I Said Make My Abilities Average! (LN) - Volume 7 - Chapter 60

Chapter 60:

The Girl with Seven Faces! 

“We have a special request we would like you to take on.” 

When the Crimson Vow next stopped in at the guildhall, they were beckoned over by Felicia, the clerk, who then escorted them up to the guild master’s office on the second floor. The moment they stepped through the doorway, they were hailed by the guild master, who spoke the words above. 

“Huh? Well, um, I mean, we can’t accept it without knowing the details…” said Mavis, the leader, seeking an explanation. 

Even if it was the guild master who was doing the requesting, they were not going to accept any outrageous jobs. It would be no different if it had been a noble or even a member of the royal family. That was a rule that they had decided upon when the party was first formed. 

Of course, “outrageous” for the Crimson Vow did not mean “difficult” or “dangerous.” Such conditions were of little relevance to the girls. For the Crimson Vow, “outrageous” meant jobs that asked them to do something they didn’t agree with or ones that someone with influence had pushed through on the strength of their own power alone. 

“I suppose that’s fair. I mean, most people would accept a direct request from a guild master without a second thought, details or no, but I do believe caution is the key to a long and healthy life…” he said with a wry smile before launching into the details of the job. 

Apparently, there was a spot near a town about four days from the capital where travelers were being attacked with some frequency. The brigands would target any traveler who appeared to have a bit of money about them, whether they were traveling by carriage or on foot. The men and the elderly would be killed, the valuables and cargo stolen, and the women and horses spirited away. Perhaps because they would be too easy to track, the carriages were usually left where they were. With a cart, the brigands wouldn’t be able to go far from the road, and even if they were to sell it, a little bit of investigation would reveal the cart’s origin, which meant that was out of the question as well. 

If it were merchant caravans or commuter carriages that were being attacked, the local lord would have to step in. After all, such a thing could have huge effects on the economics of the region. However, travelers who were merely passing through were none of the lord’s concern. People who didn’t think to hire a sufficient guard force reaped what they sowed. In fact, if the brigands sold their stolen goods off for cheap within the territory, it was actually an economic boon. There was no reason for the lord to bother with something as foolish as setting aside the budget for hiring more soldiers to guard the roads, and furthermore, allotting funds to treat any injuries that might arise when the soldiers fought against the brigands. 

Of course, no truly noble lord would ever abide by such logic, but if every lord in the land were wise and just, then such suffering as this world saw would never have existed in the first place. 

Even if the brigands’ victims were not citizens of the town, the people of the region could not simply let things be, so the local Merchants’ Guild had gathered up the funds to hire on hunters. Yet no matter how they searched, they could not find the bandits. 

They had tried hiding hunters within traveling carriages departing from the town, but for some reason, these carriages had entirely failed to attract the attackers. Since the attacks had yet to stop, the townspeople were still quite vexed. 

That was when the townsfolk finally realized why it was that the brigands attacked only travelers and not the people of the town. The bandits had realized that, should they attack the townspeople, an extermination force would quickly be organized. They would face soldiers hired by a wary lord who feared reprimand from the crown for not upholding his basic duties of collecting taxes and protecting the populace—and by hunters, hired by the families of their victims and any merchants whose businesses had been hurt… 

How could the bandits tell? How could they be certain that the people they were targeting were travelers and not townsfolk—and only travelers with valuables on them, no less? 

It was because they had an inside man. In other words, someone had infiltrated the people going in and out of the Hunters’ Guild, thus protecting the bandits from being fooled by the disguised hunters. 

With this assumption in mind, this time, the local Merchants’ Guild had decided to place a request not with their own Hunters’ Guild but with the capital branch. And so the bandit-hunting request had been made. 

“Is that so?” 

Thanks to the guild master’s thorough explanation, the Crimson Vow now had the gist of things. They also understood why this was a job being assigned to a group of newcomers like them. 

First off, all they would have to do would be to change their clothes, and no one would have the slightest clue that any of them were hunters. Second of all, no one in the town would be familiar with them—hunters and guild staff included. And thirdly, they were more than strong enough to wipe out any bandits. 

The four looked to one another and gave an emphatic nod. 

As one, they said: “We’ll do it!” 

“Um…” Pauline then continued, “Will you be providing us a stipend with which to purchase disguises?” 

When the guild master insisted that the fees for necessary expenses were included in the reward, Pauline cajoled him into footing the bill for their disguise purchases at a clothing store, arguing that women’s clothing, particularly that of a rich young lady, was quite expensive. The guild master fought back tooth and nail, insisting that the Guild would only finance clothing purchased from a secondhand shop. It was a knockdown, drag-out defeat. 

“We’ll be heading out tomorrow, so today is for preparation and relaxation!” 

Starting the next day, they would be walking for four days, so for now, it was best to let their feet get some rest. However, before that… 

“Now, it’s off to the clothing store!” 

“Okay!!!” 

Even if they were only buying secondhand, going clothes shopping was still fun. And going clothes shopping on someone else’s dime was all the more exciting. 

A few days later, when the guild master received the bill, he went wide-eyed with shock. 

“Damn it! If I don’t handle this right, it looks bad for the Guild, but if I just go along with this and pay the bill, people are going to start getting carried away…” the guild master grumbled, gripping the paper in his hand. 

A nearby female guild employee looked over the paper. “Oh? But that’s rather cheap… Sir, you have no idea what the typical prices of women’s clothing are, do you?” 

“Hm?” he replied. “I-Is that so? Wait, is women’s clothing really that expensive?!” 

“Well, I mean, not necessarily for normal clothing, but slightly nicer garments, stuff like this—it does cost a bit more.” 

“………” 

The guild master, who had three daughters, all still young, was aghast. 

“I better start saving up…” 

*** 

“Just a little further,” said Mile. 

“Yeah, we should be seeing it pretty soon,” Mavis agreed. 

Just as the two suggested, their destination, the town Zarbef, was just a little farther down the road. For normal hunters, it would have been about a four-day walk, but for Mile and the Crimson Vow…it took about four days as well. 

Had they gone into “sonic speed” formation, their swords and staves stored away in Mile’s inventory, it would have taken them no more than three and a half days. But for some reason, Reina, Mavis, and Pauline had insisted that they all carry their own weapons and luggage—not the extra-light, false gear that they normally used, but their actual, fairly heavy gear and canteens. 

At first, Mile couldn’t comprehend their reasoning, but as she thought about it, she concluded that this was welcome practice for them. This was how would they have to travel if she were not around, and since it would have taken regular people four days to make the journey, it was just fine. For once, they decided to be normal. 

They changed into their disguises on the morning of the third day. They didn’t want any of their acquaintances from the capital to view them in their new garb, so they hadn’t changed anywhere around the capital. However, they also couldn’t let anyone see them dressed as hunters anywhere near their destination. Therefore, they decided that it was safer to change somewhere around the midway point. 

The outfits—or rather, the roles—that they had assumed were as follows: 

Mile: The daughter of a low-ranking noble household. 

Mavis: An apprentice knight and bodyguard. 

Pauline: An attending maid. 

Reina: A traveling peddler, serving as their guide. 

Honestly, they were in rather shabby form for a noble maiden’s entourage, but there were a lot of different types of nobles and a lot of different types of maidens. She could be a fourth daughter, or a fifth daughter, or a daughter born to a mistress or concubine. Furthermore, even among those, there were plenty of girls who had the sort of qualities that meant their families would rather see them disappear—after all, this had been Adele’s position back in her family home. 

Even if this maiden did have a bodyguard, it was not particularly strange that the bodyguard in question couldn’t protect her from any harm greater than petty crooks and pickpockets in town. Plus, even if the bodyguard were only an apprentice knight, anyone who practiced the sword in earnest would put their blade and their life on the line to protect their master, meaning that no two-bit crooks were likely to come sticking their noses in. Knights were often an ill-tempered bunch, drawing their swords to cut an offender down at only the slightest provocation. 

Mile had donned a fluttering, frilly dress, and Pauline was in a maid’s outfit, though she had no apron or frilled headband. Such things would only be in the way on a long-haul journey, so they had left out the excess items. Even secondhand, such things were fairly expensive. 

Mavis and Reina were in their usual clothing and gear. Even if she were not a mage, it was not particularly strange for a young lady who was traveling by foot to be carrying a staff or rod with which to fend off kobolds and goblins and such. Thus, her weapon alone was not enough to expose Reina as a magic-user. Of course, she would still stow her staff away before they entered town. 

Incidentally, while the two of them were still wearing their usual garb, they had in fact been allotted the funds for four outfits. As a result, the party had purchased additional wardrobe items for Mavis and Reina on the Guild’s dime and stored them away in the inventory for later. 

Finally, the town of Zarbef came into view. 

“All right! Let’s do this!” 

“Yeah!!!” 

And so the curtain was raised on the stage that was Zarbef, where the traveling actresses of the Crimson Vow were about to make their debut. 

That Mile… What a scary girl!! 

So as not to blow their cover, the four of them decided to stick as close to the actual truth as possible—without revealing the fact that they were hunters. Mavis’s role remained more or less true to reality, as did Reina’s, leaving out the fact that she was a mage. Pauline was, of course, not actually a maid, but she played the part flawlessly. And as for Mile… 

“There’s no point in you even acting. Just be yourself!” 

“Wh-what? How rude! I’ll have you know that my family often said that I was ‘quite the actress’!” 

As a red-in-the-face Mile screamed at Reina, Mavis muttered to herself, “Somehow I don’t think they meant that as a compliment…” 

Incidentally, the role that Mile had chosen to embody was that of a low-ranking noble girl from a foreign land who was largely disregarded by her parents and admired hunters enormously. This would make it all right if she accidentally said hunter-ish things. People would most likely take her for nothing more than a young noble playing make-believe. As for her magic, Mile decided to pretend that, for some reason, the only thing she was good at was storage magic. That way, they were sure to entice the bandits, and they didn’t have to hide Mile’s storage abilities, which made things easier for everyone in general. 

The others had decided that they would carry their own things, so as not to rely on Mile too much, but her storage really was too handy to give up entirely. 

Finally, the Crimson Vow arrived at the hill overlooking the small country town of Zarbef. 

“All right! From here on out, it’s time for us to really embody our roles. We never know when someone might be listening in, so we can only discuss Vow affairs when we’re outdoors and can see what’s around us or when we’re inside one of Mile’s barriers. Anywhere else, we need to speak as our characters would and can only have normal, everyday conversation! Got it?” Reina directed. 

The other three nodded in return. 

“Crimson Vow, roll out!” 

“All right!!!” 

As the group triumphantly descended the hill toward the town, Mavis spoke in a forlorn manner, almost to herself, “Guys? Can we at least try to remember that I’m the actual leader…?” 

*** 

Ring-a-ling. 

As always, the guildhall had a bell attached to the front door. These were put in place so that guild employees could look and tell at a moment’s glance whether or not whoever had just entered appeared to be a troublemaker. Having a fight occur while they weren’t paying attention was not a possibility to be taken lightly, especially if that fight resulted in crossed swords. Thus, if someone who appeared to be a troublemaker entered, the employees would make a note of that person immediately. 

That said, the group who entered now looked like the sort who would cause a commotion for a wholly different reason. 

When someone new entered the hall, it was not only the staff who looked over to evaluate them but the gathered hunters as well. As was their habit, everyone in the hall had done so, and in this case, guild staff and hunters alike came immediately to the same conclusion: 

They’re sitting ducks!!!! 

There was a girl who appeared to be a low-ranking noble, with an endearing appearance but a rather vacant look on her face. 

There was a large-busted maid. 

There was a fierce-looking redhead. 

And last, there was a gallant, but rather meek-seeming young swordswoman. 

It was plain to anyone that the four of them would be easy marks. Obviously, they had come here to place a request for an escort. With a young noble maiden like that, so oblivious to the world, one could probably get her to cover all sorts of additional expenses along the way, if one played one’s cards right. Obviously they couldn’t overdo it while on a request placed through the Guild, but should the girls happen to place any “additional requests” along the way, why, then that was another matter entirely. Thinking this, some ill-behaved C-rank hunters ogled them, eyes glinting. For some reason, however, instead of walking straight up to the request counter like the hunters thought they would, the girls walked toward the job board and halted before the information board beside it. 

“Mistress, it seems that bandits have been preying on the travelers in this area. Perhaps we should hire on an escort here,” the swordswoman proposed. 

The hunters watched, grinning. 

However, the noble maiden then replied, “Oh? But shouldn’t you be able to handle a few bandits? If we were to hire someone, wouldn’t you be ridiculed as a coward?” 

No way no way no way!!! everyone retorted in their hearts. 

The maiden then turned to her maid and said, “Besides, Pauline, I know you’ve been training in the yard with mops and brooms during your breaks and on rest days. With that ‘Maid-Style Killing Arts,’ or what have you…” 

No way no way no way no way no way no way!!! 

What the girl was referring to was probably some sort of calisthenics or game. Internally, the hunters and employees immediately rejected the young maiden’s logic, though they could not voice their objections aloud. For some reason, the maid seemed rather proud of herself. 

“What are you all carrying on about?!” asked the redhead suddenly. “The master of the house placed me in charge of this team, so I’m the one who will be making decisions about our travels!” 

There was no way that a girl of no more than twelve would have been placed in charge in lieu of the seventeen or eighteen-year-old swordswoman or the fifteen or sixteen-year-old maid. The girl had to be much older than she looked, the hunters thought—maybe an elf or a dwarf, most likely. The total washboard that was her chest confirmed this. Actually, as she was not short and stubby in the manner of dwarves, it was far more likely that she was an elf, or at least someone with elven blood. 

At any rate, it seemed that the noble maiden had hired someone with sense as her guide for this expedition. So, everyone in the room thought, one could expect that she would have had the sense to hire a guard for them as well. However… 

“Like I’d waste our money on something like an escort! I get to keep a third of any money we save, and we aren’t going to throw it away on something like that!” 

Whaaaaaaaaaaaat?!?! 

Their leader was valuing her own profits over the group’s safety—in a situation where her own life might be at stake! Hunters across the Guild were flabbergasted. 

“Whatever. It doesn’t look like there’s very much good information here. Let’s get going… Oh!” 

Midway through urging the group on, the redhead looked as though she’d had a sudden change of heart. 

“We’re running low on money. Milady, get over here!” 

Though she addressed the young noble with an honorific, there wasn’t a hint of respect in the redhead’s tone. It was plain to see where the true power lay in this team… 

The group of girls then headed to the game exchange counter. 

“Bring it out!” ordered the redhead to the noble. 

Honestly, it was becoming less and less clear which of them was the mistress and which the servant. 

“Ah, o-on it!” 

However, the noble maiden complied without complaint, as though this was how things always were between them. 

“C’mon out, orcs! Let’s go!” 

Boom! 

Suddenly, two orc corpses appeared before her. 

“Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!?!” A cry rang through the room. 

“Sh-she’s got storage magic… And such a large capacity…” one of the hunters stuttered out. 

Indeed, the fact that this girl could store not only one orc, but two, put her in the upper echelons of storage magic users, a quite sparse group to begin with. Even if she were a powerless, utterly useless girl otherwise, the fact that she could rival the carrying capacity of an entire wagon on her own more than made up for any other flaws. Even for a merchant or noble, the uses of such a girl were endless: she could hide away confidential documents or cargo when suddenly set upon by tax inspectors, she could smuggle illicit goods… 

Once again, a thought occurred to everyone in the guildhall at once: 

A golden goose… 

“Is it possible for non-hunters to sell things here, too?” 

Misrepresenting oneself to a guild employee was a punishable offence. However, Reina was not telling a lie—she had merely asked a question, never implying that she herself was not a hunter. 

“Y-yeah, that’s fine.” 

Normally, the one in charge of the exchange counter was some gruff old man, and this Guild branch was no exception. If a woman were put in charge of the exchange counter, as with the other stations, you would start getting idiots who came in trying to intimidate a higher exchange rate out of her. Therefore, the job was usually entrusted to some tough-looking old fellow who had retired from hunting due to age or injury. Even so, no matter their age or health, such men would have no trouble putting a greenhorn in line with a little short-term violence—in fact, this was a prerequisite for the position. No hunter would ever dare oppose or disrespect the chief of exchange. 

Plus, hunters never knew when they themselves might fall victim to injury, and someday, they would all grow old. Even the roughest of ruffians would put on their best sweet-talking act before the influential employees of the Guild, who might someday see to their own reemployment. 

That said… 

“Yo, old-timer, how much can ya give us for… Ngah!” 

“Pardon us, might we ask you to assess these?” 

Even if it was merely an act, Mavis could not abide Reina being so grievously rude to the man and hurriedly clapped a hand over her mouth. 

“Oh please, Mister, you’ll give us a good price for these, won’t you?” Pauline’s flattery was blatant, but if it was for the sake of fattening her purse, she’d slap on a false smile in a heartbeat. However… 

“P-please, Mister!” Mile said, attempting to wink, though as she was unaccustomed to such a gesture, she ended up closing both of her eyes. Indeed, she had done exactly the same when attempting her “Angel’s Wink” lightning magic. 

“No need to overdo it there,” the old man said, grimacing. “You’re really somethin’, though. I’ve never seen anyone who could hold that much in storage before. Plus, it looks like y’all got these orcs’ heads off in one clean shot, with no other damages…” 

“Ah, well, we bought them for cheap off of a hunter who was in a bind. He had killed three of them, but couldn’t carry them all,” Mile quickly explained. 

Most of the price that an orc fetched stemmed from the difficulty of transporting it from the hunting grounds back to town. That fact alone made her argument a persuasive one, almost ridiculously so. The bulk of the hunters who overheard this began to lose themselves in wild fancies, imagining what their own profits would be if they could get their hands on someone like Mile. Of course, it would be one thing if she were a rookie hunter, but even low-ranking, she was still a noble, so the chances of something like that actually happening were more or less impossible. Still, it was fun to indulge in the fantasy. 

“All right,” said the old man, “This is what the evaluation comes to. That fine with y’all?” 

Surely enough, the coins that the old man heaved onto the counter were the standard payment for two orcs in good condition. Reina nodded, and Mile waved her hands over the coins to store them. Obviously, such a gesture was not actually necessary, but it certainly looked attractive. There were plenty present who had never actually seen storage magic used in person, so she thought it nice to put on a bit of a show for them. 

“Well then, let’s go find an inn,” said Reina. “Tomorrow at the second morning bell we’ll set out for the town of Caldile.” 

“Yea… Yes, ma’am!” 

The other three began their usual boisterous agreement and then quickly corrected themselves to a more proper manner of speech. 

Their plans now loudly and clearly announced to everyone, the four then left the guildhall to seek an inn. Once they had cleared out, a hush fell over the room. Among the quiet figures were those who were taken aback, those who were uneasy…and those who were greatly concerned. 

“So, do you think that did the trick?” asked Reina afterward. 

“Hm, I wonder if we overdid it a bit,” said Mavis. 

“Actually, I think that was just about right for ‘idiot daughter of a backwater noble and her team,’ wouldn’t you say?” asked Pauline. 

“And just who are you calling an ‘idiot daughter’?!” Mile raged. 

The four talked among themselves as they walked casually down a side street. 

“It’s important that we pick the right inn, too,” said Reina. 

“You’re right,” Mile replied. 

Naturally, the Guild was not the only place where they needed to purposely leak information. If someone was going to pray on travelers, then the places that travelers frequented, such as inns and restaurants, would be the most likely places for them to go. 

The level of danger varied little by inn. No matter how high-class the establishment, it was impossible to vet every single employee and their external relations. So why would the girls go out of their way to pick a mid-sized inn on a side street? 

“Please try and pick the cheapest place possible,” Pauline implored. 

Indeed, it was nothing more than a matter of expense. 

“I’d like it if we could find another one with a catgirl…” 

“You shut your mouth! If you start creeping on some other beastgirl, I’m going to tell Faleel! I’ll tell her that you have indiscriminate taste, and that as long as there’s a beastgirl, any inn’s good enough for you,” threatened Reina. 

“Oh! You wouldn’t!” Mile panicked. 

The childish, greedy behavior that Mile displayed the day of Faleel’s rescue from the kidnappers had started to seed doubt in the young girl’s heart, but when her mother and father explained to Faleel later on that Mile had been instrumental in her rescue, the girl finally began to understand. When, thanks to an explanation from Reina and the others, Faleel came to realize just how big a role Mile had played, she embraced her all the more tightly. 

Mile, assuming that the only reason Faleel had clung so closely to the Servants of the Goddess was that she was glad to see them again after so long, began to spend more and more time in Faleel’s company. By cajoling her father, who was not a man of strong will, by reminding him of her role in rescuing his daughter, she found herself with more and more one-on-one time with Faleel—the highlight of Mile’s young life. It was as though she was trying to force herself to forget that they would very soon be parting. Thus, she could not bear the idea of Faleel thinking poorly of her in any way. 

Besides, it wasn’t like some little country town was likely to have an inn with a beast-eared girl in it, in the first place. 

All the fight suddenly gone out of her, Mile fell to sulking, leaving the choosing of the inn entirely to the other three. 

“I guess this is the place, then,” said Reina, as the Vow stood before their chosen inn. 

There were not a lot of inns in town to begin with, so it was not as though they had very many choices. Plus, comfort was not their priority this time. They would be staying for only one night, and picking the most questionable place they could find was best for the job they were currently on. 

“Yeah, this should do the trick,” Mavis agreed. 

“It looks cheap and pretty shady… Perfect,” said Pauline. 

“It really wouldn’t matter anyway,” said Mile. “Good enough!” 

The decision was unanimous. 

“Shady” had probably been a bit of an overstatement. Yes, the place was a bit dirty, but it wasn’t as though there were any criminal types coming in and out of the lobby. It was merely that the place was a bit crude compared to the Crimson Vow’s usual choices of lodging, which were inns that were tidy, seemed safe for a group of young girls, and were cozy, even if they were a little pricey. This inn was the sort of place that any normal group of travelers would lodge at for cheap, so there was really no issue here. 

“Welcome! Will you be staying the night?” 

At the counter sat a precious young boy of around seven or eight. Mile’s eyes flashed, and she was immediately drawn to him. 

In her previous life, Mile had always wanted a little brother. She wanted an older brother too, but that was a physical impossibility. Well, technically, if her parents had separated, and one of them got remarried to someone who already had kids, then perhaps she would have still had a shot, but there was no way that a couple who were as in love as those two were would ever grow apart, and she certainly was never going to say to them, “Hey, can you get divorced so that I can have a big brother?” 

Therefore, she had settled for wishing for a younger brother, but around the time she reached high school, she had given up on that dream as well. 

In fact, Mile’s true weakness was not cute little girls but cute little boys. Seeing how quickly she now perked up, the other three looked on wearily… 

“I swear, Mile!” 

When they entered their room afterward, the exasperated comments began immediately. 

“You can’t be so boy crazy! Have you no shame?!” 

“What will people think about us for being with you?!” 

“You do realize that with a boy that young, it’d be a crime…” 

Even Pauline and Mavis went in on the attack this time. 

“I-I-I-It’s not like that!!! I just love to dote on little boys…” 

“I… I can’t believe it… Mile, you really are—” 

“A pervert!” 

“A pervert…” 

“It’s not like thaaaaaaat!!!” 

“So…when are you going?” asked Reina. 

“Going where?” 

Mile did not catch Reina’s drift. 

“Honestly! Hurry up and go bring that kid up here!” the mage impatiently demanded. 

Mile looked to Mavis and Pauline to see two more hopeful faces staring her way. 

“Seriously, what is with you guuuuuuuuuys?!?!” 

Indeed, even more so than Mile, Reina, who was an only child; Pauline, who was nostalgic for the days when her brother was little; and Mavis, who was the youngest of her line, were all starved for the affections of an impressionable younger sibling. 

“And you all thought you had the right to criticize me?!” 

Of course, not even Mile had the courage to bring a boy up to their room. It was one thing for a girl, but four young ladies bringing a boy to their room was bad no matter how you looked at it… 

At dinner, the four continued to talk loudly about their plans for the following day. 

“So, tomorrow at the second morning bell, yes? We’ll head straight to Caldile and reevaluate our schedule once we arrive.” 

Reina’s voice carried easily, so the other guests and the employees of the inn were certain to hear them. By conveying their departure time and their destination so concisely, they made themselves easy prey for any spying bandits. It made ambushing them more efficient, which meant less wasted time. They were doing the brigands a great service. 

After they returned to their room, Mile snuggled into her bed, ignoring the lingering gazes coming her way from the others, who silently implored, “Are you sure you won’t go fetch him?” The rest of the party, lacking the courage to do anything about it themselves, gave up on the venture and went to bed as well. 

They had another four-day journey to prepare themselves for, after all, and this time they were carrying all their own gear, so the rest was all the more necessary. And so, the sounds of peaceful snores came quickly after that. 

*** 

“Okay, let’s head out!” 

“All right!!!” 

Apparently, the Crimson Vow had already given up on the whole “Yes, ma’am” business. When children went about pretending to talk like hunters, the adults usually went along with it. Thinking that their behavior would be interpreted in this manner, the members of the Crimson Vow opted to go with their usual reply rather than an unfamiliar, more conspicuous turn of phrase. 

“Let’s walk at a normal pace today,” Reina suggested, earning nods from the other three. 

This time, there was no telling when they might be set upon by hidden assailants, so except for Mile, who was playing the role of the young noblewoman, they were all equipped with their staves and swords. Besides some small canteens, the rest of their gear was stashed away in Mile’s storage. Now that they had revealed her ability publicly, it would be more unnatural for them not to be utilizing it. Thus, they could very easily move more quickly than normal hunters. However, that might put a hitch in any attackers’ plans. They had to proceed at the pace of any normal group of non-hunter ladies with a child in tow, just as the attackers would expect. 

Of course, there was also the possibility that rather than being ambushed, they would be tailed. The whole thing would be moot if they left their pursuers in the dust. 

“We should be seeing them soon,” Reina said, as the sun began to set. 

The only people who were attacked on leaving Zarbef were travelers, not townsfolk. This implied that the bandits were lurking within Zarbef, or at the very least, that they had informants who lived in the town. In order for them to relay information back and forth quickly, their stronghold could not be anywhere that far out—particularly not if they were actually town residents. 

The casualties that had occurred thus far had, furthermore, all happened at places one or two days’ walk from the town. If they attacked too close to town, it would be easy to hunt the bandits down, so that particular distance had certainly been taken into account, too. 

Well, speak of the devil, and he appears. Surely enough, not long after Reina spoke, five men appeared ahead of them from behind a rocky formation on the side of the highway. They all appeared to be in their thirties or forties, with decent-looking hair and garments. 

“I doubt they’ve set up shop right there. They probably go back and forth from the town.” 

“It does seem that way…” 

It was likely just as Reina and Pauline said. If they lived as far out as this, their hair and beards and clothing would all be in a bit more of a “bandit-y” state. It didn’t look like there was anywhere the men could wash up around here, after all. 

“There are three behind us, too,” Mavis announced. “Standard practice.” 

Indeed, another trio had suddenly appeared at their rear, drawing nearer with wicked grins upon their faces. 

“Stand back!” Mavis declared to the men. “If you should come any nearer, you will be considered brigands, and I, as the guard of this daughter of a noble household, shall deal with you accordingly! Should it come to that, I take no responsibility if you are injured or killed. And, if you should happen to survive, you will be apprehended and taken to the authorities, where you shall be handed over to the city guard as criminals by way of the Hunters’ Guild!” 

Naturally, such a threat was not enough to convince the bandits to stand down. This was nothing more than standard proceedings to create a situation where Mavis could fight them without holding back. This way, the men could not later backpedal and say that it was a “misunderstanding” or that their intentions had been misconstrued. 

“Heh heh heh,” chuckled one of the men, “better settle down there, little lady. There’s eight of us, and, from the looks of ya, only one of you’s gonna put up any kinda real fight. You can fight us all ya want, but all yer gonna do’s end up hurt.” 

“Very well,” she replied, “I will take that as confession of your banditry, your intent to do harm, and an official threat! Let the battle of justifiable self-defense begin!” 

“What?” 

The chief bandit was suddenly quite puzzled. Not only was their quarry not quaking in her boots, the young lady was now spewing off all sorts of phrases he had never even heard of, still cool and collected. 

The Crimson Vow swiftly moved into formation. Against the five bandits at the front were Mile and Pauline. Against the back three were Mavis and Reina. Pauline and Reina had their backs up against each other. 

“Oh? Dunno what you gals’re playin’ at here, but tell me, what exactly’s a little maiden like you gonna do against us empty-handed?” the leader asked with a sneer. 

“Hm?” said Mile. “Empty-handed? What are you talking about?” 

“Huh???” 

The bandits in front did a double take. Sure enough, this noble maiden, who had been empty-handed until just moments ago, now held a sword in her right hand. 

“Wh-when did she… That’s right! Storage!” 

That confirmed it: they were affiliated with someone in the Guild. There hadn’t been a chance to talk about Mile’s storage magic at the inn, and it would have clearly been unnatural to go out of their way to bring it up. It would have been incredibly hasty of the brigands to leap to the conclusion that a young noblewoman would have storage magic, a very rare thing. Usually one would think, “She must’ve been hiding that sword somewhere!” or something along those lines. 

“Heh! If little girls like you start playin’ at swords, all’s that’ll happen is yer gonna get hurt!” 

The leader’s words were directed at Mile, who stood in front of him, but behind her, Mavis, who was facing the rear group with her back turned to the man, suddenly flinched. 

“Little girls like you can practice with a blade all you want—it don’t mean nothin’! Why wouldja even bother?! If you just stayed at home playin’ princess like good little girls should, you wouldn’t be endin’ up in situations like this! Gyah ha!” 

Crack! 

“What did you say? What did you just say, you bastard…?” came a low voice. 

“She’s snapped!!!” the other three gasped. 

Yes, Mavis had well and truly snapped. 

“Heheh. Eheheh. Eheheheheheheh…” 

“Oh my god!!!” 

Mavis was laughing. The other three began to tremble. This was Mavis, who was always courteous and kind, considerate to a fault. Her will was so strong, no one could even imagine what would possibly ruffle her feathers. 

But of course, Mavis did get angry sometimes, just like anyone else. And what made her angriest was a personal insult, such as an attack on her family, her honor, or her tireless pursuit of her own dreams. 

Ka-chk. 

Reina and Pauline could not see it, but Mile, with her dynamic field of vision, noticed Mavis rotate the hilt of her sword in her hand. 

What is she doing? 

The utterly meaningless maneuver left Mile perplexed. 

And then, Mavis shouted, “Don’t worry! I’ll only strike you with the back of the sword!” 

“They’ll die!” Mile suddenly screamed out. “Mavis, you’ll kill them!!” 

A Japanese-style sword was one thing, but rotating a Western-style sword, with a cutting edge on both sides, was summarily pointless. Apparently, even in her haze of rage, Mavis still hoped to end the battle without a fatality. She had remembered a technique mentioned often in Mile’s Japanese folktales—the reverse-blade strike, which could be used to fell a foe without killing them. What she had forgotten, however, was that the katana used in these stories and the double-edged blade in her own hands were not the same thing. 

That said, even a single-blade katana, used in reverse, was still a metal rod, and being struck hard with such an instrument could result in broken bones, internal injuries, and if one was not careful, death… 

“Reina!” shouted Mile, “Please save those bandits!” 

“What the heck?!?!” 

Reina was thrown for a loop at this outrageous instruction, but in truth, she had already grasped the situation herself. She was prepared to kill without hesitation if she had to, but even she knew that a situation like this, where they had plenty of leeway, was not the time for that. 

“Ugh, guess I better…” she grumbled, quickly and quietly beginning an incantation. 

The three rear bandits, not hearing Reina’s incantation, and thinking Mavis and Mile’s conversation merely that of a pair of fanciful young ladies, paid them no mind, until… 

“Firebomb!” 

Ka-boom! 

As Reina’s spell went off, the three men were blown backwards. She had purposely aimed it away from them, so while they might end up a little singed and a little bruised, there would be no fatalities. 

Seeing that Mavis was displeased that her quarry had been driven away, Reina nodded to herself. “Protecting them by attacking them… This must be what Mile meant when she once said that, ‘The best defense is a strong offense…’” 

…No, Reina, that was not at all what the phrase meant. 

“Wh-wh-wh-wha…?” 

The men had assumed that, besides the swordswoman, these were all normal little girls, but suddenly here was a combat magic wielder—a fairly skilled one, at that. The boss found himself panicked at the realization that three of his men had just been blown away in an instant, but when he turned his fretful eyes to the young mage, he saw that she was not looking his way but walking slowly toward the three she had just attacked. Perhaps she was moving to finish them off so that she would not be attacked from behind while she was not looking. 

In any event, this gave the bandits the perfect opportunity to capture the other three while her back was turned, and take them hostage. If they could nab them all… 

There was a noble maiden who could use storage magic and a combat magic user—and both of them were young and pretty to boot. Even the well-endowed maid and the swordswoman would fetch a fair price on the black market. 

The men in the front faced the noble, the maid, and the swordswoman, who had now turned their way. Of the three of them, two appeared to be complete amateurs in combat. Those forces were up against five ruffians. Capturing the girls would be like taking candy from a baby. First, to strike down the swordswoman… 

Smack! Clatter! 

And so, the sword was struck down…the bandit leader’s sword. 

“Huh…?” 

He looked down, stunned, at his suddenly empty hands, then abruptly fled to the rear. 

“Get ’em!” 

She had closed the gap and struck down his sword before he could even react—this woman was dangerous! The leader suddenly valued his safety over the prospect of capturing Mavis unharmed. There were still three other girls, after all, and the swordswoman would probably fetch the least of the bunch anyway, so it was a small loss. 

At the leader’s command, two of the four remaining subordinates headed toward Mavis, while the other two went for Mile and Pauline, respectively. Even if Mavis was a sword wielder, she was still a young woman. Two of them should be more than enough to keep her in check. And, while she was down, all they would have to do was thrust their swords at the noble who employed her and the maid, and the fight would be finished—all before the mage girl could turn back their way. 

Smack! Smack! Thwump! Thwump! 

Indeed, the bout was over in an instant. Mavis struck each of the two men with the flat of her blade, in what could perhaps be called a “side-strike” style, knocking them down entirely. Apparently, she had cooled down a bit since her initial burst of anger, so Mile stood back and left her to it. Mavis, in her right mind, would never kill anyone senselessly. 

However, in that same moment, the remaining two men were still gunning for “the noble and the maid.” 

Gotcha! the leader thought, when suddenly, the head of the bandit who was facing the maid suddenly caught alight. 

“Gaaaaaaaaah!!!” 

The man cried out, dropping his sword and writhing, his hands clutching his head. The other man, however, had seized the noble maiden around the waist and now had a sword held to her throat. 

All right, that’s it! 

The leader was a little bit shocked to see that, somewhat improbably, the maid was a mage as well, but it was not as though people who could use at least enough magic to light small fires were rare. Now that they had the maiden as a hostage, this was little skin off of his back, anyway. 

A satisfied grin on his face, the leader began to issue a decree of surrender to the young women. 

“All right, ya little bastards! If y’all wanna see yer precious little mistress make it outta this alive, then…” 

Just then, the captured maiden gripped the blade at her throat with the thumb and forefinger of her left hand and casually bent it away. Crack. The blade snapped off with a soft pop, a few inches from the guard. 

“Huh?!” 

The bandit hurriedly moved to draw his back-up dagger when Mile gripped the wrist of his right hand tightly. 

“Owwwwwwww! Stop it! Lemme go! You’re gonna break iiiiiiiit!!” 

After twisting the arm that was wrapped around her away from her body, she casually landed a blow to his gut, and the man crumbled to the ground, unable to breathe. 

The mage, meanwhile, had been busy beating the other three men with her staff, incapacitating them with physical power instead of magic. Then, she began walking the boss’s way. 

The maid had a wide, dangerous grin upon her face. 

The noble maiden held her sword in her right hand, the thumb and pointer of her left hand opening and closing like a crab claw. 

And the golden-haired swordswoman, who still appeared unsatisfied, swiveled her sword in wide circles in one hand. 

“I surrender! I surrendeeeeeeerr!!” the leader shouted. 

“Aw…” the four girls sighed. 

“Wh-why do y’all sound so disappointeeeeeeeed?!?!” 

*** 

“Now then, you’re saying that this is only the second time you’ve ever attacked anyone?” 

“Y-yes’m! I swear it to the Goddess!” 

There were no gods or goddesses in this world, really, but their influence remained strong in the minds of individuals who did not know this. Accordingly, most soldiers, hunters, bandits, and anyone else whose lives depended on the whims of fortune were—in direct contrast to their speech and manners—actually quite devout. At the very least, praying to the divine gave them peace of mind free of charge, so there wasn’t any harm in their believing—it wasn’t even as though they needed to donate to any church. 

“What do you think?” asked Mavis. 

“Hmm,” Reina thought. “All their previous victims have either been killed or sold off to places, so we have no way of confirming either way. But, I mean, a bandit’s a bandit, and they’ll be sent off to the mines all the same. So, why don’t we just say it was these guys?” 

“Wait! Waaaaaaaaaait!!” the bandit leader frantically interrupted their exchange. 

The punishment mentioned was not, in fact, “all the same.” 

If a man had been a bandit his whole life, then he had likely committed the act around thirty times in his life before sentencing. As a result, he would probably be sentenced to hard labor, in the harshest environments possible, for the rest of his life. Of course, for better or for worse, that life would not be a very long one… 

However, if he had committed the act only once before, and the victims were not killed but only sold off, still alive and able to be rescued—and if the man was able to provide tips on the illicit slave trade, then he would be assigned to jobs with far fewer hardships with a potential term of only thirty or forty years. 

“It’s true! There’ve been so many bandit attacks lately that we figured if we just did it once or twice then it’d all be blamed on those guys! But you can’t pin everythin’ those guys did on our heads! I’m beggin’ ya!” 

Mavis was bewildered at the man’s excuse. “I can’t help but wonder if the other guys were thinking the same thing…” 

“No, but seriously! We’ve got an alibi! Most of the other attacks happened while we were on jobs or drinkin’ at the pub! Even if ya turn us in, it’s gonna be obvious there’s still plenty of other bandits out there. Plus, even after we’re captured, the attacks aren’t gonna stop, so folks are gonna figure it out real quick!” 

“I-I see. I guess you’re right…” 

She had no choice now but to accept his explanation. If they were to call the job finished here, and the attacks still continued afterward, they’d be in a bit of a pickle. Of course, they could truthfully say that they had captured some bandits, so the job would be counted as complete, but that was not a result that the members of the Crimson Vow themselves could be satisfied with. 

“Let’s continue!” said Mile, to nods all around. 

*** 

“I think this should just about do it,” Mile declared. 

The other three shrank back slightly but nodded. 

Before them were eight bandits buried up to their necks in the dirt. As usual, they had been bound entirely with fishing line and then buried into the ground, the dirt magically packed in around them. They were then gagged and blindfolded, and their ears were covered. Thankfully, Mile had at least had the forethought to leave them a bit of a gap around their chests so that they might be able to breathe. 

Before covering their ears, Mile had firmly warned them that if they should scream too loudly, their throats would dry out, and they would perish of thirst before the girls returned to collect them. Plus, if they made too much noise, beasts or monsters might hear them and come prowling. Also, as she had placed a wooden sign behind them, labeling them as bandits, they might be killed by any travelers who came upon them… And so, she posited, it was best that they kept quiet and saved their breath until the Crimson Vow returned. 

The men all nodded in agreement, their faces pale; as their mouths were already stopped up with the gags, they could not respond verbally. 

Just in case, she had also cut down some leafy tree branches, which she placed over their heads, and put up a barrier. Their voices and smells would be isolated, but air could still come through. Granted, as soon as Mile left, the barrier would dissipate, but it at least offered her momentary peace of mind. 

“Well then, shall we be going, Mistress?” 

“Indeed, let us proceed!” 

“…We’re still doing that?” 

“You’re the one who said we should…” 

And so the journey of the noble maiden and her servants continued. 

*** 

“End of the road, girls!” 

“Here we go!!!” the Crimson Vow chorused. 

(As per usual, Mile’s line of thought was a complete non-sequitur, as she was suddenly reminded of an old commercial for a brand of chocolate.) 

This time, four men had appeared in front of them. They looked back, but there were no men behind them. 

“Another miss?” asked Reina. 

“Looks like it…” said Mile. 

Indeed, it did seem like another miss. For as much as they had seen, it was difficult to believe that four bandits alone could have been responsible for all of the attacks that had happened up until now. It was equally difficult to believe that a larger party would not have surrounded them from behind. In other words… 

“All right there, ladies, give us all yer cash!” the bandits said, grinning. 

Hm…? 

The Crimson Vow found this peculiar. Normally, the standard procedure here would be to capture the girls and drag them back to their base and then rob them of all their possessions at the bandits’ leisure. There was no way they would let a group of pretty young girls, who would fetch a good price, slip out from under their noses, and if they intended to carry them off, then there was no reason to do something as futile as robbing them where they stood. Though bandits were not the brightest of the bunch, the men now before them appeared to be pros, so they had to know at least that much. 

Plus, all they were doing now was standing before the girls. They were not approaching, and they had left a wide gap. There was clearly something fishy going on here. 

“C’mon now,” said one of the men, “Give it up and do as you’re told.” 

However, he made no moves to do anything about it. It was almost as though… 

“Are they stalling?” Mile asked quietly. 

“I swear,” said Reina, “Why is it the wheels in your head only get turning at times like this?” 

“That’s Mile for you,” said Mavis. 

“It’d be nice if you could break that out all the time,” Pauline agreed. 

Apparently, the three of them had all come to the same conclusion as Mile had. 

The standoff had dragged on for around ten more seconds, when suddenly, there was a strange voice from behind. 

“Hold it! Hold it right there, you bandits!!!” 

The Crimson Vow turned to look, and saw four more men approaching quickly from behind them. These men appeared to be hunters. 

“Looks like we’ve got trouble,” said Reina. “If we let them steal our prey, it’s gonna make things more complicated. Mile, Mavis, handle this!” 

“On it!” the two acknowledged. 

They rushed forward, striking down the bandits in an instant. Naturally, they struck the men with the flats of their blades, just as they had with the bandits before. If they killed them, they wouldn’t be able to sell them off for a reward—and besides, it caused all other sorts of issues… Er, well, they did it because it was the humane thing to do. Probably. 

“Fiendish bandits! We, the Soaring Twin Dragons, shall… Uh?” 

When the hunters finally made it to the scene, they found four girls standing nonchalantly before them and four bandits writhing on the ground. 

“How…?” 

It should have been obvious what happened, but if no one said anything, it seemed as though the frozen hunters might never move again. So Reina offered an explanation to the stunned men. 

“I get the impression that you gentlemen were trying to save us. For that, you have my thanks. However, this sort of thing is barely notable for us. We’ll be fine so, please, feel free to carry on your way.” 

The four men were stunned silent, troubled looks upon their faces. 

“N-no, we couldn’t possibly do that! They might try to launch a counterstrike! We will escort the bandits from here!” 

“Are you trying to steal our quarry?!” shouted Pauline. “Or are you going to try and extort an escort fee out of us? You’ve just seen that we’re more than capable of handling these men, so we have no need for your assistance! We will transport these men, and we will turn them over to the Guild!” 

She could not forgive anyone who would try to muscle in on their hard-earned profits. There was no one who could bend the aspiring merchant’s iron will when it came to such matters. 

“Ngh… W-well in that case, to eliminate the danger, we should kill the bandits where they stand! C’mon!” 

At the instructions of the man who appeared to be the leader, all four of the hunters drew their swords, walking toward the bandits. They then thrust the points of their swords down violently at the men, who were still prone on the ground. 

Ka-clang! Clang, clang! 

“Huh…?” 

The four men were speechless. Though no normal hunter could have been expected to make it in time, two of the girls had deflected the men’s swords, leaving them to look on, once again awestruck. 

“What in the blazes do you think you’re doing laying a hand on our quarry like that?!” Pauline raged. “If you kill them, their price will go down!” 

“………” 

With Pauline already having done the shouting, the other three had nothing to add, though they were thinking to themselves how peculiar it was that these hunters would be so hasty in trying to muscle in on someone else’s prey. 

That’s suspicious… 

Indeed, it was highly suspicious. 

These hunters were malicious thugs if they would interfere with another hunter’s quarry unprompted. If the Guild caught onto such a thing, it could be ruinous for your reputation—you could lose your qualifications as a hunter, or, should worst come to worst, be sentenced to several years’ hard labor on top of that. Normally, the only sort of people who were driven to such acts were old men at the end of their wits, not young twenty-somethings like this party who still had long lives ahead of them. This was on top of the suspicious behavior of the bandits just before… 

Reina turned her back to the men and gave a quick glance to the others, moving only her eyes. It was one of the signals that the group had previously established. It meant, They might be enemies. Be on your guard. 

Seeing this, the other three moved their eyes quickly downward as surreptitiously as Reina had. Roger that, said their silent reply. It was subtle enough to avoid setting off alarm bells in an enemy’s mind. 

“What’re you all looking at? Hurry up and move along,” said Reina, but the men showed no signs of moving, and Mile and Mavis remained in place between the hunters and the fallen bandits. It was a natural stance to take as the men still had their drawn swords in hand. 

When the men realized that the two girls’ eyes were still upon their blades, they hesitated briefly. Then one of them put his sword away, and following his lead, the other three sheathed their weapons as well. 

Seriously, why were they hesitating?! the four girls thought. 

The bandits were all defeated and unconscious, so there was no need for these hunters to keep up their guard, weapons brandished. They could always draw their swords again if there was any sign of the enemies regaining consciousness. There was no way that anyone would be able to launch an immediate attack from a prone position on the ground. And yet, there they had stood, swords still in hand. 

It seems like they were trying to decide whether to attack us… 

Reina’s train of thought was indeed not unfounded. However, though it seemed that whatever they had initially intended to do had not panned out, the men did not seem prepared to continue to force the matter. Of course, doing so would reveal them as bandits rather than the hunters they had presented themselves as since arriving on the scene. 

“A-anyway, we’ll go ahead and transport those bandits. It’s still quite a ways to Caldile, and for four greenhorns like you to have to transport bandits that far alone would be…” 

“Oh? Still on about that, are you? Awfully rude of you… The ‘Soaring Twin Dragons,’ was it? If you’re going to continue to threaten to interfere with our hunt, we’ll be reporting your attempted poaching to the Guild!” 

“Er…” 

That would be rather inconvenient for the men. It would be one thing if they had participated in the battle, but for them to show up after the fact and try to meddle… If they were hunters, they would face punishment for the crime of poaching prey, but civilians would be treated as plain old bandits. 

“Plus, why in the world would you take those men all the way to Caldile? As you implied, it’s still some days away. There’s nothing but tiny villages in between here and there, with nowhere to turn them in. Wouldn’t it make more sense to take them back to Zarbef, which is only a day’s travel from here?” 

“Er…” 

For the last minute or so, the men had only been able to stammer wordlessly. Surely, they were thinking that, on a journey that took days, with several nights of camping, there were plenty of chances for them to claim, “They slipped away when we weren’t looking.” Of course, there was no way that the Crimson Vow would have agreed to traveling along with them in the first place—not as companions, anyway. 

As captive prey, however, that was another matter… 

While Reina was speaking with the men, Mile had busied herself binding the bandits. As always, in her practiced style, she used her thin and sturdy fishing line. Mavis was holding herself in a battle-ready stance, her blade ready to be drawn at any moment, and Pauline held a spell ready to fire, both prepared for an enemy strike at any moment—the enemies being not the bandits but the suspicious hunters, of course. 

Mile then withdrew some smelling salts from her inventory, pretending to produce them from a pocket, and held them under the bandit leader’s nose to rouse him. She had prepared an ammonia-like medicine, in case of just such an occasion. 

“Uh… Ugh…” 

The leader awoke, groaning. 

“Wh-where am I…?” 

“You’re on the highway, where we just captured you and the rest of your bandit group. We’re very grateful to you lot—you’re going to make us a lot of money and then work in service of the country doing hard labor for the rest of your life.” 

“Wha…?” The man slowly processed Mile’s words, seemingly still in a daze. “Wait! Wait just a minute! We ain’t bandits! We were just asked to…” 

Suddenly, the man noticed the four hunters and shut his mouth. 

“What sore losers you all are. You can’t try and tell me that after you were clearly performing bandit-like acts. You’re just lucky we didn’t go ahead and kill you right off the bat, like these hunters over here urged us to do.” 

The hunters, to whom Mile gestured, suddenly began to go pale. And so, of course, did the bandit leader. 

“Wh-wh-wh-wh-what did you say?!” he screamed in disbelief. “Y-you backstabbers!” 

Just as planned. Mile spoke again, to be doubly sure. 

“Just before, while you were unconscious, those men tried to stab you right through, but luckily we stopped them! My, that sure was risky! We stopped them, like, just in the nick of time—for real!” 

“Y-you bastards…” 

The hunters unconsciously retreated a few steps as the leader glared daggers at them. 

“Well, it seems there’s been some kind of setup here,” said Mile. “As it stands, I guess you’ll all be facing a nice long life in the mines. Still, is there anything you’d like to say in your defense? We’ll listen.” 

Faced with the prospect of a life of hard labor, the leader’s lips suddenly loosened. 

“We aren’t bandits! We’re just humble woodcutters! Those men there hired us on. They told us, ‘There’s a group of defenseless and stupid young girls trying to leave town without hiring an escort, so we need you to intimidate them into hiring someone. It’s an act of mercy.’ It seemed like all they really wanted to do was promote themselves for the job, but we figured that, being that there really have been bandits around, it was in your ladies’ best interest. Plus, we were gettin’ paid for it, so it should’ve been a win for everyone involved… They told us that the only one in yer group with any kind of battle sense was an apprentice knight—they never said anything about y’all having the skill to defeat us all in the blink of an eye!” 

The hunters fell silent as he stared them down. 

“Is all that true?” asked Mile. “If it is, and there’s really no evidence that you were attempting to act as bandits—and furthermore, that you were merely trying to do a job out of goodwill, with no ill intent—then this will probably just end with these men here getting a good scolding from the authorities… Assuming we don’t press charges, that is. However, if you’re lying to me, you’ll end up in the mines for the rest of your life. So, give it to me straight: is all that true, every word?” 

Hearing Mile’s speech, the hunters now saw that they had a chance of being pardoned for their charges of banditry, and their eyes glistened hopefully. The man who seemed like the leader began to frantically offer his petition. 

“I-It’s true! You all said that you were going to be traveling on a road where bandits had been appearing without hiring an escort, so we wanted to persuade you to hiring someone for your own safety! I’m not lying, I swear to you!” 

In fact, the man probably was telling the truth. Even if they intended something sly like ripping the girls off by charging a higher rate for an emergency on-site job or trying to get them to tack on some additional services later—or even if they thought they might try and persuade Mile and her storage magic into their party if possible—none of that would directly contradict the appeal that the men had made. If all they truly intended from the outset was to intimidate the girls into hiring an escort, not actually steal from them, then the offense was mild enough as to not break Guild regulations or bring criminal charges. 

Of course, pretending to be bandits in order to intimidate the girls was still a bit out of line, but they probably assumed that so long as they were not discovered as accomplices while doing their “gallant rescuers” act, then they would be fine. 

“Deceiving you girls as we did was unforgivable, of course, but we were prepared to get our hands dirty if it was for your safety. We thought that the ends justified the means and that the Goddess would forgive us. You all would agree, wouldn’t you?” prattled the leader, looking self-satisfied. 

“Hmm, I suppose you might be right. That’s not an unnatural course of action to take, if you were worried about us… Very well. We will put in a good word for the men who were playing the bandit role so that hopefully they’ll be dealt with more leniently.” 

“Thank you so much. You’re really helping us out of a tight spot here. Now, we’ll all travel back to Zarbef with the woodcutters, and there we’ll go our separate ways…” 

“Hm? What are you talking about?” Mile asked suspiciously. “The woodcutters were simply pawns in this scheme, but we’re still taking you in as criminals and handing you over to the authorities via the Guild.” 

“Huh? I mean, I know it was rotten of us to deceive you, but you do understand that we did it from a place of good will, right? Plus, we never intimidated you or raised a sword against you ourselves—we acted as your allies from the very beginning. If you’ve already forgiven us for lying, then what’s the problem here?” the leader petitioned frantically. 

Mile casually replied, “Yes, well, that is indeed true in regards to your actions toward us, but you did try to murder those woodcutters to silence them, even knowing that they were not actually bandits, but in fact people that you yourselves had hired to complete a job. The way you were thrusting those swords, if Mavis and I hadn’t stopped you, you really would have struck and killed those men. In other words, you attempted murder. Anyway, trying to kill someone you hired just to save your own skins is an incredibly malicious act in and of itself… A felony, in fact.” 

“Ah…” 

The hunters swiftly saw their error, but it was too late to make amends now. 

“You all do appear to be hunters, so I’m sure you’ll be receiving punishment from both the Guild and the town guard. Now then, if you’ll just keep calm, and…” 

“Now!” cried the leader. 

“Okay!” replied the other three. 

And with that, they all drew their swords. 

At this rate, after all that they had done, the best they could hope for was merely to have their reputations ruined. They might be stripped of their qualifications as hunters, likely sentenced to serve ten or twenty years in hard labor as penance for their actions. The way things had turned out for them, they would have been better off turning to banditry for real, capturing the girls, and selling them off to another country. Not only were the four of them an attractive set, that set included a young noble maiden who had storage magic of a ridiculously high capacity. They would be certain to fetch an immense price on the black market. 

Besides, the hunters could count on their friends, the idiotic woodcutters, to take all the blame. If they killed the men and buried them here, people would assume that they had taken to banditry, kidnapped the girls, and fled the country with them. That would be that. It was possible that the woodcutters might not even be tied to the crime, and the whole thing could be passed off as the work of normal bandits. 

All these assumptions made, the hunters now brandished their blades for the sake of their lives and their livelihoods. 

“Ah… There’s the chink in the armor,” Pauline said, brandishing her staff with a sinister grin. “When you all tried to plunge your swords into those men, your movements were far too swift, too coordinated. And here again now, when you drew your swords, not one of you hesitated for even a moment. Normally, among a group of four, there would be at least one or two who would hesitate to murder a group of mock bandits who they themselves had hired or balk at the idea of turning their swords on a group of innocent young ladies who were not even hunters. And yet, none of you even batted an eye… This isn’t the first time that you all have attacked civilians, is it?” 

“Sh-shut up! What the hell are you implying?! Whatever. It’s not like any of this changes how things are gonna end up for you all! And here we thought you’d be good little girls and hire us on, but I guess you’re too stupid for that. We thought we might be able to get Little Miss Storage there to join our group, but it looks like we’re gonna have to just sell her off somewhere now. A bit of a shame there, but I guess we’ve got no choice…” 

They probably intended Mile’s ‘recruitment’ into the group to be compulsory. There was no other way that they could have managed to bring a girl of noble birth into their party. Of course, what they had intended to do with the other three was anyone’s guess… 

Apparently, these men were even more malicious than the Crimson Vow had initially supposed. 

“Well, I guess that’s how it’s going to be, then. Miley, Mavis, if you would.” 

“On it!” 

The men seemed not to have been paying very close attention to what had happened when the girls struck down the woodcutters. They were still a short distance away at the time, and Mile and Mavis had moved too quickly to track. Therefore, all they knew was that the woodcutters had been defeated—a fact that, in and of itself, was not particularly surprising. They may have been pretending to be brigands, but they were still just woodcutters, total amateurs in battle. Even if she were still at an apprentice level, it was clear that a trained knight would have no trouble defeating a group like them. Of course, they had also assumed that the young lady had been hired on as a ward against attacks and that an apprentice knight would not deign to challenge four bandits all alone, of her own accord. Besides, they never thought that the woodcutters would actually try to attack or harm the girls on their own. 

Finally, the men had assumed that they should be able to maintain eye contact with the woodcutters for the scant seconds that it would take them to come running, so there was no worry of the plan going askew. They never suspected that the knight would challenge an enemy four times her own number without waiting for the rescue that was already on its way. 

At any rate, they had still evaluated that the only enemy worth considering was the apprentice knight, not taking into account either the noble with the sword in her hand or the staff-wielding child and maid. Surely, as C-rank hunters, they would be stronger than the knight, and there were four of them to boot. So really, why should they have worried? 

“Mavis, Mile, finish them!” Reina commanded. 

“Okay!” 

“On it!” 

The command that she had just unleashed was very much like that which might be issued by one of the figures that appeared in Mile’s Japanese folktales, such as Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward, or Freiza, or Doronjo. It was a phrase that they had heard so often that by this point it had been drilled into the other girls’ heads. Following that command, Mile and Mavis drew their swords. 

Cling clang! Smack! Smack! 

The sounds of clanging metal rang out in concurrent sets of two, and suddenly the four hunters collapsed to the ground. Naturally, they had been struck with the sides of the girls’ blades, so their lives were not in danger. 

With some rare exceptions, Western-style swords were a lot sturdier than swords of Japanese make, so even if they were used in an unorthodox manner such as this one, there was little chance of them breaking—particularly if they were enhanced by nanomachines, such as these were. 

“All righty! Time to go ahead and bury them,” said Reina. 

The other three nodded. 

*** 

“It’s just one false lead after another…” Mavis grumbled. 

“Well, to be fair, if we ran into those guys after we’d dealt with the real ones, it would be a problem for our reputation. People would doubt whether we really had handled the problem, y’know? So really, it’s better that we tie up all the loose ends beforehand,” said Reina. 

Mile and Pauline nodded in agreement. If there were two groups of bandits, and they dealt with one group while the other was still active, people would most certainly doubt their capabilities. Did they actually exterminate those first bandits? other hunters would wonder. Did the bandits actually let some innocent people get captured in their stead? And so on and so forth. 

As they had initially planned, the girls continued on toward the town of Caldile, leaving the second group of offenders trapped in dirt, just as the first group had been. 

The woodcutters were buried alongside the hunters. They still needed to be handed over to the authorities for a scolding, and even if the girls were to ask their names, the men could give them false identities. This was the natural course of action. Of course, the woodcutters had already given their side of the story, but as far as legal proceedings were concerned, at the moment they were still as good as bandits, and their claims were the protests of criminals. It was not out of the question to deal with them accordingly. 

Plus, even if the Vow would testify as to the extenuating circumstances involved, it was not up to them to decide on anyone’s punishment. The men were not hunters, so while they would not receive any penalties from the Guild, the town guards would sentence them, and as such, their punishment had nothing to do with the Crimson Vow. 

That said, the Vow had at least covered their victims’ heads with a metal cage this time, so that they would not be killed by beasts. Naturally, a barrier spell had been furnished as well. That would be enough to keep them safe for at least a little while. 

After the girls had been walking for about ten minutes… 

“Halt!” 

A man who appeared to be a traveler had been resting atop a boulder on the side of the highway. Suddenly, he stood and held up his hand, and a crowd of vulgar-looking men appeared from around the bend behind him. 

The fish were really biting today. Must have been some pretty tasty bait… 

“Well now, here comes another one…” said Mavis. 

A Pnumekin? 

As always, Mile’s mind conjured up a reference that no one else could possibly hope to understand. 

They look back to see a number of men piling up behind them also. There were ten-odd men in front and five or six behind. These numbers were roughly comparable to what they had guessed, based on the reports of the attacks so far. 

“Looks like these guys are the real deal,” said Reina, and the other three nodded. It was highly unlikely that multiple bandit squads of this number would all be launching attacks in the same place. 

It was quite fortunate that they would be able to wrap this up on the very first day—fortunate for all the buried men, that was. If they weren’t dug up soon, they might just take root and start to grow. Or start rotting away. Well, first an eye might sprout up and then some teeth would grow, the nose would blossom, and then… Mile suddenly realized that Reina had made a joke along very similar lines some time ago, back when Mile had gone to investigate the fallen golem. It would be one thing if she were doing a parody or an homage or respectful nod, but Mile would not tolerate herself stealing someone’s thunder with wholesale plagiarism. 

We should probably get back and retrieve them before worms start crawling out of those blossoming noses, anyway… 

Unfortunately for the men, Mile, in all of her genius, had neglected to consider what effects their imprisonment would have on their physiology… 

“Insolent whelps! You must be well and truly addled!” Finally back in the moment, Mile spewed out a speech fit for one of her folktales. “Have you any idea what greatness stands before you?!” 

At her words, Reina and Mavis were spewing internally. Some two-bit daughter of a poor noble household could hardly refer to herself as a thing of “greatness.” If she were a princess, it would be another matter, but a princess she was not. Luckily, this was all a part of Mile’s plan to determine just how much information the bandits had about them. 

“Tch, some low-class nothing like you, great?! Don’t make me laugh! If yer travelin’ around without even so much as a guard then I bet your family don’t care anythin’ for you, storage or no, little Missy. We’ve got a much better place ready for you!” 

Mile was frozen in place, mouth half-ajar at how utterly simple her own intelligence-gathering had been and how comprehensive the information was. Just like that, they could confirm that the men were aware of everything that they had said back in the guildhall. The other three grimaced. 

There was no need for the Crimson Vow to investigate the method by which the men had come by the information. That was something for the bandits to give up on their own once they had been captured, and extracting that information was a job for the Guild and the guards. All the Vow had to do here was to apprehend them. Ascertaining the source of the leak would be nothing more than a bonus service, a way to safeguard themselves for the future by learning where any remaining forces might lurk. Thus, the only choice here was to take out every last one of them. 

“Now then, shall we?” 

“Yeah!!!” 

“Now now, little ladies,” said one of the bandits, “ain’t no point in resisting here. Just be good and surrender. We won’t do anything bad to ya. We won’t hurt or kill ya. In fact, we’re gonna send you ladies off to some folks who’ll take nice, good care of ya.” 

“That’s plenty bad enough!!!” the Vow chorused in reply. 

Mile folded her arms and nodded in approval at their beautifully coordinated rebuttal. The fruits of conditioning the others with her Japanese folktales were finally starting to ripen. 

“Enough of yer grousin’, just hurry up and…” 

“Firebomb!” 

Ka-boom! 

“GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!” 

“Ice Storm!!!” 

Blamcrackleshinkshunkbambambam! 

“WAH! GYEH! GWAAH!!!” 

Reina’s explosive fire crashed into the bandits from the front while Pauline’s ice attack showered the men from behind. While Pauline’s favored area attack was the “Hot” spell, it was not the only trick up her sleeve. She could use water, wind, and fire magic to various degrees; it simply happened that, unlike Reina, she was better at water magic than fire. Furthermore, this time they were not on their home turf, and she was using her spell against a number of people who were going to be questioned later, so it was more prudent to put aside her unique spell in favor of more standard ice and wind magic. 

Numerous fist-sized balls of ice were whipped up into a maelstrom on magical winds. In this pattern, the ice would not pelt the men once, but again and again until the ice melted, or the magic stopped… Even if the ice were to break on impact, meaning that damage from each individual hit might decrease, the chunks of ice that would hit the bandits would then be twice as many. 

Next, Mile and Mavis rushed in. Mile went to the front, while Mavis took the rear. Reina had limited her attack on the men at the front to a power level at which they would not be killed or injured seriously enough as to lose any limbs, and so, only about a third of them were unable to fight. The other two-thirds were in various conditions: some unhurt, some limping, and some with their arms dangling numbly. 

It was highly unlikely that any bandit crew would include mages who were skilled enough to use their magic in battle, so for this group to pit themselves against the Crimson Vow, who had three mages in their group, was reckless. Well, really, even if the bandits had ten mages, their efforts would have been equally futile… 

Meanwhile, the men at the back were still standing, but they were all equally bedraggled. Pauline’s ice had effectively engulfed everyone standing within its radius. Thanks to this, all of the men’s battle capabilities had been significantly compromised—though, honestly, this made little difference to Mavis and her True Godspeed Blade. A normal C-rank hunter could handle perhaps two bandits, but Mavis could take down five or six bandits in top form as easily as swatting a fly. By nature, bandits tended to favor an indolent, carefree life. Lacking the diligence to become a soldier, the sincerity and patience to become a merchant or artisan, and the skill to become a hunter, they were typically negligent in both effort and training. 

After all, if they were actually strong, they would have at least become hunters, not bandits. The bar to enter the Hunters’ Guild was incredibly low. 

And so, the battle—or rather, the one-sided massacre—was over in the blink of an eye. All it had taken was a few strikes from the sides of Mile and Mavis’s blades to strike the men down. After the opening blows, Reina and Pauline’s job was done. Then all they had to do was sit back and watch. 

Of course, Reina was still holding an attack spell, and Pauline a healing one, just in case. The healing spell was for the bandits, in case Mile or Mavis “accidentally, unintentionally” overdid it. And yet, the confrontation was over, and the bandits were successfully apprehended without the opportunity for Pauline to use her healing magic ever arising. 

This time, Mile bound the men not with fishing line but with normal rope. There were a lot of them, and she got the feeling that they might resist being forced to migrate, so she was worried that if they struggled too hard within the fishing line, their fingers or even their heads might pop right off. 

They’d fall like ripened fruit. That’s so grooooooooosss!!! 

Mile was truly a girl of many worries. 

Soon it would start growing dark, but they could not make camp now. Still, there was no way that they could make it back to Zarbef tonight, especially given the matter of the men entombed along the way. Naturally, Mile had no intention of making them spend the night like that. She didn’t mind if they ended up a bit perturbed over the experience, but it would leave a bad taste in her mouth if they were attacked and killed by wild animals, and it would be creepy if worms started crawling from them…They would probably smell pretty bad, too. 

Therefore, Mile proposed that they at least get back to the spots where she had buried the men, a proposal to which everyone agreed. After Mile applied her smelling salts, Mavis used a judo-like resuscitation technique, and Pauline and Reina kicked them in the sides repeatedly, all the unconscious men finally awakened. The men who had not passed out looked on, their faces drawn. 

“Now then, let’s get moving! Hurry up and follow me!” Mile said, pulling the rope holding the bandits behind her. However, the bandits did not seem particularly interested in complying with her instructions. 

Of course, this was no surprise. When they arrived in town, what awaited them was a lifetime of servitude, probably in the harshest locations possible. It was only to be expected that they would waste the girls’ time by grousing, hoping to invite negligence or give them time to launch a counterattack and escape. No matter how strong these girls might be, they were still just four little girls. Even with their hands tied, if the men rushed them all at once at a short enough range as not to grant their captors time to incant a spell or draw a sword, or if they pulled the ropes free from the girls and ran in different directions all at once, there was still a chance that they might be able to do something. Their feet were not tied, after all. 

Thinking this, the bandits made the unilateral decision not to walk. However… 

Drag. 

“Huh?” 

Drag drag drag… 

“Whaaaaaaaaat?!?!” 

The bandits suddenly found themselves being dragged along the ground by the rope in Mile’s hand. 

“Oww! That huuuuuurts!!” 

Even if the road was not paved with asphalt, the packed dirt still had rocky portions, pebbles scattered here and there. It was a bit like getting dragged along a cheese grater. Straight away the bandits found themselves scraped and bleeding. 

“Wait! We’ll stand up! Please just wait!” 

The bandit’s sudden fearful cry came less from a place of being shocked at the superhuman strength Mile must possess to drag all of them on her own and more at being unable to bear the pain of being dragged violently across the ground. 

Still, there was no use in showing kindness to thugs like this. Even after standing, they did not seem particularly inclined to walk, so Reina hurled a firebomb beside them. 

“Gah!” 

“Wh-what’re you tryin’ to do?!” 

It had been a small firebomb, using the bare minimum of her power, but if it had hit the men head-on it would not have been pretty. They would not have died, but losing a limb or two would have been unavoidable. 

The first bomb had struck into the ground about a meter from the bandits, but then there came a second at 60 centimeters’ distance, then 30, inching closer and closer by degrees. And the fourth would… 

Frantically, the bandits began to walk. 

Still, given that it did not appear they would be camping for the night, the men were probably already scheming, planning what they would do during their march the next day when they were nearer to town. If they dragged their feet enough, they might not make it to town the next day, either… 

Realizing this, a look of utter boredom spread across the Crimson Vow’s faces. 

No matter how skilled they might be at battle, there was no avoiding menial tasks such as this one. 

*** 

“Huh, there’s two riders coming up, moving at high speed. Let’s clear the road!” Mile announced. 

For once, she had learned this not with her surveillance magic but with her own two eyes. They pulled the roped bandits to the side of the road to open up the path. 

“Oh hey, those guys are probably heading toward Zarbef, too! Why don’t we ask them to forward a message to the Guild? They’ll probably be making camp soon, but they’ll still arrive in town well before we do tomorrow. If we play our cards right, we might even be able to get the Guild to send out reinforcements…” 

“Hm, I wonder…” said Mavis. “They seem like they’re in a hurry. If they’re knights or high-speed couriers or something like that, they’ll probably just ignore us…” 

“Still,” said Pauline, “no point in giving up from the start. Never hurts to ask.” 

“Seriously though,” chimed Reina, “we have no idea if they’ll even stop for us to begin with, so let’s not hem and haw over it now. It’s not like we can block the road and force them to stop, anyway.” 

The girls all fretted, waiting to see if the riders would even stop to speak with them. The two riders approached and then halted as they reached the girls and the bandits, before they even had a chance to pass them by. 

“Just who are you lot?!” shouted one of the men. 

Judging by their dress, the riders were not knights or couriers but hunters. 

Mile casually replied, “Oh, we’re just travelers. We captured some bandits who attacked us, so we were planning on taking them back to Zarbef in the morning. We were hoping that, if you all are going to Zarbef, if you would put in a request for the Hunters’ Guild to send out some reinforcements…?” 

“Hm…?” 

The riders appeared perplexed. There were seventeen or eighteen men attached to the ropes and four young women, two of whom still appeared to be underage. The riders were frozen in place, eyes wide and jaws slack, as they took in the whole scene. 

When the men finally recovered, the members of the Crimson Vow were able to speak with them and learned that the two men were the advance scouts for a party of hunters who had taken a job escorting a merchant caravan, riding ahead to make sure that there were no enemies lying in wait. Naturally, it was prudent of them to come and investigate the group of around twenty people who had been spotted not far ahead of their party. 

If they saw anything suspicious, they were to turn around just before they reached them and go back to tell the others, but as this did not appear to be a bandit ambush in the making, they had approached, ready to turn around and ride back at any time, if necessary. 

If possible, the merchants were hoping to reach Zarbef tomorrow while it was still light, so they intended to travel a bit farther tonight, even after sunset, to cover a little more distance and save time the next day. Traveling through the woods in the dark was its own matter, but traveling along the highway in the dark was no big deal, really. Of course, they still could not push it too far, as traveling in the pitch-black raised the risk of the horses slipping and hurting their legs. 

After the Crimson Vow explained the situation, the riders were surprised, but they agreed to the party’s request before riding back to the rest of their troop. 

“Don’t you think they bought that a little too easily?” asked Mile as the men rode away. “If we were allied with the bandits, we could just wait until the merchants showed up and suddenly have the bandits slip out of their ropes, drawing concealed swords or something. They didn’t even consider that…” 

“Don’t be a dummy. If we were trying to deceive them, do you really think we’d tell them some tall tale about four civilian girls capturing nearly twenty bandits all on our own?” replied Reina, shooting Mile down. “If we wanted to deceive them, we’d have to tell them a bit of a better lie than that. This isn’t one of your Japanese folktales, after all…” 

A short while later, the mid-sized merchant caravan finally arrived from behind them. There were twelve wagons with two riders on horseback at the front and back. Naturally, they could be expected to have ten or more other guards, at the very least, within the wagons themselves. 

The caravan caught up with the girls and then stopped. A man who appeared to be a merchant, along with an elderly hunter, disembarked from a wagon that was near the center of the lineup. Judging by the circumstances, these two appeared to be the representative of the merchants and the leader of the guards. 

“Greetings,” said the merchant-looking man, “I am Cerivos, representative of this caravan. On behalf of everyone, I extend to you our deepest thanks for capturing these bandits, the most dire enemies to our trade… That said…” 

Cerivos looked over the bound bandits, clearly stunned at the circumstances. 

“Honestly, I can’t even believe my own eyes…” 

His surprise was to be expected. The other guards, descending from their wagons, were similarly wide-eyed and paralyzed with shock. If ordinary girls like these could wipe out a group of bandits all on their own, then what place did guards like them have in the world? 

Still, there was little chance of this caravan, with its four guards on horseback and ten or more riding in the wagons, being attacked by some bandit army of four-score men; such groups scarcely existed in the first place. There were rarely targets that would fetch that much of a profit this far from the capital, on the roads near some backwater town, and such activity would warrant the attention of the local lord—or even the Crown, if the bandits were particularly unlucky. 

Therefore, given that there was such a small chance of this particular caravan getting into any scuffles with bandits to begin with, the thanks that Cerivos offered was not on the behalf of their group specifically but on the behalf of merchants as a whole. 

“It seems like a huge bother to transport all these men with just you four—and dangerous, to boot. We would like to do everything that we can to help. We’ll camp the night here with you,” Cerivos proposed. 

“Oh, thank you so much!” Mile happily replied. “This is a huge help! We do need to travel just a little bit farther before we make camp, though…” 

From the get-go, Cerivos had already intended to travel a bit farther before nightfall, so he had no objections. And so, with the bandits lashed by their necks to the wagons, forcing them to walk at the wagons’ pace lest they be strangled, in the “Pauline bandit-transporting style,” the newly formed party proceeded down the road. 

*** 

“………” 

The merchants watched, eyes filled with dread, as the Crimson Vow magically excavated first the second group of attackers, the mock bandits, and then the first group, the newbie bandits, from their dirt prisons. Cerivos and the three merchants, twelve drivers, and sixteen guards (including the two original riders) all stood, wide-eyed and wordless, at these scenes. 

To leave someone not only buried in the dirt up to their neck but with the dirt around them magically packed in, leaving them utterly defenseless to the wilds in the middle of the forest on the side of the highway, was a hellish act, the horror of which was beyond the pale of the imagination. What if wild beasts or monsters found them? What if they were left there and help never arrived? It was too frightening to think about. 

Plus, even if the men were found, who knew how much time it would take to safely excavate the magically packed dirt? It was highly unlikely that any traveler who chanced to pass by would just so happen to be carrying a hoe or a pickaxe. More than likely they would simply give up, saying, “I’ll inform the Guild when I reach the next town!” and run away as fast as they could. 

And of course, even in that scenario, the men did have signs beside them proclaiming, “These guys are bandits,” so their prospects were rather dim. 

The biggest problem here—though, of course, it was not really a problem per se—was the fact that the immensely strong individuals, who had captured three separate groups of bandits without so much as a scratch, were four little girls who appeared to be nothing more than average civilians. 

“The meat’s ready! The soup is done, too!” 

The noble girl had produced everything from ingredients to cookware to tableware, all from her storage. 

Her maid had not only used magic, the likes of which they had never seen before, to cleanse and purify the clothing and bodies of the bandits who had soiled themselves, but she had also healed one of the drivers’ wounds instantaneously when they stopped to repair a wagon wheel. 

The apprentice knight had prepared the kindling for their bonfire in the blink of an eye, not by gathering it—oh no, but by chopping a fallen tree into logs with her own blade. Normally, swords capable of performing such a feat were not forged, and even if they were, no mortal who possessed the power and skill to complete the task existed. Or rather, they should not have existed. 

At least, the redhead who had lit the fire felt normal. In this, the caravan group found their one, sole comfort. 

It was better that they were unaware of the truth. What they didn’t know couldn’t hurt them… 

*** 

“Breakfast is ready!” 

The next morning, Mile furnished breakfast for the caravan, just as she had with dinner the night before, a meal that had been sumptuous, full of fresh meat and vegetables. They had only just departed Zarbef the previous morning, so it was believable that they would still have fresh ingredients in storage and equally feasible that if they were turning back toward town anyway, that they would rather use these ingredients up before they went back. However, the amount that the girl had stored was, in and of itself, still flabbergasting. 

The four merchants, including Cerivos, looked at Mile with an envious gaze. The hunters, who had seen her pull out an entire orc the night before, had their eyes peeled also. 

Once they had finished breakfast, Mile raised a request to Cerivos. She wished for him to send one of the riders ahead to the Guild, carrying a letter she had penned the night before. 

“Of course!” he replied. “Leave it to us!” 

The thought that Mile and the others might be plotting something did not cross the man’s mind once. Having just one fewer guard present out of over a dozen made little difference to their defense. With the fighting force they currently had among them, it would take many scores of bandits to bring them down. 

The captured bandits’ physical states and the ropes that bound them had been double-checked when securing them to the wagons. The almost fanatic way in which they had been bound was not something they would be able to worm their way out of anytime soon. 

Plus, there was no reason that a group like these girls, with their excessive storage, healing magic, and swordsmanship, would ever have to turn to a life of crime just for money. Cerivos would stake ten gold on that. 

At some point, shortly after noon, a number of riders on horseback appeared from the road ahead, stopping just before the caravan. 

“I am the guild master of the Hunters’ Guild of Zarbef!” 

It was obvious that if one requested assistance from the Hunters’ Guild on such matters, one would generally receive it. What was more surprising, however, was that the guild master himself had arrived on the scene. 

The guarding hunters and the merchants relaxed, and the caravan halted. The newly arrived riders approached, all of them climbing down from their horses in front of the Vow, who were still on foot. 

“I presume you all are the ones who sent this letter? Well, judging by what I can see here, it’s pretty clear you weren’t deceiving us…” said the guild master, looking warily over the leashed bandits. 

Though the girls had never seen this particular guild master before, as usual, he was an older man, middle-aged, perhaps approaching elderly. After all, it normally took about that long to acquire the skills and knowledge that such a position required. It wasn’t a job that any young whippersnapper fresh out of D-rank could do. 

“So, there are three bandit groups here,” Mavis explained in her capacity as leader. “One is the real group, and the other two are just small fry. Please see to it that the arrangements are as we wrote.” 

“Sure thing,” said the guild master with a nod. “Good work here. You can leave the rest to us.” 

Of course, the wagons that would transport the bandits moved slowly. Until they could all be assembled on site, the group would have to continue the way they were for a little while longer. After speaking with the merchants briefly, the guild master, two of the men who had accompanied him, the chief of the real bandits, and two of his subordinates, all clambered into the first wagon. The guards who were riding in that wagon climbed out, and three of them took up the horses that the guild master’s crew had rode in on. 

The reason for this soon became obvious, as a short while after the caravan began moving again, there rang a bloodcurdling scream from within the first wagon. However, none of the rest of the party paid it any mind… At least, none of the merchants’ group or the men who arrived with the guild master. 

Yes, the only ones who showed any distress were the other bandits and the members of the Crimson Vow. 

Sometime after that, they rendezvoused with the transport wagons. After seeing that all of the bandits were loaded in and issuing a strict gag order to the merchants, the guild master left the transport to his subordinates and started his own ride back to Zarbef. 

*** 

“We shall now begin the official inquiry regarding the bandit activities occurring in the vicinity of the town of Zarbef.” 

It was three days later, in the manor of the lord who governed the territory in which Zarbef was situated. Within the grand hall, which usually housed balls and parties, something akin to a trial was now taking place. It would be a great bother to examine each of the three bandit groups one by one, so they had all been gathered in the same place. 

The officials present were as follows: the prosecutor (a retainer of the lord), the chief justice (a retainer of the lord), and the presiding judge (also a retainer of the lord). None of these men were specialized in their positions; they were merely vassals of the lord who had been temporarily appointed to these roles. In terms of legal counsel—there was none. Thus, this was a perfectly fair and honest trial (or something like it). 

A trial of this scale was a rare thing to see in a backwater fief like this, and so the usual courthouse was far too small for it. Normally, petty criminals would just be handled in the military barracks, but for this occasion they chose to use the manor proper. Within the lord’s domain, all branches of power—legislative, executive, and judicial—lay within the lord’s hands. The bulk of the questioning had already been completed before the event, so this was merely for the sake of making a formal and public announcement of the findings… Or so it would be, normally. 

Because a portion of the defendants in this case were members of the Guild, the guild master and several other guild employees were present in the gallery, along with the master and several employees of the Merchants’ Guild. Also present were two B-rank parties from the town and about ten other citizens. Even if they already fully expected the sentence the lord’s men might hand down, they were poised and ready to protest any punishment that they found to be outrageous—a role that they could not neglect. The fact that they were allowed to do so was proof of the fact that the lord was a just man. 

The lord himself could not influence the trial, but as he appeared to have great interest in this particular one, he sat to the side in a special seat that had been furnished, watching. 

After a brief confirmation of the charges, the announcement was made first to the main bandit crew. 

“You have all been issued an A-rank lifetime sentence of hard labor.” 

The bandits were stoic and unflinching. Reacting would have achieved nothing. There could have been no other sentence for them, and considering the circumstances, what difference did it make if they were sentenced to a term of life or of 800 years? It was improbable that anyone would take extenuating circumstances into account in the case of such a blatant offense. The fact that they were not given capital punishment was something they should be grateful for. 

Unless there were no other options, criminals were not usually sentenced to death. The only individuals to receive a sentence of execution were typically those who might refuse to labor seriously out of defiance, as well as bloodthirsty fiends, mages (whose escape would be difficult to prevent), and those who committed crimes against nobles or royals—individuals of particularly malicious intent. 

Naturally, the fact that mages had so very many avenues by which they could make ends meet contributed to why there were so few magically adept criminals. However, the fact that they were so much more likely to be sentenced to death if caught also played a huge factor. Even if one were to bind and gag a mage upon capture, there was still the chance of them suddenly attacking with a wordless spell, so many, fearing this, were not particularly inclined to grant them any leeway. 

Indeed, most mage criminals, when caught, were dispatched immediately at the scene of the crime—even if they were not particularly competent or the crime they had committed was relatively trivial. 

The sentencing continued. 

“E-rank hunter, Ivick, you are sentenced to death. Hunters’ Guild employee Dallam, you are likewise sentenced to death. Furthermore, Dallam’s family will be sentenced to twenty years of hard labor.” 

“P-please wait! I don’t care what you do to me, but, my family?! My wife and daughter?! They have nothing to do with what I’ve done here!!!” 

The judge who had announced the decision brushed off the protest without so much as a reply. No voice was raised from the gallery either. 

The fact that Ivick was registered as a hunter did not mean that the Guild was cooperating with the bandits, but rather, that one of the bandits had secretely registered as a hunter. His role was to gather information and forward the intel he got from Dallam to the other bandits. 

The Hunters’ Guild was an organization whose trade was built on reputation. They were an international enterprise, spanning across borders. When their rules were violated, they were not a group who let bygones by bygones. They did not have the authority to directly interfere with the official decision, but they carried enough clout that it would be easy enough for them to put pressure on the lord. That said, it was not something that they would go out of their way to do, and a capital punishment was more than customary in cases such as this one. 

Then, there was Dallam, the guild employee who had raised the objection. 

According to his interrogation, the bandits had threatened to harm his family, and this much did appear to be true. However… 

He had betrayed the Guild. That fact was not something that could be undone or ignored. 

If he was being threatened, then he had a duty to report it to the guild master. As it stood, not only had he not reported this, but he had dutifully obeyed the criminals, forwarding information that had led to the murders and kidnappings of countless innocent travelers. Furthermore, though the money was only a pittance, it appeared that he had been paid for the intel he provided. 

So that no one in the future would ever think to do the same thing “for the sake of his family,” none present could bring themselves to excuse his relations. Thus, the logical argument would be that, even if he was merely following orders, he had still damned his own wife and daughter, and that the only correct choice in his position would have been to report the matter to the authorities immediately. 

Dallam was an accomplice to countless murders, and if his family was his reason for this, then by extension, his wife and daughter were guilty of the same crime. In Japan, such reasoning would be utterly unacceptable, but in a civilization where order was weak and recognition of human rights was slim, such measures were necessary to ensure the safety of the general populace. 

Of course, in the past on Earth, there were also places that utilized a similar system of guilt by association. In some nations, this persists even to the present day. Likewise, in this world, it seemed it was only a matter of course that Dallam was inviting trouble upon the shoulders of his family by granting them a direct connection to his crime and putting them in a position where they benefitted from his actions. The fact that no one observing the proceedings, save Dallam himself, had made so much as a peep, was a testament to that. 

Ivick the infiltrator and Dallam the traitor. 

The Crimson Vow had been summoned by the guild master before the caravan had arrived in town, with the express purpose of allowing him to extract the true identities of the two and apprehend the two before they had a chance to flee. Within that first wagon, he had tortur—er, questioned—the bandits for the identities of their two accomplices and then returned to town to arrest them, arriving back before the caravan had arrived. 

For the bandit leader, a life sentence of hard labor was as certain as his capture, but the off chance of him receiving a death sentence was not entirely out of the question. Therefore, all it took was a little bit of pain to make him talk. Really, the fact that he did not squeal immediately was merely a bit of posturing, for the sake of looking good in front of his subordinates. 

Up next were the rookie bandits, the first to have been captured. 

“C-rank hunters, the ‘Hurricanes of Flame.’ As you have committed the act of banditry twice, it has been judged that this was not an impulse but something that you intended to make a habit of. However, we have taken into consideration the fact that in truth, there is only one set of victims of your crimes. You killed no men, merely selling all your victims into illicit slavery, from which they can be recovered. Thus, you have been sentenced to a B-rank lifetime sentence of hard labor. Furthermore, if all of the victims are able to be recovered safely with your cooperation, your sentencing shall be reevaluated and reduced to a C-rank sentence, or your term of service diminished appropriately.” 

The C-rank hunters of the ‘Hurricanes of Flame’ bowed deeply, tears welling in their eyes. Their sentencing had been far more generous than expected, given that their heinous crimes—banditry and human trafficking—were two-fold. Given how much the trafficking had been emphasized, however, it was clear that the fact that they had not killed the men of the party, who were troublesome and would sell for very little, had left quite the good impression, showing that they were still decent men, at least in some sick, twisted way… 

A C-rank lifetime sentence of hard labor was really not such a bad thing at all. The work would not be so unbearable, and there was little chance of being killed on the job. They might be provided with ale now and then, and while it was rather rare, if luck was on their side and their behavior was good, they might be awarded a clerical position. Better yet, if they could be upgraded to a term sentence, while they would still have no freedom and would earn no money, they wouldn’t be treated terribly, and when the appointed day came, their emancipation was assured. 

If they had not acted as reasonably as they had, they might have been facing an A-rank sentence. Their tears of joy were inevitable. 

After each party received their sentencing, they were escorted to the next room. The guild officials and hunters in attendance only nodded sagely, apparently having no objections to raise to any of the decisions thus far. 

Finally, they came to the last group, the four woodcutters and the four hunters, the Soaring Twin Dragons, who had been apprehended second. The judge read out the decision. 

“The four woodcutters are found innocent of the crime of banditry. However, impersonating bandits and threatening young girls for your own gain, an act committed of your own volition for the sake of profit, is still an illicit act and shall be strictly punished.” 

The woodcutters, who thought that the court would go easy on them because they had been deceived, went pale. 

“You are hereby sentenced to one hundred lashes each and to work diligently at your own jobs, aware that you will face no such kindness next time. In fact, the only reason we are granting you such lenience now is because of a direct request from your victims. Truly, you ought to be sentenced as the allies of bandits and punished accordingly!” 

Hearing this, the woodcutters all bowed their heads deeply. 

Receiving one hundred lashes was no light matter. It was not like being swatted on the behind as a child—they would be struck on their bare backs or buttocks with a whip or a rod of bamboo with a fringed edge. This punishment, which could only be administered by a professional so as not to break anyone’s bones or damage their internal organs, was one that petty criminals feared; not only was the pain unbearable, but the aftereffects would last for a while longer, leaving them unable to even sleep face-up for some time. 

That said, after hearing the sentences of execution and enslavement handed down just before, their punishment was as good as a godsend. 

Finally, the proceedings came to an end with the “kindhearted” party who had concealed their identities. 

“C-rank party, the Soaring Twin Dragons. You are sentenced with an A-rank lifetime term of hard labor.” 

“Wh—?! That’s absurd! We were merely trying to rescue a young noble and her party who were being assailed by bandits! I’m not saying we deserve a medal, but what is the reason for such harsh punishment?!” 

Obviously, the young men were grasping at straws. If they were bandits, their punishment would be unavoidable. Thus, they had insisted all the way through three days of interrogation that the woodcutters truly were bandits, and that those men had merely been spewing lies upon their capture, trying to get the hunters embroiled in their crime. 

“Yes,” said the judge, “but it was not only the woodcutters who attested to your crime but the victims as well. Deny it all you like, but it does not change the facts.” 

In this world, the veracity of a charge was decided at the presiding judge’s discretion, whether or not there was any evidence to prove it. That meant that even without hard evidence, if there was any circumstantial evidence, or something else that was sufficient to support the decision, that was enough. 

Conversely, it was quite the tricky feat to prove that one was innocent even with hard evidence. 

“Those fine ladies were merely misled by those woodcutters—nay, those former woodcutters, who have now fallen into a life of crime! They blocked the road and attacked those girls, and we rushed in to try and save them. We would never try to alter that fact!” 

“What?!?!” the woodcutters cried, but the leader of the Soaring Twin Dragons did not appear to give a care. 

A traveling noble would have no reason to care about the bandits, nor any reason to go out of her way to make a prolonged stop in some nothing of a country town. She and her party had not once looked in during three days of questioning and would have already left the town long ago. She could not have afforded to make such a stop without reason. To detain a selfish traveling noble was to invite grave trouble. If things went poorly, heads would roll…literally. 

However, if they were able to pin all of this on the woodcutters, perhaps they might be able to get out of it, thought the leader. Thus, his insistent raving continued. 

“Those bandits saw that they were at a disadvantage and tried to drag us down into their sins when we moved in to stop them. They were able to easily deceive that young maiden, who is lacking in experience and ignorant of the ways of the world, in order to make her believe that we were the bandits! That is what happened here. You can ask the Guild—we are upstanding hunters! They can offer you ready proof that we left town but shortly after those young ladies did!” 

The attending hunters looked conflicted at this statement. There was in fact nothing so peculiar about the young man’s claim. The bandits had attacked the young girls, and a group of local hunters had rushed up from behind to save them. There was nothing odd about that. 

No matter what objection a perpetrator might raise, the judge was the voice of the law, and the decision he handed down was clear. However, there were many guild associates and hunters in attendance, and one would not lightly pass a sentence without everyone present in agreement. And so the presiding judge was troubled…not. In fact, he looked concerned for only the briefest of moments before his mouth twisted into a cruel sneer. 

Just then, a voice rang out from beside the chief justice. 

“Objection!” 

“Huh?” 

This phrase was one unknown even to many people on Earth; on this planet, it was utterly unheard of… Lawyering was not an occupation that existed here, and no such role was allowed within the courtroom. 

The voice had come from an area to the side of the officials, where four young girls suddenly emerged from behind the group of gruff-looking hunters. 

“Y-you all…” 

Naturally, the reason that the Soaring Twin Dragons’ eyes were as wide as they now were was because their old friends, the Crimson Vow, now stood before them. Reina and Mavis were still dressed as they had been at the time of their meeting, which is to say that they were clad in their normal garb. However, Pauline was no longer in her maid outfit but in her usual attire. Mile, meanwhile, was wrapped in a large cloak, which concealed her body. 

“We were not deceived. Furthermore, you all clearly confessed back at the scene of the crime, did you not? You thought that you could capture us and sell us off to somewhere far away… It should be clear to you that we are not some simpletons who can be easily tricked. Your lies are no exception,” said Mile, an aloof expression upon her face. 

The leader glared at her. 

“Y-you little…” 

A party who everyone thought had left the town already had suddenly appeared. The leader of the Soaring Twin Dragons, disgruntled at Mile’s unfavorable testimony, began to shoot back insults—but then recalled that this was now a debate, a battle of words. If he could talk them down and sway the judge to his side, there was a chance that they could turn this around still. They were local hunters, with a good reputation, while the others were just some young ladies who were passing through. Their testimony was far less reliable. Thinking this, the leader decided it was time to risk it all. 

“Surely you must have been addled, hearing the bandits’ claims before. This happens often with laypersons lacking in worldly experience—particularly young ladies. Furthermore, we already apologized for being a bit harsh in our attempts to admonish you for being so foolishly optimistic and getting yourselves into danger. We truly regret that we seemed to be trying to intimidate you. It fills me with the deepest sadness that you would still treat us as bandits, even after that.” 

“Oh my, but you do know that providing false testimony is a crime, don’t you?! Could it be that you were purposely hoping to entrap us, so as not to have to pay the fee for our rescuing you? And that you furthermore wished to reap the rewards of our being sold into slave labor? If you do not admit that you were mistaken, you might find that you will be the ones charged as criminals here!” 

Indeed, it had been impossible to deceive the young ladies, which was why the hunters had bothered to breathe word of their malicious intent in the first place. However, the ones who they needed to accept their story were not those young ladies but the judge. Thus, the only choice he had now was to frame the young ladies as liars. 

Presently, a commotion began to arise among the attending hunters. Each of them surely had plenty of bitter memories of clients embellishing the truth or using falsehoods against them. 

Now! 

The leader held tightly to this lifeline, the only thing saving his party from tumbling straight off the edge. 

I suppose it’s about 8:45, isn’t it… Mile thought to herself. 

Indeed, they had reached the final act. Naturally, Reina and the others, who had now been conditioned by Mile’s Japanese folktales, were thinking something similar. 

“Please don’t fret for us. We are hunters who came here from the capital on the request of a job placed by the Merchants’ Guild of Zarbef. We are already fully aware of the rules of this region, so…” 

“What?” 

A cry of surprise rang through the room, not only from the Soaring Twin Dragons, but also from the people in the gallery. However, none of the judges nor the lord who was watching over them showed any signs of shock. Apparently, this much had already been explained to them beforehand. The “Your Honor, if you would!” event flag had already been rendered moot. 

“Then,” cried the leader, “you’re guilty of presenting a falsified identity! People associated with the Guild have certain obligations to fulfill! So, if you concealed the fact that you’re hunters, then that means…” 

“Hm? I don’t recall us ever once saying that we were not hunters. Is there a rule that says that you have to declare, ‘I’m a hunter! I’m a registered hunter!’ every time you walk into a guildhall?” 

Mile looked to the guild master, who grimaced and shook his head. 

“But then there’s the matter of nobility! You never directly represented yourself as being a noble, but your dress and manner and speech clearly gave the false illusion of your being one! Doing such a thing is considered to be falsifying one’s status and impersonating a noble, a crime to be severely punished! Ha! Looks like the cat’s out of the bag. You all are the criminals here! Guards, hurry up and apprehend them!” 

If Soaring Twin Dragons could denounce the noble travelers, or rather, the hunting party from the capital, as criminals, then that would render their testimony against the offending hunters invalid. Staking everything on this hope, the leader called out triumphantly, his fellow party members swept up in the moment and cheering him on. 

All right, time for the clincher! Mile thought as she signaled to the others with her eyes, walking confidently forward. 

“Once, I was the daughter of a viscount. Once, I was an academy student pretending to be a commoner. Another time, I was a rookie hunter. And yet another time, I was the daughter of a viscount…” 

Ignoring Reina’s insistent whisper that she was repeating herself, Mile continued her speech. 

“However! As I stand before you now, I am…” 

Mile whipped the cloak from off of her body, exposing her standard hunter’s gear beneath. 

“A disciple of truth and justice! C-rank hunter Mile of the Crimson Vow!!!” 

“Mavis von Austien, likewise!” 

“The Crimson Reina, likewise!” 

“Pauline, likewise!” 

“We are four allies!” 

“Bound by an unbreakable friendship!” 

“At our very souls!” 

“And our name is…” 

“The Crimson Vow!!!” 

Ka-boooom! 

A dazzling display went off as they finished their catchphrase in unison; of course, as they were indoors, they were framed only by audiovisual effects, lights of four colors dancing behind them. 

“………” 

The four girls held their practiced poses until their muscles began to tremble, giving everyone in the room a chance to collect themselves… 

“Well, if your party has two nobles, including yourself, then I suppose that does not count as misrepresentation… Now then, as previously announced, the four members of the Soaring Twin Dragons will be sentenced to a lifetime term of hard labor. Furthermore, we shall be noting in the court record that they appear to be malicious individuals who would attempt to incriminate others in order to save their own hides without any hint of remorse. I’m sure that this will see that the appropriate workplace is arranged for them. Guards, take them away!” 

The judge, who had clearly recovered from his surprise, announced this decision, and the four hunters—no, the criminals formerly known as hunters—were dragged from the room. 

“Oy, there!” 

There was silence from the Crimson Vow. 

“I said, oy!” 

“Y-yes, sir!” 

The master of the Hunters’ Guild was calling to them, looking displeased. Though they had tried to ignore him, it did not look as though there would be any escaping this. 

“Why didn’t you tell me?” 

When penning their letter, the Crimson Vow had insisted that the guild master tell the absolute minimum number of people possible—and only those in whom he had absolute faith. Even when collecting the bandits, they had insisted that he borrow carts and riders from the town stables instead of the Guild. However, they had not once informed him that they were hunters on an official job. True, he had some mild suspicions. The instructions tendered were rather unbefitting of some idiot daughter of a noble and her cohorts. 

Reina prodded Mile forward again until she had no choice but to be the one to answer. 

“Well, um, the ones who placed the job order were with the Merchants’ Guild, and we were asked not to tell any unrelated parties about the job, so… Plus, there was the possibility of a traitor within the Guild. We couldn’t possibly contact the guild master without an introduction, and there was the chance that the traitor might be the clerk who helped us or an employee we relayed a message to.” 

“I understand. I’m sorry to have been so cross. That’s completely understandable. You managed to clean up after our mistake. Thank you.” 

The Merchants’ Guild in their own town had passed over the local Hunters’ Guild in favor of the hunters of the capital. Normally, this would not be a particularly strange thing. The hunters of the town, none of whom were above a C-rank, were not suited to more difficult jobs. Still, the jobs did usually at least go through the local Guild. The fact that the guild branch had been bypassed entirely was a huge loss of face for them. It was an affront to the guild branch itself. 

However, now was not the time to be raising complaints about this. Just as the Merchants’ Guild had feared, there was a traitor in the midst of the Hunters’ Guild. Two of them, in fact, one of them an employee of the Guild, no less. The fact that the individuals who had been able to capture the bandit gang—something that the Guild had been unable to do up until now—were a group of four tender young ladies, half of them not even of age, just added insult to injury. 

To complain about this would bring them more shame upon shame. The Guild would be the laughingstock of the town. Ridicule would spread like wildfire through the other guild branches and the country beyond. They had to do something… 

“W-we would like to offer you a reward as well!” the guild master squeaked out. 

“Huh? Are you sure?!” 

The Crimson Vow grinned widely. They were not hurting for money but receiving a reward personally from the guild master was different from normal payment—it was a mark of the guild master’s high esteem. It would bolster their reputation, and naturally, it came with a heaping helping of contribution points. In this case, it was the guild branch’s final chance at redemption, by showing that they would pay their dues to the people who assisted them, even if their own reputation had been dragged through the mud. The proposition was a mutually beneficial one. 

Of course, it was not that the guild master himself had never suspected the possibility of a traitor among his own staff. However, as he could not cast doubt on any of his subordinates outright, he had been hoping to conduct a quiet investigation without raising suspicions. In the meantime, the Merchants’ Guild, tired of waiting, had been forced to take action. 

We messed up… 

The guild master was unlikely to lose his position, but his reputation was sure to be irreparably tarnished. He would have to work hard in order to recover from this failing. As he watched the Crimson Vow, who were shaking hands with the master of the Merchants’ Guild and seemed to be receiving an invitation to dinner from their lord, the master of the Hunters’ Guild’s shoulders slumped. 

Behind him the hunters of the two local B-rank parties, who had been in attendance to ensure the appropriate treatment of the hunters who were on trial, stood stunned. 

“Man, are there really that many nobles among the hunters in the capital…?” 

“M-more to the point, is it really possible for four rookie C-rank hunters from the capital to capture almost twenty bandits single-handed…?” 

“The capital’s a scary place…” 

The hunters of the capital were getting quite a reputation.