A Thief in the Shadows
“Heh heh. Captain Leonald is such a fun guy, huh?” The Grand Mage felt that Leonald was adorable. After all, Cloud had already decided to surrender. So he raised both hands high and stepped out into the middle of the bandit camp without a word. The vicious-looking bandits’ gazes all locked onto him at once. “Is that the leader?” “That’s right.” Leonald, who had been hanging high with his whole body tightly bound in ropes, beamed with joy. “Cloud! They said these guys would provide the black-market materials! AHAHAHA!” Cloud glanced at Leonald, then walked cautiously toward the bandit boss with tense eyes. “Kneel!” A bandit kicked his knee, forcing him to the ground. “Check if he’s hiding any weapons.” “Yes!” Two bandits rushed in, stripped Cloud of his armor, and gave his body a thorough search. “Nothing on him.” “Hmm?” The bandit boss, with a tattoo on his face, smiled wickedly as he approached. “Where are the other soldiers hiding?” “The soldiers are all stationed far from this mountain. I came alone. I was doing reconnaissance when I accidentally heard Captain Leonald’s voice.” “Don’t lie!” A bandit behind him swung a club into Cloud’s back. _THUD_ “Gurgh!” Cloud’s face twisted in agony. “Cloud! Are you okay? Cloud!” Leonald shouted desperately at the bandits. “My friends! You said you wouldn’t hit Cloud!” “What the hell is he saying?” “Idiot.” The bandits laughed or ignored his pitiful cries. The bandit boss looked at the groaning Cloud, curled one lip, and grinned evilly. “Does it hurt a lot? Every time you lie, I’ll give you another hit. So it’s better to speak honestly. Tell me again—did you bring all your subordinates here or come alone?” “Hey.” Cloud replied, a little heated, locking eyes with the boss. “Before you answer my question, let me set my own condition.” “What? What condition?” The bandit boss and his men laughed at him. “Listen up. From now on, any bandit who has a weapon or club in hand will be killed.” “What?” Cloud grinned as the boss’s ears twitched. The surrounding bandits also snorted at his nonsense. “This idiot’s gone crazy, what the hell is he babbling about!” The moment he was about to swing the club, Cloud stretched his arm behind him. The golden tattoo on his back glowed brightly, and something far away shone. It flew at incredible speed, cutting through the air, and landed perfectly in his palm. Gesengquiya. The moment Cloud gripped Gesengquiya, he swung it first toward the bandit holding the club. _SWOOSH!_ “GYAAAAH!” As the blade sliced the bandit’s belly, he immediately slashed at the boss. The extended blade wrapped around the boss’s neck and was yanked hard. His neck and spine came out at the same time, spraying blood everywhere. “W-what the hell is this guy?!” “H-how did the sword fly?!” The bandits who had been watching in shock dropped their weapons and charged. But suddenly, a powerful gale blew toward them. Everything around tried to grab onto something and hold on, but it was useless. More than thirty people were lifted off the ground, crashing into the cliff or buildings, and fell to the bottom. “Hahaha, this is too easy!” “Not bad, old man!” Cloud raised his thumb toward Latinus standing on the hill, then glanced at the ropes holding Leonald. Just then, Lucy— who had jumped up like lightning—cut the ropes with her sword. Cloud rushed to catch the falling Leonald in both hands. “Incredible, Cloud! I saw that sword lengthen yesterday too—what the hell is it?! Where can I get one?!” “Don’t covet the black-market materials!” “You read my mind! You’re truly amazing! AHAHAHA!” Leonald looked relieved even though he had caused trouble. With Latinus’s help, the situation was easily resolved, and finally all forty-plus bandits were tied up and forced to their knees. The only thing left was to gather the loot. Cloud ordered the soldiers left behind to come and collect all the valuable items into one place. The pure and earnest soldiers darted between the buildings, working hard to bring out the precious goods. “Huh? Old lady! Old lady, you’re alive! I missed you!” After finishing his task, Latinus instantly regressed into his senile old man self, as if it had been a lie. “What should we do with all this?” Lucy tried to peel the crying Latinus off her with effort while asking. Where her eyes landed, there was a huge pile of wealth. Including ten full sacks of money, plus all the valuable items, it looked like several million gents at least. “We’ll keep it.” “Who told you to? Of course we should have it. And hand the upper-ups the bandits tied up together. I mean, how are we supposed to transport it?” Cloud shook his head. “No, that’s not what I meant. I’m saying we don’t report to the upper-ups and just swallow it all ourselves.” “What?” Lucy stared at him in surprise. Cloud gave a small smile. “The upper-ups don’t even give us good weapons and armor because they underestimate our 10th Regiment. Why would we hand them over honestly? It’s better to use this money to buy what we want ourselves.” Lucy looked dumbfounded. “Is the commander’s backbone swollen? Or did his heart pop out? If we steal the loot…” “Lucy.” Cloud cut her off. “I’ll use any means to make our regiment the strongest in the Valua army. Then we’ll be able to look higher in the future, won’t we?” “But this is a bit…” “Listen to me, Lucy.” Cloud was firm. He stared at her seriously. “You know it from experience. Yesterday you said one eye was blind, right? And you were trying to hide it because it would affect your conscription. That’s why you deliberately didn’t submit the physical exam on conscription day. Was I wrong?” “H-how did you know?” Lucy flinched, startled. “I was standing in the back row that day.” Cloud continued without pause. “Doesn’t it piss you off? Those bastards who put us in this stupid regiment just because one eye was blind. You may have lost sight in one eye, but you could still live a normal life. Yet they treated you like an idiot. Doesn’t it make you angry? Don’t you want revenge on those who call you an idiot? Right? And honestly, isn’t it ridiculous to send us to catch bandits with the same shitty equipment? It’s basically telling us to commit suicide. How deep in desk politics do they have to be to give us such nonsense missions. Those bastards need to get their comeuppance.” Cloud stopped and watched Lucy quietly. She had been deeply shaken by his words. Her gaze was down, teeth clenched, fists tightly clenched. It meant she had been thinking the same thing and felt bone-deep sympathy. “It’s not about direct revenge or harming people. It’s about becoming the best in the regiment. It’s about becoming the strongest 10th Regiment in the world. Then we’ll mock the desk-politics bastards beautifully. With the power we gain from reaching the top.” Cloud pointed at the money pile with Gesengquiya. “In that sense, the money here is our chance, Lucy. I’ll raise you as you deserve with this money. Trust me. I’ll make you the commander of the strongest 10th Regiment in the Valua army so no one will ever look down on you again for having one blind eye.” After speaking, a short silence fell. “…Really?” She asked, head lowered, voice trembling. Cloud nodded vigorously and said firmly with a determined voice. “Let’s go together, all of us.” Then he smiled softly. “You and I are commander and subordinate who rode the same boat, right? In the Valua army, from now on, we’ll be together all the way. From now on, we’ll trust and rely on each other.” *** “Aaaah! Hwaaaang! Haaang!” In a seedy inn far outside the city, Lucy lay with her legs spread wide, lost in ecstasy as Cloud took her. Her legs, spread open by the intrusion, twitched wildly. “Haaang! Hwiing! Hwiing!” She wondered if it was a dream or reality. It was both shocking and terrifying. How had she ended up here? After work, the commander and sub-commander had gone to the tavern for a drink to bond for the future. In the wine-fueled conversation, they had become intoxicated with each other’s charm. Then, following her heart, they had kissed. Next moment, she realized it was a wild bonding party where superior and subordinate were using their bodies to “talk.” Cloud was writhing like a beast on top of her, pounding away. “Haa! Haa! Luuucyyyy!” The Cloud in front of her was out of his mind. Eyes lost to alcohol, he ruthlessly ravished every inch of her body. Completely forgetting himself, he sank into animalistic sex. But Lucy didn’t mind. Instead, she became more aggressive, biting down viciously. “Haaang! Hwiing! Harder, harder! Commander! I love the commander! I love it! Let’s succeed together!” So Lucy held his thing in her mouth, teeth sinking in, and planned to let him have his way all night. The next day, Cloud woke up in a strange inn. The sight of Lucy sleeping naked beside him made him jolt. “What the hell?! Why am I here?!” Cloud had never imagined a bonding party. He hadn’t gone there with bad intentions yesterday. He had genuinely gone to the tavern. Even now, the first thing that came to mind was that Elena might scold him for unauthorized absence. “I drank too much last night. Ah…” Cloud sighed and covered his face with his hand. “Did I wake you?” Lucy, awakened by Cloud’s presence, rubbed her eyes and got out of bed. She picked up the panties she had carelessly tossed aside last night, bent over, slipped one leg in, and said gruffly, “I won’t cause any trouble, so don’t worry. With eyes like mine, I have no interest in chasing men shamelessly. Anyway, it’s not like we’re going to see each other again. Let’s just enjoy last night.”