It was supposed to be another job.
Find the bandits that hit the latest shipment from one of Wave's shipments, a payment for the Spiders after whatever deal they had before.
My task was simple. Retrieve the shipment if intact. Bring back the bandits alive if the shipment was not intact.
But what I found was something that was far beyond my job description.
I found the bandits. And I found the shipment full of Dust that was long since either used up or sold off.
This meant I had to drag back the bandits.
But here is where the problem started.
The bandits? They were refugees, fleeing from a destroyed village.
What I found was not a bandit camp. It was a camp of desperate survivors, made up of families trying to survive in the harsh world they were born into.
The men knew they had no chance of fighting me, especially after they saw me dismantle that Beowulf on the way to the camp after I captured one of them and forced him to reveal their camp's location.
That is why those who participated in the raid agreed to come with me to the Spiders, knowing that they would probably be made an example of by the Spiders. Their condition was that I would leave the old people, women, and children be.
Given that the people who raided that shipment were almost all of the able-bodied men in this group of survivors, there is no doubt in my mind what will happen to this ground if I take them to the Spiders.
So, instead, I gave them the only mercy I could give them.
I 'killed' all the men who participated in the raid and gave their heads to the Spiders, informing them that they fought back, so I had no choice.
My pay was only partial, but it was still an acceptable outcome.
And, after I left the forest, if a real bandit camp a few ways away from this group of survivors ended up dead with all their men beheaded, and a rather large number of refugees made up of men, women, old people, and children suddenly showed up at Mistral's doorstep with a rather large quantity of funds?
That had nothing to do with me.
After all, this may be a broken world with equally broken people. But that does not mean I should let it twist me into a monster as well.
Because if I did let it do that, how can I ever have the gall to call myself the family of those whom I left behind on Earth?
———————————————————————————
Yamamura is done for.
I knew that much.
It was the morning after the attack, and the butgeoning city now lay in ruins.
Most of the Grimm are dead. The reinforcements that came in nearly two hours after Branwen, carrying many teams of Huntsmen, took care of that problem.
But that does not matter anymore.
The city's infrastructure is broken on so many levels that rebuilding will cost a lot. So much so that it would be more practical to build an entirely new city somewhere else instead of rebuilding this mess.
Aside from the infrastructure loss, there is also the loss of manpower.
Many people died last night. By my rough estimate, based on how many civilians I am seeing in this evacuation zone, one of eight others spread across the perimeter of the city, nearly 40% of the population probably died last night. I could be wrong since this is just a guess, but somehow, I don't think I am wrong in this case.
And based on what I am seeing in this evacuation zone, and if this is the same pattern across the other zones, those who died are mostly those so-called 'civilized' people. Those who have education and technical skills.
The survivors, from what I am seeing, are mostly those who used to live in the slums and those who are considered the refuse of society.
How ironic.
Suddenly, I felt another person sit down beside me and pat me on the shoulder.
"Hey, kid. You did good out there."
Qrow Branwen, as the huntsman introduced himself last night, was clearly drunk based on how he was slurring and how his body looked unsteady.
Understandable, given the circumstances.
I nodded at his words.
"It was a job. I am a professional. There is nothing more to say about it."
"Nah, that was more than anything I've ever seen a merc from the families do, even when they are paid. Oh, and before I forget, can you arrange a meeting with your masters for me? I need to speak with them-"
"I don't serve any of the families. I am independent."
Qrow instantly fell silent at my words before blurting out one word that made me sigh.
"Bullshit."
I did not even acknowledge his words, knowing that he was not wrong for doubting me.
That is just how things work in Mistral.
"There are not many mercs in Mistral who can say they are truly independent, and you expect me to believe that a kid like you is?"
"I just showed them that it is far more profitable to have me as an independent agent than as an enemy. After that, they left me alone."
That shut up the older man again as he now stared at me with a scrutinizing gaze. Then, he spoke words that made my shoulders sag in exhaustion.
"You are Blooded?"
"Hm."
"...Fuck."
I smiled wryly at his pensive look.
"An apt description."
"Kid..I..."
I just waved at him, stopping him from speaking.
In Mistral, the word 'Blooded' means only one thing.
To have taken the life of another human.
Wierdly enough, the life of a Faunus does not count towards the 'Blooded' status, showing how deep Mistral's racism went.
This is something that most mercs have to go through, but generally, it is something that they face as teenagers, because that is when most families recruit their underlings, after they hit 17 years of age at least.
Someone as young as me being Blooded? That is very rare to see. Hence, Qrow's reaction.
The man took a deep swing from his flask, the smell making my nose crinkle in disgust.
I've taken all kinds of concoctions in my past life and even in this one, but whatever this guy is having is some strong stuff based on the smell alone.
With a sigh, he put away the flask and spoke up again. But this time, I noticed that his words were no longer slurred.
"Last night, I saw how you fought. You have the power in spades, but your technique is unrefined. Untrained"
"True."
"Did you not think of training your technique if you already knew?"
I shook my head.
"Not possible for someone like me. Costs too much money in the underworld. I was planning on waiting until I got an apprentice Huntsman's licence to look for official schools."
The surprised look on his face felt strangely insulting.
"You want to go legit?"
"Yes."
"...Huh. You know what? You are in luck, kid."
Hm? What's this drunk talking about-? Whoa!!
The man hefted me bodily onto his shoulder in a fireman's carry as he roared in laughter.
"I know just the place for you. Let's go!! The bullhead is waiting!! And so are my drinks!!!"
If I did not know that this man meant no harm to me based on his actions so far, I would have already activated Extremis and burned this guy's Aura straight to zero and then turned him into a human matchstick.
But seriously, what the hell is going on here!?