DarkGodEM

Just a thought... If you like this novel please share it with people you know... I don't understand why but it seems I'm unable to ever get to trending with this novel despite having managed to grow a lot over the month. This is very bittersome for me since all novels behind me in the contest are trending again and again. If you like this work, please make sure to help us win by adding it to your reading list. Enjoy the chapter.

Necro turned back towards the guy in a hurry, Ace hopped by her side.

"How was it? Did you get the stuff?"

"Kinda... I accidentally killed him now..."

"That's... Oof!" Ace looked down at the body of the bandit leader. There was a small charred hole in the middle of his forehead... There was some liquid seeping out from it too, wetting the ground. It somehow seemed like vapor was coming out of it too... 'Poor thing...' She thought, imagining what Necro had done.

"It was my fault wasn't it? Sorry..."

"Yeah... Don't worry though. I think I got most of it..." Necro was a little bummed by her mistake, but it didn't mean much anyways. 

"Hey! Hope we're not too late to the conversation. What did you get?" Hal reached them, with Mary and Bid by his side. Bid wrinkled his nose, feeling the smell of burnt flesh stronger than in the forest for some reason. Mary, on the other side, had a clear view of the corpse, and of the brains slowly seeping out from the hole. 

"Ble~!" She put a hand on her face, swallowing back the urge to throw up. Thankfully, she managed to put the urge down while avoiding to stare at the dead bandit leader any longer. It wouldn't have been a good experience considering she's wearing a helmet.

"Mary!? You okay?!" Hal turned around to ask, seeing Mary holding their knees with both arms while swaying a bit.

"Yeah... Sure... I just saw something I wish I hadn't."

"Huh? Ah..." Hal turned around and stared at the corpse for the first time... 'Yeah... That's not pretty.' He thought, before looking back to Necro, still not believing she had done that. "So, what did we get?"

"Hm... Sorry, I killed him halfway through the questioning cus I got surprised... But, I still got some stuff... First, they were not Bandits... It seems a country sent them here to worsen the public safety and increase the discontent with the Voivode... They were a detachment from such country's army."

"Hm... Do we know where from?" Bid asked with a stern expression.

"No... That's the part we were at when you scared me and... You know."

"That's... Less than ideal..."

"Yeah..."

"What about the money though?" Mary asked, recovering her usual self. 

"Huh?" Necro tilted her head. 

"The what?" Same with Ace. 

"You know... The money, their money, they had nothing on them, where's their stuff?"

"Ah..."

"Don't tell me..."

"No, no. I mean, I didn't ask him specifically for that but..."

"But!?" Mary got a little too energetic for a second, clearing her throat. "Ahem-. Sorry, please continue."

"Oh yeah, Like I said, I didn't ask about their stuff, but there must be a hideout nearby... The stuff will probably be there. There should also only be two people guarding it."

"Let's go, people!" Bid sprung into action, running towards the rest of the bodies, followed by Hal. 

"Huh?" Necro didn't really understand what was happening.

"We gotta gather the stuff fast! We need to get there before the two notice something happened!" Hal turned around, yelling the explanation to the girls.  Mary and Ace quickly followed him and began picking stuff from the bodies and cutting their fingers, while Necro just stared blankly without really knowing what to do.

'Guess I should get the stuff from this guy then...' She knelt down, rummaging through his clothing in search for something usable. He had a small coin-pouch and nothing more. Necro opened it, there were quite a few coins and a small golden necklace, it looked like one made for children. She thought for a second and realized the origin of it could be traced back to this man's country. In a hurry to tell the others, she grabbed the man's sword and cut his finger off, walking hurriedly to meet the others. 

"Hah... In the end they had almost nothing..." Hal let out a sigh of frustration. The battle had been easier than he had originally expected, but still... there were very few items worth even carrying.

"Necro, can you store this stuff in that ring of yours?" Bid asked. If she could, it'd be much easier to bring all that mattered to the town.

"I mean... I think I can. But my space will become limited afterwards."

"Thanks then... We should still arrive there today. I think there shouldn't be any problem with it. We can pay you a little over your share since you're bringing the stuff."

"Ah, Thanks."

"Now, all that is left is to deal with the bodies..."

"Do we have to?" Necro was surprised they were supposed to deal with those. 

"Yeah, this is a major road... and if we leave them behind like this they will start to rot and attract monsters. Worst case scenario they may even turn into undead."

'Ah... There was that... Makes sense' Necro thought. But taking care of them now would delay them, contradicting Bid's previous point. 

"But don't we have to get to their hideout as soon as possible?"

"Yeah, I was expecting for you and Ace to somehow deal with them."

"Impossible!" Ace began. "I've already spent almost all my mana... And so did Necro, I think. We still have to take over their hideout!"

"Calm down! We can just pile them up and leave it for later." Hal tried calming Ace.

"I can also use my magic so that they don't turn into undead." Mary gave her support to his words.

"Oh right, that's an option." Bid acknowledged their ideas and moved to start pulling the bodies into the forest, while Necro stored everything into her ring. Everything but the money. She wasn't sure whether that was because they didn't trust her enough or just because it was only a small pouch. Regardless, Bid stored it in his own pack.

'I hope she doesn't use that shitty magic from the church... I really wanna get the skeletons...'