Chapter 146: Saving the Village

"Make sure that everyone is here! Don’t let even a single one escape!"

A man with a face full of scars bellowed.

He had a short stature with an unkempt white beard reaching down to his neck.

On his hands were two sharp axes that also had some traces of blood on it just like his clothes.

The man had a ruthless smile on his face as he looked at the tied up villagers in front of him.

Suddenly, one of the villagers was able to remove the gag on his mouth, "You’ll die when the knights of the Corelli Fortress get here!"

"Oh?" The man had a look of surprise on his scarred face.

A scared expression appeared on his face as he walked slowly towards the villager who spoke, "Really!? I think we should retreat..."

Hearing the scarred man’s sincere tone, the villager became confused, "R-Really?"

Since their voices weren’t exactly low, the other villagers glanced at one another. Hope could be seen in their eyes.

’Just like that? We didn’t have to suffer anymore?’ was the thought in their minds.

"Of course, of course!" The scarred man said as he crouched behind the villager and untied his arms with his axe.

"There, you can go now."

The village looked at his now untied hands and saw the wounds and red marks caused by the tight rope that bound him earlier.

"T-Thank yo—"

Shuikkk—

The area fell into pin drop silence as a head flew in the air.

"Pfft– Haha... Keu— HAHAHAH!"

A boisterous laughter soon broke the silence and snapped the villagers out of their dazes.

The frozen expressions of the villagers were soon replaced by fear as they stared at the head of the man who still had an expression of gratitude on his face.

"Isn’t that funny!?" the scarred man spoke in between his laughter.

In the next second, he abruptly stopped laughing as his expression suddenly turned to a serious one.

"Now, is there anyone else who would like to try something so stupid as to threaten us?"

"You place your hopes on the guards and knights of the Corelli Fortress, hoping that they will come and save your asses."

"Though sadly, we chose to raid this village because it’s far away from the fortress. Besides, do you really think they will save you?"

He glared at the villagers, prompting them to lower their gazes as they felt the fear of death before them.

"Boss!"

At this moment, a man with a machete approached the scarred man.

"What is it? Did you round up everyone?"

"Yes, Boss! We killed the men and the elderly and tied up the women and the children!"

A satisfied expression appeared on the scarred man’s face, "Good job. We can sell the women and children as slaves."

"Now, we only need to loot them before we leave."

"We’ll do it as fast as we can, Boss!" said the lackey as he left hurriedly.

Whoosh—

However, before he could take another step, a faint sound of something cutting through the wind was heard.

Shuikkk— Thud!

"Hmm?" the scarred man glanced behind him as he heard the faint sound.

What he saw made his eyes go wide.

His lackey that had been alive just a moment ago now laid lifeless on the ground with an arrow impaling his temple.

"B-Boss! Someone’s attacking us!!" The other bandits shouted as they ran.

The scarred man frowned, "Who the hell is it?"

He felt confused since they specifically chose to raid this village as it was in the periphery of the Corelli Fortress.

This meant that there was no one who could possibly foil their plans.

"It must be some random adventure–"

The scarred man wasn’t able to continue his words as he felt something was wrong.

"Where are the others?"

He asked as he noticed that there were only about ten bandits who gathered in front of him.

"D-Dead..."

The lackey as the foremost position had difficulty breathing.

"What!? Speak clearly!"

"They are all dead, Boss!"

His lackey’s words brought a sense of dread in his heart.

’Impossible!’

In the group of bandits that he led, there were already more than fifty members.

Therefore, he felt shocked at the fact that in the fifty or so bandits that he led, only around ten had remained.

’We didn’t even hear any shouts or even any signs that we’re already being attacked!’

The scarred man felt the urgency of the situation, ’This can only mean that... whoever is attacking us is way more powerful than us!’

"They’re just snotty adventurers who don’t know any better! Immediately prepare your weapons so we can fight them!!"

"Alright, Boss!"

The remaining bandits immediately readied their weapons.

Meanwhile, the villagers who were still tied up to the plaza didn’t know what was happening.

All they knew was the fact that one of the bandits suddenly died to an arrow while the others prepared for battle.

With this information, it wasn’t too hard to come to the conclusion that there was someone attacking the bandits.

However, the villagers all took a blow mentally due to the cruelty of the bandits, making them unable to think rationally.

Thus, all they could do was sit in a daze while hoping for the best.

"Attack!"

The scarred man shouted as soon as they saw a few silhouettes at the entrance of the village.

However, not only did none of them charge, they all ran the other way instead and escaped through the alleyways.

"Hey! What are you running away? I told you to charge!" The scarred man angrily spoke.

The lackey that was running beside him snickered, "You think we’re fools? Who would charge ahead when they could kill the others without even making a sound!?"

"Besides, aren’t you running yourself!?" The lackey spat on the ground as he ran harder.

However, as they reached the end of the alleyway, they saw the silhouette of someone with a short stature.

What greeted their eyes was a boy with snow white hair and blood red eyes.

Furthermore, they saw a sword in his hands.

The scarred man and the lackey glanced at each other.

"Boss, do you think that kid is the one who killed the others? I think it’s the first time I’ve seen him!!"

"I don’t think so."

"Why?"

"Look at his sword. If he’s really that strong and he really did kill the others, then why are there no stains of blood on him?"

The scarred man continued, "I think he’s just like one of those young adventurers who blindly believes in their dreams and ideals!"

"As expected of you, Boss! You’re a coward, but you’re still able to use your head!"

"Fuck you!"

The two of them brandished their weapons as they prepared to kill the boy in front of them.

"It’s your fault that you’re at the wrong place at the wrong time!"

"Haaaa!"

Shing— Shuik!!!

"Ehh?"

The scarred man and his lackey had frozen expressions as they felt that they were falling.

They were running, but then all of a sudden, they felt their bodies abruptly falling towards the ground.

Thud!!

"Fuck! Did I trip?" The lackey cursed out loud as he tried standing up.

However, his face soon darkened as he felt something missing from his body, "My legs..."

He looked behind him and saw that his legs were at the ground a few meters away from him.

"Shit!!" The scarred man also cursed as he noticed his missing legs.

"I’m curious, why did you become bandits?"

At this moment, a childish voice sounded, prompting the two bandits to raise their heads.

What greeted their sight was the same boy from earlier who looked as if he didn’t notice anything wrong with them.

"You fucking Devil’s Spaw—"

Shuik—

The lackey’s head immediately flew in the air without a sound.

Witnessing the events that had transpired before him, the scarred man subconsciously gulped.

’What kind of monster did we encounter...’ He thought to himself as he racked his brain.

At first, he thought that the boy before them was just like those young adventurers who were too full of themselves.

Such cases were common: young people who were only in their teens becoming adventurers.

However, most of them underestimate the real world too much which causes them to meet their untimely deaths.

That was the reason why he didn’t find it strange to see such a young adventurer.

Unfortunately for him, Regis was special.

"Why don’t you answer my question? I might let you go if I’m satisfied by your answer."

’Even if he’s powerful, he’s still young! I must take advantage of this...’ the scarred man thought that he could easily sway the boy’s emotions.

"I’m begging you! I only did this because I have a family! Please have merc—"

Shuik—

Along with the faint sound of slashing, a head flew in the air.

"Mercy, huh? Did you consider that when you raided this village?" Regis muttered to himself as he shook his head.

"Such hypocrisy..."

"Hey, Boss! Are you done on your end?" At this moment, Killian arrived and asked.

Regis nodded with a smile, "Yes."

"Then, let’s go! Pandora and the others are also waiting for us! The villagers told us that they would surely thank us for saving them!"

"Oh! Oh! By the way, you didn’t tell me that you’re also quite good with the bow!"

"Well, you didn’t ask."

"Oh..."

The two conversed joyfully as they left the body of the two bandits behind.