The ones who leaked are fair game, right?

While Karina and her party's carriage trundled through the Elflands toward the first town…

That defenseless carriage—which was actually a vicious trap pulled by a dragon with an apostle of God at the reins—had, of course, been spotted by bandits.

"Oi, get a load of that. Women traveling alone—and hauling cargo for us."

"Today's our lucky day. There's even an elf with 'em."

The elf-hunting bandits leered at their unsuspecting prey, wicked grins splitting their faces.

Of course, the moment they attacked would be their last—and that "elf woman" was actually a boy in a dress.

"Alright, let's get 'em—huh? What's wrong? My horse won't budge."

"The hell? Is it scared or somethin'? Oi, my bird won't move either."

"Mine won't budge either! What's goin' on?!"

But the horses and ostrich-like birds the bandits rode refused to take a single step toward their prey. If anything, they were backing away, straining against their reins to put distance between themselves and the carriage.

… The animals had sensed the dragon.

Arthur might look like a horse, but his scent couldn't be disguised. His mana couldn't be masked. That overwhelming predatory aura had the animals rooted to the spot, every instinct screaming at them to flee.

"What the hell's going on? This is creepy."

"I'm getting chills too. Something's not right about that thing."

"Yeah, now that I think about it, they're way too obvious. Maybe there's soldiers hiding in that cargo."

"So it's bait, then. Bad news."

"Yeah. Let's get outta here—knock on wood, knock on wood."

"Oh my. That superstition—even bandits in this world use it?"

A voice that didn't belong to any of them cut through the group.

The men whirled around—and there, standing in their very midst, was a maid.

"Wh-who the hell are you!?"

"Just a humble maid. You needn't bother remembering me."

As the maid—Rena, servant of the Chaos God—smiled sweetly, electricity crackled through the air. The bandits' limbs locked up. Thud, thud—one by one, bodies crumpled to the ground. They were still conscious.

"Zappy-Zap-kun really is such a useful artifact for subduing small fry. Now then—why don't you tell me where you've stashed your treasure and whether you're holding any elves captive?" She paused, tilting her head. "What's that? Your mouth is too numb to speak? Then it's time for Memory-Sucker-kun to make an appearance."

"Wha…? Aghh!?"

Still smiling sweetly, Rena selected a bandit at random and jabbed an electrode straight into his skull.

"Aghh, aghghghgh…"

"I see, I see. How very interesting. Thank you—I understand perfectly now."

She withdrew the electrode and flicked it clean.

"This should provide plenty of tribute to Ojou-sama for quite a while. Karina-sama apparently wants to look good in front of Ojou-sama, but… anyone who slipped through the cracks is fair game, yes? This is simply cleaning up. I'm merely tidying up whatever she overlooked."

"After all, that sort of follow-up isn't prohibited," Rena murmured as she dispatched the bandits and made her way toward their hideout.

For better or worse, no captive elves awaited her there—only treasure. Rena's pockets grew considerably heavier.