“Hmm.”

As we left the building where we’d detained the bandits, one of the soldiers glanced back, his voice tinged with uncertainty. “Is it really okay to just let them go like that?”

“They’re not our priority,” I reassured him. “Trust me.”

“Oh, right. If Sergeant Shin says so, it’s got to be true.”

Strangely, the troops no longer required detailed explanations from me. They’d come to accept my orders without question—a level of trust that was reassuring but a bit odd.

“The real issue here,” I murmured, rubbing my chin, “is that we’ve only been in this territory for …