Axel's gaze toward the men below, who were intimidated by Arianne's strength, was colder than ice. Slowly, he continued his words, convinced of the conclusion he reached.
"These guys... They're bandits."
"Bandits?!" Maria gasped in shock.
After all, bandits had been a threat to civilization for a long time. People who do evil without the slightest hesitation, almost as if it were second nature to them. It was Maria's first time seeing "bandits" in person, making her shock valid.
"Bandits...?"
But Arianne, who had done bandit annihilation at times long ago, was quite familiar with them. And the men before her, for one, didn't really look like "true" bandits.
"Yes, they are." Axel nodded.
Not even a hint of hesitation was left in his words.
After all... they perfectly matched what a bandit should look like in novels and manga he had read a long time ago! Rough appearance, clothes, and manner of speech. Actions that are always violent without a hint of concern for the other party. Finally...
"They stink, so they're no doubt bandits!"
Apart from the quest getting completed—without even letting these men up the walls—this was the main reason he labeled them as such. After all, they smelled worse than even zombies!
Like a pair of socks that were worn for three weeks, filled with sweat that seeped in, and was placed inside an airtight box for an extra week to "ferment."
A stench that none of the women possessed, not even Angela or Karen.
It was so unbearable for Axel that he felt as if his nose would fall off even without coming close to the group of men!
Of course, Arianne had no idea what Axel's criteria was.
"If Sir Axel says you're bandits, then you definitely are...!" But her trust in him made her believe his accusation instantly.
"Shit!"
Right then, the biggest man among their group stepped forward. "How the fuck did you figure that out?! We should've been acting as normal refugees well enough!"
"You're seriously asking that?" Axel sighed and took a deep breath—something he regretted soon enough. "Ugh... You should look in the mirror first and figure it out yourself!" He said, pinching his nose.
The man felt insulted, angry at Axel, and shouted back.
"Bastard... Come down the wall and fight me like a man!"
"Right! Come down here, coward!""Fight, fight, fight!""Scaredy cat! Weakling! Come down and fight!"
The rest even began cheering, booing at Axel, adding pressure. Such an act... displeased not only Axel and Maria on top of the wall, but even the one before them.
"Sir Axel..." Arianne waved her sword, pointing the sharp tip forward without a hint of hesitation. Her voice cold and emotionless. "Should I cut them all down?"
"Yeah..."
Although he was sure Arianne would do just that if he nodded then, Axel paused.
Currently, they're in a situation where manpower is needed. Although these guys are bandits, they're still humans. They should still be given the "opportunity" to atone... if he were the type of humanitarian person.
"Let's use them as bait." Axel grinned.
Axel's second quest was now completed, but his first quest was still far from over.
Thanks to Arianne's work, the count of the quest was now 2,300 zombies killed. But that's still far from the required 5,000 zombies. Furthermore, he needed to kill 50 Giant Zombies. If there are only sixteen of them, which would summon about two zombies each night, that would take almost a month to complete.
That's way too long!
"Thus, we'll use these trash-of-society to pad our count and summon more zombies."
Counting the "bandits" in, there should be about 36 of them present. That means there would be six Giant Zombies coming every night; it'd take about a week to complete, tripling the efficiency of the quest completion rate instantly!
With that in mind, Axel didn't delay.
He walked toward the far end of the bandits along the wall and, through the System Shop, bought more wall pieces. Then, one by one, he dropped them in front of him, creating a path forward of about five wall pieces before turning to the right.
The bandits, seeing someone call forth such large wall blocks instantly, dropping them with a powerful thud that shook the ground, were frozen in fear.
Stuck where they stood, trembling like newborn foals.
Arianne didn't even bat an eye, keeping watch over the bandits without moving. After all, she had already watched Axel do it once when he was making the current wall structure!
After a while, a space of about ten meters by twenty meters was made. It was a small area, but it should be large enough for the 20 bandits to have enough "freedom."
Of course, Axel didn't stop at just that.
The walls were roughly three meters tall, a height that they could barely reach if they stood on another's shoulders. Which also meant they could escape if they truly wanted to. Axel wouldn't be able to sleep at night if he let this fatal weakness of his "prison" alone.
Thus, he used the new function he just got from the quest: housing!
This function allows him to "craft" houses and "manage" them. The latter part, to be specific, allows Axel to modify any part of a "structure" to his liking.
Thus, he used Housing Management to begin modifying the walls he installed—which is weirdly considered under "housing" category too.
The walls had a trapezoid shape, but since the slanted side was outside the prison, there was no fear of them using it to escape. Instead, it would be a risk of zombies using the steep slope to climb over and reach the "bait."
Axel quickly addressed this issue by moving the slanted side from below to above.
It was like he added a "slanted roofing" or a "crown" that was slanting inwards, adding about three more meters to the total wall height. It also works as protection from direct sunlight during the day or when it rains, so it has multiple functions.
Of course, there's still a small strip of 2×12-meter opening at the top, allowing air to come in properly.
"Good, it's done!"
Axel nodded before jumping down and walking toward one wall of the newly built section—the one closest to where Arianne was. He placed a hand and transferred it into his inventory before calling to her, asking,
"So, Arianne... do you have any experience rearing bandits?"
Axel grinned.
Arianne herself had already figured out what Axel was planning for this group of men and showed a nasty grin of her own.
"I'm not really an expert, but I heard starving them for about three days to a week with just enough water to keep them alive would work the best. They should become meek after that."
"I see... Then, we'll reform them with food, is that it? Hehehe.""Yes, Sir Axel. That's the plan. Fufufu~!"
And as the two laughed to themselves, the bandits stared at them and shivered.
Little did they know that it was all too late for them by then.
Their fates were already sealed.
Later, only they themselves could tell which life was better. One where they feared zombie attacks each night, or one where they get "cared for" by Axel.