Wow. Um...hi ! Its good to see you all again. Its only been...damn over a month since I last updated.

I'm so sorry this chapter took so long to get out, but real life stuff had been personally kicking my ass these past few weeks and I quite frankly haven't had much motivation to write. This chapter was especially not difficult, not really to write but because my indecisive ass couldn't decide on whether I wanted to do this chapter first, the next interlude or focus on an entirely different character altogether.

Hopefully the next chapter won't take as long, but I can make no concrete promises as to how my update schedule is going to look like.

Big thanks to Qinlongfei for beta reading this chapter and making sure everything was okay.

Now its time to get into this chapter...and I think from the title alone, you are all about to see some familiar faces from Qin's story.

Let's get it started !

Chapter 40: Saving Ruby

The carriage was moving at a steady pace, according to Ake they should be able to reach Rabier county within the next day or two. Mein and Ake had actually decided to switch it up this time around, with Mein being the driver and Ake riding on Jun. The dragon boy didn't seem all that happy about it, but he respected Mein's orders to behave if nothing else with Ake.

Nina, Rufus and Raphtalia had taken a nap, so that just left Naofumi in the carriage with Alice and Clarissa. The latter was reading a book, while the former seemed to busy toying with her hidden blade. The Shield Hero took a quick glance at Mein, whose figure was visible through the flap of the carriage, she seemed to be focused on the road and not paying much attention to what was going on back here.

" So Alice...the Three Heroes Church, they deal with like heretics of the Outsider right ? " Naofumi asked awkwardly, getting the attention of not just the priestess but the wizard of the party too.

" On occasion. While all the Hero Churches around the world denounce the Outsider and any who use his black magic, we don't especially look for heretics of the Outsider" Alice explained " Black magic and heretics of the Outsider are actually pretty rare to encounter, either due to most of them being in hiding or good at concealing themselves. Honestly the most my faith encounters is the occasional criminal using a bonecharm or the discovery of a shrine. Why do you ask ?"

" Well, I was wondering if you could tell me more about this Outsider and his Marked " Naofumi said.

In truth, he wanted to see if he could learn more about this...Outsider through Alice. He seemed like this figure of mystery nobody truly understood or even knew what the hell he was. Was he a threat ? An ally ? Or just a god playing around for fun ?

That last prospect honestly sounded the scariest to him.

" I'm not sure I can tell you anything you haven't already heard, but I suppose I could try " Alice shrugged.

" That's fine, I'm just interested in learning what I can about this Outsider and his Marked-"

" Agents " Alice corrected.

" What ? " Naofumi raised an eyebrow.

" The official term for those given to those who wear the Outsider's Mark are Agents " Alice said calmly " The name ' Marked' is just a name some of the locals gave them "

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. 'Marked' definitely didn't seem like an official name. Wait, does that mean I need to call Mein, Agent Sophie ?

He decided to ignore that as he listened to Alice's explanation.

" So what do you want to know about first ? "

" Let's start with the Outsider. What even is he ? "

" Well, officially my own faith declares the Outsider an Invading God from an Outer Realm that has come to wreak havoc on Medea " Alice explained in detail " In truth, nobody really knows who or what the Outsider truly is. Theories have been going around about the existence of the Outsider and his Agents for as long as the heroes have been around. Some theories more popular than others, while some just sound flat out ludicrous..."

" Such as ?" Naofumi inquired.

" Well, one of the more generally accepted theories among all the hero Churches, is that the Outsider is an Invading God from an Outer Realm and that his Agents are his servants of destruction. Though some arcane researchers take issue with this argument as the Outsider has never 'directly' tried to destroyed Medea but he has supposedly never outright stopped some of his more violent agents " Alice pointed out. " Some of the more...simplistic theories is that the Outsider is merely an Outer God who doesn't really care about the plights of mortals, and only hands out his Mark to his Agents out of hopes of getting entertainment from them "

Is that really the case though ? I mean, a god giving out incredible powers out of nothing but pure boredom that just sounds...immensely terrifying.

" Its the same case with black magic and the Void, arcane researchers have been debating for literal centuries about how it works and how to use it. Some have even raised the idea of using it in the same vein as normal everyday magic, but such talks are considered heresy by the Hero Churches around the world " Clarissa added " Of course, due to how only a few select people have access to black magic and Void power in general, all these theories and talks will only remain purely pseudo-occult arcane based"

" We're getting a little off-track here...is there anything in common the Agents have with each other ? How they are selected ? " Naofumi added on.

" Well...Agents are difficult to study since all of them are masters of stealth, deception and concealing themselves. Some scholars even suggest that is part of the reason why Agents are given a distinct brand instead of a powerful weapon of some kind like the Legendary Heroes, as a means of better blending in with the population " Alice explained.

Blending in with the population, huh ? That would make sense if the Agents were meant to be subtle infiltrators.

Alice continued "I suppose a recurring theme among the Agents is that a lot of them are extremely violent, merciless and bloodthirsty "

Naofumi was caught off guard by this " R-Really ? All of them ? "

" All of them...or at least the most famous agents throughout the agents " Alice said with the tone of a storyteller " Azula the Impaler...Percy the Black...Yuri the Puppeteer... all of them were well-known for their brutality and ruthless nature throughout the ages "

Naofumi thought about it for a moment, wondering whether Mein truly fit that bill: Violent, merciless and bloodthirsty...

She could definitely be all those things when she wanted to be, but it was never without some essence of reason behind it. She could be violent when she needed to be, she could be merciless when necessary, and bloodthirsty when she's pissed off.

Naofumi knew right off the bat that there was a lot more to Mein than what meets the eye, but he wouldn't necessarily describe her as needlessly violent and merciless.

No, it was cold, calculating, precision violence. The kind that was honestly extremely terrifying to witness. The kind only experienced assassins would have.

" Some scholars believe that the reason for their violent tendencies may be due to corrosion from the Void's magic or how the Outsider summons some agents distorts their minds-"

" Wait a second ! Agents can be summoned too ? " Naofumi asked in shock.

" Yes, Agents can be brought to this world from another like how we summon heroes " Alice nodded " Nobody knows the exact process for how Agents are summoned or if its similar to how heroes are summoned , but most believe that the Outsider handpicks his Agents from other worlds and brings them here to Medea. Though most Agents are chosen from Medea's natives or so we are told "

So he prefers picking Medea's natives ? But why ? Is it to act parallel to Cardinal Heroes who are summoned ?

" Alice is there anything you can tell me about the Shadow Demon ?" Naofumi moved on to his next question.

" The Shadow Demon...well, I was still young when he went on his rampage so I have only heard the stories. I doubt I can tell you anything you haven't already heard about him " Alice said thoughtfully " How he slaughtered countless noble lords across Melromarc, kidnapped the Princess and was eventually cut down by our Pope-"

" Whoa, whoa ! The Pope was the one who killed him ? " Naofumi said in surprise. Mein hadn't told him that.

" Yes, our Eminence was the one who finally put an end to his reign of terror and saved the Princess " Alice said " And so marks the end of the tale of the Shadow Demon..."

" What's with the sudden interest in the Agents anyway ? " Clarissa asked, her piercing green eyes staring at him.

" O-Oh nothing ! Just curious is all about the history of this world " Naofumi excused himself quickly. He had wanted to ask more, but doing so might look suspicious.

God he really needed to work on his lying.

" Naofumi, we got something up ahead " Mein called out to him, interrupting his thoughts. Much to his relief as Clarissa was looking at him suspiciously.

" What is it Mein ? " Naofumi poked his head out the back to see the road in front. There seemed to be a group of people on the side of the road, standing next to a parked carriage.

" Another ambush ?" Naofumi said warily, vividly remembering the last time they got ambushed.

" No...bandits usually prefer having just one or two men act as bait to get people to lower their guard, a large or even mid-sized group would make people uneasy..." Mein shook her head as she looked ahead " And one of them just saw us and is waving her arms at us. They definitely aren't bandits. Real bandits would let the good samaritans come to them "

" She's right " Alice called out from the back.

Naofumi looked ahead and could see a girl waving her arms at them to stop, shouting something that couldn't be heard from the distance.

" Should we approach or be on our way ?" Mein asked his opinion.

" Well, if they aren't bandits than I think we can spare a minute to help them. We're almost to Rabier County anyway right ? So its not like we're going to be delayed anyway " Naofumi said.

Mein shrugged as she pulled on the reins to slow Filo down, calling out to Ake to do the same.

The carriage slowed down as Naofumi went to the back to see Rufus, Nina and Raphtalia awaken from their nap.

" Ugh...are we there yet ?" Rufus groaned as he woke up.

" No, we're still a hundred miles out " Clarissa sarcastically said.

" We're close to reaching Rabier County, but we gotta help some people first " Alice said as she held open the flap " Come on, let's get going "

Naofumi got out the back with the others, helping Raphtalia get down from the carriage as he went to go greet the new people with the others. Upon walking to the front, Naofumi could see that there were three people: Two girls and one man with a mustache.

" Thank you so much for stopping ! We didn't know what else to do if you hadn't !" One of them, a young girl with black hair maybe around Ren's age was shaking Mein's hand with surprising speed. Dressed in a black red lined lace-up corset with four buckles hanging loose over a mesh sleeveless top over a white low cut long-sleeved blouse, as well as a black choker around her neck. She wore a red pleated skirt that is split at the side with a small brown belted strap across the gap, and bright red shorts under it. On her arms, she wears black bracers with large brown buckled straps around the wrist as well as black fingerless gloves, and to top it off was a red cloak.

Naofumi thought she looked like an adventurer only to see no guild tag around her neck.

" Ruby are you sure its a good idea to trust these guys ? " The other girl, much older than the first had long, thick, wavy bright golden hair. She wore a tan leather jacket that bares her midriff, with golden brown piping and short, puffy sleeves with black cuffs that feature two gold buttons over yellow crop top.

"Its better than waiting for the next group to come by and hope they stop Yang " Ruby said.

" Excuse me, but are you adventurers ?" The short man with balding hair dressed in a butler uniform asked.

" Yes, we are from the capital branch " Alice nodded showing off her silver tag " We are travelling with the Shield Hero and his companions "

" The SHIELD HERO !?" Ruby yelled out " This is great ! You can help rescue our friend !"

" Wait, wait, wait, hold on a minute !" Naofumi held up his hands " First off, who are you, secondly 'rescue who ?' "

" Right, we forgot to introduce ourselves" Ruby took a step back " I'm a Ruby, this is my sister Yang-" Ruby pointed at Yang who just gave a 'hey' in response " And this Kleif, he's our friend's butler. We were escorting our friend to a business when we got attacked and- "

" Is your friend by any chance Weiss Schnee ?" Mein said suddenly.

" How did you know that ?" Ruby asked perplexed.

" You're not dressed like career knights so I can only assume you're bodyguards of some kind to a wealthy merchant. A real noble would have a proper knight escort around them " Mein said bluntly " And the carriage door is the symbol of the Schnee Mining Company " Naofumi looked over at the carriage abandoned on the side of the road, the door displaying a symbol in the form of a snowflake.

"...Your friend is very observant Shield Hero, yes, my lady is Weiss Schnee. The heiress of the Schnee Mining Company " Kleif admitted.

" Are they like some important family or something, like the Amelia's ? " Naofumi whispered to Mein.

" No, the Amelia's are true nobles, but the Schnee's while incredibly wealthy are only merchants who like to pretend to be nobles " Mein whispered back " The Schnee's are cutthroat as merchants come, using slaves to fill their mining camp "

Naofumi felt the hairs on his neck stand up " Damn...but still that doesn't mean their daughter should pay the price "

Mein said nothing as Yang explained the situation to them.

" Our friend Weiss was kidnapped by bandits, they stopped our carriage, took our weapons and Weiss, and even took our wheel so we couldn't follow them " Yang said angrily " They told us to go back to Weiss's parents and get them to pay a ransom in return for her "

" That's a bad idea. Most bandit groups who hold high-value hostages just end up killing the hostage when the ransom has been paid or sells them into slavery...or keeps them as pets " Alice shook her head, her eyes showing that she has had experience dealing with this sorta situation before.

" Of course we know that ! That's why we need to get Weiss back " Yang said, before taking a breath " Look, I know we don't have a lot to offer but can you please help us get our friend back ?"

" I assure you, Lady Weiss's parents can be very generous when needs arise " Kleif said not subtle at all.

" Shield Hero, we may be delayed for a few hours but I believe we should stay and help " Alice said firmly.

Naofumi nodded " Agreed. But I don't know jack about fighting or tracking bandits "

" How long ago were you ambushed ?" Alice asked.

" An hour ago ? Maybe a little more " Yang shrugged.

" Then they couldn't have gotten far, a group like that with a hostage is bound to leave a trail to follow " Alice turned to Yang " How big was their group ? Any flying demi-humans, particular beastman ?"

" They were a mid-sized group, but uh they were all human " Yang confirmed.

" All of them ? "

" Yeah, they were a pretty big group. Managed to clobber a few of the fuckers before that bitch with the hammer hit me on the head and knocked me out " Yang explained.

" I tried to hold them off, but they overwhelmed us " Ruby said sadly.

" With us acting as reinforcements, we should be able to take them down quickly and efficiently " Alice said " We best get moving soon though before we lose the trail "

" You guys carrying any spare weapons in that carriage ?" Yang asked" I'm used to fighting with gauntlets, but I can use a sword well enough "

" I brought a spare pair of gauntlets with me, you can use that " Nina said as she went back to the carriage.

" How about you ?" Mein asked the girl.

" Well, I'm used to using a scythe since my Uncle Qrow taught me how, but I can use a sword too "

Naofumi took a quick look in his Shield's inventory and took out a steel sword he had gotten from a drop a while ago " Will this work ? "

" Not the best, but I'll take it " Ruby gave a practice swing to get the feel of it.

" You look a little young to be handling a scythe " Mein commented.

" Yes, yes I am " Ruby nodded.

Naofumi wasn't sure how to respond to that.

" Ake, you stay with the carriages with Klein, Filo, Raphtalia and Jun " Mein ordered.

" Got it " Ake nodded.

" You sure its a good idea to leave Ake behind ?" Naofumi asked her.

" Ake's isn't suited for sneaking up on an enemy, and I don't want to run the risk of Filo and Jun getting into a fight in the middle of the search " Mein explained " Plus somebody needs to look after the carriages "

Good point.

" Big Sister Mein ? Are you going somewhere ? " Raphtalia asked with a yawn.

" Yes, don't worry we'll be back soon...just be good for Ake, will you ?" Mein said gently as she patted the girl on the head " Now just go back to sleep "

" Let's move out, we're burning daylight here " Nina said as they proceeded into the forest.

Mein's POV

Never did Malty or Mein thought she'd see the day she would actually be rushing off to rescue the Schnee heiress. While she had never met the heiress in person, she had heard plenty about the Schnee's reputation for being cutthroat merchants. Though perhaps she is being a bit too presumptuous to assume that heiress is anything like her parents.

Mein knelled down on the ground, as she touched the disturbed ground and saw footprints sunk into the dirt.

She's not exactly the shining example of a proper Melromarc lady either. Mein's not sure whether Thomas would agree with her using the tactics she learned from him to find the heiress, but that's a thought reserved for another time.

" They went this way, moving fast from the looks of it " Mein said.

" Think they have a base set up ? " Naofumi asked their chief bandit advisor.

" Maybe. Its not uncommon for bandit groups to move around with no hideout to operate from to avoid capture, most bandit groups will usually just make use of whatever surrounding structure they can find like ruins, caves, abandoned outposts and such " Alice explained " If they've taken Weiss to some kind of base than we will have a tougher time getting to her, but if they've just set up camp somewhere and are getting ready to move-"

" It will be much easier to take them down " Mein finished for her.

Their small but formidable group moved quickly through the forest, following the tracks as Alice and Mein led the way. Despite being a priestess, Mein could tell that Alice had the training or at least the basic knowledge of a ranger's skill on how to track targets.

Mein kept a hand on her sword at all times as they walked through the forest, even though it was midday she couldn't help but feel on edge at the prospect of hunting down a bandit group. While she knew that bandits were cowardly scoundrels who would sell each other out at the first sign of trouble, they were a persistent threat for a reason and they weren't complete imbeciles.

Thomas had taught her that. He had always hated bandits.

" What's on your mind Alice ? " Clarissa asked out of the blue, snapping Mein out of her thoughts.

" Its nothing, I was just thinking its strange..." Alice admitted.

" What's strange ? " Ruby butt into the conversation.

" Why the bandits let you and Yang go, I mean..."

" Is that...a bad thing ? " Naofumi raised an eyebrow at the priestess.

" Bandits never pass-up the opportunity to take women captives, unless they are in a hurry or don't have the space for them " Alice pointed out " The fact that they left you two alone when they could have just taken all three of you, doesn't make sense "

That...is a good question.

Mein knew all too well about what bandits did to women they captured, hearing the horror stories of demi-human bandits forcing their captive women to bear their rape babies to term in order to bolster their manpower. She felt her skin crawl at that thought.

" That's been bugging me too " Nina stepped up "Like they clearly had the advantage and from the sounds of it weren't in a rush to get out of there, why leave behind two potential captives ?"

" Maybe because they wanted somebody to deliver the message to the Schnee's about the ransom ?" Rufus suggested.

" If that was true, than they could have just dumped Klein close to some village and take the girls. They had no reason to let Ruby and Yang go too " Clarissa argued " There's something more at play here..."

" Well, I quite frankly don't give a damn. Those bastards are gonna pay for taking Weiss " Yang said angrily as she tightened the straps of her gauntlet.

Mein shrugged, that was fair. She wasn't going to shed a tear for a bunch of bandits and she wouldn't mind having the Schnee heiress owe them a favor.

They kept walking for a few more minutes, the only noticeable sounds in the forest being that of the occasional breeze or bird chirping. They kept going until Alice held up a hand signalling for them to stop and Mein could see a bright light coming up ahead- a fire most likely.

" Take cover. Now " Alice ordered as they all quickly hid behind trees.

Up ahead, Mein could faintly see a bunch of tents and fire set up. She could hear voices and see people, but they were too far away to make anything precise out.

" Watch out for the mustache asshole with the blunderbuss, and his two cronies: The black haired punk with the pistol and bitch with the warhammer " Yang said spitefully." Those three were the ones who took us down, the rest of these idiots are actually pretty weak to handle "

" They have firearms from Faubley ? " Mein said in shock. Firearms weren't exactly easy to get outside of Faubley, even if you went through the black market they still were hard to get unless you knew the right people. Only nobility can really afford to get their hands on proper firearms from Faubley. So how did a band of thieves and bandits get their hands on them then ?

She can answer those question later.

Yang only nodded in confirmation to her earlier question.

Mein took a deep breath as she pulled up her hood and cloth to cover her face as she crouched down and approached the bandit camp from the treeline, as she got closer she could see a mid-sized group of bandits with several fires. Realizing that she needs a better view of the camp, she looked for a nice nearby tree with sturdy looking enough branches to support her weight. She quickly scaled up the tree and stopped just short before she reached the top as it gave her a good view of the camp.

The princess in disguise looked back, seeing that she was safely out of sight from the rest of the group and could use some of her skills freely.

Mein activated Far Vision as she overlooked the camp in full-view: A mid sized bandit camp with dozens of tents set up and fires all around. After a few seconds of looking around, she spotted a large wooden cage that held a girl with snow white hair. Weiss Schnee most likely.

On top of that, two of the bandits that Yang had mentioned, the warhammer girl and the pistol boy were also standing in front of the cage. The warhammer girl seemed to be saying something-more likely shouting at the heiress. Though Mein was too far to make out anything being said, it seemed like the Schnee girl was also participating in a shouting match with the warhammer girl.

The black haired boy finally stepped up and pulled his friend away and bringing her back to one of the fires. Mein turned her attention away from them as she found the mustache man with the blunderbuss, near the center of the camp talking to some people.

Many of the bandits didn't seem to be carrying any real weapons, in fact most of them used makeshift weapons like woodcutter axes, pitchforks and sickles. Mein even spotted one guy who had a knife tied to a stick. Their clothes were more like rags barely patched together and many of them moved around sluggishly, as if they haven't eaten in a while.

They looked more like refugees than bandits. Clarissa was right, there was more at play here than they realized.

Mein quickly climbed back down and made her way back to the rest of the group who were waiting patiently further back.

" What do you got Mein ? " Naofumi asks.

" Weiss is in a wooden cage at the back of the camp, pistol boy and warhammer girl are on the right side of the camp, mustache man is near the center. They don't seem to be on guard for a potential attack " Mein explained.

" Then we have the element of surprise on our side " Alice nodded.

" Is Weiss okay ? " Ruby asked concerned.

" She's fine. She just seemed to have been in a shouting match with the warhammer girl " Mein said before turning to the rest of the group " But there is something else you should know, I was watching some of the bandits... and they didn't look like bandits to me. They looked more like refugees "

" Refugees ? " Naofumi repeated.

" Like their clothes, weapons, and movements...they don't look like career criminals to me, but desperate people driven to the brink " Mein explained.

Alice and her team looked at each other.

" Do you think they could refugees from a village that was destroyed from a wave ?" Naofumi raised the possibility.

" Maybe...it may be rare, but it isn't totally uncommon for refugees from a destroyed village to turn to banditry to feed themselves " Alice put a hand to chin.

" Refugees or not, it doesn't excuse the fact that they kidnapped Weiss and attack our carriage " Yang said vehemently " We need to take these guys down "

" Nobody's saying that they were right to do what they did...but maybe we should employ non-lethal methods to take these guys down ?" Nina suggested to Alice who nodded.

" Agreed. Shield Hero, Rufus, Clarissa, Yang, you're on crowd control in case things get messy. Water spells, shield bashes and punches only. No fire or steel " Alice ordered " Everybody else with me, we're taking down their three top fighters. If we take them out quickly than we can hopefully put a stop to this fight before it even begins "

" I want to be with your team when you take down that warhammer bitch, I owe her some payback " Yang said angrily.

Alice seemed to think about it for a moment before sighing " Fine. Ruby I want you to circle around and free Weiss "

" Got it " Ruby nodded.

" We'll hit them from the side, Team 2 hits them from the front. When I give the signal, we take them all down before they know what hit them " Alice ordered.

Nobody disagreed, they all nodded in understanding of what they needed to do.

Mein and her team were quick to circle to the flank of the camp, while Naofumi and his team were in position waiting for assault. The princess in disguise had her sword out already as she saw the others practically twitching to make a move. She narrowed her eyes at the priestess, to see that she had taken out-

" Is that an egg ?" Mein asked in surprise.

Alice just smiled at her " A nice little concoction that Slayer taught me to make back when I was a novice, useful for breaking up the formation and flow of enemy groups. Be careful not to breath it in " Alice said as she put on her silver mask.

Mein was almost jealous of it, she wanted a mask like that.

" On my mark..."

Mein tensed as did all of them as they waited in bated breath for their leader to give the word.

" MARK !"

Without a second's hesitation, they charged the camp. Mein quickly punching the first man that got in their way straight in the face, followed by hitting another across the cheek with her sword's hilt. Yang and Nina weren't that much different, delivering a series of fast blows that left their opponents on the ground, though the latter was obviously trying to be less forceful, if that was even possible for a martial artist.

Alice said to take them alive, but that didn't mean they had to gentle.

The bandits were taken off guard, many were screaming in shock and horror, while others were in utter befuddlement on what to do. Some were even standing stock-still like a deer caught in the oncoming path of a fireball. Naofumi, Rufus and Clarissa already attacked at this point, causing even more chaos as the bandits struggled to figure out what to do.

The battle was chaotic if nothing else.

" Everybody get into defensive formation ! Don't let them overwhelm us !" The mustache man with the blunderbuss shouted, but only a handful were sound of mind enough to follow his orders. Many were panicking, while others blindly attempted to attack them.

A man charged at her with an axe, with the grace and finesse of a drunk lumberjack. Mein easily sidestepped and knocked the man on the back of the head with her sword, before pushing forward.

By this point, Alice had finally thrown that egg she held in her hand earlier at a group of bandits and it exploded in a plume of black powder.

" Aaaahh ! My eyes ! It burns !"

The bandits screamed out in pain, as their eyes watered and their snot leaked from their noses.

Mein took a second to be impressed as she thought about getting the recipe from Alice later. A poorly attempted thrust at her with a pitchfork and she put those thoughts aside for now, as she dodged and grabbed the pitchfork, before slamming the wooden part against the man's head.

" Shield Prison !" Naofumi shouted as the ball of chains trapped a group of bandits, as he had the Chimera Viper Shield equipped " Change Shield ! Bee Needle Paralysis Shield !"

The ball of chains disappeared and the bandits trapped inside, fell to the ground with tiny punctures in their bodies, but from the twitching it indicated that they were still alive just paralyzed.

" Fast Aqua Splash !" Clarissa released a torrent of water that knocked several bandits down. Though since she was limited to water spells and non-lethal ones at that, her options were limited.

Rufus on the other hand looked like a beast plowing through the enemy as if they were parchment. Bashing one in the face with his shield, followed by a fist to the face and then a hilt upwards into the jaw. If Mein had any doubts about his fighting ability, then they were gone now. Though perhaps fighting a bunch of refugees turned bandits may not be the finest test of skill.

" Take out their top fighters ! We end this now !" Alice shouted.

" Cover your eyes ! Holy Light !" Alice held up her sword as a bright light illuminated from it, it would have blinded Mein had she not covered her eyes in time. The bandits however were less fortunate.

" Ah ! You'll need more than light to beat me-" The mustache man didn't get to finish his sentence, as Alice tried to strike him with a sword. Only for the attack to be barely parried in time by the man's blunderbuss...that Mein now could see had two axe-blades attached towards the end of the stock.

Mein was briefly perplexed as to why anybody would put blades on the wrong end of a blunderbuss, before a war cry broke her thoughts.

" Professor Port !" The warhammer girl screamed as she ran to help him.

Only to be stopped by a sideways sucker punch courtesy of Yang, making her almost lose balance before catching herself.

" Payback time bitch " Yang growled as Nina had her back.

" You..." The warhammer girl growled back.

The two girl's glared at each other, before running full force ready to face each other off. Nina was off to the side, ready to go for a flank attack on the warhammer girl to take her down-

A gunshot ran out and Mein watched as Nina fell to the ground in pain as she clutched her leg. She turned her head to see the black haired teen having landed a clean hit on Nina's leg.

" NINA !" Alice shouted, before she had to block an axe swing by Porter.

" I got her ! Deal with that gunman !" Rufus shouted as he picked up his girl bridal style and carried her away from the fighting.

Mein locked onto the gunman and saw that he was in the midst of reloading, without a thought she charged at him with all her speed, if she could just reach him before he could reload than-

He reloaded quicker than expected and pointed his gun at her head.

Only to be stopped when a stick impacted the side of his head, making him lose the lock he had on her and causing him to stumble.

" That was for taking me hostage, you ruffians !" Weiss screamed as Ruby held up a sword to defend her.

Mein didn't even have time to turn her head to see, but she could figure out what had happened. With the gunman distracted, she had all the opportunity she needed.

Before he could readjust and aim his gun, she grabbed his wrist holding the gun with a vice grip, delivering a hard knee to his gut knocking the wind out of him, followed up with her slamming her elbow into his face. She tried to wrestle the gun out of his hand, but he held onto it tight...until Mein punched him and kicked him in the face. She wasn't done with him yet.

" Get your ass up !" Mein shouted as she grabbed the boy from behind, wrapping her left arm around his throat while she aimed his pistol at warhammer girl. Aiming for her head.

" NO ! DON'T HURT HE-" Mein shut him up as she wrapped a hand around his mouth and took aim.

She fired a single shot. And it landed directly into the warhammer girl's thigh.

Payback on Nina's behalf, she supposes.

" AAH ! Motherfucki-" Nora didn't much time to scream about it, as Yang delivered a hard sucker punch that sent Nora flying back a few feet,

Mein didn't waste any time, as she quickly choked Ren out until she felt him go limp, letting him plop onto the ground like a sack of potatoes.

She took a moment to admire the Faubley design of the pistol, before tucking it away. It would be a nice addition to her arsenal.

" Aard !" Mein turned her head to see Alice push the mustache man away with a force of energy, that knocked him to the ground. Before swiftly picking up the blunderbuss and holding a blade to his throat.

At that point, after seeing their best fighters get subdued and their numbers dwindling by the seconds, the remaining bandits threw up their hands in surrender.

Mein smiled that moment, it was a complete victory for them.

After the bandits surrender, and the subduing of their top fighters, their group made quick work securing them with some rope. Naofumi's Rope Shield came in handy once again, since they definitely did not bring enough rope to secure them all. Though Alice made sure to tie the bandits top three fighters with some special rope that was supposedly strong enough to hold a level 40 person.

" Ugh...goddamnit " Nina cursed as she moved her bandaged up leg, leaning on Rufus for support.

" How's your leg feel ? "Clarissa asked.

" Sore, but I'll live. Just may not be able to do any fast movements " Nina replied.

Mein turned her head as she heard a grunt of pain coming from the tied up prisoners, and she saw Alice actually knelled down and examining the warhammer girl's wound that she had given her.

" The bullet went clean through, it would have hurt a lot trying to extract it " Alice commented as she bandaged up the wound " I wouldn't recommend running around with that warhammer again anytime soon "

" Piss off you damn Three Heroes Church stooge !" The girl shouted at Alice, who didn't seem concerned as she held the girl's leg down and bandaged it.

" Nora...please be quiet and just let the nice priestess do her job " The black haired teen chided his friend.

" Shut up Ren ! I'm not going to take charity from the people who beat us !"

Mein tuned them out as she focused on the Weiss heiress who was having a nice reunion with her friends.

" Are you okay Weiss ?! " Ruby asks immediately.

" I'm fine, these damn ruffians didn't hurt me...besides that one yelling at me " Weiss levelled a dirty glare at the warhammer girl, before turning to the rest of them " Who are you people ? Adventurers ? "

" Yes, my name is Alice of the Three Heroes Church. This is my team Rufus, Nina and Clarissa " Alice introduced herself and her team " We are accompanying the Shield Hero and his companions on his quest to join the Bow Hero "

" The Shield Hero, huh ?" Weiss's expression turned to one of professionalism " Well, I would like to humbly thank you for your timely assistance. Without your intervention, these bandits would have ransomed me off to my family "

" Its no problem, I'm glad we could help " Naofumi nodded.

Mein was off to the side examining their haul from the bandits, she was more than a little interested in the firearms of the black haired teen and mustache man. The pistol was of Faubley design, Dunwall origin most likely ? She's not sure they've made any new major improvements or changes in their standard issue pistols for the City Watch.

The blunderbuss on the other hand was a bit more unique: In that Mein thought it was stupid how the damn thing had two axe-blades attached to it.

" Why the hell does this blunderbuss have two axe-blades ? You can't even aim this thing right " Mein complained as she held the stock of the blunderbuss to her shoulder and tried to aim, only for the axe-blades to get in the way of aiming.

Port laughed " Aha ! Personal preference my dear lady " Port said eyeing her as she handled his weapon with care " You familiar with firearms ?"

Mein thought about it for a moment before answering "...My father was from Faubley, and taught me about weapons when I was younger. How did an old man like you get his hands on these fine pieces ? "

" A souvenir from my days in the Faubley corps..." Port answered.

Mein's interest peaked at that " The corps ? " Mein figured out what that meant " You were an Elite Faubley Ranger ? "

" Third Division. Based out of Westburrow " Port raised an eyebrow at her " Your father a ranger ? "

Mein thought about it for a moment before smirking "...Yeah...Seventh Mobile Division. Moved around a lot "

" Heard about that division before I left , heard they were some pretty tough lads !" Port laughed.

" Yeah...they were..."

" I'm sorry, Faubley Rangers ? What are those ?" Naofumi asked, noticing her chatting it up with the bandit.

" They are the Elite corps that are separate from Faubley's main army. The duties of the rangers are to deal with more local matters. Eliminating monster hordes, tracking the movements of dangerous monsters, and killing bandits while the army deals with more large scale threats " Mein explained.

Thomas had regalled her with tales about his work in the Faubley Rangers. How he and his team had taken down a bandit chief once, to tracking and killing a chimera that has been causing a local lord trouble, to returning several children to their families after they had been kidnapped by a cult and set to be sacrificed. There was no end to the work of a Ranger, Thomas always said.

It was the skills he picked up in the corps that netted him a nice job as her bodyguard back then.

" I apologize to interrupt your conversation Shield Hero and Miss Sophie, but I need to ask something of them " Alice butt in and approached Ren " You don't look or act much like bandits...you look more like refugees. I would like an explanation please "

" Oh ? You want to know so badly why us common folk have to turn to thievery to survive ? You asshats didn't care much before !" Nora shouted in anger " You bastards aren't any different from the same sons of whores that threw us all out of our homes ! Why don't you go after those bastards !? Oh, but no, you won't ! Because bitches like this Schnee were born with a silver spoon up their ass !" Nora spit that last insult at Weiss, who's face scrunch up in anger.

" How dare you besmirch my family name ! " Weiss shouted at the top of her lungs " Don't try to pin the bad things you did on me !"

" You damn Schnee's are the reason we had to turn to banditry to feed ourselves ! Its your father who threw us all out on our asses to mine the silver underneath our village ! "

" You lie ! My family would never stoop so low !" Weiss shouted in retaliation.

" Of course they would you stupid white haired whore ! Sons of bitches like your father only care about filling his coffers with coin !" Nora laughed " Hell, we were worried he wouldn't even pay the ransom for you !"

" Okay, please stop. I need somebody to explain this clearly for me " Alice turned to Ren " Your name is Ren correct ? Please elaborate on what your friend is saying ?"

" What ?! Don't like the truth spelled out for you-MFFF!" Nora was cut off when Alice shoved a scarf into her mouth to shut her up. " Please be quiet when I'm talking to your friend and you-" Alice turned to Weiss " Don't provoke her anymore than she already is "

Weiss huffed but followed Alice's orders.

Mein was a little disappointed the show ended so soon. She was getting more than a little amused at the sight of the Schnee heiress arguing with a bandit.

" Explain. Now. And don't lie to me, I will know " Alice said in a low tone as she looked deep into Ren's eyes.

Ren took a breath as she explained " We are refugees as you've deduced. We come from Lord Reichnott's land-

" Reichnott ? Isn't he that demi-human sympathizer Lana sometimes talks about ? " Nina cut in " What's caused his people to turn to banditry to feed themselves ? "

Ren continued his explanation " Well, as some of you may or may not know he has been enduring many losses from the Hound Lord's constant raiding...and as such run into some money troubles "

Mein was starting to see a clear picture of where this story was going.

" Let me guess: Only the Schnee's were willing to lend money to him ?" Naofumi turned back to Weiss " Is it true ? "

Weiss turned away unable to hold his gaze "...I may have heard about father lending money over to Lord Reichnott...but it was my family who supplied Lord Reichnott with the the raw ores to make armor and weapons when the Hound Lord came knocking, we were the only ones who helped !"

" Oh, don't act so high and mighty you upper class bitch ! You think your family 'helps' people out of the kindness of their heart !? " Nora spit out the gag and yelled at Weiss " Your father only helped dickless Reichnott because there was money to be made, as soon as that dries up he will be the first to throw him to the wolves when he's done bleeding the county dry ! " Nora starts to scream " You rich nobles are all the fucking same ! You think because you 'help' us common folk in a way that benefits you, that makes you saints !? Give me a fucking break !"

" Nora...please just stop " Ren pleaded with his childhood friend.

" Goddamnit, what a mess..." Naofumi ran a hand through his spiky hair " What do we do about this ? "

" The real question is, what can we do ? If we turn them in they would either end up imprisoned or executed for their crimes " Alice said with a sigh " And there's always the chance a corrupt guard captain looking to make a quick silver coin would be more than willing to sell them for cheap on the slave trade "

" No ! " Naofumi shouts on instinct." I know they did bad things but isn't there a way to like...punish them ethically ? "

" Not really. Our only options are to turn them in to the local lord which means imprisonment or execution " Alice shrugged sadly.

" I mean...can't we just let them go then ? " Naofumi said and at that suggestion Titan Storm looks at him as if he were stupid.

Mein was doing the same with them. Was Naofumi seriously trying to advocate for letting these refugees turn bandits go ? Even if they took their weapons and kicked them to the curb, they still had no real way of guaranteeing that they wouldn't just go rob someone even weaker than them. And that's not even bringing up the ramifications of what it means if it was discovered that Naofumi purposefully let a group of bandits go.

No, she must crush this idea of his quickly.

" Naofumi, I think even you know how bad of an idea that is " Mein said in a show of brutal honesty " We can't very well just let a group of bandits go. Refugees turned bandits with good reasons for their banditry, sure, but still bandits. Nobody will care to listen to your reason for letting them go on the promise that they won't rob anyone else, you would just be charged for aiding and abetting a bunch of bandits "

" But...what can we do then ? " Naofumi muttered.

Nobody knew how to properly answer this question. What was truly the 'right' answer to conundrum ?

" I'll take them "

A voice cut in through the silence and all eyes turned to Weiss.

" I'll take them under my watch. They will work under me personally " Weiss said.

" We'd rather die than work for a Schnee !" Nora shouted.

" Nora, please be quiet as I discuss with Miss Schnee " Port asked for silence as he turned his attention to her " What do you have in mind for work ?"

" Well, before you kidnapped me I was on my way to oversee a new project up north. My family has recently uncovered a new vein of silver and are looking to explore it further...and apparently they are short on workers "

Mein considered the idea. It would somewhat solve the problem, the refugees get more of a stable job, they push any possible repercussions onto the Schnee family for harboring fugitives, all nice and fine...

Mein glanced over at Port, the man who was part of the same Corps Thomas was in.

Rangers never leave a man behind. That was what Thomas always told her.

And she doubts he would approve of her letting a fellow ex-ranger fall into potential slavery. Mein had heard all too well what went on in Schnee mining camps.

"...I've heard the horror stories of Schnee mines, these people would be treated no different from slaves. What guarantees can you give that these people will be treated better ?"

" Those stories are-!" Weiss stopped herself before she could argue, taking a deep breath " I will oversee them personally. They will be treated well I can assure you "

Weiss received unsure looks and glares from the captives as a result.

" If you are still unsure , I will allow you to keep your weapons "

" Weiss, you can't be serious !" Yang shouted.

" I agree with Yang, these guys did try to rob us..." Ruby agreed with her sister.

" I don't mean give them their weapons back now. We will only do so when we're back at camp and with the other guards " Weiss explained.

" How do we know they aren't just going to betray us when we're there ? " Yang asked.

" There should be more guards stationed at the mine...and I bet they wouldn't dare start a fight they know they couldn't win without incurring losses on their side, would they ? " Weiss asked Port.

" No...we've always tried to only ever rob merchants and we never take more than a bag of gold is worth " Port explained " The only reason we took you is because we thought we could make enough to get our old lives back "

" Are we seriously considering working for a Schnee !?" Nora shouted.

" Its better than being imprisoned, executed or sold as a slave " Ren argued " And honestly its better to do honest work than stealing from people like that Hound Lord bastard "

Nora looked like she was about shout more profanities when the white haired girl interrupted.

" You say that my family are a bunch of greedy bastards...well, I'm content to prove you wrong " Weiss said, her gaze hard.

" Fine ! If you all want to work for this Schnee so badly...but don't be surprised when this pampered brat sells us out for a better deal !"

" We shall see..." Weiss said

" Well, I guess its better than nothing " Naofumi said, letting out a sigh of relief " We should probably head back to Ake, let him know what happened-

Mein held up a hand to stop him.

" Actually hold that thought Naofumi..." Mein smirked " There is one thing that we need to do first "

Mein smirked as she aimed the blunderbuss towards the paper target that Port had set up.

She took a deep breath as she set up the shot,holding it up to her shoulder

She pulled the trigger- and felt the firearm kick back against her shoulder as it fired. The pellets of the gun hitting the target set up perfectly.

" Clean hit ! That is a clean hit girly !" Port laughed." Now try hitting the next one with the pistol "

" Wooooh !" Mein cheered happily, feeling like a little girl playing with her newest toys. Picking up the pistol and readying her next shot.

Naofumi was off to the side with the others discussing how they were going to transport them over to the Schnee's camp and if they will have enough space. She thinks she can let him handle that this time around.

She just hopes Ake doesn't mind babysitting the kids for another hour or so.

So the bandit encounter...you know, I didn't want to have another ambush( Cause we've already had like two of those already) so I decided to have a fun little twist about Qin's part about the bandit encounter with members of the RWBY cast. Only this time I'm throwing almost the full team of RWBY into it too, with the exception of Blake for reasons.

I am glad that I finally got to reveal Thomas's past as a Faubley Ranger through Port. Thomas definitely didn't get his position as Malty's bodyguard for nothing and he didn't survive as long as he did on luck. Plus I wanted to add some extra reason for why a professor from Faubley would have access to firearms and having him be from the same Corps as Thomas was a nice tie in if I do say so myself.

In terms of the bandit fight...I can't help but feel that I made it look pretty trivial compared to Qin's story. Though I suppose that is to be expected when the cast here are much higher levelled than their counterparts, and are teamed up with a group like Titan Storm who are basically the gold standard for bandit hunters.

I'm curious what you all think about my alternative solution to the whole 'refugees turned bandits' because I didn't just want to have a retelling of how Naofumi helped them find a hot spring that they can use to set up a proper business. I was honestly stuck on that part since I couldn't come up with a solution and this was the best that came out.

I wonder what your thoughts on it are.

Putting that aside, let's answer some guest reviews shall we ?

To Caspian123:

Itsuki definitely has some issues that he may or may not be aware of. Whether he actually gives a shit to fix those issues is a whole other can of worms...

I have said it before that Itsuki is the best trained out of all the Cardinal Heroes. Who exactly he was trained by will be revealed sooner than you think.

:P

Let's just say that I have some very fun plans involving the Hound Lord and Mein later in this arc.

To Normandy1998:

Glad you liked the Goblin Slayer reference. He's definitely going to get a lot more attention in this arc, so stay tuned !

To Cactuses are a thing:

I'm so glad you enjoyed this story so far ! Yeah, I'm definitely happy I got Qin to help beta read, make sure the story keeps it head on straight.

I apologize for the long wait, hope this chapter made it up somewhat !

With that said, I will see you all in the next one.

Angel Out.