We put down the covered carriage and cage that were floating through dark magic «Psychokinesis» to not agitate the guards and adventurers who came out from the town in droves.
"Answer me! Who are you?!"
"I'm A-rank Adventurer Chise from «Flying Carpet». They're the bandits whose hideout we spotted while traveling through the highway and the others are the people we rescued. They said they're the «Yellow Fang Group»."
----Is it that «Flying Carpet» in the rumors!? And did she just say «Yellow Fang Group»!?
A buzz spread across the gathered onlookers.
I could hear the surprise in their voice when they saw that the A-rank adventurers who had been active for nearly 20 years ー the female duo adventurers who appeared gallantly riding a «Flying Carpet» when the situation calls for them ー whose tales the minstrel sang looked so child-like compared to the appearance they envisioned. And they also showed their surprise at the name «Yellow Fang Group». Apparently, it was a famous gang in this region.
Furthermore, I can also feel the rage from the guards and adventurers 一 from the beastkin folks to be more precise.
"This is our guild card for verification, please confirm it by yourselves. Also, please sort out the group of bandits."
"Alright, I have confirmed your guild card. Transfer these bandits to the town jail, you guys!"
Surrounded by a great number of Adventurers, bandits whose wrists were restrained with handcuffs-like things silently let themselves get led away.
"You guys, are you carrying items related to «Yellow Fang Group»?"
"Well, we have the many stolen goods we got from the hideout in our magic bag. I also destroyed the cave that was their hideout since there was a risk that another bandit group might make it their base."
"We thank you for dealing with that. We will confirm it at a later date."
It seemed they will investigate the area another day as I roughly told them about the location.
There were also some more things to do, it seemed.
"I apologize, but can we confirm the bandits' possessions?"
"Sure. Let's do it at the guards' office. Also, please arrange a place for the captured girls to rest."
I wanted to borrow the help of other women to look after them if possible. The person that seemed to be the guard commander nodded deeply when I said this to him.
"I understand. Then I'll ask women to look after them."
"Thank you. Then let's go."
Leaving the captured girls in the hands of the townsfolk, Teto and I asked about the bandits in the guard room we were led to.
I asked about the «Yellow Fang Group» in detail since I now had the chance to do so.
"This is the town near the border of the Lovile Kingdom and they have come from the other side."
"Hmm, so a group of bandits from the neighboring nation. No wonder most of them were humans."
I nodded, getting the answer to the doubt I had.
"They're a notorious bandit group in the neighboring kingdom but they escaped from there and made a den nearby. Their boss is quite a skilled adventurer and has magicians among his comrades, making them particularly dangerous."
"I see. So they created their hideout through magic and made it their base."
"That's right, and then those bandits began to engage in kidnapping to gather illegal slaves. Apparently, they're the remnants of the kidnapping organization that sneaked into our nation last time, and they have the support of the merchants who betrayed us."
Beastkin was a race with strong bonds of kinship but I guess not even they were free of corrupt individuals.
It's hard to tell if they're the remnants of the organization we had cleared tens of years ago that engaged in abductions and illegal slavery or a side organization with their base being in another nation and they have decided to put their hands on the Gard Beastkin Nation again.
I ground my teeth mentally. To think I was so naive as to believe I had thoroughly exterminated their Beastkin Nation branch.
Could it be that the remnants in this nation were moving independently for a new goal...... Whatever, I am leaving this matter for the nation to handle.
"Alright, this settles the report. So what're you going to do with the bandits' stolen goods? If the owner wants them back, they can purchase them but I don't suppose the owners of these items are in this town, huh?"
"I won't take your time considering you're heading for the Lovile Kingdom, so the guild will buy them. Also, we'll have the girls released from the slavery they were forced into."
"Of course."
I have gotten my reward for the bandit subjugation and the matters regarding the return of the stolen items to their owners and the mementos of those attacked were left for the guild to handle which was better and more hassle-free for me.
There wasn't anything that caught my eye in those items.
It wasn't easy to find owners of these items for money so they were going to buy them directly for now. After which I gave half of the amount I received from the sale to the guard commander under the supervision of the guild so that it could be used for the rehabilitation of those girls.
I gave it while holding on to such a superficial reason as "If it can help them regain their footing once again even if just a bit".
"This should do. Once again, thank you very much for the bandit suppression."
I nodded at the guard commander's grateful words and headed to the guild of this town.
It was to sell the leftover weapons and food supplies to the guild and accept my reward for the bandit suppression.
Everything was summed up to three big gold coins which were distributed equally between Teto and me. Half of the amount was stored in our guild cards while the leftovers were broken down into silver and big silver coins.
We stayed in the town's inn for the night and resumed our journey to the Lovile Kingdom the next day.
Soldiers were attentively looking for any illegal entry into the fortress on the border of the Lovile Kingdom but, of course, we didn't encounter any problems and were able to easily cross.
And since I had the perfect chance, I asked soldiers there about the Lovile Kingdom.
"Is there anything particular going on in the Lovile Kingdom currently?"
"Hmm, let's see. Attacks from monsters are happening here and there. Also, the kingdom seemed to have a bad harvest this year as the commoners who lost their earnings are turning into bandits."
The bad harvest must be the reason why the bandits flowed into Beastkin Nation.
"Is there any magician among those bandits? Like a magician who can dig a hole into the side of a cliff and turn it into a cave."
"They would already be well-off if a magician had such techniques."
"Apparently, there's one in the bandit group «Yellow Fang Group» in the Gard Beastkin Nation."
"Ah, that group of bandits. That guy was formerly an adventurer who was being chased for the crimes he was found guilty of. He became a bandit after that and gathered bandits like him or poor commoners and formed that group."
It was quite a depressing story to hear commoners stooping to become bandits because of a bad harvest and monster attacks.
However, that doesn't forgive their banditry act. But even more than that, I really despise those former adventurers who turned into bandits and used commoners for their convenience, as a fellow adventurer myself.
Furthermore, there are also the people who traded with such bandits and took the captured people to another nation to turn them into slaves.
Alas, it was a misfortune of this world that was happening everywhere.
"I see. Thank you for your information. Bye-bye."
"Don't mind, and you ladies might be adventurers but be careful since public order in Lovile is currently a bit bad."
Teto and I crossed the border and entered Lovile.
We continued our journey while aiming to visit the nearest town as our next destination to see if there was any subjugation request we could take.
I couldn't help but grimace looking at the situation on the ground from the «Flying Carpet».
"What in the...... I can't sense any mana from the ground."
"Mana is withering it seems."
It wasn't to the extent of the «Empty Wilderness» but I could see the mana filling the earth getting thinner when I looked at the ground through mana-strengthened eyes.
Too much mana turns into a mana pool which leads to mana disasters like stimulated monsters or dungeon outbreaks. However, it also wasn't good news if the mana density is too thin as crops would be unable to grow properly and the ground will turn barren.
"It's quite a widespread mana stagnation. I see, mana isn't permeating throughout this land since the earth veins are blocked in the place Lariel told us about."
Spotting the abnormality in the earth, we visited the villages plagued with bad harvests during our journey and secretly poured out mana on the ground.
"This is only a temporary solution but it should be able to revitalize the crops at the very least."
"Just wait for a bit more. Everything will soon be in order."
I couldn't overlook the suffering of the villages that our eyes laid upon and just pass through nonchalantly.
I poured almost all of the 300,000 units of my mana reserve into the mana-starved ground in the vicinity of respective villages.
"Majou-sama is really kind."
"......... I'm not. It's just that pretending to not notice will leave a bad taste in my mouth, that's all."
Teto got on the «Flying Carpet» and operated it to continue our journey while I leaned on her back due to the languid sensation that washed over my body after pouring out all my mana which was like a blessing for an abundant harvest.
