Moseying through the distant plains, I found myself a new companion trailing behind. After helping out the little girl, she for some odd reason started to follow me around, which made sense considering that she had just lost her home. The girl referred to herself as Lazari, a fairly demonic name.
Anyway, I digressed. It was quite clear that she had no home so I took her with me for the time being but I'm not sure that this is the best action, considering I'm being hunted by the Kingdom. But then again, she's a demon. She, too, will also be hunted by the Kingdom if found.
Quite the conundrum I've landed myself in.
So should I just go to an orphanage and dump her there? I'm not sure, but from the village, I enter the grassy plains once more.
As using roads was for sacrilegious partisans! And I ain't no heretic!
Though speaking of sacrilegious partisans. There seemed to be a group of them ahead!
Well, let's just walk away from them. Nothing wrong with avoiding problems, or at least trying to.
…
"Heh, boss! Look over there!"
"I'm not blind, we're in open field godsdamnit!"
Looking over to two lost travellers in this field, excitement rushed through this group of brigands as they found new prey.
Experienced in maneuvering through the yellowed waist high grass, the brigands quickly encircled the two.
"Heh, I call dibs!"
Roused chatter and crude gossip spread through the brigands. Inspecting the two as if they were hand me downs from a pawnshop, in their eyes, the two were as good as theirs after all.
"Hm? What the ass is wrong with her?"
In the midst of inspecting his new property, the boss immediately noticed an incongruence with these travellers.
Ignoring the sketchy looking dude for now, the girl seemed to be in a terrible condition. She was smeared all over in blood like she was dunked in the stuff, however, the blotches of deep crimson only emphasised her scarlet eyes, a motif of demonic beings. And, if the girl was a demon, it was highly likely that this sketchy man was a dark arts cultist, or perhaps even another demon.
His keen commander's eye wouldn't let go of such crucial details. He served in the army before he resorted to banditry after all, and he wouldn't be living all this time if he didn't know how to identify threats.
And this was most definitely a threat.
"Shaddup you retards! Open yer eyes, she's a bloody demon!"
Literally.
Immediately warning his men, he had them loosen their encirclement and back away.
These two must be here for something.
"So, what does a dark artist have to do in these parts?"
…
Dark artist? That's a new one. I believe that it's short for dark arts cultists?
If that was the case, then why is he calling me that? Is it because of my clothing?
That doesn't even make sense! Dark artists are known for their life draining dark arts, not their black cloth ware!
"Sigh, we're just travelling,"
Watching the presumed leader of this group, he didn't seem to buy it. No, perhaps this is a checkpoint set up by the kingdom. Although they seem rather ragtag, they have a clear chain of command and proper equipment.
If anything, it's likely the Kingdom hired mercenaries to hunt me.
It must be the case, this group seemed rather organised to be simple bandits immediately encircling us. They definitely weren't bandits. Their encirclement was tight and their ranks were guarded, similar to the procedure followed by the military of the Astra Kingdom.
Sensing the truth of their identity, I tensed up as I executed a well thought out, rational plan…
Drop kicking the leader, I was highly successful in taking out their commander whilst also leaving the rest in a bewildered state. Pressing on this advantage, I quickly silenced a nearby agent, presumably, the vice commander with a quick flick of my knife.
Similar to the method I used to stun and mutilate that demi human before, when I was in a manic, ballistic state.
Fear enveloped the brigands as they witnessed me instantly take out their leaders.
Though, looking at them again, they were probably deserters of a noble's private army or something, so they were naturally cowards. And this display was enough to make them consider dipping. In fact, a majority of them had already bolted, leaving the others behind.
Well, they wouldn't be going far with Lily chasing after them. She was really good at cleaning up. I guess birds were extremely hygienic animals.
"Urrg,"
Oh, seems like the commander is still conscious, gonna have to fix that. I proceed to stab him a couple of times. But…
"HNyYaa!"
What the-?
Mhm, we're gonna- we're gonna pretend we didn't hear that. Moving on, I turn around to find a blade slashing down at me. Sidestepping I allow it to sink into the corpse of their leader. What incompetent units, no wonder they deserted.
Waving my blade, I slashed and stabbed, however, the guy just refused to get hit, playing untouchable as he parried everything.
Sigh, so instead, I sucker punched the man when I would have usually forked out his intestines. It was unexpected and he fell prey to it, falling to the ground winded.
Alright, looks like they were about to target Lazari, but after my display, they seemed to back off. That was perfect as it allowed me to kill them, but without the hassle.
Hmm, but it seemed Lazari wasn't taking this chance to pounce on them, after her display the previous day I would have thought she'd killed these guys by now.
Oh, actually, she might need to be cleaned up, after all, all that blood coagulating on her clothes might be really uncomfortable, probably making her unwilling to make any strenuous movements.
I know that feeling all too well. When you're soaked in the stuff, it feels annoying to move around and the way the clothes stick to your skin isn't even the worst part.
The pungent odour might also be what's keeping the bandits from attacking her…
I should have cleaned her up before leaving the village.
I don't know how I forgot such a basic thing. But now I want to dig a hole and bury myself.
Sigh, am I subconsciously, just a cruel person?
I'd probably have to say yes on that one.