Chapter 50
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 050
Chapter Title: Dog and Raccoon Dog #2
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Hermit and I waited quite a while in the burrow prison.
No one showed up.
‘Isn’t this a trap?’
‘It feels just like being caught in a mousetrap.’
In this situation, Hermit sat down on the dirt floor and sank into meditation.
It was utterly quiet.
“What are you doing?”
“Preloading spells.”
“So what does that mean?”
“It means chanting the spells I’ll use ahead of time.”
“What happens if you don’t?”
“Magic activation takes too long.”
Hermit slipped back into her own world.
She mumbled incantations now and then, but not a single word was intelligible.
‘This is boring.’
Now I turned my gaze from Hermit and inspected the burrow.
Inside this burrow, there was just a single bed, a single table, and a single trash bin. That was it.
Nothing particularly useful in sight.
‘But what if I check under the bed?’
‘There’s bound to be a coin or two dropped by someone!’
Shk-!
I dropped to the floor and peered under the bed.
A pitch-dark, dust-filled space under the bed.
My Black Eye spotted a glass bottle.
‘A booze bottle?’
Clink-.
I reached in and pulled out the bottle.
Something like a white scroll was rolled up tight inside.
Pop-!
I uncorked the bottle and extracted the scroll.
The palm-sized scroll was covered in tiny writing.
「I’ve been locked away in this abandoned mine prison for a very long time.」
「The thieves are trying to uncover the secrets of this abandoned mine underground….」
「But I will never open my mouth.」
「These thieving bastards have no intention of ever letting me go.」
「You reading this are probably in the same boat as me.」
「But the treasure I hid so thoroughly is under the bed.」
「If you find it and benefit from it, please tell my wife what happened to me.」
「My wife’s name is─.」
The letter cut off midway.
Probably ran out of ink?
‘No, so what’s her wife’s name?’
But it was an impressive tale nonetheless.
“There’s treasure under the bed.”
Talk about good luck.
My head was spinning.
Drag-!
I yanked the wooden bed with all my might.
Hermit opened her eyes and snapped at me.
“…Shh, be quiet!”
“Hermit, this is no time for that. Help me move this bed.”
“Why the bed?”
“There’s treasure!”
“Really?”
Hermit rubbed her hands together eagerly.
Even mages love treasure, it seems.
No one could resist, really.
“Heh heh heh, I’ll lift here, you push from there.”
“Ungh, sure!”
Hermit and I slid the bed aside.
But─.
“There’s nothing here.”
Just dust under the bed.
What the heck?
I was rubbing the floor with my foot just in case when─.
Hermit crouched down and pressed her palm to the dirt.
“I’m sensing mana around here….”
She stood up and pointed her staff at the floor.
“[Vision Arrow].”
Pew-!
A white magic arrow shot from the tip of her staff.
Another spell I’d never seen before.
But why shoot it at the floor?
The mystery cleared up fast.
Crash-.
Something shattered, and the scenery changed.
It was like old paint or pigment peeling away─.
A huge hole gaped in the floor where the bed had been.
“Whoa-! What is this─.”
A hole this big appearing out of nowhere.
As I stared in shock, Hermit chuckled, “Pfuhuhu.”
“Vision-type magic has high anti-mana properties. If you aim right, shattering another’s magic formula isn’t hard at all!”
What’s she on about?
Anyway, the gaping hole looked like a passage connecting somewhere.
“What do we do?”
Hermit asked me.
No hesitation on my end.
“The treasure must mean this hole. Or maybe it’s at the end of this hole?”
We had to check it out.
Staying in this prison felt ominous anyway.
We crawled through the burrow someone had dug for a good long while.
Then we hit a dead end.
More precisely, something like a flat panel blocked the way above our heads.
‘Looks like a manhole cover.’
I pushed up on it with force, and it slid open with a drag.
I poked my head through the gap.
A trembling woman spotted me and yelped in fright.
“Th…thief!”
What?
Some woman.
I glanced around and saw iron bars.
Another prison, huh.
So this tunnel connected to the floor of yet another cell?
‘But this woman in front of me.’
‘She looks familiar.’
It was the noblewoman who’d been roughed up by the thieves earlier.
The one who’d been yapping about her daughter.
“…What kind of person pops out of the floor….”
Terror filled the noblewoman’s eyes as she looked at me.
She alternated glances between me and the guy snoring away outside the bars.
She seemed torn about whether to alert the guard watching the prison.
Before things got messy, I climbed out of the burrow and clamped a hand over her mouth.
“Shh, I’m not one of those thieving bastards in here.”
“……!”
“Nod if you wanna get outta here. Shake your head if you just wanna kiss me instead.”
Nod nod-.
Got it.
Soon Hermit crawled out after me, wriggling along.
“That woman─!”
Hermit startled.
First things first, I reached through the bars and picked the lock.
Clank-! Thunk-!
Creak-.
Compared to the cell we’d been in, these bars were total junk.
I slipped out through the open door stealthily─.
Snore-.
Snooore-.
I cautiously eyed the guard slumped over his desk, fast asleep.
“Look at this guy, out cold.”
“Mind if I borrow this for a sec!”
The noble lady spat into her palm.
Then she snatched the bone dagger from my belt and stabbed it right into the guard’s back.
Stab-!
“Guh-!”
“You son of a bitch. Serves you right.”
The noble lady’s skills were no joke.
Had she swung a blade back in her prime?
She nailed the vitals in one go, like there was some deep grudge between them.
I poked Hermit in the side.
“Eek!”
“Hermit, since we’re already at it, let’s free everyone locked up here.”
“Free them? Didn’t you say to stay put?”
We’d already busted out of the marten’s prison.
If we freed the hostages too?
It’d cause even bigger chaos, and surely give us something to exploit.
“Anyone who wants to go home, keep it down, alright?”
Clang-.
Clink-.
We used the keyring from the guard’s pocket to unlock all the hostages’ cell doors.
“Wh-who are you people!”
“You’ve come to rescue us!”
“Righteous thieves!”
Righteous thieves, huh.
Kinda embarrassing.
Hermit bellowed.
“We’re the two-man thief duo ‘Dog and Raccoon Dog’!”
“Ooh! Dog and Raccoon Dog!”
“Dog and Raccoon Dog!”
Ugh…, can we do something about that nickname?
It kills the vibe.
Anyway, there were about ten hostages.
Might as well use the numbers.
“Anyone know where the guild leader is?”
If we dragged our feet, someone would notice our escape.
We needed to reach Guild Leader Dravora as fast as possible.
With this many people, at least one had to know her location, right?
Then someone raised a hand.
“I know where that bitch’s office is!”
“For real?”
“I’m a brewer who came here to trade with their gang. When Dravora haggled me down unreasonably on the booze barrels, I refused, and next thing I know, I’m a hostage─.”
“Shh! No time, spit it out quick!”
“The negotiation spot was her office!”
“Alright, everyone, strip!”
Clap clap-.
I clapped softly to get their attention.
“Strip?”
“You’re not here to save us?!”
The crowd looked confused.
Hermit jumped up too.
“Newbie, you’re not eyeing their clothes, are you…!?”
Then the noble lady started stripping without a care.
“Looks like you’ve got a plan, so I’ll do as told!”
“Whoa, even the prim and proper Lady Cheperi….”
“L-let’s strip for now!”
“Cooperate with the young man!”
While they undressed, I handed the guard’s clothes to the noble lady.
Then I pulled a few outfits from his box and tossed them to the others.
Rustle rustle-.
Once they’d swapped clothes, everyone looked like proper thieves.
“You’re all official gang members starting today. Don’t forget to scowl fiercely!”
They all grimaced menacingly.
Hermit whispered to me as she watched.
“Think this’ll work?”
“To some extent.”
This was a new guild.
They probably didn’t even know everyone in their own ranks.
So blending in roughly should fool them.
And so, our band of thieves roamed the burrows.
A tavern appeared before long.
“Rum! More rum!”
“What, we’re out?”
Thump, thump-.
Leading ten makeshift thieves past the tavern had my heart pounding.
The fact they were all drunk off their asses was a small mercy.
“Hey! You! Go to the warehouse and grab more barrels!”
Someone grabbed my arm.
A big guy with a hook hand.
The tavern keeper.
His skills looked about on par with mine.
Everyone tensed.
Clink-.
Hands went to weapons.
“I’ll go.”
We couldn’t get caught yet.
So I headed to the warehouse where the barrels were stored.
The guy who’d pointed me there followed behind.
“I’ll come too!”
We arrived at the warehouse.
The balding man teared up at the sight of the barrels.
“Oh no! My booze!”
“Mister, no time for tears. Pry a lid off.”
“A lid?”
I sliced my palm with the dagger.
Slash-.
The baldy jumped in shock.
“Why cut your hand?!”
“My blood’s poisoned. Mix it in the booze and serve it to the thieves….”
“…Can’t do that!”
The brewer rushed to stop me.
Couldn’t stand poison tainting his brew, huh?
“The stronger the taste, the better it hides the poison… Use this ‘fire rum’!”
“Oh!”
Brewer knows his stuff!
Following his advice, I mixed my blood into the strong stuff.
“Heh heh heh, this is top-shelf snake brew.”
I hauled the poisoned barrel back to the tavern.
The tavern keeper twisted the tap and poured into glasses.
“Grab your cups quick!”
“Whew, this booze hits good.”
“Gah, burns like fire!”
“Urp, I’m wasted.”
Idiots.
This was the venom of the cunning serpent Sabrannik—stomachache wouldn’t be the end of it.
We slipped out of the tavern.
Now at a fork.
“Hermit, you know the way out from here, right? Take everyone and go. I’ll head off with this brewer mister.”
There were about three guards at the entrance.
Hermit could handle that many solo, no sweat.
“What about you?”
“Gonna grab Dravora.”
“Her office ain’t far from here!”
Ding ding ding─.
That’s when the bells started ringing.
“The mage escaped!”
“Catch her! Grab her!”
Talk about rotten timing.
Hermit glanced between the hostages and me, then put a hand on my shoulder.
“I’ll get these folks out and come back!”
“Then go.”
I pointed the opposite way from Hermit’s exit and yelled.
“She went that way! The mage headed that way!”
“Urk-. My…gut….”
“Ugh, bathroom…!”
“Cough-!”
Thieves puking blood everywhere.
Ding ding ding-.
Bells clanging from all directions─.
Chaos erupted in an instant.
I bolted to the office with the brewer.
“Heh heh, thief sir. This feels amazing! If I make it out alive, maybe I’ll turn to thieving myself!”
We reached the office.
A tent like an outdoor barracks.
“Here it is. I’m outta here! Good luck!”
The brewer scampered off.
I crept up to the tent and called out.
“Uh, boss─. Big trouble!”
─What is it! What’s all that racket outside!
Ahem-.
I cleared my throat.
“The mage we caught got away!”
─Fuckin’ idiots!
─Told ’em to cut her leg tendons!
─She only needs her tongue and hands to cast anyway!
Guess they never planned to treat us nice.
Good call escaping the prison.
‘Lucky break.’
The tunnel thieves had left to hunt the escaped mage.
If I nabbed ‘Dravora’ now, this was my shot.
‘She’s probably higher level than me, way more experienced.’
‘Can’t win fair and square.’
I pulled a Sleep Potion from my satchel.
Then I peeked the tent flap and sprayed the contents inside.
Splash splash-.
Entry in one minute.
That’d be enough for the vapors to spread.
Right then, laughter from inside the tent.
─Think I’d fall for my own potion?
─But nice try.
Flap-.
A hand shot out from the tent and grabbed my wrist, yanking me in.