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A Harem in the Fantasy World Dungeon Volume 7 Chapter 2 Part 10

Ahh, that smile of hers! That is truly a smile of a Goddess!

「Because there is a possibility of developing a dependency on the outlaws in the matters related to the termination of the Bandits in the territories of those who hired them?」

「That’s right. After all, a part of the noble’s duties is to protect the people living in the territories that have been entrusted to them, and it truly does not seem to be appropriate for the noble’s part to be played by anyone other than nobles, lest they want their authority to be damaged and their right to lead their people to be questioned.」

「Even if this method has been implemented as an emergency one, you always have to carefully consider when it is going to be profitable to hire Bandits to hunt and kill other Bandits for you, and when the demerits of this method might far outweigh the possible merits.」

I was truly impressed by Cassia’s words towards the Duke, but even though I felt amazed by her and wanted to stare at her in admiration, I know that I cannot do that if I want to avoid accidentally incurring the Duke’s wrath at having his wife ogled by someone like me. Those eyes of his…. Are those the eyes of someone who’s looking at me thinking whether he should have me purged for looking at his wife with lustful eyes? Earlier, I was concerned about disagreeing with the Duke, but now I’m worrying if I’m not going to get punished for something much more serious. However….

「Well, in that case I guess you’re going to have much reasons to rejoice, Cassia, because it is no longer necessary for us to be employing that method, because Lord Michio and his Party managed to defeat Heinz the Bandit and his gang.」

Looks like the things have gone well, and I’m not going to have my ass purged anytime soon.

「Good heavens. Is that true?」

Cassia’ eyes opened widely when the Duke relayed the news to her, and then she looked at me with an expression that looked like a mixture joy and delight. Oh my God, these blue eyes of hers look like they’re so deep that I might end up drowning in them completely if I keep on staring at them any longer! I never felt more as if I was being absorbed by someone’s eyes than how I am feeling right now in this very moment.

Actually, you know what? If I was to be absorbed by Cassia’s beautiful eyes, then I think that I wouldn’t have anything against it at all. Moreover, I would love to be absorbed by her eyes if it would mean that I would get to stay a part of her forever!

「Out of all the Bandits who appeared in our territories, Simon the Mad Dog was the only one who managed to flee with his life, but without other people who would do his bidding for him, I highly doubt that he’s going to be able to sow as much chaos as he did before in Selmar. In fact, it wouldn’t even surprise me if he has already been killed by other Bandits aiming to exchange his Intelligence Card for money.」

Well, to be honest, that is indeed the case. Simon the Mad Dog is already dead, but it’s just that I cannot tell them about it in order to avoid further questions in regards to how exactly did he die.

「Thank you very much. Before they came here to the Hartz Duchy, Heinz the Bandit and his band of outlaws were very active in the territories of the Earl of Selmar, which are also my parent’s homeland, and a few of my good acquaintances and friends had been murdered by him, so I am very thankful to you, Lord Michio, for taking revenge for them on my behalf, even if you have done so unknowingly.」

Cassia then bowed her head to me respectfully, as a result of which her beautiful, golden hair fall down like a cascade of golden water or the rays of sunshine.

「No, no, no, there’s no need to thank me for it at all! I am simply grateful for hearing your kind words, Lady Cassia.」

「Just between all of us here, when I heard that Heinz the Bandit and his band moved I here from the Earl of Selmar’s territories, I was extremely worried about how the situation with them was going to develop, but now that we know that the majority of Heinz’s crew has been dealt with, the citizens of both Selmar and Hartz will be able to feel relieved and sleep without worrying about their immediate future.」

「To tell you the truth, I’m just honored that I could be of use to you and that my actions were able to help someone other than myself.」

I don’t really care all that much about the people of the territories belonging to that Earl of Selmar, but if the situation with those Bandits was enough to make Cassia worried like that, then I can say that I’m really glad that I got to kill those Bandits if it means that Cassia is going to feel relieved now.

「By the way Lord Michio, if you don’t mind me asking, then could you tell me if any of the members of Heinz the Bandit’s gang was perhaps equipped with a ring.」

The Duke asked me that all of a sudden.

Speaking of rings, I guess there is this one Ring of Determination that the girls found lying on the ground when we were searching the battlefield for the Bandit equipment when our battle with them was finally over.

I take out the Ring of Determination from my Item Box, and pass it to the Duke. There should be no problems with me showing this ring to him, since it can also serve as a definitive proof that I was truly the one who defeated the Bandits.

「By a ring, do you perhaps mean this ring?」

「Oh….. No, unfortunately, this ring is not the one I was thinking off, because it is too new to be the one that I remember.」

Well, in that case I guess there’s nothing that we can really do about it, since this particular Ring of Determination has been restored to its peak condition from the beat-up state it was in the moment when I performed a Character Reset while having it equipped on me, so there is no way that it’s going to go back to its previous state now that it has been reborn.

「I’m sorry to hear it, but unfortunately this is the only ring that I found after my battle with the Bandits was over.」

「Don’t worry about it then, we’re not going to doubt your words, Lord Michio. What do you think, Gozer?」

「Hmm, when I look at this ring, I think that the one that belonged to you had more scratches on it, but who can say if the ring has not been polished multiple times ever since you lost it?」

When I had a puzzled look on my face in regards to the situation that was transpiring right now, I was promptly offered an explanation by the Duke.

「Heinz the Bandit stole the Ring of Determination from the Earl of Selmar a number of years back. You see, Lord Michio, that ring was originally a family heirloom that belonged to my house, and when me and Cassia got married, I presented it to her as my betrothal gift.」

That is what the Duke said. So originally, this Ring of Determination was an accessory that belonged to him? And it was something that he presented to Cassia as a betrothal gift when they were going to get married…. Wait a minute…

「Betrothal gift…?」

「It’s a custom that’s in direct contrast to the one that the members of the common folk have. In case of commoners, the role that males have is to fight against monsters. But because of that and the danger that fighting the monsters brings with itself, the numbers of the male population tend to be decreasing, while the population of the females increases. It is for this exact reason that at the time of marriage bride has to offer a dowry in order to be accepted into the groom’s family, and if the dowry is considered to not be enough, then the marriage can either be called off entirely in the worst-case scenario, while in the best-case scenario it might lead to the development of polygamy. However, that is not the case among the people who count themselves among the ranks of the nobility. Since a very small percentage of nobles takes it upon themselves to actually go fight against the monsters, the numbers of male and female nobles are more or less equal. It is for that exact reason while in the case of nobility, it is a male’s duty to provide the bride with a betrothal gift at the time of marriage.」