As the three Bandits moved forward the light of their torches eventually revealed the presence of the Villager woman to them. She tried run away, but she tripped over her own legs and hit the ground pretty hard after only a few meters.
[ X X X X! X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X!] [X X X! X X X X X X X! X X X X X X X X X X!] [X X! X X X X X X! X X X X X X X X X X X X X X!]
The Bandits caught up to her in no time. They slowly surrounded her while screaming at her. I couldnt make up the exact words, but I was sure they were mocking her.
[X X X X X X!!!]
After another scream, one of the Bandits kicked the woman in the stomach so hard that she ended up coughing up blood. The other two followed after him and joined in on the fun, even though the woman was already on the verge of losing consciousness after that first kick. Eventually the one who started the beatdown, the guy who looked like he was the boss of the other two grabbed her by the hair and began to drag her away into one of the back alleyways.
[Now were going to have some fun. And you can be sure that well take our sweet time with you!]
The man, a Lv.9 Bandit spoke in Brahim. He and his comrades dragged the woman behind another corner, and then the light of their torches slowly disappeared as they kept on getting farther and farther away.
The hour was late, the shops were closed, and no people to be seen walking around on the streets. A perfect time for the Bandits to start appearing out of nowhere, and they did. So my initial assumption was correct: they really do come out during the nighttime, I just failed to nail the approximate hour correctly. Now they were casually walking around the streets like they owned the place, unafraid of being found out by the guards, because lets face it, no guardsmen with his sanity still intact would willingly go on a patrol to the slums in the dead of the night. Some of them simply walked around, and some of them were entering bars and houses that I thought were long closed. So it looks like that they have their own places for entertainment, hidden away from the prying eyes of those who would seek to deliver them to justice. If I hadnt decided to come here this late, I would have never learned that valuable piece of information. But that is still not enough for me to just go and randomly attack them.
For now I have to continue observing them from the safe distance.
Observation number 2: the Bandits who wander around the slums probably do not belong to a single group, but must be divided into separate ones that might be rivaling one another. I have arrived at that conclusion after witnessing that some of the smaller groups of Bandits avoided making any kind of contact with certain other groups, and that not every group was going to all the establishments opened for criminals. Maybe that has to something with some kinda turf wars between them? Anyway I didnt bring any lanterns with me this time, so as long as I stick to the shadows I probably wont have to worry about being caught.
Some of the Bandits walked together and were chatting with each other, but those were always the ones who were dressed in similarly looking attires of possessing some article of clothing that made them distinguishingly different from the others, and it would seem that those groups were going in circles around specific areas while maintaining a safe distance from the other groups. Maybe they really are patrolling their respective territories?
The ones I am tailing now wear the same clothes that that the Lv.9 guys I have encountered yesterday wore, and the area that they are going around is close to the place where they ganged up on that 26 years old Villager woman. Is this their territory? If so, then it does not seem to be very wide.
After tailing them for a few more rounds, I had a stroke of luck, because the guys I have been following actually met with the Bandit from yesterday who could speak Brahim! Awaiting how the situation was going to develop, I gently approached them while making sure that my presence was being obscured by the darkness the entire time. Maybe their territory really is that small, or maybe there is just not that many people patrolling it at the moment, but this is definitely near the place I saw the Brahim speaking guy yesterday, so could it be that their hideout is somewhere nearby? If that is the case, then maybe their group really isnt that big after all. If so, then maybe Id actually have a fighting chance against them?
[X X X X X Hugo X X X X X.]
Well thats something new. Another Bandit from a different group has appeared, and he started talking with my Lv.9 target, but not in Brahim so I obviously couldnt understand a word they were saying and that was driving me nuts! Just what are you bastards talking about?! I didnt come this far to be cockblocked at the point of entry now!