[Hehehe, how about it? Are you determined to hire us now? After all, you donāt have any other options, just give up and sign the contract. Well, itās enough if we can get all the money and eat all the food, also some women that will take care of us. Itās cheap because the village can be protected with just that.]Ā Bandit 1
The three messengers from the bandit group made a vulgar laugh.
One of the messengers made a suspicious look.
[You guys, it seems like youāre getting cheeky!]Ā Bandit 2
Yes, the last time when they came here with some of the big wigs, the villagers were supposed to be more odd and vague. However, this time, they look rebellious and cheeky.
[Hey! Donāt you dare look down on us just because weāre only 3! Okay? Weāre from the famous bandit <Beast of Calamity>!ā¦]Ā Bandit 3
Strange. Somethingās wrong.
Finally, the 3 messengers realized that.
After they passed through the village and went to the village chiefās house, they declared an ultimatum to the village chief and several elderly people in the village. After that, the villagers were supposed to accept the terms in the contract, then they would take some young women back to base, and of course, they would take a detour on the way to have the first taste.
Therefore, it was quite hard to win the role of the messenger, the competition was intense.
All they have to do was to take part in this sweet extra role. It was supposed to go like thatā¦ā¦
[Now, I shall tell you our answer.]Ā Village Chief
Thus the village chief opened his mouth.
[I refuse your offer. The amount of compensation for the benefits we can get is completely above the acceptable limit. The money, the food, also the womenās lives. Besides, you donāt have enough credibility. So, there is no single idiot in this village who would make a contract with those who are unlikely to keep their promisesā¦ā¦]Ā Village chief
The 3 thieves were staring at the village chief who spoke so casually with a blank face.
Finally, the words said by the village chief, have now synced in their heads.
[Whaā¦ā¦!? What the hell are you saying? Do you know what happens if you go against us?ā¦.]Ā Bandit 1
[Whatās going to happen?ā¦]Ā Old Villager
[Te~e, bastards! Iāll show you by killing you! If we kill some of you, the people in the village would realize weāre a threatā¦]Ā Bandit 1
[Yes, confessions of being bandits, declarations of killings, intimidation, and assault by grabbing the old manās neck. The conditions for proper defense and bandit suppression have been fulfilled!]Ā Kaoru
Five men and women suddenly appeared from the next room.
Also, their clothes and their appearances were obviously not from this village.
[You old bastards! You brought in some extras! Kill these bastards firstā¦,Ā gue~tsu!]Ā Bandit 1
Dosu, bashi~i~tsu!Ā (clobbering SFX.)
While the attention of the bandits was focused at Kaoru who was talking, Francette, Roland, and EmileĀ gentlyĀ approached the bandits from the side.
Roland aside, Francette and Emile couldnāt overlook the banditās abusive words, the persecution, and the sword pointed at Kaoru.
The 3 bandits fell to the ground.
And Bell, whoās in front of Kaoru, put her hand in her pocket and kept a low posture.
[Umu, Bell is also playing a good role. Always use that body as a shield to protect Kaoru-sama!]Ā Francette
Kaoru was furious at Francetteās words.
[So it was you!! Thatās why no matter how much I educate her, I kept wondering why Belleās direction of self-sacrifice would not change at all! Francette! It was your work after all! AaaaaaahhhHH!!]Ā Kaoru
Now then, we reduced the number of bandits by 3.
When the Bandit leader first came here with his minions, the villagers counted 29.
ā¦ā¦In other words, thereās 26 more.
The 3 captured bandits, had been healed to some extent by using healing potions so that they wonāt die, then tied them up and forcefully fed them drugs that further reduced their metabolism. If you hit them with a neutralizer, they will never become part of the enemyās reinforcement.
Francetteās group caught those 3, but thatās fine. Even if we hadnāt, the villagers could easily defeat them in some way, like a surprise attack with a bamboo spear, or poison in food and water. So when they decided to fight the bandits, they were determined to reduce the number of enemies by 3.
It just happens that the enraged Francette and Emile gave aĀ littleĀ helping hand. But that was only a part of the villagerās strategy of <first of all, defeat the messengers and reduce the enemy number>.
[Kaoru-sama, weāve completed the reinforcement of the fence. Please have a look.]Ā Old Villager
One of the villagers reported and stiffly stretched his back while doing so. Of course, Francette and the others came along.
After I had decided to confront the bandits, I gave some instructions to the villagers. One of them was the reinforcement of the fence which surrounds the village.
This fence was a countermeasure against monsters.
There were too many gaps and itās too brittle to able to protect the villagers against human attacks. So I had it reinforced and modified so that it could be used for anti-bandit warfare.
[Yes, you did a pretty good job. Thatās good enough. Then, the water buckets that I was talking aboutā¦]Ā Kaoru
The villagers floated in joy at my passing judgment and quickly ran to carry the water buckets.
This fence was originally a protective fence to stop the momentum of the charge of orcs and ogres by sticking out spears from the gap, but it was not considered to prevent the invasion of the relatively small monsters such as Goblins, Kobolds, and horned rabbits.
ā¦ā¦Of course, including humans.
It has been modified so that if you try to forcefully slip through it, the gaps will get narrow, then you will get stabbed by the sharp spikes. The part where the gap is purposely widened has such a mechanism especially and carefully installed.
ā¦ā¦Of course, itās poisoned.
Even in this village, there are hunters and unlicensed amateur pharmacists, so even if I donāt mess with it, they can prepare poisonous traps and poisonous drugs by extracting the toxins from poisonous plants and monsters.
Several villagers came carrying several buckets. They were moving while carefully checking the condition of the fence.
All right, Iāll shake it out of my pocket and create a potion!
A convenient, mysterious chemical in a small test tube-shaped containerā¦
[Thank you very much. Now put it down there.]Ā Kaoru
Then, I trickle a few drops of potion into the water buckets placed by the villagers on the ground.
[Now slowly and carefully sprinkle this water on the ground, under the fence, and around the spikes. Also, please apply it to the fence and the spike. It is a chemical that makes the wood sturdy. When you run out of the water, draw new water, and call me. Iāll mix it with the chemical again.]Ā Kaoru
Yes, this is much better. It only strengthens the fence a little, and if you take the time, it is possible to strengthen the fence even without the chemicals. I just saved some time by using such an item. Itās the same as soshage(social game) charges. Itās not cheating.Ā Ā (TN: Like cash items in MMORPGs.)
Resistance-enhancing waterā¦
Well, you can say, imitating a certain anime, Letās call it <Super hard liquid film>. Now then letās check the place where it was painted or rather sprinkledā¦ The effect should appear immediately, so it will be okay even after treatment.
Anyway, if I try to pull the spike which is fixed to the groundā¦, it doesnāt budge at all.
[Fran, check the strength of the spike for a moment.]Ā Kaoru
How about it then, with the absurd strength of Francetteās strong arm and not my flimsy weak arm?
[ā¦ā¦Itās quite tough.]Ā Francette
Even if Francette did her best, the stakes and the ground around it moved just a little. Iām not really asking her to for short.]Ā Kaoru
Umu, my Nagase clanās naming sense was terribleā¦