Ruminating over my options:
1. Completely ignore them and hurry on ahead
(I mean, it's not like I'm some big damn hero, am I?)
2. Call out to them and ask what's going on
(I'd rather not get involved, but it's too late now that I've come across this scene.)
It would keep weighing on my mind if the girl ended up in an awful situation.
Yet I don't want to actively poke my nose into bothersome matters. I recall the bullying done by those four in the village.
Also, I'm not some powerless commoner who can't stand up against violence.
If I were, I would have hidden myself in some bush and turned a blind eye.
(Helping others... Is [Going with It] the fate of those with the power to?)
I'm not a goody two shoes, yet neither am I a scumbag, nor a brute.
Thus, I'm unable to overlook this.
(Phew... Is this what they call a template...)
Trying to make it seems cool inwardly feels like nonsense.
I got closer and listened to the men talking.
Hoarse voices that grate the ears could be heard.
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Dirty looking men started throwing gibberish at the shrinking girl.
"Stay still if ya don't wanna get hurt."
"We're gonna make ya feel reaaal good."
"Gehehehe, then we're gonna make a bank selling ya after, along with yer' baggage."
"Chill, I'm a gentleman 'see."
"It's gonna hurt at first, but as it goes on... buberabo!!"
The main source of the repulsive ear grating voice got blown 3 meter away.
"Aa~, thanks for making this simple with your cliched thuggish lines."
One after another, all 15 men were blown away in no time flat.
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I'm a merchant. A novice who's just started out by herself.
But I have learned a lot of trade art from my master who supported me until this point. I was confident.
I plan to sell my goods in the commercial city famed throughout the empire.
You need money to do business, make yourself known and build connections, so I had saved as much money as I could for this moment.
Money wasn't the only thing required. There's transportation, goods inspections, and expenditure which need careful elaborations.
As a result I could only afford to hire a [you get what you pay for] mercenary.
So this end result was brought about by my ignorance on the situation in the mercenaries guild, prioritizing on my own only instead.
My lapse of judgment on the importance of information has now cost me dearly.
Information is the most important thing to merchants.
Yet it had completely slipped my mind.
Forget being an expensive life lesson, I likely won't see the sunrise again at this rate.
As that fear dominated my mind, a sword was thrust before my neck, I lost strength on my trembling legs imagining what would become of me.
(Why... are they... ambush... from the start, they were planning to...!)
I took light of [Danger].
How the merchant that took care of me never encountered bandits, magic beasts, quarrels or even disputes also contributed to my carelessness.
Of course that was due to the fact that they hired trusted and highly skilled mercenaries to take care of the problems. This realization came too late, and the [Pain] wouldn't help me in the future.
(No! ...I don't want to get violated by these thugs...!)
Regret, terror, contempt toward these men and repulsion all got mixed within me.
You often hear these anecdotes. How travelers getting assaulted.
A common happenstance you never thought would befall you.
And in most cases, regret came too late, as they met an atrocious end with no salvation.
"I don't wanna die..."
I spoke while quivering. Despite fully knowing the other party wouldn't even consider my words.
"I don't wanna die..."
Even if I survived, only a wretched life would await me.
"I don't wanna die..."
Can a life wrapped in despair and misery along with a broken mind even be considered 'alive'?
I don't have a god I rely on.
I believe in money. Not as a miser.
It's simply the logical thing to. Because I'm a realist.
I'm fully aware that offering these men money now would only fuel their disgusting laughter further.
With a trembling voice so low no one would hear it,
"Someone help me... god..."
I whispered.
This was the first time the girl ever prayed in her life. Wishing for god to save her.
"Aa~, thanks for making this simple with your cliched thuggish lines."
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"Aw yeah, a big hit."
"Guess it's time to teach a young missy an expensive lesson on the way of the world."
"Yea, can't wait."
"Can't find a cushy job lately 'fter all."
"Gotta hide somewhere afterward. At least till things calm down a tad."
The men talked in whisper in a dirty alleyway behind a tavern.
One of these men had taken an escort job for a young merchant girl. However, he was the only one.
The only one hired.
While his client went somewhere to prepare for the trip, he gathered the men here.
They're to meet up in front of the gate. There's still time until then.
"Take her halfway. We'll go on ahead. It's an easy job, gonna be over soon. The rest is pleasure time."
"Whelp, I'm off now. Can't make my client wait after all."
Guhi guhi, the place was filled with repulsive laughter.
They all dispersed with that as a signal.
Every single one of them looks suspicious, all the more if they're in one group.
They all took different paths to get to the ambush spot.
The man greeted his client, 'Hello.'
The young girl who likely just came of age energetically replied, "Please take care of me", without even a shred of wariness.
This was the only word they spoke.
They kept silent along the way. And just kept walking forward.
The trip came to an end a bit after noon.
Once the man found his friends hiding in a forest along the roadside, he couldn't stop grinning and turned to look at his prey.
Breaking the silent, he uttered a word he had been waiting for.
"Whelp, it's time!"
During the moment the girl looked surprised at this word, he drew his sword and thrust it before her neck.
"Stay still if ya don't wanna get hurt."
More men came out of hiding one after another. Each uttering filthy words.
However, that place turned into hell due to the appearance of a lone intruder.
"Aa~, thanks for making this simple with your cliched thuggish lines."