Chapter 12 - Mr. Wick

Present Day - Loncouche Forest Interior - Early Morning

Simon grunted slightly after ripping one of the nearby beasts in half with his bare hands. The shabby sword that was given to him by Kuritn barely managed to survive cutting one of the charging wolves' legs off before shattering to pieces from the strain. Adimitly, that was probably due to Simon's less than gentle manner of handling the blade rather than its construction.

"So, That makes what, 30-40 of these?" Simon mutters while taking a breath and looking around the pile of bodies. Surrounding him were the remains of some 40 dire wolves that had attacked him shortly after he entered the forest, most likely having been drawn to him by the scent of blood wafting off of his armor.

"Still..." Simon let out a frustrated kick shattering the chest of the largest wolf before looking down at his bleeding arm. One of the alpha's fangs had managed to slip between his armor and actually punctured his skin, much to his surprise. He quickly removed his gauntlet and watched as the puncture wound closed before his eyes, thankful that his regeneration was still working properly.

I wasn't expecting one of these to actually hurt me. I'll need to be careful from now on. Something tells me that these wolves aren't the most dangerous thing in this forest.

Simon shakes his head before taking out the small sack of powder, analyzing its contents against several nearby herbs. This one, this one, this one, and...this one? No, its composition is similar but not exactly what I'm looking for. Simon carefully scoops up several herbs with his hands, making sure to collect the dirt surrounding the roots before placing them each into a small burlap sack hanging from his waist.

Crunch.

His movements cease suddenly as his senses went into overdrive. Footsteps. Simon quickly turned his head towards the sound point of origin before ducking behind a nearby tree to observe the situation.

"I knew I heard something from around here..." a low voice said from just beyond the nearby foliage.

Bandits?

"Aww, shut up, Yenrik. There ant nothing this far out here aside from them dam wolves, let's get outta here and head back base before one of them bastards starts lookin at us like we're dinner." a scrawny man replied as the trio of men entered into the clearing. He was wearing a set of dirtied light armor while cradling a short bow close to his chest. A muscular elderly man covered in thick tribal tattoos stood beside him, carrying an iron hatchet in each hand. His chest was bare as was the rest of his body except for a pair of thick furred boots and a kilt-like skirt wrapped around his waist. Most likely the leader.

A third man followed behind them clad in the same leather armor as the first one. Oddly enough he was holding a rather large shield with a dagger strapped to his waist and hid closely behind the larger man.

"Sush! Are ye tryin to draw attention to us- What in the divines happened here?!" Two of the men cautiously approached the decimated remains of the silverback wolves while the third man with a shield starts audibly shivering.

"W-We oughta head back and report this..." one of the men whispers quietly, receiving only a nod from the other two men as a reply. The trio proceeds to back up slowly from the pile before beginning a mad dash through the woods.

Well, This makes my job easier.

Simon quietly kicked off his boots before swiftly heading after the fleeing bandits. Running through the woods barefoot is quieter, after all. He followed the group for what must have been several kilometers deeper and deeper into the woods before falling back as the trio begin to climb a hill. The sounds of clocking pans and rowdy laughter echoed through the forest.

It's close.

Picking up two nearby rocks from the ground Simon takes aim and tosses them toward the men. Both rocks strike true, shattering the spine of both men at the base of their neck. Not a sound escaped their lips as Yenrik turned around wondering why his companions had stopped. The man tried to block Simon as he approached only to remember that he had abandoned his shield sometime earlier while running through the forest. With a swift motion, Simon retreived the man's dagger from his belt and neatly crushed his spine with the pommel, not wanting to make a mess.

Armour only helps if you get hit where you have it, after all. Not that it would have mattered much anyway.

Simon stealthily approached the other two paralyzed men and quietly buried their bodies inside the roots of a nearby tree. Some...creative rearrangement was necessary to fit all three of the men inside neatly. Nearly twenty minutes later Simon stood up satisfied with his disposal before military climbing up the nearby hill.

Beneath the hill, nestled in a quaint little valley, a large complex stood. An unfamiliar flag was flying from the top of the largest tent in the center of the encampment.

Bandits don't use flags. Much less elaborate ones. Simon made a quick mental note of the flag's design to ask either Kuro or Kuritn about later. Inside the camp, roughly ninety or so individuals dressed as bandits could be seen walking around. In contrast, thirty others were dressed in uniformed armor with house sigils clearly on display. Simon's vision zoomed in on a table surrounded by a group of men in better equipment and identified what appeared to be a map of the surrounding area.

Satisfied with his mental image of the map, he shifted his attention to the men loudly arguing around the table. Each of them had the same symbol as the flag flying overhead painted onto their left shoulder while a sigil that likely represented a company or perhaps noble house sat on their right. Simon closed his eyes for a moment and contemplated the situation.

The Kingdom is currently most likely trying to exterminate the beastmen villages without expending their own resources. However, this has been going on for decades at this point. Direct intervention from the Kingdom doesn't make sense at this point. Simon opened his eyes and looked closely at the symbol on the flag. If that's not the Kingdom's flag then it's most likely the local Baron's flag. He's probably - Simon's eyes dart to the side as a familiar shade of crimson fur was tossed out from the largest tent.

Time slows to a crawl around him as his blood began pumping faster. His vision quickly zooms in on the woman. She's been beaten severely. Both of her eyes were swollen shut, while her nose and jaw appears to have been broken in several places, along with one of her legs being bent at an odd angle. Not a spec of clothing was left on the woman, exposing her battered nethers to several men who merely shook their heads and exchanged coins. Simon's heart stopped as the woman's tail was quickly severed by one of the nearby men before being heald up like some kind of twisted trophy. His teeth nearly shattered as his gauntlets screamed out in agony, buckling under the pressure he was unconsciously exerting.

A large man emerged from the tent barking something at two nearby men while fiddling with his armor. Simon watched as the two men pick up the broken woman by her arms and legs. Another man appears with a red hot piece of iron and cauterized the wound on the woman's back where her tail used to be. A banshee-like wale echoed throughout the forest before one of the guards hit her in the head to quieten her. With a nod, the two guards haul her off into the forest as Simon quietly takes off after them.

Loncouche Forest Interior - Midday

"Aight. This should be good enough. Let's get outta here before one of them damn wolves shows up and tries to eat us too."

"Aye, Still, I was looking forward to my turn with her again. Did the commander really have to go and break her already? We've only had a chance with her for two cycles."

The other man shakes his head before replying, "Seriously, that's what you're mad about? Do you have any idea how much she could have sold for? Whatever. Just don't talk about it, nothing we can do about it now."

The two men make their way back to camp, grumbling about various goings-on in the camp.

Simon watches from a nearby tree before approaching the woman after the two men had left, making sure to burn their faces into his mind.

{Röntgen Level: 1}

Simon's eyes flash softly, his face contorting into a frown while shaking his head. He quietly kneels down before the woman and gently strokes her mattered hair. "I'm sorry," he mutters softly.

The woman's eyes manage to open slightly as she tries to speak while reaching out a weak hand.

Simon gently takes the woman's hand, rubbing his thumb across her skin.

"Is your daughter's name Kayae?" Simon says, speaking softly.

The woman's crimson eyes open slightly wider at the sound of Kayae's name, along with a weak flutter from her ears.

"She's safely back in the village with Kuro. Knowing her, she is probably snooping around the outside of his house now demanding to know where I am." He says with a smile while giving the woman's hand a light squeeze.

The woman's eyes close after hearing the news, tears welling at the corners of her eyes, as a broken smile forms across her battered face.

Scooping up the woman's body, Simon brings her close to his chest and continues speaking to the dying woman about the recent events in the village, selectively choosing to omit the bandit's grim fate and instead focusing on Kayae's constant light-hearted antics.

By the time the duo managed to reach the edge of the forest, the sun has set, and it's started to rain. Simon looked down at the cold body of Kayae's mother in his arms and kisses her forehead.

"I couldn't save you, but I will bring you home."

Kuro's Village - Midnight

Kuro blows out the candle in his room and gives one last look out the window at the storming sky. Shaking his head with a sigh, the old man made his way over to his rickety bed. His head had barely hit the pillow by the time he heard a soft knocking sound coming from beneath the pitter-patter of the rain.

Grumbling quietly at being disturbed at this time of night, Kuro begrudgingly climbed out of bed and opened the door. Only to collapse on his knees at the scene in front of him, his breath completely turning to frost.

"Kuro. I'm going to be gone for a few days. Make sure she gets a proper burial. Get her cleaned up and clothed before Kayae sees her. No child should ever have to see this."

Simon gently laid the woman's body down on the nearby bed and quietly exited the room.

Under the dim light provided by the moon, Kuro could swear he saw tears in the man's eyes, along with a dark smoldering aura of rage as he disappeared into the night.