The girl cursed at her own luck.

 

Her name was Jane, and she worked for a relatively successful transportation firm.

 

Her life could be said to be successful as a woman in her late 20s.

 

One day, as usual, she was assigned to oversee a small caravan of 5 carriages. It wasn't something new for her, and the route was the one she always used. When they were just half a day from the capital, things started to spiral down uncontrollably.

 

It was getting dark, so she stopped the caravan and decided to camp there.

 

The guards that she hired helped with gathering dried wood to make a campfire and cook their meals.

 

Since they were so close to the capital, she thought that it would be safe and had all of the guards to make the gathering faster while she and the other members of the caravan did the prep work.

 

Normally, she wouldn't take such a risk. But being on the same route for a few years with the same patterns lowered her vigilance.

 

That was when a group of more than a dozen bandits came out of nowhere and ransacked the campsite.

 

With all the non-combatants gathered in one place, it was a perfect feeding ground for the bandits.

 

By the time the gathering members returned, the men in the encampment were already killed, while the women, including Jane, were held hostages.

 

Outnumbered, surrounded, and with hostages on top of that, the guards were forced to surrender.

 

They, too, were disarmed and then either killed or held captive.

 

All the goods were taken by the bandits, and the women were led back to their hideout.

 

There, Jane was forced to watch the other girls being humiliated and raped.

 

Maybe she was born under a lucky star; her number hadn't been called, as the bandits only took three women every day.

 

And that was three days ago. However, today, her number was up, so she and the other two girls were chosen to be their playthings.

 

She had resigned to her fate the moment no rescue came, even after three whole days. At least she felt somewhat relief that it wasn't her first time having sex since she had given away the proof of her maidenhood to her lover. Now, she only felt regret about putting off giving an answer to his marriage proposal.

 

Jane saw the two women in front of her. She remembered their names: Mary and Orianne. Both were adventurers whom she had hired as her guards.

 

"Faster, bitches!" The man yelled at them.

 

Jane felt the collar on her neck was tugged forcefully, almost throwing off her balance.

 

She gritted her teeth to endure the humiliation. She knew from experience that crying and wailing only stroke the bandits' ego.

 

After walking for about ten minutes, they arrived at the small river.

 

"Undress and go clean yourself." one of the men ordered them.

 

When he saw the three women standing still without doing what he said, he became angry and slapped the girl named Orianne.

 

"Aahhh!"

 

She screamed and fell to the ground, blood dripping from the corner of her mouth.

 

Witnessing the cruelty, they reluctantly undressed as the gazed of the men licked every part of their bodies.

 

The women entered the river that was deep enough to submerge half of their bodies. They wanted to stay as far away from the bandits as possible, so they moved closer to the middle of the river. The other side was a cliff, so they couldn't run away even if they wanted to. Two out of three bandits were equipped with a bow, so they would be shot down if they tried to climb the hill.

 

It felt cool on their skin and refreshing. It had been more than three days since the last time they were allowed to clean their bodies. Yet they were unable to enjoy their bathing as the three men kept sending lustful gazes while they were sitting on the riverbank.

 

One of the men seemed to be unable to rein his lust in and started taking off his pants.

 

"Oi, you wanna die? Boss gonna kill you if you touch them."

 

"Hehe, ain't no worries. Who said I'm gonna touch them? There's no problem if I rub one off while watching them, right? Damn, can't wait to put my hand on that big tits chick." The man said as he kept his lustful eyes on Mary's body.

 

"*Tsk* fucking horny bastard."

 

"Your loss if you don't want to enjoy the eye candies."

 

"Whatever, I'll go piss for a bit." The man stood up and walked away.

 

He went into a bush to do his business.

 

*Rustle*

 

Suddenly, he heard a rustling sound coming from above.

 

By reflex, he looked up.

 

"Huh?"

 

The last thing he saw was a dagger fast approaching his head. Then, darkness surrounded his consciousness.

 

He died without knowing what had just happened to him.

 

—————

 

"Look! They are splitting up, and they have three hostages with them." (Mino)

 

"That's the opportunity we've been waiting for. Let's follow them." (Rika)

 

"Understood." (Mina)

 

They quietly shadowed the men to a nearby river.

 

They stopped and sat on top of a tree and looked down at the situation below them.

 

One of the men shouted his order to make the women undressed, and when they hesitated, he slapped hard one of them, forcing them to do his bidding.

 

"Not yet!" Rika stopped Mino, who almost jumped at them.

 

"But!" Mino looked at Rika as if she was wronged.

 

"I know you want to save them as soon as possible. As much as I want to do the same, rushing in thoughtlessly would only put their lives in jeopardy. So calm yourself." (Rika)

 

Mino understood the logic, so she could only grit her teeth to hold herself back. Even her fist was clenching until the skin turned white.

 

Mina put her hand atop Mino's clenching fist and shook her head.

 

"Mina, is there anyone else in this area?" Rika asked.

 

"No, they are the only bandits around. Wait, one of them is moving away." (Mina)

 

"Good, it's time. Let's take them down!" (Rika)

 

"May I deal with the guy who's moving away?" Mino pointed at the man who slapped one of the women.

 

"Alright. Don't mess it up." (Rika)

 

"Don't worry, I won't." Mino stood up and silently followed the man by jumping between trees.

 

He stopped at a bush not far from the others.

 

Mino took out a dagger and readied herself.

 

The moment he pulled his pants down, Mino dropped right on top of the man.

 

"Huh?" He muttered in shock and surprised.

 

Mino put all her weight into the dagger, so it effortlessly stabbed into the man's forehead, ending his life instantly.

 

Meanwhile, Rika and Mina also readied themselves to snuck up on the other two bandits.

 

"I'll deal with the guy on the left, you take the other one. Wait for my signal and do it quietly." (Rina)

 

"Roger that." (Mina)

 

Rika then Jumped off the tree and landed softly on the ground. She made her way to her target and took out a dagger. And then, with her free hand, she counted from three to one with her fingers to signal Mina.

 

Mina shot an ice arrow and pierced the chest of the bandit on the right.

 

His eyes filled with disbelief when he saw the tip of the arrow sticking out from his chest. He coughed out blood, fell to the ground, and died.

 

At that moment, the man who was stroking his dick, Rika's target, squealed.

 

"Oooah! I'm cumming!"

 

“Then die! *Huff*” (Rika)

 

Rika stabbed him from the back of his neck. The dagger pierced through his neck and came out on the other side.

 

And so, the bandit died while shooting cum from his penis.

 

"Disgusting." Rika said as she looked down on the lifeless body.

 

The women who were bathing in the river saw everything and huddled together in fear, not knowing what was going on. One moment, the bandits were leering at them with lustful eyes, then the next moment, they were killed without so much as letting out a single word.

 

"Everyone, please calm down. We're here to help. We're affiliated with the army." Rika waved at the girl to reassure them.

 

Realizing that the person who saved them was another woman, they felt relieved and returned to the river bank.

 

"Is everyone alright?" Rika gave them the clothes they were forced to take off.

 

While they were putting on the clothes, Mino regrouped with Mina and walked toward Rika and the women.

 

"I'm back. I already killed the guy who hit you. Are you still in pain?" Mino asked the woman who got hit.

 

"I'm fine now. Thank you for saving us." She bowed to show her gratitude.

 

"Don't mention it. It's our duty. I'm sorry, but we have to ask you a few questions. Can you tell me how many men they have and how many hostages there are?"

 

"There are still 19 more in their hideouts. And excluding us, there are seven more being held captive."

 

"Can you tell us more about the layout of the mine and where the hostages are being held?" (Rika)

 

The girl drew the layout of the mine on the ground from her memory. She pointed at the innermost room where the captive was being held, as well as where the bandits' leader usually stayed.

 

"Thank you. Do you know how to use this?" Rika picked up the sword from the fallen bandits.

 

"Yes, Mary and I were adventurers before we were caught." One of the girls spoke up.

 

"Okay, use these to protect yourself and stay hidden here until we come back." (Rika)

 

Two of them looked like they wanted to go with Rika to fight the bandits. But one of them was a non-combatant. If they all went, then no one would protect her during that time.

 

They decided to go and hide under the shadow of the tree.

 

As the sun went down, it provided perfect cover for Rika and the twins as they made their way back to the mine.

 

"Okay, now that we know the layout of the mine, let's make an entry. Plus, it'll be a while until the guards change. Let's go." (Rika)

 

""Roger that!"" The twins said in unison.

 

"Mino, go with me. Mina, create a diversion and target the guy on the left side. Wait for my signal. Make sure you don't let him make any sound." (Rika)

 

"Understood." (Mina)

 

Rika and Mino went around to the side with a big rock about three meters in height. From Mina's summoned bird, they knew there were two bandits hiding behind this rock in an ambush.

 

It was ironic that they were about to be ambushed instead.

 

They quietly climbed to the top of the rock.

 

"Mino, take the guy with the bow." (Rika)

 

Rika and Mino took out a small dagger.

 

They nodded at each other and jumped down at the same time, stabbing the dagger downward on top of the bandits' heads.

 

*Thud* *Thud*

 

Their lifeless bodies fell to the ground with a small thud.

 

"We're clear here. Let's go to the entrance." (Rika)

 

They went to the entrance from the right side.

 

"Wait for my signal and take out the one on the right. I'll deal with the one in the middle." (Rika)

 

Rika climbed on top of the rocky area above the entrance and readied her dagger.

 

There were three guards. Mina would deal with the one on the left. She would deal with the one in the middle and Mino with the last one.

 

"Mina, do it." Rika activated the small communication magic stone on her collar and spoke.

 

Then, almost immediately, a light orb slowly flew toward the guards from where Mina was.

 

It was just a non-lethal spell used to explore dark places, and because the sun had already set, the light orb appeared to be brighter.

 

Seeing a strange orb of light coming from the forest, the guards looked at it curiously and looked at each other to ask what it was.

 

Because of that, they let their guard down.

 

Then, the next moment, Mina cast another spell, an offensive spell called Ice Arrow.

 

*Stab*

 

*Thud*

 

The bandit on the left fell to the ground with a thud as the other two watched in disbelief.

 

""Huh!?""

 

And then, at the same time, Rika jumped down from above and killed the bandit in the middle with a stab straight to his skull. Mino rushed in from the side and slashed the last one's throat.

 

Wiping the blood off using the bandit's clothes, Rika and Mino sheathed their weapons, waiting for Mina to trot toward them.

 

"Good job, girls. Help me hide their bodies." (Rika)

 

 After dragging the bodies into the bush, Rika looked at the twins to confirm their plan one last time.

 

"From what we've heard, the mine is quite extensive, with seven miner rooms and a base camp where most of the bandits gather. It's safe to assume that the boss should be in there. We can ignore two rooms where they keep their loot. The captives should be in the last room. Mina, what do we do first?" (Rika)

 

"We enter and locate the bedchambers and kill all the bandits in there." (Mina)

 

"And the reason is?" (Rika)

 

"Because they are most likely asleep or unarmed, they are easy targets for us. Moreover, if a fight broke out and they were alarmed, it would add numbers to the enemies and put us in a disadvantageous position." (Mina)

 

"Good answer. After that, what should we do, Mino?" (Rika)

 

"Locate the base camp and ascertain their numbers and fighting strength. If possible, we will fight them head-on; if not, we will create a diversion to divide and conquer." (Mino)

 

"Why aren't we focused on rescuing the hostages?" (Rika)

 

"Because they are not armed, and some of them are non-combatants. With such a big group like that, we risk the chance of being discovered and forced to fight while protecting them." (Mino)

 

"Good. Let's go!" Rika patted their shoulder and entered the mine.

 

Then Mina and Mino followed after Rika.

 

……

 

…

 

.