368 Cloudy Forecast...?
These women were kidnapped from the federation.
They likely would have been sold as slaves if I didn't come to their rescue.
Mostly for sexual purposes.
They'd be lucky if they got sold to a brothel, the other possibility was getting treated as slaves.
"We don't have time to talk about this now! They're gonna come back soon! We have to hurry and escape!"
"Now now, calm down. Ah, are you hungry? Thirsty? We should rest up here today."
I wasn't really in a hurry to leave the forest nor was I going to keep walking around in the forest today. It's still not even noon yet so I'm not against resuming the exploration, but now that I've found somewhere to shelter from rain, I'm more worried about my food situation.
Hence, I was planning to use this cave as my base, but she wouldn't agree.
"Why are you so lax? If we don't hurry and..."
"Do you know the way? Or how far away is this place from your home? Walking in a woodland is unlike a walk in the park. Can you last through it before your legs give out? Far as I can see, your attires suggest you don't usually stroll around in a forest."
The woman fell silent after I said that. Her name is Linda, the only one who's been talking to me.
The other two won't talk. Not even a word of gratitude for saving them.
But their eyes aren't dead, more like they're suspicious of me.
I feel a bit down seeing how distrustful they are. Though I do agree that I'm looking real suspicious with my outfit.
These three women don't really know each other, they're all kidnapped from different locations. Thus Linda told me.
Their clothes are neither glamorous or plain, just a bit more high class than ordinary folk.
I'm guessing they're young ladies of some high ranking houses of some sort.
"No need to worry a thing. I'll take care of everything. Gotta scrounge up for our travel expenses too."
Linda threw a question after hearing that.
"Are you someone from a search party father sent? Where are the other members? Wait, are you here alone? But what about the guards standing outside...?"
That was when a hoarse voice faintly echoed in the cave.
"Who the hell did this! Dammit! Worthless bunch, can't even defend a cave! We've got an intruder! Go look inside! They might've gone with our hostages!"
I never cleaned up the bodies so they found out right away. But this is fine.
<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka .com >
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I was already in Accelerated state by the time I heard the voice.
People like these never listen to reason, reaching out is just a waste of time. I can just leave one underling alive to fish out information.
Therefore, I'm gonna remove all the unneeded bandits right away.
(People who don't see other people as humans have no rights, do they?)
I walked outside and found a relatively well dressed group of bandits.
I didn't find it weird at this point.
(The leader is... him huh. Guy's got this evil look on his eyes complete with beard and scars on his face, so evil-coded...)
I can't bring myself to look at his face any longer.
I let out a straight punch on it.
(Ah, didn't think it through. If I undo Acceleration now, his pieces would be flying everywhere.)
In the meantime, I punched every single man that came into my view.
I didn't really think where to hit and more focused on putting a bit of strength into my punches.
I had already picked the most timid looking man among them.
Hence, I had no reason not to smash the remaining kidnappers.
(Phew, that did it. Alrighty, now I just gotta keep my distance and see things go from behind a tree.)
=== === ===
That was the right decision. Under Acceleration, anything I do is 'Overkill' no matter how much I try to hold back. Trying to go easy is never gonna work.
So I didn't make the attempt this time.
Unpleasant noises pop out all over the place.
Plosive sounds, sounds of something splatting on the ground, sounds of something getting crushed, and sounds of liquid spilling over.
I've made it splatter-like this time around. Why you ask? That'd usually worsen my mood but I'm making it work in my favor to crush the underling's spirit this time.
"...Wha!? Hiie! Hiie!? Hiieeeeeee!? Hyaaaaaa!"
I expected this scream.
"You're the only one left. I don't mind letting you alive if you listen to me, how about it?"
I showed myself up once the underling screamed enough. Just gonna interrogate him now.
"Y! You!? Who the hell!? What the hell's going on!? D-did you do this to them!? Dammitall!"
Looks like he's fallen into a panic and can't hear me. I opt to a show of my power to calm his down.
"Look closely okay? This will be you... if you don't follow my instructions."
The underling is pointing his drawn sword at me. That's cool but he's not convincing at all with the intense quivering. He's not even taking a step forward out of fear.
That alone was a clown show enough, yet I won't hesitate to show him more terror.
I punch a thick tree next to me with around sixty percent of power.
BAM! There was a sound of something heavy hitting each other as my fist caved the tree in.
The impact was so great, all the green leaves nearby fell off.
The underling's face went dead pale after he saw that.
He lost all will to fight as he fell down on his knees and dropped his sword with a blank look turned at me.