Fortunately, with the armor on, aside from being somewhat disheveled, there were no severe injuries.

Michelle, with a body like a broken bellows, could only sit down again after venting his anger, breathing heavily while looking at everyone.

His sinister gaze revealed a strong killing intent, leaving no doubt that his next words would be to order these people to kill.

But fortunately, he was crazy, not stupid, and gradually calmed down.

"Go and bring Gene here."

With these words, those tense people finally relaxed, and their hanging heads returned to their necks.

Even Gene knew he couldn't escape after hearing this. With a bitter face, he followed, but the moment he stepped through the door, his expression became even more unpleasant as he saw the mess and several of the personal guard looking disheveled.

Damn it, are they calling me back to take a beating?

However, he was worldly-wise, and despite his reluctance, he didn't show it, instead approaching with a smile.

"Sir, I have already checked. There wasn't much loss of goods, and the carriage wasn't damaged. All thanks to your bravery and courage, leading everyone to drive off the robbers."

Flattery never gets old. He knew he had to appease Michelle; any discomfort could spell trouble for him.

"You're a local. How come you're unaware of such strong bandit presence here?"

Michelle's words were clearly an attack. Without a satisfactory explanation, he had to deal with it himself.

Gene had cursed countless times in his heart, thinking, "I told you not to come, yet you insisted, and now who's to blame for the trouble?"

But he knew he couldn't say that; he didn't even dare let his face show a hint of emotion. His gaze involuntarily fell upon the bodies piled beside the wall, a few slain by the heavy armored knights, left behind in the hurry.

Red hair, strange barbarian decorations, war tattoos; their identity was apparent at a glance.

Although Gene hadn't experienced it firsthand before, being close to this place, he had heard of the Barbarians.

From his father, he knew of the chaos of the past, halted only by Bastia's expansion in recent years, yet who would have thought they'd rise again now.

"Taking the bodies away is a tradition of the Barbarians. They believe only by returning to the mountains can they rest in peace, and these bodies prove their identity.

This area is near the Misty Mountains, so Barbarian tribes frequently appear, especially with autumn harvest nearing. It's not surprising they come down to plunder for winter every year around this time."

Gene first introduced the enemy's identity source and then supplemented their situation.

But Michelle didn't care about this.

"I don't want to hear this. I just want to know how to find and kill all those bastards."

The places Michelle previously encountered Barbarians were likely only the arena. Though he had heard of the Empire's struggles with the Barbarians, the issue didn't reach them. People from the Northern Territory bore the burden, and it had nothing to do with them, the inland nobility.

His mind was now filled with thoughts of killing. Offended him and thought they could run?

"Sir, the Empire is in turmoil now, natural and man-made disasters everywhere, bandits and robbers abound. These Barbarians roaming here are just part of it.

Didn't you hear from those refugees? Even Bastia's army suffered heavy losses pursuing the Barbarians, resulting in them being caught by Hamlet.

Moreover, exterminating them is a matter for the local nobility. We have more important things, such as ensuring this escorted grain reaches the front line, crucial for the war."

Gene's words were actually reminding Michelle all these plunderers were Barbarians. Their home was in the Misty Mountains; exterminating them was impossible.

Secondly, he used what the refugees said earlier as leverage against Count Bastia, giving Michelle a way out.

After all, he had heard Michelle praise Count Bastia highly today.

Now, that Count had suffered greatly at the hands of the Barbarians, yet they managed to protect the goods, though with some loss, it foiled the cunning Barbarian plunderers' plots.

It was clearly a severe defeat, yet in Gene's words, it became a "great victory."

Only a merchant's mouth could turn something dead into alive.

Finally, by shifting the responsibility of eradicating the bandits to the local nobility, using the grain and the front-line war as persuasion, he effectively provided Michelle with another way out.

Michelle, whose mood had been erratic, calmed down after hearing this.

That's right. He didn't do too badly; he drove off the Barbarians and protected the grain.

Indeed, Michelle didn't care about the personal guard soldiers who died for him. After all, he could just ask his father to send another batch anytime. To him, they were like slaves, worthless no matter how many died.

"So what should we do now?" Michelle threw out a question, his gloomy expression quite peculiar.

"Go to Hamlet." Gene paused and then said.

This statement surprised everyone present, even the man in the black robe who had been quietly sitting by the side couldn't help but glance over, let alone Michelle.

"Why?" Michelle naturally didn't want to simply go back, his expression unexpectedly shifted from before, turning into a smile.

Gene sensed this and knew he had made the right gamble.

Anyone else would've surely advised Michelle to just return, but during this period, Gene had figured out his psychology.