Chapter 56
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 56
Chapter Title: Ranger, Entry! (2)
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I roughly turned the side crank on the repeating ballista.
Thud-thud-thwung!
The bowstring, compressed to its absolute limit, screamed as it snapped forward.
Papapak!
Trajectories tore mercilessly through the darkness.
Arm-thick steel bolts sliced through the air like a hail of rain.
Arrows poured down relentlessly on the guards scrambling in panic from the flames.
"Ugh, uwaaak! A-ambush!"
"Cover! Hide behind the buildings!"
There was no place to hide.
The ballista, touched by Mani's hands, pierced through thin planks and human flesh alike with its brutal penetrating power.
The enemies fell in clusters like wheat sheaves in a harvest field.
'The Horned Rats have cut off all communication with the outside!'
I steeled myself coldly, staring at the blood-soaked carnage.
'No reinforcements will ever come to save you!'
"Don't give them a moment to breathe—pour it on!"
Right after the ballista's barrage swept through.
The Rat Ranger girls, huddled behind cover, rose in unison.
"Volley fire! Squeak!"
"Long live Lady Rodentia!"
Dozens of arrows erupted from the loaded rapid bowguns in a storm of projectiles!
They stabbed like daggers into the soldiers who had luckily survived and were fumbling to aim their matchlocks.
"Kwaaaak!"
In an instant, the open space before the tunnel entrance became a hellscape stained with their blood and rolling corpses.
We had seized the initiative completely.
"I'll leave the outer control to you! I'm heading inside!"
In the chaos of hell, I released the ballista crank and shouted urgently.
Temi and the other Rangers nodded with bloodshot eyes and took up vigilant positions in all four directions.
'Almost there, Polly. Just hold on a little longer!'
I mentally traced the underground prison's location etched into my mind by the Horned Rat.
"Here it is!"
Then, leading Hilde, Sena, and the other Rangers, I plunged fearlessly into the tunnel's maw, billowing acrid smoke.
The tunnel was damp and dark. Acrid coal dust clung to our noses.
We raced through the labyrinthine passages, relying on the flickering lantern light.
Soon, a wide iron-barred prison with a sign reading "Cargo Storage" appeared before us.
In the middle of the narrow passage stood a man of mountain-like bulk.
"Where'd you filthy rats crawl from?!"
His massive breastplate of thick steel plates gleamed in the lantern light.
He looked like the mine's guard captain.
"As long as my eyes are wide open, no one gets out of here alive!"
"Blast him!"
At my curt order, Sena and Hilde moved immediately.
Hilde pulled the trigger on her air gun, while Sena and I drew back the rapid bowgun strings together.
Ting!
"Huh...?"
Sparks flew from the guard captain's chest.
The arrows and air gun pellets bounced harmlessly off that ridiculously thick breastplate.
"...!"
His unexpected defense halted me and the Rangers in our tracks.
"Ha! You little pests brought some nasty toys!"
The guard captain kicked away a fallen arrow with his boot, sneering viciously.
"I don't know who you are, but this is your grave! This is a monster-grade breastplate gifted to me by the higher-ups, you rat bastards!"
He raised his jagged greatsword menacingly and took a heavy step forward with a thud.
In this narrow passage, there'd be no room to dodge that massive blade!
But I smiled.
"Likes his bulletproof vest, huh!"
Without hesitation, I reached into my bosom.
Ah, the heavy, cold feel of metal under my fingertips.
It was the double-barreled flintlock pistol Mace had gifted me.
Time to play gunner rat.
"Die! You...huh?"
The guard captain gaped stupidly as he saw me draw something, his greatsword poised to swing.
I instantly raised the muzzle and pulled both triggers in succession.
Bang!
The deafening roar shook the entire tunnel wall, rattling our eardrums.
Thick gunsmoke filled the passage in an instant.
Brutal destructive power far beyond any bowgun!
"Kuh! Kugh...!"
His massive frame toppled backward like a deflating balloon.
The lead shot tore through the breastplate like paper.
The hefty greatsword clattered limply to the ground.
"A g-gun...! C-cheap... cowardly..."
The guard captain foamed blood from his mouth and rolled back his eyes in futility.
Boss fight: ultra-speed clear!
I blew the smoke from the still-hot barrel.
Then snatched the jingling keyring from his belt.
"Let's go. Time to get Polly."
I jammed the freshly seized keys into the door, and the heavy iron gate groaned open with a dull metallic screech.
"Polly! You guys!"
A pungent stench and thick metallic blood smell assaulted us.
On the dim prison floor, various Ratkin girls and dwarves huddled like filth.
From that wretched crowd, a familiar squirrelkin crawled forward, trembling.
"R-R-Reti...?"
Polly's unfocused eyes welled up with tears.
She clutched the hem of my deep green cloak like a lifeline.
"Is it really you, Reti...? Hic, thank goodness, really..."
Her cracked, desperate voice echoed, and faint life sparked in the glazed eyes of the other hostages, who had been huddling like the dead.
I firmly supported Polly's bony shoulders and lifted her up, shouting.
"You're free! Follow us!"
With my cry, the following Rangers poured into the iron bars.
"We're saved! Help everyone up!"
As they carried those whose legs had given out, one Rat Ranger scouting the inner tunnel shouted urgently.
"Chief! There are more slaves locked up further in!"
"Get them all out! Don't leave a single one behind!"
We led the hostages and slaves racing toward the mine entrance, dodging roaring flames and choking smoke.
As the exit path came into view, Sena cried out in relief.
"We're good! Let's get out of the mine, Reti!"
"No. We still have unfinished business to settle properly!"
First things first, it was simple.
"Rangers! Grab anything useful around—just what you can carry!"
"Chief! What should we grab?"
Temi asked in her disciplined tone, and I pointed around.
"The guards' weapons! And... the Horned Rats will guide you! Grab any gunpowder or explosives nearby!"
If there's something useful, we might as well loot it. Leaving it behind would be foolish.
[That's right! Leaving easy prey behind is foolish! If you see walnuts or cheese, you must take them!]
Rodentia herself approved, so the Rat Rangers quickly scoured the area.
"The rest of you, follow me!"
My destination was the mine overseer's office, pinpointed by the Horned Rats' reconnaissance.
"Smash it."
At my nod, the Rangers brutally hacked down the sturdy wooden door with axes.
Bam!
"Eek! W-who's there!"
On the luxurious carpet, the pot-bellied superintendent, frantically scooping jewels into a large leather bag, screamed and collapsed to the floor.
I instantly raised my bowgun and mercilessly pulled the trigger into his thigh.
"Kwaaaak!"
As he rolled spewing blood, Sena pounced on his back like a beast.
She expertly twisted his wrists behind him, bound them tight with rope, and gagged his mouth roughly.
"Mmph! Mmmph!"
The superintendent squealed like a pig at slaughter, thrashing about.
My gaze turned to the massive steel safe dominating one wall.
Inside would surely be mountains of gold bars or thick stacks of bills.
'Filthy money squeezed from our kin's blood! We'll put it to good use!'
I roughly yanked the brass keyring from the superintendent's neck and tossed it to Sena.
"Open it."
Click, creak!
Sena turned the key with force, and the heavy steel door screeched open.
The bound superintendent on the floor thrashed his head wildly with bloodshot eyes in desperate plea not to open it.
Clank!
Clatter!
As the steel door swung fully open, the safe's crammed contents spilled onto the floor.
My expectations shattered miserably.
"?"
No blinding golden glow, no smooth ink scent of bills.
Instead, musty mold and dusty piles of paper stacks filled the space.
"What the hell is all this? Where's the money—nothing but trash?"
I scowled and picked up a scattered sheet.
[Name: Yumi. Race: Rabbitkin. Grade: Low. Borrowed Amount: 50 silver coins. Designated Debt: 15 gold coins. Status: Indefinite Labor.]
[Name: Polly. Race: Squirrelkin. Grade: High. Special Merchandise Classification. Price: 2 gold coins. Designated Debt: 20 gold coins.]
My gaze chilled as I scanned downward.
'Oh god. This is worse than money.'
Illegal slave contracts!
Hundreds of beastkin and paupers' names, body grades, and exorbitant fabricated debts chaining them like collars.
Shackles cloaked in legality.
As furious Sena examined the papers, one anomalous item caught my eye.
At the safe's deepest recess, a high-end black leather notebook woven exquisitely.
'What's this...?'
Tucked beside it were a couple of letters sealed with vivid blood-red wax.
'Smells suspicious.'
Qualitatively different from the slave contracts we'd just burn.
Probably links to the big shots behind this mine.
I carefully tucked the letters and notebook deep into my bosom.
That very moment.
Screeeee!
From below the mine, beyond the ridge we'd breathlessly climbed.
A sharp horn pierced the night sky, echoing long.
Followed by the heavy thud of dozens of warhorses pounding the earth.
The military police's stern shouts and marching trumpets drowned even the flickering fire noise, filling the valley.
"What the hell is that noise?"
Flustered Hilde peered out the tunnel and asked.
I patted the ledger in my bosom lightly and replied.
"The legitimate cleanup crew we called."
Inspector Coldwell and the northern military police, rushing at my tip-off.
With the ironclad excuse of a massive fire and uproar, even that strict inspector would draw his sword without hesitation.
'Our goal is achieved.'
Kin rescued.
Now, let that legal authority sweep up our messy remnants in the name of the law.
Just those slave contracts in the safe would be ample evidence for the military police.
"Retreat!"
I turned without regret.
'Work for it, military police!'
We melted leisurely into the shadows behind the mine, leaving the military police's noisy torchlights shaking behind us.
As bluish dawn light brushed the forest edge.
We safely hid in the mountains' embrace with the freed slaves.
The night's heat had vanished. The crisp, cool northern mountain air brushed our cheeks.
My eyes fixed solely on the oil-scented leather ledger and letter pile on my lap.
With Sena and Hilde swallowing dryly as they watched, I slipped my dagger tip into the wax seal's gap.
Pop—the blood-red seal broke limply.
"Let's see what's inside."
Rustle.
The paper pulled from the envelope was densely packed with cunning, chilling code words.
[This month's incoming construction materials are in excellent condition. Ship unblemished top-grade items directly to headquarters; consume the rest as tunnel fuel.]
"Construction materials...? Treating living people like objects isn't enough—they're fuel?!"
Sena spat in rage.
At this point, I was dying to know what else lay in this leather notebook.
I silently shifted my gaze to the envelope's front.
No matter how much code they hid behind, they couldn't erase the report's destination.
The recipient was stamped clearly.
[Ratstein Charity Foundation]
"Ratstein...!"
My mind flashed awake.
The elegant elf man who had come to our dusty training ground days ago, smiling gracefully and prattling about free education and cozy lodging—his face surfaced vividly.
The letter crumpled in my fist, screaming.
"Likes his charity foundation, huh!"
These bastards were surely the root of all evil.