Chapter 138: 3-20 Portrait

“Well well well, looks like we found gold, fellas!” the bandit leader shouted with a sneer. Instead of waiting at the point where they prepared their ambush, Erin halting the carriage had changed their decision to begin their assault prematurely. The bandits did not bother hiding their noises. The rustling of the leaves and branches was more than enough for Erin to comprehend the bandits’ numbers. There were a lot of them but the brief glimpse she had of the few bandits, she saw their levels were nothing to write home about. The leader of the bandits was the only one with a level that she considered to be a threat, a minor threat though. The leader of the bandits had an appearance that fit her prejudice of a bandit leader. Bald with a thick moustache. Heavy build. And a weapon that was bigger than their own physique.

“Let us be or you’ll meet a terrible fate,” Erin warned from where she sat. Her hands were still holding the reins but she was more than prepared to draw her sword when the moment called for it.

The bandit leader guffawed and so did his men who were hiding nearby. Their chuckles were too quiet to be heard but not for the ears of Erin and Siv. “I have been watching all of you. I know you killed plenty of my ilk before here but you should know that I’m not like them.” he boasted and swung a huge wooden club to let it rest on his shoulders.

“He looks impressed with his strength,” Lyra remarked mockingly.

Siv nodded. “Another frog in a well. Though, it does make it easy for us.”

“Impressive strength but is that all you got?” Erin sneered.

The bandit leader chuckled. “It’s enough for what I'm about to do if you don’t want to play nice with me.”

“Erin, I found all the archers,” Lyra whispered to Erin. “I can strike anytime.”

“I’m also ready, mistress,” Siv said. “I’ll defend us from the arrows.” 

Lyra looked at Siv dubiously. “There are ten archers. You can defend us from all ten arrows.”

“I can,” Siv answered confidently. “I faced worse odds during my training.”

“I trust you, Siv,” Erin said.

Lyra shrugged. “If you say so, then I suppose I should give her my confidence too.”

“Thank you, mistress, Lyra. Also, they have eight Dire Wolves, all adults and slightly larger than average. I smell something else. It’s definitely another monster but I don’t recognize the scent.”

Erin nodded slightly in acknowledgement.

“Look here, lassies.” The bandit leader sighed. “Whatever you’re planning, it won’t work. Do you think this is the first time we took on seasoned fighters like you?”

“You have some sense, I can see that,” Erin said.

“Why thank you for the compliment. Always love to hear it from a pretty lass, especially a Fae.” He licked his lips.

“Which raises the question, why are you standing around talking to us instead of just attacking? All your men are already in place. You don’t need to buy time. Which can only mean, a direct confrontation would most likely cost you a lot. That can be inferred as your lack of confidence in your chances. Am I wrong?”

The bandit leader fell silent, his smirking grin contorting slowly into a grimace.

“Maybe you’re just like the others I fell with my sword. Are you going to cower and squeak as I have you at the mercy of my blade?”

“You and your kin are all the same...” the bandit leader chewed his words. “So arrogant… each one of you… And I have made all of them regret it.”

“I see...” Erin said, getting up from her seat before climbing down the cart slowly. Her hands moved to her sword and her eyes tracked the bandit leader’s every single instance of his movement. “I can say the same to you. Everyone has a mouth but not everyone has the ability.”

“I know how to break you. Let’s start with your friends, Men, release!”

At the bandit leader’s beckoning, arrows came flying at the cart from the trees. Siv merged the hilts of two swords together, forming a double-bladed sword, which she used to deflect all the arrows by spinning the sword around her. Lyra let out a whistle of awe but reel back her focus instantly after. She nocked and released two arrows at once into the trees. Before the sounds of bodies hitting the ground came, Lyra had already fired two more arrows in the other direction. Soon, bodies of bandits dropped like flies from the trees. The breathing ones on the ground were too stunned by their prowess to do anything. They looked at each other and their pleading gazes went to their leader, begging for him to save them from their horrible decisions. Lyra and Siv ignore the bandits’ pleas and begin plunging their blades into their flesh. The bandits had the numbers but the two had the skills. The two had survived a horde consisting of hundreds of monsters. Bandits of this level were nothing to them.

As all of these were happening, Erin was striding steadily towards the bandit leader with a firm gaze that didn’t waver. She had seen Lyra and Siv’s stats and knew they had worked hard during the short time they had left in Quinteburgh.

“What the f-fuck…?” the bandit leader gasped and gagged on his words. “Y-you were holding b-back all those times?”

“Honestly, killing the likes of you is making me feel bad,” Erin mocked with a headshake. “Makes me feel like a bully.”

“Fucking Fae…! I’ll carve your lungs out and feed it to the wolves! Men, release the Dire Wolves!” he shouted.

Erin chuckled and scoffed at the bandit leader’s desperate attempts. It was a sign of arrogance but she couldn’t help it when nothing about the bandits impressed her by a single bit. She once again flourished her tails for all to see, even incurring a small squeak from the bandit leader who fell to his rear from the sheer pressure of a Five-tailed Fox-kin brandishing her presence before him. The Dire Wolves that were charging at her instantly came to a stop. The Dire Wolves yelped like a couple of puppers before scurrying off in random directions.

The bandit leader stared blankly as the Dire Wolves ran far into the distance with their tails between their legs. “W-what… the Dire Wolves a-are running a-away....?”

“Look, I have seen too much red today. If I can help it, I would like not to see it for the rest of the day. I feel like I would go mad for all the red I see.”

The bandit leader turned his gaze back to Erin. His lips, shoulders, and legs were trembling. He took a step back out of the cry of his instinct but as he realized it, he forced his step back. “No…, I can’t back down now… This is already my last chance…” he muttered quietly to himself but Erin caught his words with her ears.

“You were forced to do this?” Erin asked.

“Be silent! What does it matter to you anyway? Don’t feign your kindness in front of me!” 

“Perhaps I can help. If someone is forcing you to do this, they will be an enemy to me.”

The bandit leader laughed with a tone laden with despair. “People have said the same but when I told them who my boss is, they turned on me. You will be just like them.” 

“I like to believe that I’m different.”

The bandit leader snorted. “Go fuck yourself. I have enough of you.” 

“What can you do? Your men are too afraid to even speak, let alone fight.”

“You ain’t seen nothing yet! Men, unleash the troll!”

The sounds of chains dragging across the soil could be heard along with a series of thumps accompanying it.

“Have it your way then,” Erin muttered dryly and shrunk the gap between them. “Best I kill you before your pet troll gets here.”

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“Fuck!” The bandit leader cursed and reacted all too slow as the Fox-kin had already drawn her sabre and brought it around a wide arc. Fortunately for him, his level compensated for his slow reaction. He drew back from Erin’s swift assault with a cut across his cheek as the penalty. “Fucking bitch!” he swore and swung his oversized club in retaliation.

Erin leapt and found her footing on the club. “Your swing is true and firm. Unexpected.”

“Fuck off!” he roared and tried to fling the Fox-kin away but she was off his bat as he began swinging. His eyes immediately took aim and brought his club down at the nimble Fox-kin in front of him.

Erin flipped away from the club and resumed her posture as she landed gracefully. “Alright. I will admit that you’re not as weak as I expected, Roy.”

The bandit leader froze. “You know my name?”

“I know more than that.”

A glint appeared in his eyes. “So, you have Appraisal. That just makes you even more vexing.” Recovered from the surprise, he charged at Erin with his club raised. 

Erin prepared herself for the attack but upon closer notice, she deduced it to be a ruse. She raised her sword to guard the attack that never came. Instead, Roy sent a kick at her. She returned the kick with her own, deflecting the bandit’s kick.

The bandit leader had a look of disbelief. His ruse had never failed until now. In that instance, he understood Erin was truly unlike his other victims. He poured Mana into his club, giving it a faint blue shine.

“Arcane Edge? No, it’s too unrefined to be an Arcane Edge,” Erin remarked.

“It will pulverize your skull all the same,” the bandit leader retorted and destroyed the tree behind Erin. Her head would have met the same fate had she not dodged under the attack.

From below, she thrust her sabre but the bandit leader slanted his head and avoided his death. Without retracting her thrust, she swiped but the bandit leader foresaw her intention and pulled his head away from her blade. She lunged with a flurry of strikes but the bandit leader met her attacks with his club.

“Oi lassie, you’re underestimating me here.”

“You have training.”

“Aye, I do. A captain of a noble's private knight order, formerly.”

“And how do you end up here?”

“It shows your naivety if that’s your question. Times got too peaceful and men like me became too expensive to keep around. Replaced by a man half my size and wit. A skill that even a farm boy could beat. I was then shamed and framed by my former employers just so they could avoid paying me my pension.”

“And you resort to the same kind of depravity as the ones who wronged you. Irony is all around.”

“Seize your false sense of sympathy, Fae. Your pity does not help. It never helps.”

“I’m not pitying you. I’m reprimanding you. How many innocents have you killed just because you were cheated out of your pension?”

“Innocent?” he scoffed. “You think they are innocent? You don’t get to thrive in this world by being innocent. Seize your hypocrisy.”

“Seize your bratty tantrum.”

“B-bratty t-tantrum?”

“Is that not what it is? Something went wrong in your life and you took out your anger on those who weren’t involved just because you were too afraid to retaliate against the ones who wronged you. It’s just pathetic. I feel embarrassed just from recounting it. How do you even live with yourself?”

“Dastardly bitch!” the bandit leader roared.

“It hadn’t been a pleasure knowing you,” Erin bade and threw an Aura Shot that was too fast for the bandit leader to react. Even if he could see it coming, he didn’t have the speed to dodge.

His head rolled off his neck and went tumbling across the ground. His headless body remained upright for a few seconds before collapsing. 

[Experience gained +15% - Level Progression: 65%]

Her shoulders loosened their tension when the System affirmed the bandit leader's death. The corner of a rolled-up parchment was sticking out of the deceased bandit’s pocket like a sore thumb. It couldn’t not catch Erin’s interest. Taking it with her index and middle finger, the parchment unrolled itself to reveal a portrait of her face.

“What in the hell…?” she muttered to herself. Confusion dazed her gaze. The art was immaculate and it looked no different than the real image safe for the colours. “Is this… a bounty?” she asked herself as she flipped the portrait. It was blank on the other side. The parchment only had her face and no written words could be found.

“Erin, the troll!” Lyra shouted and the ground trembled intensely after.

Her lover’s shout drew her attention. She turned around and saw a humongous humanoid creature ploughing through the trees and plunged right into the battlefield. The creature bore the appearance of an ape and a goblin but with the height of a two-storey building.

Erin cast Appraisal on the troll and its stats surprised her. “Level thirty-six? How in the hell did they even manage to put a leash around that thing?”

“An Anima,” Siv reminded her as the Wolf-kin took three bandits at once. She separated her double-sword and deflected two of the bandits’ blows and riposted the third one’s strike. With all the three staggered by her defence, she hopped and sent a kick into their jaws. She landed into a roll and thrust her swords through two of the bandits as she stood up. The remaining bandit watched with his eyes widened and his legs shivering like a newly born kid.

Before the bandit could decide how he should go about his sealed fate, a foot the size of a tree came down on him and turned him to a splatter of flesh and bones.

“Is it not tamed?” Siv questioned in a mutter.

“Fuck! The troll’s not listening to my orders!” screamed a bandit who was hiding in a bush behind a fallen log.

When the other bandits heard that, they began to run off with tails between their legs like the Dire Wolves they had tamed. As if to show its dissatisfaction of having been captured by the lowly bandits, the troll began unleashing its wrath on the fleeing bandits. The horses pulling the cart also began to shriek and struggled to gallop off but the cart’s wheels were stuck deep in the damp soil it was treading on.

“Well, that’s not good,” Erin mused. She flicked her sabre off the bandit leader’s blood and turned to face the troll. Blowing with her lips shut, a piercing yet sweet noise caught the troll’s attention and turned its gazes toward Erin’s way.

“Siv, Lyra,” Erin called out. “Let’s kill this thing together.”

“Of course, mistress.”

“Thought you never ask,” Lyra responded and nocked three arrows onto her bow. 

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