[You have entered a dungeon. The overall level of all entities within the dungeon are significantly beneath your power level.]

[Quest obtained: 2 options available]

[Option 1: Exterminate all entities within the cave]

[Option 2: Negotiate with the inhabitants of the cave]

[Your decision here will effect how others perceive you]

The antiheroes saw these messages appear when they entered the cave. Garett gave the other members of the party a look, and they all nodded in unison. They had decided not to speak too much of the system and their leveling powers to others, as there was no real need to reveal it. After all, it was a numerical representation of their abilities and power levels. If enemies were to know of it, then their weaknesses could be inferred.

'The system has been relatively quiet recently in general... it hasn't exactly spoken up too often, much less give us a quest... the last time we actually had a quest was back when we got the tasks to become the demon lords and take over the monster kings... I wonder where things will go from here... either way, we clearly have two options for this quest... negotiation? I wonder if these bandits are actually people we can negotiate with in the first place... well, even if they aren't... heh heh... that's just more fun for me and Ashley...', Garett thought.

'Your decision will effect how others perceive you... that is clearly referring to this group of mercenaries that has tagged along... they don't seem like bad people, and they are very willing to learn from us... but they are still green... they don't understand who we truly are, and if they find out... who knows how they will react... perhaps we should test them a bit? I suppose I'll figure that out when the time comes. Either way, one thing is for certain- if negotiation is an option, we should try to do so, if only to obtain information. There would be no point in killing these bandits off without trying to obtain information from them... but, I'm sure Trevor is already 10 steps ahead of me. I suppose first we should see what these guys can do.'

The group walked down a curving corridor in the cavern, until Trevor held out his hand to stop the advance of the party.

"We are approaching a group of five men. They seem to have a small checkpoint setup, however they are not exactly on guard... if we attack at once, we can take them by surprise, however we should take this opportunity to witness your skills as a team. If things get too hairy, I will step in.", Trevor explained while addressing the group of mercenaries.

"Got it.", Lance said, and the group readied their weapons, stepping forward.

'This is my first opportunity to show these guys that we are worth becoming their partners, and that we should fight alongside each other in the war... we can't afford to mess this up...', he thought.

Melody waved her wand and the orbs began to shine.

[Reduce sound]

A wave emitted from the wand, spreading to all the party members and rippling around them, almost like a force field but made of a rippling air. It would be difficult to notice unless you were really looking for it.

'These guys can use magic? This is the first time I've seen anyone except for us who can use it... even most of the soldiers we've encountered haven't been able to use it... I suppose it's something that is specific to mercenaries? Or perhaps it's just rare in general in this area. We need more information.', Garett deduced.

Trevor smiled. He looked like he was considering all the business applications of using such magic.

The four walked along, and their steps made barely any noise as they turned the corridor. The antiheroes remained behind them, ensuring that they had a good view of the action from afar.

"Useful woman, can you make us invisible for now so that we can watch the fight?", Trevor asked.

'He called me useful!'

"Of course.", Samantha responded, before editing the effects of the illusion spell.

The four silently remained behind the group of mercenaries as they turned the corner, to see the group of 5 soldiers which Trevor had mentioned.

They wore armor that was extremely mismatched. Some pieces were in extremely good shape, whereas others were banged up and dirty, and none of them seemed to be of the same set.

It was likely that these were stolen goods, which had been individually taken and split among the bandits.

Charlotte and Melody stood at the front, while Pierre stayed in the middle and Lance at the back.

'An intriguing combination... why is their mage at the front though? And what exactly is Lance capable of? He doesn't have any weapons, so is he a magician? He certainly seemed like the type of person who would like to be at the front protecting his comrades or something like that... however perhaps not?', Trevor thought. 'But what exactly is he hiding underneath that coat of his? Perhaps I will get to see something interesting...'

The group of 5 bandits hadn't noticed anything yet, even as the mercenaries approached them silently. Two of them were asleep, and three of them seemed to be sitting at a table playing cards with some snacks and poker chips next to them.

The four hugged the walls, and used the rocks around the area to hide from the group of soldiers as they got closer and closer. They were being very cautious to ensure that they had the element of surprise.

When they had reached just a few meters away from the group of soldiers, they prepared to jump out. Lance reached into his coat pocket to retrieve something, and the others jumped out on the signal of three.

Melody and Charlotte ran forward, and Pierre jumped on top of the rock which they were hiding behind. He flailed his whip above him like a lasso, and thrusted it forward, skillfully wrapping it around the neck of one of the soldiers.

"Ugh!!!"

The soldier started tapping the table as the cable started seeping into his skin, choking him and causing blood to seep from his neck. Meanwhile, the other two had made it to the group of relaxing mercenaries. Charlotte grabbed the shoulder of one of the men, her hands quivering, and stuck her sickle to his neck, so that it wrapped around him.

Melody twirled her magical wand, threw it into the air while it was spinning, and performed an extremely skilled maneuver. She first did a handstand, despite her heavy armor-like dress, and whacked the man sitting at the table by spinning her foot around. The man fell unconscious, falling to the side of the chair, and Melody finished off the motion by landing on both of her feet, and catching the wand.

Lance grabbed something that looked like a smoke-bomb from his pocket, and threw it towards the two guards who were sitting near the wall sleeping. They both had groggily started to wake up at this point, however when they opened their eyes the smoke bombs exploded in their faces with a purple dust covering the area.

[Sleeping dust]

The two guards sniffed in the powder and immediately fell back asleep, and the only guards who were still conscious were the ones who had blades at their throats.

"I d-don't want to k-kill you! Please just come with us quietly...", Charlotte said, nervously as she held her blade to the man's throat.

The man was breathing hard and filled with confusion. He clearly didn't expect such an ambush like this.

"A-alright... alright... please don't kill me... please don't kill me... I'll come quietly..."

"Y-yeah! Of course!"

'It seems that this girl... no, even that man as well that she is holding at the point of a blade... neither of them know what it is to kill another person.', Trevor thought.

The man who was being choked by the blade of Pierre slowly put his hands up as well, in order to admit his defeat.

Pierre loosened the grip on the blade a little, and Melody held out her wand like a weapon, pointing it at the man who was bound by Pierre.

"If you all will come quietly, then I will spare your lives. For now..."

Melody brought her wand and smacked it into the head of the man like a club, and she did the same for the man who Charlotte was holding back.

The two men fell unconscious with looks of fear on their faces, and fell to the floor.

"Whew... we... we did it! That was so scary... agh... I don't know if I'll ever get used to this...", Charlotte complained.

"Me neither... look at this... all I did was throw a sleeping bomb and my arms won't stop shaking... haha...", Lance said with a quivering voice.

"Both of you did well. You too Pierre.", Melody praised.

"Thank you for the followup, Melody.", Pierre responded.

"Now... that's five... do you think we should escort these five back now? We should get part of the reward just for taking these people in... and I don't think we would be able to handle the rest... we wouldn't even be able to carry them all back if there were too many, and we wouldn't be able to lead a large number of them awake without any danger of them attacking us. What do you all think, Punishers? Should we accept part of the reward for capturing five of them?"

Samantha undid the illusion spell which made them invisible, resuming their elven forms, and Trevor walked forward.

"What do you mean take them in? Carry them back? Escort them back? I think you all have some sort of misunderstanding here. We aren't here to play games and arrest some criminals. We are here to rid the world of filth, and gain information while we are at it... and while it could be the case that these criminals are indeed not filth, I would say that is... unlikely, don't you think?"

"B-but, what if these bandits are nothing more than petty thieves? If they are repentant of their actions, shouldn't we give them a chance to turn themselves in? While I understand why you killed those rapists in the alleyway, why would you kill someone before even speaking with them? I.... I am not strong enough... I don't think I could kill anyone even if I wanted to... but surely we don't need to kill these men, right? They surrendered so easily..."

Trevor walked forward.

"There is only one reason why I would spare any of these men, and it has nothing to do with repentance or anything like that... do you know why?"

"..."

"Let's assume that these men say they will repent... they claim they will go with you... even if you are cautious enough to knock them out, and carry the five of them back, and suppose even that they don't wake up- or if they do, that they come along quietly without struggling or trying to escape. Now, you've not only reduced your pay, but you've also only done a small portion of the job. There are still many bandits out there killing people... but more importantly...it isn't guaranteed that things will just go your way. What if they were to wake up after you have knocked them out, and attack you while you had your guard down?"

"Of course we wouldn't let our guard down!"

"No, anyone can let their guard down... assuming that you will be on guard is a sign that you have already let your guard down... you have to be prepared to be caught by surprise at all times... you have to be prepared for those who tell you they will listen to you to betray you at any moment... for example...."

Trevor walked over to the man who had the marks on his neck from Pierre's wire, and pulled his bow out, aiming an arrow at his head.

"This one right here... you aren't really unconscious, are you? And you were planning to run as soon as we turned our backs? Though, it does seem like at least one of the four of you noticed this one.", Trevor remarked while looking over at Melody, who had been giving the man the evil eye the entire time.

"EEK!!! Please spare me!!!", the man shouted from the end of Trevor's arrow.

'H-how did these mercenaries get in through the ravine?! Did they somehow figure out the code, or did they use some sort of skill to make it across?! That should be impossible... but there are no other explanations... either way... we... we aren't merely a group of thieves who lawlessly do as we please! Perhaps I can reason with them... if they have a conscience, then perhaps they can come to an agreement with our values...'

"There is only one reason I would spare you. Do you know what that reason is?"

"W-wait!!! Before you kill me, everyone here... we have a good reason for doing the things we have done!!! We aren't simply a group of thugs who raid travelers!!! Please listen to my story!!!"

"Sarah, come over here to ensure he is telling the truth."

"Ok, Theo!", Samantha said, standing next to Trevor.

"I'll grant you the opportunity to speak. Go ahead. What is your 'good reason'? What differentiates you from being an average group of thugs?", Trevor said, with the arrow aimed right at the head of the man.

"We- we are a resistance force against the corruption of Senator Brutus!! Our leader, former Lieutenant Troy... he began this resistance after being informed of the horrible deeds that the Senator has been performing to increase his own power at the expense of the people underneath him!! We are not merely a group of bandits... we are a force of justice!! We have never killed anyone, and we only raid the convoys which belong to the Senator... as a matter of fact, our leader was considering going public as an official resistance force soon enough... though I'm not sure if he was ready to go through with that.... if you all are mercenaries, then you too must be fighting for what you believe is right, no?! Perhaps we can come to agreement if we allow you to speak to our leader!!!"

Samantha nodded, indicating that the words of the man were the truth, at least by his own thoughts and beliefs.

Trevor smirked and pushed up his glasses.

"You're answer... perhaps it would have been right if you were speaking to anyone else... but for us, your answer was both wrong and right...there is only one reason why we would ever spare someone who has the potential to get in our way.... It is not because they are 'just' or 'righteous'.... no, quite the contrary... the just can be just as problematic as the scum... sometimes even more so... the only reason I would spare someone is if they can make themselves of use to me. Congratulations. You get to stay alive for a little longer."

----

Garett took out a few bottles filled with a clear fluid- potions that he had crafted and stored in his inventory beforehand.

[Greater Potion of Paralysis]- Paralyzes a foe for 2 hours, works on anyone unless they have complete paralysis negation.

Garett lined up the unconscious bandits by the wall, and threw the potion so that it splattered all over them, and they inhaled the fumes and the liquid seeped into their bodies.

At the places where the liquid spilled, one could notice the veins of the people bulging, and their skin becoming darkened as it hardened like a rock, spreading throughout the body and turning them effectively into statues. Even though they were already unconscious, they were now under a complete paralysis and would not be able to move anytime soon even if they awoke.

"I don't trust anything that you have on you... after analyzing it, I determined that it would only be effective for about 30 minutes at most. Whether or not we kill these people later... will depend on our conversation with their leader, however we certainly cannot having them wake up and attacking us from behind before then..."

"I- I see.... but, Gary, what is that stuff?!! I am an alchemist by trade... however... this paralysis effect... I've never seen anything so potent!!", Lance exclaimed.

"An alchemist, eh? Interesting... truly interesting... I also have dabbled in a bit of alchemy, and this is one of my precious works... heh heh...", Garett said while proudly looking at the paralyzed group, holding up a filled bottle and whisking it back and forth.

"I... I see... well... as long as they aren't dead I suppose it's fine..."

"You all, didn't we explain you you earlier that by going with us you would be headed down a path of darkness? That you would have to witness and perhaps even perform killings yourselves? Could it be that you all came in here without the resolve even to do that?"

"I... I've never killed anyone before. I've always just put them to sleep...", Lance admitted.

Charlotte was looking down as well.

Melody and Pierre had serious looks on their faces.

"Those two.... I have been shielding their innocence... if we've ever needed to kill anyone... which is rare, as these two have always been trying to find a better solution... but even in the case when we have to, Pierre and I have always taken care of it.", Melody stated.

"But now, you all have become a part of our group... and we don't do things so naively here. If it is better to kill someone off, we kill them off... well, don't worry for now... hehe... these ones might be of use, so it's better to leave them alive for now anyways...", Ashley whispered.

"Now... you said you would take us to you boss? Better get to it.... my hand is feeling a little trigger happy...", Ashley said while playing with a flame in her hand.

'This girl is kinda scary... perhaps we got mixed up with a bad group...', Charlotte thought.

Samantha noted this thought.

"O-of course!! Right away!!", the bandit shouted, getting up quickly and leading the way. He seemed scared out of his wits the entire time, and was scrambling to get up.

'These people... the humans are like us... they are kind people who truly care about others... but that group of four... the elves... they scare me... they are out for blood... they seem to have no sense of justice whatsoever... they seem to be doing things only for their own benefit, and if me living ceases to benefit them, they will get rid of me!! I had better do everything I can to stay alive... I hope Troy is able to make a peace with these elves...'