“Terrin, wake up.” I heard a voice.

What is that smell? Is Risa playing a prank on me?

I opened my eyes to see who it was and what it was but the sunlight prevented me to do so. So bright. What time is it?

“Glad to see you’re okay.” It was Merry. What did she mean? Of course, I would be.

“What happened? And why is it so bright?” and why does my shoulder hurts?

“It seems we were raided by bandits last night.”

What!? Not good. I have to stay calm. I’m the leader. “What happened?”

“Not much was stolen but…”

“But?” Why was Merry being hesitant?

“Risa was abducted.”

*

“I have to get going now!”

Bandits snuck on our camp last night when we were sleeping. From the looks of it, nothing much was stolen but you could see that the things that were there before weren’t there anymore. Why weren’t I able to detect them?

“Calm down for a minute,” Merry said. “The bandits left a note.” Merry handed me the note.

“They want all our stuff in exchange for Risa?” Also, there was a direction from where to meet. “Where is this?”

“There’s a river north from here. The village we were in before used that as their primary source of water.” Chance said and then he sighed. “I told you we shouldn’t have helped those people…”

Did I regret what I did? Not entirely. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t regret it. I should have listened to Chance. He was our guide for a reason. Now, not only was Risa in danger, we could potentially lose our belongings.

“You’re right. I'm sorry. I’ll weigh in your thoughts next time.”

I was treating Chance just like I treated Takana before. I didn’t care about what he thought. He was an outsider but I should start to make him part of our team, at least, until the time we would separate.

“Where are the others?”

“The girls are at the wagon, readying their equipment while Takana left to go and scout the river.”

“Takana did that? He should have let me do it.”

“He felt guilty. The reason why we got raided in the first place was because he fell asleep doing night watch.” Chance said.

That was another mistake. I personally know how hard it was to keep yourself up after a long day. I shouldn’t have done that dumb punishment.

“And look at this,” Merry showed me a dart. “When I woke you up, I found this on your shoulder. It’s a powerful sleeping-drug that was mostly used for hunting large animals.”

That was why I didn’t felt anything. I was sleeping with Risa besides me. Often times, and I kept this a secret, she would hug me.

I really let my guard down this time. Just because there were no monsters around, it doesn’t automatically mean we were safe. Just like what Risa had said, humans are also monsters.

The two girls finished their preparations and went to us.

“Did it work?” Fuyuki asked. She pinched both my cheeks and then stretched it.

“Uhm, Fuyuki, what do you mean?”

“Kihana made a medicine for you to wake up. I tried everything. I splashed water on your face, I made Takana talk to you for five minutes, and I slapped your face. But nothing! It was amazing. You were like Snow White!”

“I-It’s nothing, really. If it weren’t for Chance and Merry, I wouldn’t be able to have done it all alone…”

“No, that was all you, Kihana.”

“I agree with the maid.”

“Thanks, Kihana.” I said. Kihana lowered her head. It looks like her hard work is paying off.

The leaves on the side rustled. We thought that it was the bandits but it turned out, it was just Takana. His clothes were dirty and he didn’t have anything with him except a bag.

“Welcome back,” I said. “How’d it go?”

“You’re finally awake,” Takana said. “Let’s go rescue our little girl.”

*

The exchange would be happening on a shallow river. According to Takana, the river was surrounded by trees, making a quick getaway with a wagon impossible but with a Norji, it would be easy.

At the meeting spot, the bandits were already there. There were about seven of them. They all had swords and crossbow with them. Most of them were men, and one of the men we saw from the wagon we helped yesterday was with them, confirming that they were indeed bandits.

I was hiding on a tree as I watched my party get closer to the river. The wagon wouldn’t fit, so we had the Norji carried most of the foods while the others carry the other things. We didn’t want to intimidate the bandits, so we disguised and hid our gears on the Norji. They looked like cooking utensils especially the shield.

I should go now. They got this.

The plan was simple; go behind enemy lines. If they were thinking of an exchange then that meant the hostage was near. They just have to delay them enough for me to find her. Worst case scenario, if Risa wasn’t here then we got no choice but to comply.

The forest reminded me of the forest in Roq, so I had no problem moving around. Even if I wasn’t looking, my body still knew how to move.

Well, it had only been three days.

As I was looking around for any odd signs, I heard a voice inside my head.

“You’re finally in range.” It was the voice of Risa. It made me stop and looked at my surroundings.

It’s inside my head. I’m going insane.

“You’re not going insane.”

“What!? How can I talk to you?” It felt strange talking to someone in my head. It was like my own mind was replying to my own thoughts. Wait, was that weird?

“Remember when Shakna said that Shakna would die if you die? In other words, that meant Shakna was connected to you. That’s why Shakna can easily access your mind and talk to you.”

That was good to know and it was good to hear her voice. It was just like the first time I saw Merry smile.

“I understand. We’ll talk more about this later. Where are you?”

“Shakna doesn’t know. They blindfolded Shakna when they took Shakna here. Try and look for huge rock formation since Shakna doesn’t feel any wind coming from any direction. Anyway, Shakna can feel if you’re close or far. Right now, you’re far, so keep moving. Those pesky humans, Shakna will kill them if Shakna got unbounded in this shackles.”

“All right. Don’t worry, I’ll do that for you.” That being said, I wasn’t going to kill humans but if things turned for the worst, I would have to do it.

I have to hurry. She’s not far; I just have to go deeper in the forest. They should be starting soon now.

“Okay, Shakna can feel you’re coming closer.”

Straight?

“Keep moving that way.”

Yup, this is it.

I saw a rock formation that looked big enough to be called a cave. There were also three boys that were wandering outside. I said boys because they looked like the same age as me. They looked…inexperienced. They had no armor and they were looking around as if they were nervous.

How should I do this? Should I jump on a tree and knock them out as soon as possible? Nah, I’ll just throw a smoke bomb. How do you knock out a human, anyway? Marsha told me the best way to knockout someone is to hit them in the neck or stomach. Yeah, I’m going for the stomach.

I took out two smoke bombs. I light it up and threw it on the guards. It spun and released a cloud of smoke. The guards were too slow to react, if it were a something else lethal, they would have died.

Good. They’re in.

It was easy to see in the smoke screen. Marsha had literally made my eyes my noise as she put the smoke bomb in front of me making my eyes “inhale” the smoke. Yes, it was agonizing.

The guard that was in front of me carelessly swung his sword while screaming. The randomness of the swing made it dangerous but it wasn’t something I couldn’t handle. I went on his back and kicked him. After that, I punched him in the stomach.

One down.

“Hey, what happened!?”

“T-The enemy’s here!”

The other one was looking frantically for his team. His guard was up since he heard his friend’s scream. This one was easy as, unlike his friend, he didn’t swing his sword around. I punched him in the stomach, too.

Two down.

The last guard went outside the smoke. This one had enough time to do that. Since I didn’t want to waste another smoke bomb, I just went ahead and show myself.

“Pretty coward using that, huh?”

“Pretty coward abducting a little girl, huh?”

“Risa’s not a kid!”

“Enough!”

He ran to me and raised his sword high. It was a good thing he was slow. He slashed me but I dodge it by twisting to my left. He slashed me horizontally but this time, I ducked and punched him straight in the stomach. He fell.

I went inside the cave and untied Risa. She was blindfolded and her hands and feet were tied on a chair.

Good, she looks fine. If I saw even one thing out of the ordinary, I didn’t know what I would do with these people.

“Heh, the powers Shakna gave sure made you strong, huh?”

Well, it wouldn’t hurt to tell the truth, right? “First of all, they’re inexperienced, that’s why it wasn’t that hard. Second, what powers? The only thing you gave me was the linguistic ability.”

“No, no, no. Shakna gave you speed, remember?”

“…Let’s just go.”

“Shakna’s going to talk with you about this.”

She’s not going to let go of this, huh?

Just like before, I carried her on my back. It was faster this way.

“Old man, where is the girl?” Takana said.

“How about your bargain? Where is it?” I assumed he was the leader. He wasn’t an old man like what Takana said, he was a healthy-looking man.

Now, how should I approach this?

They were currently each on the opposite side of the river. They were talking about the exchange. The others were hiding behind trees as the bandits have crossbow and they didn’t have cover on the open space in the river. Takana was the one representing them. It was scary considering he didn’t have any armor with him.

“My bargain’s here.” Besides Takana was Sray, Chance’s Norji.

“I like what I’m seeing.”

After the rescue part, the plan would be to defeat the bandits and subdue them. Of course, we considered running instead of fighting but Fuyuki wasn’t having it. She didn’t want other people’s family or friends being abducted just like what happened to Risa. This was Fuyuki, so we had to comply. Additionally, there was a reward for capturing bandits in Brig, so that was a good bonus.

“You okay?”

“Shakna’s fine. But there’s one thing Shakna does not comprehend…”

“What is that?”

“Why didn’t they just run and leave Shakna? Shakna understand why you did it but them? Shakna wouldn’t have blamed them if they left me behind, that’s just how humans are. And if it was Shakna, Shakna would have definitely left them behind.” She said, as if it was the most obvious thing ever.

“You don’t really understand?”

“Nope.”

I sighed. “You might not notice it, but these people don’t mean you harm. In fact, it’s the opposite. They genuinely want to be friends with you. They’re here because they want you to be safe and sound.”

She quietly snickered. “Sometimes, you talk about the most outrageous thing…”

“Look at Takana,” I pointed at him. “He’s not wearing any armor. Those sharp arrows that are pointed at him could kill him instantly. You could say he’s risking his life for you.”

“Enough talking. Shakna doesn’t want to talk about this anymore.” She said coldly.

“All right. Stay here and hide behind a tree, we’ll just take care of them. After this fight, do me a favor and thank them. You’ll see what I’m talking about.”

I left and climbed a tree. Behind the bandits were trees and since Takana was looking this way, it would be easy for him to notice me.

I waved my hand. Notice me. Do you see my thumbs-up? Good, good.

“Since I’m a kind person, I’m giving you people ten seconds to run.” Takana said when they were in the middle of talking about the exchange.

“What are you talking about?”

“Time’s up.”

That wasn’t even five seconds.

“Hahaha!” Takana rode on Sray. “You fools are going to get what you deserve!”

With extraordinary speed, the Norji dashed towards the bandits. The bandit leader shouted “Fire!” but was met with great disappointment. Most of the arrows didn’t even come close to the mark. Although one hit, the scales of the Norji just shrugged it off, as if it was a fly.

Incidentally, the bags that were on the Norji didn’t have anything on it. They were with the girls.

Norji’s sure are amazing and frightening bunch. They’re running? Well, can’t let that happen.

I jumped down the tree and took my dagger out. The surprised faces of the bandits turned hostile as the Norji came close with her stamps sounding as if death was knocking on their doors.

Huh…I thought these bandits would have been braver.

The bandits simultaneously brandished their swords against me. Since there were too many things coming at me, I stepped back. The bandits hit each other’s body, causing them to fell one by one.

These people are the same as the ones guarding Risa before.

The sounds of stamps came to a halt. Sray and Takana were here. The Norji quietly roared, releasing a deep and intimidating sound. It was my first time hearing that and it scary enough to even scare me. Sray then stood up with her front legs, ready to bring down her deathly stamps on these mischievous outlaws.

“Die!”

Takana, we’re not killing them, remember?

“Please don’t hurt us!” it seemed our plan worked a little too well as the bandits surrendered. I was honestly expecting some nerve-wracking fights since this was humans we were talking about but thankfully, my expectations turned out to be a disappointment.

Since the fight was over, we gathered all the bandits and in total, there were ten of them.

“Let Risa kick them in the face!” if I didn’t hold her down, she would have totally done it.

“W-What are you going to do with us?” the bandit leader spoke up.

“We’re going to take you to the village and hand you over to the authorities. Seriously, do you people think about the inconveniences you have brought upon other people?” Fuyuki was angry, all right. But it was a cute angry rather than angry angry. You know what I was talking about.

“Please, no!” one of the bandits begged, “We have families to feed!” after that, the others begged, too.

“No! Although if you have a cat, I can take care of them for you while you’re in jail.”

“I don’t think they would have a cat if they’re starving, you idiot. Do you ever not think of cats?”

“Nope, they’re always in my mind.” Fuyuki looked at Merry.

“Are we really having this conversation right now?” I said.

“W-Well,” Kihana spoke up. “We could listen to them first…”

“I agree with her.” Chance said. “It wouldn’t hurt to spare a few minutes.”

“I guess so. So, what happened?”

“We—“

They weren’t bandits in the first place. They were farmers. The King had been taxing the poor a lot ever since he started the campaign to eradicate Ergaos of its witches. These farmers couldn’t handle it anymore, so they decided to hide. But it didn’t turn out well for them, they were still in the same spot, so to compensate, they decided to become faux bandits.

They had rusty swords and crude crossbows with them as a means to fend off wildlife attacking their farms and livelihood, so it wasn’t a problem to have. The problem was this was their first time working like this, they had been good people in the first place. Also, this was their very first raid.

Given by their actions earlier and their honest faces, I could say they were telling the truth, all right.

“Violence isn’t a solution to a problem…”

“We know. But our families were starving. We just couldn’t handle seeing them like that.”

“Now I feel bad for them.” Takana and Fuyuki said simultaneously.

“I did notice that the prices for things have escalated recently…”

“Chance, how long would it take to get to Prosk?”

“Probably tomorrow. Why?”

“I was thinking we could give these people our food since we’re nearby to the town, anyway.” It was honestly the only way I could think of to help them.

“I’d like to do that, too.” Merry said.

“Nice idea, Terrin!”

“I-I think that’s for the best…”

“Well, I could hold of eating much. It’s just one day.”

“No problem for me,” Chance said. “You people are the ones buying the food, anyway.”

It seemed everyone was in accord except for one little girl.

“Are you people seriously giving away your food to those who, moments ago, tried to kill you!?”

“Yup, water under the bridge.”

“Seriously?” she went quiet.

We told the bandits or farmers that we would be giving them our food. I didn’t know how many they were but hopefully, it would be of help.

“I hope you would find another ways to help your family. You guys were lucky it was who you targeted otherwise those other wagons looks like they have merciless guards.”

“We’re sorry. And thank you for this. We actually started farming but the crops wouldn’t be growing for a while, so we had to find other ways. These should help us at least.”

“Dude,” Takana said. “You’re literally in the forest and near a river. Why not just hunt some animals?”

"Well, we did but as you saw earlier, we’re not really good at it.” he chuckled. “But you’re right, we should try again. It’s better than hurting and being hurt by people.”

“Correct!” Fuyuki shouted. “Now, if you would give me your cat…”

“We don’t have a cat. I’m sorry.”

“What!?”

Everyone laughed. After giving them food, we left and headed for the next town.

“Terrin, Shakna would like you to draw the attention of everyone.”

“What for?”

“Just do it.”

“All right.” I called them out.

Risa bowed her head and reluctantly said, “T-T-Thank y-y-youuu for s-s-saving R-R-Risa…” we were all shocked. I actually thought she wouldn’t do it. Although it didn’t sounded thankful, at least it was a step towards her liking them.

Ah, what a weird day.