Assaulting Bandit’s Hideout

Hunting bandit. It came out of nowhere for me, but it seemed that from the start Viro had planned to break down bandit or brigand group, or perhaps attacking the dwelling of goblin and the like to be “used” as my training. It was a very harsh training.

Bandits and thieves were somewhat different. There was also the difference in their location of appearance, but the biggest difference was that bandits weren’t managed by an organization like thief guild like the thieves.

Thieves were people like orphans of slum quarters who didn’t have any other way to rise in the world and lost their hesitation to commit crime. Because of that scouts of the adventurer guild like Viro hired orphans of slum quarters also in order to prevent the members of thief guild from increasing.

But bandits were often consisted of villagers who were troubled for food. In places like farming village……especially poor farming village, the villagers often had a lot of children in order to use them as work force. But because they were poor, there was no field for the second son and below to inherit. It would be find if they could find work at the village or nearby town, but the villagers who failed in even that would either become thief wannabe in town and got caught, or became bandit outside the town. But this Claydale Kingdom was a country where it was relatively easy to live if you simply wanted to survive. The tax and expenses here couldn’t be said as that cheap, but the climate was warm and the forest’s blessing was also abundant, so the adults wouldn’t go hungry unless there was a very extenuating circumstance.

In other words, the majority of people who became bandit were people who lost to their greed of wanting to have it easy by stealing from other people. Furthermore, the thieves of thief guild had the inclination to avoid murdering civilian in order to prevent the scale of incident from getting bigger, but the bandits wouldn’t hesitate in murdering traveler. They wouldn’t attack anyone who had guards like nobles and only targeted the weak, then they would kill them to silence them so that their existence wouldn’t be discovered by the feudal lord and the like.

There was none of them who had the guts to take merchant hostage and demanded ransom. Perhaps because they were originally villager, they feared that their crime would get found out 『because they were coward』 and killed their victim.

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「That’s why, when bandits are discovered, the priority is to subjugate them rather than capturing them. Even if you capture them it will be hard to drag them until a town that has soldiers. And even if you hand them over, the prize money for bandit that isn’t in the wanted list is negligible. And they will be sent to a mine to be worked to death anyway, so there is also no meaning in treating them mercifully. Do you understand?」

「……Yes.」

We were inside a forest that in a distance several days away from the nearby village. We were roasting the meat of a wild bird on a bonfire while Viro was talking. I silently nodded to him.

Bandit had no human right. They were doing as they pleased in place where the feudal lord’s law didn’t reach, so naturally they also weren’t protected by law. In that regard, I could still understand the way the thief guild operated. In order to do as they pleased, they created a large power in the form of the guild and protected themselves until now by keeping to the rules of the criminals.

That was why the existence of 『bandit』 was just right to be “used” for my training.

「……We should be going.」

「Roger.」

I stood up when Viro said that. I poured water on the bonfire using daily life magic Water and stamped on it to extinguish the fire. I shouldn’t consume too much magic power before getting into action, but if it was just 1 MP that was consumed then it would recover after several minutes.

The sky at the far away was still faintly bright, but the inside of the forest that was far removed from the highway was already enveloped in the darkness where you couldn’t see anything at all. Viro’s presence was lessening inside that darkness and he started walking. I also erased my presence and followed behind him.

I had night vision skill that could be used even within this darkness where nothing could be seen. Viro too naturally had that skill.

Viro was suppressing his stealth so that I could still follow behind him, but if it was a child of slum quarters who didn’t have night vision skill or search skill, what was he going to do?

Just like Feld, Viro also had the tendency to think that what he could do wasn’t anything special at all. Normally people would notice 『Kid couldn’t do something like that』 through the interaction, but after seeing me lighting up bonfire inside the forest normally and moving around without any problem even within the darkness, Viro was gradually losing his prudence toward me.

Although he was suppressing his stealth, most likely he was unconsciously keeping it to the level that his usual adventuring party members could detect. It felt like he didn’t have any consideration toward a child (me).

Even so it seemed that he remembered that this was for my training, so he taught me various important things.

「Bandits are different from the members of thief guild. They don’t really have any specialized skill. The bandit gang this time has a somewhat smarter guy among them and hide the path leading to their hideout, but the camouflage is getting sloppy to make it easier for them to carry their loot.」

「Yes.」

There was a path that looked like animal trail when we slightly veered away from the highway. But the path was too wide for animal to pass through.

「Look here. Perhaps there was rain several days ago. There is footstep remaining on the hardened and dried ground. Can you differentiate how many types of footsteps there are here?」

「……I can’t see that clearly.」

「You have night vision skill right? Try focusing to strengthen your senses in the same way when you strengthen your body. You should be able to see the shape with the flow of magic particles. Human can only obtain night vision until level 1 due to our racial limit, but you will be able to see this much if you focus your eyes.」

I see……so that was how you used the normal Night Vision skill. As I thought, it seemed that differentiating the sight using magic particle’s “color” like me was abnormal. The original night vision skill didn’t only strengthen your sight, by perceiving presence and the flow of magic particles as 『reflection』 and then matching it with your sight, you could visualize the actual sight inside your brain.

I was also still continuing my training to detect presence from the flow of magic particles. My night vision was working by matching that with the color of magic particles. The limit of human race’s night vision skill was level 1. Surely other races like beastman or dwarf had higher level than human because of the difference in fundamental physical ability. According to my “knowledge”, rock dwarf that lived underground apparently had night vision skill from birth. But, if it was me who obtained the skill from a different way than usual, then perhaps I would be able to increase this skill’s level more if I could obtain the normal night vision too.

For now I tried pouring magic power to my eyes in the same way when I used body strengthening. Then I could sense the unevenness on the ground though only slightly. But I couldn’t see clearly with just this, so I tried visualizing the sight too with my night vision inside my brain. With that I certainly became able to see the footprints.

「……Five, or six people?」

「It’s a bit more than that but their number won’t reach ten people. These two footprints are similar but this one is slightly deeper. I guess they weighed heavier or they were carrying baggage……the footprint is slightly disordered so I guess this belonged to the latter’s underling. This method can also be used to specify the number of monsters when exploring a ruin. “Imagine” the opponent’s form from their way of walking and stride.」

「Understood.」

「……Stop.」

Viro suddenly raised his hand and stopped walking.

「Look there. There is an unnatural spot away from the trail. Do you know what is there?」

When I focused my gaze, certainly there was a spot where the direction of a branch looked unnatural. There was a snapped branch above, and when I “imagined” what was attached there…….

「……Trap?」

「Correct. Most likely rather than for countermeasure against intruder, it’s more a bear trap for countermeasure against animal. Someone with small body like you will get a wound that can’t be healed completely with Heal so be careful.」

「Roger.」

「I’ll remove the visible trap just in case. Watch and learn the way to do it without making sound.」

As we advanced through the forest while removing the traps, I came to see faint magic particles of “fire” and “light” from the gap of the forest at the other side.

When I wordlessly pointed at that direction, Viro also focused his eyes to there before nodding slightly. He instructed me to 『advance』 with only his finger’s movement.

We headed there and found an open space. I had the image of bandits living in a cavern, but Viro taught me using only his mouth’s movement that it was a deserted village.

I didn’t know whether they were the original inhabitants of that village or they settled down there later, but when I silently peeked at that small village, there were desolated fields and several rotting houses there. And then at the center there were relatively better houses. It looked like the bandits were sitting around bonfire there while drinking alcohol.

「……There are a bit many.」

Viro spoke with his voice after confirming the location. I also nodded to him. The number of footsteps was less than ten. We assumed that there would be more than ten bandits if we included the ones staying behind in the hideout, but just the bandits that were visible from here already numbered more than fifteen.

There were around ten people around the bonfire at the center. There were also several men drinking alcohol on the rooftops some distance away from there where they also acted as lookout. Near them there was a carriage that had conspicuous blood splashes on them. That seemed to be where they kept their loot. It convinced me that those people were definitely bandits instead of mere villagers or travelers.

「We’re going to reduce them bit by bit. If you’re scared then you can stay here if you want?」

「No.」

Viro grinned when I shook my head. ……No, it would be troubling if you treated me like a kid after bringing me this far, but at the same time, did you actually remember that I was still just a kid?

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Viro who had completely erased his presence started moving smoothly along the flow of the atmosphere’s magic particles. Although I knew that he was right in front of me, the best that I could do was following the “human shaped” magic particle’s color.

This was 『Stealth Skill Level 4』……huh. I followed behind him while burning his movement into my eyes.

Unlike me with my Stealth level 1, Viro was terrifyingly fast when he got serious. He soundlessly sneaked toward a man who left the circle with tottering footsteps, put his arm around the man’s neck, then with a movement that made me felt like I could hear the sound *crack*, the man’s neck was snapped before Viro laid him down soundlessly behind a deserted house.

「I’ll deal with the lookouts first. You watch those guys. Come tell me if they start moving toward the lookout.」

I nodded. Viro patted my head once before he started moving. Then he was completely gone from my vision when he was dozens of meters away from me.

Surely Viro wouldn’t get any problem just to take care four or five lookouts. A normal child would get anxious if they were left alone in a place that had bandits nearby, but I took out an crystal in order to do my own job and started observing the bandits in order to do my own job. I only had few remaining appraisal crystals, but I still hadn’t obtained appraisal skill. Perhaps there was some kind of trick for it. I’d ask Viro about it later.

The combat strength of the bandits was around 40 until 70. There was one person who stood out above the rest, but the others weren’t that different from normal villager. But thinking about it, unlike thieves and adventurers, bandits were originally villagers so surely only a few of them had skill. There was no way farmer had sorcery or search skill, at best they would have sword skill or bow skill level 1.

After a bit of time passed, I saw another man from the circle around the bonfire walking to this way.

This was a bit bad. I didn’t know whether he came this way to pee or to search for the man just now, but if he made a ruckus after seeing the corpse, Viro would have to take on all the bandits simultaneously.

Should I notify VIro, or should I do something about the man……I was pressed to make a decision.

「…………」

I suppressed my emotion to the depth of my heart and silently narrowed my eyes. I roughly wiped the ash on my head with my shawl, gathered anything unnatural and hid them among the grasses, and hardened my resolve before walking out.

「Mister.」

「Hm? Whaaat? A braatt?」

The slightly dirty looking man was at his thirty with a hand axe hanging on his waist. He looked clearly drunk, so he carelessly approached a suspicious child who suddenly appeared at this kind of place.

「Are you a boyy? A girll? I can’t decideee. If you’re a girl then I might get a high price selling you.」

「……Is that so? Mister. Look at this for a bit.」

「Hm? Whattt?」

The man nonchalantly approached to peer at the left hand that I held out toward him. Then I poured magic power into the weighted cord that I made from my hair and swung it down.

*Gon!* There was a dull sound and the man whose head was struck by the weight fell behind unconscious. I quickly pulled out my black knife and straddled the man. The man slightly regained his awareness from my weight.

The man’s hazy eyes shook in fear seeing me holding a knife above him. Before his throat could let out a scream of terror, I stabbed the tip of the black knife from below the man’s jaw into his head.

「……uga……」

「…………」

The sight of the man’s scared gaze turning emotionless like when I killed that woman was reflected in my eyes. As the man slowly reached out with trembling hand, I pulled out the knife with a twist. Blood flowed out and the man’s hand fell on the ground.

「……Fuu.」

It seemed I felt slightly nervous. I let out my breath and wiped the clotted blood on my knife on the man’s clothes.

There was no problem now with this. If another man came here before Viro finished taking care of the lookouts, I just needed to take care of them. I had no leeway to feel hesitation in an exchange of life, so I didn’t hesitate when taking life.

Even so the sharpness of this knife was amazing. The black blade had recovered it luster just from me lightly wiping the blood, so I realized once more that this knife was really a quality item.

.

After a while when I turned my gaze toward the lookouts, the light was turned off and I couldn’t see the human shaped magic particles anymore.

It seemed that the lookouts had been dealt with. The battle until now was done with assassination, but there were six people at the bonfire. Surely I would be able to witness the fight of 『adventurer scout』 versus a group after this.

I had no intention of joining in such group battle. It would be a different matter if the opponent was unaware, it was still too dangerous for me to face multiple opponents from the front. I might simply become a hindrance for Viro if I carelessly tried to help.

I decided to keep watch from slight distance away. If someone ran away, I’d track his location, or if it looked like I could defeat him then I would do so.

「……Six people?」

Strange. If I wasn’t mistaken, there should be nine people around the bonfire. Viro and I had defeated one person each, so there should be seven people remaining. Where did the other one go? As I looked around at my surrounding in panic, a voice entered my ears from the darkness.

「You there, what are you doing here!」

When I turned around, there was a slightly dirty man wearing hard leather armor pulling out his sword warily.

「…………」

Viro still hadn’t started the battle. If I caused a commotion here and he called for help, Viro would have to enter the battle with a hindrance dragging him down.

It couldn’t be helped……. In order to buy time until Viro finished his fight, I pulled out my black knife.