Waking up, Jonan found the small girl Astrid sitting quietly beside him, his head was aching right after waking up and holding his forehead, he wanted to curse at the stinging sensation he was feeling all over his body, but looking at Astrid, who was seated beside him, he calmed down.
"Where are we, and what happened after I got unconscious," asked Jonan.
"... your companions they saved us, they brought you to me, and asked me to look after you, and asked me to let them know when you are awake."
"Oh... Where are all of them right now?"
"They all are outside, we are right now in one of the bandit's tents," said Astrid.
Jonan nodded and got up to go outside to meet his cohort members, as well as get some answers from them in time.
Jonan could see that Astrid was shivering when following behind him, he asked, "What's the matter, did anything happen."
Astrid shivered a bit, she didn't know how to say this, but she mustered up her courage and said with a pale face, "Sir, the old man who was staying with us doesn't want to come out of the cell, and your cohort members are very ruthless, they didn't even spare the bandit's family members, everyone here is dead."
Jonan's face turned unnatural, he also hated the bandits for what they did and wanted to punish, and maybe kill them, but he never set his eyes on the bandit's family members, no matter what crime the bandits committed, it wasn't necessary to implicate their family members.
In a rage, he shot out of the tent, but he stopped, because the whole bandit stronghold, which was filled with loud noises was eerily silent with dead bodies all over the place, some missing limbs, while others missing an entire torso.
Astrid, who was following behind him started to feel nauseated looking at such a gruesome scene.
Jonan became far more furious than he had been before; his face was seething with rage.
After reaching the Bandit Leader's hut, where according to Astrid, his cohort members were staying at the moment.
Jonan noticed Elias and Edric were seated around a small bonfire, while Marla wasn't there at the moment.
Noticing Jonan's arrival, Elias sighed, he knew he had to listen to an endless banter about rights and wrongs.
Jonan after noticing them first breathed a sigh and then bowed slightly toward them, and asked, "Thank you for saving me, and I apologize for not taking your words seriously, and creating problems for everyone, Can we talk alone?"
Elias and Edric were surprised by Jonan's apology and thankfulness, they expected something different, and the matter of talking alone, they understood, he doesn't have the disgusting habits of those born in powerful families of creating a scene.
Elias gestured for Jonan to follow, Astrid was also mindlessly trying to follow Jonan, but she was stopped by him, and he asked her to keep Edric company.
Reluctantly, Astrid nodded and sat beside Edric to keep him company, meanwhile, Jonan followed behind Elias, and after some time they came to a stop.
Elias motioned him to speak his mind.
Jonan took a deep breath and asked, "I can understand that you didn't save me for my training, but why didn't you help save the lives of other captives?"
Elias just sighed and said, "We wanted to help you of course, and others too, but to what end should we keep saving, and how many can we keep saving, you know this isn't the only bandit stronghold do you, and even if we save others, are we obligated to rescue them and then help with getting out of this forest."
Jonan was stunned, he never thought that he would be getting such a straightforward answer, he thought Elias might make excuses, but his outright refusal to help others was shocking to him.
"What's the problem with saving someone innocent, is it alright to just ignore the plea of the helpless?"
Elias shook his head and said, "I don't understand young master, you are such a smart person, but again and again, you keep ignoring the obvious."
"What would that be?", said Jonan with slight anger.
"If someone innocent wants to keep their life safe, then they should not be here in the first place, this is no place for an outing, this is one of the outposts of the front lines, it's not someplace that ordinary people can just come and go, everyone has a motive for their presence in here, so tell me, young master why should I or anyone go out of their way to help others, when who knows what other intentions one might have."
Jonan wanted to refute it, but he couldn't find the words to fight, no matter how he pondered over it, he could feel that what Elias said to him was indeed true, this place wasn't somewhere to live, it was a battlefield.
One can only keep oneself safe, where would anyone get the leisure to care for others?
Jonan felt like laughing at himself, he had countless words to say to his cohort members but none came out the moment he faced Elias.
"I understand what you mean to say, Sir Elias, but was it necessary to kill even the family members of the bandits, they were not responsible for the bandit's savagery, and some of them might have been victims of fate too."
Elias's face turned somber, "Young master, we didn't notice you had such a huge character flaw."
Jonan was startled, he couldn't understand, what does his question had anything to do with character.
"Sir Elias, I don't understand what you mean."
Elias just shook his head, "You aren't even able to notice your faults, just how is it possible for you of all people to have such a flaw, this is something that only the commoners had, how can you, who is a direct descendant of His Holiness himself, have such insecurities."
"Young master, you couldn't have expected the bandits to be scot-free, even for the purpose of training, hurting you, who is a son of one of the heroes is a sin that cannot go unpunished, as a matter of fact, anyone who tries harming you, will not only face a death sentence, but their family and friends will also be vanquished from the face of Dreavows."