I Said Make My Abilities Average! (LN) - Volume 15 - Chapter 107

Chapter 107:

The Beast Village

“WE STILL HAVEN’T BEEN to a demon or beastfolk village,” Mile muttered, lying on her bed in the party’s room at the inn.

“What are you on about this time?” Reina asked wearily. A typical exchange.

“Well, I mean, we’ve been to a dwarven village and an elven village, and I was alone at the time, but I at least met all the inhabitants of a fairy village…”

“But we’ve met plenty of beastfolk. Like at that excavation site—”

“No, but that wasn’t their settlement, it was just a work site! That doesn’t count!”

“Why is that not enough for you?” asked Reina.

Before Mile could even respond, Mavis and Pauline chimed in unison, “Because there were no little beastgirls there!”

Mile nodded, arms folded.

“Are you stupid?!”

Mile’s lower lip jutted out. “I would like to pay a visit to one of the two…” she said. 

The others were silent, so she continued. 

“I do hate to pass up on any possible opportunity, and Reina, Mavis—you two received invitations to the demon village, so I was thinking that would be our first stop.”

“Since when?!” the two protested.

“Come on! Don’t you remember that demon girl?”

The two thought back. The demon girl they met had said something to the effect of extending Reina an invitation. And Mavis had received a more formal invitation from one of the men she had faced off against in battle.

Still, the pair were agreed.

“No way!”

“No how!”

“Whyyy?” Mile whined.

“Do you even know where the demon village is?” asked Reina.

“Um. Well, I figured we’d just look around some nearby villages…”

“Of course,” the others sighed. 

“Listen,” Reina explained. “The places where humanoids live—humans, elves, and dwarves, that is—are fairly integrated. But that isn’t the case with beastfolk and demons. We aren’t on the best of terms with them. I mean, they do have pretty much equal rights with humanoids these days, and at least ostensibly our people are friendly with theirs, so it’s not as if you don’t ever see some of them coming to human towns on business, or even occasionally to take up residence for some reason or other. But those cases are exceedingly rare. Most of them keep their distance and live in isolated, homogeneous groups.

“On the humanoid side, the casualties in the wars of the past were mostly soldiers and mercenaries—people who knowingly left their homes to face danger—and that was only for a very short time, while the fighting was still going on. However, all beastfolk and demons, including women and children, have faced centuries—millennia even—of enslavement and murder. So, whatever resentment humanoids hold towards them is nothing compared to the anger they hold towards us… Mile, would you ever want to live among a group who not only viciously slaughtered your forefathers but who even now resents your very existence? And raise a child there, no less?”

Mile shook her head hard. You’d have to be a masochist to wish for such a life.

“Mile, the only reason we haven’t faced much backlash so far is because we haven’t encountered any elders and because we’re all young ladies, and powerful ones at that,” Mavis added. “Demon and beastfolk elders tend to have particularly negative feelings regarding humanoids, though things usually go more smoothly with younger folks, who never experienced that darker part of history firsthand. That said, I should point out that means things only go more smoothly, not that they go well. 

“Regardless of race or species, everyone finds children cute and wishes to protect them. Mile, you’d have trouble killing a baby jackalope or kobold, even if it is a monster, right? Demons and beastfolk seem to feel that even more fervently than humans do. Plus, they deeply respect strength. As such, our being not only women but also young is a direct appeal to their instincts, to their desire to protect. At the same time, because we’ve crushed them in battle, we benefit from their respect for a strong opponent. For both of these reasons, it’s hard for them to bear ill will towards us.

“It may sound contradictory, but it’s precisely because we put up a fight from the very start that they were so cordial towards us. If we hadn’t fought them—if we had welcomed them with open arms—they likely would not have done the same in return. This is why I’m certain we’d face a lot of resistance from their elders, who dislike humans and have never fought us. Especially beastfolk, who are rather simple in their manner. As for the demons…”

The other three sighed.

“That’s not all.” Now it was Pauline’s turn. “Beastfolk typically live in small villages in forested regions remote from humans—similar to the elves. That doesn’t mean that they’re extremely far away from humans but just that they live in a certain part of human territories, rather than establishing their own kingdoms. Not that they pay any taxes…

“Anyway, the demons, on the other hand, live far, far from here in the northernmost parts of the continent, protected from human lands by the mountains that run between there and here. The range isn’t entirely impassable, but it’s intensely difficult to traverse by cart, so it’s quite rare that anyone—even the most adventurous young merchant—attempts it without extraordinarily good reason. Plus, they have incredible defensive measures set up to protect against traffickers and anti-demon zealots. Anyone who approaches with a weapon is captured and disarmed on sight. If you swear to turn back, you’ll be released, but only with enough food and water to just barely make it back home…unarmed, naturally.”

“There’s no way anyone could survive traveling through the mountains unarmed! Forget orcs and ogres, you could be taken out by goblins or kobolds, or even just a particularly nasty swarm of jackalopes!” Reina spat.

Pauline nodded.

“That’s why no one goes there.”

“Oh…”

One could surmise that demons might have an interest in weapons, armor, and food of humanoid make, but if they wanted them that badly, they could travel to a human settlement to make a purchase. No one would blatantly turn down their coin, and many demons were close enough to humans in appearance that they could simply cover their horns with a hat or their hair, in order to complete their errands without incident.

“So, I guess that means we start with a beastfolk village. There must be a nice village around here somewhere…” Mile muttered.

“Since when did we decide we were even going to do any of this?!” cried Reina. Mavis and Pauline could only chuckle in defeat.

As usual. 

“So, here’s the beastfolk village I found,” said Mile the next day, pointing to some kind of map…

“How are you this persistent?!”

***

“We’ll take this one!”

Two days later, Mile stood before the other members of the Crimson Vow, a job request slip from the guild’s bulletin board in her outthrust hand. The edges were far more ragged than her usual clean tears. Her expression was calm, but something seemed off. Her eyes were swimming and her nose twitching. 

Puzzled by this, the other three nevertheless looked upon the slip and read:

“Subjugation Request. Target: Band of Slave Traffickers. Client: Village of Talican (Beast Tribe Village).”

“No surprise here,” the other members of the Crimson Vow sighed.

“Why would they ask humanoids to do a job like this, though? Aren’t beastfolk usually pretty proud of their own skills? There’s something weird about them sending this job through a humanoid guild.”

“Well, you see…” interjected an older hunter who had been listening in on the conversation, “taking beastfolk as slaves is in direct violation of the basic principles of the treaty that was ratified at the end of the Demi-human Wars. So there’s no reason for them to shed their own blood to put a stop to this. Basically, they’re demanding we take responsibility.”

“Huh? But the job came from—” 

“Well, they were the ones who would’ve lodged the complaint with our lord, and they are the ones who have the best knowledge of the situation. It only follows that they’d be the best people to speak to the hunters who take on the task, but given the circumstances, it’s going to be our side who’s paying for it. Which explains why the pay isn’t great.”

“Ah…” the members of the Crimson Vow sighed.

“Of course, the slavers aren’t from this fief or even this country. As soon as they get what they’re after, they’re gonna scram right back over the border. Makes sense. No nobles or royals are gonna put up with somethin’ like that. If they caught these guys, they’d beat ’em down with everything they have. Far as folks from other countries are concerned, though, it’s none of their business. ’Course, they wouldn’t overlook anything that might cause a repeat of the Demi-human Wars—even the beastfolk know this is just a simple criminal justice matter, nothing on a national level—so things won’t move that far up the chain.

“That’s why the rulers of other countries act like they don’t even know stuff like this is happening. Fights croppin’ up in other places just weakens those places and puts them at an advantage. Some of those nobles and other rich folks might even buy up the enslaved beastfolk themselves… I mean, I guess cat and rabbit and fox girls are pretty—eek!”

“Is thaaaaaaat soooooooooo?”

“Ah,” the other members of the Crimson Vow sighed as a demonic voice creaked from Mile’s throat.

Ah, thought the rest of those assembled.

While Mile stood there trembling with rage, Mavis headed straight to the reception desk.

“We’ll take this one.”

At this juncture, all in the hall—the Crimson Vow, the guild clerks, and the other hunters—were on the same page with respect to these criminals:

They are so dead!

“So we’ve accepted the job, yeeeess…?” Mile creaked.

The other three nodded furiously, paling. Obviously, Mile’s mood had yet to improve.

“Y-yep! Let’s get going!!!” Reina cut in, to more fervent nodding from Mavis and Pauline.

***

“We’re finally here!”

Mile’s mood had vastly improved. It wasn’t that she’d put aside her anger towards the slavers or kidnappers or whatever you wished to call these despicable criminals, but her joy at finally laying eyes upon the fluffy promised land—the cutie kemonomimi paradise!—had far surpassed her earlier rage.

“Now then, where’s our guide…?”

There was no way the beastfolk village would be undefended, particularly under these circumstances. Without first arranging a guide to take you through, you could be set upon by spears or arrows or stones without any warning. Plus, there were probably traps and other means of throwing travelers off from the real path. They might purposely make the real path narrow and the branching paths wider, have the straightest road be a fake while the real one was thin and meandering, create optical illusions with false trees and similarly cut stumps to make someone think they were walking in circles, or employ other tricks to make one lose one’s sense of direction…and so forth. Therefore, the guild had sent word ahead that the Crimson Vow would need a guide.

“Oh! There you ar—wait, it’s you!”

“Oh…” the girls sighed. The guide that was sent out to meet them turned out to be a familiar face. “You were with the elder dragons…”

It was the same beastman who had guided them previously.

“Guess this is kind of your full-time job, huh?”

“Mile, don’t be rude! Just because it’s a lowly job doesn’t mean you need to judge—” Somehow Mavis had blundered her way into something even ruder than what Mile had said.

“Shut up!”

They hadn’t meant anything by it, truly, but manners were not the Crimson Vow’s strong suit.

“If you need someone to act as an adjunct in a place close to the capital, then obviously you’d appoint someone who lives around here! Plus, I’m expertly familiar with the areas around the capital, a master huntsman, used to traveling and camping on my own, and I can fell or escape from any monster. I’m the ideal choice! I’m here because I was the best candidate, not because being a tour guide is all I’m capable of! I can do anything! And this time, we’re gonna be on my turf! Hff, hff, hff…” 

The beastman seemed rather riled up. Apparently, their words had wounded him.

“Whatever,” he continued. “I know you’re all pretty strong. Just don’t overdo it. The elder dragons warned me about what you four can do, so I know what you’re hiding up those frilly sleeves!”

Normally this was the point where the Crimson Vow should have protested, but they seemed to have developed some self-awareness and opted to remain silent.

***

“Here we are.”

After being guided along a road filled with so many tricks and traps that they could likely have never followed it on their own, the Crimson Vow arrived at the beastfolk’s village.

I probably could have gotten here on my own, Mile thought. I would have just searched from the air or followed the scent…

Just then, Reina elbowed Mile, grinning. “I’ll bet you could have gotten here on your own by following your wicked desires. ‘I smell little beastgirls this way!’”

“H-how’d you know what I was thinking…?”

The other members of the party just laughed. “How could we not?!”

Mile truly was an open book.

The village was not surrounded by a fence. Rather, the narrow forest path simply came to the edge of a settlement, where they were greeted by a beastman of some years. 

“Excellent work. I’ll take it from here.”

This seemed to be a village official, the one who would actually be explaining the job to the Crimson Vow. The hunter’s job was now complete. The fact that he had been waiting here for the Vow’s arrival likely meant that there were various guards surrounding the village on the lookout for slavers or monsters, who would have spotted the hunters and made their presence known.

“The Guild wrote to us about you four. We don’t prefer to put women and children out on the battlefield, but we do make exceptions, and we have no complaints if the men of other races would like to fall back and push the women to the front lines. Each race is welcome to do as they please. We judge only the strength and courage of those who set foot upon the battlefield. I sincerely hope that the humans have not conspired to send us weak pawns to be discarded. For both your sake and this country’s.”

The hunter who had led the Crimson Vow to the village was still lingering around the area. Overhearing this, he began frantically waving his hands in front of his fellow beastman’s face to signal that this official should stop immediately. However, the man simply continued his lecture, glaring at the Crimson Vow and seeming not to notice. The four young hunters, meanwhile, just watched the official, stone-faced. 

Among the beastfolk, only the hunter—who had been warned by the elder dragons—knew not to mess with the Crimson Vow. 

***

“Why didn’t you say so sooner?!?!”

The village official had assumed from the presence of this group of rookie female hunters—some of them children, no less—that the humans were disregarding the beastfolk’s complaints, or rather, warnings. Hence the snide lecture, which was interrupted by the huntsman grabbing him by the arm and dragging him several meters away. Just as he was about to chide the huntsman for his impudence, the huntsman filled him in on the full situation, at which point the official let out a cry.

“S-so these girls,” he sputtered, “are the ones the elder dragons acknowledged as their superiors, the ones that they said not to mess with? Th-the…”

“Yep. The Crimson Vow.”

“Whaaaha…?”

Not only had the humans not disregarded the village’s troubles, but they had also offered up their strongest fighting force. The official was stunned to learn this. He swiftly ran back to the Crimson Vow.

“Thank you for coming. Welcome to the village!”

Exactly what have people been saying about us?!?! the Crimson Vow wondered silently. The beastman’s change of heart had been suspiciously swift… 

***

“…And that’s about the sum of it.”

The Crimson Vow traveled to the home of the village chief for a more complete explanation of the job ahead of them. Their guide seemed to have taken them on the scenic route through the village, likely to buy the huntsman time to run ahead and explain to everyone there who was coming. By the time they had arrived, they found a spread of sweets that must have counted as very fancy to the villagers waiting for them. Such a reception would normally be unthinkable for a group of hunters who had been dispatched to clean up the humans’ own messes—especially a group of young girls.

Picking up on this, the members of the Crimson Vow nibbled politely on these classy sweets, paying no mind to the slightly forlorn looks upon the villagers’ faces…

“So, the slavers or kidnappers or whatever have started targeting only young children?”

This was the gist of the explanation they had just received.

Apparently, the evildoers had at first been focusing on young men and women, ones who would be immediately fit for work—whether it be outside or inside the home—but lately, they had redirected their attention only to those of very tender years. The reason for this was simple: On the whole, beastfolk over a certain age tended to value the safety of their kin over their own lives. Therefore, if they determined they had no chance of escape, captured beastfolk would take the most drastic course of action, sacrificing themselves to protect the lives of their people… In other words, they would stage a suicide attack in order to take out the villains.

Once sold, they might wait for an opportunity to murder their buyers. And not just the buyers, but their wives and children, their guests, and anyone the beastfolk could get their hands on…

Even without weapons, there were many ways they could accomplish this. They might, for instance, feign docility until their captors let their guards down, then plunge their fingers into their kidnappers’ eyes to claw out their brains or slice their carotid arteries with shards of a broken dish. They could set fire to the humans’ homes at night, mix something poisonous into their food or secretly drag their captors’ meals across the floor in the hopes of inducing illness. 

Whether or not they were successful, if caught, the beastfolk would immediately confess. They would say, “The people who captured and sold me took my family hostage and ordered me to do this.” Nobles and other wealthy individuals, who had many enemies, would assume the slavers had been hired by some opposing faction. Their retaliation would be swift, and the slavers—whom the nobles now believed had been attempting to assassinate them—would be captured and tortured until they revealed the names of their employers…

Following the grisly deaths of a number of slavers, those who remained were forced to change their methods. Young children, who had yet to be taught such means of resistance, were a much safer bet. They couldn’t be forced immediately into hard labor but could be kept as pets, and still provided the benefit of the status that came with having a beastperson for a slave. And regardless, they grew up quickly. A few years of having to rear them was a fair price to pay for the obedient slave one would have after beating the proper mentality into them. They could still do other work during that time, and if you only fed them the necessary minimum, it wasn’t particularly costly, either.

This was about the sum of things.

“So based on how long it’s been since the last attacks, we can expect them to be showing their faces again fairly soon,” Reina concluded as the village chief finished speaking. Her face twitched as she tried to ignore Mile, who was again muttering eerily to herself.

“But from what they’re telling us, they were able to drive a lot of these kidnappers to ruin in the past but not root them out entirely. So, even if we catch all the ones that show up this time, other folks will just take up their enterprise,” Pauline pointed out.

“You can keep catching the criminals, but it’s just one big game of whack-a-mole,” Reina agreed.

“Plus, their methods are getting even more dastardly. They’re kidnapping and brainwashing children!” Mavis cried. “Take an adult—even if they’re enslaved, they’ll still have their pride and principles as beastfolk and might attain freedom one day. But if one is taken from a young age and brainwashed… Not to mention that if all the children are taken, the village will die out!”

“And also,” Reina continued, “no matter how many of these perpetrators we catch, there will always be others to take their place as long as there’s good money to be made. Even if we come up with a countermeasure, they’ve already shown themselves to be pretty wily, given the way they switched things up to start targeting kids. We can expect the criminals to keep coming up with ways to circumvent whatever they are against. They might even just capture the entire village and start breeding them, like some kind of ‘beastfolk ranch’…”

When you looked at it that way, the village’s future looked bleak. If nothing was done, the peril they were in would only increase with each passing year.

“Well then…” Mile muttered. “We just have to find a way to make this an unappealing target…” 

The other three shrieked. Her face looked downright demonic.

***

“Now then, time to execute—the task at hand!” said Mile, quickly correcting herself midsentence. Her expression remained far more suited to what she had started to say than what she had landed upon. “Execute” was one of those words that carried very different meanings depending on its context…particularly when it came to the well-being of what—or rather, who—it was referring to.

“Anyway, I’m going to run a wide area search for the enemies. If there are any currently approaching, I’ll know right away.”

Mile’s search magic was already incredible both in terms of its accuracy and its effective range. And yet, she’d specifically called this a “wide area” search.

We’ll know the moment any of these criminals even set foot in this forest, won’t we? the others thought.

At this point, it probably wasn’t even a matter of distance. Mile’s most powerful search magic could likely extend far beyond the forest, but it simply wouldn’t be all that useful once it left the trees, as it would pick up all kinds of human life that might or might not have anything to do with the criminals. 

The other members of the Crimson Vow could tell she was really going all out. Furthermore, they knew there was no stopping her. The moment anyone entered the forest, they would be picked up by Mile’s search magic, after which she would track their positions and know at once if anyone was acting suspiciously. The movement patterns of kidnappers would not resemble those of hunters who came into the woods on business, nor those of any local villagers, so she would be able to distinguish them without even seeing them—well before they even reached this village’s location.

There was no need to keep a lookout, much less do any scouting missions. 

Seeing the shift in Mile’s demeanor, Mavis and Pauline looked to Reina, curious.

“Okay, fine! But just this once! I know that ‘cheating’ is against our principles, but we can’t stop her when she’s like this, and if any of those kidnappers harm even a single hair on those children’s heads…”

“It’s the Eternal Force Blizzard for him!!!” the three cried—the name of a very deadly spell from one of Mile’s tales.

***

“Seems they’ve arrived…”

The Crimson Vow had spent a leisurely several days in the beastfolk village: resting their bones, playing with the children; running searches, playing with the children; hunting high-ranking, lucrative monsters around the village and playing with the children. But finally, their true target was in sight. 

Incidentally, they had decided to forgo collecting any medicinal herbs or other valuable ingredients. With Mile’s search magic active, they would have picked the whole place dry and caused a lot of trouble for the village, so despite Pauline’s vehement protests, Reina and Mavis decided those activities were off-limits. Mile, naturally, had no objections to this, leaving Pauline to sulk alone.

“These insolent whelps dare tread upon my moment of bliss?! They shall face my wrath!”

Mile seemed to have already forgotten the original objective of their mission. Unsurprising, given that she had been more or less allowed free rein, with none of the adults attempting to stop her from playing with the children (primarily out of political considerations). She soon got carried away, shouting, “So many little boys and girls! It’s a kemonomimi paradise!” and other such ridiculous sentiments.

As a matter of practice, Mile always had in her inventory a stash of cat food, silver tail fronds, bird feed, and candies to give to any beastfolk children she encountered. She was always prepared for what she called “a fated encounter,” and presently, that supply of candies was being utilized to the fullest. 

She had also provided plenty of sweets for the adults as well. It was essentially a bribe so they wouldn’t complain about her playing with the children, but she had also felt at least a little guilty about how greedily the Crimson Vow had chowed down on the snacks that the villagers had provided them on their arrival, especially seeing as how said snacks seemed to be quite a luxury for the village. The Crimson Vow could buy as many sweets as they wanted at any time, and if Mile put her mind to it, she could even make some herself. The fact that they had eaten so many of the treats these villagers rarely got to sample weighed on her.

At any rate, the children flocked to her, begging her for candy, and Mile was in heaven. She could never forgive anyone who would interrupt such bliss for her. As a result, Mile was angry at these perpetrators not so much because they were kidnappers but, rather, because they were intruding upon her “fluffy paradise.”

Pity for the kidnappers, really.

“Their movements are clearly not those of someone hunting or gathering. They’re moving directly towards the village. These are our targets, no mistake. I’m sure the villagers will soon pick up on them via their own surveillance, but if any fighting breaks out, the beastfolk will get hurt, so let’s remind them not to engage anyone they spot.”

“Roger!”

They had already made the necessary arrangements ahead of time, through the village chief and council members, but many of the beastfolk were impulsive and short-tempered. It was very likely some of the watchmen would completely forget their instructions and attack the kidnappers on sight. So, Mavis headed at once to the chief’s home—not because she was the designated errand girl but because it only made sense to send the oldest, most respectable looking member of the Crimson Vow, who also happened to be the party leader—to speak alone to the highest-ranking individual in the village. Truth be told, if any of the others had taken the role from her, she would have been super bummed.

They still had plenty of time before the kidnappers would arrive—too much, perhaps. They had far more time than needed to get word out to the watchmen, before it was time for the Crimson Vow to make their debut…

***

“Hm? What is that?”

Eight men walked through the woods. The man walking at the head of the group stopped. The other men followed suit.

Weeeeeh, weeeeh!

“Sounds like…crying?” the man muttered suspiciously. “Two children…or should I say two kits?”

Upon determining that the sound was that of two beastgirls crying, the leader sneered wickedly.

“Sounds like someone got a little lost. Ha! We thought the challenge was gonna be figuring out how to snag those kits without the adults finding out… Can it really be this easy? Guess it’s our lucky day! We can grab two bitches without breaking a sweat, then hightail it before anybody notices. If we play our cards right, we might not even have to fight anyone. Fortune like this don’t roll around too often! The Goddess must be smilin’ upon us!”

The other men grinned, seeing their leader in such high spirits. All of them were skilled fighters, but combat often came down to luck. Faced with a powerful beastman bearing down upon them in a reckless rage, there was no guarantee they would get away unscathed with the children still in tow. Being able to put this much time between the kidnapping and when the rest of the beastfolk noticed their young were missing was a windfall.

Naturally, the fact that the leader had referred to the girls as “bitches” and “kits” was to emphasize the fact that their quarry were nothing more than wild animals—supposedly less than human. The logic went that it was not humanoids they faced today, but mere animals. Thus, there was nothing wrong with their actions. It was the same as hunting kobolds or goblins…or so the kidnappers would tell themselves. 

Of course, based on the old treaties, it was strictly forbidden by law for humanoids to meddle with beastfolk. Thus, these excuses served only to assuage the kidnappers’ feelings of guilt. Not that these were the sort of men who felt a shred of guilt about what they were doing to begin with—but abducting young children had to weigh on the spirit, at least subconsciously.

Goddess only knew if these dubious claims would make a jot of difference to the authorities, or to the Crimson Vow…

“Listen up! Right now, we’re a group of sweet old hunters, who just happened to stumble across a couple lost kiddies. Ain’t nothin’ as easy as having your prey walk along on their own two feet. If they get suspicious and won’t walk anymore, that’s when we rope ’em up. Until then, just stick with the story!”

“Who are you callin’ sweet?!” some of the men chuckled. However, they all seemed to accept the plan. After all, their own lives depended on the outcome of this sally, so they were quite serious about their villainy.

“All righty, there they are! Er, wait, kinda big ain’t they? They must be twelve, maybe thirteen…” 

“I mean, even the young ones can be pretty huge for the bigger species! They’ve gotta be young if they got lost and just sat around crying. Let’s check!”

After a hushed discussion, the men walked straight up to the girls, so as not to rouse their suspicions.

“Oh, did you two get lost? Hey now, don’t be frightened! We’re hunters. We’re high-rank hunters, so we specialize in going deep into the woods to look for rare prey. Did you forget the way back to your village?”

Though these men may have been villains, not all villains looked like outright thugs. The leader of this band had a fairly respectable-looking face, though three of the other men did in fact look quite sinister…

Cat ears? Kind of big to be catfolk…or maybe they’re tiger or leopard breeds? One of the men pondered. If the two girls were catfolk, they’d be around twelve years old, but if they were tigers or leopards, they might be ten or younger. That would still be within the acceptable age range.

Then the men glanced at the two beastgirls’ chests and came to a collective conclusion:

“Those are little kids all right!!!”

Crack!

Somewhere, something snapped.

It was at that very moment that the men had signed something: their own death warrants.

“Y-y-y-you’re hunters, m-m-misters?”

“Are you g-g-gonna take us back to the village?”

To the men, Reina and Mile looked like nothing more than two little beastgirls, trembling in fear. But in truth, they were fighting to suppress their rage. They were clad in dresses they had borrowed from the village girls, and atop each of their heads was a pair of cat ears that Mile had lovingly crafted. Naturally, they had been modeled after her favorite inn mascot, Faleel… They were a flawless recreation.

“Yeah, of course! We’ll get you right back there. This way, come along!” 

Naturally, the men were beckoning them in the opposite direction from the village, but Mile and Reina followed obediently. 

After a short while, the girls stopped walking, one turning worriedly to the other. “Wait, this isn’t the way to the village!”

“You’re right! This path leads out of the forest! Look at that big line of trees…”

The men laughed riotously.

“Ha ha ha! Took you long enough!”

“Glad we could get you this far. Don’t you girls worry—you’ve got a nice life ahead of ya with some rich master. Way better than you’d have in that backwater village or living a thug life like ours with danger at every turn. Be happy! No, seriously! You should be happy!”

In some ways, the man did have a point… Still, that was no reason to forgive trafficking.

“…around…”

“Hm? What?” the leader asked, unable to quite make out what one of the girls had said. 

Both of the girls’ eyes opened wide, and one said in an eerie voice, “Are there any naughty kids around?”

“Better eat you up…”

“Wh-wh-wh-wha…?”

“What the hell are you guys?!”

The little beastgirls, who up until this moment had been trembling in fear, were now muttering something bizarre, their expressions unnerving. The men were instantly put on their guards.

“Thank you for confessing your crimes…”

“And for your disgusting insult to our bodies.”

“The sentence?”

“Death!!!”

The girls began uttering disturbing phrases, their bodies twisted at the waist with their index fingers pointed in bizarre poses. Still, creepy as it may have been, a pair of ten-year-old beastlings (or so the men still assumed) were infants compared to tough guys like themselves. No matter how much quicker or stronger they were than human children, they were still children, after all. Or so the men thought as they prepared to capture and bind the two…

“Owwwwowowowow!”

One man extended his right hand to grab a girl by the arm, but she suddenly gripped his wrist and wrenched it.

“Get the hell off of me! Damn it, she must be a tiger or somethin’—somethin’ way too strong! Ow! This hurts, damn it! St-stop! Let go of me!!”

The man who had tried to seize Mile continued to howl. And as for the one who tried to grab Reina by the collar…

Fwump!

“Gaaaaaah!!!”

His outstretched right hand had been pierced by what appeared to be a small awl. 

Reina was a mage, but that did not mean that magic was her only weapon. In fact, given that all mages had to defend themselves with in close-quarters combat were their staves, and that they weren’t typically skilled fighters, it was commonplace for them to have some kind of concealed weapon as well. Reina had scarcely ever had the opportunity to use this weapon, which she kept between her left wrist and elbow, simply because she’d never been in grave enough danger to warrant it—or had been in such danger, but up against opponents to whom it would make no difference, such as an elder dragon. But when the situation called for it, she could release the clasp with a twist and have the awl in her palm in an instant.

“Y-you little bitches…”

Finally, the men had realized that something was wrong here. These children, who should have been weeping in fear, had launched an impossible counterattack and were now giggling maniacally, emitting a stream of downright eerie laughter. Only a fool would not find this unsettling.

“By our oath, we’ll drag you…”

“…to the banks of the river Styx…”

“…ship you off to Hades…”

“…and send you first class into the flames of hell!” the pair recited.

Reina let out a huff of satisfaction. Finally, she had gotten to check number eight off the list of phrases she’d always wanted to say—courtesy of Mile’s stories.

Incidentally, phrase number one was Please, don’t fight over me! She had previously been quite distressed when Mile got to that one first. However, it was just two sets of girls—the Crimson Vow and the Wonder Trio—to whom Mile had quoted these words, so she was able to get away with it. If she had said the phrase to two boys, one can only imagine what might have happened…

“You fools!! Everyone, get in there and hold them down!” the leader cried.

“On it!!!”

All of the men, save for the leader and the two who had grabbed for Reina and Mile, descended on the girls. Then, Mile shoved the man whose arm she had twisted into the rest of the group and…

“Hot Tornado!”

“Gyaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!”

After all, it was Mile who had passed the hot magic knowledge on to Pauline in the first place. Reina had followed along, of course, thrilled by the idea of a spell that would use little of her magic but could render a crowd of enemies powerless in an instant—without killing them. 

And so, the kidnappers—or rather, slavers—now faced a double hot tornado from an enraged Mile and Reina. Unsurprisingly, they surrendered posthaste.

***

“So, here are the culprits.”

The Crimson Vow dragged the eight slavers back to the village, handing them over to the villagers. There was no need to secure any evidence of wrongdoing, as the men had admitted their own guilt before they were captured. Even if they hadn’t confessed, the circumstantial evidence would have been more than sufficient to prove they were criminals. 

As it stood, the official job for which the Crimson Vow had been contracted through the Guild was merely to apprehend the targets and turn them in to the clients. They bore no responsibility for what transpired between the villagers and the men after that. The villagers were free to investigate and punish the men as they saw fit, without going through any human legal channels, whether those be the lords, their subordinates, or the royal courts. Beastfolk were not humanoids, so they were not bound by human law.

In this way, being killed by the beastfolk would be no different from being captured and killed by a goblin or orc. Unlike a goblin or orc, however, the beastfolk would not be run down by hunters or soldiers—all thanks to the ancient treaties established at the end of the Demi-human Wars.

In other words, they could do whatever they pleased, across the full spectrum from questioning to torture and even execution…

There was no need for a trial, and the captured men knew as much. 

“Excellent work. Now, perhaps you’ll tell us about all of the individuals you’ve kidnapped before, whom you sold them to, and who your head honcho is. Hey, fellas, is the oil boiling yet? Are the irons nice and red-hot?” called the village chief, looking over to the kitchen with a grin. 

Hearing a “yessir!” in reply, the criminals’ faces went pale, and they twitched in terror.

“Gy…”

“Gy?”

“Gyaaaaaaaaah!!!”

The Crimson Vow shared in the villagers’ meal of yurin-gi and orc-meat grilled skewers, right in front of the men.

There had, of course, been no actual torture. The chief had merely been calling into the kitchen to see how the meal preparations were coming along. It was a complete mystery why the men had spilled all their secrets…

“It truly is mysterious!” Mile quipped as the other members of the Crimson Vow shared wicked grins…

***

“Well, I guess that means our assignment is done?” Mile said, gauging the others’ expressions.

“Seriously? Of course not!”

“Yeah, leaving the job half-done like this would be such a drag.”

“The more criminals we catch, the more profits we get from their sale to the authorities!”

Naturally, the other three shared Mile’s reluctance to simply pack up and call it a day. At this point, there was no telling whether the beastfolk would turn the men whom the Crimson Vow had captured over to the human authorities. Should they decide to “deal with” matters themselves, there would be no revenue associated with the sale of the men as indentured laborers, and the Crimson Vow would not get a cut. Pauline seemed rather incensed about this point. 

“I talked with the chief. Here’s a list of all the children who have disappeared lately. In one of these cases, two villagers saw the children being snatched and tried to fight back, but there were too many on the kidnappers’ side, so they got away. This makes it clear that that particular incident—along with two others whose victims are listed here—were in fact kidnappings,” Pauline deftly explained.

“Without those witnesses, the village might have assumed that the children had gotten lost, had an accident, or been gobbled up by monsters. Then they might not have mounted a response soon enough, which could have led to more victims,” commented Mavis.

Under the unfortunate circumstances Mavis described, the list of victims would only continue to grow. Apparently, these men were the sort who were more than happy to resort to force if they couldn’t make a stealthy escape, which would have led to casualties among the adults as well—in the form of serious injuries, or even death…

“Of course, though the adult witnesses were wounded by those men, there were no fatalities—even though the criminals could have easily killed them if they wanted to. They must have thought it would be bad for the children to see the adults being killed, or just figured that as long as they could get away with the children, they didn’t need to go to such extremes. Though killing the witnesses would have been the best way to hide the evidence, so maybe the fact that they spared their lives means they aren’t really such bad people?”

“Of course they are,” Reina cut in. “But if they killed the adults and the children went missing, it would be a much more obvious case of a murder-kidnapping. That would mean the nobility getting involved, which would turn into a huge incident! If their only crime is kidnapping, as opposed to kidnapping plus murder, their lives are that much easier—fewer hunters and officials on the investigation and a lighter sentence should they ultimately get caught.” 

“Ah…” Pauline sighed, cheeks reddening at her own naivete.

For the criminals, this distinction could literally be the difference between life or death, both in terms of whether they received a limited or a full life sentence in their criminal indenture and also whether they were assigned somewhere relatively safe or sent to the mines. Even the most hardened slaver would have the sense to try and avoid the worst possible fate, if it came down to it.

“Besides, it just feels wrong to suggest that serial kidnappers of little girls might not be ‘such bad people,’” Mavis quipped.

“Okay, okay! C’mon, I get it! Leave me alone!” Pauline sniffed, reeling from Mavis’s pincer attack.

In a world without photographs, it doesn’t really matter if someone has seen your face, Mile reasoned. You might never see those witnesses again, and chances are slim to none that any of them would have a photographic memory. A simple hairstyle or outfit change could alter your appearance immensely. Even on the off chance someone could sketch your likeness, there’s no way of photocopying it and no TVs to broadcast it on. It’s easy enough to disappear that there’s just no point in killing someone and risking really riling people up…

Though totally face blind in her previous life, Mile had learned—at least a little—to recognize people in this one. She was still bad at it compared to other people, and so she couldn’t truly comprehend the concept of criminals needing to hide their faces. She supposed they could simply ask the men they had apprehended about this, but at this point, they couldn’t exactly be trusted to tell the truth. They’d say pretty much anything they thought might lighten their sentence. There was no point in forcing anything out of them. There was no way to verify their claims, and it wasn’t as though the men telling a laudable tale was going to have any positive effect on their sentencing.

“Well, anyway, what we need to do here is to head across the border and find this contact they told us about.”

Obviously, henchmen of this level would never get to meet with the head honchos directly. They were the sort of men who had the more dangerous jobs—the ones who got their hands dirty, so to speak. 

“We’ve already completed the job that we accepted from the Guild, though. If we start messing in another country’s affairs and get caught…” Pauline trailed off.

“We can’t say that it was an independent request from this village, either,” said Mavis, picking up the thread of Pauline’s thought. “If you don’t take a job through the Guild, then you can’t request the Guild’s assistance if anything goes south. It would look bad not only for us but also for the beastfolk. Things could really blow up.”

“So what are we supposed to do?!” Reina snapped.

Mile, who had kept silent up until now, cut in. “We can’t let things go on like this. At this rate, eventually whatever shady organization is behind this is going to decide that it’s getting too difficult to keep abducting children and instead just bring in a bunch of people to round up the entire village and make one last good haul. Then, the adults might all be killed or sold off to some faraway land… And after that, they might just find themselves another beastfolk village. Besides, do you really think the adults in the village are just going to sit back and cry themselves to sleep, now that they know where their missing children have been sold off? If worse comes to worst…”

Mile did not have to complete the sentence; the others knew exactly where she was going with this.

“So then, what are we supposed to do?” asked Mavis, echoing Reina’s words.

“There’s no good solution. There are serious drawbacks to every option,” said Pauline.

“Don’t worry!” Mile suddenly crowed, seeming quite confident. “The Crimson Vow isn’t going to take care of this one—we’ll leave it to another party. A mysterious party of unknown origins!”

“What?” The others all looked flummoxed.

“No one knows who this party truly is or who hired them. So naturally, it’s impossible for them to face any kind of consequences. But whether it’s in the thick of battle or the depths of hell, when injustice is done or little girls are in danger, they’ll show up on the double. They’re a party of daredevil mercenaries!”

As Mile spoke, grins slowly spread across the faces of the other three.

“Oh right, those guys,” said Mavis.

“No need to worry if they’re on the case,” Pauline agreed.

“You’re right—they’re the perfect choice,” Reina seconded.

And then, the four girls cried as one, “The Order of the Crimson Blood, now making their grand return!!!!”

From somewhere in the distance came the sounds of fiends and devils, clawing their way up from the pits of hell…

***

“Well, we’re here now. Time to find this contact…” said Mile as the party arrived at their destination.

“I’m pretty impressed those guys investigated their identity this thoroughly. Guess they were worried that they’d just be cast aside and forced to take the blame if things went wrong,” Reina noted.

“Honestly, yes, they’re quite shrewd. They sent a scout out to tail this person after they met up with them and found out their real name and base of operations.”

“Well,” Pauline objected, “if the kidnappers were truly shrewd, they would neither have been caught as easily as they did, nor chosen such a risky career in the first place! No upstanding individual would ever take a job where one mistake could cost you everything, no matter how good the pay!”

“I suppose that’s true,” Mavis muttered.

“A-anyway,” Reina stammered, “let’s go and wring this so-called contact dry!”

“Yeah!”

***

“Excuuuuse me! We heard that this is where you can sell illegal slaves!” shouted one of four girls standing in front of a shop.

“Huh?! What the hell are you shouting about?!” With a scream, a clerk flew out of the front door.

The girls, however, simply looked bemused and loudly asked in reply, “I mean, this is the Eirral Company headquarters, isn’t it? We were introduced by Mr. Vedel, whom the head clerk hired on the president’s orders. He said that you were attacking beastfolk villages and abducting little girls to sell off as slaves…”

“Wh-wh-wh-whaaa?!”

At this point, the clerk should have really cut them off, but in his panic, he just continued to shout back at them—smack dab in the middle of a street filled with early evening crowds.

Some of the passersby halted and began muttering, as more and more people started to gather. Meddling with a beastfolk village. Raids. Kidnapping. And illegal slavery. All absolutely inhuman, heinous crimes.

“W-w-w-wai—!!”

Whether he was in cahoots with his higher-ups or merely an underling who knew nothing about the kinds of business they conducted, the clerk only stood there sputtering.

And meanwhile, the four girls grinned…