A Bandit's Life for Me! 2 - (Fire Emblem/Bandit Emblem Rom Hack, SI)

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Taarg is what I would define a perma-shit-eating grin dickhead.

He is a bastard, a bandit leader, and a very very generous leader at that. I mean, he had to deal with a lot of illiterate idiots under his care, and he had been doing this for years now. The issue is that, while he was rather forgiving at times, he was also known to be ruthless when the dumbest shit was perpetrated.

And he sure as hell wasn't happy when I returned with little gains, and a lot of heat on our asses.

"You fucking killed who!?"

"The little shit-"

"I don't care a fuck on what he said, did, or planned to do- you killed the fucking heir to the Duchy!" Taarg growled furiously. "I don't give a shit on what excuse you want to pull out your ass! You fucked up big time, Vathel!"

"Well, it ain't my fault that something about the whole situation is fishy as fuck!" I snarled back, knowing that I did a fuck-up, but having had time to gauge what had occurred. The way the Ducal forces had reacted was way faster and way harsher than usual. Maybe it was because of the 'Prince' being around, but I doubt that was the only thing. The girl we captured, Aveline, could use magic- some of the thugs caught her healing some scratches she had by her knees and... that ain't the kind of stuff a mere peasant girl should be able to pull with ease.

Magic was random, yeah, and we had a few unlucky commoner mages as comrades since society prided bloodline over mere magical might, but healing magic? That shit was gold. And it made no sense the gal was just some dumb village girl. The way the newest guard to Taarg reacted to the news of the hostage, Swordsman McEdgy, looked awfully like the 'distant bodyguard' for some 'noble lady'.

"The fuck you mean?!"

"What I am saying is that it seems awfully suspicious how I got sent to a 'normal raid' when so many crazy shits happened all at once. The prince being a little suicidal freak I get is not something one could have expected- but it does smell suspicious that edgy guy here knows the 'healer' - the way the Duchy reacted is also... the fuck are you two not saying, dammit!"

I was still in a foul mood over what happened, and I wasn't anywhere patient to ignore the blatant plot-related bullshit that was now painting a target on our back.

Taarg paused, then turned to his guard-

"We need answers now, or we can't react on the upcoming attack!" I snapped, causing the old bandit to growl and... then sigh.

"Fine. The girl is-"

"Lady Aveline is an important person to us all. She can't be discovered, caught or-"

"Killed off as a potential bandit," I guessed, causing the swordsman to scoff at that. "Let me ask you this: do you think they will stop asking if a peasant girl in this hideout who can use magic, mind you, is an innocent part of the situation?"

The swordsman didn't reply to that, but I knew his answer by his grimace.

"As far as I see it, it is a shitty situation well beyond our control. We need to bail from the hideout."

"It will take a few hours," Taarg pointed out, "And I doubt they are going to give up on the chase until we're fully packed."

"We will use the tight halls to ambus them," I argued with a grin. "Bastards use pegasi and other mounts to hunt us, but the damn beasts can't move through small sections."

"And we have some explosive powders around- have the pyromancers have fun with that," Taarg nodded in agreement, grinning back at me. "That being said, ye're getting punishment once this is all over."

"Sounds fair-"

"And it starts with you making sure that the bastards don't get in the main room before we are done."

I nodded, it was a 'fine' punishment, but it also meant I had to play a rather bad scenario if this was indeed a Fire Emblem situation. We had mages, but all troops at my disposals were fodders at best. And while ambushing had proven to be a reliable strategy to outpace better units, that didn't mean we could handle both quality and quantity against us.

The first order I gave before darting to have the men warned of the imminent assault was to get Aveline to Vaarg so that she wouldn't be endangered during the defense. The girl was truly lost for most of the time, rage briefly spurred as she took notice of me to glare at my retreating form but... I didn't give a shit about a healer's scorn. This wasn't some crazy anime where healing can do mad shit, and I knew the girl was hardly a fighter.

All I cared in that moment was to limit the losses, get all the lot to the main room, and make sure that I didn't die in the process.

Of course, shit wasn't going to be that easy as the local noble, Duke Sadeas, had decided to send his own detachment to 'support the avenging of Prince Adonis'. And... someone else had decided to use the chaos to infiltrate the base.

The underground section of the bandit's lair had been a bit creepy, but the little girl that emerged from one of its staircases leading to the main floor hardly gave much care of the frightening surroundings.

With short white hair, green eyes and a few scars over her childish face, Jess was a little orphan that had to adapt a lot to the troubles of life and, while normally she wouldn't attack bandits, she felt compelled to check this place to find out what happened to Big Bro Sheremi.

The green-haired magician had given her food and some clothes from time to time, and she was very grateful towards him. So, it was fair for her to put the short life she had on the line to find out what happened to him. She had turned to the village after helping him deliver a package across the duchy, skipping on a few meals only to make it back and... find the place burned down.

She was upset, but she doubted that he had been slain as the other villagers were fine and none of them had been killed or hurt during the raid. A prince had been killed, same for some guards- but still, Sheremi was a bit of a coward, so he wouldn't have fought back against bandits.

Maybe he had been kidnapped. That was why Jess had marched straight to the bandit's lair, found an underground entryway and made it to the base to find it... in a panic. She thought she had been discovered, which made her ready her daggers, but the little thief was stunned as none of the bandits was stopping to address her - they were all in a hurry, moving barrels, chests, and even getting people in positions... as if someone was about to attack the place.

It just wasn't her.

That was indeed a problem. She had thought things would have been tame and all. But it was clear that someone was about to bust the entire place. So, while she usually loathed bandits, the girl didn't need this to blow up on her face.

"Hey, do you need help with that?"

The cloaked magician paused, then looked towards her, frowned as he didn't find anyone his height and... then looked down at her. "I... what are you doing here?"

"Helping."

He opened his mouth to argue that, but then they both heard shouts that 'they are coming!' and the man nodded. "F-Fine, but you need to be careful since this box can go boom."

Jess' green eyes widened in shock - bombs? They were really using bombs in such a place? Wouldn't it all came down? Maybe she was overthinking it, but she wasn't sure if bombs were a good way to 'defend' a place. Still, she complied with the request and was soon helping the nervous magician in setting up a black-powdered line across the all and towards two similar boxes on the sides.

She then got told to back away from the boxes and... after a questionable amount of intense minutes, several bandits came running through the halls.

"They are coming!" One of them screamed, and the magician tensed up as they waited for the bandits to come by, and then several heavy-armored troops came bolting across the hall. It was a terrifying look, enough to have Jess wonder if this was going to work and... if she could defend herself with just her knives if it didn't.

Luckily for her, the bombs went off at the right time and they blew the armored knights apart. The blood, the mutilation- normally that would frighten people, but Jess was around to see gruesome things even before Sheremi took her in and... for some reasons, this felt less unpleasant than in previous occasions.

In fact, the way that relief hit her, knowing that this was needed made the sight even easier to stomach. It was still ugly, but the idea she wasn't going to die to some bulky armored men gave her some relief... which was amplified as the magician thanked her with a headpat.

In fact, the other bandits looked thankful towards them and, for some strange reasons, this felt very nice to the young girl.

Even as she was siding with criminals, she felt at ease knowing that they were not going to shun her away- unlike the familiar-looking guards rushing down the hall, these less armored and...

Even more guttable.

AN

So, I had a lot to think on how to pick Jess' Ref PIc. After all, the OG Jess in the Rom Hack is this thin plum-haired woman with green eyes... and I ultimately decided that I would prefer Jack the Ripper from Apocrypha for that since I can weave a more detailed backstory for Jess which would justify her alignment in the long run.

Still, next time will see Aveline POV as the evacuation is underway and the defense ends in a solid win for the Bandits.