Against the Encirclement (1)
Kelly’s condition seemed fine, which put my mind at ease for the moment. I leaned back comfortably against the railing. Soon a bright, tearful voice drifted out from the gap between the boxes.
“I won’t forget either of you. I’ll never forget this kindness for the rest of my life…”
A silent smile rose to my lips. Helping someone felt genuinely rewarding. If I had sold her, could I have experienced this kind of satisfaction? I would probably have become no different from those sub-human bandits—rotten with evil.
As I am now, I can say it with confidence: even though I live among bandits, I am not a bandit. I am an ordinary man who can return to the brilliant outside world whenever he wishes, a conscientious person who still upholds the lines a human should never cross. At least for now…
Once we entered the city without incident, we headed straight for the women’s goods shop. Apparently buying the female boss’s underwear, cosmetics, accessories, and various toiletries was also part of our duties. Wasn’t she embarrassed to send a bunch of men out for her personal items?
The moment the wagon stopped on a deserted stretch of road, Marcus sought me out first.
“You and I are going into the shop.”
“Huh? Can’t I go with Mr. Phelton this time?”
Give me a little time to say goodbye to Kelly, you tactless old man.
“Stop whining and follow me. Teaching and supervising a rookie is the squad leader’s job.”
“We’ll have plenty of time later.”
I stayed stubbornly planted in the cargo bed.
“Exactly. We’ll have plenty of time later, so I’m making you do it from now on. Do you have any idea how humiliating it is for an old man to buy women’s products? And if I send Phelton, he comes back with underwear only a whore would wear and I can’t even look the boss in the eye. If I send Harry, he buys things with bears and rabbits on them that only children would wear, and you know how much Ision nags him over it.”
“You think I’m any different? I’ve never bought women’s things either.”
“Shut up and get on your feet! At least you’re younger than these two, so you should have some sense of taste!”
Marcus refused to yield. Even when Phelton offered to go instead, the old man insisted on dragging me along. At this rate he’d probably demand we share the same coffin.
“My tastes are more peculiar than Mr. Phelton’s or Harry’s, so prepare yourself.”
Rather than keep irritating the old man, raise my voice, and make Kelly anxious, I reluctantly stood up.
As I followed Marcus down the street I glanced back. Harry, still sitting in the cargo bed, gave me a gesture that said he would handle it. Staring at the stacked boxes, I quietly bid Kelly farewell.
“Goodbye, Kelly. Live happily.”
I want to be free too. I’m glad I could help you, but honestly… I’m envious.
“Why aren’t you following? What are you doing?”
Marcus was already throwing a fit over the short delay. Just when the mood was turning warm, that damn old geezer had to ruin it. I turned and ran after him.
When we returned an hour later, the boxes were empty.
“I couldn’t even give her a proper goodbye. She was my first slave in this life, too.”
The wagon rattled forward. Sitting in the cargo bed, I listened to Harry recount the rest.
“She kept grabbing both my hands, crying and saying thank you. It almost made me tear up too. She didn’t want to leave, so I had to practically chase her off and tell her to go quickly.”
“She knows how to be grateful, then. She’s a good person.”
“You don’t regret it?”
“Not at all. It’s just… she appeared out of nowhere and vanished in an instant, so it feels a little hollow.”
“Already missing her?”
“No way.”
I looked out at the passing scenery and gave a small laugh. Suddenly the accidental sex I’d had with Kelly last night floated into my mind. It really had felt good. The sensation of being inside her. Now that it was over, I missed it and wanted to do it again. Maybe I shouldn’t have let her escape?
The second place we headed to was the tavern we had visited before. Several boxes of liquor had come in from the plunder squad Freyr belonged to, and we were here to dispose of them. According to Marcus, the recent arrival of the Lion Heart Unit to suppress the bandits meant their activities would be curtailed for a while. To survive the long winter, they were liquidating anything sellable the moment it appeared. That way it would be easier to abandon the mountain stronghold and flee.
We took a side road into the tavern’s back alley. Just like last time, Marlin was leaning against the wall smoking. Phelton stopped the wagon in front of her.
“Have you been well, darling?”
Marlin greeted me first. Ah, she really is beautiful. I answered warmly.
“I really missed you.”
Was that too much? The truth was, there wasn’t much to eat back at the bandit camp, so we were always half-starved. If I stayed in her good graces, maybe she would slip me some of the tavern’s delicious food. I seemed to be growing more shameless the longer I lived this life.
After hearing me say I missed her, I expected a favorable reaction, but Marlin’s gaze had already drifted elsewhere.
“Phelton looks more handsome every time I see him.”
What? Had she lost interest in me?
“Harry should lose some weight, and Mr. Marcus looks younger than before. Have you taken a young lover?”
She greeted each of us by name. My ulterior-motive-filled greeting was ignored, but I shook it off and was about to start unloading when unfamiliar voices suddenly reached my ears.
— Lady Adelia. The signal has been received. Squad leader Marcus, Harry, Phelton, and the other-race youth have all arrived outside.
— Remain hidden and wait. When squad leader Marcus enters, capture him first. If the others resist, killing them is acceptable.
What the hell was this? Tension surged through me. I stared at Marlin with wide eyes. Looking at her now with different eyes, she appeared completely different from the ordinary woman of moments ago. Her face was deathly pale with nerves, and the fingers holding her cigarette trembled faintly.
Had this woman betrayed us?
The moment the thought formed, voices rained down from every direction.
— The moment Marcus goes inside, begin the operation.
— Don’t let a single one escape.
— I’ll take the pig.
— Then I’ll shoot the driver first so he can’t flee with the wagon.
I secretly pulled out the golden coin and examined it. The voices were coming from the second-floor window of the building behind the tavern and from beyond the alley. In an instant, despair swallowed me. We had been completely surrounded before we could even blink.
“Is the owner inside?”
“At this hour the fox should be guarding her den. Where else would she go?”
“More like a nest of vipers.”
Marcus climbed down with the ledger and headed for the back door. Knowing people were waiting inside to arrest him, I couldn’t stay still. I walked toward him as calmly as I could. The moment Marcus reached for the doorknob, I lightly caught his wrist.
“What are you doing?”
He looked at me as if I had lost my mind.
“Mr. Marcus, when exactly are you going to make my necklace?”
“Have you gone crazy? Can’t you see I’m working? Why are you talking about a necklace right now?”
“I want to play the flute right now.”
“The flute?”
The flute was the Marcus family’s private alarm—its sound meant the situation was dangerous and we needed to run.
“Did someone feed this idiot nonsense pills?”
Marcus frowned slightly, as if wondering what kind of strange fellow he was dealing with. But when he looked into my tightly drawn face, he quickly realized something was wrong and his expression hardened. A few days ago he had taught me that to survive long in the underworld you must suspect everything and fear everything; his instincts were truly first-rate.
“Shit…”
Marcus let out a small sigh; his eyes wavered. He stroked his chin and pretended to think, but his gaze darted around, rapidly scanning the surroundings. Then he looked at Phelton and Harry. Phelton had already caught the meaning from my mention of the flute; he had stopped what he was doing and was already nimbly seated on the driver’s bench. Only Harry remained oblivious, holding a liquor crate stacked so high it hid his face.
“It’s a trap!”
That was the signal. Marcus sprinted toward the wagon, seized the necklace, and blew the flute with all his strength. The sharp sound, like a military bugle, instantly transformed Harry into the Hulk. Realizing the emergency, his eyes narrowed fiercely. With monstrous strength he hurled the liquor crate at the back door.
Crash!
The back door shattered. Shards of wood and liquor bottles poured into the room, making the hidden men flinch and duck.
“Kyaaak!”
Marlin screamed, covering her ears and crouching down. We seized the chaos and leapt onto the wagon.
“Hyah!”
Phelton snapped the reins and the wagon lurched forward. The simultaneous sound of multiple glass windows shattering came from above, as if they had been waiting for this exact moment. I pointed at the building and shouted.
“There are archers stationed on the second floor of that house!”
The moment I looked up, the words I’m dead escaped my lips. A group of archers had their bows trained on us and drew their strings in unison.
These bastards had no intention of taking hostages? The cargo bed had no canopy—completely exposed. Unless their aim was terrible or they were shooting blind, every arrow would hit. And the worst part was yet to come.
— The other-race bastard in the rear is just a small fry, so kill him if you want! Try to capture the rest alive, but if they resist fiercely, kill them! However, be extremely careful not to inflict fatal wounds on squad leader Marcus!
There was even an order to the sequence of dying. Damn it. That wasn’t what I learned back on Earth!