Back in the village, with the bandits having left, it was as quiet as the grave. There was a chance that the bandits would come back if Olivia's inside man theory was correct. Thankfully, given the time since they left, had someone managed to inform them, it would be sometime before they arrived.
They also only told the chief their plan. Even if someone had seen them leave, they probably just thought they were getting out of there as fast as they could. The villagers would likely feel ill of them having left them to their fates, but that didn't matter, as all would be fine once they returned.
So, in order to give them something to be happy about, Olivia and Lyrika headed out of the village and into the nearby woodland, keeping as low a profile as possible, keeping watch for any bandits.
"Ok, let's look for a place to set up these traps."
Heading off, Lyrika led the charge in search of tracks of something edible. With her skill, they headed further into the greenery and searched for some food.
As they did this, they saw neither hide nor hair of the bandits, so both thankfully remained uncaptured.
That wasn't to say that because they managed this they could just go back and bring everyone out now the coast was supposedly clear. It was one thing having two people moving swiftly and stealthily in the forest. It was a whole other thing when it was a massive group of civilians. Plus, there was the fact that fear would probably keep them there as well.
…
They eventually found a location and set all the traps, the area being rife with droppings and traps. They hurried to do this and then headed a good distance away in order to not disturb the critters and let the traps do their thing.
As they stayed in the forest they also searched for any edible fruits or vegetation, as even a small amount would help bring the villager's morale up.
All that time searching and waiting, they only said a few words to each other, with the looming threat of bandits, they figured silence was the best option, lest they be heard by someone they hadn't spotted.
And luckily, they made the right call.
It had been several hours since they had left the snares and were planning to head back and check their catch. But as they did, they heard voices nearby.
"…girl, and an Orc, talking to that old chief. Is he losing his mind?"
Freezing at what they heard, Olivia looked around and found where the voices came from. Off in the distance, she saw four men traipsing through the forest covered in ragged leather and metal gear.
"With the lack of food, he might just be. Better check it out though."
"Why though, surely they would be gone by now."
"Still, boss said we had better go and make sure."
"So much walking. I just want to sit back, have a drink and play with some of the girls."
From the conversation, it lent credence to the fact that there was someone on the inside talking to them. She also now knew that they also had some girls with them too. They could be there voluntarily, but she was fairly certain they were people captured from the village.
"We got all night for that. If there is an Orc with a girl, she's likely a slave. I ain't never heard of Orcs talking to beast-kin though."
"Either way, he said she was quite the looker. We kill this Orc, if it exists, then she's gonna be very grateful to us." The bandits said as they started sniggering at each other at the thought.
At this, Olivia looked over and saw Lyrika faking a gag as she heard them, of which she had to stifle a laugh.
Not long after this, they had moved far enough away that the conversation was muffled.
"Why are they coming back so soon, and how do they know about us?" Lyrika asked.
"Well, I think my theory of them having someone on the inside must be true. The good thing is we can follow their tracks at a distance and keep out of their way. Once they leave, we can get the food to the villagers."
And so, they followed the plan.
The sun was still in the sky but was starting to head over the tops of the trees when they headed to the traps, and as luck would have it, they had a good haul. It wasn't great, just good. There were enough critters to probably add a day and a half of rations to the church's stores.
Their catch consisted of mainly efflers and one other weird and wonderful creature, what looked to be a large furry grub of some kind. Before Olivia could get near to the creature she hadn't seen before, Lyrika jumped in and cut the line to the snare that held it.
"Err"
As she went to ask why she left the potential food go, she watched as the large furry grub started to move away. As it did, the fur on its sides started to sink into its skin, and gave way to strange glossy skin, coated in some gloopy fluid, which didn't take her long to realise what it was.
The fluid rose to the surface of the skin, and the vine still wrapped around its body started to sizzle and slowly dissolve. Now free from the vine that bound it, Olivia saw it move away and the surface under it was now just dirt, the grass and flowers having dissolved as well.
Once it had taken care of its problem, it returned to its furry form and continued on its merry way.
"What the-"
"Fortublers. They are very passive creatures. I've never heard of them attacking anyone. If something traps or touches them, when they move they can release that liquid which destroys whatever it is touching them. They are full of the stuff and so cannot be eaten. Best to just release them."
Another strange creature to add to her codex if she had one.
With that out of the way, they got to the usual conks on the heads for the efflers, and they then headed back to the church. Stealthily.
Now that they knew who was out there, they stuck to the trees, as sparse as they were, and hid among tall grass and shrubbery. From an outside view, it looked very funny seeing two people dash as quietly as possible between bushes. But this was serious as they did not want to be spotted by the bandits whose trail they were loosely following
…
They eventually made it back to the village without encountering bandits and found them heading away from the church, and now towards them.
Keeping themselves hidden they waited for the group to pass.
"Of course, they fled. If they were here when we first arrived, they probably just left soon after. How that idiot missed them leaving I don't know."
The bandits grumbled as they walked back along the same path heading to where they came from. Once they were out of sight, they headed back into the village and brought their catch to the church.
As they got to the door, Olivia told Lyrika to act natural, as if she didn't know there was someone on the inside at all. It took some convincing, but when she realised that all the information would do is make her a target of whomever it was on the inside, she understood.
After knocking on the door and checking who it was, the village chief cried out in joy, as did the rest of the group when they saw the food. All of which caused both girls to blush at the attention and praise.
While this was a step in the right direction, Olivia knew something more needed to be done than just managing to sneak food into the village.
…
As she looked at the possible scenarios, hardly any had a good outcome.
One, the bandits managed to get inside and take everyone. This would either happen through their perseverance or unlikely ingenuity. It was also possible that the inside man or woman would assist them in doing so.
Two, the bandits give up trying to get them. This was a good or bad scenario as they could just leave, meaning everyone was free, or in their anger, they go against their fear of the gods, assuming they have that, and just burn the church.
Three, help arrives. But this seemed unlikely. With no one managing to get out and no word from the human towns, this seemed like a pipe dream.
As far as Olivia saw, she and Lyrika should be able to escape pretty easily but like she thought before that may not work with the people in the church. This being their home and there being a lot of them, something was bound to go wrong, especially with the person on the inside.
So, the only other option she could think of was to deal with the bandits somehow. Which is what she planned to do.
Well less planned and more hoped she could do.