As Charlotte walked alongside her comrades, she couldn't help but wonder just what was going on.

Those people.... they were amazing.

They were outstanding.

She once watched these people take on a group of rapists without even blinking an eye, but this event was far more impressive.

Charlotte had completely forgotten about any sense of guilt she had about killing those humanoids earlier.

She was too encompassed by the domination that these four held over even this entire army of lizardmen.

By the looks of things, these lizardmen were already in total submission to the antiheroes even before they had arrived, and with just a few words, they were able to get Ploritan to agree to the condition of absolute slavery.

Was that wrong?

Her mind told her yes, but her gut told her no.

Her gut told her that there was something much greater in the actions of the antiheroes than her own view of slavery.

There were no 'slaves' per say, in the Empire, however there were servants who were indebted to their masters, and these servants were treated the same as slaves. There were also underground slave operations, but these were illegal and kept on the low, so Charlotte had no knowledge of their existence.

As a matter of fact, Melody at one point in her life had a job to recapture a group of escaped slaves. However, this was hidden deep into the past of Melody which her comrades didn't know about her.

While their treatment may be good or bad depending on the master, there was nothing within the system of servitude itself which Charlotte disagreed with, as it was common practice.

Of course, this depended on the individual treatment.

Charlotte had a great sense of justice, and did not wish to ever see servants being abused by their masters.

But she felt that the people in front of her were not the type to abuse their servants, but rather to reward them and offer them everything so long as they remained loyal.

They had killed a lizardman in the crowd, and Charlotte had no idea how to feel about this.

It was possible that this lizardman had a family.

Why did they kill him?

To Charlotte, it seemed like there was no reason, however....

'There must have been some sort of reason.... I must ask them....no, even if I don't ask, I am sure that there is some good reason which I'm not smart enough to see.'

Yes.

These people wouldn't do something pointlessly.

They terrorized the members of the resistance in order that they would listen to the random group which had invaded, without fighting back.

The only reason Charlotte and her group had been able to enter and exit without killing anyone, was because they had terrorized those people.

Charlotte didn't accept this at first, but now she had come to see this as the truth.

Whether or not that was actually the case.

(It wasn't)

Charlotte was just a regular girl.

She didn't have any sort of sad or traumatic backstory like Pierre or Melody did.

She was born to a poor family, and after a while, left her household to make a living for herself.

Eventually she found herself working at a bar as a waitress. It was a dead end, minimum wage job, but she was at least able to get by.

However, Charlotte was weak.

She knew that she was nothing more than a weak girl who was doing what she could.

Every time rowdy customers would come around to the shop, she wouldn't be able to prevent them from fighting.

She tried her best, but at the end of the day, she couldn't do anything.

Her owner would always yell at her after the shop would be left a mess, and she would have to clean it up and the damages would come out of her own paycheck.

It was an abusive work situation, but what could she do? She bit her lip and pressed onward.

Charlotte was also a beautiful girl, and so she would often be targeted on her way home.

One day, on the walk home, a good looking, muscular man seemed to be following her from behind.

It was 4 am, after she had finished her late shift at the bar, and Charlotte started to pick up the pace as she speed walked to escape the man.

However, when she started to display a sense of nervousness, the man jumped on the opportunity and began to chase after her.

Charlotte burst into a sprint, however her waitress uniform was not meant for running, and she had to duck behind the corner of an alleyway and try to escape the sight of the man.

However, as she turned a corner, she ran into yet another muscular man. She bumped into him, falling backwards.

Behind the man stood a girl with long red hair. She wore leather armor, and carried a weapon that looked like a wand with orbs at each end. She had cold, dead eyes, and was staring straight at Charlotte.

"Oi, what's the rush? Where are you going in such a hurry at this time of the night?", the man asked, however soon enough, the one who was chasing Charlotte rounded the corner like a thirsty dog.

The red haired woman dashed forward, noticing the excessive malicious intent of the man, and spun her wand multiple times like an acrobat, while hitting each and every one of his vital points.

Lower left rib. Middle right side. Blow to the back of the neck, and as the man fell forward, she finished it off with a direct hit to the back of his head. The mans head plopped to the ground as he fell unconscious.

Charlotte looked back in amazement.

"Oh... thank you very much.... that man was chasing me, and I didn't know what to do..."

The burly man simply smiled and sighed.

"Well, that's no problem. We don't need creeps like him roaming the streets anyways. Would you like us to escort you back to your home?"

"Ah, that would be great, thank you... but can I ask for your names?"

The man nodded.

"I am Oliver... and this girl... well, her name is Melody, but she is commonly known as the Scarlet Fever."

After this encounter, Melody started attending the bar which Charlotte worked at regularly.

Charlotte always wanted to speak to her, however she never found the opportunity to. She was just so... unapproachable.

Until the fight between Lance and Pierre.

----

Lance looked around him.

'Just what is going on... were marching.... with lizardmen....'

Lance checked his pockets.

He had stocked up on herbs and ingredients, and had enough time last night to prepare a number of basic supplies before he got drunk.

'They're all still here... I guess even when I'm drunk, I can't let go of my concoctions... haha.'

Lance was not as surprised right now as perhaps he should have been.

What the antiheroes had done just now was amazing beyond belief, however... for some reason, he felt like he expected something as grand as this.

'I suppose my expectations for them were really just that high...'

Lance, like Charlotte, didn't have any sort of crazy life story.

He merely had a dream.

He had studied all his life to become the greatest alchemist in the nation. The Doctor was insane, but he was an excellent teacher, and always ensured that Lance was continuously improving.

"Question everything! Why? Why? Why? If you ever think you know why, know one thing- you're wrong! You don't know why! You will never answer the question why, because it is an endless cycle! But that is the beauty of this cycle.... you can continuously learn more and more about a topic which you never even thought about, just with that one simple question! And there is always always always more to learn!!!"

"What will happen if I add this? What if I change the proportions? What if I try to mass produce this? Is that plausible? What possible uses could people have for this? How do I take a useless ingredient and mess with it until it becomes a useful potion or poison? But most importantly.... why!?!? Why do things happen? What laws govern them? As scientists, magicians, and alchemists, this is something we must always always ALWAYS consider."

The doctor firmly instilled a curiosity into Lance.

He always wanted to continuously learn more and more about his field.

However, he had noticed something from back in that cave.

Gary too, had a few potions of his own creation which he used to paralyze others.

Lance could tell when he saw it.

That potion was of a level which he could never even hope to reach.

Immediate effect, so potent that it would last far longer than anything Lance had ever made.

That demon was a master alchemist, one far more talented than even the doctor.

Lance had, for his entire life, studied and studied until he reached the same level as the doctor, after which they worked together in order to continue their research.

However, the doctor's research was not only focused on alchemy, and as such Lance ended up working on his own to pursue a specialization in the field.

Until he met his comrades, that is.

Lance met his comrades on that fated day in the bar, and from then on he had given up his dream to become the greatest alchemist, in order to pursue something else.

A regular life with his comrades, fighting for his pay.

If one could call that regular.

He accepted that he could never reach the position of head alchemist within the court of the Emperor, as such a position didn't exist, nor did it need to.

Even if magic had been allowed, it was not well accepted among many powerful figures in the Empire. Specifically a number of Senators, and some of the Legion Commanders.

Within his life, it was unlikely for him to ever reach that level of skill, and even if he did, the position may not exist during his life in the first place.

So Lance instead decided to continue his study, and use his findings for the benefit of his team.

He introduced his comrades to the doctor soon after they decided to become mercenaries together.

"My oh my.... what an interesting group you have brought me, my boy! I just have to examine their abilities.... please allow me to design some equipment for you all.... oh, it will not take much.... just a few samples of your blood, and some examinations of your bodies.... perhaps even some mana samples if I could extract those? Hmm.... yes, I am sure if I have that information, and witness your fighting styles that I could design some equipment that not only fits your style in a practical manner, but I would also love to be in charge of the design of the outfits.... how interesting of a project this will be.... heh heh heh...."

Melody and Pierre seemed excessively suspicious of the doctor at first, but after he provided them with some high quality equipment which could not be found anywhere else, they decided to at least trust him enough to come to him for those sorts of requests.

As a result, the groups had ended up with their current loadouts, and this was why their equipment and styles seemed so vastly different from the regular people of the Empire.

Lance looked ahead of him, at the carriage which the antiheroes were riding in.

'I wonder just what material that is made of... I would like to ask Gary about it...'

Lance then smiled.

'What if..... what if I could become a head alchemist in the nation which the antiheroes rule? Could I finally fulfill my dream?'

Lance brimmed with excitement as he considered this possibility, which previously would have been impossible.

The large group marched on, with the antiheroes at their head.

The four mercenaries, in their own way and for their own unique reasons, pledged themselves to serve the antiheroes.

----

Captain Morin was sent to lead a small unit of 50 men into the underwater breach. It was a dangerous mission, and they would likely be met with heavy resistance.

This was equivalent to raiding the hive of a swarm of bees. If you stuck around the area, they would buzz around you, and occasionally attack you if they felt you were a threat.

But if you were to attack the hive directly, you would be bombarded and attacked by an entire swarm without hesitation.

And Morin was diving right into the hive.

He was prepared to die, but the most important thing about this expedition was information.

He had to find out how many fishmen were lurking, waiting to ambush the soldiers inside the cave.

And somebody had to survive to report this information back to the Legion Commander.

It didn't have to be him.

It just had to be someone.

He stood in front of 50 men, who all stood at the edge of the water. Their armor had been removed, and they were all wearing nothing more than basic tunics. Each of them carried nothing more than a small knife so that they would be able to defend themselves in an emergency.

The men selected were the ones who were the strongest swimmers in the 1000 man platoon of Colonel Keras.

"Know that this is a suicide mission, and most of you will die. But one of you must make it back alive.", Keras said while putting a hand on Morin.

He was not a coldhearted Colonel, but he understood well that he needed to make sacrifice for the greater good.

Morin would be dying for his country and that was all that mattered.

Unless someone didn't make it back, in which case his sacrifice would be in vain, but even this would tell the Legion Commander that the enemies were able to overwhelm them to the point of complete elimination.

"Are we ready to go, men!?", Morin shouted.

All the men around him saluted with their fists, pounding them to their chests with determination to die.

"Yes, Captain!"

The men dived into the waters, five at a time in 30 second intervals. This was to ensure that they were not bombarded and all killed by a single trap.

After watching the first 9 groups dive in one by one, Morin too jumped in with the 10th group.

He took the lead, swimming underwater in a swift and straightforward motion, with his four teammates behind him.

After swimming straightforward along the tunnel for a bit, a pocket of air came within sight, and Morin immediately headed for it.

'As soon as I poke my head out here, there is the possibility that a trident will strike me right in the head... or perhaps an arrow will hit me. I don't see the bodies of any of the others who went before me, so either the bodies were taken away, or they are up there fighting... nobody has come back, so I think it's safe to assume that everyone is either dead or in combat.'

Sticking his head out of the water, Morin looked over to see something outrageous.

There was a ledge of a black stone which he could use to exit the pool of water, but more importantly there was a large gate.

It was made of something that looked similar to bamboo and porous rock, and the gate was closed, yet there was a lever nearby that seemed like it would open it.

There were no fishmen in sight. Not even any guards.

All the soldiers who he had sent in ahead of him were standing around dumbfounded, looking at the gate. None of them were harmed or missing.

There was silence.

Not a single trap. Not a single attack. Not a single enemy.

'What the hell is going on? The fishmen didn't station any guards here? No... this is far too suspicious.'

Morin got out of the water with his teammates before addressing the rest of the soaked soldiers.

"I am not exactly sure what's going on here, but don't let your guard down. There are likely traps set up around this very area as we speak, and we are probably being watched. As soon as we try to invade, we might be attacked."

Most of the soldiers tensed up on hearing this, and prepared for battle.

"I need ten men to go back and report what we have seen thus far. If we don't return, you know what to do."

Morin pointed out to two groups of five.

"You all, head back safely. The rest of us will continue the mission from here."

The ten men saluted to their captain before once more diving into the tunnel, returning to the other side of the cavern.

Morin then walked over to the lever.

'Still no attacks, eh?'

"I'm going to pull it. Everyone, prepare yourselves."

He grabbed it, and pulled.

The gate shifted open, and....

Nothing.

Not a sound could be heard aside from the breathing of the soldiers.

'There's nothing so far? Is this not the best location to plant an ambush? Perhaps they have an even better location deeper inside the village? Could it be that they're trying to bait us in?'

However, when Morin looked into the gate, he saw something that completely contradicted the very fact that they were at war.

Women and children were walking around the city as if nothing was happening.

No men were to be seen, but from Morin's point of view, it looked like.... a regular city. Aside from the odd decorations, and luminescent underground scenery, it seemed like a regular peaceful village.

'What is this!?!? Are these fishmen not prepared for an attack?? These are all civilians!'

Morin stood back stunned, and turned to another group of 5.

"You lot! Go report this back to the Legion Commander immediately!!'

The five saluted as well before diving into the tunnel.

'Just what on earth is the one in charge here thinking??'