“All too often, people consider law and order to be the benchmark of civilized society. I would generally agree, but only to an extent.

Sadly, more often than not, said law and order existed without the necessary force to implement them as they were intended, rendering them more as guidelines for people willing to abide by them rather than actual rules imposed on everyone. The sort of thing that people try to outsmart or evade at every turn.

Power without order to support it did often turn to tyranny and anarchy before long, but order without power to back it up was just as useless, a toothless guard dog that only constrained those who willingly obeyed it. You cannot have one without the other if you want something functional.” - Saying attributed to the Silver Maiden.

“You are still uncomfortable with what we did,” mentioned Aideen relaxedly to Calais a couple hours after their encounter with the “bandit” group.

It was easy to see that the young elf was still rather disturbed by what he had witnessed. Aideen doubted that it was the bloodshed. Calais had lived long enough that he must have seen such things in the past, especially on his travels. Perhaps it was the more personal touch of this particular encounter that bothered him, the way Aideen and Celia had just slaughtered the bandits like they were killing pests.

“I was just wondering… Aunt Aideen,” admitted Calais after a moment of silence. “I’ve been taught that the rules of law are sacrosanct since I was young. I can’t help but wonder if we hadn’t overstepped our bounds with what we did back there.”

“Different laws for different places, boy,” she replied with a fond smile on her face. “You’d probably be thinking of capturing the bandits and taking them to the nearest town to be judged or something, no? That’s something far more feasible back home, since all you’d need to do is to find the closest skeleton on guard to report it and they’d take over, assuming they didn’t already take care of the bandits long before you ever laid eyes on them, that is.”

“Here, it’s a whole different ball game. The nearest town from here is around a day away. Even then, if you were to bring in these bandits alive, all that awaited them would be some interrogation followed by a public execution anyway. In a sense, all we did back there was just to save the local guards time and spare them from having to deal with all the paperwork.”

“And we fed some animals, too!” Celia chimed in cheerfully.

“That too, yes,” replied Aideen as she chuckled with some amusement. “See, lil’ Cal, the thing about laws is that while they do indeed play a vital role in society, they could only do so when there’s someone to enforce them,” she pointed out rather tersely. “Out here in the roads, there’s nobody to do that. The Jarldom is a much larger place and they don’t have the manpower to constantly watch the routes, the patrols they did already pretty much the best it gets.”

Compared to the Jarldoms to its east, the Lichdom of Ptolodecca was a rather small nation by area. They measured maybe one-tenth the size of the Jarldoms put together, yet at the same time, also has as much or more people than all the people that lived in the Jarldoms. Combined with the much lower ratio of uninhabited land and the presence of undead sentries practically everywhere, Ptolodecca was a far more secure place as a result.

“In some ways, laws and rules act as shields for people. It allows them to be safe as they go about their lives,” continued Aideen. “In some parts of the lands, though, there might not be anyone to enforce them all the time, at which point, it falls to you to protect yourself instead. Some might consider it taking matters into their own hands, yet at the same time, what other choice do their people have?”

“Fair point, I guess…”

“If you’re going to be traveling further afield, or even to the other continent, you will have to learn not to show mercy to the sort of people who would abuse that lack of enforcement for their own benefits,” added Aideen. “Sure, some of them might only ask for toll and the likes. Those sorts tend to be more amicable and negotiable. Others, like the ones just now, would just take everything from you when you show them any weakness, however.”

“At that point, the only option you have that does not involve your death would be to fight back, hence the situation we find ourselves in,” she continued. “Think of it this way. Had that group of bandits not run into us, they would have likely preyed on others who were taking the road behind us. Would you have wanted to see that happen if some action on your part could prevent it?”

“I guess not, Aunt Aideen,” admitted Calais as he pondered over her words, his face slightly looking downwards with some embarrassment.

“Ptolodecca is an exception in this world, not the rule. Not every place has more sentries who never sleep or rest and are on duty every day of the year than they have citizens, after all,” said Aideen with a shake of her head. “Even if they have that, they would still need another like Grandpa Aarin at the top. While Grandpa might seem apathetic to most, in his own way, he cares for the people living on his land.”

“The nation being so strong that none of our neighbors even dared to even think of any sort of war probably helped too,” added Calais with an understanding nod.

“Oh yeah, it definitely did. Skirmishes by raiders from neighboring countries likely did more damage to any nation than the bandits that live in it, after all. Not that either would have done much to us in the Lichdom, though.”