"Wait! Is that Arad's wife?" One of the thugs gasped, "That her, Mira!" Two pointed their crossbows at her, "What brought you here? We have no business with you."
Mira rushed forward, bending down and slipping beneath their crossbow bolts. One of the thugs swung his sword at her, but she blocked it with the hammer's shaft.
"Sorry, girl. You lack strength," The thug smiled, pushing her back.
"No, you lack teeth," She smiled, a nail firing from the hammerhead and piercing the thug's chin, shattering his lower jaw and dropping several of his teeth down.
"I came to order leather for some couches that I'm working on," Mira glared at them, lightning crackling from her hammer, "What are the guards doing? How could the likes of you still be crawling the city in daylight?"
The thugs growled, lunging at her with their swords, "Arad is dead, or at best crippled for life. He didn't show up in days!"
BAM! Selica blasted one of them in the back with one shell, dropping him down.
The thugs turned toward her, "You! We're talking here!"
BANG! She shot her second shell at the jewels of the thug who talked, sending him crying on the ground with his pants on fire, "It's burning!" He cried.
"Arad or Geralt not being here doesn't give you the right to do what you want," Selica glared at them with a disgusted face, her eyes glowing red, "You become thugs since you failed at even being adventurers. You can't fight."
In this world, those who don't take a craft or a regular job end up in one of two places, either adventurers who rely on their power to hunt monsters and make a living, or a soldier serving the kingdom.
It's generally known that strong people become adventurers as that makes more money, and gives them less responsibility to worry about. The weaker ones end up joining the military, training as soldiers to serve as knights and guards, but those are still the people who couldn't face monsters head-on.
On the other hand, the weak cowards who didn't fit for adventuring, and didn't make it into the army as well as refused to take a normal job or a craft to support themselves ended up escaping to the mountains, banding together to rob traveling merchants for easy money.
Some of them do end up finding power and a purpose in life, becoming bandit lords and powerful criminals to be feared.
"Rats like you coming after a small shop in daylight to threaten them for money are the lowest of the lowest. Those who swarm like bugs always end up squashed like them," Selica glared at them.
One of the bandits growled, standing up, "So you want a fair fight? Be my guest," He clenched his fist, walking forward and signaling to the others to stand back. ^Her spit seems like an explosive slime, probably a sorcerer's ability, but seems fairly limited from what we've seen. And since she hasn't reloaded yet, all I need to do is smack her before she does that.^
Selica stared at him with a smug, mocking glare, "Really? Come and try," She giggled.
Two veins bulged on the bandit's forehead, he growled, jumping forward with a clenched fist.
Selica dropped her musket, and the bandit gasped mid-attack, appalled at her action, but he didn't slow down, his fist accelerating toward her face.
CRACK! His fist smacked into her face, but he could feel a sharp pain rushing through his wrist as he saw Selica's face being a dark shade of purple with her eyes glowing red.
"Broke your fist?" Selica spat right into his fist, covering it in her explosive spit.
The bandit stepped back, crying and holding his broken fist, desperately trying to get the spit off it before it exploded, but ended up spreading it into his other hand as well.
BAM! The bandit's fists exploded, shattering his fingers into pieces as he rolled on the ground in pain.
Selica rolled up her sleeves, her forearms and fists turning purple as she licked them, covering them in her explosive spit.
"Wait!" He cried, but Selica didn't listen, jumping forward and swinging her fists. A right hook to the chin exploded his cheek, and the second uppercut to the liver dropped him down with a black charred mark on his side.
"Run!" The other bandits turned to run away, but Mira smacked her hammer in their way, "Where do you think you're going? The guards are coming to give you a nice room in jail,"
"Get out of the way!" They lunged forward, swinging their swords at her.
Mira swung her hammer sideways, aiming to smack their swords out of the way.
CLACK! A hand blocked her hammer while another blocked the swords. Between them, a tall white-haired man stood with a smile.
"Don't get into fights. Arad would get angry," Gojo stared at her, letting go of her hammer, "They have crossbows. You can't block bolts with a heavy hammer," He pointed back with his thumb.
"This white hair!" One of the bandits gasped.
"Hello there," Gojo turned toward the bandits, "Good day to you,"
"It's him!" They jumped back, shivering, "The ice wizard! Gojo!"
Gojo stepped forward, walking between the thugs without a care in the world, and picked up Selica's musket, "Lady, you dropped this," He handed it to her.
"You only showed up when Mira was attacked," Selica took the musket, staring at him with a suspicious eye.
"I mean, she's Arad's wife. You aren't," Gojo looked back toward Roberta who stood in front of her shop's door, "But I came here to buy some stuff,"
His eyes quickly shifted back toward the thugs, "You're still holding your weapons?" He shook his head, "That isn't wise, do you know?"
He stepped forward, and they stepped back, "Want me to throw you naked in the frozen north to be eaten by bears? I'll do that, I swear." He lifted his hands, wiggling his fingers as if casting a spell with a smirk.
"Huff and puff, and you're bear food,"
The thugs turned away to run, but they immediately froze in place, "Wait there till the guards come. I hope you won't die to the cold," He smiled, turning toward Roberta, "I was looking for this black silk cloth. Do you have it?" He walked forward, pulling a ripped piece of cloth and showing it to Roberta.
"No, but I can order it for you," Roberta took the cloth of his hand.
"Please do. I'll buy a large amount, like five or six rolls."
"That'll be expensive,"
"Added another five or six rolls that are golden, silver, blue, and white," He smiled.
"That's like thirty rolls?"
"I can pay. Needs them to make clothes and scroll covers," He pulled a bag of gold, "Buy and call me when they arrive. Just say Gojo, and I'll show up,"
Gojo disappeared right in front of her eyes.