I only wanted to retire, but I ended up becoming an extremely popular character.

In a clearing in the woods, the campfire crackled.

Four armed bandits sat around a fire, gulping down wine from rough earthenware bowls and tearing into pieces of roasted meat.

As the alcohol took effect, their voices grew louder and louder as they boasted to each other about their "harvest" that day.

Not far away, a simple tent made of coarse cloth stood crookedly.

Inside the tent, two bulging burlap sacks were wriggling laboriously on the ground.

A pair of women's legs protruded from each sack, kicking helplessly, while their upper bodies were tightly bound inside the sack, like trapped pupae.

Just as the bandits were reveling in their drunken revelry and celebrating their "looted return," they were completely unaware that a troop of imperial soldiers had silently surrounded them from all sides.

"Bang!"

A gunshot suddenly pierced the sky.

The imperial army surged out from all directions, surrounding the bandits: "Don't move! Hands up!"

Because Zod had given orders to capture the bandits alive if possible, no one fired at the bandits.

Faced with the imperial army that suddenly appeared from all directions, two of the bandits, in a panic, lunged at the muskets beside them, attempting to fight back.

After a few short gunshots, they fell beside the campfire.

The remaining two men, their faces deathly pale, trembled as they raised their hands high: "No...don't kill me, spare my lives!"

One of the young bandits stared at his companion's still-convulsing corpse and stammered his explanation:

"I only joined a few days ago. The dirty work the boss did before had nothing to do with me. I only followed him and snatched two women, but I didn't even have a chance to lay a hand on them. Please, sir, spare my life!"

Zod ignored the noisy pleas for mercy and went straight to the tent.

Cassius followed closely behind, a look of relief spreading across his face, his eyes sparkling with pride.

"It must be them, those two important hostages!"

He crouched down and tore off the sacks covering the two hostages.

I thought the two familiar faces in the photo would be revealed.

But the result was a huge surprise to Cassius: the two kidnapped women were clearly not the same as the faces in the photos.

The two kidnapped women were simply dressed, had dark skin, and rough hands. Judging from their appearance, they were most likely rural women from the surrounding area.

It certainly couldn't be those two noblewomen who were the targets.

Cassius froze, the smile on his lips instantly turning to ice.

He removed the rag from the mouth of one of the women, hoping to extract some information.

But the moment the cloth was removed, the kidnapped woman cried out in extreme fear, "Please save us, sir! We're from a nearby village... these damned bandits..."

Cassius found it impossible to communicate with her. Her cries were making his eardrums throb, and he was already irritable, so he simply stuffed the rag back in: "Calm down first, I'll ask you some more questions later."

He then said to Zod, "These two hostages aren't the people we're looking for. It seems we can only pin our hopes on the two kidnappers now."

"What are you planning to do?" Zod glanced at Cassius.

"Get the information we want from them!"

Cassius sighed; the greater his hope, the greater his disappointment.

Zod paused for a moment, then gestured with his chin towards the two limp bandits: "Go ask them!"

"Hmm!" Cassius nodded, walked up to the two bandits, and asked, "Why did you kidnap them?"

"Yes, the boss told me to do it!" the young bandit said first.

But he was glared at by the bandit leader and immediately fell silent.

"I'm asking you!" Cassius pointed at the bandit leader.

The bandit pondered for a moment, then took out a wad of cash from his pocket and quietly slipped it to Cassius: "Sir, we're marriage brokers, it's a legal business!"

"You think you can test Imperial soldiers with this little bit of money!" Cassius slapped the bandit leader hard, knocking him to the ground. "Tell me! Why did you kidnap them? To satisfy your own desires? Or to sell them?"

The bandit leader replied, feeling wronged, "We satisfy our own desires first, then we sell!"

Cassius was about to slap him across the face again, which startled the bandit so much that he quickly covered his face.

He then asked, "How many times have you done this? When did it start?"

The bandits held up one finger: "Just this one, and you caught us as soon as it dried!"

Cassius raised his right hand, making a slapping motion: "Say it again, how many times?"

The bandit quickly changed his tune: "Three...three rise!"

Cassius drew his Imperial Sword and held it to the bandit's neck: "I'll give you one more chance. Confess honestly. I don't have the patience to listen to your lies."

His threats were very effective, frightening the bandits into confessing immediately: "I only did about 20... 24... I can't remember the exact number, I started doing it the year before last!"

Cassius continued his interrogation: "And in the last few days? To be precise, in the last five days or so, have you kidnapped any other women?"

The bandit answered decisively, "No, just the two of them!"

Cassius: "Tell the truth!"

The bandit didn't seem to be lying: "Really, there aren't any more. Another group trafficked women in the nearby villages, making the villagers very wary!"

Cassius: "Oh, are there any other human trafficking gangs nearby?"

Bandit: "Yes, but not anymore!"

Cassius: "Why?"

The bandit made a hand chop gesture: "I told them to go somewhere else and not get in my way, but they didn't agree, so I had someone take care of them."

Cassius smirked: "Pretty ruthless!"

"You flatter me!" The bandit suddenly realized that his answer was a bit problematic and quickly shook his head: "No, no, no, in times of war and chaos, it's normal to shed a little blood when running a small business."

Cassius continued, "When did you take them out?"

After a few seconds of recollection, the bandit said, "About a month ago! I can't remember the exact time!"

A hint of disappointment flashed across Cassius's face; the trail had gone cold again.

He pulled out the photos: "Have you seen these two women?"

The bandit stared at it for a few moments, then shook his head: "No!"

Cassius: "Think carefully!"

The bandit shook his head firmly: "In times of war, women dressed like noblewomen usually have well-trained guards, and their families are too powerful for us to mess with. We generally don't seek out women like that; the risk is too great!"

Cassius: "Are you sure?"

Bandit: "Confirmed!"

Then, Cassius grabbed the bandit by the collar and said to Zod, "Lieutenant, I'm taking this guy over there for some fresh air, we'll be back later!"

Zod glanced at Cassius, puzzled, and asked, "Hasn't everything been clearly explained? Why bother spreading rumors?"

……

……

About ten minutes later.

Cassius returned with the bruised and battered bandits: "Lieutenant, you can ask him now, he knows everything!"

"Yes, I know everything, I know it all too well!" The bandit huddled up, his lips twitching, his smile more painful than a grimace.

Zod tentatively asked, "Besides kidnapping those two women, have you kidnapped anyone else these past few days?"

Bandits: "We've kidnapped them!"

Zod: "When?"

The bandit struggled to recall: "6...no...4 days ago..."

Cassius slapped him across the face: "How many times have I told you? It was five days ago, in the morning!"

The bandit quickly replied, "Ah, yes, yes, it was five days ago, in the morning!"

Cassius pulled out the photos: "Are these the two women?"

"Yes, yes, yes!" the bandits replied repeatedly.

Zod glanced at the bandits who seemed to have PTSD; it was obvious that Cassius had used a powerful memory restoration spell on them.

He asked Cassius, "What's this?"