The Regression Of A Grand Mercenary - 8 - NIpping the Bud of a Bandit Problem

There they were…

Resting so leisurely, unbridled by the sins they commits each and ever day…

These bastards will never learn…

They will never change…

In the past, after I had lost everything, I took it upon myself to search for the bandits who caused the first ripple to our daily lives.

It took me weeks to find everything about them. The investigation…the history behind each and every crevice of their crimes, I gathered it all up.

And finally, I was able to discover everything about them, including this current hideout.

It was hard…but it was all so worth the effort.

They were the first victims to my promise for revenge towards every living bandit there was in the world.

That man with hook…he was the first man who I took to heart in killing.

I remembered it then…

As I poisoned the entire bandits as they were feasting in a successful ambush once again, the bandit leader who had a hook for a hand was much stronger compared to the others in resisting the poison. But despite his efforts in trying to survive the poison, he didn’t live to tell the tale once my sword was able to stab through his chest.

I remembered his last expression well…

A person who has sinned…this person, despite everything he did, he was begging for mercy.

It was ironic…

Truly ironic.

***

As the sun was reaching mid-day, I made my move.

These bandits were low-lives. They were nothing but savages carrying around swords to use for slaughter. Not a single one of them were even able to develop a pure core inside like a true warrior was. The only person strong enough in the end though was the man with the hook.

But even to him, he won’t be a challenge against me.

With nothing but sword on my waist, I strolled down to their den. And it didn’t take long for them to even notice me.

“Hmm?”

“What’s wrong?”

Soon enough, as one bandit reacted to my slow approach, a few more followed by.

“Who the fuck are you?” asked one bandit as he looked to me with his sword drawn out.

“…” but I simply didn’t say anything.

With the bandit’s sword drawn near to my face, I couldn’t help but scowl at such a disgusting looking sword.

It was rusted, blunt and in no shape to even be called a sword.

“Say something you fuck!” in response to my silence, the barbaric bandit shouted my way to show some sort of high ground.

To them, shouting or speaking loudly was a form of threat. He tried to diminish me and scare me, but all he did to me was spray his spit down on my face.

It was disgusting.

“…” I stood silently, letting the bandit’s spit drip down my face. It was a crude attempt to intimidate, but it only fueled my resolve.

“Hmm, he might be hear to join us. Our reputation must have really spread out there, huh.” said one of the bandits.

But hearing them say that, it only made me flinch in anger.

I gritted my teeth in the idea that I would join them.

“You fuckers aren’t worth anything.” as I said this, I laid my hand down on the sword…and activated the essence of the first pure core in my body.

“…Oi…you bastard! If you think you can just waltz in here with that kind of face, you got another thing coming!” said one of the bandits as they shouted in anger.

But with a swift action, I brought out my sword in a blink of an eye, and what followed was the sight of a bandit’s head falling to the ground.

It was the same head of the bandit who had his spit down on my face.

““!!??”” every bandit who saw the head fall quickly raised their swords…

Some were confused, other were shaking in fear.

‘He’s f-fast…’ thought one bandit as he was the second nearest one to me.

As the bandits raised their swords against me, all of a sudden, a loud grumpy voice was heard.

“Hey, what’s going on here?” asked the bandit leader who had a hook for a left hand.

“B-Boss! Someone’s attacking us!” said one of the bandits.

“What?” as the bandit with the hook turned his head to me, all I gave in return was a glaring rage-filled scowl.

“!?” in the sight of what was before him, he saw the head of one of his comrades.

Seeing it being cut so cleanly, the bandit with the hook sweated nervously.

“Oi…did you do this?” he asked as he looked to me with a glare in his eye.

And in his question, out from behind, two bandits came with their swords drawn. Both attacked at the same time with a large grin on their faces, but from my point of view, their bloodlust was very much clear as day to me.

It was easy to tell who was going to attack. At the moment when they came from behind, I simply moved my sword behind and parried it so easily.

At that moment, I followed it by with a spinning slash, killing the two bandits that went from behind.

“!!?” seeing such my flawless kill, the other bandits were shooked.

“B-boss! What do we do?!” they asked.

Clearly from the sight of my skill alone, some evaluated that my skill was far superior than theirs.

“He’s just one man! Get him from all sides!!” shouted the bandit leader.

Quickly enough, the bandits took formation, surrounding me from all the sides.

I should say that they react quickly from their boss’s instructions, but I couldn’t care less. It’s clear they act like this all the time when doing some sort of ambush for merchants and other victims across the roads.

That was what they were, scheming sly snakes.

But that was all they did. They surrounded me and nothing more.

At the moment that one of the bandits started moving forward at a quickened haste, the others followed suit.

But in my eyes, they were slow.

With the improvements of having to grow the first [Pure Core] inside my body, my strength was more superior than the bandits could ever comprehend.

Simply put, I could easily break a bone or two with just my fist.

And using this strength, I jumped into the air, dodging every blade that came my way, and using the family sword on my hand, I swiftly cut through each head that came close to my proximity. Not even their dull blades could defend against a sword that had the value of a hundred swords.

All in but an instant, I butc eight bandits.

What remained was nearly about two dozen bandits.

Seeing their comrades fall, some turned afraid.

“N-no!!” some ran down to the forest.

“Fuck this, I’m out!”

Like the rats that they were, they wouldn’t hesitate to abandon their comrades in a losing fight.

But before they could, a sword was thrown to their backs. Those swords came from me who picked up the dull blades that were used from the bandits who circled me earlier.

Each one fell flat and dead.

All but in an instant, another eight died.

In this massacre, the bandit leader couldn’t help but feel powerless as his men died one by one.

“W-who are you?” asked the bandit leader as he picked up a large sword from the ground. This was his main weapon.

‘.…’ but to his questions, all I did was stay in silence.

‘It’s obvious that this bastard has grown a pure core in his body…more than that, he’s skilled. More skilled than anyone in the group. Fuck, who is this bastard?! Did the guild hire someone to eliminate us!? if that is true…he might just be a Merc!’ thought the bandit as he was sweating nervously.

But being nervous was a weakness. One way or the other, someone was going to die.

And its obvious that the bandit leader had no choice in running away. If a man came here to eliminate the bandit group, it was only natural that the leader would be the main priority.

“You must be a mercenary right?” said the Bandit Leader.

“…”

“If you are, I’ll pay you. Let me live…I don’t care what you do with the other bastards, but let me live!” he said.

“Boss?!” the other bandits were afraid in hearing that the leader had abandoned them.

“Now, tell me your price!” he said as he looked desperate.

But that didn’t change anything for me. I’ll kill them either way.

Without wasting anytime, I leaped forward and started massacring the remaining bandits.

In reflex, some of the bandits fired an arrow my way but I deflected it with nothing but my sword.

They tried their best to escape me, but not a single one of them were skilled enough to do so.

And soon after, what remained was the bandit leader.

Standing tall with his hook and large sword on hand, he stood to me with an anxious gaze.

“I gave you a second chance….now, I-I won’t show mercy!!” said the bandit leader as he stuttered out of fear.

As he swung his sword, I simply parried it with mine.

The sword he was using was larger than a normal great sword. It was thicker and more blunt than anything. If I was struck by it, I would surely take a major damage, but I didn’t really have anything to worry about.

Because the sword was so large, I could easily predict where the bandit would swing his sword.

It was strange…it felt like he had never weild the sword before. Almost as if he had never learned any form of swordsmanship. Compared to the past, after he conquered the village, it was there that his name grew and so did his strength.

Whatever it was that motivated his growth, the him now…was nothing more than an amateur wielding a big metal stick around.

Each swing he made, I simply parried it to the side.

It was boring….

Too boring to be even taken seriously…

At this point, I thought I could enjoy my time with killing him for a second time, but this man was worthless.

Or maybe…I was just stronger than he was.

The use of poison on him was more satisfying on my first life…

Now, simply using a sword was a bit duller than I imagined.

But still, he was the same bastard.

In time, he’ll kill and ravage the innocent.

I won’t give him the satisfaction of dying a quick death.

In the final parry, I gripped my sword tight and I took it upon myself to cut his entire arm off.

“Gahkkk!!”

*Thud!*

The large sword fell to the floor and so did the large bandit.

“It hurts! It hurts!!” he screamed like a child…

It was annoying.

A grown man crying like a child…

How was he ever the target of my violence…

How did such a person ever become so feared…

Without thinking about it anymore, I decided to approach the bleeding man.

And I grabbed his throat.

“Ghk!”

“Shut up.” I said as I stared down at his desperate expression.

“Listen to me! D-Do you even know who I am?! I’m part of the great crews of the bandit king. If you kill me, who knows what will happen to you in the long run.” said the bandit leader as I was clenching down on his throat.

“…The Bandit king? Don’t worry…soon enough, I’ll go for him next.” I said as I brought out the sword’s tip on the bandit’s tip of the nose.

“Khk!..Please! Have meeercy!” but as he screamed for mercy, simultaneously, he swung his hook to my face.

He was a sly rat to the end…

But I buried my sword down into his skull before he could even reach for my own skull.

It was over…

The last breath he took was nothing but filled with despair.

I killed the man and his group who would have caused a change to the village.

“…Now then.” after I killed the man, I looted his body.

What I got in return was a bag full of silver coins.

“Ohh…this is nice.”

After a while, I decided to look for anything else in the camp that was useful, but on my search, the first thing that caught my eye was the cage filled with a dozen women.

“…” I forgot about them.

‘Fuck, they saw my face…what do I do?’

From start to finish, the entire women who were trapped in the cages were simply quiet as I went on a massacre.

But even if they did saw my face, I can’t leave them here.

Hmm, maybe I can just threaten them to keep their mouths shut.

Yeah….maybe that’ll work.

As I approached the cage, the women shuffled back further to one side of the cage.

“…Listen to me, all of you.” as I approached them, I brought out my sword and started breaking the locks. And in this process, I also started warning them.

“You didn’t see my face…you didn’t see who I was…do you understand me?” I said.

All this time, I didn’t wear a mask to hide my face when fighting the bandits. I was too preoccupied to even consider this part.

“…” but to my warnings, the women were showing nothing but fear to me.

Which was what I wanted, but something was off…it didn’t seem like they were afraid of me in the same way the bandits feared me.

…it was more of the fact that they were traumatized by the actions the bandits did to them.

Most of them must have been taken away from their homes by force.

Some must have been raped…causing them to fear men.

And seeing them in such a state, I couldn’t help but worry.

I can’t just leave them all to their own…especially not here in this forest.

Despite my not so friendly act just a moment ago, I decided to help.

“…It’s dangerous here in the forest.” as I said this, I slowly opened the gate, trying not to scare them.

“There are monsters lurking around nearby. So if you want to go back home, you need to leave.”

“They’re not coming with you…their too afraid of…men.” said one of the women.

Having turned my head to one of the cages, a blonde haired girl caught my eye.

“You…you’re not afraid?” I asked.

“N-no…unlike them, I’ve only been recently captured.” she said.

“I see.”

“P-please, help us get out of this forest.” she said as she looked afraid.

“I’ll do that…but I can’t do anything about them though.” I said as I looked to the women who were afraid of me.

“I’ll help them understand. But before that, is there anything here that we could eat? Most of us are starving…We haven’t had anything to eat after they…took us.” she said as she turned to one of the crates that were from the merchants that the bandits ambushed.

“Ah right, Here, I’ll open the cage. Help me find some of the rations. Maybe we can start feeding the women first before you could leave.” I said.

Despite the fact that I should have been obligated to only open the cages, I felt the need to feed them as well.

I just can’t ignore the innocent as they were.

“T-thank you.” said the blonde girl as she pushed open the cage she was in.

After I opened the rest of the cages, some of the women started coming out on their own.

And after looking around for a while, I started to see the rations that were being used by the bandits.

All that was in here was a whole lamb’s leg, A few basic seasonings, a few loafs of bread and a few containers of water. And a few other things as well.

Seeing this, I decided to make a lamb stew for them.

With the bodies of bandits laying around, I started gathering them to a corner for the monsters to eat. They were a nuisance to the women.

After a while, I finished making lamb stew.

With the blonde girl’s help, we gave the other girls a bowl of lamb stew paired with a loaf of bread each.

Soon after, they started eating.

And what followed then were a few tears that fell on their stew.

It was here that they realized that they were now free.

Free from the bandits.

“I know I shouldn’t ask you this…but who are you?” asked the blonde girl.

“listen…I wasn’t here, I don’t exist, do you understand me?” I said as I tried to warn her to completely forget about my face.

“.…” but all I got in return was a stare from here…which crazily enough, she smiled.

“…”

After they finished eating, we decided to move away from the bandit’s camp.

Thankfully, the bandits had a few horses and a few carriages, so we used them.

As we made our way out of the forest, after an hour of riding with them, we finally found the main road.

“…Where are you all going from here?” I asked as I looked to the blonde girl.

“We decided that we would go to the City…it’ll take about a day to reach there, but that’s where we’ll get help.” she said.

“Good…”

“What about you?” she asked.

“…” but I simply said nothing.

Like I warned her before…

I never existed.

So simply forget about me.

“There shouldn’t be anymore bandits up ahead to the city, but be careful either way.” I said.

“Right, thank you.” she said.

“Also, here.” as I reached for my pocket, I gave a small pouch to the girl.

“This is the only thing I got from the bandit leader, distribute it to everyone.”

“B-but, this is yours! You were the one who defeated the bandits.” she said as she received the pouch filled with silver coins.

“You need it more than I do…” I said.

This isn’t enough to compensate for everything that they’ve been through, but it was all that I have at the moment.

“T-thank you, we’ll never forget what you’ve done for us today.”

“No, if anything, you should forget everything that you saw today. Do you understand me?” I said as I turned my back and started making my way back to the forest.

“Thank you!”

“Thank you!!”

But as I left, soon a few more voices gave their thanks.

I smiled knowing that they were able to gain the strength to voice out their words.

As I disappeared back into the forest, I went back to a certain tree that was holding on to my backpack which was containing all of the swords I was going to sell at the city.

What I’ve made was about five swords all containing th same quality I could make with a simple iron element.

Each one, in its own value could easily fetch a single gold coin, which also equivalents to five hundred silver.

From here, I simply took a different route to reach the city.

It would be awkward if we went there at the same time, so I took a different route.

It was a longer route, but if I run, I’ll still make it in the same time as intended.

***

Unbeknownst to Thill, the blonde haired girl he had rescued was someone of a rather high profile.