Chapter 262 - Bandits Again?

"I said, stop.

" Said John

However, not even a second after he said it, a small rock was thrown straight at him, before hitting his leg.

"Oi... Who-

"

John was interrupted by Serena who shouted.

"What is your problem!? If you're going to unleash a bomb like that, warn us first!!

"

"Serena's Right!!!

" Ariel added

"A-Ah, right. S-Sorry.

" Said John

John's eyes then widened before he quickly turned to Master Sylvia's direction. He subconsciously, created an ice wall to hide the view from the rest of his party.

Before slowly propelling himself over it, straight towards Master Sylvia who was the only one left.

As he landed on the other side of the wall, he could feel whatever which was in the empty stomach of his, dying to come out.

Disgusting? Horrendous? None of those words which came to his mind, were enough to describe just how dreadful, tasteless, and cold, the sight in front of him was.

A blood bath. Body parts lying around, with blood stains all over Master Sylvia's clothes.

Why...?

There were around 10 who were standing in front of the carriage, but not a single one was lfet alive.

Master Sylvia swung her dagger down, to get rid the blood off the blade before slowly turning to John.

Cold, emotionless eyes, stared straight at him. As he wondered if there was reallly a need for it to have ended up this way.

Fast, by the time John had shouted to the time he realised was around half a minute. In just that small time frame, His master created a sight, which could make even murderers, nauseous.

John had forgotten, how cold his Master could be, the times in the beach city had relaxed him. But now his memory had been refreshed, if not darkened.

Without saying anything. Master Sylvia walked past him amd as she did so, the blood which had spilt over her clothes were burnt off as a dark flame covered them.

Around 10 dismantled corpses. John didn't want anyone else to see them, so he clenched his fist, before placing both hands on the ground.

As he did so, a small hole was formed as the ground sunk in, dragging the bodies down with it. Following that, the ground rose back up, leaving the bodies behind.

All that remained was blood which seeped into the ground as it turned slightly muddy.

John did all of this, with a cold expression. He didn't know what sort of face to make, but he knew it was wrong.

He hated pointless killing, and they just looked like starving people who lost control of themselves. Where did they even come from to reach that sort of state. Why didn't they just go hunting? Were they really innocent?

John then turned the ice wall into water and used it to wash away the remaining blood stains which were on the ground.

As the water flowed through his legs couldn't help but think of such things, whenever he used 'possession' these thoughts would just keep away from his mind, but whenever he didn't, they'd flow through like a stream.

"DONT KILL US!!

" Shouted a man

Hearing this, John let out another sigh before propelling himself to the back of the carriage. As he did so, he wondered if the guy who had shot the needle at him was one of the corpses.

"Tsk.

"

Once John reached the back of the carriage, he could see all of them kneeling down.

How did things end up like this? John wondered as he looked at them

"P-Please don't kill us...

" Said the same man who John had heard shout. He was on the front of the group and remained kneeled with his head down on the floor.

Short grey hair and a small grey beard with a rather big yet skinny frame. The man's frame definitely contained muscles and was big, if not for the fact that you could nearly see his rib cage, he would come off as intimidating and strong.

"What should we do with them?

" Serena asked

John looked around and Saw Master Sylvia back in her usual seat. He took this as a sign to do whatever he wanted.

"Why did you try to attack us?

" John asked

"We were hungry...

"

"Hungry...? You couldn't go hunting for food or something?

" John asked

"We couldn't... Harvest this year was bad... The forests have recently been filled with monsters. Everyday our numbers have been dropping from losses and-

"

The man was interrupted by John who pulled out a small mountain of gold, before placing it in front of the group.

"Alright, keep this. Try exchanging it for food in the city or something.

" Said John before turning around and walking back to the carriage.

Hearing this, tears poured down their faces as they saw this. The man leading them, raised his head before lowering it again.

"T-Thank you...

" Said the man

The men, behind him, all followed after his words and also cried out as they thanked John and the group.

Serena let out a sigh and Ariel formed a small smile on her face before following behind him.

"How many times do we have to tell you, to stop making these decisions by yourself?

" Serena asked as she walked beside him.

"Sorry, but it's better than any pointless struggles.

"

John then hung his head as he quietly muttered.

"I'm not in the mood to see death.

"

Serena noticed John's painful expression as he calmly said those words. Without saying anything, she simply nodded. Ariel who had also noticed, wondered if she should say something, but decided that it'd be best to keep quiet. Both of them, agreed with John.

Without looking back, the three hopped on to the carriage, and when they did so, they noticed Lydia still hiding at the bottom, covering both of the sleeping kids with her small frame.

"Lydia? They're gone now.

" Said Ariel

Hearing this, Lydia quickly raised her head before looking around

"A-Already?

"

"Yeah.

" Said John

"T-Then, I'll just go back to the coach box...

" Said Lydia

Is anyone here normal...? Lydia wondered as she staggered towards the coach box

"By the way, How much gold did you give to them?

" Serena asked as she looked back

She could seem them all surrounding the small pile of gold John had left for them but couldn't see exactly how much it was.

"Who knows.

" Replied John