The bandits, armed with a variety of weapons, surrounded Yuki and the others, their faces etched with cruelty and mockery.
"Hahaha! The eldest daughter of the Kagenou family! Bet you didn't expect us to trap you here!"
"Hah! A delicate young lady like you shouldn't imitate others by hunting bandits for experience. Wouldn't it be better to just stay safely at home under protection?!"
"We were worried we couldn't lure you away from those guards, but we never thought you'd actually fall for it! Hahahaha!"
The bandits erupted into a wave of scornful laughter, looking at Yuki's group as if they were lambs for the slaughter.
Claire scanned the surroundings, her expression instantly turning grim as she realized the number of bandits surrounding them had increased by over a dozen.
Facing six bandits alone was already a stretch for her. Now, with more than ten additional men, it was simply impossible.
Now she was starting to regret her impulsiveness—she shouldn't have acted alone instead of staying with her family's guards.
"Leaving aside the Kagenou family's eldest daughter, who are those two over there?"
A bald man who appeared to be the leader looked towards Yuki and Akane.
"Boss, why bother with questions? Just capture them. We can interrogate them later to find out who they are!"
"Yeah, look at how they're dressed. They look wealthy. Probably worth good gold coins, just like the Kagenou daughter!"
The other bandits around chimed in.
The bald leader felt his subordinates had a point.
Their target was the Kagenou daughter anyway. Not only could they achieve that, but they'd also get two extras—seemed like a good deal no matter how you looked at it.
And with just the three of them against over twenty of their men, what could possibly go wrong?!
With that thought, the bald man waved his hand to give the order.
"We'll give you a chance. Surrender, and you can avoid a painful beating."
The bald man thought he was being considerate by offering Yuki's group the option to surrender.
Claire, however, immediately drew her sword, looking ready to fight to the death.
"Nonsense! As the eldest daughter of the Kagenou family, I will never surrender to scum like you!"
Though Claire was young, her determined eyes seemed to grant her courage beyond her years.
"You've got quite the spirit. That look in your eyes is impressive."
"But your recklessness led to this situation, which is also your flaw."
Yuki smiled slightly, praising Claire, but also pointing out her shortcoming.
Hearing this, Claire shot Yuki an annoyed look over her shoulder.
As if to say, Aren't you going to help instead of making sarcastic remarks?
Seeing the expression on the face of this girl, Yuki couldn't help but let a light chuckle escape his lips.
"Alright, put your weapon away."
"They... have already been subdued."
Yuki pointed ahead. Claire was taken aback, then quickly turned to look.
She saw that the bandits who had surrounded them were now all lying on the ground, though she hadn't seen when it happened.
Claire's pupils sharply contracted. She hurried over to the scattered bandits on the ground, quickly checking them.
She found they had no breath; they were all dead.
Staring at this bizarre scene, Claire's mouth fell slightly open. After a moment of silence, she returned to Yuki's side.
"No wounds. No signs of injury at all!"
"How did you do that?!"
Instantly transformed into a curious girl, Claire asked Yuki how he had managed it.
She hadn't even seen him make a move.
Yuki smiled faintly, not answering Claire's question.
After all, explaining his methods to her now would likely go over her head.
Actually, what Yuki did was quite simple: he simply crushed the souls of these people.
But he was afraid that if he said that, this girl would keep asking questions nonstop, so he decided not to explain.
"Do you believe me now?"
Instead, Yuki turned the question back to the earlier point.
Claire was taken aback for a moment, then nodded.
"So, Lady Claire Kagenou, we did save you. Don't you think you should offer some hospitality?"
Yuki turned to Claire with a gentle smile. His handsome face, radiant with soft warmth, caused Claire to momentarily lose herself for a second.
Snapping back to reality, she gave a slight nod.
"You two aren't from around here either, right? In that case, come with me."
"As the eldest daughter of the Kagenou family, properly hosting honored guests is a necessary courtesy."
"Thank you, Lady Claire Kagenou."
Yuki smiled slightly, offering his thanks.
Hearing this, a faint blush flashed across Claire's face.
"J... just call me Claire."
Having said that, Claire slowly lowered her head, her eyes becoming evasive.
"Alright, Claire."
Yuki chuckled lightly and nodded.
Meanwhile, Akane, seeing Claire's gaze and demeanor, immediately felt a sense of alertness rise within her.
'This little girl! Something's off! She seems to be... towards Yuki-kun...'
Just as Akane was thinking this, a strange thought suddenly struck her.
'Wait, she's just a kid. Why am I worrying about this?'
Thinking that, Akane's expression relaxed considerably.
She stepped forward with a smile to greet Claire.
"Hi, Claire-chan! I'm Akane Nishino. You can call me Akane-nee!"
Akane had thought her friendly greeting would be met with welcome.
But instead, Claire merely glanced at her briefly before turning her head away, ignoring her.
This immediately left Akane feeling intensely awkward and inwardly furious.
'Gah! So annoying! Are all kids in this other world this arrogant?!'
Akane felt both embarrassed and irritated, her face flushing red.
All of this was witnessed by the group members watching the livestream, who immediately began trying to console Akane.
[Seitenshi]: I feel like if we don't comfort Akane-chan soon, she's going to burst!
[Saeko Busujima]: I actually quite admire that little girl named Claire, but Akane-chan, calm down. Don't argue with a child.
[Artemis]: Whoa! So this is a human child? Seems like a lot of trouble. So, Yuki-kun and I better not have kids in the future.
[Dongfang Huaizhu]: This is probably just an isolated case!
[Galacta]: This kid's got quite the personality!
Just as Claire was preparing to lead Yuki and the others towards her family's territory, a large number of hurried footsteps approached from ahead.
A group of soldiers in armor rushed over.
Upon seeing Claire, their tense expressions finally relaxed.
"Young Miss!"
"Thank goodness, we finally found you!"
Clearly, these were the soldiers who had come with Claire to eliminate the bandits and had been separated from her earlier.
"You're too late. The bandits are already all dead."
Claire glanced calmly at the soldiers, then pointed towards the fallen bandits.
The soldiers looked over and saw all the bandits lying on the ground.
What's more, the number seemed to have increased significantly, which filled them with both shock and a sense of belated fear.
"Wh... what happened?"
"And these two are?"
"Let's head back. We'll explain everything else on the way."
Claire spoke softly, then led Yuki and the others towards the direction of the territory.
The soldiers exchanged glances, then followed.
Though they didn't know who these two strangers were, they had a strong feeling that the deaths of these bandits were somehow connected to them.
Because they knew their young mistress's strength wasn't enough to handle over twenty bandits alone.