Silva raised his sword slowly, positioning himself over the bandit.

  "W-wait! We're not just ordinary bandits! We're a privateer unit of Zaruda! If you mess with us, the Kingdom of Zaruda won't let you go!"

  After listening to the bandit's frantic claims, Silva finally spoke.

  "Are you stupid?"

  "What?"

  The bandit, who had been met with silence until now, reflexively asked in surprise at Silva's words.

  "If I kill you, who's going to know who did it? Are you planning to inform the Zaruda Kingdom after you're dead?"

  The bandit was dumbfounded by Silva's blunt question.

  "The dead can't do anything. Besides, I don't intend to let any of you live."

  Realizing the meaning of Silva's words, the bandit's face turned pale.

  "N-no, stop it! Please, spare me! I have a daughter!"

  The behavior of villains is the same in novels or reality: they lash out at the weak and beg for mercy from the strong. While an average person might hesitate to deliver the final blow and feel sympathy for the child, unfortunately, Silva wasn't that soft.

  "It doesn't matter if you have a child or not," he stated calmly, without a hint of emotion.

  "Stop… stop it!"

  The man's face contorted in fear.

  Slash

  An unyielding blow came down upon the bandit's head.

  "Are you sure about this? To just kill him like that?" Laura asked as Silva sheathed his sword.

  "Is there a problem?" Silva replied.

  "No, it's just… I thought there might be more to ask him?"

  "No, I'm not that interested. Besides, there's no way of knowing if what he says is true or not."

  Laura's face showed a puzzled expression. Silva thought she seemed a bit naive to actually believe the last words of a bandits so he said: "I'm not naive enough to trust a bandit's words. And even if he spoke the truth, it wouldn't matter. By the way, I'm glad you got your sister back safely."

  "Thank you, Master," Laura said, bowing deeply. Sarah followed suit.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  Accepting their gratitude, Silva asked the question that had been on his mind.

  "Well, that's fine, but… What's with this 'Master' thing? It's been bothering me for a while."

  "You formed a blood pact with me earlier, did you not? Since you became my master, it is only natural for me to call you Master," Laura explained.

  A puzzled expression appeared on Silva's face. After thinking for a moment, he recalled the blood he had shed from cutting his finger earlier at Laura's request.

  "Blood pact… That thing earlier? Where we cut our fingers and mixed our blood?"

  "Yes," Laura confirmed.

  Then, Sarah stepped forward from behind Laura.

  "Master, could you also form a blood pact with me?"

  "Yes, Master. Could you form a blood pact with Sarah as well?"

  Silva was feeling bewildered about this ordeal, But he quickly shook his head.

  "Sorry, but I'd rather not. Actually, Laura, you don't need to serve me either."

  The sisters faces fell with a look of sorrow, evidently taken a back by Silva's words.

  "Do… do you dislike us?" Tears welled up in Sarah's eyes, and Laura's expression darkened.

  "No, that's not it," Silva clarified.

  "Not it?" The sisters looked up at Silva with pleading eyes. The sight of two beautiful women staring at him was enough to unsettle his heart.

   Struggling to maintain his composure, Silva asked: "Aren't you two waiting for your master here?"

  "Now that we have formed a blood pact, we no longer need to obey him," Laura replied casually.

  "But Sarah is still bound by his restraining spell, so she cannot leave here. Therefore, we would like you to form a blood pact with Sarah as well."

  "So if I do this pact with Sarah as well, you can head to the town?" Silva asked.

  "Yes, if you form a blood pact with us, Master," both sisters nodded in agreement.

  (I guess I will have to do that, I don't want to leave these girls here if I can help,) Silva thought.

  Though he was on the run, Silva couldn't help but feel exasperated by all the trouble he was getting into. Still, he couldn't abandon them when there was a way to help. Sighing deeply, he agreed.

  "Alright, I'll form this blood pact or whatever. After that, we'll sort through the wagon's cargo, take anything valuable, and head to the town of Alue. If we leave now, we should arrive by 8 PM. But once we get there, you're going to explain everything to me."

  "Understood," the sisters voices, filled with relief, echoed through the forest.

  After forming the blood pact with Sarah, Silva returned to the wagon to inspect the goods the bandits had laid out.

  "Wow, there's a lot of expensive stuff here," Silva observed.

  Aside from a box full of gold coins, they found numerous hair ornaments and bracelets adorned with sapphires and rubies.

  "They dress up slaves like this when selling them. It makes them look better and fetches a higher price," Laura explained.

  "Hmm…" Silva mused.

  Judging by the size of the wagon that had been attacked, there were probably around ten slaves.

  "This gold was the payment for selling off our companions."

  If those sold were as beautiful as Laura and her sister, it made sense that they would be carrying this much gold as payment. Tears welled up in the sisters eyes, perhaps recalling their companions who had been sold.

  Rustle... rustle... crack...

  The sound of someone trampling through the underbrush came from deep within the forest, as if to interrupt their conversation.

  "Laura! Sarah!"

  At Silva's shout, the sisters drew the swords they had prepared. These were, of course, swords they had stripped from the bodies of the bandits. For an impromptu formation, it was remarkably effective.

  (A monster? Or perhaps the remaining bandits?)

  To Silva's surprise, the sound that followed was a human voice.

  "Boss! Over here!"

  A man emerged onto the road, pushing his way through the forest's dense foliage. The man looked around and noticed Silva and the sisters.

  "Oh! What about the cargo? What's the status of the merchandise?!"