Chapter 377

After clearing out all the bandits, only leaving 3 of them alive, a voice called out to them from behind.

Turning to face the direction of the voice, they saw that it was the man in the leading carriage of the merchant caravan who had passed them earlier.

「Those guys……they chose to come back? They really are a strange lot.」

Normally, people wouldn’t have come back to check if other were safe from bandits that had been chasing them even if they were forced, let alone voluntarily.

However, the man in front of them had taken the trouble to come back and see if they were okay. As Rei and Elena wondered whether they should be impressed or dismayed by the man’s foolish honestly, the remaining bandits naturally took the chance to try and run away.

Seeing that the horses they were riding were still frozen in fear, they jumped down and tried to run……

Slash-!

A Flying Slash landed at the feet of the man at the front, stopping him in his tracks.

「Don’t run away. I still have some questions for you. At the very least, I’ll let you live until after you answer them.」

「……Hi-Hiii-!」

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The Flying Slash seemed like wind magic in the bandits’ eyes as they lost their breath.

「Gururu~」

The moment they saw Set approach them with a cry, they all sat on the ground in terror.

The man from the merchant caravan muttered in an impressed voice.

「We were worried about you guys, so we came back, but I guess that wasn’t necessary. ……I didn’t expect you to have a Griffon with you.」

His cheeks twitched slightly as he looked at Set in surprise.

The three adventurers he had brought along with him as reinforcements to support Rei and Elena were frozen as they looked at Set.

「You don’t need to be scared of Set. If you aren’t hostile towards him, he won’t attack you.」

「So, who does the Griffon belong to?」

「It’s Rei’s……the adventurer over there with the scythe.」

Hearing Elena’s casual response, the carriage driver’s eyes went wide as he realised something as he looked over at Rei and Set.

「An adventurer with a scythe and a tamed Griffon……then that kid……no, he’s the one that was called Crimson after the war with the Bestir Empire?」

「Yes, I guess so. ……Well, we’ll leave that for later. Right now, there’s something we need to do first.」

「S-Sure.」

As he nodded at Elena’s words, the carriage driver’s eyes widened for a second time as he just thought of something.

He looked at Elena’s beautiful golden hair, which was dazzling under the sun, as well as the sheath at her waist. If what was inside the sheath was what he was thinking of then……Elena knew from his expression that he had realised who she was.

In the first place, Elena had appeared in public many times before, including the victory parade, as the General Princess. She was also a noble, so it was no wonder that some people would recognise her. After seeing her once, she wasn’t one for people to forget.

However, Elena spoke up to stop the carriage driver from saying anything.

「I’m just a travelling adventurer. ……Understand?」

At that pressing tone of voice, the man swallowed the words that he had been about to say.

Rei watched the two of them conversed when he saw 30 people approaching from afar. However, it was only because of Rei’s eyesight that he had spotted them. Aside from Elena, who had somehow also sensed them, and Set, who’s 5 senses were even sharper than Rei’s, no one else had noticed the remaining bandits.

「Set, it’s not going to be good if we leave the bandits on the loose, so please go clean them up.」

「Gururu~!」

In response to Rei’s call, Set gave a cry, and after a few steps, soared into the skies with a flap of his wings.

The carriage driver and the adventurers watched Set leave with a gasp, but Rei didn’t mind them as he called out to the surviving bandits.

「Well then, let’s get started, shall we? How many bandits are in your group in total? It’s not quite right to call them cavalry……but there’s only those on horseback here.」

「T-That is……」

「I know there were about 30 bandits headed this way. That’s why I left them to Set, as you saw. All I want to know is how many more there are. That and the location of your hideout.」

「I-I won’t sell out my companions!」

A different bandit responded to Rei’s question.

His thoughts must have changed somewhat after Set had disappeared.

With a surprised expression, Rei spun the shaft of the Death Scythe in his hand as he held the huge blade at the man’s neck.

……Yes. Not the man who said he wouldn’t sell out his companions but the man who had first responded.

「……Hi-Hiii-!」

For the first few seconds, the bandits seemed unaware of what was happening, but when he saw the huge blade under his chin, he let out a scream.

「Don’t try to move. If you do, with how sharp the blade is, you’ll lose your head in an instant.」

「A-Ahhh. Okay……I understand, just get this thing away from me!」

「No, I’m sorry, but I’m afraid I’ll have to make an example out of you. The other two seem rather stubborn, but maybe they’ll change their minds when they see you getting tortured.」

As Rei said that, he moved the scythe just a little bit closer to the bandit’s throat, making a thin scratch

Even with such a small cut, the bandit could still feel the blood flowing down his neck. His cheeks twitched as he looked at his two companions, begging for help.

However, the other two bandits stayed silent, still judging that they couldn’t sell out their companions.

The bandit who had said he wouldn’t sell out his friends glared at Rei while the other averted his gaze.

Seeing that, Rei whispered into the bandit’s ear as he kept the blade at his neck.

「Apparently they’ve made the decision to abandon you. I’m sorry, but you are going to have be an example of pain. After you lose your fingers, arms, legs, nose, eyes and tongue……I’m sure they’ll be more open minded when they see you like that.」

The bandit’s forehead broke out in cold sweat and his teeth started chattering as he was told words that would send chills down the spine of even the most hardened bandit.

(I got to push him……just a bit more.)

Keeping his eyes on the bandit, Rei took out a dagger from the Misty Ring……and threw it at his right foot.

Rei had wanted to stab him directly to arouse more fear, but it was hard to do from his current position.

「AHHHHH-!」

The bandit gave a bitter scream as the dagger suddenly went through his shoe and into his foot.

Still, he didn’t move due to the blade of the Death Scythe at his neck.

In fact, Rei had been ready to move the blade away in case the man did move.

「It hurts, it hurts……damn it, how did I get into this mess……damn it!」

「That’s just because your friends won’t give me any information, isn’t that right? That’s a shame, because as far as I’m concerned, I don’t find hurting people a particularly fun activity. ……Now, that was your right foot, next is your left.」

Saying that, Rei gently showed him the blade of another dagger that he took out from the Misty Ring.

As he did that……

「Wait! I’ll tell you! I’ll tell you everything instead of those guys, so just stop!」

「You-! You’re going to sell out your companions!?」

As one of the other bandits yelled at him for selling his companions out, he responded with disgust.

「You’ve just sat there and watched me suffer, so don’t you dare talk to me like that!」

「No! That guy, he’s been trying to get to you from the beginning……」

As he was shouting, he was struck by the shaft of the Death Scythe.

Because Rei had adjusted his strength to the minimum, the shaft didn’t pierce through the bandit and kill him. However, he was still unable to remain conscious and collapsed to the ground.

The last bandit just shivered without a word as he watched on.

The person most surprised by the sudden change in events was the man who had been tortured by Rei. After all, the scythe that had been at his neck a moment ago had disappeared as one of his companions was struck by it.

He couldn’t understand what had just happened and once again felt regret for attacking someone they really shouldn’t have as he answered Rei’s questions.

Everyone else, including Elena, just watched the interrogation without saying anything.

Some of the adventurers were even wondering why Rei was so merciful, as he could have just killed them without asking them anything.

Going back a bit in time.

After being asked by Rei to get rid of the remaining bandits, Set was flying high in the sky to stop any bandits from spotting him.

After a few minutes, he saw the bandits walking along the road and gave a cry before flapping his wings to accelerate as he plunged towards his targets.

With the help of gravity, Set fell……no, dived down in a straight line.

After an initial flap of his wings, he closed them while in a steep dive to hide himself from the bandits.

At that moment, one of the bandits who were walking along happened to look up.

「……Hm? Must have been my imagination.」

The bandit who said that was walking at the tail end of the group. Looking up and not seeing anything, he turned his gaze forward again……before having every single bone in his body crushed and dying in an instant as Set fell on top of him.

「What-!?」

The bandits around the man couldn’t help but shout out, not realising what had just happened. There were some that hadn’t even realised that one of their companions had died.

Set had used a skill as he dived down. It was the optical camouflage skill he had obtained from absorbing the Lemrace’s magic stone.

Level 1 optical camouflages had an active effect time of about 10 seconds. Since he had used it as he was diving down, 3 seconds had passed and only 7 seconds were left.

However, with Set’s agility as a Griffon, 7 seconds was enough. It wasn’t ‘only’ 7 seconds, it was 7 seconds.

As the organs, bones, blood and flesh of the bandit he had crushed splattered into the surroundings, Set jumped forward again, slashing his claws at the nearby bandits.

A head was crushed by the sharp eagle-like claws as another bandits was kicked away by a lion-like foot, shattering his ribs. A blow from Set’s beak smashed through a bandit’s head, just like his claws.

It was a few seconds before the bandits realised something strange was happening and turned to look around. By then, Set had demonstrated his capability as an A rank monster and killed or heavily injured more than 10 bandits in the blink of an eye.

And……

「Uwahhhh, what’s going on!? What’s happening!」

Set looked at the bandits, who started to scream after realising what was going on, with his transparent eyes.

「Gurururururu-!」

With a high pitched cry, Set flapped his wings as he lept forwards.

While they could hear the cries from other bandits, none of them could see a monster nearby. There was no way that bandits, who had no experience as adventurers, could cope with such a situation as they were flung away, bones broken and flesh torn by a Griffon’s strength and size.

「A m-monster!? Everyone, weapons up!」

One of the bandits who had yet to be injured shouted out, but by then, Set had already gone through the bandits once and was preparing himself to attack the remaining bandits.

Just as Set’s claw was swung at the man who had told the other bandits to ready their weapons……the effect of Set’s optical camouflage wore off.

It had only been 7 seconds since Set had fallen from the sky. In less than 10 seconds, 30% of the bandits were dead and 40% were lying on the ground heavily injured. Some were unconscious while other could only moan in pain.

However, in a sense, the bandits that were still unhurt were in a more miserable situation. After all, the others had been killed or injured without knowing what they had been attacked by, but all those that were left could see Set……a Griffon, up close as personal.

After being thrown into a confusion, there was no way for the bandits to recover……it didn’t take long for them to be all annihilated.

After obtaining information about the bandit’s hideout, Rei and Elena were able to successfully raid them and take all their goods.

There had been several guards there, but there was no way mere bandits could do anything to Rei and Elena.

As for the remaining bandits, they handed the ones that survived to the merchants, who were willing to sell them as slaves. The merchants also bought all the horses and goods that Rei and Elena had taken from the bandit hideout but didn’t need, earning them a few gold coins.