When I came out of the secret exit, I found that there were people waiting for me.
However, I wasn't worried seeing these people waiting for me.
I had already expected them to be here.
I didn't tell them to wait for me, but it wasn't as if there was any place that they could go.
There was a reason that they had been captured by these bandits in the first place.
When they saw us come out, one of the women came over for the rest of them.
It seemed like she had been chosen as their representative with the way that she came forward. But at the same time, I could see that she was the only one that was brave enough to come forward.
The rest of them were looking at the person slung over my shoulder with looks of fear.
Even if he had been knocked out and I was carrying him like luggage, they didn't lose the fear that they felt for him. That just went to show how much they had been tormented by him before this.
"Are you alright?" That woman asked while looking at Shaka with a wary look.
I grabbed Shaka's head and lifted it up for her before saying, "There's no need to worry about him, I already knocked him out."
Though the method that I chose to knock him out wasn't that normal.
Shaka's face was bruised and battered because of the method that I used.
I could see the look of schadenfreude that was in the eyes of the women when they saw the way that Shaka looked now, but there was no hiding the fear that was also in their eyes.
This was not something that they could overcome in a day or two.
This was the kind of fear that they would have to work through over a long period of time.
Still, I'd like to believe that it would help them seeing Shaka like this.
Once I was done showing them the state that Shaka was in, I took him off my shoulder and tossed him to the side.
When they saw this, the women all looked at the one that they chose to represent them. She saw the way that the others looked at her, so she said, "Why don't you kill him now? If you're doing it for the bounty, then it doesn't matter if you kill him now."
I turned to look at her to say, "It's more if he's brought back alive."
The moment that they heard this, the looks on the faces of the women immediately changed.
I didn't mind the way that they looked at me, I just simply turned around and said, "Though I feel like you would enjoy it more if you were able to see him being executed. It should feel good being able to see his execution with your own eyes."
I didn't bother turning around as I started looking in the rocks for the thing that I stashed.
After a while, I finally found it.
This was something that had taken a bit of time and effort to get, but I made sure to get it once I saw that there were these women trapped in this hideout.
Bringing this thing out, I said, "Alright, get in the back and try to squeeze in as much as you can. I couldn't bring a bigger one since it would have attracted attention, so you'll have to make due with this."
The women were all caught off guard when they saw this.
But the next moment, the way that they looked at me completely changed.
After all, the fact that I had brought a carriage meant that I had been expecting to bring something with me all along. And I just happened to save a bunch of women who had been kept as merchandise by Shaka and his men.
It wasn't hard for them to put two and two together.
I acted like I wasn't bothered by this, but it was a bit embarrassing when they stared at me like this.
With the one that they chose as a representative leading them, it didn't take long for them to load themselves into the carriage. In fact, it seemed that they had developed quite a sisterly bond between them during their time in captivity.
This kind of bond wasn't something that was a positive thing to develop in the first place.
After all, it wasn't as if the experience that they shared was a positive one.
They just lived through what they had been put through and had encountered people that were in the same situation.
With the carriage, it was easy for me to bring all of the women back to the town.
Though as for what would happen to them now…
"Do any of you have any relatives? Or do you have anyone that you can stay with?"
The women all shook their heads to these questions.
If it was anywhere else, that would be possible.
But in this chaotic wilderness, it wasn't as easy…In a place like this, it was very easy for one to lose their lives. And in most cases, people only cared about themselves, they didn't care about their extended relatives.
These women were mostly captured after the group that they had belonged to were slaughtered, so it was only natural that they wouldn't have anyone else to rely on.
"I hope that Vanessa will be able to find a place for them…"
In the end, that was my only choice. I didn't have the same resources as Vanessa and Reddick had and they seemed like good people, so I could only leave this matter to them.
When we arrived, it was clear that the two of them couldn't believe that I had not only taken down Shaka the Butcher, an infamous bandit, but I had also saved all of these women.
And I had been right about them.
"Let them settle and rest. I'll get some food for them."
Vanessa and Reddick didn't waste any time in taking care of the women that I rescued.