It was the third day after Ryoma was summoned to another world.
　The time was around noon. Ryoma was walking on the road to Aru.
　Ryoma woke up a little late that day, had breakfast, and went to the blacksmith's shop to receive a weapon he had sent out for sharpening.
(A bandit gang, huh? I hope we don't run into them...)

　Before heading to Aru, Ryoma remembered the time when he went to the guild to receive a request 《quest》.


''Come on!　If you have any skill, please take this request!

　The middle-aged man who was called Mr. Giltz by the young man at the reception desk yesterday shouted loudly in front of the bulletin board that had been erected in front of the guild.
　Through the crowd, Ryoma saw the paper posted on the bulletin board.


Organize the Red Moon Party, a strike force of the bandit group [Red Moon Gang] that appears between Merferen and Aru.
Conditions:.
The eradication of the bandit gang [Red Moon Gang].
You must kill or capture them all.

Reward:.
The reward is 50,000 baht for each bandit gang member.
The number of confirmed members is 8.
However, if any other member is admitted, the reward will be 50,000 Baht for each member.
Any treasures and money in the thieves' possession will be considered as additional income for the "Tonkatsu Party".
The achievement value 《Clear Point》 will be added to your "Cria Point" at the time of requesting a request to give 50 points to all members of the "Toucan Party" for their help in defeating the bandits.

Period;.
Within half a month of the formation of the "Jobbing Party".

Application Guidelines
Must be at Single F "F" rank or higher and possess the following abilities.
A warrior or sorcerer of any descent is acceptable.

Must have experience as a mercenary (or adventurer if they have sufficient combat experience).
Number of people to be recruited: 6
Searching and investigative abilities (both adventurers and mercenaries are welcome if they have sufficient exploration experience)
Preference will be given to those with combat abilities.
Number of recruits: 4

Approved by: Melferen Guild President Achilles Lequine

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Seeing the notice, Ryoma could hear the men around him talking.

''Hey, fifty thousand if you take one down!　Eight men for 400,000!　And the treasure belongs to the one who defeated him?!

Wow. How'd the guild get excited?

It can't be helped. I heard that Goraes failed, so I'm sure the guild has the same kind of face as you.

What?　"Góraeth the Rock Breaker?

Yeah. Apparently, they've just taken out another group of thieves.

'Ha!　Did he go to defeat them without doing any research? 　The strong ones are strong, but the nappy ones are empty.

Hey, hey. If Goraes hears you, he'll rip your head off, okay?



　The men around me seem to be mercenaries and adventurers too.
(It's tough luck for Goraes-san. He didn't seem like a bad person, but...
　Ryoma entered the guild while listening to the men's mindless criticism.


''I'm very sorry, but we are suspending all delivery type requests 《Haitatsukei Quest》 between Melferen and Aru. There are some emergency deliveries, but these are only for E rank and above, so we can't introduce them to Mikoshiba-san.

　The woman at the reception counter announced this to Ryoma and bowed her head.

''Are you the bandits from the example?''

''Yes. As for the guild, we've lost a lot of prestige with this failure, so we've been screwed by the lord and the guards.......Ah!　I'm sorry. Forget about that one.

No, no, that's fine. Well then, do you have any requests I can take on?

I'd say the three rank I requests for "Targetskei Quests" and the H rank "Targetskei Quests". As of now.

An I-ranked request, a quest, for a person with a higher rank, the achievement value (clear points) is zero, but the reward is double, right?

'Yes. That's right.

And regarding the deadline?

In principle, there's no time limit on requests to kill B-ranked and below, which are called 'Conquest Quests'.

'Oh, is that so?'

Yes. That's why it's better to accept requests to defeat B-ranked and below, right?

Then I'll take all the conquest requests I can get from Single H, the "Conquest Quest".

Okay. Now, I'd like you to look at this.

　Then she held out a book.

'What's this?'

There are 20 "H"-ranked requests you can take. It would be difficult to explain all of them verbally, so I'm going to give you a list the first time you receive a request for a "Conquest Quest" that is H-ranked or higher. Please read it carefully.

Oh, okay.

　The only thing that helps is that it's not that thick.
(Just one rank increase makes that much difference...)

Then your request has been registered on the card and the process is over. Thank you for your help.

　The receptionist bowed her head as she said that.
　Ryoma left the guild with the card and book that was handed to him.


　It was about two hours after they left Melferen.
　The streets were densely covered with dense forest.
　The road is wide enough for more than three carriages to pass each other, so it's not a problem to walk on, but if you look into the forest, it's overgrown with large trees.
　That's why it was so dark, even though the daylight is blocked by the daylight.
　And it's probably because of the bandits. It's a street, but no one is walking on it.
　The only person walking on the street right now is Mikoshiba Ryoma Tada.
(Hey, hey.......I have a bad feeling about this.......)
　The road is sandwiched between the dark woods. It's the perfect place to lay down troops.
　Naturally, it's also a good place for a bandit gang to attack.
(Well, I think it's okay...)
　Ryoma decided to go to Aru because he was aware of the pursuers from the Empire.
　He wanted to cross the border as soon as possible.
　However, his intentions fell apart because of the woman's silk tearing scream.


''Kyaaaah!''

Shut up!　Will you shut up!

No!　Let me go!

Shut the f*ck up!

　We're just at the point where the road takes a big turn to the right. It was in Ryoma's blind spot and he couldn't see the situation.
　Ryoma ran towards the sound of the voice. He ran up to a large tree that towered around a bend in the road and peeked out from behind the tree.
　There was a carriage that had been attacked, several men, and two girls.

"Kukuku, another day, another great catch. Oi. You must be feeling lucky lately.

I agree. I had a surprisingly large amount of money in the village yesterday.

'The women weren't too bad for a country village. Granted, they didn't come around to us, but...

Well, it's no big deal. The price is the same if you sell it off and it's untouched.

I'm tired of having to deal with old people all the time. They should be young like they are.

　One of them pointed to the girls his friends were catching.

'Hahaha. I ain't wrong!

Hey!　Don't mess with the merchandise. The chieftain will kill you.

　The man who was holding the blonde girl said to his companion.

'But hey. That's as good as it gets, huh?

　The man who is holding the silver-haired girl speaks back.

'Yeah?　And you know what? Isn't this wagon load enough for the quota?

　A man who had been fishing for the contents of the carriage came out and said.
　There were cries of approval from all over the place.
　It is getting harder and harder to hold them down in front of a beautiful woman as beautiful as they are.

'If you touch us, I'll bite my tongue!

　The silver-haired girl, who finally couldn't stand it after hearing the men's story, shouted resolutely.
　But the men's smiles did not disappear.

''Ha!　We know that you slaves can't kill yourselves with those collars and that you can't rebel!

　The girls' faces turned pale.
　I'm sure they didn't think the thieves knew about it.
　I'm sure the man was right about the power in the collar preventing them from acting.
　I'm sure you'll be able to find a great deal of information on the subject.

But just in case. Let them both chew on the cloth.

Stop! Let me go!

　The two men desperately tried to shake off the men's hands, but there was no way they could match them with pure arm strength.

'Oi!　You don't know what's going to happen to the girls over there if you don't listen to them, do you?

　The silver-haired girl who had resisted became meek, as if she had given up when she saw a sword being thrust at the other girl.

'But your masters are heartless too, aren't they?　We attacked you and you're the only one with an escort and a ton of stuff.

　The man who had threatened the silver-haired girls mocked them.

'It's Gates. Well, it can't be helped, can it?　You're just lucky to have your life because we [Red Moon Gang] are after you.

Dude!

　The man called Gates let out a high-pitched laugh.

'Oi! Look at this. Five million baht is a load of crap!

　The man who had been rummaging under the hood or the items he had taken out shouted.

'Whoa. I can't believe it. There really is five million in there...

These are all gold coins...

　In addition to the box filled with sundries, clothing and jewelry, there is one box filled with coins.
　There is almost nothing but gold coins inside. The faces of the men who see it become distorted in disgust.

I'm sure you'll be able to do what you want with these women when you've earned this much money.

Oh. I think so too-- gold coins and jewelry. This is a lot of money. I wouldn't mind getting a handout first.

But if the chieftain finds out...

　Gates gave a twisted smile to the man with a worried look on his face and said.

'Hey. The two of you should be dealt with after the crime, right?　Nobody but us would know if they had a female slave as their quarry anyway, would they?

　Hearing Gates' words, a disgusted smile appeared on the men's faces as well.

(One, two, five........seven........huh?

　The men were about ten meters away from the big tree.
　The men are dressed much the same as the mercenaries and adventurers we saw in the city. They wear armor and carry weapons.
　But they have the faces of brutal predators.
　They rape, maim, rob, and kill others.
　They are proud and confident that they are the strongest people in the world. Their faces are caked with them like shadows.
(Their ugly faces...)
　In his sixteen years of life, Ryoma had never seen his ugly face so distorted with desire.
(What to do, help?) ........but. (It's not nice to get involved in the hassle here...)
　Ryouma hesitated.
(Helping the girls here might not cause any trouble. But. It might happen........ Can you do that? (If he uses them as shields at this distance, I'll be powerless to stop him.

　Why you should help. Why you shouldn't help. Self-preservation. Your own justice. Imperial pursuers. A number of factors flashed through his mind.
　But then Gates' lowly words reached Ryoma's ears.
　Ryoma's face was filled with anger and murderous intent.
(What am I worried about? Is it right to let these people live?)
　Honestly.
(Even if I missed these guys here, and let's say I could go back to my world, would that be okay? (Does that make sense to you?)
　I was forcibly summoned to this incomprehensible other world, and I was willing to do whatever it took to return to my home world.
　If I could return home in exchange for the lives of all the people of this country, I would even be willing to exchange them.
　But still, I wasn't able to be so open-minded as to just sit back and watch the girl in front of me get raped and killed.
(My hands are stained with blood. I don't think there's anything wrong with that. The lives of those who were dragged into this world and forced to fight to the death are a waste to me. I can go back to my world and say, "I can go back and get criticized for this," and I can say, "I killed you because I had to. "I killed them because I had to! But can you say the same for all those girls? I can't!　I'll never forgive me for what I am, not for who I am.
　Even Ryoma, who can be cold and ruthless in the pursuit of his goals, is basically a good person.
　He is a normal human being with common sense and a sense of justice in the world.
　The only difference between them is their resolve.
　The only difference between them is their determination to do the right thing, even if it means killing their opponents.
　Ryoma grabbed the "Chakram" out of his bag and ran into the forest to the best position for a surprise attack.
　If the surprise attack failed, they would be at an overwhelming disadvantage in terms of numbers. And this time, they didn't hide their faces.
　If even one of them escapes, it's obvious that they'll come back with reinforcements.
To increase the odds of success, I'm sorry.
　Ryouma apologized to the girls in his mind as they were in danger.