424 Happening at Night
The morning after, I left my tent only to find a bizarre morning spectacle outside.
There's a heap of people, unknown whether they're alive or not, right next to our camping spot.
"...What, is this?"
My sleepyhead couldn't immediately process this sudden surprise.
Then I caught sight of Chimera grooming itself in the corner of my vision.
"Oy? Chimera? What happened? What are these? Did you do it?"
"Meow", that was the only response I got. Chimera understands what I say, but that doesn't apply in reverse.
"There must be a deep reason behind this. Yep, that's why I shouldn't overthink it."
I did my very best to turn a blind eye on it. After all, I've confirmed Chimera is in a good mood, its fur lustrous.
It must have intercepted them. I'm sure the people who became this pile of bodies were going to attack our camp.
They shouldn't have any reason to come here and get turned into this pile.
I know that Chimera was sleeping soundly balling itself when I went to bed last night. I believe Chimera isn't the type that randomly kills people without reason.
I could have looked for a survivor among this pile of bodies and asked for their story, but I just knew that would only bring in unnecessary issues and resumed my morning routine instead.
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<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka .com >
It happened during the time all of them were deep in slumber last night. Several figures lit only by moonlight were inching closer to their camp.
Eight of them. They were the two groups among the five groups of travelers that were in this camping ground.
"Oy, we're gonna make a killing. They got three women. All of 'em look pretty high born and the stuff they got look expensive. Then there's that smell from dinnertime. They gotta be filthy rich!"
These men were creeping in closer very slowly, careful not to make a sound.
"Hihehehehe... These guys must have that, y'know, that? Magic bag thingy. Ain't no way they coulda bring this huge ass table without one."
All of them were grinning from ear to ear as they crept closer to the tents one by one.
"What do you wanna do men? Grab the bags? Kidnap the women? The men gotta be dead, don't wanna risk waking them up tho'."
They were a band of bandits that operated in this vicinity by disguising themselves as travelers.
"Occasional dumbasses like these guys who don't leave anyone to stand watch are what makes this stuff interesting. Most of 'em are usually country bumpkins. But these peeps obviously aren't. See if the coast is clear..."
The leader-looking man warned his men. At which they started rummaging around looking for something.
"I ain't see a single clapper or anything. The heck? They're just amateur travelers for real?"
Despite the leader's confusion at the lack of early warning traps, he never told his men to quit.
"We should be good now. Spread out, surround 'em. We'll do this in one go. Make sure ya keep quiet, don't wanna alert the other travelers here."
"Hey? Ya mind if I do the women here? My son's been aching real bad."
One of the men looked like he was gonna rush into the lady's tent as he held down his groin.
Gripping a knife in his hand.
"No. We gotta scram once we're done. Do whatever you want to the women later. Just make sure to leave 'em usable... Get ready men, rush in with my signal."
It was already over by then. They were in the dark of night. The moonlight was nowhere near sufficient for a human to perceive a 'hunt' that just took place.
All the more with the moon currently hidden behind clouds, the hunter was nigh imperceivable.
"Ready? Done preparing men? Let's do this... three, two, one, go!"
However, nobody responded to him. The leader was the only one left standing.
"What? The heck you guys playing at huh?! ...Oy, where's your response!"
As the cloud hiding the moon cleared, a being came into view to the leader.
"...What? ...!?"
The heap of his subordinates behind this being made for an eerie-looking shadow to him.
Right after the leader realized what it was and immediately tried to run away, what came into his vision next was the claws of a magic beast emanating an enormous wave of mana.
His consciousness fell into darkness, never to wake up.
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I consulted with the coachman once he got up.
"We can regard these corpses as criminals. You do not approach other travelers without a good reason. Doing thus without a proper signal first and in the dead of night is akin to an act of crime. We should be free to take all their belonging."
The coachman sent a MAX alert level glance at Chimera. Looks like he noticed who did the deed.
Meanwhile I heaped praises upon Chimera.
"Ooh, Chimera, well done! You protected our precious bedtime alright! Good going! Thanks a bunch."
"Meow", Chimera responded after which I set out to strip off the bandits' belonging.
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