The Bandit leader opened his eyes. The explosion had knocked all of them into the air and the moment he opened his eyes, he could see something falling toward him.

A horse.

The man rolled to the side and the horse came down splat beside him, exploding into a gory display of blood and bone. However, many members of his group were not that lucky.

Screams sounded all around as one guy got hit in the face by the blade of his spear, lodging into the ground through his mouth and if that wasn’t bad enough, his horse fell on top of him, crushing his head completely with the force.

A lot of other people were killed by the same animals they had ridden... if they weren’t done in by the initial force.

’No...’ the man thought while stumbling to his feet. He looked at the cause of this whole situation.

It was the woman in front of them with blonde hair, crimson aura trailing from her eyes, holding an axe.

Her face had the blood of his comrades sprayed all over it as if it was a decoration then she let out a grin with steam coming from her mouth as she uttered.

"Headpats... Headpats... Headpats..."

The man was confused. What did headpats have to do with this?

Being the leader, he looked around and saw that at least ten of his people remained... one woman having her whole arm torn off. They all knew they were going to die with no way to run.

However, dying here was better than dying to the hands of that sadistic woman, the Raven Thief.

The Bandit leader pulled out two swords with shaking hands, holding one in each grip.

If they died to the Raven Thief instead, she would wedge their heads onto stakes in the perfect room she kept, which was a trophy collection of everyone she’d killed. She’d told them about it too, describing it in detail just to watch them squirm.

"There’s ten of us and one of her!" he yelled out while coughing and tasting blood. "We can overwhelm her!"

Even he wasn’t confident in his own words. This was not a regular human at all. Well, he wasn’t one either, but still...

Immediately, the one-armed woman charged first and the other bandits followed her lead, rushing forward in a ragged formation.

The Bandit leader stood in place while calculating.

Perhaps they could put her on the defensive and he could exploit that opening for a strong strike, though he’d have to deal with that wizard apprentice in the carriage and also the blonde noble in the back afterward.

Right from the beginning, this seemed like a death tra—

The blonde woman slashed to the right and red aura exploded outward from that point, a devastating wave of force that blew wind across the whole battlefield.

The Bandit leader had to raise his swords to defend with the pressure nearly knocking him off his feet.

The one-armed bandit woman shot backward toward him except she’d been carved cleanly in half at the waist.

"Ugh..." she managed to say as he caught her upper body then her breath faded as her organs spilled out onto the ground beneath him, intestines uncoiling like rope.

He let her go with wide eyes, unable to process what he was seeing.

All the bandits who had charged were caught in the same attack with bodies cleaved in two, upper halves sliding off lower halves in a grotesque display.

He was the last one left and his hands trembled uncontrollably.

"Demon!" he shouted.

He put the sword in his right hand into his mouth, gripping the blade between his teeth, and held the other sword firmly in his left hand then he charged at the woman with everything he had.

"Three-Style Sword!" he roared around the blade.

At this point, he had nothing to lose so he would fight as if he had nothing to lose and Taula raised her axe and charged at him as well with her crimson aura flaring.

They collided with enough force to rattle the ground.

The Bandit leader swung both swords with the left one going high and the right going low but Taula’s axe deflected both simultaneously.

He pressed the attack with his swords moving in complex patterns.

He went for a high slash, low thrust and diagonal cut at the same time but Taula parried every single one.

The leader tried to bite down with his third sword, lunging at her face while her axe was occupied but Taula moved her head to the side with the blade passing within an inch then she slammed forward with her shoulder hitting him square in the chest.

The impact sent him flying backward, crashing into the dirt.

’I can’t beat her in a straight fight...’ he thought.

He pushed himself up and made a decision.

"Three-Style Sword: Projection!" he shouted as his aura spiraled outward and copies of himself appeared... five perfect duplicates each holding three swords like him.

Taula tilted her head.

"Oh?" Taula said while grinning. "You’re making me work for it... I like that."

She pointed at his bald head with her axe.

"Though with a head that shiny, I can see all six of you perfectly!" Taula laughed so hard she almost tumbled over.

A vein popped on the man’s head and he spoke through the blade in his teeth.

"Implode."

All six versions brought their swords down simultaneously, creating a concentrated wave of aura converging on Taula.

Taula saw it coming and ust as she thought about moving, another thought crossed her mind.

’If I get beat up, Klaus will give me more headpats...’

So she stood there.

BOOM!

The combined Implode hit her directly, creating a massive dust cloud and the Bandit leader blinked in surprise.

’Why did she let herself get hit?’

The dust cleared and Taula stood in the same spot, dusting herself off.

"That attack wasn’t even strong in the first place..." Taula said. Her clothes were dirty and ripped, but her body had no scratches.

"Though it’s good I already figured out how to use your technique anyway." Taula added.

The leader laughed desperately.

’She must be joking... I spent twenty years learning that technique...’

It was one thing to stand through it but to say she learned it in an instant was maddening... She had to be lying... However, Taula grinned and her aura soared outward in the exact same pattern.

Projections of Taula appeared... five copies of her with each having axes and cheeky grins.

’Of course... If I had any doubts before, this confirms it.’ "Adam" thought. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

The projections raised their axes.

"Implode!" all six Taulas shouted.

The Bandit leader’s face lit up with reflected crimson aura as six devastating waves charged toward him.

’The Prodigy of Aura...’ the Prince thought. ’I heard she was on punishment.’

The way their families handled punishment was unusual... they would wipe away the memories of the offender and sentence them to live life as a commoner, with someone from the family watching over them over a period of time.

Honestly, "Adam" would give anything for a punishment like that. Unfortunately, he didn’t have the luxury of that as the Crown Prince.

The six Implodes hit the Bandit leader simultaneously and the explosion was massive. The man’s body launched backward, tumbling before slamming into a tree.

He lay gasping with his swords knocked away and the Bandit leader reached for his weapons desperately but Taula walked over and kicked all three swords away then she lifted her axe over her head.

"Any last words?" Taula asked.

The man accepted his fate.

"Forgive me, Meli—"

Taula’s axe came down, cutting his head clean off mid-sentence with a frown on her face but then that frown morphed into a complete smile as she turned and waved at the carriage.

"Heyyy!" Taula shouted. "I killed them all!"

Klaus came out from the carriage and waved back at her then he cupped both palms around his mouth like a megaphone.

"Cut off their right arms and bring them over!" Klaus called out.

"Adam" was about to turn around and head back to the carriage assuming the gruesome task was finished then a gust of wind hit his face as Taula moved past him in a blur of speed.

The Prince sighed and walked back to the carriage at a more sedate pace.

By the time he arrived, Taula had already piled several severed right arms on the ground in a neat stack.

Serra came out of the carriage, looking pale but composed. "Adam" arrived and gestured at the pile of limbs.

"What are you going to do with all of them?" "Adam" asked with genuine curiosity in his voice.

Klaus brought out a certain glove from his storage ring and put it on his right hand... it was some kind of enchanted item based on the faint magical aura it gave off.

"I knew this attack was probably from Marius..." Klaus said. "He was the one behind it."

"But Klaus, we don’t know for certain—"

Klaus pointed down the road in the direction they’d come from.

"We’re only an hour away from Galen Town..." Klaus interrupted. "And besides, there are no known bandit resting spots between Galen and Rivera City. The terrain doesn’t support large groups hiding out. So the only explanation is that this was a coordinated attack so they were sent specifically to kill us."

Serra went quiet, then nodded slowly, unable to argue with the logic.

"I’d been worried about what kind of people Marius would hire to come after us," Klaus continued kneeling down to examine one of the severed arms. "But I’m glad it was just bandits."

He looked up at the others.

"Bandits can be submitted to the Adventurer Guilds in cities..." Klaus explained. "Every bandit, depending on their rank, has bounties on their heads. These arms are proof of death for the bounty collection."

He began storing the arms in his storage ring one by one with the limbs disappearing into magical space.

Klaus looked over at "Adam" directly.

"Am I not right, Adam?" Klaus asked, emphasizing the name slightly.

"Adam" nodded smoothly.

"You’re absolutely right," "Adam" confirmed. "That’s standard Guild policy across all cities, it’s not available in towns though."

He paused, glancing at the corpses scattered across the road.

"Should we leave the bodies here?" "Adam" asked.

Klaus’s expression didn’t change.

"What did you want to do?" Klaus replied. "Give them proper burials? These people tried to kill us. It’s better that their bodies rot and decompose here as a warning to anyone else who might have the same idea."

"Adam" chuckled without words and climbed back inside the carriage. Serra also entered, casting one last look at the carnage before disappearing inside.

It was only Klaus and Taula outside now.

Taula was about to open her mouth to ask for her promised headpats but Klaus moved first. He brushed his palm gently against her cheek making her blush immediately.

"You have a wound here..." Klaus said softly then he pulled out a healing potion from his storage ring and carefully dabbed the liquid on the shallow gash where the Captain’s aura blade had scraped her.

The cut sealed instantly with the skin knitting back together without even a scar. Klaus also cast Cleanse on her, the spell washing away all the blood and dirt, making her pristine again.

"Your clothes are ruined though," Klaus commented, noting the tears and damage. "You’ll need a change when we get to Rive–"

Taula interrupted him as her patience finally broke.

"I killed all of them..." Taula said desperately. "So... headpats. I want my headpats!"

Klaus chuckled.

"If you want them, then..." Klaus said.

He brought out his palm and gave her the first pat with his hand settling on her head and ruffling her hair gently.

Klaus didn’t feel anything particularly special about the gesture... it was just petting someone’s head, a simple physical action but Taula felt like her brain was melting.

In fact, all she could see were flowers... beautiful, colorful flowers that smelled amazing, filling her senses with their fragrance.

Her entire world narrowed down to the sensation of Klaus’s hand on her head... He patted her four more times.

Taula’s legs trembled with each pat, barely able to support her weight. She reached up and grabbed Klaus’s hand with both of hers, holding it cutely on her head as she looked up at him with a heavy blush across her face.

"Come on, Klaus..." Taula pleaded. "Just give me fifty... no, like a hundred more."

She gave him the most intense puppy-dog eyes she could manage.