Ch 35 – Start Talking

"You..." Bid was boiling in rage. 

"Bid... Calm down... There's no time for you to go berserk..."

"BID!" Mary yelled as Bid jumped into the bandits, dropping his bow. He started slashing at them with the arrows, stabbing them with them as he passed by. 

Necro was in awe. This was a very strange way to fight. 

Mary, was still somewhat composed, and attacked the Bandit leader. He slashed at her shield, locking them in combat. 

"What the fuck is wrong with that crazy fella!?"

"Ah... He has a trauma with being confused with a girl, go figure."

"Holy shit!" He jumped back, distancing himself from the girl. 'FUCK!' He thought, feeling a weird flow of air. He shifted his point of gravity, leaning back to avoid a flying Bid, that yeeted at him from behind with bloodshot eyes. 

"The fuck is this guy!" He yelled as Bid's feet slid on the ground, turning around once again. Taking a peek behind, he realized all the men were already on the ground. Not all were dead but most had gruesome wounds to the neck. Sweat dripped down his spine as he realized the peril. All the others were dead. There was only him left. 

"Surrender now and we'll spare you." A girl's voice resounded from behind the Paladin-like girl in the front. He couldn't see who it was. 

"What's the point? I'll fight here until the end."

The paladin took a step back, preparing her mace. 

He lowered his stance, preparing to receive Mary's blow. 

But it never came. 

"Huh!? Are you not coming at me!?"

Not only her, Bid was also no longer looking like fighting anymore. 

"See... You don't care about the others dying at all... And you don't seem to intend to run either. Why would we fight you?"

"Huh!? But I'm a bandit!"

"See... I disagree with that." A small girl spoke, slowly walking forward. "See... Bandits tend to escape as soon as they feel they are losing and try again another time. Even more so, they have no sense of pride." The girl spoke in a monotonous tone without any resemblance of emotion. He looked straight as her red eyes and widened his own, he knew this appearance, there was no one who didn't. What was she doing here!? "I think you are a soldier. Care to explain why you are here!?"

It was true, he knew it was true, he wasn't a bandit, he was a Soldier, none of them were bandits, they were forced to become so. He fell to the ground on his knees, dropping his sword. 

"Please, just kill me already."

The man looked down dejected. He'd been seen through. His mission was a failure. 

"Why are you here? Who sent you?"

Yet, instead of death, he was faced with questions. 

"Pardon me?" He looked up at the girl, confused.  "Gha!" Necro was angry, and stepped hard on his thigh, making him flinch.

"I SAID: WHO SENT YOU?" 

"Hieee-'' The man shrieked at the gaze. This girl was dangerous. Very dangerous. 'Why had I had to find the Vampire Princess of all people... They told me to avoid her at all costs... The church should be there already, did they fail!?' His mind started running in circles as the pain increased. "I can't, I can't, I'm dead, I can't" The man despaired. 

Necro looked behind and addressed the rest of the group. 

"You guys should try to put out that fire before it gets out of control."

"What!?" Bid looked behind confused, only to see part of the forest set aflame, it hadn't gotten out of hand yet since the forest was rather green, but it was just a matter of time. A handful of trees were still on fire and some bushes too. "ACE! HELP US!" He ran, pulling Ace and Mary with him. They needed to retrieve the proof from killing the bandits in the forest before they turned into ash. And well... Ace's water magic could help with the fire.

As the sound of the shield bashing against the fiery bushes and water magic began, Necro turned back to the soldier leader. 

"You know... You can help me out here and start speaking or I'll be forced to use other methods."

"Hiii-" The man shrieked again, this time grabbing his sword from the ground and trying to slash Necro. But as soon as he grabbed it, he could no longer move his arms. 

"You see... I'm pretty good at restraining people." Necro said, showing a tiny magic circle on the tip of her pinky. 

*fwosh*

A small flame appeared atop of her index. 

"So, you may wanna start to talk."

"HYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA~"

"The fuck was that scream!?" Mary was confused, she heard a lout scream coming from where they had just come from. They could kinda see Necro and the man still in the same spot as before, they had barely moved, but Necro was now closer to him. 

"The hell do I know... Necro's trying to get some answers I reckon." Bid responded. 

"WHAT! You mean, she's using... She's extracting..." Mary was scared. She couldn't even say what she was thinking. It was scary to think that such a cute girl could do stuff like that. 

"Torturing him? Yeah, probably." Ace was blunt. Confirming her thoughts. After putting the fire down, they began searching for the bodies of the defeated bandits. According to Bid, there should be at least three here, and some on the other side of the road. 

"I found one!" Hal called them. "Not one... Two... but..."  When they arrived there, they realized what he meant. The bandits here were the ones hit head on by the fireball... Little remained.

"Haah... Like this, we won't be able to claim their reward..." Bid was a little saddened. The bodies were too burned to get the proof of extermination. 

"Such a shame..." Ace was also sad. Some bandits could rack up a large amount after committing crimes for a while. 

For humans, the proof was the left ring finger.