That was quite a detour, but town of Belga is finally in sight. I join the somewhat long queue and hide from the scorching sun in the saving shade of a tall merchant cart. A very unpleasant change in environment after spending three days in a nice dark cave with mild temperature.

Yeah, forgot to mention: after our little playful lover's quarrel I decided that it's bad to bottle up negative emotions and went to visit that hideout Saria mentioned to blow off some steam. Turned out, it was shockingly close - explains why they decided to make their move then and there. It was a little after midnight, the two guards were audibly yawning and didn't look like they were very into their job. Can't say I'm not capable to understand - from the muffled sounds of merrymaking coming from inside the cave, it seems like these two jokers got the short end of the stick. I check around to see if there are any stragglers that went out to take a piss, find none and think of a way to strike.

I have to admit one thing: at least they weren't complete idiots: cave was dug (found?) at the bottom of a cliff, the entire area was deforested, all big rocks crushed and removed. Approaching from the front, right or left is impossible and there's no "back". Too bad they didn't think of "up" and "down".

I use the darkness to my advantage and approach the cliff wall, using the Wall Climbing skill I nabbed from one of the lamb sized frogs that live in this forest. At first I thought it was something mundane, but it turns out that instead of climbing like a human would, one can stick to a surface like a gecko. And it's clearly not magic, as I feel the physical change in my body when it gets activated. I tried it with trees & branches before - it seems that moving and even sitting on ceilings is possible too, but gravitation is still very much present. Having blood rush straight to your head isn't the most pleasant of feelings.

There isn't that much distance between us as I loom above their heads. I use earth magic to tear a sizable chunk of rock from the wall and throw it at the head of the guard with no helmet. Second one has no time to react as I fall on him from above and stab away. This could've gone much quicker if I took Helmut's bow, but sadly I never even touched one back on earth and I don't have a corresponding skill to cover for that. If only he was using a crossbow instead... Well, whatever.

I don't bother hiding the bodies and instead create a wide pitfall with spears of unnaturally solidified earth right before the entrance, then I cover it with a thin film of soil on top. If anyone heavier than a mouse runs out the cave or tries to get into, they'll come crashing right onto the spikes. Should work as a distraction if things go wry and I have to run, or if someone suddenly returns back to the hideout.

I go deeper into the tunnels, making sure to extinguish every torch I see. Recently I noticed that I feel much better at nights, I'm more spry and can see quite well in complete darkness unless it's 100% pitch black and there's zero light to be had. It made falling asleep hard at first, but I'm mostly fine now.

Thankfully, the supposed cave system is not as grand as the gal said - I quickly and silently clear the room filled with crude bunk beds and sleeping thugs, then comes the armory, kitchen-like area and a storage with a mountain of varied loot - everything from pools of fabric to tableware. Must've belonged to a travelling merchant.

The final tunnel is a bitch though - long, narrow and well-lit with two guys loitering there. I sigh and, with my impromptu impression of a drunk, call out from the darkness.

- Oi! Rider, you *hic!* slut! Get ovrhr...! Ya think you can hide in the shadows from me? Bitchnstichn nobhead!

- Who the hell's talking?

- Yi can't tell? Me, Vaaaaaraaaaan. If you took out all that bullwank from your ears, you'd know!

He decides to ignore me, so I take off a boot from a corpse nearby.

- Lazy cuck!

It lands onto his temple and he falls limp. It was a wonderful boot, so much space to stuff stones in.

The second guy rushes over and easily falls as I trip his leg in the dark. Stab.

I drink a bit of his blood to recover stamina and calm my tense nerves.

Last room is pretty big compared to the previous ones, there's no place to hide. Five guys in total. In addition to that a girl like Saria sitting on the bandit leader's knees, happily chirping away and a bunch of kidnapped girls in makeshift wooden cage. None of them seem to have the class, so I'll let them live if they don't do something they'll regret. I return to the tunnel to nab a shortsword, affix it to my belt and walk into the room.

Nobody seems to mind, but some six meters away mr.boss pushes the girl away and stands up facing me.

- I don't remember your face. Who the hell are you?

I salute.

- Sir! My name is Ferrel, I were conscripted to the army, but some days before I got demoted and given the boot. There's no place to me to go and no one wants to employ me with my background. However, I ran into my old pal Gregory and he sent me here, saying to speak with you. Allen is also my acquaintance, just ask him! Please let me join the group!!!

One, two, three steps. A desperate bow. Zero distance.

- Phahaha! P'rolly feeling hungry after getting kicked out. Fine, whatever. You can join as a...

Knife easily enters under the chin, through the roof of the mouth and gets stuck in the brain. Granpa Freud would probably have to say a lot of things about me stabbing so much people today, but right now I don't care. I abandon the knife and lop off the head of the person near me. Second one receives a kick, a punch to the face and a stab to the gut. Two remaining try to rush me, but I cover myself with the girl as a meat shield and push her at one of the bandits as he runs with clear intention pierce us both. Girl gets a blade between the ribs, the ruffian loses his balance and drops down, trying to untangle himself from the body. Parallel to that, me and the other one are dancing around each other trading blows. I take notice of the clothes sticking from under his armor, grab a burning branch from the campfire and press it at him as we lock swords. Doesn't take long for fire to catch up, he tries to put it out and I use the opportunity to chop off the left foot of the guy on the ground. The other one has torn off the rusty half breastplate and is struggling with his shirt. I help him out by cutting off a sleeve together with his arm. I ignore the screams, cut the tendons on his legs and break his remaining fingers, then do the same for the other one. Afterwards I tightly bandage their wounds, heal the places that bleed severely with light magic and cauterize everything else with fire.

Thing is, after I snapped out from our Last Supper event, I noticed two things: for one, I can now steal classes too (although the rate is supposedly far less than 100%). Additionally...

Calculated Kindness (active) - everything can be measured and logically rationalized. Raising poultry to eat its eggs, training a guard dog, letting a small fish go only to re-catch again when it fattens up - such things bear no sin. As of now, you can spend a charge to copy one of your skills and permanently impart it upon the target. Warning: some skills cannot be transferred (example: Calculated Kindness, Envious Gaze). There are three relationship levels that decide the cap of how many skills can be handed over: 1) target doesn't know the user - 1 skill max, 2) target is acquainted with the user - , 3) complete loyalty - unlimited. It is possible to impart 1-2 skills every day, however there is a 1 week cooldown when choosing the same target.

Something like that. I want to spend several days here to test these two new possibilities out. These two writhing meat bags shall be my guinea pigs.

- Um! I'm sorry, sir knight? Over here?!

Right. Forgot all about the girls. The hell am I supposed to do with them? I'll approach them for now.

- What make you think I'm a knight?

- Well, your moves! I could see how at first you pretended to be a complete novice at the sword with no experience, but then suddenly used... Ummm. Aren't you going to...let us out?...

Was the difference really so glaring? Indeed, at first I were using the techniques from the Sword Arts branch that they apparently teach the grunts in the army. But in the end I've subconsciously switched to the flashy Royal Fencing that was a level lower, yet surprisingly much more effective. Are these things tiered in quality?

- Hellooo? Sir knight?

- Hey, what exactly makes you think I went through all this trouble to save you people?

- Huh? But, you killed the bandits, right? And since you are by yourself here, this was all a plan to come in disguised as an unwashed ruffian so you could dispose of the last bandits without putting our lives in danger?

"Disguised as an unwashed ruffian?" First of all, how could you. Second of all, fuck you. You think it's easy to march through the forest for days on end, punk?!

*You do smell horrible right now.*

How would YOU know? You don't even have a nose.

*And thank gods for that.*

- Have you once seen how the tight-assed prideful knights fight? You really think they would go in quietly and discreetly without making ruckus and announcing themselves to the entire world?

Thinking back on the royal knights of Delfina - highly unlikely situation.

- That's! But then it means...

- ...that I'm no knight and I came here alone, yeah. And I certainly didn't come to save your shapely asses, missy.

Her eyes instantly grow sharp and cold.

- What do you intend to do with us?

- What do you mean, "what"? Nothing, obviously. I'm going to squat in this den for a couple of days, then clean house and be outta here. For the time being you will remain in cages and behave yourselves. If you don't do anything stupid, I'll most likely set you all free before I leave - do whatever you want afterwards.

I ignore her angry chipmunk stares and fearful gazes of the other girls. There's no time to waste, I don't want wild animals converging to the scent of blood. After tying down the two semi-alive highwaymen as uncomfortable and restrictive as possible, I drop them off in another room and bury them up to the neck with earth magic. I wouldn't give a rat's ass even if they break and go crazy from living in the dark and being in constant pain with no way to move while earthworms are making themselves at home in their innards - they are deadmen anyway, that's not negotiable. I just need them to stay alive physically, their wellbeing is not a concern of mine. Next come the corpses: I'm not in the mood to lug them around, so I bury them with earth magic in walls and floors right where they died. The only exception was made for the fat cook - I wasn't keen on leaving a corpse near food.

Afterwards I check the hidden pitfall at the entrance just to make sure, pour the still warm food into bowls and carry it over to the girls. Lena (the snarky gal) demanded to be released from the cage because she wanted to go pick the flowers. To that I created a hole in earth under the cage and said they can do their business in there and I'll cover it up with earth afterwards. Naturally, I heard quite a lot of new things about my person, my relatives and my physiology, but others seemed to be quite fine with my proposition which made her face crumple and my junior confused. I brought them clothes, some pillows and pelts used by bandits as mattresses and went off to sleep in a separate room.

Next two days nothing exciting happened: I've tested out everything I wanted, rummaged through the storage in search of useful/interesting things, read some books (sadly, the only ones bandits didn't throw out were erotic novels. Some had mystery stains on them so they were sent straight to the fire pit without reading), cooked for the girls, had casual conversations with them and tended to their needs. One was weakened due to pregnancy, most had vitamin deficiency from previous poor food situation and being away from the sun for so long. That's where my Herbalism got in handy - I can't make potions that just magically restore you in the blink of an eye, but basic medicines, supplements, salves, oils and balsams can be made with ease.

On the morning of the last day I was rudely awakened from my beauty sleep by a chorus of shrill shrieks. As I ran over towards the girls' room, I stumbled upon a familiar face.

Name

Rider

Race

Undead - Revenant

Age

36

Classes

Villager lvl.4, Peddler lvl.9, Bandit lvl.14

Battle Skills

Sword Arts lvl.1, Dirty Fighting lvl.1

Social Skills

Haggle lvl.3, Deceit lvl.1

Titles

-

This is clearly a zombie. I guess there's no voodoo magic and witch doctors in this world, so the word zombie also doesn't exist. Revenant. Got it. Classy.

- Boot...boot...

- You can even talk? Freaky.

I don't exactly want to come near the thing without checking first, so I recall how to use light magic offensively. I imagine a shining chain appearing and wrapping around his heels and wrists. It works, he topples over and moans as smoke rises from the places chains touch his skin. I grab him from behind by his armpits and smash him face first into a nearby rock. Leaving the once again lifeless body behind I dash towards the screams.

The situation...isn't dire at all, in all honesty. Did you really wake me up just for this? One of the bandits and a girl that died and got buried here several days ago are currently banging at the cage with zero progress whatsoever. It looks shoddy, but I must admit it is plenty durable - seen Lena "stealthily" try to gnaw at the bars once. If that crazy bimbo can't do it, I highly doubt a revenant with rotting teeth can.

Without notifying them of my existence, I imagine a chain of light tying them together, but with me holding the chain this time. It works like a charm, I yank at it hard and slowly drag the revenants away from the cage. Then I simply take them out and open the cage. Nonexistent god of adventures and exploration must be bored out of his mind with my lollygagging and sent this as a sign of moving on. Can't agree more, there's nothing left to do here. Time to blow this joint and carry on with my life.

- Okay girls, time for roll call! Get out and...guh!

I almost fall from a stampede of crying and sobbing bodies that all cling to me. Who are you and what do you want from my body?! Weren't you afraid of me these past few days?

- Ladies, get a grip already! Everything's fine, jeez.

For the next ten minutes or so I awkwardly try to soothe them, but just as they started to calm down, another pair of revenants shamble in the room. Another round of deafening screams ensues. I get irritated and feel like I'm about to snap. Steeling myself I gently persuade them to let go of me, that there's nothing to be afraid of and that's I'll take care of it. As I'm let go, I storm off towards the revenants and shift my anger towards them, beating them over and over again with my bare hands and legs, refusing to use a weapon or magic. As my anger subsides, I see two broken unmoving corpses with clothes torn here and there from being grabbed and thrown around like a judo doll.

- See? Nothing to be afraid...of...?

I'm being stared at by many pairs of shining eyes. Oi, this was murder here, not a kiddy variety show. What are you so happy about?

Afterwards I arm them all with small size weapons like daggers and shortswords and go check up on every other corpse, partially undigging them. Those that wriggled got burnt with light, those that obediently stayed still got an earthen stake to the forehead.

I swipe all gold coins and plenty of silver ones, then tell the girls they can have everything else, including weapons, items, equipment, money, food and the excess medicine I made for them. Naturally, this information was well received. After hearing that I'm going to immediately haul ass towards the city, they collectively begged me to stay just a bit longer and they'll cook a meal as thanks. Sigh, I'm starting to see a pattern here. I should probably just leave now and skip the execution scene, but fine. They get all chirpy and march on towards the kitchen. Is it really so entertaining to try poison me? I don't get this world's entertainment.

Soon I was led to the table, seated and served. Only then they took their own seats.

The food is... Not poisoned? Not drugged either. Where's my poison, damn it?

Dejectedly, I start eating the soup.

- Not bad. Seconds please.

- Already?!

- I'm a growing boy, I need sustenance.

Mealtime flows smoothly, atmosphere is somewhat idyllic and homely, women are happily chatting amongst each other. Scene is somewhat nostalgic - reminds me of the female teachers' clique during lunch breaks back home. The only difference is that I was never included and ate by myself at the canteen. Not such a bad experience, I'll remember this is one of the rare pleasant events I witnessed in this world. Welp! Everything has to come to an end, time to bounce.

- Alrighty then! Thank you for the enjoyable meal, I'll be on my way now. Sorry, I'm leaving the dishes to you.

I prepare to stand up and run before getting caught in something troublesome, but I get grabbed by the hands and sat back down. You may be smiling, but your smiles look terrifying, please stop doing that.

Other girls are pushing blushing Lena around from all sides while whispering "go on!", "you can do it!". She takes a deep breath and...

- Um! Sir knight! I mean, Kain! Please take me wi...

- DENIED!

- Whaaat? I didn't even finish!

- "...with you.". There, I finished your sentence for you. Happy? The answer is still a firm no. I'll even put a cherry on top to accentuate it.

- ...can you at least tell me the reason?

You are twenty two, stop pouting like baby, that's just unsightly.

- You can't tell? Weren't you the one screaming on top of your lungs and cried for god knows how long when you seen two measly revenants that couldn't even hurt you due to a rock-solid bars stuck between you? I deal with much stronger and scarier creatures on a daily basis and travel around all the time with no place to call home. Can you honestly say you'll manage to tough it out and lead your life like this?

Yup, just give up. It's true that I want a slave porter who would lug all the heavy crap around and relieve me of that constant bother, but I don't need someone who a) has freedom, b) is a woman (with all the following problems, including monthly Soviet Army raids), c) is a wimp with no muscles or stamina, d) is a redhead with no soul. Last one is a joke. Maybe.

- So you were thinking of me... I understand and I give up for now. I'll make sure to become strong enough one day and find you once more.

- Uh, sure. Okay. Fine. Cool. I'm off then.

As I intend to sneak out, the whole gang joins as a retinue and follows to see me off. I thought about making a run for it, but they'd probably just make a mad dash after me like baby ducks and make it even more awkward. At the entrance I get rid of the pitfall and stand with closed eyes for a bit, letting my eyes adjust.

As I turn around, I see them standing there. One of them stares more intently than the others. Sigh. She's and idiot, so I can't leave her like that. Same for the others, they are just sitting ducks if someone with above mediocre abilities decides to attack them.

- Hey, Lena. Get over here for a sec.

- A goodbye kiss?!

- Like hell! Just shut up and receive the final gift.

I place my hand on her head, hold the other one with an open palm like a priest and chant some mumbo-jumbo as I copy and transfer Royal Fencing to her.

- What did you do?

- Just a powerful blessing from a lonely heretic. Now listen close and remember the following: as of today, choose a sword and start training with it. Don't be picky, as it wouldn't work with anything but a sword. You should progress quite a lot, quite fast. Use this to protect yourself and the other girls if need arises. However! Never, you hear me, NEVER use the techniques that come to you in front of knights, nobles or royalty of Delphina - you'll get yourself killed at best. At worst... You will think that living with bandits was a paradise on earth.

Not to mention that my own ass will be on fire after they are done questioning you.

- Understood?

- Yes, I will do everything as you say.

- Cool. Then stop looking at me like that.

- I refuse.

Another good reason not to take you with me.

- 'aight, bye everyone. Stay safe and don't get yourself tragically killed!

And thus my travel that was put on hold resumed. And a day later...

- Next one in line, over here please!

Time to see what town of Belga has in store for me.

I can't wait.