No More Pain For This Villain.

"What's the dream that's forcing you away from your friends?" I asked, and Anabelle flinched at the question and looked at me with a sad expression.

Silence

There was an awkward and long pause, like she really didn't want to answer.

"You don't have to tell me if it makes you uncomfortable." I said, "It's no use if she doesn't want to be open about her problem.

"No, it's not like I am uncomfortable, but it's quite embarrassing to tell you about my dream." Anabelle's expression immediately changed from a sad one to a shy one.

"Well, I promise I won't laugh,even if you tell me that your dream is to be something like a housewife or something." I think being a housewife is a tough job in itself.

"Promise you won't laugh or make fun of me." Anabelle brought her pinky forward—is it something like a pinky promise?

"I won't, I promise." I knotted my pinky with her to show my agreement.

"It's... I want to be a teacher." Anabelle said, A smile made its way to my face, and I felt the corner of my lips curl up.

"Look,you are laughing now; I knew it! I am not befitting of being a teacher." Anabelle teared up a little; this side of hers is cute.

"Nope, I am not laughing; I just thought that it was a wholesome dream." I expressed my honest thoughts. I can't imagine Anabelle being a teacher, but I do admire the fact that she has a dream and is working to achieve it.

"Really?" Anabelle asked, She doesn't believe me. I think someone literally and brutally made fun of her goal, causing her to lose so much self-confidence.

A certain guy named Ali came to mind when I tried to think of who that someone might be.

"I think it's a good thing that you want to become a teacher, but I still don't get why it is bothering your friends." I still don't know.

"It's a long story; do you want to listen?" Anabelle asked, 

"Yeah, but before that, I think we should change the location to somewhere else." I suggested Anabelle, and she nodded along.

I looked around and saw a cafe across the street. I gestured to Anabelle if she wanted to head there, to which she agreed.

From the outside, the cafe is not that big, and there are a few flower plants in front of the cafe, making the entrance look good.

We walked into the cafe. The smell of roasted coffee beans saturates the air.

The cafe had a very cosy and warm atmosphere. The clock on the wall reads 4:00 p.m.; it's been four hours since we started our date.

"Sir,there's a table free there." The waiter got us a table in the corner; it's a good spot for some private talk.

"We'd like to have black coffee and some berry-filled cookies." I placed an order for both of us.

After a short while, the waiter brought us the food. I reached out and grabbed the warm beverage, bringing it to my lips.

"Now I think you can start." I said, Anabelle took a sip from her coffee and placed the mig back.

"It was about a year ago now. I never really had an issue with being a mercenary. If I had to say then, I quite liked my job, exploring new places, travelling with my friends,a lot of adventure, but until one day I had an accident." Anabelle paused a little, and her next word baffled me a little because she said, "I killed someone."

"Huh." I could imagine what kind of stupid expression I was making.

......

Anabelle POV.

It all started a year ago.

"Hey Ana, make sure you don't sleep while you're on your nightshift." Ali jokes as he prepares his own tent.

"Shut up, who do you take me for? I can go without sleeping for like three days." I said, "Well, of course it's a lie.

"Well, I can switch with you if you want to since I know you are a big sleepyhead." Ali teased that he seems to be a jerk most of the time, but he also cares for the person close to him.

"Don't worry about me; just go inside." I was not going to give him my share of work this time.

"Haa fine, just make sure you don't dozz off, or otherwise some bandit might come and kill us all in our sleep." Ali enters his tent. He worries a lot. We've been travelling for like years now, and the times we've actually encountered bandits can be counted with fingers on my single hand.

 The insects that were screeching from the tall grass that covered the earth all around us soon vanished, and silence descended upon my surroundings.

We've been trekking through this forest for the past two days, and now we're headed to the following town.

Despite being a sizable forest, it is home to few notable mana animals, and those that do exist are of the D rank or lower.

"It's peaceful here." Today, it's my duty to be awake at night and keep an eye on any incoming danger. I sat near the campfire as I gazed at the starry night.

I've always desired the freedom to tour the entire nation, and this mercenary job gives me that opportunity.

Me, Barbara, Ali, Zark, and Henry have been close friends since we were young children. We created this mercenary team because we had always fantasised about embarking on an extraordinary journey together.

We've already made the entire journey to the kingdom of Grav, and-

Whistle*

"Huh?" I heard a whistling sound.

I rose up from my position and used mana to refine my senses.

Rustle. 

I looked back as I saw a shadow pass by from behind the tree, its outline resembling a human body.

"Guys !!" I cried out loudly,

"What just happened! Anabelle, is everything Okay?". Ali was the first to jump out of the tent; he was half naked and wearing only shorts.

"This area has bandits. Wake everyone awake, please." As I saw Ali sprint into everyone's tent, an air spike developed over my right palm.

To join me, everyone emerged from the tent.

"Where are they?" Henry asked as he pulled his sword out of the scabbard.

 "There's one over there," I said. As I said this, I turned to scan my surroundings for any further bandits.

"All of you, stand in a circle with your backs to one another. Keep an eye on the area in front of you, and if you notice any movement, strike quickly."Henry takes charge since he is an effective leader in this kind of scenario.

"Look that way over there!" Zark gestures in one particular direction.

I looked over there and gulped for oxygen. Men with worn brown cloaks and scarves that only partially exposed their eyes could be seen.

"There are twenty of them; they don't appear to be strong, so it'll be easy; the only problem is that they are more in numbers." Ali said,

"Attack!!" The bandits shouted as they sped up towards us as a husky voice resounded in our ears.

"I'll destroy them!" As the group's brawler and an expert in hand-to-hand combat, Barbara charged into the bandit horde like a charging bull. She had no trouble dealing with the few bandits that were present.

"I'll catch those ones." I ran towards the bandits who tried to enter our tents to loot them.

When I said "catch," I literally meant that, until now, whenever we had an encounter with these kinds of bandits, we caught them and handed them to the authorities.

Once you've defeated them, it's usually simple to restrain them because they aren't usually that strong or determined to do anything; no one needs to be killed.

Steps

When I got close to the tent, the bandit trying to get in was hit by an AIR spike that I fired.

"Aa!" Due to the impact, the robber flew off. Even while my spells aren't particularly lethal, they can be helpful in the battle at a distance.

Taking this. When I raised him into the air and flung him to the ground, I generated a tornado of wind.

"Aaahh!" He winced in pain. I think this should be sufficient. I walked up to him and said,

"Hey surrender and-" I halted my words as I sensed something behind me.

"Anabelle!" Ali's voice made me turn around, and I saw a tip of the blade imbued with mana passing right from the front of my nose. It was close.

Zoop

I jumped back, and the bandit sneaked behind me as he tried to ambush me.

"Sh*t," the bandit cursed as he missed the chance. Are they really trying to kill?

The bandit attempted to flee from me, but I was already holding a wind blade. Henry rushes in the direction of the bandit before I can cast my spell. I'll aim for the leg to stop him from running.

'He will be caught by Henry.' I thought, but in the exact opposite way.

"Ugh," I say. The bandit's corpse dropped to the ground as Henry slit his throat.

I saw that and the world halted in front of me.

"He committed a murder."I stood where I was frozen in place.