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023 The
Shardina Bandit Gang
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Translator : PolterGlast
On the 11th day since
my reincarnation, I once again brought down my Mithril Two-Handed Sword with a
thwack.
The Greater Rat
vanished without a struggle.
When Stealth was
active, I could approach the Greater Rat without being noticed. Then, the 3x
damage from Vital Point Strike activated at 100 percent. The battle was decided
in an instant.
"The Assassin
job's Stealth skill is excellent, and Vital Point Strike is incredibly strong.
It's not just an assassination, it's an instant kill."
"That is the
fruit of Master's daily diligence."
"That's not it at
all. This Mithril Two-Handed Sword is excellent."
And the ability to
change jobs on my own, too.
Anneliese picked up
the drop items and put them in a bag, and we headed to the 2nd floor.
When she was old, her
movements were slow, but now she moves briskly, and her breasts jiggle. Even
with a towel wrapped around them, what sways will sway. It's a feast for the
eyes.
My level went up with
that last kill, but I continued hunting Greater Rats until I reached Level 3.
Next, instead of the
2nd-floor boss, I'm going to hunt the 3rd-floor boss, the Giant Spider.
The 2nd-floor boss
consists of two monsters, which isn't a good match for an Assassin. I thought
it would be better to fight just one for efficiency.
We used Dungeon Move
to get near the 3rd-floor boss room. Changing jobs each time is a hassle, but
Dungeon Move is even more convenient.
A party was about to
enter the boss room, so we waited for about 30 minutes. As an Assassin, battles
are decided in an instant, which can lead to misjudgment, but normally, this is
the kind of opponent you'd fight for that long. I need to stay focused.
I used Stealth to hide
my presence before the Giant Spider appeared.
I'd checked when
fighting the Greater Rat, and Stealth isn't effective if you've already been
seen. So, I hid myself with Stealth before the Giant Spider appeared.
The Giant Spider
didn't seem to see me. I approached and raised my Mithril Two-Handed Sword.
"!"
A thin leg crossed in
front of my eyes. I reacted and jumped backward, so it didn't hit me, but was
that a coincidence?
The Giant Spider still
didn't notice me. Perhaps if I enter a certain range, it can sense my presence
even with Stealth active?
I'll have to try.
I circled around
behind it and approached to about 10 centimeters from the previous distance.
The Giant Spider still didn't react.
Here, I raised my
Mithril Two-Handed Sword. No reaction.
My Mithril Two-Handed
Sword couldn't quite reach here, so I moved closer to the previous distance.
Whoosh. As expected,
it reacted once I entered a certain range.
I deduced that the
danger zone was the range of the Mithril Two-Handed Sword, and the Giant Spider
sensed danger and reacted.
In that case, what if
I jumped in from outside its range in one swift move?
I held my Mithril
Two-Handed Sword in an overhead stance, activated Godspeed, took a large step
forward from just outside its reaction range, and swung it down.
The Giant Spider
reacted, but it only twitched its body before my Mithril Two-Handed Sword had
already sliced through its body.
As expected of
Godspeed. Its speed lived up to its name.
With a hard,
shattering sound, the Giant Spider vanished.
Since it reacted that
time, it's a fine line whether Vital Point Strike activated or not.
It was defeated
because of the large ATK bonus from the Mithril Two-Handed Sword, but if I had
a weapon with a low ATK bonus like an iron one-handed sword, I wouldn't have
been able to finish it off.
It was a reaction
befitting a boss, but thanks to that, my Stealth skill's proficiency increased
from (Minor) to (Low).
With this, I should be
able to defeat the Giant Spiders without being noticed.
As I expected, with
Stealth (Low), I was able to land a single hit on the Giant Spider without
being noticed.
I continued to farm
Giant Spiders and raised my Assassin level to 6.
*
I exchanged the boss
drop items for money at the guild, but still, bandits had infiltrated. It
really made me wonder if the guild was in cahoots with the bandits.
·
Greater Rat Tails: 4 pieces × 6,000 Grill = 6,000
Grill
·
Poison Sacs: 7 pieces × 12,600 Grill = 12,600 Grill
·
Green Leaf: 1 piece × 4,500 Grill = 4,500 Grill
※Total: 23,100 Grill (equivalent to about 231,000 yen)
Boss farming is perfect
for making money. I've reconsidered and am now seriously thinking about buying
a slave, so I can never have too much money.
Also, Anneliese taught
me the good aspects of the slave system, and I learned that it's a system to
help people in need. It's just the name "slave" that's bad. If they
used a different name, the impression would be lighter.
Now, after shaking off
the bandits today, I plan to go out alone again.
"Please be
careful..."
"Yeah. Lock up
and don't let your guard down."
"Yes."
Anneliese is
high-level, so I don't think anything major will happen, but you can never be
absolutely sure.
I wore my mantle but
confidently walked through the entertainment district.
I sensed someone
following me at a certain distance using Sense skill. It seems the bandits took
the bait, unaware they were being lured.
For now, there's only
one reaction. So, I entered a tavern and spent a little time.
"Milk."
"..."
An old man with an
ash-gray beard, like a master, silently poured milk for me. He seemed to want
to say, "Don't order milk in a tavern."
The lukewarm milk
tasted somehow fishy. In this world, there seems to be no culture or custom of
making ice or cooling drinks.
After sipping slowly
for about 20 minutes, bandits gathered around me, the "bandit hoi-hoi."
Recently, "hoi-hoi" has become popular.
I placed two 100-Grill
silver coins on the table with a clink and stood up.
"Thanks for the
meal."
"..."
The master nodded in
acknowledgment.
It wasn't delicious,
but it was a tavern with a nice atmosphere.
Well, the bandits
temporarily increased to 5, but then decreased to 3. The other two probably
went to call for backup.
I left the tavern and
pulled my hood on. Even though my face had been clearly seen, I entered an
alleyway as if trying to avoid public attention. There, I activated Stealth.
The bandits entered
the alleyway shortly after me.
"Where did he
go?"
"This alley
should be a dead end. There shouldn't be any escape route."
"Damn it, he got
away again. The boss will chew us out."
The bandits had such an
exchange right in front of me. How comical.
"What are you
going to tell the boss?"
"You report
it."
"No, you
go."
Are you guys some kind
of ostrich-style comedians?
The situation didn't
devolve into "I'll do it," and the stout, round-faced bandit ended up
being nudged by the other two to report.
It seemed he always
got the unpleasant tasks, so he was probably the lowest in the hierarchy among
the three.
I followed that
round-faced bandit. He mentioned reporting to the boss, so he must be heading
to their hideout.
Kerniff, as a large
city, is quite vast. The wealthy live from the north to the east, while the
south, being close to the dungeon, has many explorers. And the west side is
where the poor gather. The castle is in the north of the city.
Entering the west side
from the south, the buildings gradually changed from stone to wood. Further in,
shanties became more prominent. Passing through that area, there was a large
stone mansion, unusual for this area, as most buildings were wooden houses. It
stood out quite a lot.
The round-faced bandit
exchanged a few words with the gatekeepers and passed through the service gate.
There were four gatekeepers, and all of them were bandits. It seemed this was
indeed a bandit hideout, but it was quite different from what I had imagined.
Even in front of the
mansion's main entrance, bandits stood guard. The round-faced bandit again
exchanged a few words and entered the mansion. It was the same words as the
gatekeepers, so it must have been a password.
I slipped through the
door right after the round-faced bandit. There were many presences inside the
mansion. When I used Detailed Appraisal, most were bandits, but occasionally
ominous job names like "Rapist" or "Arsonist" appeared.
This was definitely a bandit gang's hideout.
I went up the stairs
to the third floor and proceeded down the hallway. There was a room with three
bandits guarding the door, and the round-faced bandit stopped in front of it
and exchanged the password.
He passed through the
door and entered the room. Inside, there was one woman and three men. The woman
was lounging on a sofa, puffing on a pipe about a meter long. Smoke was coming
out, so I assumed it was tobacco, but the pipe itself was a gaudy gold.
Two men were by the
window, and one was by the door. Was this reddish-brown-haired woman the boss?
"You're one of
Gogoku's young ones, aren't you?"
When I first entered,
I thought she was about 30, but on closer inspection, she wore heavy makeup.
Looking at the wrinkles on the hand holding the pipe, she was at least 50.
Maybe even over 60.
"Y-yes,
ma'am."
"What brings you
here?"
"Um... about that
kid..."
"That kid? Ah,
the one who killed Potsuku, wasn't it? One of the young ones just ran off
saying he found him."
The round-faced bandit
reported, clearly nervous, that he had lost track of me.
"You're useless,
aren't you? Throw him out."
"Yes,
ma'am."
"P-please,
no!"
The round-faced bandit
was thrown into the hallway by the burly guard by the door.
"Hmph... such
useless kids. How long are you going to leave the one who killed my cute
underling at large?"
The
reddish-brown-haired woman puffed on her pipe and exhaled smoke.
Among the bandits I
killed, there was one named Potsuku. That Potsuku led a bandit gang under the
Shardina family, a major bandit organization.
This woman was
Shardina, the big boss of the Shardina family, a major bandit organization.
Under her command were five bandit gangs and 300 bandits. Quite a large group.
Because it was such a
large bandit gang, the lord couldn't easily interfere. Even with such a
prominent mansion built here, they couldn't raid it because there were always
100 bandits guarding it.
Moreover, there were
bandits in the surrounding area who would swarm out if anything happened. Just
like cockroaches.
It's certainly not
realistic to kill all 300 bandits. Wouldn't it be possible to break them apart
if I could kill Shardina and her five executives at once?
Since she didn't
notice me even though I was right in front of her, killing her shouldn't be too
difficult. If that's all it takes, then fine.
But even if I kill
Shardina, someone else will take over the Shardina Bandit Gang. Then they'll
target me again, and it'll be a vicious cycle. To stop such a chain, there's no
choice but to annihilate the bandit gang.
This is troubling. I
didn't expect it to be such a large-scale bandit gang.
I'll withdraw for now
and gather my thoughts.
【Job】 Assassin Lv6
【Skills】 Vital Point Strike (Low), Stealth (Low), Trace Erasure (Low), Godspeed
(Low), Sense (Low)
【Unique Skills】 Detailed Appraisal (Medium), Item Box (Medium)
*
"Let's gather our
numbers as well, so we can handle various situations."
When I returned to the
inn and consulted Anneliese about the bandit gang, she suggested this.
I'm leaning more and
more towards purchasing slaves, but I hesitate, wondering if that's really
okay. To defeat my enemies, buying slaves with the premise of killing people,
even if they're bandits, is something I feel quite averse to.
"Bandits are
targets for extermination even more than monsters. Therefore, killing bandits
is not considered a crime."
Even without Anneliese
telling me, I think I should increase our combat power. Even if my mind
understands, my heart doesn't agree.
"I don't want to
force that on slaves."
"Then you don't
have to force it."
"Eh?"
"When buying
slaves, you should purchase those who have agreed to fight bandits."
She said that slaves
could choose to fight of their own free will.
"Understood.
Let's go to Golteo-san's shop tomorrow."
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