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Bandits.
Indeed, the classic bad guys of every fantasy medieval-setting Isekai, bandits are outcasts, people without a home that wander through the wild and assault villages, plunder, kill, and… do the other classic stuff such as violating women or enslaving people to sell for more money.
Yeah, the type of scum you can always find in every fantasy world I guess.
Even in these icy lands, there are several bandit groups. And who else to enlighten us about it than our trusty old grandma, Draugann
"Bandits… Well, as I had told you before, I used to travel this region as a hunter and also as an explorer… I had actually run away from my town like Benladann… In my travels, I found many of these bastards, one of my friends died due to them, but I managed to never get caught by them… Usually, these bandits are weak, most of them are Rank 1 Initial Stage, the boss might be Middle Stage or Upper Stage, but they are barely managing. People often believe that Bandits are fearsome, but that's only if you're common folk, anyone with a bit of strength can blast them out of the orbit… I know because I used to slaughter them with my magic back in the days, avenging my friend… This is why Bandits never got near the town, I just killed all those that lived near us," said Draugann.
Damn, grandma, calm down.
I guess my respect for her has increased. If she really just killed so many bandits ruthlessly, then she's a hell of a badass grandma.
"T-That's… you really killed a lot…" said Benladann.
"Yeah, and I would do it again. I just detest bandits with my very soul… But I wouldn't take away your prey from you… These guys… Oh? They have slaves… Bastards…" sighed Draugann.
We glanced at the bandit camp from above the ice fortress, hiding beneath the white clouds passing by. The camp of bandits had around 15 of them, they were roasting a small ice wolf and a few rat monkeys they caught, all of them seem like infant monsters so it's nothing impressive.
They are all, of course, Ice Giants, they all have ugly faces, well, most of them, and are filled with scars. The majority has a missing eye or an arm, I guess they really do fight with whatever they can against the wild monsters around.
The camp also had… slaves.
They had around five women and three men with them, they were all tied with chains and wearing strange collars that seemingly were the cause of their enslavement.
"Slave Collars are not cheap, but I suppose they might have gotten them by stealing a passing unprotected merchant caravan. They suppress a person's will and magic, and leave them weak and to the will of the master… Of course, they only work with super weak people, if Benladann were to wear one, she could easily destroy it with her mana alone," said Draugann.
"How awful…" sighed Benladann.
"If there are bandits here though, there might be a bigger village nearby, or maybe they already plundered it and destroyed it…" sighed Draugann.
Perhaps to Draugann, these were mere trash, but to me, they were a treasure!
Why? Because I will be able to kill them without remorse, no one will miss these assholes anyway. And what's best? I can assimilate their bodies after eating a bunch and I would be able to take into an ice giant form using my Transformation Skill!
Though… Will I get their ugly faces?
Huh… That's something I fear… wearing other people's faces instead of my own.
But wait, wouldn't that also be rather convenient? If I could eat someone, convert into them, ad then infiltrate a place… It could certainly be useful.
But for now, let's go with simple things.
"So what are you planning on doing?" asked Draugann.
"We'll wipe them out and save the slaves, as easy as that," I said.
"Good words, let me aid you, I want to freeze some," said Draugann, this old grandma was Rank 2 after all, so she packed a punch.
"I will go too! I want to practice… killing other ice giants, so I can be prepared for the future… Where we might fight even more people," said Benladann.
"That's the spirit, don't worry, they're all trash, so there shouldn't be any guilt," I said.
"Haha… Yeah, but it still will be a bit strange, well, I have to be brave. For the kids!" said Benladann.
"That's a good mindset. In this world, only the strong thrive, Benladann. The weak are killed, enslaved, and eaten. We have to be both strong magically, physically, and mentally… This will be a nice test," said Draugann.
This old lady had slaughtered hundreds, so I guess she has really been forged in this world with a will of steel… Maybe this is why she adapted so well to us… especially of me, a talking dragon.
We decided to quickly descend now, while the kids were taking a nap, we left Fuyu taking care of them for the most part, while we brought Frost, Yuki, and the twin crows with us so they could get some practice.
As we landed over the snow, we slowly began to move stealthily, but I was way too big, so the moment I were to get any closer, they would definitely notice me, even with my size alteration to three meters tall…
So I decided to simply assault them with everything we had.
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The Bandits were minding their own business, mostly talking with each other, eating the grilled monster meat, and living the classic bandit life… Completely unaware that a giant dragon was about to come here.
"Hm, ice wolf meat again? Come on boss!" said a slender ice giant.
"Eat it and shut up! This is all we could hunt today. Whenever we get into town we can sell the slaves and get ourselves a better meal… God damn, I want ale," sighed the "boss" a burlier ice giant, of Rank 1 Middle Stage, he wore an eyepatch on his left eye.
"Hm, I wonder if we can play a bit with the slaves though?" asked another.
"Don't touch the merchandise!" roared the boss, as he ate a large chunk of grilled meat.
"But we haven't gotten any women in some time already, boss…" sighed a slender ice giant.
"And what did I told you? When we get back into the fucking town we can get you some whores, but for now, don't touch them! Don't you remember the last time? Because you guys touched the girls with your filthy hands, their price went down! They wanted virgins! VIRGINS!" roared the boss.
"Okay…" sighed the bandits, if they were to enrage their boss they would get a boulder thrown into their faces, as he was an Earth Attribute Mage.
They had gotten these slaves by chance when they found a family of explorers that were going around the wilderness, probably gathering cultivation resources and hunting monsters to sell in the town and get by…
However, as a family…
"Oi, but there's a mom and a dad there, the mom is already not a virgin…"
"Yeah, what about that bitch?"
"…Ah, I guess you can take that one but don't be too rough or the price will decrease anyways!" said the boss, as the ice giants smiled eerily and glanced at the woman with predatory glares.
"G-Get away from me…!" she cried, although she could not move.
"Don't touch my wife!!!" roared the man at her side, although he could not move an inch either.
"Gehehe… don't worry, we'll bring her back right away-"
SLASH!
"Gueggh…?!"
However, out of nowhere, a giant ice blade pierced one of the bandit's stomachs…
The other bandits glanced with horror… at the figures that emerged from the forests nearby.
"Eh?!"
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Please make sure to check out my other novels, I am sure that you will like them!
My World Traveling System: The Harbinger of Death: A Story about a young man who is suddenly struck by lightning while sleeping with his phone, which awakened his ability and the World Traveling System!
Demon Queen Rebirth: I Reincarnated as a Living Armor?!: A Story about a Demon Queen who lost everything, in the last battle, her soul was split in half and she was reincarnated twice in her third life.
Vampire Overlord System in the Apocalypse: The Story of a young and bullied man born in an apocalyptic world, who is given the chance to become a Vampire and dominate this world as he pleases with a malicious and scheming mind!
Epic of Summoner: Supreme Summoner System in the Apocalypse: The Story of a young web novelist who is suddenly thrown into an interdimensional apocalypse but given a powerful System that lets him summon his novel characters to aid him!
Epic of Vampire Dragon: Reborn as a Vampire Dragon with a System: The Story of a boy born with strange and mysterious powers who was held captive and used as a guinea pig through his entire life, until the day he died and suddenly reincarnated as a Vampire Dragon Chimera in a completely different world, created by an insane Elder Lich that claims to be his father!