All three men were hit with purple beams of light and froze in place.
"Get into the wagon, and pass me one of the smallest bottles you can find. Then I want you to go and find me the best switch you can find in that bush over there. Can you do that for me?" I asked Jessel, and she nodded quickly, scrambling into the wagon.
My Mana was only at ten right now, and each cast took three Mana, so I wouldn't have been able to deal with more than three this easily. It wouldn't take long for my Mana to refill, but I wanted to teach these men a lesson they wouldn't ever forget.
"Is this good?" Jessel asked as she held up a hand-sized bottle, and I nodded.
"That should be more than enough. I should only need a sip to refill my Mana. Now go find me a switch to beat their asses while I strip them down," I said, and Jessel gave me a shocked look.
"You are going to take all their clothes off?" Jessel asked in surprise, and I nodded.
"That is what they were going to do to you, and worse. The three are lucky that I don't just gut them here and leave them for the crows to come and pick at," I said as I kicked one of the frozen men over.
"I guess you are right, but I never imagined you to be so harsh. I thought that you hated me?" Jessel asked as she came over to give me the bottle.
"Hate you? I don't hate much, but I dislike your shitty attitude and bone-headedness. Mortals are not your play toys. You are the one that serves them, so feel good about being devoted to you. Now, go get my damn switch while I curse at these idiots some more!" I ordered, and Jessel ran off, and I turned back to the men.
I was wondering when I was going to run into men like this. I never dealt with them in my past life, but I had heard stories of groups of men like this ambushing women.
"So you guys like to strip women down and steal from them what has not been given? Fine, I shall take you dignity and pride and crush them both," I said, and I started to lay into them with every dirty name in the book as I layered on stack after stack of Stunning Language.
By the time I had finished, the men would be frozen in place for the next four hours. That would be plenty of time for me to get to Melsbrook and back to pick them up.
I had no plans of leaving them on the side of the road because I knew this much alone was not enough to cure pigs like this. The law would still be dealing with them, but I was a God, Nameless or not, so I would take my pound of flesh for the misdeed.
I already had two of them completely stripped naked and already found some women's jewelry, a golden necklace. The one I found them on got his private boot stomped into his body until the man started to leak tears from his frozen eyes.
"Wow, you really are scary!" Jessel asked as I turned to see her coming over with a strong-looking branch.
"I am trying not to kill them, but I just found some women's jewelry. After I switch them all to an inch of their lives, we will load them up and take them with us to Melsbrook. I expect they will be hanged there, and If not, I will just kill them on the spot, regardless of what the town guard thinks. These are monsters wearing human skin," I said with no remorse.
I really should just kill them here, but that wasn't the type of person I was. I would make them pay, and I would give the law the chance to do justice, but if they tried to let these men go, I would finish the job myself.
"I want to apologize to you for the way I treated you and acted. That should have been the first thing that I did when I saw you, so I am sorry. You still protected me, even after everything, so you deserve that much, but I am not just going to give my body up to you!" Jessel told me, and I flinched back from her.
"What does giving me your body have to do with anything?!" I asked in confusion, being caught off guard by her comment.
"Huh? I mean, Thania said I should get you to trust me, but I am not just going to lay down and let you take me!" Jessel declared, seeming a bit flustered.
"Just get in the wagon and sit down," I said with a sigh, taking the branch from her and turning to the three naked men facing me.
Then I proceeded to cover each of them in long red welts, and I ensured that I swatted every inch. Once I was done, I dragged each of the men and rolled them into the back of the wagon, latching the tailgate.
"You really are a monster," Jessel said quietly as I sat down beside her, taking up the reins.
"Possibly, but I have no tolerance for things like this. I was the Hero in my past life, and I had been given a job and did it to the best of my abilities. That wasn't enough. This time I am to guide and protect, and that is my mission, even if that means protecting you," I explained as the horse started moving.
Jessel kept her distance from me for the rest of the ride, but I caught her looking over at me more than once, but she turned away as soon as I noticed. I still wasn't sure what her deal was, but it looked like I was going to have to watch over her now.