"There might be no bounty on them as of now, but alas, no one wants them back, Ace. Without the guidance of someone who could keep them on the right track, they will go back to banditry, and sooner or later, they will commit at least one of the crimes that you would not overlook."
The person speaking through the small monster added, speaking the harsh truth bluntly, just how it was.
"...some of them might be thinking about stabbing you in the back the moment you show it to them…"
The Hopping Rat added, turning its small head and glaring at the short-haired, freckled girl with its glowing bluish eyes as she tried to sneakily cut herself out of her bindings with a pocket knife she must have had concealed on her.
"...!"
Caught red-handed, the girl flinched and froze, biting her lips so hard a drop of blood slid down to her chin.
"There is no penalty for killing outlaws, no matter their age."
"!!!"
The person speaking through the monster pointed out, causing the freckled girl to start trembling while tears began flowing down her face.
She was shaking so much that she couldn't even hold on to her pocket knife.
"LAZ!"
"..."
Ace clenched his fists and shouted a warning, making the monster go silent.
"M-mister… p-please… don't kill us…!"
"..."
The trembling girl pleaded through tears.
She wasn't the only one crying either.
As it turned out, the sleep spell's effects had ended, and the young bandits were listening in on the conversation…
…and most of them couldn't handle it, not even trying to break free but straight up succumbing to despair.
"I…! I am their leader! I-if you have to punish someone, let it be me!"
"NO! Lean! Sh-shut up!"
The young guard who got knocked out first spoke up, doing his best to act brave even though he was trembling. His words made the freckled girl scream out and push herself towards him in an attempt to shield him from any potential blows.
"...are you happy now? Pushing some kids so close to a mental breakdown?"
Ace let out a quiet growl and glared towards the sky while speaking to the Hopping Rat.
"With how our world is, if that's how little it takes to break them, those kids have no chance of sur- squawk!"
The person speaking through the monster scoffed dismissively but before they could finish, a stray arrow pierced the creature's side, killing it and casuing the bluish light o disappear form its eyes.
"...!?"
Ace instantly turned around, glaring towards the direction the lethal arrow must have flown from, and tensed up.
"What the fuck, Annrie? Didn't I fucking tell you to take out the grass-haired fucker?"
"Shut up! I only missed it because I'm not used to this new bow! I still killed his familiar, didn't I?! That counts for something!"
A party of four adventurers made their way into the captured camp. The knife-eared male elf in typical rouge attire spoke up, not to the tense Ace but rather to his teammate, a tall human woman sporting a short, very elf-like hairstyle. She held a pristine juniper bow, completing her huntsman gear.
The two others behind them were equally interesting - a short long-haired muscular woman in a barbarian armor wielding an oversized hammer and a bald snake-like man with a spike-like estoc at his hip.
"This King does not appreciate your botched assassination attempt."
The green-haired young man glanced at the dead Hopping Rat before glaring and talking down at the newly arrived group.
"PFFFT! You've heard that fucker? This King does not approve! Ahahahaha~! What a fucking clown!"
The elf burst out into laughter, mockingly repeating Ace's words.
"Hey, Your Majesty, in the afterlife tell others that you've been kissed goodbye by Blood fangs~"
The human huntress snickered at the display of her companion before calling out to the green-haired young man as she reached to her quill.
"Not by your hand, though, right? This King forbids you from using your archery skill."
"The fuck? We've met some crazy bastard!"
Ace shrugged his shoulders without taking his eyes off the group, surprising the elf enough to make him frown with bewilderment.
"Oh, but your majesty… I am a rather irreverent type of girl~"
The woman chuckled, crudely grabbing the arrow by the feathers with her whole palm and with unwavering confidence, trying to load it onto the bow as if she tried to load a stone onto a slingshot.
"Anrie… what the fuck are you doing…?"
As the woman's smirk melted off her face and transformed into an expression of disbelief, the elf rouge glanced at her and whispered confusion.
"...I… I don't know… I… I can't… I don't know how… how to use the bow…"
The woman answered in distress, acting not only as if she couldn't use a bow but more like she had never seen or heard about what a bow was in her life.
"...!"
The other members of Blood Fangs glanced at their huntress, then at each other, and finally stared at the green-haired young man as confidence and nonchalance suddenly evaporated from their bodies.
"Are we ready to talk it out like members of intelligent species now?"
Ace straightened his back, combing his hair back with his fingers, and asked with the authority of someone holding the absolute advantage in the situation.
"...ffffffuck… his ability didn't show up through my read because it must be a fucking royal-type…!"
"!!!"
The elf lowered his head and spat through his teeth, causing the rest of his party to flinch and tense up.
"Valin…! Valin! What if I won't be able to use a bow ever again…?!"
The huntress trembled and cried out on the verge of despair.
"Shh, shh, shhh… It's okay… I made the wrong call just because of his low level, so I will fix it."
The elf rouge shushed her gently while patting her shoulder reassuringly before looking up at the green-haired youngster with a lot more respect or at least some reserve.
"We've started on a wrong note, kind sir. We misunderstood you for a member of those bandits behind you."
The elf bowed his head lightly towards Ace without ever taking his eyes off him.
"One of their own capturing them like that? Don't you think that's pushing the fool's act a bit too far?"
The green-haired youth raised his brow and scoffed with enough confidence to force others to listen to him regardless of their intention.