114 Bandits

****(POV)

This is a golden opportunity for me to prove myself! I just need to deal with a few bandits then my place will be secured.

As we kept traveling one fact became painfully obvious. Both master and beast are true monsters. They kept abusi- training me. Not once did I ever manage to dodge.

I could see it too. Both were being extremely casual. I may only be a normal soldier in Green County's army, but I did receive some training.

Said training did not prepare me for any of their attacks. I still can't believe how much the villagers improved in our last stop too.

I was expecting it not to accomplish much. After all, two months are truly too short.

I was sorely mistaken. They transformed completely. From weaklings to proud warriors.

This is when I understood there is no way he is a simple character. Yet, I don't think he is related to the army anymore.

He seems to ignore too much about it for that. Honestly, I have no clue who he is. Sometimes I wonder if he doesn't come from another empire altogether.

This pretty much never happens. The Holy Empire reigns supreme here. They guard our borders strictly. This makes it so the main trade happening is between Counties.

Everything that leaves the empire is directly owned and run by the Holy Temple.

This helps pay for all the fortresses that are used for our protection.

This makes it so visiting this place is close to impossible besides for a few ambassadors. These guys cannot roam by themselves either.

This is extremely puzzling. Sometimes I wonder if he didn't come from the mountain directly.

He could have entered when the Queen Wyvern attacked. Still, it wouldn't make much sense. After all, that land is a disaster zone.

The mountain already is one and there is another one behind. A huge forest area. There is no way anyone could potentially survive there.

Still, where he comes from matters not. What is vital is the way he treats the people loyal to him. He doesn't take airs. He talks to you man to man or man to rat.

He is extremely powerful too. Sometimes I do wonder where his limits are. I can somehow figure out the rat. He is fast and can use earth magic.

This man is a complete mystery. He doesn't call himself a swordsman and yet he is extremely skilled at it. So skilled that I don't think a single army instructor would even come close to him. The rat is gesturing at me.

"Yes, I know we are being followed."

The man from the rest area is after us. The one that was complaining about the radishes. Honestly, I have to praise him. I wouldn't be able to do that much noise.

We exchange a glance. Then the rat creates a trap. We keep walking. Before long, we hear a scream in the background.

"Shall we interrogate him?"

As we come closer…

"I don't know anything about any bandits!!"

"…." What is he doing?

TMR simply glares at him. With his red eyes.

"EEK! Okay, I'll confess! There were never any bandits in the first place!"

What is even the point of this? Ah, don't tell me.

"So you guys were the ones who sighted the so-called bandits?"

"Y-yes, but no."

"Explain slowly, or my rat friend here will eat your face!"

"Eek! We didn't mean anything bad! It's just we needed a place to stay."

"The rest area owner put you guys up to this?"

"Y-you, how did you know?!"

"He said the ingredients shipments had been interrupted. He could have easily canceled those himself. Still, why would he go through so much trouble for a bit of coin? Then again it seems the place has never been as full."

Now he is looking confused. This is almost worse in its own way. It was so easy that it won't even be considered an achievement. Oh well, I guess no trouble is good.

That is when I hear TMR squeak. He seems to be pointing further up. Ah! There is a bit of smoke. Who is here in this place?

"Wanna check it out?"

He nods. We simply leave the guy in the hole. He should be able to exit by himself even if it takes him a long time.

Soon we can see…a group! They are wearing dark travel clothes. They all have a weapon in hand. What are the odds? There really are bandits!

I'm pretty sure they just got here. If the other idiot knew about them, he wouldn't have followed us I bet. We look at each other. Rat in human sharing a thought. It goes like this:

"Wanna fuck them up?"

"For sure."

"Traps?"

"Always."

"Let's go!"

He digs through the ground getting to their position. A few minutes later the ground collapses under them. This time there are no spikes, however. This way we'll be able to interrogate them.

I spring into action. I have been waiting a long time for this moment! Well, not this specific one. But I use all the abuse I received on the road as fuel to power my strikes. I jump down the pit enthusiastically. Then I start having fun.

It feels so liberating. For once I'm not on the receiving end of it! I keep beating them up. For good measure, I kick them in the nuts. I hear them scream, with a high-pitched voice. This feels nice. This is life.

TMR is rummaging their possessions. Nice call! We can figure out who they are from it. At least it should help in the interrogation. He digs something out. These are uniforms. Uniforms I know all too well. Then I check the guys we just destroyed.

Oh god! This is a Green County battalion! One in disguise for some reason! Why would they even do that?! Of course, people will misunderstand them for bandits if they are wearing black and traveling in packs!

*Sigh* There is only one thing to do now. Run! I get out of the hole as fast as I can. TMR is already going away.

"Wait for me you asshole! This is treason! One shouldn't leave a brother behind!"

There won't be any complications, right?