Chapter 35: Chapter 35: Artemis' Guardian
"Hahaha... All this belongs to me now."
"Don't try to steal my share! I found it first!"
"Beauty, don't run away!"
The bandits held torches and various weapons—machetes and such—and ransacked the village like mad.
They took what they could carry and burned down everything else.
And every single bandit had one thing in common—a huge scar on their face.
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"Stop! This is our last bit of food. If you take it, how will we survive?"
People in this era already lived hard lives, and this year's harvest had been poor.
They didn't have enough stored food as it was, and now bandits were showing up to steal what little they had. Wasn't that just asking for their deaths? All the villagers—young and old alike—took up whatever tools they could find to stop these bandits.
"I don't care how you live. If you try to stop us... you're dead!"
These weren't pickpockets—they robbed people outright. Anyone who dared to get in their way would be cut down on the spot.
Of course, that applied only to men.
As for women, if they weren't too ugly, the bandits would tie them up right away.
In those days, more people actually died at the hands of other humans than by monsters.
Wars, tyrant rulers, and bandits or mountain robbers who declared themselves kings—all of these took far more lives than any monster ever could.
Many powerful bands of robbers would destroy an entire village with each raid. Some desperate souls, having no other options, would join these bandits and robbers out of sheer necessity.
It was a vicious cycle.
Monsters treated humans as food, but they usually hunted only occasionally and killed only a few people at a time.
And some monsters didn't eat humans at all.
But evil bandits were different. They'd ransack one village after another, slaughtering everyone—old, young, and children alike. They didn't want slaves; slaves needed food, after all.
If there were women around, the decent-looking ones would be tied up like merchandise. As for what happened to them next, well, you can imagine.
After a single raid, hardly anyone in a village would survive—and sometimes no one did.
"Help... Help me... Someone please save me..."
A girl of about twelve or thirteen ran through the village. She had a small face with delicate features, wore simple traditional clothes, and her long black hair was neatly combed. She looked very pretty, not like an ordinary peasant.
Tears streamed down her face as she kept running toward the exit.
Behind her, several armed robbers were chasing after her.
"Stop! Don't run!"
"Keep running and we'll cut your legs off."
"Heh-heh... Beauty, you can't escape."
The robbers were excited; they never expected to find such a beautiful girl in this small village of only a few hundred people. She seemed almost like one of those noble "princesses".
None of them had ever touched such a beauty before.
After giving her to their boss for fun, they might even get some leftovers themselves.
"Ah..."
The path in the village wasn't smooth. The girl accidentally stepped on a dip in the ground and fell flat on her face.
Oh no...
Her face turned pale as she hit the ground.
She could imagine what would happen if these evil and cruel robbers caught her...
"Beauty, you can't escape now!"
"Don't worry... We'll treat you right."
The vicious bandits closed in around her. Seeing the girl on the ground, they reached out their dirty hands towards her.
"Someone... save me..."
Looking at those filthy hands, the girl couldn't help but close her eyes in fear.
Bang...
"Ahh..."
A sound like a special firecracker rang out, followed immediately by a series of screams. What was happening...
Confused, the girl opened her eyes again. She saw that the first bandit who had grabbed for her was now clutching his arm and screaming in pain. Blood was gushing from it—he'd been injured!
The other bandits were staring with fear in one direction. The girl turned to look where they were pointing.
There stood a miko—a shrine maiden dressed in white above the waist and red below—but wait! No, she wasn't human—she had long ears on her head—it was a monster...
a strange monster wearing a miko's outfit.
This monstrous miko wore two samurai swords at her waist, and in her hands were two peculiar objects—they seemed to be legendary firearms, or perhaps hand cannons.
Had the bandit grabbing her been wounded by one of these firearms?
"A miko... or a monster?"
"The weapon in her hand is a firearm—it only has one shot. Don't be afraid; with so many of us here, she can only hurt one more person."
"That's right, I know what that thing is. It's called a firearm. I've seen a noble use one before. They look different, but they're basically the same. It can only fire once."
"Let's go! Capture this monster and give her and her firearm to the boss. He'll be really happy about that."
The bandits who had been scared by the gunshot were no longer afraid after hearing from two "well-informed" bandits.
Seeing the beautiful half-demon in front of them, desire overcame reason. Such a beautiful woman—even if she was a monster—one would die content after being with her just once.
She was several times more beautiful than any girl on the ground.
"A firearm? Only one shot?"
Firearms had appeared in China during the Southern Song dynasty, hundreds of years ago, but they weren't taken seriously because they weren't practical—they could only fire once.
In the Ming dynasty, they became widely used, but were still treated mostly as toys or collectibles.
As the bandits approached, Yae Sakura played with the Artemis' Guardian in her hand, aiming at the few people in front of her.
Seeing the murderous intent and resentful energy clinging to them, they must have hurt many innocent people...
Killing them is only right, isn't it?
Yae Sakura kept finding excuses to comfort herself. Though she had slain numerous monsters before, killing humans... was something she'd never done.
Even if they were vicious bandits...
"In this era... you always end up having to kill!"
After a moment of hesitation, Yae Sakura pulled the trigger...
Bang!
This time, the shot didn't hit an arm or leg—it struck true in the chest... right through the heart.
"I... I've killed someone..."
But strangely, instead of feeling remorse, why did she feel... a rush that made her want more?
Despite her thoughts swirling, her hands didn't stop moving. She fired again and again without pause, each shot from Artemis' Guardian striking down another charging bandit until they all lay dead within moments.
"No... This isn't me..."
This thrill... It can't be who I am...
Suddenly, as if drained of all strength, Yae Sakura crumpled to the ground, the gun slipping from her hand and clattering onto the earth beside her. She buried her face in both hands, trying to block out what she had become.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone