Captured - 70
He shrugged lightly.
"So naturally, there are people who grew greedy and decided to slaughter them for those treasures."
Marc looked down, his expression caught somewhere between frustration and sadness. For a moment, he remained quiet.
Then he suddenly lifted his head and turned toward Juro.
"Then! Teacher Juro! What did you do???"
…
Juro smiled, already giving Marc an answer through his expression alone. Marc understood that smile immediately.
"Well, I went down there and gave them a taste of their own actions. I slaughtered every human there, of course. They didn't just sit still either. Some skilled swordsmen came at me with full force, and even some mages tried binding, cursing, and attacking me with the intent of killing me. So, left and right, I killed them all, saving the Dwelden dwarves. After that, things were pretty normal. The Dwelden dwarves celebrated their victory and even thanked me for saving their lives. Naturally, when someone saves your life, you'd feel some kind of debt toward them, so the Dwelden dwarves gave me a pretty useful magic item."
Juro lifted the steel flask slightly.
"And that was this steel flask. Hehe."
Marc had been listening with a big smile, but it slowly faded when he heard the words kill and slaughter come from Juro. He had imagined that Juro had simply stopped the attackers and handed them over.
Now, a conflicted expression settled across Marc's face.
Bell noticed the change almost immediately.
"Teacher Juro, why didn't you just capture them and hand them over?" Marc asked.
Juro looked at him for a moment, noticing the uncertainty in his expression. A subtle smile crossed his face before he answered.
"Because sometimes there are people who wouldn't change, no matter what you do. You have to weigh what's more important in the situation."
Marc looked down at his own hands.
"Will I have to take someone else's life too…?"
Juro smiled gently and placed a hand on Marc's head.
"You have to make that decision yourself. When it comes to taking someone's life, it can be difficult. But I'm sure that whatever situation comes your way, you'll decide what's right."
Greg smiled softly and nodded before placing a reassuring hand on Marc's back.
Marc raised his head and smiled at the both of them. Bell briefly smiled as well, but then his attention shifted toward the fire.
"Ah... some meat got burnt."
"Waaat!"
Marc quickly turned around.
The tension that had settled over them disappeared almost immediately, replaced by laughter as Marc hurried toward the fire.
After some time, they finished eating and sat around together, casually talking. The atmosphere had returned to normal, the earlier conversation fading into the background.
Then, Bell and Juro both noticed it.
Five unfamiliar presences were approaching.
A moment later, they heard voices coming from deeper in the forest.
"It says on this map tracker it should be here."
The group soon emerged from the trees.
"Ah! It's here! That merchant is here!"
One of them smiled as he drew a dagger, his eyes shifting toward Greg.
"And it looks like he has some people with him."
The rest of the group finally appeared behind him.
Greg's expression immediately changed.
"Ah! It's them... They're the bandits!" he exclaimed, quickly getting to his feet.
Marc stood as well, looking directly at the approaching group.
"Why would you attack people who are just traveling?"
The bandits laughed as they looked at him.
"Why is this child bravely standing up?" one of them mocked. "Puhahaha! Do you want to be killed, kid?"
He raised his dagger toward Marc.
"Oh boy... Marc!" Greg exclaimed, but before he could do anything, he felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Juro. With a casual smile, Juro simply said, "Don't worry."
One of the bandits noticed Juro and replied, "Huh? Did I just hear you say 'don't worry'?? Are you thinking what he said was a joke?"
Juro scoffed. "Nah, I don't think what he said is a joke. Instead, I think you people are jokes."
"Why you..."
As the bandits were about to lunge forward, the one in front of them quickly blocked them with his hands. "Wait... That man. Why is he suddenly being so confident? Don't you think that's suspicious?"
Then another bandit replied, "Do you really think they're strong? I mean, even if that man is strong, there's two kids we could use as hostages."
"Hmm... You. Who are you?" one of the bandits asked while pointing his dagger toward Juro.
Juro simply smiled. "Marc, you can introduce us."
Marc happily turned around and nodded before pulling out his adventurer card. "We are adventurers!" Marc said proudly as he showed them his card.
The bandit group stared at it for a moment before bursting into laughter.
"Ahaha! Rookie adventurers?! Boss, looks like you were just worried for nothing!"
After laughing, they all pulled out their daggers and slowly began approaching them.
Bell simply stared at them expressionlessly before yawning.
Marc stared at them with a steady expression before putting his adventurer card away and preparing himself. Greg was still worried about the kids, but Juro continued to reassure him with his calm smile.
However, as the bandit group slowly got closer, a sudden shadow appeared behind them. At first, they didn't seem to notice it, but the shadow continued to grow larger and larger.
Marc looked up, and a big smile immediately appeared on his face.
The bandits noticed his expression and became confused. They slowly turned their heads around, and the moment they saw what was standing behind them, their bodies began to shake.
"Goherb!" Greg exclaimed.
"Go... A Goherb?! Are we gonna get eaten...?" one of the bandits said, dropping his dagger.
The Goherb aggressively roared in front of them.
"GRRUUAAA!"
The roar made all of the bandits drop to the ground, trembling in fear. Meanwhile, Marc simply walked past them with a happy smile and patted the Goherb's side.
"Welcome back!"
The bandits couldn't believe their eyes. A child was casually standing beside a Goherb, patting its side as if it were nothing unusual.
Greg then walked past them as well and gave the Goherb a pat.
"B...b-boss, I think we messed up..." one of the bandits said.
Juro laughed at the situation before grabbing a rope and calling Marc over to help tie them all up.
After the entire bandit group had been tied together, Bell took all of their weapons and gathered them up while the bandits sat huddled together on the ground.
Juro then looked at Bell and Marc with a grin. "Alright, kids, pick up all these weapons and place them in Mister Greg's wagon. Hehe, he'll get a whole new bunch of weapons to sell."
Bell and Marc nodded before picking up the weapons and walking towards the wagon.
Juro then walked toward Greg and asked, "Mister Greg, since you were the victim here, what would you like to do with them? Should we cut off their legs or arms?"
Greg looked down at the bandits, all of them wearing frightened expressions. He shakily clenched his fist before letting out a small exhale.
"...We should just hand them over to the knights, Sir Juro."
Juro smiled at Greg's response before nodding. He then turned toward the bandits with a mischievous smile.
"We'll hand them over, but some personal punishment wouldn't hurt..."
The bandits immediately looked even more frightened.
After some time had passed, Greg continued patting the Goherb while giving it some of the leftover meat they had cooked. The ropes and belt had already been placed around the Goherb with the help of Marc and Bell, while Juro was busy connecting the ropes that had been used to tie the bandits together to the wagon.
Once everything was tied and connected, Juro brushed his hands together before walking to the side of the wagon and raising his hands.
"Tikau Karroce."
The wagon suddenly shone for a single second before the light disappeared.
"Ooo..." Greg exclaimed.
Marc immediately looked toward Juro with curiosity. "Teacher Juro, what was that??? What magic did you use?"
Juro smiled before replying, "Making the wagon more durable."
Marc tilted his head slightly. "Eh? Why would the wagon need to be durable?"
Juro simply snickered.
"You'll see later on."
Bell watched the scene with an expressionless face.
"He's gonna do something ridiculous again..."
He sighed to himself before deciding to walk through the forest in the direction the bandits had appeared from.
Once everything was prepared and they were ready to depart, Marc suddenly noticed that Bell was missing.
"Teacher Juro! Bell isn't here!"
As soon as he said that, the nearby bushes and trees began to shake. A moment later, Bell emerged from them, and behind him were three horses.
"I think these are the horses those bandits used to travel," Bell said.
Marc and Juro stared at the horses and noticed that each one had a bag hanging beside it. They looked at each other, and both of them smiled.
Marc and Juro then took the things inside the bags and placed them inside Greg's wagon.
Greg became a little flustered as he watched them.
"Ah, you don't need to do that... You three can take some of the stuff with you."
Marc simply smiled.
"It's okay, Mister Greg! We don't need any of this stuff, but since you're a merchant, you can sell it!"
Bell nodded and added, "Yeah, he's right. Just accept them. It's the least these bandits could do."
Greg smiled fondly at the two children before finally nodding and giving in.
As Bell and Marc looked over the three horses, they noticed that all of them were staring deeper into the forest. Their bodies were angled toward the trees, as though they wanted to return.
Bell and Marc looked at each other.
Without needing to say anything, they both smiled and began removing the saddles and other accessories from the three horses. Once they were free of them, the horses were allowed to wander back into the forest.
The remaining horse, however, seemed somewhat excited to continue traveling with them.
Juro patted its side before climbing onto its back.
"There we go. Now I got a ride."