Heavy Metal

"Did you hear?"

"Was there another one? Who did they get this time?"

"It was Felix and a few others. They never returned from that guard mission."

"What are those nobles thinking? They should gather their army and do something about it. Why are we even paying taxes?"

"Shhh, you are too loud. What if they hear you?"

A man glanced over his shoulder toward two guards. They were yawning and not paying attention, and he let out a sigh of relief. Someone had still overheard the argument. That person sat on a nearby bench, staring at a system display after returning from spelunking in the dungeon.

"Those bandits are causing a lot of trouble, huh?"

He muttered some words as a faint glow appeared in his right eye.

"They might have grown too large for the merchants to handle, but, oddly, no one is doing anything. We should be careful."

Alexander said, and as his light faded, another one ignited in the left eye socket.

"There is nothing to worry about. We will slaughter them all and take their treasure."

Aburdon said, while Rusty just nodded. That was the plan. Three weeks had passed since the merchant guild had taken his money, and soon he would have to pay again. His store was not doing well. His wares were no better than those of others, so customers went to the more prominent shops. Trust was a currency he did not yet have, but he intended to build it slowly.

The bandit activity around the settlement kept growing until it became a constant topic of conversation among the townsfolk. As before, the adventurers were too occupied with monsters in the dungeon, and no one wanted to take the guild's missions since the pay was too low. The bandit camp was rumored to hold an unknown number of battle class fighters, which most people considered far more dangerous than any monster.

It seemed that the people were simply waiting for the bandits to leave. As a bandit lair grew larger, it drew more attention from the nobles, which usually forced the bandits to relocate. The nobles intervened only when the groups became too large, and the bandits understood this, so they usually kept their numbers below that point.

Many merchants chose to avoid trouble by taking longer travel routes, but others still gave in to greed and sent caravans through risky paths in hopes of earning more. Rusty was interested in the idea of crushing the bandits, but for now, his attention was fixed on his friend.

"You are right. I am sure they will not be able to stand against two D-ranked monsters."

"(˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶)"

It had been some time since he became a D-ranked monster, but his levels were rising slowly. Gleam, however, had still been an F-ranked monster until recently. She pushed herself to the limit and was finally ready to take the next step forward. Now it was up to him to choose from the options placed before her.