Yesterday had more been a trial period to get our feet wet. Now was the time we truly began the operation to retake southwest Chalm. I haven’t given up my plans to instill fear into the Bandits, but this would need to be a slow, gradual process. If I scared them too much, they were likely to flee, and then we’d never be able to stop them. They would cause havoc all over Aberis and possibly in Esmere and the Ost Republic too. To truly win, our victory needed to be absolute.

For now, I wanted to push against their territory. Most of them were concentrated around Regency. If I started taking out the smaller bands on the edges that were currently occupying small villages and ransacked cities, then they would be forced to resurrect closer together. I wanted to shrink their realm and get them to start becoming just a bit reckless.

I spoke with the elder of the village, and he fortunately had more knowledge than his son. There were about ten villages within a day’s walk of us, and we were about a five-day journey from Regency. Of course, if I used portals, I could cut that to a few hours, and now that I was here, the journey to Regency took half a second, but that wasn’t the point. Once I reached each of these places, the return journey would be much easier, and if I used Portal as a shortcut, I likely could visit half of them in a single day.

Where the Grand Master’s ability to cause awe came in impressive looking magic, all I had was extreme speed. If I tackled several cities at once, they’d think our army was far larger and more capable than they imagined. It would likely take some time before all the dead men would realize they were defeated by the same group. At that point, they’d become cautious of our ability to get around and further stay together. If I wanted to get rid of all of them, I definitely needed them not to spread out, but to grow closer together.

“See, Carmine? This brother and sister couple are married and deeply in love.” Salicia declared as she had a conversation with a young man and his wife.

“Yes ma’am… I love my sister more than anything!” The man declared. “At first, she was resistant, but I kept at it and eventually she accepted my love.”

“I see!” Salicia’s eyes brightened. “So, as long as I keep at it, I’ll win my sister’s love!”

“W-wait!” The man’s eyes widened. “You love your sister as well?”

“I do! I will definitely keep at it!”

“But you’re a woman!”

“So?”

“That’s… homosexuality!”

“She’s a perverted freak!” The woman said.

“Go die!”

I grabbed Salicia’s hand before she stabbed the incestuous couple to death. The pair winced when she lunged at them, and then ran away, all while shooting her disgusted looks. Carmine giggled upon seeing her sister’s attempt to rub it in going haywire.

“Those… bigots!” Salicia cried. “Are we really going to save this town?”

“Didn’t you tell me just yesterday we absolutely must save this town, because it gives hope to your relationship with your sister?”

“That was before I realized the dark corruption underneath! This village is clearly beyond saving!”

Rather than continue to fight with her, I created a Portal and then stepped through, starting my journey to the first village on our list.