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When someone's gender is questioned, especially a man's, you can usually tell the truth simply by observing their reaction. Those who grow furious and feel deeply insulted even those who are ready to pull down their pants to prove their masculinity are typically genuine men.
Meanwhile, those who react with flustered panic and loudly deny the accusation are typically women whose disguise has just been seen through. Tesolus had little trouble concluding that the remarkably handsome youth before him was a girl.
Any ordinary man whose masculinity was called into question would typically react with considerable fury, feeling that his dignity had been insulted. Many cultures across various nations have some form of language that questions another's gender in precisely this way; it is typically used as a crude insult.
When Tesolus spoke those words, he braced himself for a violent reaction. After all, though this youth had a strangely familiar name, Tesolus felt an impulse to ask if the boy's father was named Caradoc. However, this world had been reshaped and modified so thoroughly that he couldn't be certain his guess would be correct.
But the sudden deathly pallor that flooded the young woman's face, along with her instinctive urge to flee, confirmed that, at least this time, his guess hadn't been wrong.
This youth, no, this young woman was Colin, the daughter of Caradoc, the High King of Batania, from the game Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord. In the game, she had outstanding stats, a notoriously bad temper, a small stature, and, by Bannerlord's standards, a pretty face. She was famously known as one of the fiercest and most hot-tempered heroines in the game.
He never would have imagined that he would end up encountering her under these circumstances and from the looks of things, she wasn't exactly thriving either. She resorted to such a dangerous stunt just to steal a few sacks of grain from him.
"You...there's no need to worry. I won't tell anyone about this."
His mind raced with half-formed thoughts, and he nearly blurted out, "Lady Colin, surely you don't want anyone else finding out you're a woman..." a phrase loaded with all sorts of unfortunate implications. But at the last possible second, he managed to course-correct, just barely maintaining his composed, formidable persona.
The girl named Colin said nothing, merely eyeing him warily with an unmistakable look of fear. She had no idea how her identity had been discovered. The people who lived with her day in and day out had never noticed anything amiss, yet this officer had figured everything out the moment he heard her name.
As far as she could tell, this man must have wielded some sort of terrifying sorcery, or her face had given her away. After all, a face this pretty hardly seemed like that of a forest bandit who raided travelers.
In this world, being a girl was hardly fortunate, unless you were the daughter of a high-ranking noble or wealthy merchant. Otherwise, hardship was practically guaranteed. This was especially true in her current dire situation, having fallen captive to these fearsome cavalrymen and having her true identity exposed.
Colin didn't even dare imagine what might come next. Her entire body trembled uncontrollably, as though she had been doused in a bucket of ice-cold water.
Though the man standing before her looked handsome and refined, he might be a psychopath why else would he be so fixated on a few sacks of grain, chasing her all this way? Their camp was so remote, and these men were decked out in heavy armor. Wasn't a journey like this exhausting for them?
Tesolus was completely unaware that the girl was mentally slandering him. He was quite pleased with himself. He watched as the sensible bandits dropped their weapons without a word, knelt on the ground, and surrendered without resistance.
They showed none of the reckless, desperate abandon typical of true outlaws with nothing left to lose. This confirmed to Tesolus that these people weren't professional bandits.
Looking at the small children and gaunt, malnourished women among them all thin and sickly with hunger, he realized that they wouldn't be able to put up a fight like hardened brigands. The fact that they hadn't fainted from terror yet spoke to their inner strength. Besides, professional bandits wouldn't bring their families with them on a robbery. Otherwise, they wouldn't be able to escape if they were surrounded by an army.
This left Tesolus even more satisfied since he had no interest in absorbing hardened, incorrigible bandits into his forces; that would undermine his unit's discipline. Some commanders might believe that bandits make braver fighters than ordinary soldiers, but on an actual battlefield, that sort of lone-wolf bravado offers limited real value.
True victory comes from strong organization, discipline, and unyielding resolve, and fearless courage, not reckless individual bravado. Such men might excel at robbing travelers in the forest, but on a real battlefield, they often proved to be practically useless. Their volatile temperaments also made them notoriously difficult to manage and train.
Tesolus had made up his mind. He reached down, hauled the girl up off the ground, and gave her a firm pat on the shoulder, forcing her to stand up straight. He had no idea why she kept looking at him with such a panicked expression. He knew perfectly well that this little girl wasn't as fragile as she appeared.
Moments ago, she was the only one in the group who put up any real resistance. She wielded that massive sword with genuine ferocity. He couldn't imagine where such a small frame found the strength for it.
"If you'd been just a bit stronger, I would've had no choice but to break one of your arms. So, looking at it from that angle, you're actually pretty lucky."
This was the first thing Tesolus said to her after knocking her down with a single blow from the wooden shaft of his mace. She was thoroughly furious, though she couldn't exactly argue the point. She had only managed to withstand three exchanges before being knocked flat and losing her grip on her sword.
Just as Colin braced herself, assuming that, as a helpless captive, she was about to face a terrible fate, she heard Tesolus say something else entirely.
"Why take such a huge risk just to steal a few sacks of grain? Don't you realize the slightest misstep could have gotten all of you killed?"
These words completely detonated the girl's temper. Her face turned livid as she snapped back:
"Of course it's because we're starving! We're starving to the point of madness practically ready to eat each other! We've been lying in ambush along this road for three days, and you were the only ones to come by. If we don't get food soon, we really will starve. So, despite the risk, we had no choice but to try. Besides, I did succeed, didn't I? You never caught me in the act. If that traitor hadn't led you straight to us, you never would have found me!”
As she spoke, she shot a furious glare at the man surrounded by cavalrymen. The man flinched as though struck by lightning and quickly lowered his head, not daring to meet her gaze.
Just as her rage was about to boil over, she heard Tesolus speak with a hint of amusement in his voice.
"So, would you all be interested in a job that guarantees you'll have a full stomach?"
Colin immediately grasped what he meant and asked with surprise, "Are you offering to hire us? If you hire us, will we actually have food every single day? Not just enough to keep from starving, but enough to actually be full?"
Tesolus paused briefly before continuing.
"As long as you pass my test, I can pay each of you two gold denarii every month." As he spoke, he reached out and grabbed a nearby sack of grain. "A single gold denarius could buy at least ten sacks of grain like this one."
The girl's face flushed deep red at once. Her breathing grew heavy and rapid. Overwhelming joy left her momentarily dazed.
"Yes! We're in!"
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