"Hmm... quite the skill for a bandit. With ability like this, you'd think they'd have just become a proper adventurer instead of wasting it as a bandit... you know!"
The bandit unleashed a flurry of attacks with his short dagger—thrusts, stabs, then a kick disguised as a feint.
Vihera dodged the onslaught and delivered a counter to his final kick. Unable to evade, the bandit took the blow from her Hand Gauntlets head-on and crumpled to the ground.
From Vihera's perspective, the man possessed considerable skill. She genuinely couldn't understand why he'd chosen to be a bandit.
Of course, seeing someone with such ability working as a bandit made it clear there was some kind of story behind it.
Regardless, with the last conscious bandit down, the destruction of this group was confirmed.
"Here. You must be thirsty."
"Thank you."
The cup Marina offered was filled with cold water—so cold one would wonder how it had been chilled this much in summer. Not through a Magic Item, but simply through the effects of Marina's Spirit Magic.
"Still, they're all alive," Marina remarked.
At her words, which carried a hint of teasing, Vihera looked somewhat displeased and opened her mouth.
"What I love is fighting. I'm not some murder enthusiast."
"I know. It's a joke, a joke. ...If it were Rei, it wouldn't be quite so funny, though."
"Well, Rei doesn't show bandits any mercy. But with this group, even Rei probably wouldn't have gone all out."
As she said that, Marina gazed at the bandits scattered across the ground.
This group attacked merchant caravans, but they tried to avoid killing guards and merchants as much as possible.
Naturally, doing so would result in reports to the Guards and increase the likelihood of a Subjugation Force being dispatched against them.
The fact that they engaged in such practices fully aware of that risk meant they had confidence in their abilities—and indeed, their combat prowess was convincing even from Vihera's perspective.
"Mn!"
While Vihera was drinking the cold water and taking a breather, Byune emerged from the bandits' hideout carrying several bags.
The contents of those bags were the treasures the bandits had hoarded at their base.
"Oh my, you look happy. Was there something that valuable?"
"Mn!"
Byune responded to Vihera's words, but Marina, watching the exchange, could only tilt her head.
From Marina's perspective, she simply couldn't see Byune as looking all that happy.
Her expression was unchanged as always, with only a single word spoken.
It was hard to believe that such a Byune was genuinely happy.
However, Vihera had seen through it, declared that she looked happy, and Byune nodded in response to Vihera's words.
Seeing that, there was no doubt the two of them were communicating their intentions to each other perfectly.
"Hmm... they weren't committing atrocities, but they still hoarded quite a bit."
Vihera spoke with admiration as she looked at the gemstones and similar items inside the bags Byune had brought.
"Naturally. If they were the type to massacre every caravan they attacked, the caravans would fight back desperately. But if you know your goods might be stolen but your life will be spared, no one's going to fight to the death."
"I see. So that means these bandits weren't attacking that way because they didn't want to kill people, but purely as a business practice."
"That's how it is. Of course, there are bandit groups out there who enjoy killing people. And naturally, there should be groups like that around Sablusta as well. If possible, I'd like to prioritize taking down those kinds of bandits."
"Of course. Those troublesome opponents should definitely be taken out as early as possible. Though considering that those types tend to have the worst luck, they might be the ones fighting Rei right now."
"If that's the case, things are going to get pretty ugly. Rei may not look it, but he shows no mercy to those he disapproves of. He'd raise his hand against even a noble without a second thought, you know? If it's bandits, he wouldn't hesitate even more."
At Marina's words, Vihera's face took on an expression that said "yikes..."
In truth, it was easy for her to picture that scene.
The scene of bandits being massacred, to be precise.
...In fact, that prediction was extremely accurate. Rei, together with Set, was at that very moment massacring the members of the Immaculate White, a bandit group that could only be called scum—but it would be a while longer before these three learned of that.
"Haaah!"
Toward the back of a fleeing opponent, Elena swung Mirage.
The distance between them was far enough that it would never be reached at a longsword's range, but Mirage, fueled by Elena's magic, transformed from a longsword into a whip, dramatically extending its reach.
"Gyaah!"
The bandit who had been desperately trying to escape from Elena was slashed across the back right through his Leather Armor and collapsed to the ground.
It was a blow close to a fatal wound, but since it lacked the power to kill in a single strike, the bandit who had fallen tried to crawl away... and then, perhaps reaching his limit, stopped moving.
"Damn it! Don't run! If you run now, you'll die! Look at that woman! Don't you want to do whatever you want with a beauty like that!"
One of the bandits shouted as he fired an arrow from his bow at Elena.
Unlike a longsword or spear, an arrow's power itself didn't change as long as the same bow was being used.
Of course, whether or not it hit, and if it did, where it was aimed—skill certainly factored into those aspects.
The arrow flew straight toward Elena's torso... no, toward her legs.
Just as he had shouted to those around him, he likely felt it would be a waste to simply kill a beauty of Elena's caliber.
That he was unaware of Elena—of the Princess General—was perhaps because he was a bandit who had come from the countryside, or perhaps because he lacked even the inclination to gather information.
Regardless, the arrow flew straight toward Elena...
"There's no way I'd let you!"
With a shout, a figure appeared and knocked the incoming arrow out of the air with the axe she held.
It was Ara, wielding her Power Axe.
Several of the bandits who had been watching the scene... and the bandit who had fired the arrow, doubted their eyes.
If this had been done with a weapon like a longsword or a short dagger, they probably would have understood what had just happened.
While there was no one of that caliber within this bandit group, there were at least a few among the bandits around Sablusta who could pull off a similar feat.
But that was only possible because of the maneuverability of a longsword or short dagger. If someone claimed the same could be done with a weapon like the Power Axe that Ara wielded, ordinarily no one would believe it.
Nevertheless, having seen it happen right before their eyes, they couldn't help but believe it.
"No way!?"
They couldn't help but believe it, but whether they could accept it was another question entirely, and the bandits couldn't simply nod in agreement.
To begin with, the very fact that they had to fight such strong opponents made them not want to believe it. That was the honest truth.
"There are only two of them! No matter how skilled they are, they're still only two! Ultimately, we should be able to win!"
One of the more skilled members of the bandit group shouted, but even if that were actually true, conversely, it also meant the number of bandits who would be cut down before ultimately winning would be considerable.
A little thought should have been enough to grasp that much, but few among the bandits had the capacity to think that far ahead.
No, perhaps that was precisely why they were bandits—or more accurately, bandit underlings—to begin with.
Be that as it may, the underlings, who were by nature expendable, were simple-minded. Following the claim that they could win if they all attacked at once, their morale recovered instantly.
"Quite an amusing bunch."
"Indeed. But if their morale rises this quickly, doesn't that mean it will just as quickly fall if something goes wrong?"
Ara, with her Power Axe at the ready, replied to Elena.
Subjugating bandits was not the kind of action Ara would normally ever undertake, but even so, she was enjoying the current situation from the bottom of her heart.
It wasn't that Ara had any desire to go on a rampage or to trample weak opponents.
She held disgust for bandits—groups that attacked innocent merchants and travelers—and there was a sense of satisfaction close to catharsis in subjugating such scum, but what surpassed even that was, without question, being together with Elena.
Of course, when Elena had departed for Reblurina and Ara was operating separately, they had conversed nearly every night using the Paired Orbs.
But even so, meeting through the Paired Orbs versus being directly by her side like this were vastly different.
That she could act alongside Elena in this way gave Ara a profound joy.
Had Rei been present, he would undoubtedly have thought, "Her energy is way too high!"
"In any case, it's easier for us when the enemy charges at us rather than fleeing... hah!"
With that sharp cry, the whip-shaped Mirage severed the head of a bandit who had been closing the distance with a longsword in hand.
However, whether due to the effect of the earlier shout that they could win if they attacked en masse, almost no one flinched even when a comrade was killed in a single blow.
Another bandit near the slain one did cower, but upon seeing the others pressing forward without hesitation, he judged that retreating here would brand him a coward and forced out a war cry as he advanced.
(What was the term for this... foolhardy courage, was it? If Rei's explanation was correct, that phrase would be fitting.)
Thinking that, Elena swung Mirage repeatedly toward the approaching bandits.
The reach of the whip-shaped Mirage was utterly unmanageable for ordinary weapons like longswords or spears.
Depending on the situation, it could even exceed that of a bow.
Against an Elena wielding such a weapon, mere bandits had no chance of doing anything.
With Mirage being swung again and again, the number of bandits decreased at an accelerating rate.
Seeing Elena like that, the bandit leaders who had been thinking that sacrifices were acceptable if it meant obtaining this woman apparently changed their minds.
A beauty like Elena was a shame to lose, but they weren't willing to trade the annihilation of their entire group, themselves included, for it.
To begin with, if they died, the matter of what happened to a woman would become moot.
As a result, they aimed not for her legs or arms but delivered what was meant to be a fatal strike directly at her head...
"I told you there's no way I'd let you!"
Every arrow fired at Elena was knocked down by Ara wielding her Power Axe.
Having demonstrated that her previous feat was neither luck nor coincidence but genuine skill, Ara directed a gaze filled with killing intent at the bandits targeting Elena and glared at them.
She could not forgive anyone who would harm her beloved Elena.
Harboring that thought...
"Go ahead. You may go."
The moment Elena spoke, having read Ara's feelings, Ara kicked off the ground and charged all at once toward the bow-wielding bandits.
Naturally, that meant the attacks Ara had been blocking up to now would have to be dealt with by Elena herself—but fundamentally, there was no way bandits of this caliber could wound Elena no matter what they tried.
In that sense, it could be said that Ara was overprotective.
Of course, being unharmed didn't mean that being continuously attacked was pleasant, so she naturally dealt with the incoming strikes.
"Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"
The bandits who had been advancing toward Elena had one flank effortlessly shattered by the swing of Ara's Power Axe.
If she had continued attacking the surrounding bandits from there, many of them would have died, but this time, Ara's targets were the bandit leaders.
Breaking through the bandit crowd, Ara charged straight toward the bow-wielding archers.
The bandits naturally attempted to intercept the incoming Ara, but the arrows they fired were struck down one after another by her Power Axe... and it did not take long before the bandit group was completely annihilated.