I return to the hostages and put down all the food, drinks, and potions I managed to get from searching through the mine.
"Here. Eat, drink, and use the potions. If you need anything, I will be over there."
They are no longer naked as I take some of the warm clothes the bandits stole from the caravan. The eight women look at the goods in front of them for a second and only move when I give them a nod and a small smile.
I walk to the nearby chair. I put Gae Buidhe on the table in front of me and, with a flick of my finger, I summoned the Chaos Gacha. Two silver tickets and one bronze ticket from doing this job. It is not bad.
I decided to use the bronze ticket first.
[Silent Steps]
|Uncommon Trait|
You naturally walk silently and softly like an assassin or a cat.
Really? Does the gacha really want me to use a stealth-based build? Don't get me wrong, it is strong, but I want magic. I release a sigh and use the first silver ticket.
[Tinker - Hacking]
|Rare Ability|
Allows you to build technological constructs or contraptions related to hacking, hijacking, and interfacing with other technologies.
I hold myself back from slamming my head on the table. Hacking?! This is useless! What can I even hack in this world?! The Dwemer construct?! Wait. Can I even hack those things? No. There is no way. They are powered by magic, not based on code or pure machinery like modern robots.
[Max Elephant]
|Uncommon Familiar|
Jujutsu Kaisen - An elephant shikigami that can conjure and spew large volumes of water from its trunk. It can also be used to crush targets with its weight by summoning it above targets—the power of shikigami scales with your own energy levels.
Huh. This one is great. I do not read or watch JJK until the end, but I watch enough to know that this familiar can be very powerful to me. The weight alone is something that I can use against my enemy if I summon it in the air.
I can feel its presence inside my mind. It appears that, just like the items, my familiar can wait inside a pocket dimension for me to summon. However, unlike the items, I can let them stay in that pocket dimension when I no longer need them.
It is perfect. I don't want others to notice a seven-meter-tall elephant walking next to me in the city or village. It will attract a lot of attention.
I snap from my thoughts when I see one of the women walk toward me. I blink for a second when I notice a familiar face. She is the captain of the Imperial Guards who is about to execute the Dragonborn.
"Thank you for rescuing us, stranger. Without you, I don't know what will happen to us."
"Sold to Slaver Trader, most likely."
"Aye. That is true. So, when do you think we can depart? I don't know if the sun has already gone down or not. The last time I saw the sun, it was slowly going down."
"It should be there, but it will soon go down. Are you guys ready? I am waiting for you guys."
"We are all set to go, stranger."
"Call me Sigurd. I am just an Adventurer searching for a goal in life."
"Well met, Sigurd. My name is Sisila, Captain in Imperial Guards."
We both shake hands, before she looks at the others and says.
"Can you take us to a nearby village or city? I don't think I can protect them myself."
"Aye. I can do that. In fact, I am here to help the innkeeper from Riverwood. I am escorting refugees from Helgen alongside Captain Tredes and seven others."
"Tredes alive?! Thank the divines for the small mercy. I thought he died when that blasted dragon released that fire."
"Aye. He is alive and well. He is very tired and has light injuries, but well enough to fight another day."
She nods and stands up, looking at me with a new light in her eyes. However, even with that new hope, I can still see pain and a bit of shame in her eyes.
"So, let us get going. It is better to have a conversation in Riverwood than here. We need to send someone to clean this mine, or some rogue mage or worse, a Necromancer, decides to use all of these corpses."
"Aye, you are right. Let's go."
I pick up Gae Buidhe and look at the others.
"Please follow me. I know some of you are still injured, but it is better to treat those injuries when we reach Riverwood. So, please hold on for now."
Seeing them nodding their heads, I take them to the back opening to the mine, where the bandits fortify it and try to hide the opening. I move all the things, and we leave the mine. I take a deep breath as I feel the fresh air. The others also follow suit, and we proceed down the abandoned pathway to Riverwood.
Lucky for us, there is nothing that requires my attention, and we arrive at Riverwood smoothly. The others look at me and the group of women coming with me in surprise before Hadvar approaches us.
"Captain Sisila!"
"Hadvar!"
Sisila walks toward Hardvar and greets him.
"Hadvar! It is good that you are alive."
"Me too, captain. Me too. Let's take you to the inn. We can take care of the others back at the inn. Lucan already prepared a bunch of potions to help with the injuries, and then you can tell us what is happening."
We walk to the inn and see that the others are relaxed. It appears that their body has finally turned off the fight-or-flight status, and they can finally relax. I watch as Tredes walks toward us with a bunch of potions in his hand. Sisila greets him and starts to explain the situation to him.
She tells him how she got ambushed, captured, and even molested by the bandits before I came and rescued her. She also explained how the bandits are a branch of the bigger bandit group from Riften.
Huh? Now that I think about it, these bandits have better equipment than bandits in my memory. They do not use leather armor; instead, they use iron armor. It is not steel, but iron is still expensive, and they are using it?! That is suspicious. Usually, only the leader of the group uses good armor, but all of them use iron armor while the leader uses steel armor.
"I see. I will inform General Tullius about this matter when we depart for Solitudes tomorrow. Will you come with me, Sisila? Or do you want to stay here for a few more days?"
She shakes her head and turns to me. I blink at her action and look at her in confusion.
"I have been thinking since we left that mine. I owe you my life, and I want to repay you for what you have done for me. However, I don't have anything to thank you for what you have done for me. So, I decided to follow you. I would like to accompany you on your journey as your companion. I do not deserve the position of a housecarl, but please let me be your Shield Companion. Let me be your protector in your journey for the rest of your life."
I look at her for a second with a shock on my face. Is this part of the [Heroes Reward] trait?
"Are you sure about this? I am not the type of person to stay in one place. I will explore Skyrim, entering all sorts of problems. Are you sure you want to follow me?"
"As long as you do not break the law, I will follow you. In fact, I am more than happy to follow you in a fight. I also want to grow, and if what you are planning is true, it is as if a dream is coming true."
I look at her for a few seconds and nod my head.
"Very well. I accept you as my Shield Companion, Sisilia. Let us explore Skyrim and uncover all the wonder it has to offer!"
"Yes, my lord! From now on, my life is yours!"
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