The group of bandits was led by the hulking man with a terrible breath. As soon as they entered the village and were noticed, the bandits sacked the whole of Bambara, using their menacing appearances and weapons as a means of scaring the villagers into cooperating and not revolting.
Of course, the villagers cooperated. They couldn't fight and they didn't want to lose their lives for the sake of mere property. The bandits sacked shops, houses, markets et cetera, pillaging all they could find within Bambara Village.
"This is not enough!" the bulky leader of the group declared, shooting fear into the hearts of the villagers that they gathered around.
The rest of his men were still searching but he was not pleased with the outcome so far and this drove him into making an outrageous declaration.
"Since you all refuse to pay your protection fee, even when we risk our lives against monsters, we'll be taking one million Star Shillings per head, regardless of whether it is a baby or a child or an adult. I don't care!"
The man started to pace back and forth.
"Anyone who does not bring us this amount by sunset," he said, stopping and flashing his brown and yellow teeth at the villagers in a grin.
"...will be dead then."
****
Aaron had picked up the sense of danger before any other person in Bambara Village but chose to not intervene until the danger reached them.
When he got wind of what was going on inside the village, he could tell immediately that the danger that tickled his nerves had come to Bambara and so, he stepped out of his laboratory to confirm for himself.
Aaron's body was not more than twenty years old but moved and acted like a mature man in the prime of his youth even. The Demon King was heavily influencing the young body he was reborn with.
He stepped out of his lab and then, out of his office, heading outside of the building. As he walked out of his clinic, he met the near-hourglass figure of Elsa with her back turned to him for the second time today but he paid no attention to that figure like he had done the first time.
It was not time for that.
Elsa's stance was firm and in her hand was the long broom she was sweeping with. Aaron looked closely and noted how tight her grip on the broom was.
Hers was not a grip for cleaning. It was too strong.
From that single glance, Aaron could tell that Elsa had some form of training in combat, at least the most basic ones.
Aaron stepped further forward, his figure now closely behind Elsa as he spoke.
"What are you doing here?"
Elsa jumped up, almost falling to the ground out of fear. Her heart sank into her stomach and a surge of adrenaline raced through her veins. Even while startled, Elsa was quick to protect herself with the makeshift weapon in her hand.
BAM!
The long wooden handle of her broom struck one of the pillars outside the Touch of Nirvana Clinic after she unknowingly attacked her master, assuming him to be a foe.
She missed nonetheless, with Aaron crouching in front of her and his eyes fixed on her thick thighs.
"What are you doing here?"
Elsa finally noticed who she had attacked.
"Master!" she blurted out, immediately retracting her weapon and hiding it behind her while chuckling nervously, even as Aaron could see the long wooden handle of the broom extending above her head.
Aaron rose into a standing position and looked at his supposed apprentice.
"What are you doing out here?" he asked for the third time.
Elsa smiled and moved her eyes to the side before turning her head completely in that direction and pointing forward.
Aaron followed her gaze and finger to where they led, only for him to see a group of three approaching the Touch of Nirvana and every one of them was armed to the teeth.
He clicked his tongue, facepalmed and heaved a loud sigh.
"Tsk, tsk. How eventful."
Aaron, being taller than Elsa, despite being around the same biological age as her, placed his hand on her head and glanced at her while she looked up at him.
"Go back inside. I will see what these riffraffs want."
Like a tamed animal, Elsa nodded and loosened her grip on the broom. She had lowered her guard at the words of her master and moved back a few steps.
Aaron went down the few steps in front of his clinic and stopped, waiting for the three bandits to reach him with his hands placed on his waist.
****
The boss of the bandit group had given explicit instructions and the villagers knew he was going to do what he said but there was nothing anyone could do about the amount he was demanding.
No one in Bambara had a million star shillings lying around in their house. Well, maybe except for the Chieftain. Unfortunately, the Chieftain couldn't help them at this moment since the Chieftain lived outside of the village with her cabinet.
The bandits had taken everything they found and gathered them in one spot, laughing hysterically and drinking off their liquor.
"My ale," one of the old men lamented with tears in his eyes while clutching his chest. He tried to stand and charge at the bandits but a hand pressed down on his shoulder.
"Don't do it, Mr. Macby. They will kill you without even thinking about it."
Mr. Macby refrained from his intended but foolishly heroic act and followed the advice of his fellow villager.
No matter how much the people hated it, no one had the guts to speak up.
Not until another old man whose legs could barely support his own weight stuttered protesting words born from fear.
"You've... taken... everything!" he said, opposing the bandits. "What more... do you want?"
The old man's voice quaked more than his thin legs did but his will refused to bend like his back had already done.
The hulky man laughed and stood up. He glugged an entire large mug of liquor at a go, spilling the golden liquid all over his mouth and body.
"Ahhh!" he exclaimed, burping afterwards with his breath nearly killing all lives around him.
"It's quite interesting that it's an old man who has a pair of working balls in this village."
The man walked over to the old man and placed a hand on the old man's back, bent down and asked, "Are they really working anyway?"
He mocked the man's age and had fun doing so. The huge bandit grabbed the man by his collar and raised him above the ground.
"Pay your one million or I will snuff the few days you have left in this world out of you!"
Perhaps, the rancid odour that the elderly man was exposed to would have taken him earlier.
"You should put him down!" a voice resonated from far away.
The hulky man turned and looked in the direction that voice came. He squinted his eyes to see a person approaching until the strange figure was close enough to be made out.
"Huh?" the man muttered, glancing at Whisper, who immediately approached.
"Aren't those—"
"Yes, boss. It's them," Whisper quickly responded.
Approaching them was Aaron who was dragging the bodies of the three bandits that visited his clinic as he walked towards the main group.