CHAPTER 40: HANDLING THE BANDITS

Cecilia stood at the side of a chair she herself crafted a long time ago. It was a [red] tier chair that added some bonus to Charisma checks of whoever was sitting on it. She remembered leaving it to the then-mayor of the city after she built the house.

At the other side of the chair, chained to it, was a cute fox girl that shouldn’t be more than seventeen. She was tied down, battered, and bruised. It was clear that she had fought hard against her imprisonment.

In front of her, two men had just been fighting. Well, ’fighting’ didn’t really describe what was happening, because the whole thing was pretty one-sided. She intervened because she saw the panic in the girl’s face.

"Liberation."

She used a technique to free the girl, then walked to the big man, who looked like he was in his thirties and had been sitting on her chair before.

"May I assume that you are the chief here?"

"What did you just do, witch? And yes, I’m the boss here."

The man turned to her, stepping to the side so as not to leave his back to Dorfin. His eyes were darting around the camp, looking for a sword that was easy for him to grab now.

Meanwhile, Dorfin saw the situation change, noticed that Lyska was free, and ran towards her. The other bandits took out their weapons, but several of them were already too drunk to pose a threat.

Not that they would pose a threat even if they weren’t, though.

"I see... Do you have a fetish for tying up girls? You gave me quite the bondage back there. And I HATE bondage. But that is nothing compared to what you did with Marya. You are disgusting."

She activated a technique called Pressure, which, with her Charisma stat and her Intimidation skill level, was absolutely terrifying to anyone with less than half her level.

Which meant one would have to be level 1,600 just to avoid becoming incapacitated by fear while looking at her. And the bandit with the highest level, by far, was Raund, who was a mere level 338.

"I-I’m sorry. Please... I’m sorry... Have mercy... You are right; I am a disgusting man, a lowly bastard. Please, I’m sorry..."

"Now you plead for mercy, worm? Tell me, was it you who summoned the Verdant Calamity?"

"Y-yes! Yes! It was me. It was a mistake; I see it now. I’m so very sorry..."

Raund was crying and groveling on the ground, and a brown and fetid substance tainted his pants.

"How utterly disgusting. You all, everyone, gather here around your chief. No, not you two little doves. You stay there.

"Yes, Ma’am!"

The bandits complied immediately, gathering around Chief Raund, except for Dorfin and Lyska.

"Lysara eireneth, thyra hushai.

"

("Peaceful binding, gate of silence.")

As the Pressure technique is still active, the whispered invocation sounds ominous and terrifying. After she chants it, ethereal ribbons of pale light, shimmering like threads of spun moonlight, erupt from the ground and wrap around the bandits’ limbs.

"Good. Now all the ugliness is gathered in one place, with the stench it deserves. I only wish I had some air spells that affect smelling. I mourn for the ones who will have to clean this plaza later."

Then she turned towards the couple she rescued.

The two flinched, and their legs faltered, making both fall to the ground.

"Oops. I’m sorry, I forgot to turn that off... Okay, now it isn’t active anymore. I’m sorry for that."

((At least these two didn’t had some side effects... I’ve never thought that, in real life, Pressure could provoke that physiological reaction.))

She walked towards the chair that Raund had been using earlier and sat down. Her own legs were beginning to falter because of the immense effort she had made when dealing with the Calamity.

"You two, please don’t just stand there. Take two chairs and sit near me. It’s weird to be the only one sitting, and you two seem more agreeable than the rest of the bunch. I need you to tell me exactly what happened."

:::

Being an orphan is not easy, and that reality tends to be even harsher in fantasy worlds than it is in our own world.

And that was a reality that both Dorfin and Lyska shared. They were born and grew up in Elenwacht’s slums and survived through sheer willpower and the occasional petty theft.

Soon, he found himself the leader of a small gang of orphans. Just a band of people who gathered together in an effort to survive a cruel reality.

But survival is hard, and some are not cut out for it. Soon, their group’s numbers dwindled, and then they got tangled into a mess between two bigger gangs. That’s when they got roped into Raund’s group.

Raund used a mix of promises and threats to get them to do the dirty work. The last straw was the hunting to rouse the ’spirit of the forest,’ the Verdant Calamity. In that job, everyone else in their group died. The two were the only survivors.

"I see... So you two participated in the summoning thing, but it wasn’t a willing participation. And the guy was the one who found me and tied me up, but it was because the girl was under threat. Hmmm... What do you think, Mayor Otmar?"

The mayor arrived with another squad of knights midway during the telling of the story and heard all about the participation in the plot to raid the village. He was the law in the village, and the knights would heed his decision, as was how things worked in Drakestadt.

"Hm... And you intervened before the guy was killed by the chief of bandits... Raum, was it? Raund? Whatever, and you rescued the girl, who was tied to that chair. Is that right?"

"Yes, that is right. I also witnessed his talk with the chief, so I can vouch for the truth about his status in the group and the threat both were under."

The mayor thought about it for some time, then Marya, who was listening nearby, butted in.

"What if they lived with us in the village? They seem strong and capable. I bet that they could help us all a lot."

Cecilia smiled, feeling proud of the girl for some reason, and petted her head. Meanwhile, the face of the mayor lighted up, and he nodded twice, lost in thought, before speaking.

"It’s a good idea. You two, your crimes can’t be left unpunished, but the fact that you were under threat also cannot be simply dismissed. With that in mind, I decree that your punishment will be to work in the village for six months.

We will obviously provide you with lodging and food, and you will be paid half of a normal wage. The other half will be held as compensation for the damages that occurred today."

He looked at the captain of the knights, who was at his side. The captain nodded.

"It’s all good. And the others?"

"Those I leave in your hands."

"Okay, then. We will ask for a basement where we may imprison them while we wait for the prisoner carriages to arrive from Elenwacht."

That last phrase brought a smile to Cecilia’s face, for some reason.