A middle-aged man charged at Ava from behind and tried to grab her. She swiftly dodged him and pushed his back as he passed by her. Another came at her from her right and swung his right fist. She parried the blow, diverting his punch to her right with her right hand as she stepped to the left. Then, she grabbed his wrist and shoulder and pulled him forward, causing him to trip and fall.
“(Left. Right. Duck. Backward. Left. Catch. Counter. Oh crap.)” [Ava]
Ava hurriedly raised her right arm and blocked a wooden club that was swung at the right side of her face. She succeeded in mitigating the blow, but was knocked to the ground.
“Hey! Careful! Don’t damage her face!” [Man]
One of the men, who seemed to be in charge, shouted at the one that managed to hit her.
“I told you to go easy on her! If she’s hurt, then her value will go down!” [Man]
The seven of them, who had jumped out to attack Ava after seeing her travel down the road by herself, were bandits. They would lie in wait, assault travelers that were unlucky enough to come by and loot them of all valuables before running away. Sometimes, if they were lucky, they would have fun with the women who became their victims. If they were quite the catch, they would sell them off as slaves for a tidy sum.
“But, leader, we’ve been careful not to injure her and none of us have managed to beat her yet.” [Bandit]
The bandit that had hit the half-elf with a club told his leader and gestured to his surroundings. His comrades were tired and breathing hard as none of their attempts to subdue their prey succeeded so far. Some were injured since they got punched in the face.
“Idiot! Can’t you see her ears?! She’s a half-elf! Do you know how much we could get if we sell her?! Catch her without bruising her skin!” [Bandit leader]
“Even if you tell me that, I don’t really know how much we’ll actually get.” [Bandit]
The club-wielding bandit answered, troubled, and scratched the top of his head.
“I mean, I never get to touch the money. What’s the currency used around here anyway?” [Bandit]
“Oh, I know that. It’s called Crom.” [Ava]
Ava answered him after standing up and dusting herself off.
“It’s actually used in every human country. The coins might look different in each kingdom, but they have the same value.” [Ava]
“Oh, that’s riiight. Thank you.” [Bandit]
“You’re welcome.” [Ava]
“STOP ACTING FRIENDLY!!” [Bandit leader]
The bandit leader angrily yelled, his bearded face red with fury as he pulled out the sword from the sheath hanging on his left hip.
“CATCH HER!! NOW!!!” [Bandit leader]
He commanded while pointing the tip of his weapon at her and joined the fray. He and his men worked together to try and corner Ava. However, she evaded them, staying on the move to avoid getting surrounded and took advantage of the fact that they went easy on her to land her blows.
“(All that training finally paid off. I can fight seven people at once. More or less.)” [Ava]
Ava thought rather calmly and chopped the side of a person’s neck, ignoring the pain she felt in her right arm. Unfortunately, her stamina couldn’t keep up. Her movements gradually slowed down, her breathing grew ragged and she was eventually encircled by the seven bandits. They pointed daggers, swords and clubs at her, preventing her to move freely and eventually pinned her down.
“… Guess it was impossible after all.” [Ava]
Ava, breathing hard, remarked calmly while on her back. Her hands and feet were each held down by a person, making her lie in the shape of an X.
“I need more training. And that guy hit me in the guts!” [Ava]
“Sorry.” [Bandit]
The club-wielding bandit apologized obediently when the half-elf accusingly shouted at him.
“Don’t apologize to her! Apologize to me! I told you not to harm her!” [Leader]
“Sorry, leader.” [Bandit]
The bandit leader angrily yelled as he stood over his catch.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
“And you! Behave if you don’t want to feel pain. In fact, we can make you feel good instead.” [Leader]
He told Ava while grinning lewdly. His men also did the same and let out a chuckle. Her thick cloak had been thrown off before the start of the fight. They lecherously eyed her body that was clad in a warm, brown tunic and grey pants. Her slim proportions and the bulge on her chest gave them an idea of her figure. Though the clothes weren’t too attractive, the girl’s beautiful features that were expected of her elven bloodline more than made up for it.
“I’m wearing pants.” [Ava]
She proclaimed rather proudly, to everyone’s confusion. The way she acted was, sadly, often strange and unattractive.
“… Let’s just take her clothes off and do it.” [Leader]
“But, leader, it’s cold out.” [Bandit]
“Then we’ll do it quick, idiot!” [Leader]
“Well, it’s true you’re the fastest.” [Bandit]
“Exactly! Wait…” [Leader]
“Okay, let’s stop here, people.” [Ava]
Ava, interrupting the bandits’ conversation, summoned her powers. Black smoke gathered around her left hand.
“… Oh, right, half-elves can use magic too.” [Leader]
The bandit leader muttered idiotically before a bullet of black smoke was shot at him. From it, a youth in his teens instantly appeared and he pushed the stunned leader away, knocking him back by several meters.
“Meet my Shadow Puppet, modeled after a dragon.” [Ava]
The Shadow Puppet, that looked like a shadowy, darker version of Goro, easily took down all of the surprised bandits. They were then added to Ava’s forces before being subsequently executed.
----------------------------------------
“Well, that didn’t quite work out as expected.” [Glen]
Sitting on a couch, Glen, the king of Troyas, commented softly inside a private room. His wife, Louise, was seated in front of him across a table, sipping on a cup of tea.
“The elves were angry and, in all honesty, amusingly distressed after that. You did a good job of calming them down and sending them away.” [Louise]
“They stormed off on their own, but thank you. It was troublesome, but easy enough. After all, we truly didn’t and couldn’t do anything like that. Furthermore, they can’t actually fault us for anything that happens to Ava when they’ve been calling her kind a half-breed.” [Glen]
The situation had gotten messy. Jonik and Elyon, the two representatives of Faywood, had angrily demanded an explanation from the king for Ava’s sudden disappearance. However, after some explaining and time passed by, they calmed down enough to realize the obvious fact that humans could not turn a person into a puff of smoke. It had to have been done by someone else. Once they understood that, the two quickly left.
“I’m as surprised as they are. Was that her magic?” [Glen]
“The reports never stated so, and elves should each only have one type of magic.” [Louise]
“If I knew this would happen, I would have confirmed with my own eyes what she could do beforehand. Really now, how did she pull that off?” [Glen]
Glen uttered in complaint and tapped his stiff shoulder.
“And why is my son not here yet? I want to discuss the situation with him and let him handle all of the annoying officials.” [Glen]
“Dreck is in a frenzy, organizing and leading a search for Ava. Lisa is actually helping him.” [Louise]
“Our children are so capable. I’m proud as a father.” [Glen]
Glen said and grinned, imagining his two kids hard at work, but that only angered his wife.
“Do not joke around or I’ll get angry.” [Louise]
“Sorry. It was my mistake. Please let me touch your thighs later.” [Glen]
He apologized immediately and shamelessly added his own request, causing her to sigh.
“And?” [Louise]
She asked as she put her cup of tea on the table.
“Things did not go according to the script you’ve told me. What will we do next?” [Louise]
“… Good question. For now, we sit and wait.” [Glen]
The king said, sporting a serious expression.
“I managed to lure people from Faywood here to negotiate and showed them that my country had the half-elf that had been attending Sanctuary Academy. We never got to the negotiating part, but we at least confirmed from their reactions that Ava really is valuable to them. It’s enough.” [Glen]
“But, Troyas did not gain anything.” [Louise]
“We gained enough. Everyone will know that representatives of the elves, that usually stay away from other races, visited Troyas of their own accord. That’ll make them think that we’re improving relations with Faywood.” [Glen]
“Relations with Faywood did not improve, though. They might have worsened in fact.” [Louise]
“I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen. Besides, Faywood will soon know that their half-elf did indeed come by here and that I’m more than willing to accommodate them, even cooperate in their search… If they come asking for help.” [Glen]
Glen told his wife with a wicked smile on his face to which she sighed.
“Do as you like, but you’ll have to deal with any trouble you’ll stir on your own.” [Louise]
“Of course, I’ll be careful with my dealings with Faywood. Elves are among the most powerful of the races. I marvel at how our ancestors managed to survive the war.” [Glen]
“Actually, I was talking about Dreck.” [Louise]
Louise said as she picked up her teacup.
“You saw how distraught he was when Ava disappeared. The boy is utterly smitten with her. So, if you want to sell her to Faywood to pave the way to an alliance, then you’ll have to deal with his scolding yourself.” [Louise]
“Mmm, that will be difficult. Perhaps if I introduced him to a woman with wonderful thighs like his beautiful and most exalted mothe-.” [Glen]
“Also, Lisa has grown fond of Ava, so she will surely not happily approve of your plan.” [Louise]
“… Oh.” [Glen]
Glen’s confident smile fell off his face.
… Will you help me?” [Glen]
“No.” [Louise]
She ruthlessly shot down his request.
“What?! My queen! Why won’t you aid your king in his moment of crisis?!” [Glen]
The king shouted sorrowfully and went to sit by her side.
“Covering for you to ensure you get along with our children is not among my royal duties. It is a waste of my precious time.” [Louise]
“You don’t have time for me, but you have time to oversee the production and trade of that hair product Ava told you about?!” [Glen]
“Certainly. Have you not seen the results yourself? It will generate a vast amount of wealth for years to come.” [Louise]
“That’s true! Your hair became even more beautiful! Let me touch your thighs!” [Glen]
“I wonder where that cheeky half-elf went? Well, considering it is her, I have a feeling that she is alright.” [Louise]
“Are you ignoring me now?! Then, I order you! Please, let me touch your thighs!” [Glen]
“No. Get away. I’m drinking tea.” [Louise]
While dealing with her noisy husband that was capable yet disappointing, the queen of Troyas hoped that her excellent son wouldn’t end up like his father.