It was a rather awkward level.
Not weak, but far from strong.
Yet, to see them trembling like that...
"Just to confirm, what level are you?"
"I'm level 5."
"...."
At the utterly confident answer, Justin and his comrades were left speechless.
It wasn't a joke—he was truly proud of it.
He probably didn't see any sha in that level, otherwise, he wouldn't respond like that.
'So, this must be the average level on Earth.'
Was the system deliberately giving them less experience?
Or maybe these guys had been holding back, unwilling to push forward and level up.
Whichever the case, one thing was clear.
"You're much weaker than I expected."
"Pardon?"
"Never mind. Just stay put. We'll handle the rest."
"L-lord!"
Justin pushed aside David as he stepped forward.
Tyler, as he was called, looked at Justin and his group approaching without hesitation and gave a bewildered expression.
"What the hell? Are you insane?"
"No, you're the insane one. What were you thinking, rebelling against ?"
"Oh, right. You're the one who owns that fortress, aren't you? Perfect timing. If I kill you here, that city becos mine, right?"
"That's correct!"
"Then let's kill him now. I was wondering how to drag him out of the fortress, but he walked right into our hands."
From that point on, Tyler completely ignored Justin and laughed with his group.
They seed confident, assuming superiority simply because of their numbers.
Seeing this, Justin sighed silently.
It felt like dealing with children—he wasn't even angry anymore.
His comrades seed to feel the sa as they calmly asked,
"Lord, what should we do?"
"Well, it's tricky. They're too weak to be real threats, but their levels are high enough that turning them into slaves could be useful."
"How about trying pioneer slaves for the first ti? If they comply, we'll make use of them, and if they resist, we can crush them without regret."
"That's not a bad idea. The ones who obey can serve as guards, and the ones who resist... we'll make them slaves."
"What the hell are they talking about?"
Tyler's face twisted with anger as he heard their conversation.
Before Justin could respond, Tyler, clearly impatient, barked an order.
"Break both their legs and bring them to . Don't kill them."
"Y-yes!"
"Let's see how long those mouths of theirs can run. It usually takes about three broken fingers before they can't speak anymore."
As Tyler laughed, his pioneers surrounded Justin's group.
Clicking his tongue, Justin gave his own order to his companions.
"Break both their arms and bring them over."
"...Their arms, not their legs?"
"If you break their legs, it'll be harder to move them. We don't have enough healing skill uses."
"Ah, I see."
The three comrades nodded in understanding and stepped forward.
Seeing their confident deanor, Tyler growled in anger.
"Attack!"
The one-sided violence began.
The situation ended about 10 minutes later.
To be precise, it took 3 minutes to wipe them out and another 7 minutes of beating them until all resistance disappeared.
Tyler, who had been so arrogant just monts before, now had a half-ruined face and was sobbing.
"P-please spare ...."
"Derek, go easy on him. What did you do to his face?"
"I went easy on the others. He seed like a dead man anyway, so I didn't hold back."
"Even so, his head needs to be intact. I was going to use it to scare the others."
"Ah, I didn't think of that. Sorry about that."
As Derek and Justin talked, Tyler's eyes widened.
As if forgetting that both his arms were broken, he crawled on his knees and scread,
"S-spare ! Please!"
Shwick.
Before he could say more, Ethan's sword sliced through his neck.
Ethan pulled out a bag from his inventory and placed the severed head inside, grumbling,
"The type that never shows rcy to others always begs for it when it's their turn."
"That's how it goes. What about the others?"
"Please spare us! We beg you!"
"It was all his fault! We were just following orders!"
"If you let us live, we'll be your loyal dogs!"
Before Justin could finish speaking, cries for rcy rang out from all directions.
Tyler's n, with their arms broken, were banging their heads on the ground, begging for their lives.
Justin stared at them with a look of disdain and said,
"I never said I'd kill you. If I intended to kill you, I'd have done it during the fight."
"Th-thank you! Thank you so much!"
"If you're really that grateful, work hard as slave soldiers. That's the only reason I spared you."
"S-slave soldiers?"
"Yes, slaves. We practice slavery here. I heard you did sothing similar where you're from."
The pioneers' eyes widened in shock.
It seed they couldn't comprehend the idea of being turned into slaves.
"W-wait a minute. Slaves? But we're empowered."
"Pioneers, right? So what?"
"What do you an, 'so what'? Pioneers are... there are so few of us, and we're strong...."
"Ah, I see."
So, they were asking for the sa "upper-class" treatnt as before?
Hearing such nonsense from a group of average level 5 pioneers, Justin couldn't help but chuckle.
"But here's the thing: I already have 70 pioneers stronger than you in my territory. I don't really need you, do I?"
"W-what?"
"If you don't believe , go check for yourself. But be careful—they're all over level 10, so don't get cocky or you might die."
"...!?"
The group collapsed to the ground, their expressions filled with shock.
Ignoring them, Justin approached Rachel, who had just returned from the village.
"How's the situation inside?"
"It's chaotic. They're glad the thug who tornted them is dead, but they're unsure about us, so they're scared."
"That makes sense. From what I've heard, the strong pioneers on Earth were mostly villains."
After the battle ended, Justin had asked David about how Tyler used to level up, and the answer had been disturbing.
He had lured monsters with bait, and when they ca close, he'd attack their legs from a distance to cripple them.
Once the monsters were down, he'd sneak around and stab them in the back until they died.
Of course, the bait wasn't another pioneer—it was regular citizens.
"With what they've been through, it's no surprise they're scared. To them, we probably seem no different from those thugs."
"Should we reassure them? Tell them we're not like the others?"
"No. Just leave them be."
Justin shook his head at Rachel's suggestion.
"This is different. Once they're under our rule, they'll have to adapt to the hierarchical system anyway. Giving them false hope would only lead to disappointnt later. It's better for them to despair now and then realize things aren't as bad as they feared."
"That's true. It would be troubleso if they assud we were kind and started making demands."
"Exactly."
If that happened, Justin would have to enforce discipline again, which was a hassle he wanted to avoid.
It was a routine he'd been through too many tis already.
"Still, we're in luck this ti."
Justin smiled as he swung the pouch that Ethan had handed him earlier.
"If my guess is correct, this rebellion will be easier to handle than expected."
Justin called David over and asked him various questions.
Unlike before, David answered obediently without a hint of complaint.
It wasn't respect—it felt more like he had resigned himself to whatever fate awaited him, like a man facing a predator.
"The thug I ntioned earlier and Tyler are different people. If Tyler had co here, we would have surrendered right away. We wouldn't have even co to you."
"So, all the pioneers I captured are from the sa region?"
"Yes. I can't speak for other areas, but at least the pioneers here are all people we know."
Satisfied with David's answer, Justin smiled.
That ant they all shared the sa fear of the leader who had dominated them before.
And if the group that killed that leader was Justin's, they'd easily submit.
'Looks like I won't have to waste any labor. No need to go through the trouble of ranking them myself.'
"Lord, I'm sorry, but I have a question...."
Perhaps noticing Justin's good mood, David hesitantly spoke up.
With a nod, Justin gestured for him to continue.
After a mont's hesitation, David spoke.
"In the fortress... in New Washington, do you have any facilities for childbirth?"
"What? Are there pregnant won?"
"Yes. One woman's just starting to show, and another is less than two months away from giving birth."
For a mont, Justin was surprised, but on second thought, it wasn't that shocking.
Where there were n and won, these things were bound to happen.
In fact, Justin realized it was strange that pregnancy hadn't beco an issue before now.
There's a saying that people's survival instincts heighten in life-threatening situations, and it seems reproduction was no exception.
'Or maybe people have been hiding it from because they were too afraid to bring it up.'
After all, asking the lord for sothing like this could be seen as a request, and not everyone had the courage to speak up.
If they were pioneers, it might be different, but for the regular citizens, fear could have kept them quiet.
'I'll have to look into this as soon as we get back.'
With that thought, Justin replied to David,
"We don't have any facilities like that yet, but as the leader, I can develop the territory to build sothing. I'll check it out and see if we have the resources to set one up."
"Thank you! Thank you so much!"
"Don't worry about it. Increasing the birthrate is important for as the leader. If anything like this happens again, report it imdiately. I'll see what I can do."
"...!"
David looked genuinely touched by Justin's words.
But Justin wasn't offering this out of kindness—it was a practical decision.
Without people to serve him, a king was nothing.
That night, Justin and his group returned to Washington with David and 1,000 of his citizens.
The immigrants were clearly terrified after witnessing the battle earlier, but that fear made them obedient.
Rachel, leading the group, looked up at the stars in the night sky and murmured,
"You know, this is the first ti we've moved this many people at night."
"To be fair, this is the first ti we've moved anyone at night."
Traveling at night was usually too dangerous due to limited visibility.
But now that the surrounding monsters' levels were predictable and Justin's group had grown so strong, it wasn't a big concern.
"Even if we're safe, the immigrants are still uneasy. This should be a one-ti thing. In the future, we'll move during the day."
"I understand. Right now, it's scarier for them to wait until morning. They'll keep thinking about the attack."
Thankfully, the distance between the territories was short, so they reached the fortress quickly.
Zachary, waiting atop the wall, opened the gates and greeted them.
"You finished quickly. I thought you'd return by morning after checking things over."
"Sothing ca up, so I skipped that part and brought them right away. I'll explain later, but for now, prepare hos for them."
"It's already done. We've hired guides as well, so they'll show them around even without ."
Impressive.
If Zachary were as good in battle as he was in administration, he'd be perfect.
As Justin felt a hint of regret, a question ca to mind.
"By the way, how's Washington? Any issues with marriages or childbirth?"
"Hah."
Zachary widened his eyes in surprise, then chuckled.
"What a coincidence. I was planning to report on that soon."
"I knew it. How many cases have been reported? With the population increase, I'm sure there's been a rise."
"Actually, I found out from the pioneers. It seems the citizens didn't want to tell us."
"What? From the pioneers? Who?"
If pioneers were involved, the issue wasn't just about childbirth.
With the hierarchical system in place, inheritance and status could beco major concerns.
Depending on whether the pioneer was one of Justin's close associates, the situation could beco even more complicated.
Seeing Justin's intense focus, Zachary smiled and began to explain.
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