The Strength of Honesty

As they continued down the road, the party sang a travel song. Even Naofumi joined in for a verse, to everyone's pleasant surprise. He actually had a really nice singing voice.

It was a song of promise for the future; of a new chapter in their journey; Of how much stronger they were together than apart.

If Applejack hadn't been wearing pants, they might have noticed her Cutier Mark glowing brightly.

Anyway, they were on their way further out, hoping to (sooner or later) reach Siltvelt, a place that sounded much more accepting. The Shield Hero would not only be welcomed by the populace (supposedly largely made up of Demi-humans). but next to worshipped.

Yeah. Siltvelt definitely felt like the best bet.

The next wave wouldn't hit for another few days, so they were good to go with that. Along the way, they picked up a merchant and his goods. Applejack was wary of the fellow, but said nothing for or against him.

After proceeding for a distance, they were waylaid by a group of bandits. When they called out, it was clear that they were aware of the man.

"We know you have him with ya! Toss him out and you may escape with your lives."

Naofumi rolled his eyes. "Which implies that you'll take everything BUT our lives, right?"

"This one's pretty sharp." one joked, eliciting laughter from the others.

Applejack could see the way the wind was blowing. If there was one thing she liked less than liars, it would have to be bandits, thieves and the like. Still, she decided to give them a fair warning. It was only honourable. "Ya picked yer targets poorly, pardners. Ah'm only goin' ta warn you once: Back off." Then she subvocalized, "{Heavy Strikers}."
Instantly, her gauntlets and leggings doubled in bulk. They would now allow her to hit harder, with a small cost in speed.

One bandit started to come forward. "Tell ya what: If you drop everything and start running now, leave the cart and the two birds -especially the fat one- behind we might give you a head- OOF!"

The man, in his overconfidence, had stepped into Filo's range. She took the initiative to deliver a forward kick to the man, sending him head over heels right back to his compatriots.

"Nobody threatens my masster." she growled, her eyes flaring red. "OR calls me fat!" If there was one thing she hated more than people threatening her master, it was being called fat. It was a REALLY close contest, though.

"Kwah!" Loiosh agreed.

From there, it was hardly a challenge for the party at all. Shortly, they had the group of bandits bound with a length of toughened rope. Wrapped around them four times, to be safe.

One of the men said, "Hey! That shield! You must be the Shield Hero!" He sounded rather confident.

"Yeah. And what of it?" Naofumi asked, off-handedly.

"Well, I'm sure that they'll listen to us more than you."

"'The shield hero nearly killed us and' yadda yadda yadda. Right?"

Applejack spoke up, "Ah don' think that's be a problem, what with me here." she shrugged. "But. If y'all're go'n drag our good names through the mud... Ah s'pose we can't letcha live." she finished grimly

Naofumi asked, "Filo! You up for a snack?"

Filo looked almost pleased at that. "Yes! Yes, I am!"

The bandits were starting to get nervous.

"You see," Naofumi launched into an explanation, "Filo and Loiosh here are omnivorous. They can't exactly live on salad and chicken feed. And you know what that might mean..."

Needless to say, the will of the men was broken and they began protesting their fate. That they'd do anything to be let out of the situation.

Applejack saw Naofumi actualy smile at that. "Aaaaanything?"

The bandits echanged looks. They knew that either way they were getting the short end of this one,

As the bandits were nearly finished loading their goods into the wagon. Raphtalia... wasn't exactly fort the whole thing.

"It feels kind of... wrong stealing from bandits, somehow. Doesn't this seem kind of... low?" She commented, frowning.

"I heartily disagree." the merchant said. "He's, you might say, treating their lives as merchandise. They're simply paying the equivalent exchange."

Aplejack was, oddly enough, inckined to agree. "He's got th' right of it, Raphtalia. An' B'sides, they'da done far worse ta us."

Raphtalia still looked unsure. But she figured that the sentiment made sense.

Before they left the bandits behind, Applejack tossed a couple of water skins to them. "Can't just let ya go off without something fer basic survival. Those hold a lot more than y'all'd expect.

The bandits were quite confused. After they tried to mug them, they still wanted to be kind to them. That was entirely different.

The lot of them looked to each other. They nodded to each other in unison. As one, they bowed respectfully. The leader of the group said, speaking for the lot of them, "thank you. Even after we tried to do that... You're decided to be generous to us instead. Thank you so much. I promise that we will give up banditry altogether. We'll find a way to make an honest living."

Naofumi scratched his chin and thought. At length, he said, "Okay. I accept your apology. I suggest that you had to the village of Riyute. Tell them that the shield hero spread your lives and directed you there. But NO FUNNY BUSINESS. The people there have been taught how to defend themselves relatively well. They won't be easy to just push over. Become productive citizens of the town and maybe you will earn a pardon. Who knows?" Then he frowned. "And stop groveling, will you?!"

After that, the two parties went their separate ways. Thanks for saving his life, the merchant decided to tell them some information. much of what he gave was kind of like what Maven did. But it was still good to know that things hadn't changed for the worst, at least. Not yet, anyway.