Even with her companions pleading on my behalf, Nicole still coldly said, No.
At this point, the bandit leader was on the verge of collapsing on his knees. If Nicole wasnt going to play along with this script, he was done for; there was no doubt in his mind that I would turn him into spider food.
What the heckwhen did my Nicole beco such an unlikable girl?! This aint natural!
Since Sister Nicole doesnt want to, then Neneth will stay out as well. Neneth said before gobbling up the last of her bread. With a clap of her little white hands, she said to the bandits, Neneth will be off then.
I blast. What to do now? If I let her go now, I
I could barely hold myself back any longer. An undisguised wave of murderous aura slowly leaked out of my body towards the bandits. If Nicole wasnt to help and neither was Neneth, I could only settle matters myself in order to push this scene onwards.
I thank you both for helping stall for ti. Ill be the one to handle these curs! I grasped my left wrist at that point, then with a flourish, revealed Lions Majesty for all to see. By my na, burn! O emissary of fla!
As the last of my chant finished, a towering silhouette made entirely out of flas began to take the shape of a humanoid between the bandits and Nicole.
By controlling the output of my mana, I was able to ensure that this Fire Elental was only at the level of a Five-star. Yet even at this level, its appearance was enough to have the already hot air around us burn even further. Plus, with its current strength, it was more than enough to bully the bandits in a feigned fight.
We surrender please dont kill us But before I could even give the command to attack, the bandit leader had already thrown aside his massive blade and led the pack by offering his surrender.
I know you guys are just last-minute hires, but can you at least put in so effort? Whats the idea behind surrendering without even trying?
The bandit leader deliberately turned his head away at that point to avoid my hateful gaze. That fla monster is terrifying theres no way we can win
Thats right. Thats right. Fire is our greatest weakness. My mom even told when I was young not to play with fire, you will end up wetting the bed if you do One of the other bandits imdiately interjected to support his boss.
I miss my mom too
What a coincidence, too
One after another, the bandits joined in the chorus of reminiscing about their moms, ruining the otherwise tense atmosphere in an instant.
I swear! What can I even do with a bunch of pig allies like them?!
Neneth, on the other hand, was confused as she eyed the kneeling bandits. Eh? Arent you guys going to catch her?
As if they dare. Bah, I know how these spineless jellyfish work now. When its a bunch of normal people, they are more than happy to act like a fierce bandit troupe. Now when it ca to an opponent they couldnt win against, they would imdiately wag their dog tails. But at least they created a chance for to talk to Nicole. All I need to do now is use my gift of the gab to turn this disaster into fortune.
You have my sincerest thanks for stalling these dastardly villains. Had it not been for that, I would never have had enough ti to summon help. I addressed Neneth this ti instead. While nothing would have made happier than to address Nicole directly, knowing her cold attitude, that was dood to fail.
Youre welco. As long as youre fine, pretty sister. Still riding atop her white horse, Neneth reached into her backpack and rummaged about for a second before pulling out a paper-wrapped piece of bread. Neneth was so worried just now. But dont worry, pretty sister, Neneth would have stepped in if those dirty bandits actually tried anything.
Oh, then you have my thanks once again.
While I might have said that, deep down, I was practically beside myself. Had she really intervened, I would be chatting with Nicole right now. But looks like a change of plans is in order.
So Neneth? May I know where you two are heading to?
Hearing call her by her na, the blue-haired, bread-munching girl nearly dropped her bread in surprise. Eh? How do you know my na is Neneth, pretty sister? Neneth never ntioned that her na is Neneth!
But you did ntion it many tis, in fact Oh boy, looks like we have another sharp one here
And will you stop addressing as pretty sister, Im actually a man.
Even though Neneth was admittedly a cute girl, there were so mistakes that couldnt be overlooked. Especially when it ca to my gender.
Huh? So its pretty brother then? Neneth hopped off her horse, bread safely cupped in both her hands. She then leaned in and gave a sniff before breaking out in a smile, Oh, sister is such a kidder. Theres no way a boy would ever be so fragrant.
I But Im really a man why does no one believe
Yet just as I was busy being tornted by the question of my gender, Nicole who hadnt spoken up till now suddenly asked, Who are you?
Im Mo I barely managed to catch my tongue in ti. Thankfully, I was able to stop myself when I noticed Nicoles eyes sharpening when I said Mo. I swallowed by reflex and said, Im Mo Na.
Good daughter of mine, I hope you wont mind that I borrow your na for a while. I promise I will return it right away once Im done. So be good and dont cause trouble. I swear, Im at wits end here
Mo Na Nicole softly repeated the na of my daughter, eyes never blinking as she stared at . My heart couldnt help but race as I worried whether or not my cover had been blown.
Greetings, Sister Mo Na, Im Neneth. Said Neneth while she happily waved at . She then introduced Nicole as well, This here is my sister, Nicole.
Greetings as well. I plan to travel to the nearby Lyon, what about you two?
Now was the ti to take the initiative by stating my objective before Nicole. This way, even if she felt that this was too much of a coincidence, she shouldnt be all that suspicious. After all, her intelligence shouldnt have any report about being here.
What a coincidence. Were heading there too. As she said that, she waved her obviously bitten bread and smiled happily. Well, since were both heading there, how about Sister Mo Na join us!
Alright, I was thinking the sa thing as well. I quickly threw her an approving look. Even though this girl seed callous at first, she actually wasnt such a bad person after all. However, when my eyes swept over the kneeling bandits, I realised another problem. How was I going to find an excuse to let them go? After all, with that spider in their bodies, there was no way they would ever dare defy . Leaving them alive could prove useful in the future.
So what should we do with these fellows? I casually asked.
Youre the one who captured them, this has nothing to do with . Nicole impatiently snapped.
Thats right. Sister Nicole, how you handle them is up to you.
Their attitudes towards this matter were crystal clear: they didnt care. Yet I clearly couldnt let them off the hook so easily either. In that case, there was no choice but to have them suffer a little and fake their deaths.
With that in mind, I declared, A trial is unnecessary then. Bandits are all bad people, leaving them alive would only bring tragedy in the future. In that case
No! Please, were actually just villagers from Lyon. We had no choice but to beco bandits please let us go, brave heroines Didnt you say that you were heading to Lyon, we can guide you all to the village! Having completely missed my point, the bandit leader honestly thought that I was about to kill them all so he imdiately jumped to his feet and yelled. I know you. You must be from the Demon Hunters. I recognise the insignia on your clothes. We really had no choice but to beco bandits its all that Vampires fault
The bandit leader then began his woeful recount of how a Vampire brought ruin to their village. As he spoke, I could clearly hear the resentnt and resignation in his voice.
So they really were forced into becoming banditsand not the professional kind.
The village of Lyon was a highly populated settlent. But because of the villages inherent bad geography, the majority of the villagers were impoverished. Unlike my previous world, this world wasnt a kind one to the ordinary folk. Even if they were suffering, the leader of the territory would never spend a di on bettering their lives.
It was under such a backdrop that the situation of the villagers got increasingly worse. Leaving the village carried a very real risk of starving to death or just being captured as slaves. Yet staying behind was certain death as well.
Faced with such a disaster, those that had the ability to leave had already left. Those who could not werent going to quietly wait for their deaths either.
In actuality, the villagers of Lyon had not only requested aid from the Demon Hunters, they had also made the sa request of several rcenary troupes. Because of a Vampires obvious weakness to sunlight, even ordinary troops stood a chance at victory as long as they were crafty. Unfortunately, the Vampire in question was just too strong. They had hired three rcenary troupes in the shortest ti possible, each more powerful than the other. Unfortunately, every one of them had been t with failure. In fact, so of the rcenaries had even turned into slaves for the Vampire. The fact that their efforts did not weaken the Vampire but ended up strengthening it instead was just sad
It was also because of this that this mission was stuck in limbo for a good long while in the Demon Hunters. The constantly rising difficulty of the mission ant that the Demon Hunters could not figure out who to send to rescue the villagers. After all, Lyon wasnt the only village they had to look after. They couldnt waste unnecessary manpower on a task if it did not warrant such effort. When facing a Vampire, sending more than necessary might even backfire
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