■■■■■■■■■■
031 Operation
Annihilate the Shardina Bandit Gang (Volume One: End)
■■■■■■■■■■
Translator : PolterGlast
After arriving at the
house arranged by Golteo-san, delivered by carriage, I realized it was far
larger than I'd imagined. It wasn't just a house. It was truly a mansion.
"Managing this
with five people will be impossible..." I thought, observing the mansion
that felt large enough for ten people.
Mondark explained,
"We will prioritize managing the rooms you use. Merlis and I will prepare
meals. Jewel will handle the bath and garden management. The other two will
assist where we cannot reach."
"I don't quite
understand everything, but please do what you can without overexerting
yourselves. If you need more help, please let me know. I'll do everything I
can," I replied. I even thought to myself that they could just leave the
cooking to me, since I'm good at it.
Golteo-san had already
arranged for the mansion to be cleaned, and it was fully furnished with items
left by the previous owner. I handed Mondark some magic stones I'd obtained
from the dungeon, along with funds for immediate operation.
"What else do you
need?" I asked.
"Please tell us
your preferences for meals, Master, and for the ladies as well," Mondark
replied.
Anneliese and Rosalina
both flushed scarlet when Mondark referred to them as "ladies." While
I was fine with it, I thought their feelings were important.
"I'm not
picky," I said.
"And how about
the ladies?" Mondark pressed.
Their flustered
gestures were adorable. They also said they weren't picky and would eat
anything.
"We will prepare
dinner. Please wait a moment," Mondark stated.
"Do you already
have food?" I asked, surprised, as they'd only just arrived.
"Golteo-sama
kindly provided a certain amount of ingredients," he explained.
Golteo-san's
thoughtfulness was truly remarkable. I couldn't possibly sleep with my feet
pointing in his direction.
The meal prepared by
Mondark and his wife, Merlis, was incredibly delicious. I believe it was on par
with a top-tier chef.
*
"I'm heading out,
so you all can go to bed," I told them, emphasizing that Anneliese and
Rosalina didn't need to stay awake waiting for me.
I left my mansion and
headed towards the Shardina Bandit Gang's hideout. Along the way, I saw
soldiers everywhere. They seemed to be divided into several units, surrounding
the various bandit hideouts. As I continued, I heard a commotion. That was the
signal for the soldiers to move. The mass arrests had begun.
That Duke moves fast.
I never expected him to raid them on the same day.
The Shardina Bandit
Gang's mansion also had many soldiers fighting bandits. Bandits are weak, so if
the numbers were equal, the soldiers had the advantage. However, the bandits
were fighting using the terrain to their advantage. The battle wasn't overwhelmingly
in the soldiers' favor; they only had a slight edge.
I infiltrated the
mansion and made my way deeper inside. Several times along the way, I saw
soldiers in dangerous situations, so I subtly tripped the bandits. This much
wouldn't break my Stealth. Neither the bandits nor the soldiers understood what
had happened, but I ignored them and continued deeper.
The old woman Shardina
was still wearing her heavy makeup. Under the sudden assault of the soldiers,
her face was so contorted that her heavy makeup looked like it might crack. She
repeatedly puffed on her pipe, and her leg trembled violently.
She must be worried,
right? Living as a bandit means living in fear. It's time for her to give up
and surrender quietly. That way, she won't have to live in dread of being
captured. Though, death might come swiftly anyway.
Today, I would utterly
destroy the Shardina Bandit Gang. I'd do anything for that.
Even for bandits, the
death penalty is rare, but I don't believe an old woman like Shardina could
survive in a harsh place like the mines if she were enslaved. So, she should
make her farewells to this world now.
"What are those
fools doing, letting them get this far? Do they even know why I'm keeping them
around!?" Shardina roared. She was likely referring to the bandits
positioned around the mansion. But since their strongholds were also being
raided by soldiers, they wouldn't have any reinforcements to send her.
"The soldiers
have reached all the hideouts!" one of her subordinates reported.
"What a mess!
This will make us a laughingstock of the world!" Shardina retorted. I
thought her arrogance as a bandit was already a laughingstock.
Then, a bandit rushed
in. "Boss!"
"Quiet, what is
it?" she snapped.
"It's... it's Barukan!
Barukan is here!"
"Tch, how
troublesome..." A crack appeared in her heavy makeup.
"Boss, we can't!
He alone is too dangerous!"
"I know
that!" Barukan seemed to be feared by the bandits too. That man is
terrifying, indeed. It's true that he makes my spine tingle.
"If he's here,
then there's no choice," Shardina said, standing up. Her pipe clattered to
the floor with a high-pitched sound.
"We're
escaping!" she declared. What a quick decision.
"Yes,
ma'am!" the bandits replied in unison.
They seemed to be
abandoning this hideout and fleeing. It was surprisingly decisive. To rise so
high as a bandit, she must have needed that kind of judgment. If only she had
used her talents for something else. If she'd been a merchant, she might have
become a powerful merchant that even Golteo-san would envy.
One of the bandits
reached for a lamp on the wall and pulled it. Not just held it, but pulled it.
The lamp detached about 50 centimeters from the wall, revealing a rope
connected to it.
The wall opened with a
loud thudding sound. It looked like an expensive mechanism. Beyond it was the
room where those leather pouches filled with black gold coins were stored.
Shardina entered, her
shoulders hunched in anger. Another crack appeared in her heavy makeup... and the
cracks kept growing.
Inside the hidden
room, Shardina looked around frantically. "What's wrong?"
"It's gone! The
ledger is gone!"
Ah, she was looking
for the ledger. The one I took and which the Duke now possessed.
"Impossible! How
did the ledger...?" Shardina panicked. The cracks in her heavy makeup
widened, and flakes began to fall off.
"Boss, let's
escape quickly!"
"Damn it! I'll
never forgive the traitor!" another bandit yelled, pulling a similar lamp.
This time, the floor
opened, revealing a staircase. I never knew such a gimmick existed... Was this
place not just for storing treasure, but also for escaping? They spent a lot of
money... If only they'd stopped stealing, they wouldn't have to spend so
much...
The bandits carried
the heavy leather pouches filled with black gold coins on their shoulders and
descended the stairs. They also grabbed as many magic items as they could. They
were desperate.
Shardina didn't carry
anything. Perhaps she was afraid of throwing out her back if she carried something
so heavy at her age.
Naturally, the ledger
didn't mention this secret passage, so Shardina would escape at this rate.
No choice. I'll have
to do something.
The stairs were quite
long, probably leading underground. The passage was pitch black, and only the
bandit at the very front carried a lamp. Shardina walked imperiously behind
him.
I slit the throat of
the bandit at the very end with my dagger. The combination of Vital Point
Strike and Stealth guaranteed a critical hit, instantly dropping his HP to zero
even with a dagger.
Stealth was
deactivated, but I immediately reactivated it. It was pitch black, so they
probably didn't notice.
I continued to kill
bandits, two, then three, without being noticed.
Why did I have to do
something like an assassin? Oh, right, I am an assassin now.
I don't want to kill
people, even if they're bandits, but I couldn't afford to be sentimental now.
If I let Shardina and her crew escape, many more people would suffer. So, I
would kill them.
As bodies piled up in
the passage, I gradually closed in on Shardina. After walking about 200 meters
through the underground passage, an ascending staircase appeared.
"I will
definitely deal with the traitor!" Shardina exclaimed, turning around, her
eyes widening.
"There's no one
here!?" The passage was dark, so the bandit corpses weren't visible.
However, Shardina was wrong. She couldn't see me, but I was definitely there.
"B-boss... where
are they...?" a bandit stammered.
"How should I
know!? Just hurry up and go up!" Shardina snapped.
"Y-yes,
ma'am!"
The stairs led up to
what appeared to be a small private house.
There, I slit the last
bandit's throat, and he collapsed with a thud. Hearing the sound, Shardina
turned and gnashed her teeth.
"Who are you!?"
I had already activated Stealth, so I wasn't visible to Shardina.
"You must know
who I am, right!?" she yelled.
Of course I knew. She
was the root cause of my disturbed peace.
"Do you think you
can do this to me and get away with it!?" she shrieked loudly. Ugh, do I
have to listen to this?
I circled behind her
and delivered a knife hand strike to her neck.
"Ugh..."
Shardina collapsed
with a thud, and her heavy makeup cracked. Her wrinkled skin was exposed. Was
this Shardina's true skin? I didn't want to see it.
This was my first neck
strike, but it was successful. It pays to try.
I wouldn't kill her.
I'd only knock her out. I'd hand her over to the Duke. She would atone for her
crimes. The death penalty is rare, but she might face it. Either way, even if
she became a criminal slave, she wouldn't last long.
It was an
anticlimactic ending. It was rather disappointing, as I expected more of a
struggle. This was also thanks to the Duke's actions, which exceeded my
expectations.
Since he helped to
annihilate the Shardina Bandit Gang, I'm grateful, but I don't feel indebted.
It's a win-win situation.
Now, I'll tie her up
with rope and put a sign on her that says "Shardina." While I'm at
it, I'll leave the bodies of the mass murderer Upas and the other five here
too. Their corpses take up five Item Box slots, which is a nuisance.
"That should do
it."
Now all that's left is
for Barukan to discover them... Oh, I didn't need to move at all.
I heard footsteps
coming up the stairs. If it were bandits, I'd defeat them, but it was probably
soldiers.
I opened the house
door and peeked outside.
"What is
this!?"
Indeed, soldiers were
coming up the stairs.
"Commander!
Commander Barukan!"
A soldier called for
Barukan, and his face appeared from the stairs. He was still a monster,
radiating a piercing aura.
"Was this your
doing?"
"No, when I
arrived here, it was already like this."
"...I see."
Barukan's gaze swept
around. He seemed to be looking for me, but there was no way I was going to approach
a monster like that.
Besides, my objective
was accomplished.
I quickly retreated,
moving away from Barukan.
-----
Thank you for my Patrons !!
[Platinum]
Swagaraga
[Gold]
B random
DavidA
Nepheos
ShitaiNoKootoRyuu
[Silver]
Creris
Fred A.
Frédéric Bertrand-Hudon
Geral Aponso
Matthew Fraser
Anton Lim
Ctdela
Curious Panda
Read Advanced Chapters only on my Patreon
-----
