Shion sprints past the guards, that get startled by the sudden noise of someone rapidly approaching from behind, only to see the woman they left behind passing them.
"Wait, you shouldn't- " The guard can't finish that sentence before noticing it's too late, Shion is completely focused on reaching her target. Once in the camp, the bandits are already picking up the last chest on a worn old wagon, only powered by a single horse. The fire is already put out, and only a couple torches are lighting the cargo. Shion unsheathes her sword, and with no previous warning, beheads the giant bandit that hit her on the arm.
"Hey, remember me?" She's visibly upset, she's been made fun of, even if they're right and she's an amateur with not much experience under her belt, she still has her pride to do what she's doing. "Sorry about your friends, I really didn't expect you to leave the other one to bleed with no arm back there, alone in the woods. There are wild animals in the area, you know?" She starts walking really slowly towards the last bandit, making sure he can feel the terror of being left alone, in the dark, with what can only be considered more dangerous than a wild animal, even more dangerous than a mad Xionitze (Something close to a bear, with husks in his mouth and spikes on the back, highly territorial and aggressive).
"Wait, I can lead you to Spider" The bandit tries to negotiate "I can let you have all the loot, you can keep it" He offers a bribe "Even better, you can return it, you'll be a hero for the town" He keeps trying to save his skin, whilst taking his knife again from his back "I can tell you where they hide, when they meet, and how to make sure they don't notice you're not one of us" The bandit starts walking around, trying to circle into safety, reaching the horse might give him a chance to escape, and alert the others.
"Enough talking, you had your chance" Shion notices he's moving closer to the horse, but the wagon itself is blocking her way to the animal, instead, she starts walking towards the bandit, even if that means allowing him to get closer to his escape route.
"Don't get me wrong, I was talking alright, but my associate, he made me keep talking to distract you, he's a big man, you know, I wouldn't-" He doesn't finish before jumping into the horse, with the knife, he cuts one of the ties of the wagon, trying to reach the second one. Shion jumps into the wagon as soon as she sees him on the horse, trying to reach for him, when the second tie is cut, she almost falls down the horse, but is able to run her arm around the bandit's neck, bringing him down with her.
A loud thud sounds in the ground when both of them fall down, Shion tries to subdue him into surrender, but the bandit struggles and wrestles for his freedom. Finally Shion looses grip with one hand, and the bandit doesn't lose time and punch her with the back of his fist right in the face. The already angry Shion doesn't think about it, and rises her fist, lading a strong punch into his stomach, which forces the air out of his lungs, nearly rendering him unconscious. Reaching out on the wagon, Shion takes the rope that secured the horse into the vehicle, and ties the bandit's arms behind him; with another piece of rope, ties his feet also on his back, securing them into the hand's rope.
A couple minutes later, as Shion has finally tied the bandit, the guards arrive into the place "We will take him into custody for interrogation, step back" One of the guards command.
"Nice, you arrive late and take all the credit, I don't think so" Shion replies back.
"You're going against your majesty orders?" The guard isn't particularly happy about the denial.
"Wait, she's a mercenary, I saw her badge. You're from the southern island, is that correct?" The guard that interrogated her before intervenes in the conversation. "Only the southern island has a wolf carved into their mercenaries' badges" He states.
"Yes, I am from the Nait island, what about that?" Shion is visibly (and audibly) upset by this point.
"You made a long journey to get here, traveler. Please, let us escort you back to town, we will report to the association what you have done" The guard offers a deal before getting any of these two more upset than what they already are.
"Fine, but the reward is mine alone" Shion agrees reluctantly "Did you also checked on the other one? There was one more, alive, back where you found me" She questions about the bandit that was bleeding, if he survives might be a threat and warn other bandits about the guards' attack.
"Yes, we sent a healer after we saw you passing next to us. We thought he was dead, before, but the captain wanted to make sure" The guard confirms that they took care of it, better late than never.
Shion and the guards secure the wagon with all the looting the bandits made in the area, walking back with the now prisoner to the town. As soon as they reach the entrance, another guard is waiting on the outside, two more are clearly on duty at the gate, and few more are mounting guard on the towers that surround the town's wooden walls. When they're close enough, the guard presents himself with a formal salute, and reports that the bandit is not dead, but also might not make it, will depend on how he responds during the night. Seems like he's already on the local medic office, with a guard on duty in place, just in case he's needed there. The reporting guard is dismissed for the night, while the rest keep walking to the catacombs, where they had a couple cells to leave the prisoner for the night.
"We will send a guard with you to the association, we know you won't want to wait until tomorrow" The guard signals one of his companions to get closer "Go with her and report the situation and resolution to the Mercenaries' Association. Also, make sure to go with her to the inn, tell them that tonight's' tab is on the guards" He instructs the guard, before nodding to Shion and turning around to keep going his way.
"But sir, she's a-" The guard can't finish her sentence before being cut off by the guard again.
"Don't you dare" He says in a serious tone, with a louder voice, before calming down to his usual tone "She's a mercenary, and like every other race, she deserves some respect until she does something to prove us otherwise" After saying this, he keeps walking to finish his job. The guard appointed to the simple job of reporting the Association, still has doubts in her mind, is clearly visible in her eyes, that can't help but watch Shion with fear, before darting back into the ground, back to Shion, back to the ground. She's like a kid next to a big dog, fearing to be bitten.
"Never understood why people fear me, not like I'm going to BITE" Shion rises her voice at that last word, while mimicking the bite of a dog, crouching a bit to get on the guard's elbow level, and laughing loudly at the reaction of the guard, whom can help but squeal as she moves to the other side trying to escape Shion. "Let's get this over with, so you can get back home, or to your post, whatever you have to do"
She wasn't lying tho, she didn't understand why people fear her wherever she goes, is like she has to prove herself more than anyone else before people can have some level of trust with her, not giving her the benefit of the doubt before being judged. At any rate, she doesn't mind, for her, any mercenary has to prove his or her worth before being trust worthy, and she's no exception, it just makes it harder to trade, and to get a place to sleep sometimes.
As both of them arrive to the Association, the place is mostly empty, besides being night time, the town is not exactly a lively place, is a farming town after all, not many people decide to be a mercenary willingly, unless their economic situation forces them to. Local folk will cultivate the ground before resorting to be a blade for hire, and those who can decide early enough, will sign for guard duty, the payment isn't that high, but the risk is considerably lower than a mercenary can face sometimes. The clerk of the association here is a small man, almost looks like a kid, local people know him by name, proven by the fact that the guard greets him casually "Hey Jake" which makes Shion realize that none of the guards asked for her name.
"Oh, guard Eren, what brings you to the Association?" Jake inquiries with genuine curiosity, is not often that the guards set foot inside the Association, other than to arrest someone, or if the situation requires to hire a blade that cannot be tracked back to the guards.
"I was sent to inform about a job, it seems. About some bandits and this lady here" The guard, Eren, signals towards Shion, which quickly makes Jake realize what job is she talking about.
"Oh, the job about the disappearances, right?" He questions the guard.
"How do you guessed it so quickly?"
"Is not every day that we see such uncommon rac-" He stops mid sentence, realizing what he's about to say "-sword..." he clears his throat "around here" He points at Shion's greatsword, a green-ish metal sword with runes etched on it, perfect for both physical and magical damage.
Shion looks back at her sword, clearly excited that someone noticed the blade for once, but tries to keep her composure to not seem like a little kid proud of being praised for her toys.