“As an Adventurer, do I have to listen to this mayor guy?” I asked Ruby cautiously.
She frowned hesitantly, but still decided to answer. “Not necessarily, but it would be safer for everyone if we just followed orders.”
“I see… and you said my Adventuring card will log any bandit kills I receive?”
She watched me suspiciously, “Yes, and as a Slave Master, any kill one of your slaves gets will count as yours.”
“Thanks, I appreciate the help.”
“Deek, what are you planning on doing?” Her voice was just a bit unsteady.
“We’re here to deal with the bandit problem. If I just wanted a few ranks in Adventuring, as you said, there are easier ways to achieve it.”
“You… I know that you have defeated a few dungeons, but even so…”
I raised a hand and opened a Portal. “You’re welcome to come with us.”
Ruby crossed her arms and made a pout. “You say that like I would make any other choice! I’m here to keep you safe, so I naturally must come along. Although, you’re putting me in a difficult situation. You’re the lord of my city, so I can’t just bully you. You’re asking me to put a lot of trust in you right now.”
Raissa’s hand touched Ruby’s shoulder, causing her to look over in surprise. The small wolfgirl gave a nod.
“He’s worth putting your trust in. I had similar thoughts about him when I first followed him into a dungeon. Yet, despite everything, he always seems to come out on top.”
Ruby glanced at the other girls. Miki smiled and nodded in affirmation. Shao only shrugged, while Carmine and Salicia seemed to not care much at all about the confirmation. Salicia was looking across the battlefield curiously, while Carmine was casually filing her nails.
This wasn’t the formation I was used to either. In truth, I was putting some trust in them as well. I was teleporting to an area without bandits, though. I also had a plan. With a breath, I took a step through the Portal into the land beyond. We were in a clearing in the forest. There was no life in this clearing. We were now roughly behind the bandits, who were mostly focused on the roads and the city itself.
There were bandits a short distance away. I led the girls toward them while keeping low. “Shao… Salicia, take them out. Swift death.”
“You don’t want them alive?” Miki asked.
I shook my head. “This isn’t like last time. We need to defeat the bandits permanently.”
“Ah… when engaging a thief or Bandit, the best way to… and they’re gone.” Ruby let out a sigh as Shao and Salicia left like smoke.
Both Shao and Salicia used the darkness attribute. This wasn’t to be confused with miasma, corrupted mana, although there certainly was a compatibility between the two. However, their abilities manifested in a much different way. While Shao was a Shadow Knight, her movements always clung to the darkness. She was like a creature of the night, always hidden until she struck. She killed her opponent with the slice of a blade he never saw.
“She’s like an Assassin!” Raissa said wonderingly.
Despite that, it was Raissa who had the Assassin job. I wondered how she had earned such a job. It’d be nice if Shao got the job too. I had a feeling it’d only improve her skills.
While Salicia’s Bandit King seemed to use the darkness attribute too, her magic was pure destruction. She shot a black beam which pierced the bandit’s heart, causing him to collapse to the ground dead. Of course, the church was opposed to darkness attributed jobs because of their similarity to miasma. Although the current church in the Capital seemed to not mind, the church of old before the break seemed to go to great lengths to suppress them. Even now, Priests wouldn’t change the job of a darkness attribute person.
Either way, the two men watching over the road in their hiding spot were wiped out in an instant. Ruby was impressed, as they were in a spot where even she hadn’t noticed them. Had I not been able to identify them on my Map, I might not have seen them either. However, she hadn’t seen anything yet. We were just getting started.