As I was wondering how I felt about the aftermath, my party had gathered the surviving bandits (including some we ‘felled’ previously) in the center of the camp.
And what a sight the ten or so of them made, all sad and miserable, as if this wasn’t a clear consequence of their own choices. Well, at least they’re probably experiencing a small portion of the suffering they forced upon their poor victims.
Well, if they had any, anyway. Ideally, we’d have stumbled upon them before they really got started, but the scale of their ‘operation’ makes me doubt that.
Haa. I hope anyone they hurt didn’t suffer excessively…
Regardless, they won’t ever hurt anyone else again.
Anyway, “Now that everyone’s here, why don’t we begin? We have much to discuss, after all.” The Hero declared once the last of the bandits were gathered.
Discuss? What is there to possibly discuss? I’m confused. Like, shouldn’t we just execute them? It would be far faster than whatever the Hero is doing.
…Wow, that’s an odd thought. Maybe I should be more patient if I’m thinking like that.
Anyway, as I was distracted by my mental crisis, one of the bandits finally built up the will to speak up. “Uh, yes sir. Umm, what, uh, what do you want to talk about? Uh, sir?”
Wow, I understand why it took them so long to finally speak up now; these bandits have about as much spine as a dead fish.
‘It’s quite simple, really: what to do with the lot of you.” He answered with a smile, terrifying the bandits even more.
“Ah, yes, we should definitely talk about that,” the bandit nervously agreed.
“First, though, I believe your injuries might make such discussions, difficult, to have.” He then looked at me expectantly.
What. “What? Why would I do that?”
“So they don’t die?”
“So?” What’s the problem with that?
“It would be rather difficult to discuss matters should the other party happen to perish during said debate.” Greg unhelpfully added. Also, is he okay? He's a bit pale right now. Did he get injured or something? Or is a previous sickness only noticeably affecting him now, potentially aggravated by the battle?
“While technically true, I believe that to be a moot point; it’s not like they will live long anyway.”
“So you will just leave them to die?”
“Of course, it’s not like they wouldn't deserve it.”
“How could you just do that!”
“Because I’ve seen the mark bandits leave on people, Greg. Bandits are monsters, plain and simple. They may look and sound like people, but they aren’t. “
“...And you truly believe that?”
“Of course! As I’ve always been told, it's not how people look or who they’re related to that matters; only how they act.”
“I will admit it is quite an admirable thing to have been taught, and more so to have internalized, but I do not believe this is quite what they meant when they gave you said advice.”
I stared at him in confusion. “Of course it is; after all, I was first taught that when I asked what was wrong with someone who had been a victim of bandits.”
“Ah, I do remember you mentioning that previously. Still, that does not mean you should simply allow these people to die.”
“They are more like monsters than people, Greg,” I explained. “Not even monsters prolong the suffering of their victims like bandits do.”
“That does not mean they have to die!”
“Of course it does.” I countered matter-of-factly.
“Why?” Greg cried out, sounding physically pained. He might actually be injured somehow. Hmm, well, I guess he can wait as punishment for hiding his injuries. And, well, it could also just be some particularly painful bruises he got from falling or something.
“Because that’s what you do with monsters; you kill them.” I shrugged as if it were obvious, because it was.
Greg looked horrified at my simple declaration. And sadly, while not to nearly the same extent as Greg, everyone else is concerned at my sheer certainty. Other than the Hero, of course, but unlike usual, he seemed, almost… pensive…
“While I agree that we should kill any bandits we find,” “Melly!” “I don’t think we should just execute them when they’ve surrendered to us.”
“Again, we should discuss this at least, right?”
“Haa. Fine. Don’t expect me to make them comfortable, much less put them in fighting shape; I’ll only do the bare minimum.” I declared.
“That’s fine; I didn’t expect anything else.” At least he has some sense.
If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
After healing, we got down to actually discussing what to do with them.
“So, what are our options for dealing with these bandits?” The Hero asks to start our ‘discussion.’
“Well, the standard options are to bring them to the nearest city or to execute them,” Rapunzel reported, causing the bandits to flinch, the cowards. If you didn’t want to deal with the consequences, you shouldn’t have become bandits in the first place, idiots.
“Makes sense.” The Hero nodded. “And for completion's sake, could you please state the rest?”
“There’s also technically the option of releasing or recruiting them, but even ignoring how problematic that is, it is also highly illegal. The ‘disband the Hero’s Party’ sort of illegal.”
“A fairly obvious response.” He agreed. “Well, now that we have our options, what, should, we, do, hmm?”
“We’ll do anything! We won’t even resist or anything; just don’t kill us, please!” The bandits begged.
“So if we decide to bring you to town, you won’t resist?”
“We won’t!” They promised. With how desperate they sound, I could almost believe they were telling the truth—if they weren’t filthy bandits, of course.
Sadly, I seem to be alone in seeing the hypocrisy of bandits being honest instead of simply biding their time until they find an opening to stab you in the back.
“In that case, I vote that we should bring them to the guards.” Rapunzel decided.
“I agree, we should leave the responsibility of dealing with these men to those more qualified than us.” Greg agreed.
“Indeed.”
“They did surrender; it’s only right.” Melly followed.
“Then it is decided; we will escort our prisoners to the nearest town and hand them to the guards to deal with them.” The Hero declared to general agreement.
I can’t believe what I’m hearing.
“Let them live!?” I shout in disbelief.
As if to prove my point, at least one of the bandits started whimpering at my outburst.
“Of course.” The Hero responded casually, as if he hadn’t suggested something completely preposterous.
“Why!?” I implored, not believing what I was hearing. “What possible reason could you have for letting these pathetic wastes live!” I demanded, control over my aura wavering.
“We need them.”
“What”
The Hero waved his hands placatingly, “ I know, I know, just, listen, please. It will all make sense in a moment.”
I don’t know why, but the look in his eyes worried me when he said that. It was almost… almost as if he was worried.
Like he didn’t know what I would do…
Whatever it was that caused that was irrelevant, though. I won’t allow myself to disappoint the Hero, not after all he’s done, and will do, for us. Not without at least listening first.
“Fine.” I spat out, unable to keep my chaotic emotions out of my voice.
“Thank you.” He offered with a confident smile. The others probably bought it, but I know how uncertain he was, and how relieved he was at my acceptance. I don’t know what he was worried about.
And I sincerely hope I never will.
Though a bandit commenting, “This is the saintess? Aren’t they supposed to be merciful and, you know, saintly?” was almost enough to make me change my mind...
“So, we need to bring them in alive for one very important reason: they likely have information we need.”
“What could these buffoons possibly know that we would even want, much less need?” I rudely questioned.
Hey, I said I would listen to his explanation, not that I would be nice about it. Besides, what could they possibly know that the Hero doesn’t?
“Oh, I don’t know; maybe the locations of other bandits?” He suggested. And while normally I might, reluctantly, agree, I don’t think for a second that he doesn’t already know that.
And judging by how he continued, he must have read the doubt on my face. “Not only that, but they will also know about things like suppliers, safehouses, fences, and more.” I continued to stare. “Which would be quite valuable for Sarigna’s guards to have if they want to have any chance at clearing the rest out, or even just reducing their presence.”
Tch. I forgot about that. Of course, the Hero knows all that information, but even if he told the guards, they wouldn’t believe him.
And that’s not including the time it would take to accomplish all of that. No wonder he took the time to capture them, it would save, time…
Wait a minute… Give me back my worry that I was more impatient than you!
The Hero, somehow knowing what I was thinking, as usual, just laughed, making me pout further (not that I’d admit it).
Still, the Hero’s reasoning is sound, so, despite how much it pains me... “Fine,” I muttered. I can deal with only imprisoning a few bandits in exchange for potentially crippling their presence, if not in the country, at least in this area.
“What was that?” He teased, pretending not to have heard me.
“I said fine,” I grumbled, and once again I debated igniting my aura. But, no, that would be childish, and lowering myself to his level is beneath me. For now. “We can turn them in to the guards.” I then decided to add more. “As long as they cooperate, of course,” I threatened with a glare, causing the pathetic curs to shake.
Satisfied that they understood that my mercy was conditional, I left. While I agreed for now, I don’t trust that I’ll stay that way if I have to interact with the pests any more than is necessary.
That it gets me out of dealing with the camp is just a pleasant coincidence.
And we do have to deal with it, as leaving it here has the potential to be problematic. Luckily, despite its size, it is a mobile camp, so it was made to be packed up and moved whenever the need arose.
Begrudgingly, I have to admit that the bandits are useful here, having been ‘recruited’ to help pack up the camp, as without them we likely would have only finished in time for us to set up our own camp, if that.
Especially since they were forced to work double time, which was oddly satisfying.
Before I could comprehend how I felt about that, the Hero spoke up. “Aren’t they useful? Why, I think they might be of use in the church-”
“Recruit them!? Why don’t you come over here? I’ll let you feel what I think of that!” (In hindsight, his suggestion was made to distract me from the conflicting emotions I was feeling about this whole thing, but that doesn’t change how annoyed he made me.)
Regardless, packing didn’t take long, so we soon returned to our travels, heading in a similar, yet distinct, direction than before. Ha! The bandit’s confusion at our path was hilarious though (they know we are foreigners; it's quite obvious after all. Beyond our distinctive oddities, a saintess with the halo is easily recognized and difficult to impersonate).