As we were entering a closer proximity to our camp the melodic sounds, the bards were producing, increased with each step we took. Their music was extremely contrasting to our group whose mood was divided.

Our new captives had now regained their consciousness and were lamenting their fallen brothers in arms. On the other hand the Night serpent eyes were praising Natalie's and my own actions during the siege of the bandits hideout.

While we were getting closer to the camp we were soon discovered by one of the previously wounded Night Serpent's Eyes who was standing guard. Seeing us he shouted towards the rest of the camp ?Lord Valentinus has come back" As soon as he uttered these words the entirety of our settlement, excluding the bards, came running to us led by the three small Racer Lizards. Lincoln, the fourth Racer Lizards was still enjoying being carried around as Theresa's scarf when she arrived. She walked towards our group that was now drenched in the bandits's blood.

After briefly counting the Night Serpent's Eyes and checking for grievous wounds she smiled and said happily ?I am glad that we haven't suffered any heavy losses this time." She continued in a different voice ?I am afraid we can't keep so many of these scoundrel's here. We should postpone the festivities for a while and bring the captives to the village where they can receive a proper punishment."

?She is probably right, with all these bandits here it will be harder to eat here in peace...

Unless we eat them as well'

'DRAKE?!'

I exclaimed in my head

'I said it once and I'll say it again: we won't eat humans'

?Alright' Drake accepted the human-free diet after a while and said ?then let's bring them to the human village. I'm starving'.

I took us about three hours to deconstruct our camp. Meanwhile, the bandits were bound together using some ropes which were modified by Natalie. Not only was she an impressive archer but also more knowledgeable than many elders of our clan despite her young appearance.

When everything was settled we marched towards the village on the way the merchant told us about.

The sun was already starting to hide behind the horizon when we saw the roofs of a few huts between some small trees.

The closer we got to the village the more small animals we could see. It was kind of similar to the former Tamer's Clan when I first arrived there.

Many of them had dogs and birds. Now, we could see many birds and other small creatures but none of them seemed to be a danger for each other or any other species. They appeared extremely tame.

There were squirrels on the trees, some little dogs and cats on the ground and many small birds flying around. The biggest of all of these animals were approximately around the size of Lincoln now. I didn't sense the tiniest bit of danger or killing intent from them and neither did Drake.

When the sun had set completely I focused a little bit more on my sense of smell. I was surprised when every animal in my sight smelled of humans. It was exactly like our village although many of these animals had a way stronger smell compared to the dogs and birds and Direwolves of the Night Serpent Clan.

When I stretched my arm to touch to catch one of the cats I heard a squeaky voice shouting out loud ?please don't kill prince. He won't taste good" and there was a young boy running towards us followed by an older woman who appeared to be very worried.

?I guess that is the boy's mother' examined Drake.

The boy approached us with teary eyes and after seeing the bandits we brought along he almost fainted out of shock. His mother had probably seen them just like almost every single one of the other inhabitants of this village. I could see some of them peeking out of the many shut windows.

They probably assumed we were reinforcements of the bandits and we would no longer simply linger around in the forest but instead take control of this little village.

I tried to calm them down first before anything bad might happen. ?An introduction would probably be the best start.' I thought 'yep, humans are often very cautious when they meet strangers' added Drake.

?Hello madame, it wasn't my intent to scare the child. My name is Valentinus. My companions and I might seem dangerous but for you we simply are peaceful travelers and you don't have to fear us. Might I inquire your names?"

The woman eyed us with great suspicion. Fortunately we got rid of most of the blood at a nearby river or else this first impression of us would have even been worse.

The woman seemingly calmed down but was still very cautious and after a few seconds she bowed slightly and introduced herself as well.

?My name is Kayla and this is my son James. I don't want to be rude so please forgive me for asking but why do you have these wretched bandits imprisoned when you say you are only peaceful travelers?"

?Oh these guys?" I feigned surprise ?A merchant told us that there were bandits in this forest but it seemed like all of them were sick. They must have eaten something that was bad for them. It was actually pretty easy to take them as captives because we had high enough numbers" I explained with the most honest face I could make.

In my head I could hear Drake giggling a lot

?They ate something bad? Hahaha! Nice story Val!'

When the woman examined the captives closely she didn't find many outer wounds but they looked indeed rather sick.

?They probably ate some rotten meat. These bastards can be lucky that they survived this long." Kayla said in a voice that clearly told us her hatred for the bandits.

Kayla told us to wait where we were for a short while and after a few minutes she came running back to us again, followed by a few older people.

The seemingly oldest of them came forward and extended his hand while saying ?I am grateful that you benevolent wanderers brought these scumbags to us. They were a plaque for us for a long time but since we are only a small village we couldn't afford to send a request to the adventurer guild to free us from the bandits. These evil men took a lot of our men in battle and brought shame to the women who were collecting herbs in the forest. We were living in fear for a long time. I want to express my utmost gratitude for you but unfortunately we don't have much we can give you. All I can offer is a place for you to stay as long as you wish. Everything else you might wish for can be found in the forest now, that the bandits are gone."

?Thank you for your hospitality" I said with a content, smiling face ?We will gladly accept it."