I grow stronger by making my wife happy.

Chapter 195: 195:A lot of victims.

Silver rolled his shoulder where the bullet had grazed him; the pain had all but disappeared.

”It looks worse than it is.” She examined the tear in his jacket before nodding in relief. ”You scared me for a second; I had thought it was a deep wound when I saw you get shot.”

”I noticed.” He smiled faintly. ”You looked ready to burn the whole town down.”

”I was considering it for a moment, then you had to continue fighting as nothing happened. You destroyed my fantasy revenge in seconds.”

That earned a quiet chuckle from Silver. The tension slowly eased. Only then did they turn their attention back toward the surviving bandits.

The giant leader remained unconscious where he had fallen. The female Rank Two contractor sat with her back against a wall, clutching her injured shoulder. She watched the pair with obvious caution, but she had long since realized there was no point resisting.

The third Rank Two had surrendered the moment the giant collapsed. His weapon now lay several meters away. The remaining Rank One bandits looked even worse. Some sat on the ground nursing broken arms or bruised ribs. Others simply stared at the road in silence. The confidence they had displayed only minutes earlier had completely vanished.

Silver slowly approached them. Every eye followed him. One of the younger bandits swallowed nervously.

”...Are... are you going to kill us?”

Silver didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he looked over every face. Some were frightened, others ashamed, and a few still looked resentful.

Finally, he spoke. ”Stand up.”

The bandits exchanged uncertain glances. ”...Now.”

One by one, they obeyed. Silver gestured toward the side of the road.

”Hands where I can see them. Don’t make me repeat myself.”

No one argued. Ravenna quietly moved behind them, making sure nobody attempted anything foolish.

Once everyone had gathered together, Silver’s expression cooled. He drew his gun without ceremony. The younger bandit took a half-step back.

[Phantom draw LV3 Activated.]

”W-wait...”

Silver fired twice. Two Rank Ones dropped before the rest could react. Panic erupted. A third tried to run. Ravenna’s blade took him through the spine. Silver methodically cut down the remaining Rank Ones. None of them managed a proper counterattack. Most never even reached for a weapon.

When the last of the lower-ranked bandits hit the dirt, only three remained: the female Rank Two, the third Rank Two who had surrendered, and the still-unconscious giant.

Silver turned first to the woman. She met his eyes for a brief moment, then looked away. He shot her once through the chest. She slumped against the wall without another word. The third Rank Two flinched hard but stayed where he was, hands still raised.

Silver walked over to the giant. The man was beginning to stir, a low groan escaping him as consciousness returned. Silver didn’t give him the chance. Two shots to the head ended it cleanly. The massive body went still.

Only one bandit remained alive. Silver restrained him carefully, hands behind his back, the knots tight enough to hold but not tight enough to cripple. When he finished, he stepped back and surveyed the scene. Most of the gang lay dead in the road. One Rank Two remained breathing.

Ravenna quietly walked beside him.

”You could’ve finished him too.”

Silver remained silent for a moment before answering.

”...Alive is more profitable. In limited numbers, that is.”

She looked at him curiously. He continued in a calm voice.

”The Association pays bounties for organized criminal groups. The bigger the gang, the larger the reward. And living prisoners provide information: routes, contacts, and other gangs. One survivor who knows the operation is worth more than a pile of corpses.”

Ravenna slowly nodded.

”I hadn’t thought of that.”

Silver smiled faintly.

”Dead criminals don’t answer questions. And they don’t lead investigators to bigger problems.”

She couldn’t argue with that.

After making certain the single prisoner was secure, the two of them began searching the surrounding area. The closer they looked, the darker the truth became.

Behind one abandoned grocery store stood three large tents hidden beneath camouflage nets. Inside, stacks of supplies filled wooden shelves, boxes of preserved food, medical kits, fuel containers, ammunition, replacement vehicle parts, and contractor camping equipment. The amount alone suggested years of accumulated theft.

Ravenna frowned.

”...There’s no way they bought all this.”

Silver nodded. ”They didn’t.”

He continued searching. Inside another building, they discovered racks filled with weapons: swords, spears, axes, and firearms. Many still bore contractor registration numbers while some even had names engraved into the handles.

Silver quietly picked up one particularly well-maintained longsword. Its blade remained spotless despite obvious age. Someone had taken good care of it. Someone who was probably no longer alive. Without saying a word, he carefully placed it back.

Further inside the building, Ravenna called out.

”...Silver.”

He walked over immediately. She stood in front of a large wooden crate. Inside lay dozens of contractor badges. Some bent, some scratched, and some still attached to broken chains. There were far too many.

Silver picked one up. The photograph showed a smiling young man, probably no older than twenty. The back of the badge contained dried blood. Ravenna’s expression slowly hardened.

”...How many people...”

Silver answered quietly. ”Too many.”

Neither spoke for several moments. Eventually, Ravenna carefully returned the badge. ”We should document everything.”

Silver nodded. He removed his phone before taking photographs from multiple angles. The storage tents, the weapons, the contractor identification badges, the roadblock, the restrained prisoner, and the bodies of the ones who would not be answering any questions. Everything. He made certain each photograph clearly showed what had been found; evidence. The Association would need it.

When he finished, Ravenna pointed toward another storage room.

”You should see this.”

Inside, wooden crates had been stacked almost to the ceiling. Opening the first one revealed dozens of beast cores. Mostly Rank One, quite a few Rank Two, and even three Rank Three cores rested inside carefully padded containers.

Silver quietly whistled. ”They’ve been robbing contractors for a long time.”

The second crate contained money. Large bundles of Sanctuary currency. Gold coins, Silver points, and even several Academy payment certificates. The third held jewelry, watches, personal keepsakes, letters, and photographs. Items with little monetary value but enormous sentimental worth.

Ravenna gently picked up a small framed family picture. A smiling couple stood beside two young children. She stared at it for several seconds before quietly placing it back.

”...I hate people like this.”

”So do I,” Silver answered honestly.

They continued cataloguing everything they found. Several abandoned contractor vehicles sat hidden behind one of the warehouses. Most had clearly been repainted, license plates removed and identification numbers scratched away. Even without inspecting them closely, it was obvious they had all been stolen.

Silver took additional photographs.

”This bounty...” Ravenna began. ”...it must be enormous.”

Silver nodded. ”It should be. Finding even one of them alive is probably worth considerably more than simply recovering their camp.”

He looked toward the restrained Rank Two.

”They’ve been operating long enough that the Association will want answers. He knows where stolen goods are sold, who supplies them, and if they’re connected to other gangs; the investigators will want that information.”

Ravenna smiled faintly.

”So... you were telling the truth.”

Silver looked at her.

”When?”

”When you said alive was more profitable.”

He chuckled. ”I rarely joke during work.”

She laughed softly. ”I’ve noticed.”

Together, they gathered everything that could reasonably fit inside their vehicle. Only the items without clear ownership. Unmarked supplies, fuel, medical kits, beast cores, ammunition and food. The Association would almost certainly classify them as recovered criminal assets anyway.

Personal belongings, contractor badges and anything identifiable remained exactly where they had been found. Silver wanted investigators to see the scene as intact as possible.

By the time they finished, nearly an hour had passed. Silver closed the rear compartment of the car before looking once more at the abandoned town.

If they hadn’t come through today, another inexperienced contractor might have. Perhaps a student traveling alone, perhaps an ordinary merchant, and perhaps a family.

He quietly exhaled.

”This world really isn’t divided between good people and beasts.”

Ravenna walked over until she stood beside him.

”No.” She followed his gaze toward the bound bandit. ”Sometimes... the monsters are human.”

Silver didn’t answer. He simply climbed back into the driver’s seat. There was still enough daylight left to reach Checkpoint Fifteen. They couldn’t afford to waste any more time.