Information on Bandits, Training Volunteers!

"So, explain who these three people are and why they have come to this village!" Sam sat on his chair in his office while staring at the five men in front of them. Ramon stepped forward and bowed his head before replying to Sam.

"They are from a neighboring village up north and are being exploited by the bandits by forcing the village to give them all their food monthly, leaving them starved and afraid. Some of their people have been taken by the bandits."

Sam nods his head, acknowledging the situation, "So, I'd like the three men to tell me what they want from Hope Village. Do not worry, we hate the bandits as much as you do, and are willing to help if it means stopping these pests from killing more families!"

Ramon stepped back, and the three men stepped forward.

"Sir, please save us. As you said, the bandits are killers, they have taken so much of our food that many of our fellow villagers are starving. Please, defeat the bandits with us. Ramon told us you have the means to provide skills to those on short notice, turn some of our men into soldiers and let us at least attempt to defeat them. Or else we all die later in the future."

Sam looked on with a reassuring smile, "I will help you! Of course, not for free. But that would be between me and your village leader. What we will do is allow you to gather men and women from your village who are willing to fight and bring them here. I'll train them, we then march down to your village, I speak with your leader and then we shall take on the bandits."

The three men smile as if a weight was lifted from their shoulders.

"Before we do that, tell me how many men the bandits have, who is most troublesome and what are the consequences of taking out the bandits."

Dale stepped forward this time, "Well, I used to work for a militia group for the kingdom and I recognize the bandit crew as one of the most elusive wanted groups in the region. They used to be a group of ten, but now from witnessing what they had down to my home village I can safely guess they have more than 20 people in their group, all equipped with decent gear."

Sam clicks his tongue and realizes that this quest would be tougher than he initially thought.

"There is also their leader, a troublesome fellow. Mankirk the Red Eye, an orc banished from his tribe due to his criminal lifestyle. He is a strong fellow, with some of our leaders in the militia steering clear from ever taking the job of destroying the bandit crew despite many cries from the villages."

'Mankirk… I don't remember him' It wasn't someone super important in the world, nor did Sam have an interaction with him in the past. This meant that he would be going in blind against the orc, which is extremely tough considering what level Sam is at the moment.

Also, an orc that was banished from their tribe is someone that must be extremely deviant. Orcs aren't necessarily a race of civil people, but they do have a code of conduct they must follow. For Mankirk to be kicked out, he must have done something extremely heinous, more heinous than raiding villages.

"Do the men have horses?" Sam asks, to which everyone nods.

"Not many of them have horses, but they do have some," Ramon states.

"Oh? Does that mean they have a ranking system they follow?"

"I don't know, the inner workings of that crew are beyond me"

Sam rubs his forehead, and moments later stands up and smiles at the people in his office.

"Alright, we have lots of work to do. You three, go back to your village and send some men back as soon as you can. I'd guess to say we have less than a month of preparation. Dale, since your group just settled in my village begin asking them what job they want for the time being. Farming, building, lumberjack, or even any special jobs that they might specialize in. We need all the help we can get! Ramon, go to Old Man Jim and ask the villagers who want to train in combat, tell them it would be a morning routine and that they will still be required to work in the afternoon until evening. When you find the men, meet me at the shrine tomorrow morning. That's my instructions! Head out!"

Everyone nods and heads out of Sam's office.

"Status!"

Status:

Name: SAM

Level: 8

Title: Lord of Hope Village

Rank: Village Leader, Commoner

Attributes:

Strength - 29/35

Dexterity - 24/35

Constitution - 25/35

Wisdom - 18/35

Intelligence - 18/35

Charisma - 25/25

Skills: Basic proficiency with Sword and Shield (Shield Slam, Parry)

Sam begins to wonder, 'Why is my charisma so high?'

He never remembered it to be maxed in his past life, could it be something he gained due to his rebirth?

"System, what is Charisma?"

[[DING! Charisma is a stat that allows the player to gain an advantage in diplomacy actions, persuasion, and genuine interactions with people.]]

Sam tilts his head in confusion.

[[DING! The system notices Host's confusion. Host has been using charisma to run his village the entire time. The people have taken a liking to you due to your high charisma. Your acts of kindness would have caused them to act like this, but your charisma heightened it to the point where many villagers depend on you to better their lives.]]

Sam listens to the system with a raised eyebrow, "I never knew the system had something like this. Do you respond to people with systems like this?"

[[DING! No.]]

"What? So why am I special?"

[[DING! The system does not know.]]

Sam sighs, perhaps the system being more charitable and talkative to me is another gift of being reborn.

If that is the case, then Sam asked another question.

"Why does Earth get destroyed?"

[[DING! … System does not understand. Please ask another question]]

Silence.

Sam didn't want to continue the questioning and continued to walk around the village and help out when needed for the rest of the day.

**

The next day.

Sam was standing next to the shrine early in the morning. He doesn't know why, but every time he sleeps he begins to remember all the misdeeds he has done in his life. From women, he had abused and thrown out, to people he had ordered attacked for just looking at him the wrong way.

'For all the gifts I have, this might be my punishment'

He couldn't sleep for longer than 4 hours a day, which is fine as Sam had already lived such a lifestyle when working as an adventurer in his previous life.

Soon, Old Man Jim, Ramon, and eight men and women began heading towards Sam with a smile.

"We have found volunteers as you had asked of me, Lord!" Ramon smiled like a puppy who wanted a treat from his master.

Sam looked on with a chuckle, before staring at the six volunteers.

"You know why I have called you out here?" Sam questioned.

"To take on the bandits!" One of them said while grinning from ear to ear.

"You sure you guys wish to join this endeavor? Some of you might die, it isn't going to be easy."

"Lord, we have lost many loved ones against these brutes who would surprise attack us. I want them to feel despair as I did that day!" One of the women looked on with a fierce expression.

"Since you all volunteered, then I do not wish to hamper you with warnings. For now, one at a time please head into the shrine and stay until I ask you to come out!"

Sam opens the door to the shrine and began calling out the six volunteers by name with each being given a combat job.

Every single volunteer was now specialized in wielding a single-handed sword, which Sam expected as it is the most common weapon in this world.

Since Sam did not have weapons on him in the village, Sam decided to use wooden swords made from logs that the lumberjacks had left spare.

"You guys, I see you now have some notion on how to wield a weapon. But before we head into combat, I must teach you basic techniques and tactics that I will use when we head face-to-face with the enemy. Every morning, you shall come to this area here in the middle of the village and train what I teach you. Soon, you'll be joined by others from a different village, and it would be your job to help them feel welcomed in this little militia of ours."

Sam stands on a wooden box as if it was a podium and smiles. "Right now, let us start with footwork!"

[[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: You have gained hidden subquest "Train volunteers for combat"! Train volunteers for combat! Rewards: Bundle of crude iron swords]]

'Weapons, just what I needed!'

Sam smiled and soon began teaching the volunteers about footwork, when to dodge, and how to move on a battlefield where one mistake would result in death.

Everything he is teaching them is something he had learned from the experience of either others teaching him or something he picked up along the way over the years.

For the next two days, he begins teaching them different aspects of combat. From the basics of the basic like how to unsheathe a sword quickly to catch an opponent off guard to using hand-to-hand combat when you lose your weapon.

"We have arrived!" The three men who traveled to their village now returned with 8 men, all starved and tired looking.

"Old Man Jim, get them some food and shelter. We need them to have all the energy they need before training!"

Soon, the eight men were well-fed and joined in on the training after Sam used the shrine on them.

For the rest of the week, Sam aside from teaching combat then taught them formation and tactical call-outs Sam might make in the battle that would tell them what to do. It was an eventful week for Sam, as he felt he had a knack for teaching people skills he had learned.

[[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: You have completed goal - "Train volunteers for combat!" You have gained a bundle of crude iron swords!]]

[[You have 17 days left to complete the quest!]]

'Great, we shall start equipping them tomorrow!'

Sam who was resting in his bed saw that he had 17 days left, and now decided it was time for him and the militia to move forward and head towards the village up north and speak to the village leader personally.

"We also need weapons…"

Sam sat up from his bed and went outside, staring at the night sky.

"System, how much can I carry from Earth to the Other World?"

[[DING! Nothing. You gain access to travel by using a 'character', not your actual body.]]

"Go figure."

Sam shook his head and headed back to his bed.

Tomorrow, the journey to take out the bandits will start.

'I used up 7 days, now the mission will finally begin!' Sam then closed his eyes and began dreaming bad memories once again.