“W-wait, please! Please forgive me!”

The beastman didn’t hesitate. The moment he woke up, he immediately prostrated and begged for Marina’s forgiveness. Well, if hitting the dirt over and over with one’s head counted as prostration. It was the only move he could make as his entire body was wrapped tight by Marina’s vines.

"D-don't kill me! I-I really am the son of the Ulf Clan chief! I have proof! I have a birthmark on my buttocks that I could—ummmhhpphh!"

Marina, not interested in the slightest in seeing any of his intimate body parts, shoved her vines into his mouth to silence him.

"Your fate will not be decided by me."

Marina then gave a glance towards Reinhard. He nodded, before running towards the end of the large room where the cage was.

It didn't take long for him to return with the prisoners. And indeed, they were in a terrible state. Most of their clothes couldn't even cover their breasts and buttocks, being torn all over, exposing the many scars they received from the beastmen's claws. Marina could only imagine the nightmare they had been through.

Even so, it was clear to her that the bandits had chosen them for their looks. Even in this state, their voluptuous body and pretty faces still shone through. That fact didn’t escape Reinhard as well, who had a light redness on his face as his hands rested conspicuously on the front of his crotch—something Marina took note of.

She already expected something like that from him though. After all, she knew just how well he got along with his two wives every night. That's a tale for another time though.

"O-oh, thank you! Thank you so much for saving us!"

The one who spoke was the oldest of the group. If one had to judge, she seemed to be around her mid-thirties. She had the look of a housewife to her, with plump thighs and breasts that exuded motherhood to anyone who's fortunate enough to catch a glimpse of them.

"I-I thought we were goners! These brutes! They used us day and night without mercy! I am old and experienced enough to bear it but the young ones… they… they…" Her body shook as tears streamed down her face. "Milady, please! Kill all these animals! No, make them suffer!"

Reinhard then wrapped his hand around her to calm her down. She reacted by throwing herself onto him, crying on his broad, manly chest.

Marina had expected that really. She knew how popular Reinhard was with the womenfolk. He, especially the ones in the villages he had helped and rescued over the years. Him being easy on the eyes certainly helped as well.  could easily have more wives and mistresses if he wanted to. And yet, he remained loyal to his two wives. It's something she could respect.

Well, she’d leave the female comforting to him. After all, she had some scum that she had to take care about.

“Hey, mutt.” Marina spoke with a cold expression towards the bandit leader as she withdrew her vines from his mouth. “Are they all the prisoners you have?”

“Y-yes, I swear!”

“That’s a lie! We’re just the lucky ones! The rest you have killed in your barbaric acts against them!” The middle-aged woman yelled.

“H-hey, how was I supposed to know that human women are so weak that they could die from mating with—urrmmphhh!” Once again, the vines returned to his talking orifice.

“I see.” Marina spoke again. “Ma’am, how about the baron’s wife and daughter? Do they survive?”

“O-oh, it’s terrible! The Madam—she took her own life! These barbarians assaulted her without mercy, while making her daughter watch! And now, the poor girl was rendered speechless! And she would refuse any water and food given to her as well!”

She then pointed at another woman in the crowd, or rather, a girl, not older than Marina. She was easily the youngest of them all. Unlike the others, her dress survived decently well. It seemed she was lucky, or rather, unlucky, as her mother took the brunt of the beastmen’s lust.

Her eyes… they’re lifeless… even though she knows she’s being rescued, there’s no change in her expression whatsoever…

This only angered Marina even more.

“Mutt.” She allowed the beastman to speak once more. “Tell me. Why should I spare you and your men, after all you’ve done to these women? No, not just them. You’ve killed others as well. My name is Marina Archimond, the granddaughter of this region’s Earl. As one who shares his blood, I too have the duty to be the protector of this place, of these people. Every time scum like you hurt or threaten them, that means they hurt and threaten me as well. And I do not like being hurt or threatened.”

“P-please! I-I made a mistake! I-I shouldn’t have become a bandit in the first place! I-I was the youngest son you see so my old man never cared for me!”

“I see,” Marina replied, still as coldly as ever. “It’s a bit too late to give me a sob story, is it not?”

“L-look, you humans would raid and kidnap us beastfolk as well! So what’s so wrong with us doing the same to you? Survival of the strongest, right?” He gave a nervous grin.

“Hmm, true enough.” Marina muttered, walking closer towards him. She was perfectly confident with the strength of her plants, so she wasn’t afraid he was going to suddenly break free and attack her.

“So, seeing how I’m stronger than you and all, you should have no problem doing whatever I say, correct?”

“Y-yes, I swear I would do everything you told me to from now on! I’ll be your slave! I’ll even put a collar on and bark like a dog if you want to me too! I-in fact, I’ll do it right from now! Woof woof, forgive me, Master! Woof woof I’m been such a bad pup—uorrghhmphhh!”

Marina shut him up again. Instead of feeling amused by his self-humiliation act, she only felt disgusted yet again.

“Reinhard, what do you think? Should I just dispose of them all right now?” She gave a glance towards her companion.

“W-well, it’s your choice. Lord Archimond has given you full authority, no? You can do whatever you want with them,” he replied. He was taken aback by the fierce look she had on her face. In fact, he had been taken aback by all her actions up to this point, ever since she started her scout on the bandit’s lair. It was the first time he had ever witnessed magic being used like this. He had met mages before, and even fought one or two, but not a single one came close to being even near her level.

He couldn't help but be a little afraid of her. She's certainly someone he wouldn't want to anger for sure.

"Please! Kill them, milady!” The woman shouted. “They don’t deserve mercy! Not a single bit! In fact, I want them paraded all through the villages they had raided and extorted all this time! Let us have our revenge on them!”

Marina paused for a bit, seemingly thinking about something, before turning her head towards her with a smile. “Alright. You can have your revenge.”

The beastman could only move around in vain as he tried speaking through the vines gagging his mouth.

---------

Afterwards, Marina produced some clothes out of her Dimensional Storage to be worn by the captured women. She actually had anticipated their numbers to be more, as according to the intel Reinhard had gathered, the bandits in total had kidnapped around 30 women. And seeing how there were only ten here, that meant the rest must have perished. And if they had delayed for some backup soldiers before they went after the bandits, there would be even less villagers to rescue for sure.

As for the captured bandits, the way Marina was going to carry them back was by forcing them to walk on a line while being tied with her vines. Like slaves basically, chained to one another. And of course, she warned them that if any of them tried to escape, she would kill them without a single thought. 

This way, they descended down the mountain. And in the process, none of the beastmen tried to escape. They all knew that the mage meant every single word she said, and they could only look at her in terror, as if she was a demon lord in disguise. Even when she slept, her dryad stood watch over them (plants have no need of sleep after all), so she left no openings that they could exploit.

On the way, the captured women told their tales. At least for those who were willing to talk. The story was generally the same. The bandits came to their villages, demanded money and food, and when they couldn’t pay, they would kidnap some of the women with them. And just like their intel mentioned, they had been doing this for months. The villagers were too scared to send a message to the Earl of their plight, especially since the Earl had never really given any soldiers to guard their region before. To them, the Earl was a ruler that didn’t care about them, even though the truth was far different. He simply didn’t have any troops to spare.

It took Reinhard quite some work to coax the info of the existence and whereabouts of the bandits from them. And this whole thing only came to his attention because of a mere rumor. Thankfully, he took his job seriously as the future Earl, thus his frequent outing to the faraway villages to hear and solve their problems.

Marina didn’t try to correct their misconception. She knew it would only fall in deaf ears. Poor or not, it was still her grandfather’s job to guard her subjects.

And so she would do the task he couldn’t do. And perhaps, that way, her grandfather's name would be cleared as well.

As for the Baron, his mansion was located in the largest village in the area. It wasn’t lavish by any means. In fact, it was quite in a poor state. The Baron was almost as poor as the villagers he ruled over, with only the stipend given by the Earl supporting his middle-class lifestyle. He was never that smart or cunning of a man. He was content with his uneventful lifestyle. He was a painter and he spent all his days painting. Even though he really was not good at it.

And then, the bandits came to his village. At first, he gave them what they wanted, knowing that his meager soldiers wouldn’t be able to stand against them. But, when they increased the amount of money and food they demanded to the point that his village couldn’t pay them, he knew he had to fight them. And so he did, with his soldiers and with the militia formed by the able-bodied youths of his village.

And he lost. Terribly.

His village was burned down to the ground, with every remaining survivor killed without mercy. His wife, daughter, and even his maids were violated in front of his very eyes, simply to torture him before they killed him.

The woman Marina and Reinhard had spoken to was one of said maids. The other maids had perished, either by resisting their captors or after their body or mind couldn’t take it anymore.

As for the daughter, Reinhard tried to comfort her but she wasn’t even responding to him or anyone. She simply stared into the distance in silence.

They had broken her.

This was enough for Marina to treat her prisoners even more mercilessly. She didn’t give them any food and she would only give them water every second day—a puddle of muddy water she formed with her magic. She watched them drink it all up like the foul dogs they were. And of course, if they slowed down, she would whip them with her vines.

This, of course, made Reinhard even more afraid of her.

Once they reached the nearest village, as promised, she gave the villagers free reign on what they wanted to do with them. And so the bandit prisoners were thrown rocks and rotten eggs by the womenfolk, while the men beat them up to the inches of their lives. All Marina asked was that they wouldn’t kill any of them, as other villagers had the right to exact their revenge as well.

This way, she moved village after village for days—each time giving the prisoners to the villagers’ wrath. One by one the rescued women returned to their families. Some with happy smiles, with others with more bitter ones, as they knew they could never return to their old life after everything they had gone through. Marina couldn’t do anything for the latter. She could only pray that the adage that time heals everything was right.

And then, it was time for the final village—the village they had burned to the ground.

When they arrived, they were greeted by the most horrendous sight. Remains of charred wood were everywhere, covered in soot and ash. Nothing was left intact. They had killed and destroyed indiscriminately. Even when slavers attacked a beastkin village, they would rarely do such a thing. They would capture the beastkin to be their merchandise and loot whatever their greedy hands could get, but they wouldn’t perform wanton destruction to this level. It’s better to be a slave than to be dead, for a slave can be freed, but a dead man can never return back to the realm of the living.

When they reached the rubble of the Baron’s mansion, the Baron’s daughter fell down to her knees and broke into tears.

“Uwaaahhh!”

A terrible, heartwrenching wail spread throughout the ruined village. All this time she had bottled up her emotions, and now, it burst forth out of her in a single instant.

Reinhard immediately moved forward, but Marina sent him a look that told him to stay put. Let her mourn on her own was the message she expressed.

After what felt like an eternity, her sobbing receded. Marina walked forward and put her hand on the girl's right shoulder.

“Marnie.” She called out to her. “It's now your turn. Those bandits… what do you want to do with them?"

She fell silent, unresponsive to Marina’s question.

The mage then took out what looked like a handful of seeds from her pocket. She then took the girl’s hands and put said seeds onto them.

“If you believe they should suffer the same fate as the people in this village, then I shall grant you my strength."

The girl looked down. Seeing the seeds that was placed on her hands, she looked back towards Marina, brows drawing together in confusion.

"Feed them those and they would suffer a most gruesome death."

The mage no longer had the slightest pity for them. And so what better way to put at end to them by using her experimental instant growth seeds?

She looked back at the seeds. Clutching them tightly, she stood up and began walking towards the bandit leader. 

"Ummmpphhh! Ummmpphhh!"

He, of course, was still gagged and bound, just like the rest of his comrades. He could only express himself through his tears and the horror-filled expression that colored his face, as he knew from instinct that this is it. This is his end.

And she’s not going to make it a pleasant one.

“Kneel.” Marina spoke, as her vines forced him to do so. She then withdrew her vines from his mouth, allowing him to finally speak.

“P-please! D-don’t kill me!” He shouted. Even though she had not fed him for more than a week, he was still strong enough to let out his voice like that—a testament to the durability of the beast race.

“It’s not to me you should beg. Beg to her instead,” Marina replied with an icy tone.

The beastman immediately did as he was told. He pleaded to the girl instead, putting on his sweetest, most endearing voice that he could muster.

She, however, was undeterred. She continued walking towards him with a determined, cold look, as she gripped the seeds tighter and tighter.

And then, once she was right in front of him, Marina forced the beastman’s mouth to open with her vines.

She didn’t need to be told. The girl immediately forced all the seeds inside said mouth. 

And then, Marina forced him to swallow them all.

He gasped for breath once the process was over. “W-what did you do? What did you just make me eat?”

The mage didn’t answer. Instead, she turned to the girl and said, “Marnie, avert your eyes. You might not want to see what’s coming.”

“No, I’m going to watch. He deserves to suffer for what he did to Papa,” was her reply.

The beastman, on the other hand, had gone into complete panic mode. He tried to puke out the seeds to no avail. He couldn’t really use his hands to aid him in the process, as Marina still had those tied behind his back.

“H-hey, p-please! I-I’ve learned my lesson!” He resorted to begging Marina once again. “I-I don’t want to die yet! I-I still have so many things that I want to do with my life!”

“Then, perhaps, you should have considered doing those things before you become a bandit,” was Marina’s cold reply.

“N-no, please, I’ll—urrggaaahhhhhh! Aaahhhh!”

He screamed as he wriggled around on the ground like a worm. If Marina had to guess, he must be feeling excruciating pain coming out from his stomach right now.

After all…

“Guaaahhhhhh!”

Tree branches pierced out of his stomach and chest, rupturing his internal organs and giving him the worst pain he had ever experienced his entire life.

The girl flinched, but he kept her gaze towards him.

“Y-you… you monster!” He shouted in-between his wheezing, as his lungs were already severely damaged, no longer allowing him to scream.

“It’s not over yet,” was Marina’s sole reply.

And indeed it wasn’t, as soon after, another branch came out from his throat and mouth. The tree inside him wasn’t just growing in one direction after all.

He could no longer speak. He could only send Marina a vengeful glare. To him, she was the real villain. What kind of a sadistic monster would do this to another living being? Even the worst punishment of their race could not match against what she was doing to him.

Marina didn’t care however. She had seen the same glare before, from the same filth that nearly took her sister away.

After a few seconds more, branches popped out of his nostrils, eyes, and ears, before piercing his brain, killing him at last.

The beastmen stopped moving, as blood poured out of his every orifice.

The girl stood still with her fists clenched. Anger filled her eyes. Once again, she did not flinch when she saw his eyes popped out of their sockets.

“Miss Marina, kill the others as well.”

“As you wish.”