The Treant's Hunger
Soon after, the remaining traps began activating one after another. The undead couldn't even mount a proper resistance and were slaughtered helplessly, their numbers dwindling rapidly. The traps functioned like area-of-effect magic. "Our turn! Let's go!" Once the threat had been reduced to a manageable level, the female knight and her soldiers charged in. With the undead's numbers drastically thinned, they fought with reckless abandon, as if the monsters had been disarmed.
"You don't strike me as ordinary bandits at all. Are you really just thieves?" Sinclair approached right after the battle and asked the question. Installing not only ordinary traps but also ones that triggered magic was the work of a seasoned professional. By any common sense, it was hard to believe such skills belonged to the kind of lowlife scum who spent their days stealing.
"Don't underestimate bandits. Some of us actually have decent skills." I shrugged. Marcus, who had been watching from the side, let out a short laugh. He knew full well how ridiculous that sounded. Only Marcus was exceptional—an old assassin who had retired from a guild. Finding someone with real talent among bandits was harder than finding a needle in a desert or building a castle in the sky.
"Thanks to us, the fight got easier, right? How about giving us some weapons as a reward? Just in case. What if the undead attack while you're not paying attention? We'd need something to defend ourselves."
"If that's what you're worried about, I'll do this instead." The female knight curled her lips into a smile and stared at me before ordering her soldiers to fasten a dog collar around my neck. Marcus was left alone; the collar was only for me. I made a sour face.
"What's this supposed to mean? Repaying kindness with a dog collar?" A hollow laugh escaped me at suddenly being turned into a dog. The knight grabbed the rope attached to the collar and yanked me toward her. "After seeing those traps, I've become even more wary of you lot. You might be helping us now, but you could be plotting something else. I'll keep you close and watch you. Follow me obediently."
"Hey, I'm not your pet. And why am I the only one wearing a collar?" Seeing my displeased expression, she smiled with clear amusement. "I'm simply treating you the same way you treated me. Any complaints?"
Ah, so it was revenge. In other words, she held a grudge. "From now on, you're my slave. No—repeat the exact line you used before. 'You can never return to the outside world. From today onward, you've become my slave.' Understand?"
I let out a heavy sigh and held up both palms in surrender. Do whatever you want. Watching her carry out such a childish act of revenge, I had nothing left to say. Ending the conversation, Marcus and I wandered off to set new traps in preparation for the next attack. Naturally, the knight holding my leash followed along.
"Marcus. I heard this one only recently joined the Elk Bandits. How did you recruit him? Did he come of his own accord?"
"I don't know the details either, my lady. One day he was simply assigned to our squad." Marcus answered the knight's question while feigning ignorance, clearly intending to pass the question to me. She turned her blunt gaze on me.
"You possess considerable skill, yet you chose to join a band of thieves filled with nothing but scum instead of a mercenary company. Did you kill someone and have nowhere else to hide?"
"I'm not that skilled. Why do you keep assuming I am?"
"Well..." She seemed to recall something and immediately frowned. Was she remembering what I had done to her before? The knight shot me a disgusted look and answered irritably, as if making an excuse. "Because you don't look like the type who'd stoop to banditry."
***
Sinclair watched Adelia conversing with the bandits and fell into serious contemplation. "Lady Adelia seems... different somehow..." Back in the territory, Adelia had mercilessly executed over three hundred bandits without hesitation. For her to show interest in a single bandit and actually converse with him was unimaginable. Moreover, her usual aloofness toward men made her current behavior—trailing after this young demi-human like a lovesick puppy—completely out of character.
"This won't look good to the soldiers, and it doesn't suit Lady Adelia's dignity either." The crease between Sinclair's brows deepened. "She must be drawn to his appearance. In the end, Lady Adelia is just another woman who can be swayed by a handsome face."
As Adelia's loyal subordinate, Sinclair couldn't simply stand by. If she left things as they were, Adelia might fall for the bandits' honey trap and make a fatal mistake later. "I have to separate them."
Just as she made up her mind and took a step forward, she noticed something moving behind Adelia. A slender tree root was slithering across the ground like a snake. Sensing danger, Sinclair's eyes widened and she shouted immediately.
***
"Lady Adelia! Get down!"
"What?" The knight turned toward Sinclair without thinking. In that instant, the root coiled tightly around her entire body and yanked her away before she could even resist. "Kyaa!"
Adelia fell to the ground and was dragged away. Because she was still holding the rope attached to my collar, I was pulled down as well and dragged relentlessly into the forest. The collar tightened around my throat as I was scraped across the dirt. "Kuh! Kack! Let go—let go!"
I wanted to scream at her to release the rope, but I couldn't get the words out. We were dragged away in an instant, passing the hill and finally arriving at the place where our kidnapper waited—an ancient tree with eyes, a nose, and a mouth carved into its trunk.
"Uwooooh!" Whether welcoming us or not, countless branches swayed like anemone tentacles. The creature lifted Adelia into the air. At the same time, she released my rope. The sword at her waist slipped free, spun once, and embedded itself in the ground beside me. Still lying on the floor, I coughed violently while clutching my throat.
"Kyaaak!" The elongated roots bound her limbs so she couldn't move, then began stripping away her armor piece by piece before tearing through her bodysuit and undergarments. "Good grief."
Realizing how dire the situation was, I sprang to my feet. While the ancient tree focused entirely on the now-naked knight—saliva-like sap dripping from its maw—I grabbed the sword stuck in the ground and rushed forward. The creature, seemingly starved after a long time, paid no attention to me until it was too late. It hurriedly extended a root to stop me, but it was already too late.
"Hiyaaaaah!" I drove the sword deep into the trunk. A brilliant flash of light erupted with a deafening roar, and the ancient tree shattered into countless fragments. "Kyaaaaah!"
Adelia plummeted. I dropped the sword and caught her mid-air in a princess carry. Looking down at her like some fairy-tale prince, I asked, "Are you all right?"
Instead of thanks, her face flushed bright red. Covering her chest with one arm, she suddenly slapped me across the face. Smack! "Don't look!"
Ow. What the hell? It's not like I wanted to see. Though, now that I thought about it, I was still holding her. Without a second thought, I dropped her onto the ground. "Kyaa!" Thud!
While she flailed in pain from the impact, a sudden realization struck me and regret flooded in. It wasn't because of the slap. I had just realized how foolish it had been to save her. Why had I rescued her out of some misplaced sense of duty? If I'd just let her die, the Elk Bandits would never have to worry about being hunted down in the future. I had been an idiot. Damn it.
My gaze slowly drifted toward the sword lying on the ground. The urge to kill stirred within me. If I couldn't make her my slave, the next best thing was to eliminate her now. This was the perfect opportunity—she was naked and completely defenseless. The moment I took a step forward, blue flames ignited in her eyes as she lay writhing on the floor. Moving faster than I could, she lunged for the sword. I froze in place, unable to move.
She snatched up the blade and pointed it at me with one arm still covering her chest, eyes blazing. It felt as though she could see right through me. "What was that killing intent just now?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Don't lie. I felt it. You were about to kill me with this sword. Did you think I wouldn't notice?"
Incredible... I decided to keep feigning ignorance. Admitting it would probably get me killed.