Making a small slit in the tent, the four of us snuck out one at a time behind the tent and kept low. The girls followed me as I used the map as my guidance. I set my third job to Cook and then activated the Temperature Gauge. With thermal vision, I felt a bit like the predator trying to take out some soldiers.
Then again, I didn't really know if these guys had bad intentions. For all I knew, these guys were just merchants, soldiers, or gypsies. This was just me being thorough. Sliding out behind a small hill, we moved up to the top with Celeste's muffle and the cover of darkness. I'd rather take them out before they attacked our camp. I didn't want my tent or anything else to be further damaged.
I didn't send Celeste up into the air, as I worried that the moon and stairs would reflect off her wings. The last thing we needed was for her to take an arrow and alert these men. The moon and stars in this world were a lot brighter than my old world, and they filled the sky with a dazzling light that could take your breath away.
I made my way closer to the group of people until I was as close as I dared get. They popped out in my sight thanks to the night vision. I could see it was ten men. One, in particular, was a large man with a bald head except for a ponytail sticking out the back. He was wearing furs and he had a big ax on his side. He was sitting on a stump and he looked really intimidating.
"Well?" He demanded in a gruff voice.
A man walked up with the three dogs I had seen early jumping around him. "Nothing. No movement. They must not have a watch at all. They're ripe for the picking, Balrack."
"Ah… that sounds good." The man chuckled. "What a foolish lord. I'm going to enjoy raping his women in front of him."
I sat back and closed my eyes. He had to say something like that, huh? I couldn't even imagine the effect words like that would have on my girl's faces. Shock? Dismay. It must truly eat them up inside to be so casually treated like a piece of meat by some brutish bastard like this man. I really wanted to rip him apart, for their sakes. I would definitely-
"Master…" Lydia's voice came out, shaking slightly.
I opened my eyes, and there were three women staring at me with narrowed, angry expressions on their faces. Lydia was stroking her blade with a sort of sadistic desire. Miki was clutching the staff I had bought her, her face tinged with anger and a look that appeared ready to kill. I had given Celeste a wand, and she was fluttering left and right while waving it, looking like she was ready to lunge forward and rip out their throats.
That was right, my girls could take care of themselves, and right now they had heard the words of a man who thought too highly of himself. There was only one logical outcome.
"Do you guys know the policy on killing in Aberis?"
"If there is no evidence remaining, no one can catch you?" Miki offered.
These girls can be scary sometimes.
"I'm concerned about your safety first, but try not to kill anyone unless you have to." I sighed. "These aren't monsters."
It wasn't like I was feeling pity for the bandits. I just had to live with the results of what my harem did, and I wanted to be able to sleep come the morning. Either way, this was four on ten. Even though we had them by surprise, they outnumbered us. I had never fought outside of a dungeon before, so I had no clue how strong people were. Thus, I was expecting an extremely difficult fight.
"Ready? Attack!"