The Snake Bandits (3)
Two bandit thugs had lied, and it would have made for a really interesting situation. But the guys who were completely broken had spilled everything they knew, without a single lie.
“What the hell is this? This is completely different from the info I got from the guild!”
And the information about the Snake Bandits I heard from the guys was quite different from what I had received from the guild.
First, the scale.
According to the guild, the Snake Bandits numbered just over a hundred.
Our party had only four members, yet the guild gave us the extermination request for the Snake Bandits, most of which were from ordinary people.
But in reality, the Snake Bandits numbered three times that, over three hundred. Moreover, there were quite a few villages under their control, like the Jert village.
If other bandit groups that frequently appeared in the area were in the same situation, then the Witch Queen ruling Baidu could be said to be surrounded by bandits.
Next, the core forces.
The guild had identified five master-level individuals and fifteen subordinates as the dangerous figures of the Snake Bandits. But this info was also wrong.
The leader of the Snake Bandits, Salmus, had as many as eight fairies. Furthermore, there were a total of ten bandit squads under him, and including the one I killed, the number of masters and fairies reached nearly forty.
“These bastards have so many? This is almost city-level power?”
It was an unbelievably huge scale that was hard to believe.
If only one had said that, I would have snapped his neck for lying. But when both said the Snake Bandits’ executives were that numerous, I couldn’t not believe it.
'Fuck, I picked the wrong opponent?'
No matter how good I was at fighting, sexy(?) and strategizing, this was too big a power gap.
So, should I just run away?
'But it's a pity to leave the dungeon like this...'
The Snake Bandits could maintain such a large scale because they were managing dungeons. In fact, the dungeon they managed wasn't one, but three.
The only thing lacking was a capital, but Salmus, the leader of the Snake Bandits, had a force that could be called a king.
'Can I eliminate the Snake Bandits?'
Fighting like this was like cracking an egg with a rock. But I couldn't abandon the dungeons they owned.
Because the dungeons in Baidu were used by many people, I couldn't conquer them as I wanted.
“.....”
'Then give up on growing here?'
A change of perspective.
Thinking about it, there was no law that I had to grow in Baidu. At this point, I could fold the board and move to the city corresponding to the 5th chapter in the game. The growth I couldn't achieve here could be achieved there.
“.....”
But there was no law that the same situation wouldn't happen there. If I couldn't use the dungeons there either?
“Tsk.”
Since I couldn't be sure which would give me the best result, I couldn't make a hasty choice.
'For now, I'll wait until Kanisia returns.'
First, I had to hear Kanisia's opinion and decide whether to fight the Snake Bandits or move to the next city by leaving Baidu.
“Wait, how the hell can these bandit bastards grow this much?”
I didn't know much about this side, but I could feel that the scale and growth rate of the Snake Bandits were somehow off.
To support over 300 people, there would have to be quite a large village. With three dungeons, they wouldn't be nomadic like nomads. Moreover, this is a desert, right?
Furthermore, the strange thing was not just that.
Just the amount they eat per day would be enormous. Especially in such a desert, it's even harder to find food.
Although they have several villages under their control, there must be limits to the food they can produce in the villages.
No matter how I thought, this was an irrational thing.
What was it? What secret were those bastards hiding?
“… A supporter.”
As I closed my eyes and pondered, I realized that the Snake Bandits had a supporter.
“Among them, the syndicate. There must be a supporter among the syndicates in Baidu. Ah, no. I can't be sure. The kings and queens of other cities are probably eyeing Baidu too…”
From the interrogation of the captured bandit guys, I learned that the Snake Bandits’ goal was Baidu.
I didn't know how strong the leader of the Snake Bandits, Salmus, was, but I was sure that he was weaker than the [Witch Queen] ruling Baidu.
If Salmus was stronger than the Witch Queen, the owner of Baidu would have changed long ago.
“Let’s summarize this for a moment.”
1. There are those who are eyeing the city flowing with milk and honey, Baidu.
2. They raised the Snake Bandits and secretly subjugated the cities around Baidu. As a result, Baidu became isolated.
3. The Snake Bandits have a supporter in their growth. The supporter’s goal is also Baidu.
4. There may be a supporter in Baidu who is allied with the Snake Bandits, or there may be a supporter outside.
“First, these four are definite.”
What I needed to check here.
1. Are other bandit groups besides the Snake Bandits also aiming for the same purpose?
There are several bandit groups with different names flaunting around near Baidu. What I was curious about here was whether these bandit groups had allied with the Snake Bandits or not.
If all the bandit groups were of the same affiliation, the number would be much larger than I thought.
2. Is the Snake Bandits a decoy?
Perhaps there was a possibility that the Snake Bandits were a decoy to divert the Witch Queen’s attention. While the Witch Queen was distracted by the Snake Bandits, their real strong men might be aiming for the Witch Queen?
In Fairy Masters, the Witch Queen appears as a 7-star master. Since the characters I've met so far have been stronger than the game, the Witch Queen would also be stronger.
That means the Witch Queen is at least 7-star, or possibly an 8-star master.
But being an 8-star master doesn't mean she's absolutely strong. There are plenty of people of comparable strength, and if they attack the Witch Queen, no matter how strong she is, she won't be able to hold on.
3. Will the Ferdium Empire really abandon the Witch Queen?
The Witch Queen had self-proclaimed herself as queen, but unlike other masters, she was pro-imperial.
From the perspective of the current emperor, whose empire was being torn apart by warlords, the Witch Queen’s oath of loyalty would have been like a drop of rain in a drought. Moreover, the Baidu she ruled was a city so wealthy that it could be counted on one hand among all cities in the continent.
If I were the emperor, if the Witch Queen were in danger, I would have immediately sent reinforcements.
Attacking the Witch Queen who was loyal to the emperor could be interpreted as an attack on the emperor.
Could the mysterious enemies have the power to oppose the emperor? Or, did they have any power to oppose the Ferdium Empire at all?
No matter how fragmented it was, the empire was still the empire.
Ferdium was the strongest single force.
What kind of force could oppose Ferdium…
“… Huh?”
I knew one force that could oppose the Ferdium Empire.
“… No way, another Palos’s Bird here?”
Palos’s Bird.
A hated organization that you get tired of meeting while playing Fairy Masters.
Their goal was to overthrow the Ferdium Empire and make themselves rule the world.
But there was one thing I couldn’t understand.
“Why didn't Palos's Bird appear in the game?”
From my memory, in the 4th chapter of Fairy Masters, Palos's Bird did not appear. It could be called a relaxing chapter, and the main story was defeating the bandits.
In the game, you could receive quests from NPCs without going through the guild to exterminate the bandits. So, I received quests from NPCs at the same time as from the guild and got double the extermination rewards.
Anyway, if my assumption is correct, Palos's Bird should have appeared in the game or at least been mentioned once.
But no matter how much I dug into my memories of my previous life, there was no mention of Palos's Bird in the 4th chapter.
“… Maybe I just overdid it?”
It could be.
It wasn't because the force I knew was Palos's Bird, but there might be other forces besides Palos's Bird that could oppose the Ferdium Empire.
“Argh! I don't know!”
I scratched my head and shouted. Of course, shouting didn't relieve the frustration that my mind was stuffed.
“Besides, it's complicated because of the fairy summoning, and this is another thing…”
I was thinking of using 300 gems to summon a fairy.
But to summon a fairy, I had to use 3,000 gems to activate the inactive [Fairy Master] trait and invest another 300 gems.
In other words, it meant that summoning one fairy would cost a whopping 3,300 gems.
'Fuck, I spent 3,300 gems, and if I get a 1-star, even trash?'
If I pour love into raising fairies, I'll eventually get usable fairies. But unfortunately, there are also fairies that aren't like that.
After summoning, the grade is 1-star, no special traits, and the total stats are less than 35 points.
Such fairies, no matter how much love I pour out, won't become usable. No, if I pour infinite love, they'll eventually become usable.
But it's much more economical to use the resources poured into them to raise other fairies.
'Of course, the probability of such a fairy appearing is low...'
What if I get a trash fairy by sheer bad luck?
“Uh…”
Just imagining it, my hands and feet trembled with fear.
'Fuck, I don't know. Anyway, since I don't have any low-level growth stones I can use right now, let's skip for now.'
Even if I summon a fairy right away, I can't use it as immediate combat power, so I decided to summon the fairy later.
It was a day that made my head complicated.
*****
“Alan~”
“Master!”
Five days later, Kanisia, Abraham, and my fairy Aquaril returned from Baidu.
“Welcome back? Did you handle the business well?”
“Of course! And Alan…”
“Hmm?”
“Thank you so much…”
“Huh. What are you talking about.”
Kanisia's eyes looking at me were popping with pink hearts. Who would say it's not the pink princess, her eyes are pink too.
“I, I came too, Master.”
As I was talking to Kanisia, Aquaril, feeling jealous, squeezed in between us. Her appearance was so cute that a smile naturally formed on my face.
“Yeah. You missed me a lot, right?”
“Yes, Master!”
“I missed you a lot too.”
“Aaah… Master…”
When I hugged her tightly, Aquaril hugged me back tightly. How strong she squeezed, it felt like my clothes would tear.