Following the pathfinders, we quickly made our way through the forest following the blatantly obvious trail.

Everyone was on edge. After the ambush at the camp, we were wary that these tracks might have been set up as some sort of trick. [Sense Presence] wasn't giving me any hints that this was one as of yet, but while it was an amazingly powerful skill, it wasn't omnipotent.

I scanned my surroundings just as everyone else was, the tension in the air was so thick that you could churn it like butter.

But also because of that, it took me a while to notice.

[Claret? Are you alright?]

For some reason, she was holding on to me tighter than normal. Her head twitched here and there at the sight of movement.

"I'm alright. It's nothing you need to worry about."

[Don't lie. You're strangely nervous. Even Scarlet noticed.]

I didn't need that 'even' bit, but I had to agree with Alicia.

"...I just have a bad feeling. Like something bad is going to happen. The others had already run because of it."

[Huh?]

I was so focused on the surroundings that I hadn't even noticed. None of the little fluffballs had followed us into the forest. And just like Claret had said earlier, there wasn't any signs of any lesser spirits here at all either.

[Can you pinpoint what it is that's giving you that bad feeling?]

"...I think...it feels like the scent of a scary aura is all over the place."

[The scent?]

"Yes. Like something scary had touched some of the trees here. There might be something really dangerous in this forest."

Claret's words shot up my nervousness a few levels higher. Even if she wasn't really sure, the fact that she was concerned to this degree was enough for me to worry about whatever it was that had gotten not only her, but all the spirits in this area scared.

[Can you figure out what the scent is from?]

"I can't. I say it's a scent, but it's not like a smell. I can't tell much from it. Just that whatever had touched these trees is strong and scary. I'm sorry Master."

[No, it's fine. Even just that much is something for me to think about.]

Most likely, either the boss of this bandit or whatever group, or the boss's top minion is the something that's been getting all the spirits on edge. This is the first time that I've seen Claret so scared about something aside form the thought of my death.

I just hoped that this wasn't going to end up being connected to her other fear in some way.

"Hey Miss?"

"!!!"

The sudden voice from an unexpected angle made me jump. Almost literally.

"Those shackles you made..."

The one who creeped up to me was the investigation leader.

"Yes?"

"Something like that needs a decent level in [Earth Magic]. And you did it chantless as well, so you must be a pretty decent mage on top of being good in melee."

"Ah, I guess."

Well, it wasn't really a surprise that he was able to connect the dots. I had kinda blatantly revealed that hand in front of him and everyone else after all.

"Why did you bother fighting in melee when you're so strong in magic? We could've taken out those bandits a lot faster if you did, and less people would've gotten hurt."

Those words stung. It was true that if I didn't limit myself from the beginning, we could've gotten through the fight without any injuries incurred on our side. That was, on our side.

"I'm not good at nonlethal combat, especially with magic. Since they're all little kids, I wanted to avoid getting more of them killed than we had to."

"In that case, couldn't you have used some sort of spell that could've disabled most of those bandits at once? I've seen other mages use the spell swamp grounds or frozen earth to cut the enemies' fighting ability. Wouldn't something have been possible for you?"

"..."

(Dammit!)

It was true. If I tried something like that, then it was possible that I could've saved even more of the kids! It would've taken a decent amount of MP to pull it off, but maybe I could've done it in such a way to make it look easier than it actually was.

Just making the ground absurdly uneven or throwing some gale-force winds before we made contact would've given us a huge opportunity to capture virtually all of them.

I had gotten so desperate in trying to save as many of those kids as possible that I had completely stopped thinking and didn't consider better ways to accomplish that.

It really showed that I lacked the flexibility in thought when I was stressed out.

"Well, I suppose that's a lesson for the future then."

The man lightly slapped my back before moving away, leaving me sulking at my mess up.

 

We spent quite a while following the trail.

There was the fact that our group was moving slowly due to the worry of another ambush, but still, the anxiety in the air was thick. Or rather, maybe it was thick because there hadn't been an ambush yet. If we got through something like that, it was possible that everyone's tension, mine included, would have been released as the chances of another attack so soon after was so low.

Or maybe such a thing wouldn't change anything. The forest was very dark with only our lamps providing any light. If it wasn't for them, even I would have difficulty seeing things well where there was very little starlight penetrating through the canopy.

Instead, the lamps forced my eyes to adjust to the harsh lights making everything else nearly pitch black. If I didn't have [Sense Presence] to tell me that there wasn't any indications of any ambushes nearby, I think my already stretched nerves would have long since snapped and I might have done something I would regret.

[Are you alright Alicia?]

[I'm alright.]

[Really?]

With how things were effecting me as well as everyone else, it was hard to believe that she wasn't feeling the strain as well.

[I am. It's scary, but you're way stronger than these people.]

(Erk!)

It was true. There was very little reason to think that whatever was going to finally show its face would be a match against me. Outside of the dungeon, the only times I had been hurt was due to my own carelessness and mistakes.

So far, I hadn't met a single challenge that really compared to what was an everyday occurrence back home.

At least in combat.

(Was being nervous about this just me being stupid?)

But I shook my head. I had enough reasons to be nervous about this.

The results of the previous battle was indication enough already. I had serious concerns with this investigation on a lot of levels. Not only the people we were investigating and hunting for as well as the victims, but also this team's treatment of those we encounter.

I knew in my head considering things, this was normal. That expecting more was unreasonable. Capturing resisting combatants was quite a lot more difficult than simply killing them. Though it wasn't really something I could really understand. I've never tried capturing something that was strong enough to be a threat to my life after all.

In addition to all that, there was how nervous Claret was. I didn't know if it was simply something she was repelled by, or if some part of her was actually worried about the outcome of this investigation.

I could only hope that it wasn't the latter.

 

Eventually our group stopped at the signal of our two pathfinders.

They went ahead to check something before quickly returning, one of them reporting what they saw to the investigation leader.

He quickly whispered something about a building before our leader signalled for us to gather.

"It looks like we've found the bandits' base. The building doesn't seem to be guarded, but it's built sturdily. There's no reports of a building like this existing in this forest, so chances are that the bandits made it themselves. That means that they either have people good at masonry, or at least one mage good with [Earth Magic]. Either way, it probably means that they're stronger than we first thought."

The tension in the group jumped up another notch at this revelation.

Certainly, none of the kids used any magic during the previous fight. Though considering the situation, unless if some of them were good enough to be able to use chantless magic, it was likely that even if there were mages in the group, they wouldn't have had the luxury to spend time casting. Not when their own comrades were blocking any clean firing lines.

Either way, it was more likely that kids that young wouldn't have known any magic yet, or at least didn't know enough to be able to use any in combat. They weren't vampires, or at least real ones, after all.

"We'll go in quiet. Slowly and carefully. There's no telling if there might be traps on the inside, nor how many more bandits are left."

Everyone nodded.

Without more information, that was likely to be the best.

Well, I could feel the presences inside. There were a lot of them, but most of them were underground. Considering that we also had the missing villagers to consider, it was difficult to pick out which ones were hostiles and which were captives, but it was safe to presume that the dozen or so that were freely wandering around above the ground were all members of the bandit group.

The leader detailed out a little more about the formation we were going to use as well as basic tactics.

For some reason I was put at the front, just behind the pathfinders and together with the leader and his party. He said my role was to quickly strike in melee against anything that the two pathfinders and the ranged members didn't manage to get first.

While I could accept that reasoning, I wasn't entirely convinced that was the real reason. But it wasn't like I could argue. I might have had license to act independently, but that didn't mean that I should do so without a proper reason.

With the new formation made up, the two pathfinders lead the way.

Most of our lights were extinguished, with only the magical ones kept on, but at a lowered luminosity. Thanks to that, I got a lot of my night vision back, making it both easier for me to see and doing wonders for my nerves.

It turned out that it was only a dozen meters before the forest opened up to a clearing and the building that the bandits made their base appeared.

While we called it a base, it looked more like a mansion. A mansion made of what looked like a single piece of solid stone with rudimentary features carved out of it. And literally carved at that. Most of the features didn't seem to have any practical purpose, and that included the windows. Or rather, what looked like windows at first.

The building was two stories high, and while window-like features adorned the outside, a closer look told that they were only features that had the appearance of large windows lining both floors. What looked like darkened glass was simply more stone. It just wasn't possible to see inside the building.

Aside from that, there was a single double door adorning the centre of the structure, also made from what looked like stone. There weren't any notable features aside from that. The smooth outer walls simply had no other decorations and the roof was made of a single smooth slab. slanting towards us. Most likely there was an identical slab mirroring this one on the other side, though I couldn't see that at this angle.

If I had to say, the building looked like someone in a high school art class who preferred engineering making a simple mansion out of clay. The basic structure was there, but there wasn't a single embellishment beyond the most necessary.

Or rather, the building even lacked the appearance of any brickwork nor roof tiling.

It was hard to imagine that this thing was made through any means but magic.

"Is it just me, or does that mansion look...weird?"

Someone from behind whispered.

"How'd they get so much glass for those windows?"

"Is that really made from stone? The walls looks kinda smooth to me."

"Quiet! No more talking!"

The leader scorned the ones who opened their mouths before gesturing the pathfinders to continue.

We moved up to the building as a group. When we reached the front doors, one of the pathfinders examined the door before putting his hand on the knob and tried to open it. After another try, he put in a lot more force into it and the door started to move, a low grinding sound coming from it.

It seemed like the door really was made of stone.

With only one of the two doors opened, we passed through as a group into the dark lobby.

The dark, empty, almost featureless lobby.

Aside from our magical lamps and a little bit of starlight that managed to penetrate through the half open doorway, there wasn't a single source of light in this simple open room that wasn't even that big. There wasn't even a staircase like one would expect from a mansion's lobby.

With a simple hand signal from the leader, the pathfinders lead the way down one of the also featureless hallways. There wasn't any decorations, no details on any of the surfaces, just a simple flat stone hallway.

"The windows! They're fake!"

One of the people behind me exclaimed when he finally noticed that, only to get a stern finger wag from the leader for breaking silence.

But the presences around us didn't act any differently from a few seconds ago, so it was safe to assume that nobody heard her.

We continued sneaking down the hallway.

"You think we'll get a turn finally?"

My ears perked up at the sound of a voice just around the corner we were at. He sounded a little older than the kids we had defeated earlier.

"Doubt it. Father's never given us a turn."

The one responding was a woman, probably a bit older than the one she was talking to.

"Damn. I wanna give it a shot. Don't you?"

"Don't even think about it. Father'll kill you for it. And it's not like I can."

"But, it's not like he'll notice, right?"

"Like I said, don't think about it. He'll definitely notice."

"Shit. Maybe I should go and find my own then?"

"I doubt father'll let you."

"Hey, then how about we...ku?!"

The voices went quiet, and after a moment the faint scent of blood tickled my nostrils.

It was only when they turned the corner dragging a pair of bodies that I noticed our two pathfinders had disappeared in the first place.

Each had a dagger driven up the base of their skulls. There was only a little blood visible, but that changed when they each held a heavy cloth over the wounds and pulled their daggers out of the distorted cavities they had created.

The scent of blood exploded as crimson fluids spurted into the waiting cloths. They held the wound for several seconds before checking and withdrew the blood covered cloths.

After wiping their daggers clean, the pathfinders turned the corner once again.

"Hey wait! What about the smell?!"

The scent of blood was so strong now that the wound was exposed. Even if they had caught the initial spurt, the wound was still dripping and the scent was spreading.

"It's been covered up well enough. The bandits are more likely to find the body before smelling the blood."

I really doubted it. The scent was so potent.

But the others looked convinced and a few even nodded, so I couldn't really argue. Maybe I was the only one, since I was a vampire.

With a single hand gesture, we continued around the corner and down the hall.

This one was quite short, and we soon turned again. Strangely, there didn't seem to be enough space between the two parallel hallways for any rooms of a usable size.

This time there was a door halfway down the hall. We stopped right in front of it.

"Hey, do you smell that?"

"Shit. Did someone mess up and hurt one of the captives?"

"I hope not. Father'll get real pissed if he finds out."

"As long as they're alive, I don't think so."

"Well, maybe. I'm gonna have a look just in case."

"Fine. Be that way."

A faint light bounced off of the wall opposing the room as its door rotated open with a light grinding sound like at the entrance.

"Wha?!"

One of the pathfinders rushed the figure opening the door and thrust his dagger through the bottom of his jaw.

"Hey, what was that?"

There was the sound of woman he was talking to stepping towards the door when the other pathfinder rushed through.

"Intru...?!"

Just as she was raising her voice, it was instantly silenced.

The scent of blood had grown even stronger again. I feared at this rate, everyone will find out we were here just from the smell.

The pathfinder outside dragged her victim's body inside. I had a glance, but all there was in there was a few chairs, a single table, and a lone candle sitting atop it illuminating the whole room. There was a few dishware piled on the table along with some utensils.

We were lucky that there was only two people here at the time, though maybe considering our timing, it was actually less than lucky that we encountered anyone at all.

It was still the dead of night after all.

"Geez, is someone having an early meal?"

My head turned at the voice. Someone was close.

[Sense Presence] told me that there was something near us, around the next corner.

The others seem to have noticed as well, and a few had readied their weapons. The pathfinders were still inside the room and weren't in position to deal with the unexpected patrol.

In their place, I rushed around the corner.

"Wha?!"

Kicking off of the ground, I closed the distance between us and through out a straight punch. With a dull smack, the robed woman's head snapped back and her forward momentum now unassisted by her now absent gait and arrested by the new backwards momentum of her head, her lower body continued to move forward while the upper fell back, all while her entire body gave itself to the welcoming grasp of gravity.

I threw out a hand and grabbed her arm to avoid her body from hitting the ground and causing more noise.

But against my expectation, her head snapped back forward and she glared at me.

"Intrud...!!!"

Before she could finish, I threw out a second punch into her forehead, much harder than the previous one.

But I cringed as I hard a sharp snap when her head blew back and the robed woman's body instantly grew limp.

[Alicia?]

[She's dead, Scarlet.]

To confirm it she showed me the figure's status page. On it, her HP was clearly at zero.

I bit my lip. Not only did I not prevent her from yelling out, but I didn't manage to capture her alive. All because I was selfish. I wanted both, so I held back more than I should, and when I tried to compensate for her higher stats than the kids from before, I went too far and accidentally killed this woman.

To make matters worse, I could hear yelling and the stomping of feet. The presence of several people was quickly moving around as they grouped up and looked for the source of the scream.

I quickly lifted the woman's body to my shoulder and returned to the group.

"Sorry, I..."

"Forget it. Hurry and dump the body. We're going loud from here on. Got it?"

There was a flurry of acknowledgements and everyone readied their weapons. Our group formed up again and prepared to engage the enemies.

I strained my ears while also concentrating on [Sense Presence]. It was a little difficult to tell for sure due to the sheer number of hits, but I was fairly certain that there wasn't too many more bandits we had to worry about.

As long as they weren't too much stronger than the kids we fought before, we should have been fine.

But I was worried. There was a single presence on this floor which hadn't moved once this entire time.