"Alright! It's job time! What should we take? No dungeoning yet, right?"

"Absolutely not," Sophia said.

"Got it. Let's see... Bandit bounties are back, huh."

"It's better than a dungeon."

"Right. Huh, protecting a caravan?" Blake was still working his way through the jobs. He hadn't decided what to go with yet.

"That's a very dangerous job. It's misplaced," Sophia said.

"Huh. You're right. Missed that. We could still take that on, though, right? Since you're here."

"We could, but it's a bad idea. Caravans with difficulties that high tend to be Transporters, since they've been getting raided by bandits so aggressively."

"Seriously?"

"Yes."

"Wouldn't that be a good reason to take it?"

Sophia immediately grabbed Blake by the wrist and pulled him into a more private space. Through the library, into the gym, and into the showers. Due to the time of day, they were not currently in use. The other two stayed behind in the main guild hall area.

"How stupid can you be!"

"Hey! What're you dragging me in here for!"

"Rule number one of being an adventurer, don't kill your clients!"

"Okay, jeez, stop, that hurts! That really, really hurts!"

"This is serious. If you mess with the guild, your life is over."

Blake paused, a serious look finally coming to his face. "That bad?" he said.

"Yes."

"Okay. I'll take it easy. That idea is off the table."

"Good. Rule number two. Don't put your party members in danger. Deliberately bringing Riley around Transporters is a bad idea. I know nobody's her rightful owner, but someone who thinks otherwise may still recognize her, even this long after they lost her. I'm sure you've realized that already. That's why I know you were thinking about killing them."

"Got it."

"Good. Let's take the bandit job. I have mixed thoughts about it, but it's the best chance for you to gain a lot of real world experience very quickly. It also pays well."

So they took it. The task was simple—bring back one of the prize possessions of the leader of one of the nearby bandit camps to prove that they're dead. There wasn't a time limit on it, and it was first-come-first-serve, so they had all the prep time in the world.

"This is a big job," Riley said.

"We've got Sophia. Oh, right, Nash, time to register," Blake said.

Nash nodded.

"Speak up!"

"Yes, sir!"

"No 'sir' here, boy!"

"Yes, Blake!"

"That's the spirit!"

Nash went through the same registration process Blake did, now that he wasn't a slave. The clerk was very curious about his liberation, but it was guild policy not to pry into matters like this. The guild was better off not knowing, for their own sake.

"That's his sister," Blake said, gesturing towards Sophia.

"Ah," the clerk said. She had no idea what strange sequence of events might have led to this situation, but she trusted him.

Once Nash was comfortable with his bracelet, the clerk spoke again.

"So... Your little party here sure is eclectic. A normal party's five men around the same age. Do you have a party name? The rest of the community's started gossiping about you, but they haven't a clue what to call you. They've tried 'Brandy Bob' and 'Drunken Dolt', but nothing's stuck. If you don't want to be stuck with something weird, you might want to speak up."

"Seriously? I'm sober now, guys!" Blake turned to the rest of the hall. "You won't see me passed out drunk and getting carried home. We're called The Pack, don't stick any weird names on us, there's a kid in the party!"

----------------------------------------

"Nash, you're a genius."

"How could this be my idea? It was Riley's!"

"Riley, you're a genius."

Riley snapped back. "You think I want to take credit for this?"

They were dressed up as bandits. Well, Sophia and Blake were. Riley was dressed in rags, and Nash was dressed up as a french maid. Dress style, long sleeves, short skirt. In a way, they were wolves in sheep's clothing.

"Well, that's what you get for deciding on each other's costumes," Sophia said.

"Ugh! Why didn't I make Blake choose? This is a nightmare!" Nash said.

"My head doesn't work as good as yours. Not with this kind of stuff at least. Where'd this costume even come from, anyway?"

"Huh? Mine?" Nash said.

"Yeah. I wouldn't expect to find it around here."

Sophia spoke. "Uh... It's a traditional style? It's been around in one form or another for three thousand years, since the time of Lady Jeanna. If anything, it should be a shock that it's still traditional, that it hasn't yet become antiquated."

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

"Okay, I don't even care anymore. Let's keep rolling."

The Pack was driving out to a known bandit encampment under the guise of being fellow outlaws, smuggling a stolen Companion to Queensland to find a Scribe to remove the contract. So they can re-contract her in their own name. And Nash? A maid they kidnapped the same night as the Companion, of course. Or so went the story they agreed upon.

"Stop! This is a toll road!"

They heard a voice from the trees and stopped the carriage. There was a log blocking the way a bit further up the road regardless, so they really had no choice but to stop.

"Toll road, huh?" Blake said back to the voice.

"That's right. Five thousand gold. Pay up!"

A man in odd clothing and a wide-brimmed hat came out from the trees. That must be their leader, Blake thought.

"I ain't heard about no toll around here, 'specially not five thousand," Blake said, trying to sound dumb and uneducated.

The leader got a better look at their outfits.

"Wait, you lot in the business?"

"Depends. We're goin' ta Queensland. Y'know, it's a whole thing."

"Ooohh, I seeee! Stop in and share some intel! Things're always changin' around here, with the imperial army muckin' about."

"Sure thing."

They hid their carriage in some trees and followed the man to the bandit camp. It in a clearing surprisingly close to the road, but sheltered by the geography in such a way that kept it quiet and out of sight.

They sat down at a table with games and food and beer on it. There were a bunch of actual bandits at it, too.

"So lemme tell ya something," Blake said. "This duke in Deltania started sellin' kids off in Greenwood and Icemarch. Got bad eyes on his back. Merchants, probably."

"Hah! The imperial nobility! What're they tryin' to do, piss off the Demon Queen? And what's that for, anyway? They've been takin' Companions as tribute, it doesn't make sense to turn 'round and sell 'em back!"

Demon queen? Blake thought, looking over at Riley with a curious look on his face. Did his party members neglect to tell him something important?

"Say, what's with the maid?"

"Oh, we nabbed her when we nabbed the girl."

"Kidnapping, nice, nice." A grin crossed the bandit leader's face. "It's pretty slow 'round here, you know. We could use a bit of stimulation."

"Hands off, man, we don't want the value to drop."

"Tch. Stingy. How about we bet on it?"

"Bet?"

"World classic, dice and cards."

Blake laughed.

"Sure thing. Nasha, get out the stuff," Blake said to Nash.

Nash twiddled his fingers.

"That's an order," Blake said.

Nash nodded and did as he was told.

It was an act, of course. Just looking the part for the bandits. But being an act didn't keep Nash from being a nervous wreck about it, what he was wearing. On the other hand, it was that very nervousness that made the bandit leader buy the performance.

"Dealing," Nash said. It was a blessing that his voice hadn't started changing yet.

The game went on. It went well. The Pack was getting a lot out of the bandits. Enough that they might be able to negotiate for some of the camp's wealth.

"Pfft!"

The bandit leader wasn't buying it. He was pissed.

"You crooks are cheating."

"Pot calls the kettle black," Blake said. "But I can just null it if you don't like it. What're you gonna do for me, though? Accusing me of something like that. It really hurts my pride, man."

"Shut it! We don't deal even with cheaters!"

"I mean, you're bandits."

"You're?" the bandit leader said. He straightened himself up. "Hey, did you put magic on that maid girl yet?"

"Uh..."

"Why not."

"Value?"

"If you're the master, contracted girls're worth more, dumbass!"

The bandits all stood up and drew their weapons.

Shit.

The Pack quickly stood up and backed themselves into a different part of the clearing, readying their fighting stances. The wolf-in-sheep's-clothing act fell apart.

"Nashie, you don't have to get your hands dirty if you don't want to. You can sit back and support," Sophia said.

"That's right, Nash. Words have power. Use them! Your magic!"

"Power...? Uh, right. Magic power!"

He knew magic, after all, and it would probably be embarrassing to run around fighting physically in this dress.

Combat broke out. Blake went in and knocked people around, cutting them up when necessary. Sophia used wind magic to keep the crowd under control and Blake safe.

Riley covered Blake's flank and kept the people he knocked away down, and she refreshed his buffs when she could.

"Tempered Blade!" she said.

"Thanks!"

"Painkiller!"

Nash cast White Magic on Blake. It filled his body with a weird fuzzy sensation that he'd never felt before, to do it in combat and see it have an actual effect. So this is magic...

"Damn it! Abandon camp!" the bandit leader said. "Aye!" his underlings responded. They were getting destroyed, so it was only natural.

"Oh no you don't!" Blake said, starting to chase him down. But there was already too much distance between them. He got caught up in a straggling bandit grabbing at his leg.

"Get off me!"

He kicked the bandit in the head. That knocked him out.

Blake turned forwards again. The bandit leader was out of sight.

"Damn it. Where's he running?"

"To the road," Riley said.

"But why? We could chase him down with our... our... Shit!"

They booked it.

The bandits were half way through getting The Pack's carriage out of the trees. He was almost out onto the road. When he saw them come out into view, he hurried.

"They're going to get away!" Nash said.

"Stay back!" the leader shouted. "Do you want to get run over? No? Then beat it!"

"Like hell!" Blake said, trying to charge. But Sophia grabbed him by the shoulder and stopped him.

"No. There's a better way."

"What?"

"Binds of the Sky-Father!" she said.

The carriage's wheels locked up.

"Sophie, you're a genius!"

"Wh—When did I say you could call me that?"

"Don't care, but you saved us!"

He charged in. Riley followed. Sophia and Nash stayed behind.

It was short work. The bandits were dead in under a minute.

"Well, this is it, right?"

Blake held up a blue-and-green gem necklace.

"That it is. We can go home now."

"Alright, let's hit the road."

"Wait," Riley said. "We should scour the camp for stuff we can use. Before someone else does."

"Ah. That's a good idea."

So they did. They stocked up on everything they might need, and some things that they didn't. They took the valuables and money, too, though it likely wasn't enough to support living out of an inn for very long. When they got to the booze, Blake was conflicted.

"I want it. I want it, but I shouldn't. Someone stop me."

Sophia shook her head.

"If you drink again I'm going to bash you upside the head."

"I mean... That's a good enough motivation to stop as any. But maybe we could sell it?"

Riley came running up to them. "Companions!"

"Slaves?"

"Young demihumans chained to a tree, huddled together in a tent. There's a half dozen of them."

"How does that work?"

"There's a really long chain."

"I guess we still have work to do..."

Riley guided everyone to where the slaves were. They were clearly malnourished. Starving, even. Bind Breaker. Blake broke the chain keeping them tied to the tree.

Blake paused.

"Wait, why would bandits bring slaves to Queensland?" he said.

"Huh? You mean our alibi?" Riley said.

"No, I mean, yeah, but they didn't question it. I just went along with what you guys told me."

"Oh, that's..."

"The north bit of Queensland is a safe haven for outlaws, since they're not in the Empire. There's contract-removing scribes living right next door to contract mages, side by side. A whole entire tossed-together city of outlaws and slaves," Sophia said.

"Why haven't they been kicked out?" Blake said.

"It's hallowed land. The demons couldn't get close enough."

"Demons?"

"Yes, They—"

"Wait, no, stop, that's not what I'm asking. Why's that bit of land part of a country that can't rule it instead of one of the other countries?"

"Geography. It's separated from Greenwood and Icemarch by the Komorebi River to the west and the Tsukikage River to the east, where they merge into Long River."

"That sure is convenient for the bandits. Wait, what's with those names? Tsukikage? Komorebi?"

"The Hero of the Demon Wars named them," Riley said.

"Uh huh..."

"It's a long story, but I could tell it, if you'd like."

"No thanks, I've already asked too many questions for my stupid brain to handle. No way I'm gonna remember half of this. And we still have to figure out what to do with these slaves. Ugh, I wanted to take it easy, man."

"Can we bring them to Queensland right away?" Sophia said.

"Uh... We don't have enough food. They'll start going hungry. We'll be able to buy enough food to keep them going if we get back to town and turn in the job, though. But bringing them into town is risky, and we can't leave them out here, either... Damn it, nothing makes any sense. What were the bandits even feeding them? Nothing?"

"Probably," Riley said.

"This is so fucked up."