The interrogation of the bandits continued. They revealed that throughout their activities, they only resorted to roughing up their victims if they resisted and took their belongings. Their usual targets were small adventurer parties and merchant groups.
The bandit leader then asked if we were Aptonian soldiers disguised as adventurers to lure them out.
"No, we are actual adventurers who came from a different nation, the same goes for the other party," I responded.
He let out a sigh of relief upon hearing that.
The bandit leader, introducing himself as Faramund, went on to reveal that the young girl with them was the daughter of a former noble. Her family had owned a small agricultural territory west of the empire.
Her father was a shining example of an exceptional noble. He and his family were well-loved by the residents of their domain.
While loyal to the empire, they were met with betrayal. A royal decree had demanded the transfer of their land's ownership to another noble with close ties to the emperor.
He refused to relinquish his land and chose to fight, with most residents standing by his side and taking up arms in resistance. But it had proven futile. Their rival noble brought three thousand well-trained and well-equipped soldiers provided by the emperor.
Her father and his most trusted retainers perished in battle. Those who survived fled in all directions to escape. The young lady had been escorted to safety by a group of soldiers, but the enemy had tracked them down. Slowly, that group had dwindled until only the young lady and two escorts remained. The others had either died stalling for time to let the main group escape or ran in a different direction to confuse the pursuers.
Faramund was one of the surviving escorts. When they had arrived on the outskirts of Auhnaver, he met a group of people who, like him, were fed up with the empire and had decided to become bandits out of desperation.
He never wanted the young lady to participate in their ambushes, but he could not talk her out of it. She wanted to help out by using her ice magic to subdue opponents that were stronger compared to the bandits.
As Faramund continued his story, the young lady finally awoke and slowly stood. She faced me and assumed a fighting stance, though still wobbling, having yet to recover from my earlier attack.
"Young lady, please rest easy. These people are not Aptonian soldiers but adventurers from other countries," Faramund assured her.
Upon hearing him, her legs gave out and fell to her knees, her chin-length blue hair veiling her face. Faramund wanted to check on her, but hesitated, wary of me. I nodded, permitting him to assist her.
He started moving toward the young lady, but she raised her hand, halting him.
"I'm fine, Faramund," she said.
Reluctantly, he relented.
She stood again and introduced herself to me.
"My name is Bree de Goede. May I ask for your name, sir?"
"Egil, an adventurer."
"Sir Egil, I know this is rude of me to ask, but would you be able to look the other way and pretend that this never happened?" she implored.
She paused before continuing, "If you can't, then please bring me to the authorities instead and let these people go."
Her request sparked outrage among the bandits, demanding they be taken instead of Bree.
Lucius and his party members looked at me, eagerly awaiting my decision.
"We leave it to you since it was you guys who defeated them", he said.
"Follow me, let's have a private chat," I told Bree.
Then I asked Gale to keep an eye on everyone and ensure nobody would overhear my discussion with the young lady.
Bree and I walked far enough away from the group to prevent eavesdropping. After a lengthy conversation, we returned to announce my decision.
"Faramund, your group is free to go under the condition that you cease your criminal activities. I would've made a different call if you killed your victims."
They bowed their heads in guilt and embarrassment. They also showed their appreciation for showing them leniency. They swore to stop their banditry and strive to return to their normal lives.
As they turned to leave, I spoke again.
"I forgot to mention, in exchange for your freedom, I will be taking young lady Bree under my protection."
Faramund paled, and the group started hesitating to take the deal. Before things became complicated, I allowed Bree a moment with them.
Meanwhile, Lucius and his party decided to continue on their journey.
"It looks like we're all done here. We'll go ahead and do our quest on the border. I hope we'll see each other again and maybe have some drinks!" Lucius called out.
We bid them farewell as they departed for their destination.
Since he mentioned having a quest on the border, they were likely also tasked with undead extermination. We would cross paths sooner than he anticipated.
I rejoined my group and waited for Bree to wrap things up.
Ness went a bit closer to me and whispered in my ear.
"So what did the two of you talk about exactly?" she asked. "And why do we need to involve her with us?"
I let out a deep sigh. "I didn't plan for this, just so you know."
Ness was puzzled but decided to let it go for now.
When Bree finally finished her talk, she joined us, and Faramund's group looked at us with determined eyes. Without words, they bowed and walked away.
We also started moving again, this time with a new companion that was entirely unplanned.
Bree seemed happy walking with us, piquing the rest's intrigue.
"I'll explain the details later," I said.
Our travel went smoothly, and we decided to make camp early, nearly at our destination. Bree and Ness quickly hit it off, they're too comfortable with each other making them seem like siblings.
I was surprised to see Ness like this, it made me wonder if she had someone like a little sister back in the Realm of Gods.
After dinner, I told them what Bree and I had discussed earlier.
"So, you didn't want to surrender Bree and her group to the authorities, and instead, have them do information-gathering in the Apton Empire?" Gale asked.
"Yes, that was the plan," I said, "but that's where the problem started."
"You know I'm sitting here and can hear you, Master Egil," Bree pouted.
"Hold up, Bree. What do you mean by 'master'?" Ness asked.
"Great work, kid! You've chosen a great master," Arthur said proudly.
Why was he so proud, anyway?
The problem was that Bree had used the fact that those people were loyal to her. If she declined, I would not have their cooperation. I could resort to other means to make them comply, but they might turn against me and ruin our plans.
She had also demanded to be part of the party to gain more battle experience and learn magic from me. I immediately declined, but she threatened to surrender to the authorities, and it would be on my conscience whatever they might do to her. I tried to talk her out of it, but she had already decided. She also wanted to learn magic from me, but I wasn't sure how to teach her since my abilities all came from the blessings I received from the gods.
She was shrewd for someone who looked twelve. She'd be a terrifying politician in a few years.
"Oh gods, hahaha! The great Egil, defeated by a child!" Gale laughed hysterically.
"I'm not a child anymore, I'm already fourteen, Uncle Gale."
I snickered while Arthur and Ness looked like they were about to burst into laughter.
After they were satisfied with my explanation, we retired for the night.
The next morning, we continued our journey towards the quest area.
"Three Roads, that's what this place is called," Arthur informed us.
It was a junction where three major roads converged – one leading to Auhnaver, another to a different city in the empire, and the third to Barta, the capital of the Easton Kingdom.
What was once a bustling crossroads had become a foggy wasteland teeming with undead.
We proceeded slowly and with caution. The monsters were a mix of skeleton soldiers and zombies. While they moved sluggishly and were easy to take down, they compensated with their sheer numbers. So far, we hadn't encountered any other adventurers, and the absence of allies was making the others nervous.
As much as we wanted to increase our pace to cover more ground and find the culprit behind this undead scourge, Ness and Bree's safety took priority.
The fog grew thicker the deeper we ventured, it started obscuring our vision and muffling any sounds that might alert us to potential threats. The air carried a foul, putrid stench that made our eyes water and stomachs churn.
Suddenly, a deafening roar shook the ground beneath our feet. From the depths of the fog, a towering figure emerged – a skeletal dragon.