Please Bully Me, Miss Villainess!

Chapter 212 : Raw Stone 2

"Well, well, some new faces."

Shadows with ill intent emerged one after another on the hill.

Small folk wearing tattered cloaks and covering their faces appeared before the two, with several bow-wielding companions behind them.

On the narrow road, steep cliffs on both sides made it difficult to escape once intercepted here.

Brin stepped forward, shielding Yuna behind her.

"Be careful,"

She whispered,

"These people's weapons have been modified."

"...Is that so?"

Looking closely, all the bandits' weapons had large magic stones attached.

Probably because magic ore stones were the cheapest product here, they would add a piece to their weapons whether necessary or not.

"If you don't want to get hurt, hand over your valuables!"

...Such a standard henchman line.

"That's right, that's right!"

The followers chimed in.

Although there was no need to fear this level of threat, it was still worth acknowledging their presence.

Brin cleared her throat, stopping Yuna who was about to draw her staff from behind.

"I am here on behalf of Duke Smollett to conduct a regional inspection. If convenient, could you take me to see the lord?"

"Oh ho... So you're a noble?"

Unexpectedly, the bandits became even more excited upon hearing this. They hadn't expected to stumble upon such a fat sheep!

"Boss, boss, we've struck it rich today!"

After hearing this, the bandits huddled together, loudly plotting.

"That's right, that's right! We'll tie them up and thoroughly ransack them later!"

"And then..."

"And then...!"

They revealed evil smiles, leering at the two. Brin felt goosebumps all over and could only stand firmly in front of Yuna.

"—And then, hehehe... we can take them back to our lair to wash dishes, clean, and cook!"

"We can also have them clean the latrine that hasn't been scrubbed for days!"

"............"

Brin was speechless.

It seems they're a bunch of fools.

There was no need for further communication.

She glanced at Yuna behind her, who was already poised for action.

"You haven't forgotten what you learned before, have you?"

"My, I was about to ask you the same."

The two exchanged a glance and simultaneously raised their staves.

The bandits were startled and quickly re-aimed.

"D-don't move!! Put down your weapons—"

The bandits all raised their crudely modified weapons.

"If you don't put them down by the count of three! We'll shoot our arrows!!"

"Three, two—"

"Two point one!"

"Two point two!" "Two point two two!"

"Light slumbering in the earth, please bestow your dormant power upon all living things—Stone Shackles!"

"Scorching power awaken, gather here and transform into heat that melts everything—Roaring Flame!"

The tips of their staves flashed with light almost simultaneously.

"Not good—Boss, they're magic users!!!"

Seeing the two begin their incantations, the bandits panicked.

In this world, not everyone can use such powerful magic.

For most ordinary people, 'magic' is a symbol of terror, an embodiment of irresistible power.

"Who cares, shoot the arrows!!"

The crude arrows whistled as they left the bowstrings. The tips of Yuna's long staff and Brin's short staff emitted light almost simultaneously.

Hiss—!!

The flames that burst from the long staff, carrying a scorching aura, approached rapidly, instantly turning the incoming arrows to ashes.

"Eek~~~~~!!"

When the roaring flames shot out in front of them, the bandits' faces changed color.

Seeing their attack was ineffective, they turned to run.

We're completely outmatched!!

Or rather, we're not even in the same league!!

The gap between ordinary people and magic users is not small; it's not something that can be compensated for by this small numerical advantage.

"Hm? You think you can come and go as you please?"

However, it was already too late, as the spell on the other side was also ready.

I-I can't move?!

"What is this??"

"My foot! My foot is locked—"

Soon, these foolish thieves found that their feet were trapped by suddenly emerging earth blocks, rendering them completely immobile.

In a place full of rocks and gravel like this, Brin's expertise could be fully utilized.

Brin's main attribute was earth, making her the most common type of earth-element magic user.

Fire magic possesses excellent damage and deterrence, focusing on offense; earth magic in battlefield applications focuses on defense and control. As an earth-element magic user, Brin, who acted second, could command the overall situation.

Moreover, most importantly, fire and earth elements do not cancel each other out, so whether in terms of elemental attributes or battlefield functions, they form a highly complementary combination.

"Bad children must be punished!"

With a wave of her small hand, the remaining flames summoned by Yuna swept over.

"Hot hot hot hot—!!"

"My hair~~ My hair~~~!!"

As a gust of wind blew by, black ash fell from these people.

Everyone felt a cool breeze on their heads.

If the flames had lingered just a moment longer, what would have fallen wouldn't have been their singed hair, but crispy roasted skin!!

The remaining small bandit who arrived late was about to turn and run, intending to call for help from others, when he suddenly felt his vision go dark and his legs give way, collapsing to the ground.

"Hey—!"

Yuna directly struck the other party's head forcefully with her staff.

The heavy steel staff body can sometimes compensate for a mage's close combat shortcomings.

Of course, this kind of attack is only effective against those of similar stature to their own race. If it were humans or beastmen twice their size, they could only hit their kneecaps.

Seeing their terrified expressions, Yuna smiled and withdrew her staff.

"That felt so good~~~"

It had been a long time since she had let loose like this since graduation!

"You... should control yourself a bit..."

Although this person acts like a gentle and kind teacher in front of her students, only Brin knows how terrifying she can be.

'Yuna the Flame Dancer' was famous among their graduating class.

"I'm already holding back, you know."

Hearing the conversation between the two, the small bandits turned pale.

"Great ones, please be merciful and spare us~~~"

"We were only trying to make a living~~~~"

Trapped together by the rock chains, the bandits repeatedly begged for mercy.

"We'll never dare to do it again, really, never again~~~"

"We'll guide the two great ones well from now on!"

"Big Sis! From today on, you're our Big Sis!!"

"Didn't we make too much of a commotion?"

Brin had a bit of a headache. She had burned them until they were screaming and wailing; at this rate, they would definitely alert others.

"Although we've returned to our hometown, I think we should keep a low profile."

Their mission this time was to gather information and infiltrate to rescue someone; they shouldn't draw attention like this.

"Hmm... but in terms of results, hasn't no one discovered us? Isn't it perfect infiltration if we take out everyone who discovers us?"

"That's a dangerous way of thinking!!"

Rather than continuing to converse with this person,

"Over there—Yes, I'm talking to you lot."

Brin grabbed the leader of the bandits, a small blond.

"Ah, yes!!"

"I can untie you, but you need to take us to where you live."

Examining the people's livelihood is also part of the inspection.

"Yes, Big Sis! This way, please!!"

"............"

She had initially wanted to warn and threaten them a bit in case they harbored ill intentions, but she didn't expect them to agree so readily. This left Brin somewhat speechless.

However, this excellent adaptability is probably the reason they can survive better on this land.

"The people here revere the strong. If you have the strength to make them submit, they will naturally follow you."

This territory in the southeastern region of Oz Kingdom, bordering the Eastern Country, is fraught with disputes, so the rules of survival are quite primal.

"Come to think of it... the discovery of ore veins was only about ten years ago, right? How did it end up like this?"

Along the way, they occasionally saw tree trunks with sparse leaves like balding middle-aged men, with no other greenery besides that.

Brin remembered that books recording the local customs of various regions in Oz Kingdom had described how rich and fertile this land once was, but now only endless gobi desert remained.

"It's been several years now. Ever since mining began, it's become like this—"

The blond chewed on a foxtail grass stem he had picked up from somewhere, swaggering in front of the two.

"Since the lord started having close dealings with those folks from the Eastern Country, they started working on the biggest vein that hadn't been touched since our ancestors' time."

"Ah, I've heard about that—That vein would blow up the entire mountain if you dug into it carelessly—so no one dared to touch it. But after those people from the Eastern Country came, they started working on it with all sorts of noises."

Yuna walked silently behind her, listening to their chatter without saying a word.

"Are there any other changes?"

"Well... in recent years, more and more of our kin in the territory have been getting this strange disease."

"...'Strange disease'?"

"You'll see when we get there."

The blond led the two to a desolate village.

Those living here were all elderly members of their race.

"This is the old mining area, but since it's been fully exploited, it's been picked up as a residence by us homeless folks."

"Ah Huang, you're back?"

An old granny tottered over.

"Who are these?"

"These two are envoys sent by Duke Smollett for inspection."

"Smo-what?"

"It's Smollett!... Oh well, your ears aren't good, old lady, so don't meddle here."

The old woman stared at Yuna for a long time, seemingly wanting to say something, but in the end, said nothing, shaking her head and walking away with her cane.

"These are the raw stones mined in recent years."

In the corner were piled some waste materials left over from mining. Although not valuable, they had been collected by Ah Huang and the others.

"There used to be a riverbed here, but after the mining was completed, the upstream dried up,"

"What beautiful stones!"

Yuna held a water attribute magic stone in her hand.

"Wait—Don't touch it directly!"

Brin hurriedly knocked it out of her hand. As expected, after just a few seconds of contact, the skin on her hand had already been corroded.

"What are you, a fire mage, doing touching water stones—Really!!"

Brin rummaged through her bag for silk cloth used for bandaging, tore it into small strips, and tied it around her hand.

"But it's really beautiful... Look, it's twinkling, just like stars, isn't it?"

The quality wasn't particularly good, with many silver-white impurities mixed in. Yuna held the stone up to her eye, its light reflecting in her blue pupils, mesmerizing Brin.

Compared to these stones found everywhere here, her eyes were more beautiful.

Swish—

"Hm??"

The old granny, who had somehow walked behind the two, suddenly grabbed a handful of sand and threw it onto Yuna's head.

"What are you doing?? Stop it!"

Brin called out loudly, wanting to step forward to stop her.

"...Those of the Floris family returning home must be sprinkled with some dust from here."

Completely ignoring her words, the old woman continued to sprinkle the sand in her hand onto Yuna's head.

"We once believed these stones were blessed stones, but we were all wrong..."

Brin hurriedly took off the hood Yuna had been wearing, wanting to brush off the sand on her.

"Wait—"

What poured out from the hood was red hair as striking as flames. Seeing such a prominent feature, Ah Huang and his followers were all shocked.

"Big Sis... Could you be the heir?"

"...Yes."

After hesitating for a moment, she admitted it.

Unexpectedly, Ah Huang and the others suddenly became very excited:

"—Have you come back this time to fight for the inheritance?"

"—Hurray! I fully support Big Sis!"

Looking at the small bandits whose attitudes had changed dramatically, Brin felt somewhat displeased.

"Hmph... You were planning to rob us just now, how come you've suddenly changed your tune?"

"Because the two of you have come back to change things here, right?"

"My old man and second uncle both died in the mines..."

"Many people in the village have gotten that strange disease from those ore stones!"

"We once thought these stones were blessed stones that could bring good fortune, but we were all wrong... They've left nothing but disaster... If this continues, everything will surely fall into chaos... We need someone with power to change all this."

Ah Huang clenched his hands, which had become dirty from years of labor.

"The two of you must have a chance!"

If you ask why... it's because they are stronger than anyone else we've ever seen.

"Princess... Princess... Please, you must wear this."

The old granny, with trembling hands, draped a cloak that looked somewhat aged over Yuna.

"Yes, yes! Big Sis, you must hide your hair well!"

"...Why do we need to do this?"

"Ah, it seems you two really haven't been back for a long time..."

It was only then that the two learned that the son of Lord Zolid, who was originally third in line for inheritance, had been born not long ago. Probably wanting to eliminate potential threats to the inheritance rights that were about to fall into his hands before his own child who could inherit the territory rights grew up, all red-haired people in the territory had been arrested and imprisoned on various pretexts.

A look of surprise appeared on Yuna's face; evidently, this was the first time she had heard of this as well.

"I can't believe such things are happening..."

It seems the situation is even more complex than she had imagined.