Chapter 36: Shopping Trip (3)

"Hello again, scammer. I want my money back." 

The old man shook under Van's grip.

"Yes, yes! All my money, in the safe!" He pointed towards the safe. "Just don't hurt me!"

Van dropped the old man, who breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you, I'll open it-"

The old man prepared to pull out a key but stopped when he saw Van approach the safe. Van simply banged on the top of the safe, denting it but making it swing open. Inside was a large pile of silver and gold coins, some rubies mixed in. 

"Y-You go now, yes?" The man asked Van, who was currently shoveling the safe's contents into his money pouch, the fabric being pushed to its limits. Van stayed silent the whole time.

After getting all the money in the safe, Van turned to the old man, who gulped.

"Y-Yes?" 

"One last thing." Van looked him in the eyes. "Give me the Mana Charm."

The old man wasted no time in rummaging through his pockets and pulling out the paper slip Van saw earlier. Van took the paper and immediately slapped it on his wrist, the circle on the paper being transferred to his skin. 

"Someone's taking their sweet time." A raspy voice spoke from behind Van and the scammer.

Van turned around to see Verro standing in the doorway, his arms crossed. 

"Looks like you made some friends while you were at it." Verro scratched his chin, talking about the men Van had fought. 

The tattoo finished, Van glanced at his wrist before throwing away the paper, turning to Verro and pulling out his money pouch. He took a handful of rubies before offering it to Verro, who tilted his head in confusion.

"I delayed us, didn't I? This is me paying for it." Van looked into Verro's hood, seeing no hint of the face that hid behind it.

After a few seconds, Verro took the gems from Van's hand and hid it away. "It's time to go." 

Van followed Verro out of the house, before being shocked at what lay next to the well. Arranged in front of the well was a row of bodies, each with their throats slit. They were the 5 men Van had beaten only minutes ago. Even the one who ran away was there, sporting a bruise on his forehead that Van didn't give him. 

"Aaah!"

Hearing a scream, Van turned around and looked back into the house. The scammer was now face down on the floor, blood pooling beneath him. Van looked towards Verro who kept walking back towards the alley. He opened his mouth when Verro spoke.

"They dared to scam and fight against Lord Raphael's loyal servant. They dared to steal from Lord Raphael himself. Normally, we leave them alone, but this time you got directly involved, which is why I had to take action." 

He turned back at Van who still stood there, surprise on his face.

"Are you coming? You even got that tattoo from the paper too, right?"

Snapping out of it, Van quickly nodded and followed Verro back to the cart. On the ride back, Van kept thinking about how those men were killed. Sure, they scammed Van, but he didn't think they deserved death.

'Guess it just goes to show how it is when you have power.' Van thought. 'When you're strong, it doesn't matter the level of offence committed by the weak, they just erase them.'

At that moment, Van made a promise to himself. When he becomes strong, when there are those much, much weaker to him. He vowed to be fair. He would do to someone what they would try to do to him. 

Someone beats him up? He'll just come back and beat them up. Someone steals from them? He'll beat them up and get compensation. Someone tries to kill him? He'll beat them up, then kill them.

'I won't become a monster that terrorizes people, nor will I be a carpet for them to walk over.'

With that sentiment, Van's mentality was molded further as he thought of the goals he had to achieve in Fendor.

****** 

In the Northwestern side of Holdor, an estate was in ruins once again, the blackness of it showing that it had previously been on fire. This time, the bandits were camping there, drinking and celebrating. There was a bonfire in front of the ruined mansion, the bodies of that estate's Lord and his people treated as kindle.

The bandits relaxed and chatted happily - they were the Servant Bandits, a group formed by the oppressed, the poor, and the enslaved, their aim to overthrow the royal family and government of Holdor, one noble at a time. 

With each estate destroyed their numbers grew, as they recruited every servant, peasant, and small-time fugitives they found along the way. Some time had passed since their first act of vengeance, Lord Pelus, and this was their third successful raid. They were slowly making their way south, going around the edge of the kingdom where the easiest noble targets lay.

"How's it going, Maverick? You learn some fancy techniques from what we pulled from that old lady's treasury?"

Near the bonfire, an older man approached another middle-aged bandit with wild features and a large stature. He was Maverick, the leader of the Servant Bandits and the one who spearheads the group's operations. 

"Heh, I could ask you the same thing, Kiver." Maverick smiled at his close friend. The two of them started this group together. "Who knows, maybe there's a technique in there that'll remove the gray from your hair!"

The two men laughed for a bit, Kiver taking a seat beside Maverick. After calming down, the two men stared into the fire for a moment, taking it all in.

"Another successful operation. It almost feels like we're winning. How long before we can hit the next noble?" Kiver turned serious.

"We have to be more careful from now on. As we head southward, the nobles become harder targets. We may be increasing our forces and our strength as time passes by, but that doesn't mean we can be cocky. It could take a few more months before we reach them." 

Maverick turned to Kiver and looked him in the eyes.

"Aside from you and me, there are barely any competent fighters among us. Many of them remain unskilled and untrained. Our only strength right now is our numbers."

"Yeah, yeah. Let's just enjoy this victory for now."