of Mucktown and would soon replace him. I have to change my tone."

Siderius nodded. "It is only reasonable in front of everyone else. But know this, our relationship doesn't change much. I will always be your ally."

"Yes, my lord..."

"As for your initial question. If you were me, what would you do to these bandits?"

Nadia thought for a long while before answering, "Kill them?"

"That is a way. And sometimes necessary if the existence of the prisoners you have can become a threat to you in the future. The family line of a royal clan after you have usurped them. Your arch nemesis that you know will stop at nothing to kill you.

But these bandits don't fall into those categories. They are simply criminals. Criminals have their uses.

I don't like using slaves, even though it is a common thing in Eldoria. I like to use criminals. These criminals can buy back their freedom after working for us for a while. They can get back their dignity and freedom.

A simple price for their crimes, instead of death. In exchange, we can make use of them.

After all, would you want your people to do the hard work?"

Nadia shook her head. "I would use these bandits instead."

Siderius nodded. "Exactly. Criminals are human resources in the end. We spare their lives so that they can benefit us. In the long term, their survival is more useful than their death."

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