***

The rest of the loot from the bandits was pretty much unusable. What's more, the rifle I thought would come in handy as a spare weapon, turned out to be just a piece of junk too. When I tried it out, it just exploded, almost hitting me. I managed to survive thanks to Kristina, who rushed over immediately. She gave me a lecture, saying, "You idiot, don't use weapons that are not certified by the military!" and made me throw away the useless thing.

So, after this and that, we set out on our journey. Our destination was the bandits hideout. We didn't know what kind of danger awaited us there, but I figured I had no choice but to go. Although I was scared, I knew I had to go. Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to live with myself.

"Hmmm, this is the location marked on the map."

"Let's move on. The sooner we arrive, the better."

We continued riding our horses until nightfall. As expected, we arrived at the bandits hideout late in the evening. It was pitch dark outside.

"All right, let's go inside."

"Yes, please."

We entered the hideout to investigate with Kristina. Sebastian was left at the entrance to stay guard. It was a small cave. The bandits were sleeping comfortably in their beds. It was a quiet, peaceful scene.

"Uhm, should we really be doing this?" I whispered.

"They're sleeping. We can do whatever we want. They are lowly bandits anyway." Kristina answered.

"But, I'm not too sure. They look so defenceless. Aren't we intruding on them?"

"If they are asleep, then they won't notice us. Also, I think they might harm us if they wake up."

"I'm sorry, but I'm worried about them. I won't mind defending myself when attacked, but... Attacking defenceless people when they sleep is just wrong. I think it would make us no different from the bandits themselves."

"Don't worry. We're only going to investigate, so let's go ahead and check it out."

We stealthily approached the bandits. They slept soundly on their beds. We could hear their gentle breathing. We looked at each other silently. We were thinking the same thing. It was like they were inviting us to attack them. But, we didn't do it. Instead we just searched through their belongings.

We found several letters. After reading them, I understood why these guys were called bandits. These men treated women as slaves. They kidnapped them and sold them into slavery. Fortunately, we didn't find any captives in the cave.

We also found some money. All in all, it accounted to 20 goldens. Quite the sum of money.

"Sigh. Such a dirty money." I felt rather uncomfortable while pickpocketing it. But, leaving it to the bandits was no good.

After we finished searching the hideout, we returned to Sunnyrise. When we got close enough to the town to get a signal on my steamphone, I called the authorities. I talked to the sheriff and explained everything we learned from the bandits hideout. He said, "Oh, you've done well. Thank you for reporting it. We'll apprehend the bandits tomorrow morning. Please wait for a while longer." And hung up.

So, we waited for a while. Before long the sun rose. The next day was bright and sunny. Around noon, a group of riders came galloping towards us. They were from the sheriff office.

"Hurry! Hurry!" Kristina hurried us.

We went to meet them. Sheriff ordered us to stay silent and follow him. Once we reached the hideout, he stopped and hid in the bushes some distance away from the entrance to the cave, where there were two bandits standing guard. He then pulled out his gun and started shooting.

"Wha—!?" I said surprised. His sudden attack threw me off guard. I thought he was going to talk with them or something. And them apprehend them

"Fire!"

"Eek!"

One of the bandits fell down. He was shot dead instantly.

"W-wait a minute! You can't just—" I tried to argue with the sheriff, but...

"Shut up!"

"Guh, urgh..."

Before I could even finish my sentence, another bullet flew and the second bandit fall dead before he could do anything. After confirming that the guards were dead, he and his men moved in to arrest the rest hiding inside. We watched quietly from afar. I knew they were bandits and they did a lot of bad things, like robbing and selling slaves, but still...

"Ugh."

I knew I should stop thinking like that. I should stop being so naive. In reality, they weren't nice guys at all. They were just criminals. No matter how they acted, they deserved to be punished. This world was dangerous. People died every day. Those who lived had to be ready to kill others at any moment. I had to accept that.

"I have to accept that... Sniff..." I felt tears forming in my eyes.

"Ahh, Moon...are you're crying?" Kristina was shocked.

"I'm fine. Don't cry, Miss Moon." Sebastian added.

I wiped my tears with my sleeve. Then, I turned around to face the hideout. I wanted to apologize for being such a fool. I had been foolishly blinded by compassion. Thinking of those guys as human beings who were just trying to survive made me feel so guilty.

After a while, the remaining bandits surrendered. The sheriff and his men took them back to town. While we were left to our own devices.

"Are you okay, Miss Moon?" Kristina asked me.

"Yup. Sorry for crying like that."

"I understand. It's okay." She hugged me. "But, you don't have to feel guilty over such lowlifes. They're just ordinary scum. We shouldn't pity them."

"I know. But, I still felt so bad about killing them."

"Well, sometimes it's necessary to kill. If we didn't do that, we wouldn't be able to live. Besides, you aren't responsible for the actions of others. You have to learn to think of yourself first."

"I know." I nodded.

It wasn't easy to kill someone. Even though I was a man, I couldn't bring myself to kill people so easily. I had killed before, but I was still not used to this.

I smiled wanly and wiped my tears.

Kristina stared at me with concern. "Moon, are you feeling unwell?"

"Nah, I'm fine. Just tired."

She patted my head. "You don't need to force yourself to smile. You don't have to put on an act. You don't need to pretend to be strong. Mother always said, that it's sometimes okay to be weak. It's okay to cry. You don't have to try to be tough. Crying is natural. So, please don't hold back your feelings. Let it out."

I felt embarrassed. I wanted to cover my face. It was embarrassing to show weakness to Kristina and Sebastian, but I couldn't help it. My body was shaking.

"Miss Kristina... Sniff... even though you are a noble lady, but you seem so mature. Your words helped me calm down. Thank you."

"That's because I'm older than you. I've known since I was young that I was destined to become a someone important. That's why I've trained hard to be a great person someday."

"Sniff... I'm glad. You are beautiful and smart. And you are honest and kind. I admire you."

"Thank you." Kristina smiled shyly. Then, she realised what she did. "T-that's not it! I'm definitely not happy about your compliments! Not at all!"

"Ehehe." I giggled hearing her response.

***

Our journey continued for quite a while after that. After some time, we saw a river. There was a bridge across the river. On the other side of the bridge, we could see a contingent of soldiers. There were numerous soldiers marching through the bridge. One soldier stepped forward and raised his hand.

"Stop right there!"

"What!? What's going on?" I asked confused.

The man looked at me with stern inquiring look. He seemed to be somewhat important. Maybe a Lieutenant. “Who are you? Why are you here?" he asked, while the other soldiers started to surround us.

"I'm Moon, I'm just a simple gunslinger and those are my companions. Miss Kristina and her butler Sebastian. Oh, and this one is Donkey. " I pointed at the horse under me.

He nodded.

"You can't go any further. This area is restricted. It can be accessed by military personnel only. You will have to turn back." he told us with cold voice.

"Wait, I need to cross the river. I'm escorting those two home, so we can't just leave here."

"This place is dangerous. Stay away from it. You'll get caught up in the fighting between the rebels group 'Rose Alliance' and the army. Or, maybe you'll get killed by a stray bullet. Do you really want to risk your life that badly? Please, give up now."

"But,..." I tried to argue.

"You can't pass. You're intruding on official military matters. If you refuse to listen to my orders, I'll have to arrest you."

I sighed. It was hopeless. The guy was clearly a jerk. I couldn't stand him. I wanted to punch him. It was a little frustrating, but we had no choice and give up here.

I turned to Kristina and Sebastian. "Sorry, I'm afraid we can't go any further."

"Ugh, fine. We'll turn back and go around." Kristina agreed reluctantly. "Those military men are so annoying. They are always so stubborn. I wish they would stop interfering with people like us."

"Please don't get angry at them, Lady Kristina. They are just doing their job. They are not bad people" Sebastian comforted her.

"I know, but they are so rude and arrogant. They always treat us like idiots. Ugh, I hate them. They are so irritating."

I nodded. Sometimes they were really annoying.

We rode our horses away from the military group. We travelled along the river looking for another bridge, that was not blocked by the army. We eventually found another bridge. On the other side, we saw a small village. It was a quiet, peaceful place. There were fields filled with crops, and houses built on stilts. Everyone was busy working.

"Hey, hey! Are you lost? Have you strayed into enemy territory? You better turn back quickly. If you keep going, you'll end up getting killed." A farmer approached us. He was holding a pitchfork.

"No, we are not lost. We are just simple travellers heading home."

"Travelers eh? Where are you headed?"

"Well I'm in the middle of escorting those two people to their home, south-west from here. Their house is in that direction." I pointed in the direction of the setting sun.

"Oh yeah? I see. Well, if you go straight ahead from here, you should be able to reach that direction." He paused. "Hm? Hey, you got a map?"

"Of course. Though it's a bit old" I pulled out my steamphone to let him see the map.

"Wow, nice. Is that a steamphone? Ahh, I see. Steamphones are very expensive piece of equipment. How much did it cost?"

"Are they? I don't really know, I got it as a gift from someone else."

"A gift huh? From whom?"

"Um, well... it was a man who gave me this steamphone. He said I was so beautiful that he wanted to always stay in touch with me. He also said that he wanted to spend the rest of his live with me. I didn't really know why would he want to spend the rest of his live with me, but nevertheless I had to refuse him, as I still had a lot of things to do in my live. Actually, I don't even know his name. After that I went away from the town he was staying and I lost the signal in the steamphone, so I completely forgot about him. I wonder what he is up to now."

"Huh, interesting story. Anyway, before you go, could you help me with something? We have a cow that's gone missing. Could you help me look for it? If you find it, I'll reward you with 2 goldens. It's really important to me."

"Sure, I'll help you search for it." I accepted his request.

The farmer led us to the field where he spotted the cow last time. It was nowhere to be seen now. We investigated the place for any clues. However, we didn't find anything.

"Do you have any idea where the cow might have gone?" I asked.

"Not really. It's possible that the cow wandered off somewhere and died. It happens sometimes when cows get separated. If that happened, then we'd need to bury it. Otherwise, it will come back to haunt us later."

"Then how do we find it?"

"If you have a tracking skills, then you can follow its trail. But, I don't think anyone in this village has such skill."

"I don't either. I guess we'll have to ask around."

We went around the village and asked the other villagers about the missing cow. Most of them thought that it must have wandered off or been eaten by a beast. No one knew where it went. Some of them suggested that we check the forest near the village, but most of them were scared of the beast that lived there.

After some time, we decided to go to the forest. As we walked, I suddenly stopped dead. "What's wrong?" Kristina asked me."

"There's a weird smell."

Sebastian sniffed. "Smells like rotting flesh to me."

I nodded. "It smells like rotting meat. Is it the cow we are looking for?"

"Maybe we should turn back. It could be dangerous." Kristina asked with a trembling voice.

I shook my head. "No, we can't turn back. We can't disappoint the farmer. He is counting on us. Besides, we need to get rid of this stench."

We continued walking through the forest. It was dark and scary, but somehow we managed to make it through without falling down. Once we reached the other side, we saw a clearing. There were several corpses scattered around the area. There were bodies everywhere.

"Ah, this is awful." Sebastian murmured.

"They are all mutilated. Looks like someone chopped them apart," Kristina whispered.

"What happened here?" I wondered.

"It looks like an ambush. All of them are wearing leather armour, and they have bows and arrows. And there are several dead soldiers too. This is such a mess. Oh, there it is, the missing cow. It's over there." Kristina pointed at the ground.

On the ground lay a large carcass. It was the body of the cow. It had a wound on its stomach.

"Looks like the cow got snatched by a bunch of bandits. That means it probably fell into their hands. Then they were attacked, by the soldiers, and killed each other." I guessed.

"So, the cow got killed by the bandits, and then the bandits and soldiers fought each other, and both sides got killed in the process. Now it's just a pile of corpses lying around. So sad." Kristina said sadly.

"Yeah, I feel bad for the soldiers, but the bandits brought this upon themselves instead. They came to steal the cow, so they deserved what they got." Sebastian added. "And look at their clothes, there's a strange blue rose sewn on them. Are they the ones that Lieutenant talked about earlier?"

"Maybe. Well, let's report it to the farmer. He is probably getting worried sick right now." I told them.

We returned to the farmer from before. He was waiting for us outside. He was standing next to the door, nervously fidgeting with his pitchfork.

"So how is it? Did you find my Bethy?" he asked us with hope in his eyes.

"Yes, we found her. I'm sorry to say this, but she was killed by the bandits though. They stole her. You need to prepare yourself for grief." I told him with trembling words.

He paled and looked shocked. "Oh, poor thing. She was such a sweet girl. She loved grass so much and liked to chew on it. I was hoping that she wouldn't die. I'm glad that she didn't suffer much." He sobbed quietly.

Seeing his miserable figure, I hugged him tightly. "You're welcome. Don't cry. Everything will be alright now."

"Thank you. Thank you so much." He wiped tears from his face. "She was my everything. I can't believe that she's gone. I'm so heartbroken."

"Let's mourn her together, okay?" I consoled him.

After some time, we finally left the village. The farmer was no longer crying. He paid us as promised even though I said he didn't have to.

***

"Where are we going now?" Kristina asked me.

"To your home. I promised you I'd take you home, remember?"

"Yay! I'm so happy!" Kristina cheered.

We rode our horses towards the sunset along the river. Along the way, we saw a huge mountain. It was very tall.

"That's Mount Hammal. It's pretty big, isn't it? I've heard stories that beasts and bandits living in the mountain sometimes attack villages nearby. Even the regular army can't beat them."

"Really? I've never heard that." Kristina said with confusion.

"I guess that's because it's so far away from the border and not many people venture inside. Only adventurous types like explorers and treasure hunters dare to enter. But I guess that doesn't matter anymore. I mean, after all it's just a legend."

As we crossed the bridge, we saw a lone girl squatting next to the stream. Her long hair flowed freely down her back. She wore a grey trousers and brown boots. On her waist hung a small gun. A backpack sat beside her. It seemed like two other people were aimed their guns at her. Both of them had simple clothes and simple pistols.

"Whoa, what's happening?" I asked.

"I don't know. But it seems like trouble. Should we help the young lady?" Sebastian asked.

"I don't know. Let's watch first." I said.

But before we could even move, one of the men kicked the girl in the stomach. She flew forward and hit the ground hard. When she stood up again, blood dripped from her mouth. She coughed and spat out more blood.

"Those ruffians! What do they think they are doing? I'll kill them!" Kristina shouted beside me.

The two men seemed to hear Kristina's outbreak and turned their heads at us. One of them aimed his gun and fired at us.

"Kyaa!"

Kristina immediately jumped onto Sebastian. I held her tight while trying to evade the bullet.

"Ugh!" I felt sharp pain on my shoulder.

"Moon! Moon! Are you ok?!" Kristina asked me with worry.

"I'm fine. Just a scratch." I replied.

The next bullet grazed past my ear. It was close enough that I could feel the wind blowing against my skin. I grabbed the handkerchief from my pocket and pressed it on my bleeding shoulder.

I slowly raised my head to see the faces of the attackers. The girl they were harassing was lying there unconscious, I hoped she just fainted. Beside her stood the two guys who shot at us.

"Shit, the bitch got lucky." One of them said. "She only got scratched by these damn bullets. Look, the bitch isn't even injured that much." He sneered.

I let go of Kristina and aimed at the men. "Leave the girl alone." I warned them.

"Shut up, kid. We aren't hurting her. Right, we're just playing around with her." He mocked me. "Soon you will join her and become our plaything too. Prepare yourself bitch!"

"You filthy bandit!" Kristina yelled. "How dare you mock my friend!"

"Who's the one that's mocking everyone else? Aren't you a little too sensitive? Didn't you learn anything from your mother?" He laughed.

I clenched my teeth. "Mommy... Shut up!" I screamed.

He took aim at me. "Just try it, punk." He snarled. But I was faster. I shoot at him with my rifle. The bullet hit him in the stomach. His body fell to the ground. But he was still alive.

"Ack!" he gasped.

"Curse you, you ruffian!" Kristina shouted. She swung her fists.

"Don't worry my Lady. I will protect you!" In the meantime, Sebastian took aim with his gun and fired. He tried to shoot the lying man, unfortunately the bullet missed.

"Don't meddle into this old man!"

The other man fired his gun at Sebastian. He dodged the bullet, but he wasn't fast enough to dodge the second one. He stumbled and fell down.

"Damn it!" He cursed.

"Sebastian!" Me and Kristina cried.

"Hang on, I'm going to protect you, Lady Kristina!" He crawled towards us. He was bleeding heavily from his chest.

"Don't move Kristina, please!" I stopped Kristina from running towards Sebastian, who was still crawling towards us and shooting at the two men. Unfortunately, all of the bullets missed their targets.

Our enemies fired at us again, but we managed to dodge them. I even managed to shoot the other man back, hitting him in the left arm.

"Ugh, dammit! Damn it, why did I get hit by a fucking amateur?" He cursed.

"Stop moving, dumbass! Stop movin!" The other guy yelled.

I aimed again and fired. The lying man died. Blood oozed out of his head.

"Fuck, you little! Why is this happening? We was just having fun with that girl here, and now we are fucked up." the other man complained.

"Shut up, you have no right to complain. You started this." I told him.

I clenched my teeth. "Enough talk, you piece of... Get ready to die!" I pointed my gun at him.

"I won't die so easily." He said. He fired at me. I felt pain in my leg. I squeezed the rifle tighter.

"Moon?! Did the bullet hit you?!" I heard Kristina's voice.

"It hit my thigh. Ugh..." I moaned.

"Oh dear, you should get it treated quickly." Kristina was trying to panic. "And Sebastian is still bleeding! What should I do? Those ruffians! I will make you pay!"

"Kristina, don't...!" I tried to stop her, but Kristina evaded my hands and charged at the enemy with only her fists.

"Hah! I'll kill you!" She yelled.

"Dammit, hold on!" I ordered her, but she didn't listen. She started to beat the men with her fists clumsily.

"Ugh, fuck you! Die you bastard!" the man yelled. "Get off me!"

"Shut up, shut up!"

While Kristina was distracting the man, I managed to come over to them and swung my rifle at him. That made him lose balance and fall backwards. Then I aimed my rifle at him.

"Ack!" He screamed. "No, please don't!" he pleaded.

"I'm sorry." I squeezed my eyes, that were already wet from tears.

I couldn't help it, he was too dangerous. I shot him dead.

My legs gave out underneath me. I fell to the ground. My vision blurred. All I could see was red. Red and black.

***