Step by step...
As he slowly approached, one of the bandits could no longer endure it.
"Y-you bastard! Die!"
He raised his sword high and swung it down at Silva's head.
Whoosh
Silva's body flowed to the right.
Slash.
Blood sprayed from the bandit's neck.
"You... What did you do?!"
Despite having just killed someone and being splattered with blood, Silva's expression remained unchanged, instilling fear in the remaining bandits.
Had they continued to work together as a group of three, Silva would have found it difficult to act.
But now, gripped by panic and fear, the bandits had no chance of survival.
With a wide swing of his sword...
Slash.
Thud.
Silva's blade cut through the exposed torso of one bandit, then followed through with a diagonal slash to the last, cutting him down.
After slaying the final bandit, Silva flicked the blood off his sword and sheathed it.
"Phew..."
Silva let out a deep sigh as he surveyed the surroundings.
(I managed to handle it somehow...)
Counting the bodies of the bandits, Silva thought to himself.
"Um... excuse me?"
A voice called out from behind.
When Silva turned around, the blond and silver haired girls were rushing over.
"Oh! There's blood on your face..."
The silver haired girl used the sleeve of her clothing to wipe the blood splattered on Silva's face.
"I apologize for the late introduction. I am the older sister, Laura."
"And I am the younger sister, Sarah," the blonde girl added.
"Are you alright?" Silva asked.
"Yes. Thank you very much for saving us," they replied in unison, bowing deeply.
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"No, I apologize for what you have gone through. I wish I could have helped you sooner..."
"No, I'm just grateful that my body wasn't defiled."
"As my sister said, we can't thank you enough... Truly, thank you."
As Sarah spoke, Laura nodded in agreement, and the sisters once again bowed their heads deeply.
"I'm glad to hear you say that...!"
Silva took a closer look at the girls, their striking beauty captivating him.
They had deeply tanned skin and chiseled features, with perfectly toned bodies and large chests that emphasized their femininity. They were dressed like Arabian dancers, but the collars and shackles around their necks, wrists, and ankles stood out prominently.
(No wonder the thieves lost their minds…)
However, Silva couldn't shake a feeling of unease about them.
(What's going on? These girls are stronger than the thieves?)
Their muscle tone, the way they moved, their sharp awareness—everything about them suggested they were trained in combat. They certainly didn't look like girls who could easily fall victim to those kinds of thieves.
"Um…? Is something wrong?"
Noticing Silva's intense gaze, Laura asked.
"Oh, no, sorry. I was just lost in thought. By the way, what's your surname?"
"…Slaves have no surnames…"
Laura's reply made Silva's expression tighten. Seeing the collars, he had suspected as much, but now he had confirmed it.
"Oh, I'm sorry…"
"No, please, don't worry about it."
Despite her words, shadows crossed their faces, and a tense atmosphere settled between them.
Fortunately, Sarah broke the awkward silence.
"Excuse me, may I ask for your name?"
Caught up in his thoughts, Silva realized he hadn't introduced himself.
"Oh, right, my name is Silva. Silva Schneizel."
"Mr. Schneizel… Silva, please let us express our gratitude again. Thank you so much for saving us."
"That's alright, but what will you do now? If you'd like, I could escort you to the town of Alu."
Their response, however, was unexpected and took Silva by surprise.
"No… We're sorry, but we cannot leave here without our master's orders."
Silva's mind went blank at their unexpected reply. Looking at them, he could tell they weren't joking.
He cautiously asked, "...Are you serious?"
"Yes!"
Both girls nodded firmly.
"And where is this master of yours?"
Silva scanned the area, wondering if their master was among the dead from the attack, but judging by the clothes on the corpses, it didn't seem so.
"He fled during the attack, along with the guards."
Silva was stunned by Sarah's words. He hadn't imagined that they were waiting for orders from a master who had abandoned them.
"I'll ask again, Your master ran away and left you behind, right?"
"Yes."
"And you're still going to stay here?"
"Yes. Without the master's orders, we cannot move."
(Are they really serious about this?)
To be honest, the situation was becoming quite troublesome. Silva wanted to send them to the nearest town as soon as possible and be on his way. There was also the matter of the Imperial pursuers. However, if they refused to move, taking them to town was impossible.
(Well, I guess there's no choice. I'll just have to set up camp and leave some supplies.)
Realizing that the girls wouldn't change their minds, Silva started preparing to set up camp and gave them some instructions. Leaving them in the middle of the forest didn't sit right with him, but he couldn't afford to spend all his time taking care of them.
(I'll help them as much as I can.)
He instructed Laura and Sarah to prepare for camp while he began moving the bodies of the thieves and what appeared to be the guards. However, this led to an unexpected development.
As he laid down the second body, about several dozen meters into the forest from the road, a high pitched scream pierced the air.
(That was Sarah's voice!)
Silva sprinted back to the campsite. Through the gaps in the trees, he saw one of the thieves, bloodied and in armor, holding Sarah under his arm as he sat atop a horse.
"You bastards, don't think you'll get away with this! I remember your faces. I'll hunt you down to the ends of the earth!"
(Damn it! I thought I killed him for sure!)
No matter how much Silva wished otherwise, the reality wouldn't change. The thief he thought he had killed by slashing his belly open was now trying to escape with Sarah on horseback.
Grabbing his chakram from the pouch at his waist, Silva charged toward the thief.