The Bandits' Hideout

The bandits rode in on mules, about eight of them, closing in to surround our carriage.

I'd already stopped the horse so our carriage wouldn't bolt.

Every bandit had the same color cloth wrapped around their heads.

Their movements showed coordination, the mark of seasoned raiders.

These were probably no ordinary bandits.

Azu and the others fanned out on three sides to shield the carriage.

The man who seemed to be the bandits' leader stepped forward.

"Three women and a merchant in the carriage… All three women are adventurers?"

"Oh yeah, and each one's worth good coin. Let's take the cargo while we're at it."

Another bandit approached the leader, agreeing.

The grin on his face made my blood boil.

When Azu and the others leveled their weapons at the bandits, the other side readied for battle too.

We were outnumbered, and we had the carriage to protect on top of that.

But I wasn't worried.

"Don't think of them as human."

I said that to the three of them.

A small bandit charged at Azu first, but before his sword could reach her, Azu cut him down.

She flicked the blood off her blade, and the other bandits flinched for a moment.

At the end of the day, they were just a pack that relied on numbers.

Every time Alexia cast a spell or Elza swung her mace, their ranks thinned.

"They're strong, aren't they…"

In no time, the bandits were down to half, just four.

But the leader didn't seem inclined to retreat.

"I was just thinking we had too many mouths to feed. Saves me the trouble of thinning the herd."

The ones who'd charged in headfirst were the lowest of the low, then.

"… From where I'm standing, there's not much difference."

Azu said that as she closed in on a nearby bandit.

Her sword reached him before he even noticed.

Ever since she'd severed that Temple Knight's arm, she'd stopped hesitating when it came to cutting down people.

Terrifyingly reliable.

It wasn't so much that they were weak as that we were strong.

In the end, every man except the leader was dead.

We captured the leader alive.

Fighting between humans always left a bad taste, but bandits weren't human in my book.

They were the same as wild beasts on the attack.

And we couldn't afford to be eaten.

"Tch, why the hell does one little carriage have guards like you?"

"Because people like you exist."

In truth, an unguarded merchant with a single carriage would've been killed in a heartbeat.

Cargo seized, corpse left to rot in the open.

I'd kept this one alive for a reason.

Last time we were attacked by bandits, we'd been in a hurry and hadn't bothered to search their hideout. This time, we had time.

Elza had also secured the mules they'd been riding.

Not all eight, but enough.

"Now then, why don't you tell us where your den is?"

"You bastard, you're gonna rob us?"

"That's exactly right."

He'd said "us." So there were more of them.

The bandit leader refused to give up the hideout's location.

He probably knew we had no intention of letting him go regardless.

In the end, one of the other bandits had been carrying a map, so we used that instead.

Alexia dealt with the leader.

If we let him live, he'd just recruit more people and do it all over again.

Alexia especially couldn't let something like that slide.

"Can't say I enjoyed that."

"Yeah."

She let out a tired breath, so I gave her a pat on the shoulder.

"Don't worry about me."

Strong as steel, that one.

I'd ridden a mule before. I put Azu in front of me on one, and Elza took another.

I left the carriage and remaining mules to Alexia and headed for the location on the map.

Whatever happened, Alexia could handle it.

It wasn't far from here.

I'd figured the hideout would be close since they'd need to haul their loot from ambush sites. I was right.

If I were in their shoes, that's what I'd do too.

A cave that looked like the bandits' hideout came into view.

Azu took the lead and approached slowly.

No lookouts.

No traps or alarms either.

I'd thought they were an organized group, but maybe the matching outfits were all there was to it?

Azu pressed deeper.

Nothing notable in the surroundings.

Inside the cave were signs of habitation.

This had definitely been the bandits' den.

Further in, there were two rooms on either side. Azu stopped in front of the right one and looked to me for confirmation. I nodded.

Room was a generous word. It was just a curtain of fabric.

Azu rested her hand on her sheathed weapon's hilt and stepped inside.

A single girl had been laid there.

There were signs she'd been violated. Her eyes were vacant, but she was breathing.

Bringing Elza along on the hunch that something like this might happen had been the right call.

Elza tended to the girl.

There was a water jug, so we used it to clean her up.

Just in case, I checked the other room. It was a storeroom.

No one there.

Had those eight been the whole group?

Given the size of the cave, I was fairly sure this wasn't a large operation, but I'd feel better confirming there was no one else…

The storeroom had nothing of real value.

They'd probably run out of loot to fence, which was why they'd set their sights on us.

I went back to Elza to find her comforting the girl.

She'd regained consciousness.

I waited outside the room with Azu until the girl calmed down.

After a while, the crying subsided, and we went back in.

She'd cried herself to sleep.

If we'd wiped out the bandits and left the hideout alone, this girl might not have survived.

I wrapped her in a sheet and carried her on my back.

First, we'd take her with us and figure out who she was.

If we could get her back to her family, that's what we'd do.

"She looks Imperial."

"Yeah. Most likely."