15 Raiding the hideout
Brom was the first one to charge in, followed by the knight apprentices. Raymond told Roselia to stick with him and heal anyone that gets injured. The two followed behind the charging four.
The bandits guarding the entrance noticed the charging enemies. One of them was about to call for backup when an arrow pierced his skull. Seeing their companion die so suddenly they were shocked and another arrow pierced another head.
"Intruders!" One of the bandits was finally able to shout before another arrow pierced his head. The remaining guard ran into the hideout while shouting for reinforcements.
The three knight-apprentices were amazed by how easily Raymond dispatched those three bandits. Seeing that just made them even more confident as they boldly charged forward.
Brom who passed through the entrance saw that there were at least fifty bandits in the hideout. There were also people in cages, mostly young females. Seeing their tattered clothing and their empty expressions, Brom understood what had happened to them.
Rage filled his heart as he let out a warcry. He charged at the enemy camp without any hesitation. The three knight apprentices that were right behind Brom also saw the scene of the young women being used. They too couldn't hold it and attacked, even the timid Daniel felt a boiling rage deep within him wanting to smash the bandits' heads into the ground.
They all started attacking and a chaotic battle took place.
...
The bandit leader wore a shocked expression as he watched the enemies who suddenly raided his hideout attack his men. They didn't even bother talking and directly attacked. Though their actions surprised him a bit, he wasn't that surprised by it as he noticed the three knight-apprentices. Seeing those three the bandit leader came to the conclusion that the mayor tried hiring some students from the nearby knight academy.
What truly shocked him was the boy at the forefront attacking his men in a wild rage. He looked exactly like one of the siblings that he failed to capture a few days ago. But that was impossible those siblings entered Elisora forest. Even a group of knights would find it difficult to survive that place, much less two village brats.
Even if by some miracle those siblings had survived, it was impossible that they would become as strong as the boy smashing his fist on his men. As he was pondering, one of his men looked a bit worried and spoke in a low voice.
"Boss what are we going to do? Should we retreat?" The bandit leader smacked his subordinate's head.
"Are you an idiot?! Are you actually afraid of some kids, why should we retreat? Don't you see what's happening? Even though they're quite powerful there's just a few of them, they'll eventually lose steam and be slowly killed by our numbers."
As if waiting for the bandit leader to say this Daniel slipped up and was stabbed on his shoulders. Even Brom who had his iron skin skill had a few flesh wounds here and there, his hp bar slowly being depleted.
When the bandit leader saw this he smiled and was about to say I told you so. But before he could say anything a ray of light fell down on Brom and the others. The wounds they had disappeared, which shocked not only the bandits but even the knight apprentices. They then looked around and saw that a girl wearing priestess robes was raising her hands and shouting the words [Heal].
'What the f*ck, what is a priestess of holy light doing here, dealing with low leveled thugs like us!?!' The bandit leaders screamed in his mind. He was panicking so much that he wasn't even able to notice that the priestess looked exactly like one of the siblings he let go the other day.
"You sh*theads attack the priestess!" Hearing the command of their leader the bandits started to swarm towards Roselia. Brom and the others wanted to protect Roselia, but the remaining bandits blocked their paths.
The bandits were nearing Roselia but as they got close they felt something passed through them. The bandits standing behind saw what happened and stopped in their tracks. The moment their companions got near the priestess, their heads suddenly flew away from their bodies. It was at that moment they saw the man standing beside the priestess who was holding the hilt of his sword still in its scabbard.
...
Raymond who had just cut off the heads of the bandits was feeling weird. This was the first time he had killed another human being but he felt nothing. It was like he had just cut down an NPC in a game.
It was weird indeed, he viewed his new guild members as his family but he saw the bandits as disposable NPCs. He knew that something was wrong with him, but he couldn't quite pinpoint what it was.
...
The bandit leader who witnessed Raymond's sword strike knew that Raymond was at least at the level of a senior knight, meaning there was no way they could win. The bandit leader wanted to sneakily escape, but then as he was moving an arrow accurately hit the area near his legs. He looked were the arrow came from and saw that it was Raymond that attacked him.
'If he wanted to kill me, he could've done so from the start. But he spared me... He must want something from me. Maybe I can survive this ordeal after all.'
...
It took only half an hour before Raymond's group was able to eliminate all the bandits save for their leader. The knight-apprentices were rejoicing when they saw Raymond approach the bandit leader.
"What is it you want from me noble sir? I'll do anything you want, I'll give you all my riches, and I'll even tell you where I hid my secret stack of gold. If you want I can even become your subordinate. So long as you let me live, I'll give you everything." The bandit leader quickly started negotiating. Raymond shrugged his shoulders and spoke.
"Fine, I'll take all of that and let you live, but under one more condition."
"What is it? Name your price." Jun gestured at Brom and Roselia to come forward.
"These two companions of mine want to fight you to the death. If you're able to win against both of them, I'll let you go."
