Runaway Hero and the Bandits

I walk on the empty road under the clear blue sky, but I cannot enjoy it. I’ve been given an irritating task that takes more of my attention than I’d like to admit. In the last village I passed through, I learned of bandits nearby. They seem to have kidnapped the girls of the village en masse, presumably taking them back to their hideout. So although I would rather get on with my journey, I find myself taking a detour to find these bandits and rescue the girls.

However, this sort of task is unreasonable to ask of one lone man. Even for me, finding a group of bandits of unknown size is unreasonable. When I was the Hero, if I were to be given a mission like this, the soldiers had usually already found the bandits. And at that point, the mission was practically over. I always refused those sorts of missions. The soldiers are strong enough to handle ordinary human threats. However, the soldiers are nowhere to be found and I am the only one they can rely on.

Even the one tool that may give me an edge in this sort of work, my life sense, is not very helpful now. The only thing I can tell from it is how many living things happen to be somewhere. Over time I’ve learned to differentiate humans from other living things, but even then it is not helpful. This is mostly caused by how many unknowns there are. There isn’t anything to help me narrow my search. I don’t know how many pulses I’m looking for and I don’t know in what direction I should focus. What this means for my search is that I’ve been forced to wander aimlessly, feeling every life sign in as wide a radius as I can muster. There’s barely anything to tell me whether what I’ve sensed is a random group of travelers, a village, or these elusive bandits I’m searching for.

I’ve already followed false leads several times. However, each encounter is a new piece of data I can use. Every gathering of pulses is another sign pointing me in the correct direction. Each group has corroborated the existence of these bandits, implying both a wide operation and slowly narrowing what direction they might be in. If their operation is truly so wide, then I can guess that they are on the larger side of bandit groups.

Eventually, after hours of searching, I find a probable gathering of pulses. It seems to be both large enough and close enough, and also seems to be somewhere within a forest. I chase after it, and soon find an encampment hidden inside. I cannot make out any figures or damning evidence from here, but it certainly does not seem like a respectable gathering. I suppose finding them in only a few hours is a fine result.

I enter the encampment, my sword drawn. I find someone quickly. He doesn’t look much like a bandit. He lays eyes on me and seems to smile. He doesn’t even seem shocked to see me until he notices my sword. He collects himself, and begins to speak.

“Hello there. Can you put away the sword for now? Are you here to join us?”

He’s not at all like a bandit. He’s better behaved than those soldiers. He’s not brash or arrogant, just mild-mannered. I almost decide that I’m wrong right then and there.

“Are you the ones kidnapping those girls?”

“Yes, yes we are. You’ve only just joined, but we’d be willing to bring you to them first and foremost if you’d like.”

I drag him to the ground and pin him there facefirst, holding his arm up, my blade pointed at his head. He starts to panic, stammering incoherently. He doesn’t know violence at all, and was not prepared to face it.

“Please let me go! I’ll… I’ll give you a turn with any of the girls you want, so please let me go!”

He truly is a bandit. Even well mannered and weak willed as he is, his heart is deep in his own depravity. I yank his arm up, just hard enough for him to understand how little power he has over me.

“I don’t want something that disgusting. It would degrade my soul. Call for the rest of you, you’ll be disbanded, even if you try to resist.”

“I get it! I get it! I’ll call for them! Guys! Everyone get over here! Right now! Please don’t hurt us. We’re just normal people, sir.”

“Normal people? What part of this is normal?” I pull on his arm again.

He stays silent under me, surely because he’s scared of further harm. Slowly, lethargically the other bandits file in. I learn that this weak and scared man beneath me is the boss. And soon enough, this place looks no different than a gathering of the village men. They look innocent in spite of their crimes. They truly do look normal and ordinary, not at all like the deviants they are.

Looking at them, I can’t muster the wrath of justice I had wanted to. I can’t fight such frail humans. I cast a quick spell and sink their lower halves into the dirt. For the man I’ve pinned, only his head remains above ground. I stand back up and look at his head, turning my back to the others.

“How… has this happened?” The man answers me with a shaky voice.

“Well, sir, the Demon King will kill all of us, so we got together and decided to become bandits. We… we thought that if we were bandits we could just feel good. I mean, if we’re only going to live a year, then why should we have to feel anything other than pleasure?” Of course it’s my fault again. Every evil I face is of my own creation, it seems.

“How… could you abandon your humanity so easily?” I ask the question more forcefully than I intended, and I can see him try to flinch back.

“Sir, not everyone has the strength to live an upright life like you do.”

That sort of line should only be spoken by the truly desperate. Not bored and scared men like these. And what sort of strength do they even think I have? It’s not strength at all. If I were able, I’d have let the soldiers kill you all, just so I wouldn’t need to fight you. You’re not alive because I’m strong. You’re alive because I’m a coward. Why can’t they understand that? Why can’t they understand this cowardice of mine that’s so innate to humanity?

I pack them into a ball of dirt, giving them just enough air to live. I retrieve the girls and start escorting them to their homes. I turn in the bandits. I return the girls to their villages. And I turn away to continue my journey. Is humanity truly so depraved? I suppose we must be, if a man like me is our champion. Where do I differ from those bandits? I’ve sacrificed even more people for even less joy. My desire is so pathetic, yet I’ve damned everyone for it. I need to leave. I need to escape this depraved world. I need to be stuck alone at the edge of the world.