The prices in Alerith were high even by the Capital’s standard. Thankfully, I had accumulated a fairly decent amount of wealth after our recent dungeon visits, and I could afford to shop here.

“I’m looking for weapons and armor that wouldn’t look amiss on a Bandit.” I began to explain my plan to Salicia in detail.

It wasn’t a particularly bright one. One of the reasons I pulled her out was to find out if it was feasible before wasting time on it. I also wanted to give the girls more time to recover. After a single night, they might be able to fight, but they’d still be a bit weak. The more time I gave them, the better. However, the people were suffering, so a day was all I could afford them. Then, we had to start working.

In short, I planned to infiltrate the Bandits. I originally stole Bandit outfits so that we could launch surprise attacks, but that backfired spectacularly. After only a single day, they had found us out and created a countermeasure. There were too many mysterious aspects to these Bandits. Perhaps, I had been a bit too arrogant and prideful. I had expected everything we had been through to be enough to deal with simple bandits.

The result of that was the death of my entire party. I figured that no matter how clever they were, we’d defeat them with strength and resolve. I figured no matter how tricky they were, we’d have our courage. In the end, I hadn’t just put Raissa in danger, I had put all of my girls.

Unless we could find out how they are resurrecting everyone like that and stop it, we were powerless against these guys. That led me to this conclusion. We had to go in and figure out the cause of their Resurrections.

“So, that is your plan?” Salicia asked, “We won’t be able to just march in and declare ourselves bandits. They are familiar with their people and would quickly notice an unfamiliar face.”

“If we captured a small bandit troop, Shao should be able to replicate their faces and we could sneak in that way.”

“Perhaps…” Salicia stroked her chin thoughtfully, “But would you be able to replicate their mannerisms? Their relationships with the other bands? Although the group is united under some Bandit King, each band is inherently self-serving. Some bands are allies, and some bands are bitter enemies. The larger the group of bandits, the more complex their connections are. Some bands are successful. Some are not.

“These aren’t like your soldiers. They don’t all wear the same armor and clothing, fight and train alongside each other, and have a sense of unity and loyalty. These are cutthroats, thieves, and murderers.”

“What do you suggest?” I asked.

“Our only option is to try to get them to accept us as one of them. We have to form our own band.”

“I understand. How do we do that?”

“Isn’t the answer simple? We rob people. We make a name for ourselves. We become bandits.”

“I see…”

“You don’t seem surprised by this?” Salicia raised an eyebrow.

“Why do you think we’re in Alerith?” I asked, looking around.

Salicia looked around, not seeming to understand what I meant. However, I already had a plan. Alerith had been taxing the poor for a while now. Since we needed to form a band and get our name out as the baddest in town, then what better way than to take from the rich, and give to the poor?