The Regression Of A Grand Mercenary

The vice elder explained.

Two days ago, just as we had left the city in the afternoon, an invasion arrived at the village led by a group of bandits.

It was a typical raid meant to gather resources from villages such as ours. And being that our village was raided during this season only means that the bandits must have run out of food. Our village was known to be capable of surviving the winter even if it went on for another season we had that large of a supply for our own survival.

With its rich land producing rich foods, our village wasn’t worried with the resources we gathered throughout the harvest season…

And it’s because of this that it was common to be prepared for any sort of raid we would encounter from the bandits.

And normally, the bandits that would come by our village would only number to be around a dozen at most, but after hearing what the vice elder has said, the bandits that came to raid our food supply went over fifty in numbers alone. We couldn’t survive it.

They took everything they could from the village. And what’s more, they took the women and children as well.

In their attempt to try and protect the village, many were hurt in the process. And one of the people who were seriously injured was none other than the Village elder himself. That explains why the Vice Elder was the one to approach me instead.

And it was clear why they approached me.

“…How is the Elder’s condition?” I asked while preparing my things.

“…The Elder is in a terrible state. Those bandits were able to cut off one of his arms to make an example out of him and since then, he is being treated at the church. They say that the chances of him living through this is slim…but still, he is perservering.”

“Damn…And the women? How many were taken?”

“…Over twenty of them were taken away. They said that they’ll come back for the rest…they weren’t able to get all of our supplies, so they warned us that they’ll return, and if we were to call out for help from anyone, they’ll kill the women and children. Once they get all the supplies, they promised us that they would release half of the women.”

“So they took them as hostages; that’s very typical of bandits.”

“Yes…we couldn’t do anything otherwise. Our hands were tied.”

“When did they say that they would return for the other supplies?”

“Tomorrow…but I’m not sure that they will be willing to release the women just because of a promise.”

“Of course they won’t. To them, women are used only to be raped and sold as slaves…they don’t intend to do anything but destroy everything that is here in the village. Once they take every supply that we have, they will start to burn our homes. That’s how those bastards live their lives.” having said my piece, the vice elder looked shooked by this.

“…I’m sorry that we are all asking this of you, but please…you are the only one capable of saving them.” he said as he knelled before me in a pleading form.

“…It’s okay, before the sun rises back up to the sky, I’ll return with the women and children…and those bandits will be left with their heads put on spikes. I’ll make an example out of all of them.”

As I said this, I put on the armor that was in our shop and my father’s sword by my side.

After I was told of the situation, they left me alone to prepare my things.

There wasn’t a lot that I would prepare…only the necessary things. In fact, for a group as weak as bandits, I only really need my father’s sword…but I could never be too careful.

“…”

…

I’m worried…and I’m mad at myself.

Things would have gone worse…it would have been much worse just as how it happened in my first life. I wasn’t here to protect them…to protect the village.

“…Khk…damn bandits!” having hit my fist down on the counter of the shop out of anger, all of a sudden, someone entered the shop. I could hear the squeaky hinges sound off as the door starts to close again.

When I turned around, I saw that it was Evelyn.

“…You should be in your home. It’s much safer there.” I said as I turned back to the counter while putting on the left gauntlet of my armor.

“Thill…there’s something I have to tell you.” she said as her voice didn’t sound like someone in fear. She sounded guilty instead.

“…What is it?”

“My household…we could have done more to protect the village from the raid. I had a lot of ways to prepare against a scenario like this…but right as we received the call that the bandits were arriving, all of a sudden, our home was suddenly enveloped in a barrier.”

“…What?”

“I don’t know who caused it, but it made it impossible for us to aid the villagers. The barrier kept us inside while the villagers were panicking outside our walls. Desmond and I tried all sorts of ways to break the barrier, but we couldn’t…it was too strong. Even our guards were incapable of shattering the barrier.”

“Barriers are only made through a Mage’s skill, so it just means that a mage is possibly a part of the group of bandits. Its not that rare of a sight.” I said.

“I know that, but still…it was strange for them to encase us inside our own home. I couldn’t understand why. The barrier lasted for hours and I couldn’t do anything but watch as they pillage each house.” she said.

“It’s fine, you don’t have to be guilty about this. You don’t have any experience with dealing with bandits, but I do. I know exactly why they closed a barrier around your home.”

“Why?”

“To keep the stronghold inside. Knowing your family’s reputation, they probably placed a few guards around your domain to keep it safe. And with your history with trouble, they must have hired strong, reliable forces to keep you safe.”

“Y-yes, my father was able to bring a dozen guards to protect the domain. Half of which have awakened their cores to the first stage, while the other half are skilled fighters.”

“…Bandits don’t want to face off against a possible threat, so they close off your home from the rest of the village. This made it easier for them to raid the village against a few villagers who barely know how to fight. To do that, all they need is to hire a mage who is capable of using the most basic spell of barriers. So you have nothing to blame yourself for because of this…everything is in the fault of those bandits.”

I said as I turned around and faced her with a stoic expression.

In that silent moment, she reached out her hand to caress my face and she looked saddened.

“…Thill, if that was the case, why does it look like your blaming yourself for all of this? You look…guilty.”

“I’m just mad. This shouldn’t have been how we meet each other again after a long time of being apart…I really wanted to surprise you…but instead, this happens.”

“Right, you promised me a night I wouldn’t forget…I would give myself to you, and you would give yourself to me…and we would take each other…it would have been romantic.”

“…”

“But it’s okay…you can make it up to me. Kill all of those bandits for me, I hate them as much as you do…so promise me to slaughter them like pigs.” she said as she tries to comfort me.

“…I promise I will.” having heard her words, I grabbed her slender hand and kissed it with an expression of both love and hate.

Hate for the bandits, and love for her…

***

Out in the middle of the forest, a number of around fifty bandits were found celebrating the haul they gathered from the village. With this many supplies, they didn’t have to worry again until the winter season ends. So starting today, they would live like royals.

Eating, Feasting, and using the women…everything was made through their efforts.

As bad as it sounds, this was how the world worked for them. To them, they live each day like it was their last…and genuinely put, it was their last day.

In the center of it all, one man stood with a powerful gaze. His smile was crooked, his teeth was as yellow as piss and the evil in his eyes were as bloodshot as the blood coursing through his veins.

A man in his late fifties…a man who gorged himself in any sort of delicacy he could reach his arm out. Food, power, women…anything that would catch his eye, he would take.

His name was Warden. A man who in all his efforts, was able to develop his core all up to the third stage through the thirty years his lived as a bandit. Although this sort of power may seem small to any other adventurer or mercenary, Warden has done more trouble to the villages he’s raided than any sort of corrupted royal you would find in an estate.

With a bounty of over a hundred gold for his head, many have come to seek him and take his life, but due to his experiences, he was able to escape many powerful men. He trusted his gut more than his own men, so each action he took was under a meticulous judgement that gave him the name, the Branded Gut.

A name made to show his keen instinct in survival.

***

As the bandits cheered while drinking booze and eating the harvest, Warden was in the center of it all, glaring at the women and children who were caged and tied to the side.

“Hmm…Its been two days, we should probably start our usual tradition.” he said as he smiled crookedly.

“Oohh!” the bandits cheered as they heard this being said by their leader.

This only meant one thing in their sort of tradition.

After every capture of women they would get from the villages, they would let them be put on the center of the camp and the tradition of lustful nights would begin.

With the use of a certain aphrodisiac potion mixed into the water, it would be then poured to the women, and from there the potion will take effect almost immediately. With the use of the potion being poured on the poor women, it would cause them to be unable to control their own lust towards the men, whoever it may be.

And from this, the old leader, Warden, would choose his partner for the night. With no disagreement from the women because of the potion, the nights would last for hours…

And in the end, some women don’t survive the night due to exhaustion.

Not being fed for two days makes them weak, and being abused for nights on end would lead to their deaths almost all the time.

It was a horrible tradtion for the victims…

Knowing this, the fifty bandits smiled like goblins from how ugly this tradition was. It was sinful…a clear ticket to hell.

So, as the decision was made by their leader, the barrels of water were then filled and it was then mixed with the potion. From there, the women were dragged to the center…

Huddled and afraid, some women started to pray for a miracle, some cried and others hid over the bodies of the other women trying to protect the fearful.

But it was pointless.

With the bonfire lighting up and being fanned, the flames went over the trees and the bandits, they started to cheer and howl like animals.

“Let it begin!” said Warden.

And from his command, four men carried two barrels and poured them to the women.

At that moment, all of the women closed their eyes at what was about to happen. The water was quickly falling to their heads…yet right as it was about to touch even a single cell of their skin, a huge gust of wind arrived out of nowhere and it blew the waters far from the women and instead, it was directed down to the large bonfire.

Almost immediately, everything turned dark.

What only lit up the camp were a few torches and one small bonfire by the leader’s side.

Curious, the bandits thought that maybe it was just a coincidence.

But all of a sudden, they started to hear clear heavy metal footsteps from one side of the forest.

*Thuk!*

Heavy footsteps that one can’t mistake for anything but a man in armor.

In their curiosity, the entire camp turned silent. There was something about that noise that caught their attention…and out of everyone, Warden felt it in his gut that something was approaching them.

In his curiosity, he ordered his men to light the fires back up again to get a clear view of their camp. And quickly, they tried reignite the fires, but the water made it impossible.

“Boss, the water made every stick and log wet…we can’t reignite the bonfire!” said the bandits.

“Then start another campfire you idiots!! Its fucking dark out here!” he said out of anger.

“Y-yes!” under his command, the bandits tried their best to start another campfire, but just as they were about to start, a fireball was suddenly conjured in the size of a person’s body and it floated over the hands of a person who had a cloak over their heads.

This person was none other than the only mage in the group. And with his power, he reignited the entire wet campfire. It didn’t matter if it was wet from before, his spell caused the wood to dry out and ignite again almost immediately.

Once the fire was brought back, everything was bright again.

Warden thought that he could then proceed to investigate the metal footsteps from earlier, but then he noticed that the footsteps were gone and instead, he found a man in armor standing next to the campfire, as if he was always been there since the beginning.

“!?” but as he looked at the man in armor, he did not recognize who this person was. The armor was too clean for him to think that it was just another bandit. And the sword on this person’s side was too dazzling to even be considered a bandit’s blade. Standing with nothing but a full plated armor to cover his entire body, the entire bandit group could not see who it was inside this armor.

Feeling oddly nervous, Warden spoke in caution.

“Who are you?” he asked.

To his voice, the entire bandit group turned to notice the armored man as well.

But the man in armor did not speak. Instead, he only silently stood by the campfire while staring directly at the women who were silently in fear.

“…”

Looking at the way he stared at the women, Warden immediately assumed that this man in armor must have been sent by the people from the village.

Knowing so, he immediately sent out a sign of order that only his men could understood. With just a whistle, a few men reacted and they brought out their swords and took the women hostage.

“Hahaha, I thought those villagers were smarter than this. I warned them that if they ever send out anyone to our camp, we will kill these women…but it looks like they didn’t listen.”

To Warden’s smug voice, the man in armor turned his attention to Warden.

“!!?”

And just that alone made Warden’s instincts run wild. His gut was warning him to leave immediately and survive at all cost.

‘This can’t be…but my body never lies. Just looking at him is making me sweat nervously…its like I’m staring at a death’s desciple. Tsk…fuck it, let’s leave.’

So, without doubting his gut, he slowly made the decision to run away just as how he would for any other enemy who showed this much of a threat to his instincts.

Slowly but surely he stood up while still putting on the same smug reaction. But deep inside, every move he made was full of indecisive decision. The person before him made it very clear to his instincts that he was going to die…

So for now, he had to be extra extra careful…

“Look, if you make any unnecessary moves, my men won’t hesitate to kill those women.” he said in a calm confident tone.

“…” but even with that threat, the man remained staring at him. And it made him feel like this man in the armor was directly staring at his soul.

Although the man was far away, Warden could feel just how sharp the man’s eyes were. It was like his neck was being held hostage by a sharp blade that he couldn’t see, but his instincts could feel.

So he realized that even for his threats, his instincts were becoming even wilder with the voice of reason.

He needed to run…NOW.

But he couldn’t. He knew that for men like the man in armor, Threats were the most dangerous stance he could place on the table.

‘If threats are a bad idea…then what about a negotiation?’ he thought.

With that idea, he felt slightly confident again, but for some reason, his gut was still not calming down, not even for a bit.

But there was nothing else he could do. So he went with it.

“Listen, seeing as how you’re people aren’t able to follow my instructions, I have to go forward with my promise…I will kill your women.”

‘Okay, it looks like he still isn’t ready to make a move. I can go with this. I can still negotiate with him. Although my body is still screaming at me to run away, nothing else has changed, it means that he’s willing to hear me out.’ he thought.

“But I’m in a pretty good mood right now. If you follow my instructions clearly, I’ll let you go…and I’ll even let you go with five women of your choosing.”

“…” the man in armor was silently turning his head left to right…taking a look at every bandit that was in the area.

Seeing as how the man in armor looked calm, Warden felt a chance of escape being possible.

“All in exchange for that sword and armor of yours. I mean look around you…I have over fifty men who are ready to swing their swords at you, and you are all alone. If you don’t take my advice, you won’t make it back to your home.” he said smiling.

And as he finished speaking, the man in armor finally moved something other than his head.

He moved his hand and he brought out his sword to the open.

At the shining light that was seen at the edge of his blade, a lot of the bandits were mesmerized by its beauty…

It was such a beautiful sword.

A sword that would go for a pretty penny.

Yet as they were admiring the beauty of it, the man in armor suddenly swung the blade out on the open air.

“??” the Warden was confused by his actions.

‘Oh no…is he preparing to attack?!’ he was flustered. At the way the man swung his sword from its sheathe, it would only mean that he was preparing to take action.

Panicking, he decided to go rash and shouted out an order to gain the slightest chance of escape.

“Kill him!” he said angrily.

But right as he spoke his order, for some reason, all of a sudden, half of his men fell to the floor with their heads and body cut.

Some were cut through the neck while others were split in half from there stomach

Around 25 men fell dead. This included the men who were the nearest to the women in the center of the camp.

And that alone made the entire camp fell silent again.

“W-what?” before Warden could realize, out of nowhere the mage took action to attack as well. He was one of the 25 left who were not yet killed. He leaped at a large height and casted a large fireball to strike the man in armor.

But even to his unordered attack, the man in armor simply raised his blade forward and whispered a small cast of technique.

Before the mage could protect himself, his forehead was suddenly left with a hole through the back of his head, and without realizing it, the mage fell to the floor…dead. His fireball was left to scatter in the wind.

Warden could not realize what just happened. He couldn’t understand how it was possible.

But one thing was clear. His instincts didn’t lie to him.

He just didn’t realized how impossible it was to leave the camp alive.

“You people are so….pathetic.” said the man in armor.