What Do You Mean My Cute Disciples Are Yanderes?

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After packing up our small camp, I prepared to continue today\'s journey with my two new companions.

"You don\'t mind us joining you, right?" Brick asked, rolling up his sleeping bag to be stored.

"Oh not at all, it\'s safer to travel with more people after all," I admitted.

Gale looked up at me, "I was going to ask that though… Why are you travelling alone, Jeff? It doesn\'t seem like you\'re armed either. You sure you\'re not suicidal?"

I smiled, hefting my backpack behind me, "I had a companion but we got separated, so we\'re reuniting back at the capital. As for weapons… I am better unarmed."

Brick looked me up and down, "Hoh? A martial artist? I never thought I\'d see one myself."

"I won\'t exactly call myself that, but it\'s close I suppose."

"But what about monsters? Surely you can\'t fight against them right? How would you deal with them?"

"I run away of course, hahaha!"

Both of them laughed at my joke while finishing our final preparations to move out for the day.

Gale had slung his bow and quiver behind his back first, then stopped himself before unslinging it to carry his backpack first, his quiver and bow ending up on his side instead.

Brick had made a joke about that, to which Gale just laughed it off.

With everyone ready, we continued on the road.

We walked at a comfortable pace along the road, it seems like they weren\'t in a rush to get to where they were going either.

"So… You guys didn\'t hire a carriage or horses? Both of you looked well off enough to afford them," I commented, looking at their gear.

Gale chuckled, "Ahaha, do we? We\'re actually just normal villagers you know?"

Brick wrapped his arm around his friend\'s shoulder, "Both of us are from Village A under Mistress Lowe\'s domain after all. Everyone knows how she treats peasants like us."

Village A? Is that really the name of their hometown? That\'s just sad.

"What about you, Jeff? Whereabouts this wretched place do you hail from?" Brick inquired.

"I\'m a wanderer actually," I told them easily, knowing that particular term from my previous life as a name for someone who lives a nomadic life. "Haven\'t had a place to call home for a very long time."

Gale nodded his head in understanding, "Ah… I see. No wonder you wanted to settle down in the capital city."

"But is this alright though?" Brick asked, looking at me with worry. "Without a form of identification, it\'s going to cost you quite a bit to enter the city you know? If you can\'t pay the gate fee they would just toss you out."

Oh yeah, I remember very vividly of getting thrown out on my ass the last time I was there when I had nothing.

"Don\'t worry," I patted my bag. "I may look like this but I\'ve at least earned a bit of money for myself. There won\'t be any problems with that."

The two of them nodded at my words, looking like they were thinking of something.

We continued walking for a short distance in silence before I turned to them again, "So what\'s your business at Alria town, if you don\'t mind me asking?"

Brick scratched his head, "Well… It\'s not really anything much. We\'re just meeting up with some of our mates for a job. You know, since living under Mistress Lowe means you\'ll be barely scraping by."

I can understand that, especially the part about keeping the job a secret from me yesterday since they\'re afraid I might try to butt in and claim a bit of the work and pay as well, resulting in less pay for them. They must have decided that it was fine to tell me since I already have a destination in mind.

But still…

"How long more do you think we\'ll reach Alria town?" I asked them.

Brick looked up at the sky, judging the sun\'s position with a squint, "I\'d say… Most likely we should arrive by midday tomorrow. Assuming nothing happens, of course."

"Hmm… We\'ll be going through a forest trail in a bit," Gale noted, pointing to the trees up ahead. "It\'s best that we be on guard."

I agreed.

The three of us entered the forest trail in a single file, Brick taking the front and Gale taking the rear with me in the centre.

The path itself was still wide enough for all three of us to walk side by side but it was just in case if any monsters showed up from the sides.

Brick stopped in his tracks suddenly, causing me to almost collide into him.

I frowned at his back, "Woah, what\'s wrong?"

"Shhh… You hear that?"

I perked up my ears and listened.

Everything was silent for a few moments before the sound of rustling leaves came from our left.

Brick drew his sword while Gale nocked an arrow on his bow, the three of us turning to face the source of the noise.

There was a loud growl and a group of seven green skinned monsters half my height came jumping out of the bushes, all of them holding some sort of short swords in their hands.

They seem quite surprised to see us waiting for them.

"Goblins… Seven of them… This might be tricky…" Brick grimaced.

"Not like we have a choice!" Gale growled, shooting his bow without warning.

The arrow struck home in the lead goblin\'s head, hitting it right in between the eyes and killing it instantly.

The other six goblins were so stunned by their comrade\'s sudden death that it gave Gale time to shoot a second arrow, killing another one.

Brick and I rushed up at that time just as they were preparing to engage us.

Brick slashed his sword in an arc, cutting off the head of the goblin closest to him while I rushed up to the goblin on the other side of the group.

It lifted its arm in an attempt to slash at me but I punted it like a ball, smashing it on a nearby tree trunk.

I didn\'t have time to see how Brick was handling the other goblin since two of them chose to attack me, obviously assuming I\'m the weaker one because of my unarmed state.

I spun out of the way from one of their stabs, stopping behind it to grab its head and smashing it to the ground.

The other one lunged at my but my hand caught it by its wrist, twisting it and forcing the goblin to drop the sword.

Its growls of pain were quickly silenced when I used the dropped sword to stab it in the neck.

I pulled out the blade and switched to an underhand grip, stabbing it downwards on the head of the goblin I had pinned underneath me.

The goblin I had kicked away tried to get back up on its feet but Gale\'s arrow quickly put it down again, ending the fight.

"Not bad Jeff, I\'m impressed," Brick praised, cleaning his sword with a cloth he retrieved from his tool belt.

"You two aren\'t that bad yourself," I complimented back, dusting myself off. "Good shot with that bow."

"Haha, thanks. We should toss those bodies off the road though, in case any other monsters come along."

I helped them toss the dead bodies into the bushes, trying my best to refrain from asking about the Monster Crystals or whatever they call it here.

With the bodies disposed of, we hurried back on the trail, hoping that we could go the rest of the journey without any more monsters jumping on us.