The Bandit Leader's Claim
I whipped my head around to face her. Even without any strength left, she was struggling to rise.
“You’re saying Dana will do it?”
“Yeah. I will.”
What on earth was happening? It was like the heavens and earth had flipped. She was answering properly and even offering to cook. What had gotten into her? My shoulders shook with involuntary laughter.
That was when it happened.
“Is this your secret hideout?”
A voice suddenly echoed from the entrance, slicing through the air. I spun around in alarm. The female leader stood there, sword at her hip, gazing down at me with an imposing air.
The moment our eyes met, my entire body froze.
“Leader……”
“Impressive, Kang Hyun-woo. Wiping out the entire Fourth Squad by yourself.”
Her calm yet forceful voice filled the cave like heavy air. She tossed the severed heads of Doban and Gegang onto the floor. The two bluish faces rolled to a stop right in front of me, and my heart lurched violently.
It’s over.
“Who is that woman? What is this cave? And why did you kill the Fourth Squad? Speak.”
Silence hung for several seconds. Before answering her question, one doubt churned in my mind: why hadn’t the golden ball warned me of danger before she arrived? A clear crisis had been approaching. Was it because she came alone? Did the ball only read minds during combat? What about now? We were practically in a standoff—why couldn’t I hear her thoughts at all?
The golden ball remained silent. If that was the case, I had no choice but to get through this on my own. I steeled my resolve, refusing to be crushed by her presence.
“…I don’t like it.”
“What don’t you like?”
I rose to my feet, squared my shoulders, and met her gaze squarely.
“Your way of ruling. All of it.”
This was my chance. I could finally voice every complaint I had once shared with Marcus—complaints I had never been able to say to her face. There was no telling when I would get another opportunity. And since I was already facing execution in front of everyone, I might as well speak my mind instead of begging for mercy.
The reform of the bandit group. My goal of becoming a great thief rather than a petty one.
With a flushed face, I spoke gravely.
“Leader. The kingdom you built was the worst possible world for me. It was a filthy, ugly den crawling with scum, devoid of hope or warmth. A group with no future, living only by stealing from others without purpose.”
“Haha.”
The leader let out a small laugh. She must have found it absurd that someone who should have been begging for his life was suddenly talking back so boldly.
Having opened the floodgates, I kept firing. Whether I talked her to death with my tongue or died by her sword, it no longer mattered. Besides, I had already killed Vick. She was just the head of a bandit group—how skilled could she really be with a blade? Who knew? I might even win in a one-on-one fight if luck was on my side.
“You and I want different things. I have no intention of ending my life as some insignificant pickpocket. So as of today, I’m leaving the bandit group.”
“Leaving is impossible.”
“If you stand in my way, then so be it.”
She was just a bandit leader who could be taken down by passing adventurers—how strong could she possibly be? I drew my double-edged dagger, ready to fight. If I was going to be dragged back and interrogated anyway, I would rather struggle to the end.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
A crease appeared on the leader’s brow for the first time. She hadn’t even frowned when I called her kingdom ugly.
“You know exactly what it means when someone draws a blade in front of you.”
She smirked at my words.
“If I win, will you submit?”
“Even if I lose, I won’t return to the camp. I’m prepared to die here.”
“You have to go back.”
Her next words were even more outrageous.
“Because you’re mine.”
“Excuse me? Mine?”
I asked again, doubting my ears. She licked her upper lip slightly and said,
“I’m the one who freed you when you were about to be sold as a slave. I’m also the one who accepted you into the bandit group. In the end, that makes me your master.”
“I survived because I fought to live. You didn’t help me at all.”
“Every decision regarding your fate was made by me.”
She added,
“Because I wanted you. That’s why I allowed you to join. Out of a desire to possess you. I’ve always thought of you as my property.”
Property was just another word for slave, wasn’t it? She thought I was her slave? What the hell? This ridiculous setting had come out of nowhere. It felt like my life had suddenly shifted from hard-boiled noir to some slave drama overnight.
“That’s absurd. Stop saying such nonsense. It’s not even worth considering.”
I scowled in disgust, but the leader’s smile only deepened.
“Well, if that’s the case, I suppose I’ll have to make you accept reality by force.”
Her attitude was so relaxed it bordered on infuriating.
Our conversation ended there. The leader silently drew her sword. We locked eyes for a moment in a standoff. I moved first, charging at her like lightning with full intent to kill.
The golden ball’s help? I hadn’t heard anything, but I wasn’t afraid. To survive, I had to break through this crisis somehow.
But… what?
The moment I swung my dagger at her, something flashed before my eyes and my vision turned white. The next thing I knew, I was lying on the floor. Her sword was pointed neatly at my throat.
“What the…?”
I had been defeated effortlessly. The absurdity of it made me blurt out the words without thinking. Had my skills really been this pathetic? Even accounting for my exhaustion, she was clearly on a completely different level. The leader’s martial prowess far surpassed Vick’s—by dozens of times.
“You can’t leave this place. Because you’re mine.”
The leader smiled, the corner of her mouth lifting. That smile left me confused. What was going on? Even after I wiped out the entire Fourth Squad, was she still going to let me live? Would she overlook the fact that I had skimmed some of the loot? Judging by her demeanor, I might survive if I returned to camp—or I might not. Without a clear answer, I couldn’t read her intentions.
But the camp was nothing like the ideal I dreamed of. Honestly, I didn’t want to go back. It was a group with no future. Now that I had a reason to leave, I wanted to break away completely. Using the money Phelton had left behind to form a mercenary group and start a new life seemed far more beneficial for me.
“Are you going to continue?”
The leader asked with a gentle smile. Was there really no way out of this? I was going crazy trying to think of something when—
The dimly lit cave suddenly brightened as if it were midday. The leader stopped looking at me and raised her head. I turned as well, glancing toward the corner.
Something extraordinary was happening there.
Dana, who had somehow managed to stand, now held a wand in her right hand—a wand that glowed with bright light as if summoned from nothing. Even more astonishing were her eyes, glowing pure white, and her feet hovering slightly above the ground. Though no wind blew, her hair and clothes whipped violently around her.
She was clearly furious.
“Leave Hyun-woo alone!”
Dana’s fierce voice echoed through the cave like thunder.
“Dana?!”
I stared at her in shock, eyes wide. I had thought she was just a low-class mage, but the overwhelming pressure she radiated made her seem like a high-ranking sorceress—or even a witch.
Once the summoning was complete, she gripped the wand and immediately began chanting.
“Maginae Exmikit Umlyut Rteche. Samak La……”
A fierce wind howled. The more she chanted, the more the cave’s miscellaneous items began swirling around like a whirlwind.
“To think you were hiding a Royal Sorceress. Impressive.”
The leader muttered to herself, her lips twitching, then withdrew her sword from me and pointed it at Dana. A dark red aura blade manifested along the edge of her blade, and a matching glow enveloped her entire body.
“I can’t believe this……”
Watching silently, I felt a chill run down my spine. Good grief. Everyone here was ridiculously strong—except me!
But there was no time to stand around in awe. The situation was dire. If this continued, we would all die.
“Dana! Stop, Dana!”
Pretending to stop her, I suddenly charged at the leader with all my strength, ramming my shoulder into her abdomen just like I had once done to the knight.
“Kyaa!”
Distracted by Dana, the leader was caught off guard and tumbled backward with me. At the same time, Dana ceased her chanting and dropped from midair, collapsing onto the floor with a thud. She must have used up what little strength she had left.
Seizing the opportunity, I straddled the fallen leader’s stomach, pinning her arms to the ground. Our faces were close enough that our breaths mingled. Looking down at her seriously, I said,
“I am not your property. Don’t decide that on your own.”