The Secret Hideout of the Shadow Faction is a Good Farming Spot
The secret hideouts of shadow organizations are excellent farming spots. In a medieval fantasy world, travel is an incredibly grueling, tedious, and perilous affair. The kind of comfortable journeys people casually imagine in the modern era are nothing but a distant dream. One must endure the biting chill of night and the countless dangers lurking along the road. Among them, camping is what torments travelers the most, for it exposes them to every single one of those hazards. Especially the bandits who strike under cover of darkness—those are a hidden blade that can never be guarded against too carefully.
To us, however, they were worth less than pebbles scattered by the roadside.
Clatter, clatter.
"Argo. These guys are weird. They're weak, yet they attacked us anyway."
"It's because the Central region is more livable than the North."
I answered Adela's remark with a bored expression as she shook the decapitated bandit's head in her hand. The North had no bandits thanks to its hellish environment and monsters, but humans were far more tenacious than goblins. Bandits who preyed on the wilds teeming with monsters and beasts arose naturally across the entire continent for all sorts of reasons—greed, jealousy, avarice, poverty, starvation, and so on. Yet the only reason they could even exist was because the Central region was livable.
"So these are the so-called bandits?"
"They're far weaker than I expected. I was prepared for at least a company of Bronze-class fighters at the lowest estimate."
"Unlike the North, monsters here are weak, so it can't be helped."
Owen smiled faintly at the exchange between Arash and Goro, his expression like that of an adult watching children disappointed by results that fell short of their expectations. Having traveled to other regions several times before, Owen kindly explained for the benefit of those experiencing the Central region for the first time.
"You shouldn't expect too much from the Central region's standards. At the very least, you have to lower your expectations by one or two ranks compared to the North."
"Hmm. Is that so."
"The North is particularly harsh on this continent. That said, the other regions are fairly similar to each other, excluding the Central region."
At Owen's words, my eyes lit up. I had heard that the other regions, unlike the Central region, had developed entirely unique cultures that matched the flavor of fantasy itself. From the rumors I'd gathered while working as a guild employee, the West was said to be in an Age of Exploration, the South an arcane plus steampunk blend, and the East a fusion of Eastern cultures. I found myself thinking that I would like to visit them someday.
"If the opportunity arises, I'd like to visit the other regions as well."
"That's not a bad idea. Experiencing other regions can be quite helpful."
At Owen's words, I resolved to visit them someday and rose to my feet. Dealing with the bandits who had attacked without a shred of fear had completely woken me up. There was no point lying back down in my sleeping bag now, so I decided to take a walk and enjoy the night sky instead.
"I'm going for a short walk."
"Be careful out there."
If this had been a forest in the North, they would have tried to stop me. But we were in the Central region. The situation was only threatening enough to warrant an ogre's appearance, so I received my companions' relaxed send-offs and entered the forest.
Crunch. Crunch.
I walked through the pitch-black forest where not a single ray of sunlight penetrated. It was a dangerous place where even seasoned warriors could easily lose their way, yet to me it felt more familiar than anywhere else. I savored the moment, listening to the cries of insects and the sounds of animals echoing in my ears.
"This reminds me of the ranger lessons I learned back in the village when I was young."
There had been a former ranger in the village who had taught me all sorts of useful knowledge. How to find one's way in the forest, how to distinguish edible food, how to survive, and so on. Thanks to all that knowledge, navigating the forest wasn't difficult.
"Kiiit."
"You came out for a nighttime stroll too?"
Ratatoskr, who had emerged from my pocket after a long time, was also enjoying the fresh night air. In the North there were plenty of monsters that could wander around unscathed even after being struck by lightning, but once we came down to the Central region, Ratatoskr became quite the formidable predator. The creature seemed to know this as well, for unlike when it used to stay in my pocket all the time, it now frequently came out to enjoy the leisurely atmosphere.
I wondered how long I had been wandering the forest like that. Having traveled quite far from the campsite, I turned around, thinking it was time to head back. My body could go without sleep for a day, but to maintain peak condition, I needed at least some rest.
Just as I began walking in the direction of the campsite—
Rustle.
"Hmm?"
I slowed my steps at the presence I sensed in the distance. To me, this forest was a peaceful place, but to the people of the Central region, it was a dangerous forest where monsters roamed. Moving through such a forest at night, in a place with no paths, was clear evidence that something was suspicious.
Using my ranger skills to minimize my presence and my detection skills to observe, I examined the group crossing the forest. They were all cloaked in black robes and pulling carts. Faint groans and whimpers could be heard from the carts covered with cloth. Catching a whiff of a faint stench of decay coming from some of the robed figures, I immediately grasped the situation and summoned Ikelos.
"Ikelos. Go to the campsite and bring the others."
"Grr."
At my command, Ikelos silently crossed through the air toward the campsite. While the creature went to fetch my companions, I quietly tailed the suspicious group.
"Kit?"
"Why are we just tailing them instead of taking them out?"
"Kiiit."
"Because these guys are just the tail. I'm planning to find their hideout and smash it to pieces."
They were clearly black mages conducting biological experiments. Neon was just an idiot who had become a black mage in a fit of anger and had reformed after tasting the harsh wilds of the North, but these people were irredeemable trash. I deliberately refrained from attacking so I could rescue the test subjects who were likely being held in their hideout as well.
After traveling for some time like that, the group that had been silently pulling their carts entered a cave beneath a cliff that was cleverly concealed by illusion magic. The guards at the entrance emitted a blue glow from their eyes, revealing themselves to be undead. I let out a hollow laugh at the sight of undead openly wandering about, apparently because the illusion magic meant they had no fear of being discovered.
"The difference between the Central region and the North really is enormous."
The aura emanating from the skeletons was ridiculously weak. They were so feeble that they could probably put up a decent fight against a rabbit, which was known as the weakest creature in the North. No, the rabbit would probably win easily. They were just nominally stationed guards whose security measures were handled entirely by illusion magic, but even so, wasn't this taking it too far?
"Well, thanks to that, it'll be much easier for us to get in."
Having discovered the entrance, I waited without making any rash moves. Before long, my companions arrived, guided by Ikelos.
"Ikelos told us to follow, but what is that?"
"It's a black mage hideout. Looks like they're conducting biological experiments as well."
"Oho?"
At my words, Owen slightly opened his eyes. If even the perpetually half-closed-eyed man was opening his eyes, then this was a situation he hadn't anticipated either. As Owen gazed at the cave with an intrigued expression, the corners of his mouth gradually curled upward.
"We're in luck today. To think we'd discover a black mage hideout."
"What? Why is that?"
Anel asked at Owen's words. Of course, discovering a black mage hideout and wiping them out was a good thing. We could rescue the people trapped inside and eliminate a force that was destabilizing the Central region. There was no rule saying that adventurers who protected the North couldn't protect other regions as well, so they could become upright adventurers and warriors while gaining honor. But that alone seemed a bit too weak a reason for a Gold-class adventurer to be pleased.
It was Grid who resolved Anel's question.
"Hideouts of shady organizations like that are treasure troves."
He grinned as he slung his well-maintained battle axe over his shoulder.
"Usually, those kinds of shady bastards strangely have a lot of money. If you raid their hideouts, you can get all sorts of rare materials and usable equipment."
"Rare materials?"
"Usable equipment?"
At Grid's words, Arash and Goro's ears perked up.
"That's right. For example, materials from rare monsters that were smuggled in from other regions, or you might even get a hefty amount of gold."
"Rare monster materials?"
"A hefty amount of gold?"
Adela and I reacted to the next words. They were all tempting rewards. I found myself wondering why I had never known this fact until now.
"Most of it won't be necessary for me and Owen, but there should be plenty of useful things for you guys."
"We can rescue the kidnapped people too, so it's killing two birds with one stone~"
At our seniors' words, we looked at each other's faces. Without needing to say anything, our eyes conveyed that we were thinking the same thing.
"Owen, would it be all right if we raided any laboratories or secret hideouts we come across along the way?"
"I'd be happy to. We can rescue the kidnapped people, after all."
"With my detection skills, I'll find them in no time."
Judging from Owen's expression, he had wanted to raid hideouts while traveling from the very beginning. It was probably because it reminded him of old times and allowed him to rescue people at the same time—a win-win situation. As expected of the one called the Light of Edenberg. As I looked at Owen with admiration while he wore his enigmatic smile, I noticed Neon glancing around nervously.
"If it's a black mage hideout, leave it to me! I know the internal structure like the back of my hand!"
"Huh? That would be great for us, but why the sudden enthusiasm?"
"Oh, don't even ask! I've always hated their rotten way of thinking! Let's show those pieces of trash what justice really is!"
Aha. He was working so hard because he was worried their actions might reflect badly on him. Well, it made sense. He had worked hard to build up his merits and was on the verge of becoming an official black mage—if it all came crashing down right in front of him, anyone would feel despair.
"Let's go already! Let's show those wicked black mages what justice really means!"
With Neon more motivated than ever at the center, we headed toward the black mage hideout. Black mages would probably give a lot of experience points, right? The potions from the shop system were effective but extremely expensive, so I hoped we'd get enough money to buy plenty of them. The expressions of everyone heading toward the hideout were filled with smiles.