Chapter 15

    Dealing with the Bandit Forces

    Meanwhile, not far from the battlefield,

    It was now clear that Black Bear's forces were significantly reduced, especially the front line which was barely holding. The priests and archers had fallen by more than half from the gunners and mages' attacks. On the other hand, about three-quarters of Purple Spider's forces were still intact, even though half of their front-line warriors were dead. They were still able to defend the rear because Black Bear's forces had also greatly diminished.

    "How can he still not be dead after being hit that hard? He is incredibly tough."

    Purple Spider, changing the magazine of his beloved gun, stood right in front of the weakened Black Bear, who still refused to stop chasing him. Even though Black Bear knew he was losing the war because he had attacked too bluntly and without any strategic variation, thus he was losing to the better troop deployments of his enemies.

    At that moment,

    "Brother Purple Spider, we're in trouble."

    Inari, with injuries and her kimono stained with dust, ran through the Purple Spider's rear guard, which parted ways for her, recognizing her as the leader's woman.

    "What happened, little Inari? What happened at the tower?"

    Purple Spider, seeing the dire state of Inari, abandoned his fight with Black Bear to support Inari, who looked like she might collapse at any moment.

    "Ouch... sob, sob..."

    But Inari collapsed before Purple Spider could reach to support her. She sat on the ground, tears streaming down her face, clutching her knees which seemed to be injured, causing Purple Spider to approach her with concern.

    "Are you okay, Inari? Tell your brother Purple Spider what happened."

    Purple Spider, who had run to where Inari was sitting, knelt on one knee to talk with Inari, who was half-sitting, half-lying on the ground.

    "Somebody attacked the tower, so I came to tell you. Ah!!! Brother Spider, watch your back."

    Inari's face showed extreme alarm, one hand covering her mouth, her beautiful eyes wide, looking behind Purple Spider towards where Black Bear stood.

    "Hey, Black Bear, attacking from behind like this isn’t the act of a true man."

    Purple Spider, expecting it to be Black Bear sneaking up to attack him from behind, even though Black Bear usually wasn’t like this. But anything could happen because of this beautiful woman, and certainly, it made the normally clever Purple Spider the biggest fool to fall for such a trick.

    "Oh."

    Purple Spider turned around to deal with Black Bear, whom he believed was about to attack him from behind, but what he saw was Black Bear standing in place, far beyond the range of his attack, drinking a big bottle of red power-enhancing potion and looking just as confused as to why he was being scolded when he hadn’t done anything yet.

    "You silly donkey"

    A sweet voice came from behind Purple Spider. He could hardly believe the next event as Inari, with eight large golden tails, dashed at him with the speed of a spear, attacking him from behind.

    1050x8 (Critical hit from an attack by an unaware target)

    "Argh, what the heck, Inari?"

    Purple Spider, struck by Inari's golden tails and slowly lifted into the air, turned back to speak to the beautiful woman in shock, but then an explosion sounded behind his army, which was standing on a cliff, before the fox mother could respond to him.

    A group of over 50 villagers and Gumiho, in her nine-tailed fox form, attacked the gunners, mages, and priests of Purple Spider's forces from the woods behind the cliffside. Gumiho opened with a burst of explosive fireballs targeting the priests first, as instructed by Möbius. The villagers, skilled in close combat, engaged the gunners, while the rest overwhelmed the mages who were also stunned.

    From this surprise attack, even though the villagers' levels and equipment couldn’t compare to Purple Spider's forces, they managed to gain the upper hand, especially with the nine-tailed fox assisting, continuously turning the tide against Purple Spider's army.

    "Just looking at it, you could tell that I've been working with the villagers to take down forest bandits like you, Brother Purple Spider... from the very beginning."

    Inari playfully teased her prey, who was immobilized and unable to move, before stating the truth, with special emphasis on the final syllable.

    "And what about before? You never had any feelings for me, even though I've been so good to you, right, Inari?"

    Purple Spider expressed with deep resentment. Usually, the women he desired were immediately crushed, but Inari was the first to receive such honor from him.

    "Ridiculous... An opportunistic man who can't properly woo a woman and has to intimidate villagers into following him. An incompetent man like this, do you know how much I had to force myself just to manage a smile for someone like you, Brother Spider?"

    Inari spoke sincerely to Purple Spider for the first time, her face beaming with a mischievous yet charming smile. But for Purple Spider, it felt like the entire world had suddenly collapsed. He looked at the fox mother with anger and resentment.

    "Oh, damn it, you cunning vixen."

    "Still can't see the tail, huh? You're really foolish. More importantly, that wig of yours can’t hide the stench at all; I almost throw up every time I smell it."

    Inari playfully aggravated Purple Spider. Now that his army was nearly defeated, it was time to deal with the prey before her.

    "Well, I almost forgot about this."

    Inari stuck out her tongue and winked cutely at Purple Spider. Then, she used her ninth tail to wrap around the gun that was holstered in the middle of Purple Spider's back and pulled it out. He didn't die immediately because Inari had intentionally avoided hitting him with that gun.

    "Let this gun be the compensation then... and goodbye."

    Inari smiled coldly before releasing the magical power stored in her tails embedded in the Purple Spider. The immense heat caused the blood of the bandit leader to boil. The pain was so severe that he couldn't speak, feeling as if his entire body was about to vaporize. The fox mother finished him off with a silver beam, her ultimate move, strike to his heart.

    ‘Nine Heavens Piercing Fox Fire.’

    6000 (Critical hit on a vital spot)

    Purple Spider instantly vanished in a flash of light, leading his followers could no longer fight. The death of the leader meant that they were defeated. So, all of them dropped their weapons and surrendered to preserve their lives.

    "It's your turn now, Mr. Black Bear."

    Inari politely turned to speak to the massive man behind her.

    "Wow, looking up close, you're even more beautiful. Tell me, little sister, what will you do?"

    Black Bear slapped his thigh with delight, appreciating the beauty and ferocity of the fox mother.

    "Let's make a simple bet. If you win, you can do anything you want with me. But if I win, I can order you to do anything. Agreed?"

    Inari felt that Black Bear was much more likable than Purple Spider, except for the smell and mess that she truly couldn't stand.

    "Say anything, little sister."

    Black Bear, full of confident, immediately accepted the challenge.

    "Simple. If this gun fires one shot and you don’t die within 30 seconds, you win. If you die, you lose."

    Inari presented an ordinary handgun to Black Bear, who was unaware that the fairness of the system would soon greatly surprise him.

    "Is it that easy?"

    Black Bear asked for confirmation from the fox mother again, not realizing that the ordinary handgun Inari held could kill him in one shot, especially since even Purple Spider’s armor-piercing rifle hadn’t been able to.

    "I'm about to shoot."

    Inari walked closer to Black Bear to ensure her shot would hit, since she had never actually fired a gun before. She only knew that pulling the trigger would release a bullet.

    (Where should I aim, Mobius?)

    Inari mentally reached out to the person who was more knowledgeable about firearms than her.

    (Aiming for the heart is the best. Even if you miss, it'll hit somewhere close.)

    Mobius immediately replied to Inari. She then carefully aimed the gun at the left side of Black Bear's chest. Black Bear, confident in his own defensive power and life force, cooperated well by sticking out his chest towards the gun. The gunshot echoed, resulting in minimal damage:

    10

    "Hahaha. Little girl, you've already lost. With just 10 damage, you can't kill me."

    Black Bear laughed at the damage figure, which was too insignificant to kill him. Unlike Black Bear, Inari quickly moved away from him, unable to stand his smell.

    (Go ahead, Mobius, shut this Bear's mouth. It’s stinky.)

    Inari sent a mental signal to her partner, stationed on top of a large tower with a new weapon ready for its first firing. The young man utilized his abilities that he initially thought were useless, using Gun Control to autonomously make the gun fire, and Repeat Shot to ensure the bullets struck the area already hit.

    He exploited a loophole in the system that defined an attacker by weapon possession, where lending wouldn't change the right to own weapons. Thus, he could use his skills on the small bullet mark Inari had left on the Black Bear’s chest.

    Gun Control + Repeat Shot

    The large barrel of the Gamma Mörser moved as though it had a life of its own, adjusting for a high trajectory due to the close range, requiring a significant arc. This method would usually result in low accuracy due to wind affecting the bullet. However, with Mobius’s Repeat Shot ability, he didn’t need to worry about that.

    "Gamma Mörser... Fire!!!"

    Boom!!!

    The large gun emitted a substantial amount of smoke as a giant bullet shot up into the sky with incredible speed.

    Black Bear, standing patiently as the one-minute timer agreed with Inari ticked down, suddenly heard a sound slicing through the air towards him. He scanned his surroundings but could not pinpoint the source of the noise until he looked up and saw a massive bullet, over 416 millimeters in diameter, heading straight for him, and the moment that bullet met its target,

    Boom!!!

    20,000

    The explosion sent plumes of smoke skyward, marked by a white light signaling the demise of Black Bear. He could hardly believe that the villagers possessed such precision in artillery, but regardless, he accepted his defeat and promised to adhere to the agreement made with Inari by obeying her orders, albeit after his respawn.

    The explosive sound boomed like a signal marking the end of this minor war. Now, the remaining forces of both Purple Spider and Black Bear formally surrendered according to the rules of war, becoming captives of the Erisé Village they had long ago declared war on.

    "Whoa, that cannon is really powerful."

    Gumiho, after dealing with Purple Spider's army, instructed the villagers to wait at the cliff to observe the situation. The villagers themselves were quite surprised to witness such a large cannonball hitting Black Bear like this. What surprised them even more was that Inari managed to handle both Purple Spider and Black Bear single-handedly, and Gumiho decimated Purple Spider’s forces so thoroughly that they hardly needed to intervene.

    (Is everything settled, Inari?)

    Möbius sucked the cannon into his left hand and mentally reached out to the fox mother, seeing only the smoke from the massive explosion from here.

    (Yes, Erisé Village has won the war. The villagers are currently cleaning up. What’s next, Möbius?)

    Inari received the signal from Picasso that they had secured victory and immediately relayed this to Möbius. The villagers were now gathering the war spoils, and the system had distributed experience points to all participants, significantly leveling them up.

    (Take the minions of Purple Spider and Black Bear back to the village. Let the villagers keep the spoils. See you back at the village, Inari, Miho.)

    Möbius communicated mentally with the fox mother. Afterward, he thoroughly inspected the Purple Spider's large tower to ensure there was nothing left of interest in Spider’s Tower, he prepared to head back to Erisé Village.

    At Erisé Village,

    Möbius was the first to return and discovered that the villagers who had not participated in the fight had gathered together to watch a replay of the recently concluded war on a large screen. At that moment, the screen zoomed in on a beautiful woman with emerald eyes, who was busy storing various colored potions into a pink lace bag.

    "Ah, that's Miss Inari's and Miss Gumiho's follower."

    When the villagers saw Möbius return to the town, they welcomed him warmly, even though no one knew that he was almost entirely behind the plan and that it was he who had fired the cannon at Black Bear. Möbius didn't care much about this lack of recognition, as the real hard work was done by the two fox girls and the villagers who had participated in the war; he had only played a small part in planning.

    "Hello, Inari and Gumiho should be back soon with the villagers who went to fight."

     Möbius smiled to the villagers who came to look after him, continuously thanking them for saving the village.

    Soon, the mother and daughter foxes returned to the village along with a large number of villagers who had gone out to help in the battle and many captives, mostly from Black Bear's army, as most of Purple Spider's forces had already been slain by Gumiho. As soon as the two fox girls saw Möbius, they quickly ran to greet him with excitement.

    "Möbius, I’m back. Look, I got a lot of potions."

    Gumiho showed him her bag, which was filled with numerous potions left over from both bandit groups, making Möbius feel slightly less guilty as at least she got something she liked in return.

    "Möbius, I’m back, here’s a souvenir."

    Inari returned in her perfectly beautiful state as if her earlier disheveled appearance had been an illusion. She handed Möbius the handgun she used to deal with Black Bear and the rifle from Purple Spider, a sleek modern black assault rifle, still smeared with someone's blood.

    "You two must be tired, thank you so much."

    Möbius smiled at his two beautiful fox girls, feeling fortunate to have encountered them in this world, even though they nearly got him killed like the statement that he was about to hear.

    "What about the reward we agreed on, Möbius? You should get a bonus too since I brought Purple Spider's gun."

    Inari said while giving Möbius a seductive look that made him swallow hard as he looked at her appealing figure under the kimono.

    "Mother, no."

    Gumiho immediately stepped in to stop her mother, which almost made Möbius feel relieved because...

    "Möbius must be really tired now, let him rest a bit and then we can share."

    Gumiho said with an innocent face, while Möbius found that the villagers around him were softly chuckling, and some men were looking at him with envious eyes.

    "Uh... it's not what you think."

    Möbius tried to explain to the villagers as Inari, knowing what to do, effectively nailed his coffin by clinging to his left arm, and Gumiho followed suit by clinging to his right.

    "Well, Mr. Möbius, I hope you have a good explanation about Inari."

    Picasso remarked about Möbius's deception that Inari would be in danger, whereas in reality, Möbius had sent Inari to Purple Spider intentionally. And if it were really true that Inari was about to be abducted, it would have been much easier if Gumiho had just helped her mother and fled.

    "First of all, I must apologize to you, Mr. Picasso, and the villagers of Erisé. However, I want the villagers to be able to protect themselves, because even though we managed to deal with the two groups of bandits, new groups may come. Therefore, I had to deceive the villagers into becoming more courageous. Because the villagers who participated in the war will receive a share of the experience points collected from the conflict with the two bandit groups, which will ensure that the level of the people in the village is high enough to defend themselves."

    Möbius explained gradually that the villagers' levels had risen from an average of 25 to 35 due to the enormous amount of experience points gained from the two bandit groups. Additionally, the villagers replaced their old gear with level 4-5 equipment from Purple Spider group.

    "Thank you so much, Mr. Möbius. I never thought you were a true traveler, but you have done more for this village than anyone else."

    Picasso said, deeply moved. Möbius had resolved almost every problem in the village, even though it meant risking one of his key people.

    "Look... that's Black Bear."

    One of the villagers pointed toward the town gate, where a giant man with his followers was entering to the village. This sight greatly alarmed the villagers, as they thought Black Bear's group had come for revenge. Contrary to expectations, Black Bear and his followers joined the captives already held and sat down on the ground, declaring loudly.

    "Alright, tell me what to do."

    Black Bear had come to surrender as promised. Though a bandit, he was also a warrior who honored his word. If he made a promise, he kept it. Several villagers who had previously been harmed by him drew their weapons, preparing for revenge.

    "Calm down, everyone. They are not bandits anymore. They've just come to surrender as promised."

    Möbius explained, noting that the war had disbanded Black Bear's bandit group, meaning they could no longer harm the villagers since they had not formally declared war on this village.

    "What's the matter, Mr. Black Bear?"

    Picasso asked the giant man with a mix of boldness and apprehension. Black Bear gestured towards Inari, implying that she should answer. Picasso looked at Inari, who then pointed towards Möbius. After Picasso connected the dots, he turned around once more to face Möbius who had been beside him from the start.

    "Mr. Picasso, would you accept the Black Bear's group as additional village defenders? Because if we leave them, they might turn back to banditry."

    Möbius observed Black Bear sitting on the ground. Judging by his willingness to return to the village unarmed, he could be considered a man of his word.

    "Sure, but I'd like them to disperse and work as apprentices for the artisans in the village. As you can see, we have many elders here, and I don’t want certain arts to die out with my generation. But it's up to them if they want to or not."

    Picasso stood there, contemplating. He personally wanted young men in the village since it was predominantly older folks.

    The Black Bear, after consulting his followers, quickly got an affirmative response.

    "Yes, we too want to stop being bandits. Please let us be part of the village defense forces."

    Black Bear bowed to Picasso. Originally, their group had formed to play this game without much serious intent, but various circumstances had forced them into banditry. Joining the village defense would ensure a salary from the village and a peaceful life for Black Bear and his group, including the captured followers of Purple Spider, who shared similar reasons for wanting to join with the Black Bears.

    "Thank you, Mr. Picasso, Mr. Black Bear."

    Möbius smiled at the two men who had once been enemies but had now collaborated to ensure Erisé Village could defend itself. Picasso was assessing the skills of Black Bear's followers to assign them to suitable jobs. Möbius noticed that Picasso had assigned Black Bear to work at his own place... a flower shop.

    "It looks like everything's wrapped up now, Möbius. Let's go eat something."

    Gumiho, who was standing drinking a yellow potion, hurried Möbius to get some food, as she had exerted a lot of energy dealing with the bandits today.

    "Yeah, let's go get something to eat. Well done, both of you."

    Möbius agreed, wanting to show his appreciation for the two fox girls. He gently patted Gumiho's head and reached out to pat Inari, but the mother fox dodged quickly.

    "Hey, Möbius, you trickster, that head pat doesn’t count. No matter what, you still have to face the justice of the system... from Inari."

    The cunning mother fox looked at Möbius with a gaze like a fox eyeing a little rabbit.