Chapter 28

This is tougher than I thought. When Satou said there were some bandits up ahead, I expected the usual band of unwashed men and women armed with swords and bows. Instead, we face off with bandits clad in full plate armour armed with high-quality swords, crossbows and spell scrolls. They even had mages. It was a good thing Arisa took the mages down. With how skilled the other bandits are, they would have no doubt caused us a lot of trouble.

"Leg slash attack!"

"Take this, sir,"

Pochi and Tama run about the battlefield cutting the backs of the bandit's legs and throwing stones. They did try to fight the bandits head-on and first, but one of the enemies armed with a giant axe sent them both flying.

"You won't get past me, I declare!

"Thankyou Nana,"

"You're a lifesaver,"

"Thanks,"

Nana, meanwhile, is protecting the rearguard from arrows and returning fire with her magical arrows. She is getting faster and more accurate with the spell as nearly every shot she fires finds its mark. Lulu and Mia join, firing their magical gun and bow, respectively. They have already taken down half of the enemy's ranged units between the three of them. All the well, Arisa continues to use her psychic magic to confuse and disorientate the bandits.

"I won't lose to so filthy demi-humans!"

Liza and Pearl are the real stars of the team. They take down one bandit after the other. Liza drives her spear into the gaps in the bandit's armour. Working with Pochi and Tama, she is striking at their shoulders and knees to bring them down. Pearl, meanwhile, takes down their commanders. She seems to be deliberately going after the strongest among the bandits. Pearl has already taken down that bandit with the giant axe and another armed with a magical sword.

These guys are certainly more challenging than the typical bandits. We should have been down by now. Instead, we are still locked in combat. Their armour sure is making it hard, and the skills of these guys are on par with the soldiers I have spared with. But their leader is something else.

"How are we losing to a bunch of girls!"

Armed with a giant magical warhammer that shakes the ground whenever it hits and with the skills of a knight, the bandit's leader faces off with me. He may have a bad attitude, but he is nearly as fast as Pearl despite his heavy weapon and armour. His armour must have some magical properties because I can feel a strange power coming from it, only darker. It reminds me of how I feel when sensing the magic of a demon but not quite as oppressive.

"Why can't you just die already!"

He tries to crush me. He brings his hammer down on top of me with a powerful over-the-head swing, but I block it easily. It is scary how strong I have become. The ground cracks beneath my feet, but I stop his hammer in its tracks.

"Don't think that is all I got!"

A scroll. He's too close, and even with my speed, I won't be able to dodge in time. The bandit leader is laughing as the scroll turns into a spear of flames and heads towards me. I close my eyes but… but I just feel warm. It's too hot, but it doesn't hurt, and my HP isn't lowering. What is happening? Opening my eyes, I find my body engulfed in flames damaging my armour, but it doesn't hurt.

"Why aren't you dead?!" The bandit jumps back, his eyes wide with shock and fear. "That was flame javelin! It can kill even a lesser demon in a single hit!"

"I guess I'm just immune to fire," I reply.

I am still surprised myself at what is happening. My fire resistance skill is maxed out, but I didn't think that made me immune to fire. But my clothes are different as I can already see several holes burnt right through my armour. It's not in any embarrassing spots right now. Still, I really should do something about this fire before I end up exposing myself.

I don't have a lot of spells well suited for putting out fires, but maybe my air current spell might work? If not, I will have to try some earth magic spells. I give it a shot. The bandit, who was still staring at me in shock, was knocked to the ground by the sudden gust of air. It was more powerful than I expected, but it did the trick. The flames go out, and my skin cools off. Apart from some holes in my armour, I don't see or feel any injuries. Just a cool breeze in places. I should be able to feel it.

"Wh… what are you?!"

"A hero,"

I smile as I reply before knocking the bandit leader out. He was a strong man. It's a shame he chooses a life of crime. He could have made a good living as a soldier.

It looks like everyone else is finishing up their jobs. Pochi, Tama and Nana have begun tieing up the bandits while Pearl and Liza finish off the last of them. No one seems hurt, so I breathe a sigh of relief. I tie up the bandit leader, search him for items, and hit the jackpot. Two magic scrolls, one for the invisibility spell and another flame javelin spell scroll.

His armour was indeed magical as his boosts were enchanted to boost his speed, and his armour had magical resistance properties. The man's warhammer was also enchanted to increase the power of his attacks. Apart from that, the guy had twelve gold coins, a greater healing potion and something my appraisal calls monster insense. According to the information, this stuff is dangerous and is used to attract large numbers of monsters. I was tempted to destroy it, but it might be helpful for training.

I am starting to wonder if these guys really are bandits. Their armour, weapons, training and the items found on them are too good for bandits. I just can't imagine how bandits would get their hands on such good equipment unless… unless someone donated this stuff to them. That must be it. I can't see any other way they could have gotten this stuff.

"Hero Kura! Are you hurt? I can perform basic medical practices, I inform,"

"Cover,"

"It's okay, I'm not hurt,"

Nana and Mia quickly notice my condition as I drag the bandit leader over to where the girls gather the captives. Nana looks me over worriedly despite her blank expression while Mia wraps a blanket around me. I didn't think having my clothes torn there was a big deal. That fire burnt a small hole through my left wrist, but there was a massive tear in my midsection. A large section of my armour was missing from just below my chest to my waist, where the spell hit me.

"How are you okay after being set on fire?" Arisa is the next one to approach, looking me over from head to toe. "You don't even have any burns."

"I maxed out my fire resistance skill,"

"Oh, that's it… is that how Satou fights off my psychic magic… no wonder he never wakes up and….."

I stop listening to Arisa as she starts muttering to herself. Satou seems to be doing a good job at fending off Arisa, but I will warn him about what she is getting up to at night. He should be getting back soon, anyway. He said something about a hostage being helped by another group of bandits nearby and went to rescue them. He should be fine, even if these guys are tougher than regular bandits.

But right now, I should get changed into my spare set of armour. Mia may mean well, but if she keeps tightening the blanket around me, it won't be long before I struggle to breathe. Satou returned while I was changing. Apparently, that hostage was one of the knights we met at Muno Castle. He told Satou that the oracle priestess was captured before borrowing one of our horses to get help my a nearby town. He also mentioned we should wait here for his return, but I could tell by the look in Satou's eyes that we would be taking the fight to the bandits instead.

We leave the thieves by the side of the road. They are tied up, knocked out by Arisa's psychic magic, and we took their weapons and armour so they should pose a threat to anyone. They really were too well equipped for bandits. During the girl's search, they found fire and thunder rods reserved for military use. But they are not a threat anymore, so we leave them for that knight and his backup to collect.

It didn't take long for Satou to locate the bandit hideout with his map skill. We split into two groups. We left Nana, Pochi, Mia and Lulu to guard the carriage while the rest of us advanced. Unfortunately, not all of them agreed with that plan.

"Pochi is unwanted, sir,"

"Mrrr. Going,"

"Hero Kura, I request permission to accompany you,"

Satou had it harder than me. Pochi looked up at him with teary eyes while Mia was clinging to me with her cheeks puffed out, and Nana stared blankly. Satou can handle Pochi gently, so I left him to that.

"Mia, you are better suited to fighting out here," I tell her, patting her head. "And Nana, I need you to help protect them."

"Understood. Instructions to defend the base have been registered, I report,"

At least Nana was easy to accept her orders. Mia and, from the looks of Pochi, too, are putting up more of a fight.

"I'll be terribly scared on my own. Aren't there any strong swordsmen or brave magic users to protect me?"

Thank you, Lulu. See our problem. She does her best to help. Unfortunately, it only works on one of the girls.

"Pochi will protect you, ma'am!" Pochi quickly runs off, but her cry makes the horses jealous as they flare their nostrils and whinnied. "Pochi will protect you, too, Rye and Effie, sirs. And you, New and Bie. Zard too, of course, sirs."

Pochi went around, assuring our horses one by one. I swear horses in this world must be more intelligent than the horses from my old world. They always seem to know what is happening and how to get attention. But even with Pochi convinced, I still have one last holdout to deal with.

"Mia, please,"

"…Mm. Fine,"

I finally seemed to get through to her. Kneeling down and looking in the eye, I finally get Mia to agree to stay behind. Even if she is still reluctant to stay. She gives me a quick hug before heading towards the carriage.

With everyone ready, we leave as soon as Satou finishes using his magic to secure the bandits. Their hideout isn't that far away, but Satou had to carry Arisa up the narrow mountain path leading to their lair.

Once the bandit base is in sight, my suspicions only continue to grow. A barrier post to keep away monsters, sturdy wooden towers with lookouts posted up top and a solid-looking metal door sealing the entrance to their cave shut. There is no way ordinary bandits should be able to build such a place without help.

There were four guards keeping watch. Two were armed with crossbows up in the towers, and two were armed with spears and wearing expensive-looking armour, keeping watch by the door. They are too disciplined to be bandits. They even set a range of alarms and lethal traps in front of their base. It would have been hard to approach them without being spotted for an average person. Luckily we are far from average.

But before we can make a move, five more men and two women appear carrying three heavy-looking sacks. These guys aren't bandits. They're an army. Twenty that we defeated, eight that Satou took out, a group of seven that just arrived and more inside. I'm surprised the ruler of this land would allow such a large, well-armed and trained group of bandits to exist in their territory.

"How did it go?"

"Just two stupid little girls and a bunch of worthless loot,"

These guys may not look and fight like bandits, but they certainly act like them. We carefully crawled closer until we could hear them complain. They were so focused on each other that they didn't even spot us coming.

"The coachman abandoned the brats and ran off towards the mountains. The rest of our group is chasing him down like a bunch of blood-crazed monsters. Shouldn't take them long to catch him,"

"I hope they remember their orders to take him alive,"

"What does it matter anyway? The boss is just going to torture him to death anyway,"

"Because the last guy that disobeyed that order was tortured to death. Don't you remember how much he screamed?"

Sounds like the boss is a genuine sadist. But that only makes our mission more urgent. The hostages could be being tortured even as we speak. We must hit them hard and fast before these bandits kill anyone else. But why would a group of bandits kill their captives instead of ransoming them?

"Yeah, I remember. She had me break his fingers after all. The boss hasn't been the same since she got that jar,"

"I'm not complaining about the weapons and other supplies that purple-robed guy gave us. But why did he have to leave that creepy vase? Just looking at it gives me the creeps, and the boss has been madder than usual ever since they got it."

Jar… creepy vase… could they be talking about a chaos jar? I look towards Satou, and he gives me a nod. So either demons or that demon lord worshipping group is supplying the bandits. It doesn't sound like they are here right now, but we might be able to find some sort of lead on them here. But we can't just sit here speculating when we have people to save.

Satou and I make our move. We sneak up to the guys in the tower and take them out while the bandits below are still discussing that jar. We take them out and jump behind the others before they even know what has happened.

"That thing has got to be cursed…."

We take out the bandits quickly without any of them having a chance to warn the others inside. Pearl and Liza snuck up and attacked while Arisa used her magic to disorientate the bandits, and Tama kept watch. We left the girls to tie up the bandits while Satou and I looked inside the sacks. One contained a bunch of random stuff, from cheap jewellery to wooden cutlery, as for the other two….

"Are you alright?"

"Huh? We're… saved?"

The sack Satou opened contained a middle school-aged girl. She looked around, confused, as I opened up the third sack, only to be nearly knocked over.

"Sis!"

A sobbing girl around Arisa's age busts from the sack and latches onto the first girl. We left them in the care of Arisa while Satou and I went into the cave. If we had more time, we would have taken the rest of the girls with us, but a group of bandits is returning with the coachman. There aren't that many of them, so Liza, Pearl and Tama should be able to take care of that group.

Thanks to Satou's map, it didn't take us long to find the hostages and the rest of the bandits. This place was a real maze filled with traps and decoy rooms. With how many twists and turns there were, I would have never found them without Satou's help. I wish I could level up my map skill to make it as good as his map, but I still haven't found a way.

There are only eleven bandits left. Three men guard the cage where the hostages are, and two women surround one of the hostages. Unfortunately, we were too late to save everyone. Since we departed, three of the men have been killed. As for the remaining six bandits, they were all women. Four of them were around a pool of water, according to Satou. The other two were heading our way, so we took them out first.

After the two women were dealt with, Satou and I split up. He went towards the hostages while I headed to the four women bathing nearby. I stop by the door and peek inside. It was a good thing Satou didn't come with me. All four women were naked, dripping wet and surprisingly good-looking with large breasts. They would have easily beaten him to death if he stared at them as he did to Nana last night.

"Why can't I get the smell of blood off?"

"Relax, didn't you say he liked the smell of blood?"

"But I want him to like me, not the smell,"

I take a deep breath as I prepare to enter. I would have liked to wait for them to get dressed before I attacked, but they don't sound like they will get out soon. I'm pretty sure Arisa would have a few jokes to make about me when she hears about this. Mia probably would run in there and cover the girls up before I could even draw my sword.

"It seems like he already likes you a lot, considering how little sleep the two of you got… who the hell are you?!"

They finally spotted me as I stepped inside. I haven't drawn my sword, but I make sure they can see it on my hip. I had hoped they would give up peacefully, but with all the glaring they are doing, I doubt it would be that easy.

"Would you mind getting dressed and surrendering? We have a guy in our group, so I will give you a chance to get dressed. But if you resist, I don't have a problem taking you in as you are,"

"Like hell, we will just give up!"

One of the girls, slightly on the smaller side compared to the others, presses a button on the wall activating a trap. A ring glows on the ground. I had already detected the trap, so I wasn't surprised when a trio of snake wolfs appeared. They look just like usual wolfs, only with snakes for tails. They are only level twenty and don't pose much of a threat. I take them down as soon as they appear, with an ice shot buried between each of their eyes.

"You think we are beaten yet?" So they still want to fight. "Take this… stone shot!"

She was surprisingly fast at chanting, but I am faster since I don't even have to chant in the first place. I use the earth spell wall to block the attack. The other three girls try to get out of the water, but I stop them by using the ice spell freeze water. They should be okay if I finish things up quickly. I only froze one of their feet in the water.

"H… how… you didn't even chant!"

"Just surrender already. You can't beat me,"

"As if I would lose to the likes of you!"

The girl rushes me, but I knock her out with a single punch. After making sure she was out, I looked around the room and found a towel to cover the girl with. At least after seeing that display, the other girls are willing to surrender. They tell me where their clothes are, and I let them get dressed after ensuring no weapons are hidden in their clothing. I bind the girl's hands and carry the unconscious girl as I move them towards the entrance. Satou should already be done with the hostages and waiting for me. Only Satou isn't there when I exit the cave.

A new group of people are there. The lady knight Ina we met in Muno city, a guy who must be the coachman who abandoned the sisters and a young couple holding a baby. They didn't seem happy to see the female bandits, but they didn't look like they would kill them. I had the women sit next to their captured comrades and set the one I was carrying down. There are several more here than when I left. No one on our side looks injured, so it looks like everything went off without a hitch.

"Hero Kura," Ina comes over as soon as I drop the bandits off. "Thank you for rescuing us."

"A hero?"

"Isn't that the holy sword Gjallarhorn?"

The young couple instantly stares at me with their mouths agape. Even their baby is staring at me. I have had babies stare at me before but never that intently.

"Is she really a hero, sis?"

"She did save us,"

Young sisters look like they have seen a celebrity. Even the coachman is staring at me.

"Are you really a hero?"

But the first to approach me is the young man. He stares at the sword in my hands and then at me as if he is trying to figure out if I am really who Ina said I was.

"Y… yes…." He's getting a little too close for comfort. "I'm Kura Suou, A knight in the service of Earl Seiryuu and a hero."

"Dear, please give her some space,"

At least the man's partner is calmer, but the way she pulls him back by his ear sure looks like it hurts.

"I'm sorry," The man takes a moment to compose himself. "I'm Tolma. This is my wife, Hayuna and our daughter, Mayuna. If you go to the old capital, pay Viscount Siemmen a visit. I swear on the Siemmen name that you will receive a warm welcome."

Viscount Siemmen… I'm pretty sure I heard that name before… I think Satou mentioned that he owned a magic scroll workshop. I was planning to visit him with Satou at some point, but maybe now he might be willing to share some rare scrolls with us.

"It's nice to meet you, miss hero,"

"Miss hero! Can we watch you fight a demon?"

The two sisters are next to approach me, and the younger one starts clinging to me as Mia usually would. I will not do something as dangerous as fighting a demon, but I showed them some of my magic by making them fly with wind magic. I used to play like this with kids back at Muno Castle. The two sisters could help but giggle as I lowed them back down. Little baby Mayuna stared at them, laughing and looking like she wanted a turn.

They wanted to go again, but I stopped when I noticed Satou approaching. At first, I thought he was under attack as some dinosaur-looking monsters followed behind the covered wagon he was driving. Luckily it was a false alarm, and he told me before I attacked that the monsters were friendly.

There was a dullalkosaur, a creature that looked like a cross between a dinosaur and a hippopotamus. From the looks of things, it was a monster used to carry cargo. There was also a velociraptor-like monster called a runosaur and a few horses. Those monsters must be common in this world as Liza and Tama ran straight over to them. Tama even jumped onto the back of the runosaur and started to ride it.

"Master, this runosaur is an excellent steed. Its movements are quite agile,"

"And it turns so quickly, meow,"

Liza and Tama seemed impressed by the runosaur. It certainly is faster and turns better than a horse. Unfortunately, Tama is too small to look over the monster's head, so she has to stand on the saddle. But why is Tama meowing? I have a feeling Arisa might be behind that.

Pearl and Liza started to prepare the thieves for transport as Satou returned the stolen property to the people we saved. Arisa is lazing about watching everyone else work while she does nothing.

"Oh-ho! My dagger with my family crest on it!"

"So it does belong to you,"

"I truly appreciate all you have done. This will surely help me save face when I return to my brother. Thank you, Sir Pendragon, thank you!"

"You can just call me Satou,"

"Very well, Sir Satou. I'll be sure to repay you in the old capital… unlike my dear brother, I have relatively little funds. But… I am still a man of good renown in high society. I'm sure I can be of some use to you."

I leave Satou to talk with Tolma and start helping Liza and Pearl. It didn't take us long to finish up here and return to Lulu and the others. We even got back to them before the reinforcements arrived. Hence, we decided to wait and build a makeshift prison for all the bandits. It was annoying looking them all up as they fought and cursed us, but we managed in the end. Satou had it better. Thanks to him, he managed to get a magic scroll for the spell remote arrow. It seemed like a useful spell to know since the arrows have a homing ability.

<0>

So it was the male knight Heath we met in Muno Castle that told us about the hostages. When I asked earlier after getting changed, Satou said it was a guy knight. He brought a powerful force consisting of twenty knights and fifty yeomen. I almost felt bad for telling them the hostages had been rescued and the bandits captured after they went through the effort of dispatching such a force.

Still, they took the news well, sending the yeomen to sweep the area for any remaining bandits while the knight said they would escort the bandits we had captured. We gave them the covered wagon and dullalkosaur to help with the transport. It was no significant loss to us, and the previous owners were already killed.

I didn't want to stick around and watch the transportation of the bandits. I don't even want to think about what I saw. I'll just say that if they did what they did back in my old world, the knights would be sued for abuse of prisoners. But in this world, prisoners had no rights and would be beheaded if they were to complain. Satou didn't want to stick around and witness their treatment either, so we left as soon as possible.

Tama and Pochi rode the runosaur while Nana and Mia took one of our horses. We didn't have much room in our carriage since Tolma and his family, along with the two sisters and that coachman, were riding with us to the city. Tama, Pochi and Mia kept peeking into the carriage, fascinated by cute little Mayuna. The temple knights, Heath and Ina, were with us too. The two of them were also riding on horses, keeping an eye out for any signs of trouble.

"I have never ridden in such a fine carriage…."

"Mmm-hmm. It's so fluffy!"

"Nice, isn't it? We finally got these comfy seats not long ago,"

Arisa was getting just as excited as the sisters.

"Heavens, what a comfortable ride! It's just as good as our carriage back home,"

"I am honoured to hear you say that,"

Tolma was very interested in the carriage. He looked at everything intently, and if his wife didn't scold him, Tolma might have tried to tear the carriage apart.

"Wasn't it awfully expensive?"

"Tolma, don't be rude,"

It seems his wife has him in check, but Mayuna starts crying for food, and Hayuna quickly opens her top to feed her. I'm glad to see Satou looking away this time and to be sat near the back so I could look out at the passing scenery well the baby was feeding.

We made good progress along the road and could have reached Gururian city in a few more hours. Still, the temple knight recommended we stop in a nearby village for the night. They warned us the road was dangerous at night due to monsters from the river. We didn't get attacked last night as we bathed, but we could have gotten lucky.

Tolma handles the arrangements at the village with the chief. I feel sorry for the elderly man. It was already late when we arrived, and now he had to make arrangements for nobles and temple knights. At least no one complained when we were told that the village meeting hall was the only place with enough space for us. It is a big space but not set up for sleeping in.

The villagers were also arranging a banquet. A group of elderly women was already preparing the food while some men set up large tables. But they didn't even get halfway through before Pochi, and Tama's stomachs started to growl. They had to wait, but it didn't take long, as the food was ready ten minutes later.

It wasn't a fancy meal. We just had a large bowl of soup containing beans, dried sardines and mushrooms, along with a side plate of mushrooms, a herb pancake and a small grilled fish. I never had a chance to try the pancake since Mia asked to trade her fish for it, but according to Lulu, it tasted good but couldn't come close to the taste of Satou's food.

The two village girls looked like they had died and gone to heaven. It sounded like a simple task to prepare a meal like this every day. There was fish in the river, mushrooms growing all over the place, and herbs and beans were probably grown within the village. But the village probably has to sell most of its food, making that impossible.

They gave us generous portions of food. Enough for most of us, but Pochi and Tama were already looking around for more. Tolma was a surprisingly fast eater. He's the only person I have seen eat just as fast as Tama and Pochi. But Pochi and Tama were acting strange. Unlike the other meals, they left half of the food behind. The meal was plainer than what we usually eat, but that wouldn't have been able to stop them. Satou notices too, but before he can ask them what is wrong, both girls jump out of their seats.

"We'll share,"

"You can have half, ma'am,"

Pochi and Tama ran straight to Hayuna, offering her their leftovers. It's rare to see those two look so serious.

"Come on now. There may not be much food, but we are still not gonna eat scraps from demi-human slaves,"

Despite not being loud, Tolma's voice still echoed across the area for everyone to hear. Hearing it, Tama's and Pochi's ears flatten as they back away.

"Tolma! How many times must I tell you to think about who you are speaking to before running your mouth?!"

Hayuna shoots out of her chair and smacks her husband as she yells at him. As much as Satou looks like he wants to give Tolma a piece of his mind, we both agree he will be thoroughly punished for his misstep. As Hayuna is scolding her husband, Pochi and Tama retreat to hide behind Satou.

"What's wrong?"

"Babies have to eat a lot, or they'll die,"

"Babies cry when they can't have nipples, sir,"

Well, they seem to be worried about the baby. Satou seems a little confused by their response, but it's simple. They just want to make sure the baby can eat. I wonder if they have been worried about the baby since it started crying earlier. They really are good kids. To them, food is as valuable as gold, and they were willing to give up half their meal for the baby.

"Master, when we were with our previous owner, a leopard woman had a child. She could not produce breast milk because of how little food we were given, and the baby nearly starved. All of us would share our food with her. I believe that is what they are referring to,"

Satou finally seems to get the message. After thanking Liza for her explanation, he smiles at Pochi and Tama, realising their intentions.

"Tama, Pochi, that was very kind of you, but you don't need to worry. You can both enjoy your meal and eat the rest yourselves,"

Hayuna comes over and pats Pochi and Tama on the head.

"Thank you for worrying about me, and I am sorry for my husband's comments,"

Her words make the girls smile as Tolma rubs his head and complains about not having a beer. He tried to sneak off in search of one, but Hayuna quickly caught him by the ear in a painful-looking hold.

"Ouch! I take it back, Hayuna. Please stop pulling my ear,"

"I think not. I won't forgive you until you apologise to these children,"

Hayuna's scary. She smiles sweetly despite pulling her husband in front of Pochi and Tama by his ear. If she pulls any harder, she could yank the thing off. Tolma had better say he's sorry quickly if he wants to keep his hearing intact.

"Sir Satou, I'm sorry for rejecting your slave's kindness,"

Big mistake. I winch as Tolma cries out when his wife tortuously twists his ear. I make a mental note to never get on her bad side.

"Shouldn't you be apologising to someone else?"

"But this is considered proper for nobles! Besides, it's like I said… lots of demi-human slaves are unclean, y'know. What if you got some strange illness from sharing their food? I can't have my wife and daughter getting sick!"

"It's okay. I accept your apology. Let us put this matter behind us,"

As much as he doesn't deserve it, I can see why Satou accepts his apology. It would make travelling together awkward tomorrow, and Tolma has some connections that would be useful to us. As long as he keeps his mouth shut, there shouldn't be any further problems.