The trio climbed on their horses and rode to the campsite belonged to the caravan fleet. Three of the carts were emptied. It seemed like Dunn had planned for everything and used the emptied carts to draw the group of bandits out. Follow current ɴᴏᴠᴇʟs on 𝔫𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩⚫𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔢⚫𝔫𝔢𝔱 "Curse that man! I was fooled by him!" Roland said. Henry patted Roland’s shoulder. "You couldn’t know." "I could, Henry. That’s the point. I could. If I have paid a little bit more attention, I could have seen that it was all a trap." Siderius lifted the curtains covering the fourth cart. Inside was full of bronze coins. "Look at this." Siderius said. Henry and Roland walked over. Their eyebrows shot up as the light of bronze reflected in their eyes. Roland dipped his hands into the pile of coins. "We’re rich!" Roland said. Henry took a coin and bit it. "That’s real alright." The pair shared a laugh together. "So. Have you made a choice or do you need more time?" Siderius said. "I want to clarify something before we make a choice." Roland spoke up. "You tell me that you are no witch. Is this true?" "Do you understand the gravity of calling yourself witch hunter, Siderius?" "What do you want us to do if we join you in Santa Roberto?" "At this time, not much. You are tasked to helped George managing the monastery. It isn’t a monastery right now because all of its followers were killed so you only need to make sure that the place is taken care of. George will be the head of Santa Roberto. He will have the final decision in everything. But he isn’t sharp like you, Roland. I need a mind to make sure that he won’t walk himself into any trap. And you, Henry. You will make sure that the place is well protected. If you’re short of manpower, I believe these coins will solve the problem easily." "And what do we get in return?" "You can have a place to lay low for now. Killing a representative agent of the Ivitsio Bank is not a minor crime. They’d want to kill you. Santa Roberto can offer you a place to hide and recover. As for the second point, I believe I have already told you. Do you still want to rob coins cart and make no difference to the witches you hate?" Roland tried to force a smile. "We don’t hate witches..." "Don’t try to lie to me, Roland. I have taken a look into your background. I know why you became bandits." The air was tense between Roland and Siderius. The first was too careful to admit anything while the second tried to bulldoze into the truth. Henry let out a heavy breath. "It’s alright, Roland. We don’t need to hide it. You are right, Siderius. We hate witches. We hate how they leech into us and we have to call them High Nobles. Those monsters turn us into stone then harvest our hearts, do you know that?" The more Henry said, the harder he clenched his jaw. It was up until a point that his teeth were grinding together. "My mother had the Gray Death. But my father didn’t suspect a thing. Or rather, he couldn’t. She turned into stone and from her heart, they took out the seed. I want them dead, Siderius. I want to gouge out their heart like what they did with my mother. Can you help me do that?" "Aye, brother. I can help you do that." Siderius said. And so, he recruited Henry, also known as the Casper Kid, and Roland, whose nickname was Buster Cass, into the Guild of Xander. They shared the same fate as Snow and they hated witches with all their guts. When the pair heard that Xander was a guild of mankind, they didn’t hesitate and joined. Similar to Kraus and his henchmen, Henry and Roland took the vow of the guild and carved an X onto their right hand as a symbol for their loyalty. The trio cleaned every traces there were at the battle sight then they left with the cart full of bronze. They drove it to Santa Roberto and stashed the bronze coins always. Siderius didn’t have time to count the coins but there were at least a few thousand coins there, equal to a few gold coins. These would be more than enough for the monastery to operate and keep itself sustainable for a while. However, to truly turn this place into a base of operation, a few gold coins was not enough. It needed to generate income on its own. Siderius already had a few ideas he could use. Santa Roberto had a very large farming field. It could grew all kinds of herbs. With the help of Tanya and Anna, Siderius could gain a very stable income from selling the plants and herbs. When Siderius visited Tanya, she was more than happy to join him as a herbalist. Siderius didn’t tell her about the guild as she wasn’t trustworthy enough for him. The same went for Anna. "Herbs and plants wouldn’t be enough in the long run. The monastery might have more people. I might train more alchemists and witch hunters. All of that need coins. Maybe I can relocate Ashe to the monastery and let her practice her alchemy here. She could sell the spirits as miracle medicine at a high price. That could generate quite a lot of coins. George can also be a source of income for the monastery. He can practice and sell the failed products at a high price as well. The failed products will still be much more valuable that whatever steel is available out there. Henry and Roland are bandits but they can’t continue with this profession. It will only cause more trouble for me. They should be good right now with helping George manage the place." With that, Siderius assigned the people to Santa Roberto. George of Mucktown became the Steward of Santa Roberto. He managed the entire place and had the final decision in everything. Henry Alvaro Lichtenfield, a.k.a. The Casper Kid, became the Warden of Santa Roberto. He was tasked with keeping the place safe and secured. Roland Louis Graves, a.k.a. Buster Cass, became the Advisor. His task was to help the Steward with his job and being an intellectual assistant. Tanya joined Santa Roberto as the only herbalist inside the monastery. Anna joined Santa Roberto and was still a maid for now. However, she was tasked with learning herbalism alongside Tanya and also helped Siderius grew a few useful plants. After taking care of every business in Scalize and Santa Roberto, Siderius climbed on Red’s back and rode into the Rottin Woods again. He still had one sigil slot that he could fill into the system bracer. And the purpose of this next journey would be to find the right material for it.