Chapter 479: Big Fish (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 479: Big Fish (2)
Two warriors, an archer, and...
Is that guy a special ability user? Yeah, it sure looks like it.
Since wizards had a lot to lose if they were caught committing crimes, they didn't usually participate in stuff like this. This went without saying, too, but they didn't have a priest in their party either.
But to be plundering on the first floor with this kind of party composition...
My heart was pounding. Just how helpless had our baby barbarians felt when faced with opponents like these? I couldn't even fathom it.
But at least I could now make these guys feel the very same thing.
"You're smiling?" One of them frowned. Based on their expressions, they hadn't recognized me yet. They probably saw me as an innocent barbarian who was smiling because he didn't know how scary the world could be yet. "Wow! I can see why their hearts are considered so valuable. Just look at that one. He's not scared at all."
I decided to play along.
Step.
I took a step back like I was slowly realizing that something was wrong here. Then I glanced down at Ainar, who was sleeping on the floor.
Hooonk! Honk...
Just how long was she going to pretend to be asleep?
Tap, tap.
When I nudged Ainar with my foot, signaling to her that this was a good time to get up, she immediately jumped up in a fit of rage. "...A-Aaaghk! Wh-what?!"
Her reaction was too real to be an act.
...So she was actually asleep.
It was one thing to not sense them closing in on us, but to not wake up even when they were talking right over her sleeping bag? I didn't get it at all, but her confusion worked out in our favor.
"Huh? Wh-what?! Who are you?!"
How could you not be tricked after a reaction like that?
"Ahhh! D-Don't tell me! You are—!"
It obviously didn't take long for Ainar to figure out who our uninvited guests were, but before she could say anything else, I quickly cut her off. "Be careful."
Of course, what I meant was that she should be careful what she said to them, not what she did to them.
"I-I got it..."
Ainar grabbed her weapon and put her back to mine. I also grabbed my iron longsword as I carefully stared them down, pretending to be on high alert. In response, they burst out laughing like we were nothing but a joke to them.
"Let me ask you one thing. Are you plunderers?"
They didn't grace me with a response.
"Bro, let's wrap this up before someone spots us. The guild has been catching on to us."
Ha, they're treating me like I'm already dead. Yeah, I guess that's how they would see us. But unfortunately for them, I'm going to do whatever I—
"Wait!" Suddenly, the hunchback archer looked at me, his brows furrowed. "That barbarian... he seems strangely familiar. Where have I seen him before?"
Did he recognize me? Then that meant I would have to move to Plan B.
"Why would you have seen him before? All of them look the same, anyway, so that's probably why he looks familiar."
Luckily for me, however, the rest of his party came through with the assist.
"Hmm, I don't know..."
This archer's survival instincts were impressive. Unfortunately for him, it seemed his other teammates had more of a say than he did. "Let's worry about that later. For now, let's get rid of them."
What a plan they had.
"Hehehe."
With a sinister peal of laughter, they got ready to attack us.
Thud.
The moment my back hit the wall, the one to my left quickly swung his longsword at me.
Whoosh!
His blade cut through the air with an audible whistle. I stood there and watched the sword swing toward my neck. He must have assumed that I had no hope of responding to a surprise attack like that in time.
The swordsman's eyes went wide. Well, it made sense that he would be surprised by what was happening.
Kachink.
The longsword had been deflected by my skin without so much as a scratch.
"...Huh?"
Yes, that was the expression I had been waiting for. Finally, my patience was being rewarded.
I grabbed the sword with my bare hand with the energy of someone dealing with a mosquito that had just stung them. "...Ah!" With a flick of my wrist, I pulled the blade toward me. The swordsman quickly stumbled forward without any resistance, like he hadn't even thought to let go of his sword.
My other hand snapped out to grab his neck. The other man next to me, who was holding a two-handed axe, ran toward me, attacking my arm. Even though he clearly didn't know what was going on, he probably felt the need to save his teammate.
Clang.
Yeah, it wasn't easy to make the right call when you didn't have time to think.
"Ainar."
The moment I gave her my permission, Ainar swung her sword down. The target was the warrior who had tried to cut my arm off.
Booom!
As soon as her sword made contact with him, there was a massive explosion. The warrior holding the axe was turned into nothing more than bits and pieces of flesh, his blood squirting out everywhere.
"...W-Wild Sword!" cried the special ability user in a warning. Unfortunately for him, those were his last words.
Booom!
A split second later, he was blown to bits as well. Meanwhile, however, one of their other teammates had made the right call.
Step.
Maybe it was because of his role on the team, or that his gut feeling had worked out in his favor, but the archer was already far away from us.
"...B-Bjorn Yandel!"
It seemed that he had finally figured out who I was. The moment his teammate blew up, he tried to run.
[You have cast Transcendence.]
But what made him think he could run away from me?
[You have cast Eye of the Storm.]
Did he think I'd ever let him?
***
Drip, drip.
Blood continued to drip from the swordsman as he hung in my grasp. With a flick of my wrist, he finally went limp. I let go, allowing his body to fall to the ground with a thud, and then looked over at the archer, who was flat on the ground staring up at me.
"Hmm, I don't know..."
This archer's survival instincts were impressive. Unfortunately for him, it seemed his other teammates had more of a say than he did. "Let's worry about that later. For now, let's get rid of them."
What a plan they had.
"Hehehe."
With a sinister peal of laughter, they got ready to attack us.
Thud.
The moment my back hit the wall, the one to my left quickly swung his longsword at me.
Whoosh!
His blade cut through the air with an audible whistle. I stood there and watched the sword swing toward my neck. He must have assumed that I had no hope of responding to a surprise attack like that in time.
The swordsman's eyes went wide. Well, it made sense that he would be surprised by what was happening.
Kachink.
The longsword had been deflected by my skin without so much as a scratch.
"...Huh?"
Yes, that was the expression I had been waiting for. Finally, my patience was being rewarded.
I grabbed the sword with my bare hand with the energy of someone dealing with a mosquito that had just stung them. "...Ah!" With a flick of my wrist, I pulled the blade toward me. The swordsman quickly stumbled forward without any resistance, like he hadn't even thought to let go of his sword.
My other hand snapped out to grab his neck. The other man next to me, who was holding a two-handed axe, ran toward me, attacking my arm. Even though he clearly didn't know what was going on, he probably felt the need to save his teammate.
Clang.
Yeah, it wasn't easy to make the right call when you didn't have time to think.
"Ainar."
The moment I gave her my permission, Ainar swung her sword down. The target was the warrior who had tried to cut my arm off.
Booom!
As soon as her sword made contact with him, there was a massive explosion. The warrior holding the axe was turned into nothing more than bits and pieces of flesh, his blood squirting out everywhere.
"...W-Wild Sword!" cried the special ability user in a warning. Unfortunately for him, those were his last words.
Booom!
A split second later, he was blown to bits as well. Meanwhile, however, one of their other teammates had made the right call.
Step.
Maybe it was because of his role on the team, or that his gut feeling had worked out in his favor, but the archer was already far away from us.
"...B-Bjorn Yandel!"
It seemed that he had finally figured out who I was. The moment his teammate blew up, he tried to run.
[You have cast Transcendence.]
But what made him think he could run away from me?
[You have cast Eye of the Storm.]
Did he think I'd ever let him?
***
Drip, drip.
Blood continued to drip from the swordsman as he hung in my grasp. With a flick of my wrist, he finally went limp. I let go, allowing his body to fall to the ground with a thud, and then looked over at the archer, who was flat on the ground staring up at me.
"...P-Please don't kill me. I'm different from those guys. I-I didn't want to do it. Th-they tricked me into it! I'm not lying!"
The archer, the only survivor of his team, was now at my feet, begging for his life.
Shing.
Ainar lifted her sword, causing the archer to let out a shriek of terror. "I-I have information!"
Hm?
"Information?" I raised my hand, signaling for Ainar to stop.
The archer must have felt a glimmer of hope at the sight, as he immediately tried to strike a deal. "If I tell you, then... please swear that you'll spare me."
"Swear..."
What a ridiculous guy.
As I stood there grinning, Ainar raised her voice in complaint. "Bjorn! It would be better to just kill this guy already!"
"Stop. Calm down."
She went silent.
"All right. I swear on it. If I think the information you give me is worth it, I'll spare your life," I calmly agreed.
Even though I was telling him what he wanted to hear, the archer still looked hesitant. Perhaps he was trying to decide whether to believe me or not. However, he didn't hesitate for long. "S-Since you're a baron, you must be telling the truth..."
Apparently, he was convinced that someone of my status wouldn't be able to go back on my word all that easily. "Hurry up and tell me what you know."
The archer slowly opened his mouth at my prompting, unable to hide his nerves. "Th-the wizards..."
Wizards? What do they have to do with anything?
"Some of the wizards," he continued when I leveled him with a glare to get his ass in gear, "are making requests through the black market. They've increased the payout for anyone who brings them barbarian hearts..."
"Hmmm..."
What the hell?
"Is that it?"
"...Pardon?" The archer froze at my displeased response.
What did he want me to do with that? What he told me wasn't valuable at all. He hadn't offered any insight on why this was happening, let alone given me any information about who these alleged wizards were. Plus, even if he gave me a list of names, I couldn't exactly go and punish these people without evidence.
"If that's all you have—"
It's time to end this.
Before I could finish my sentence, he quickly cut me off. "I have more! I have more, Your Lordship! O-On the black market... there is also a bounty for your heart..."
"...What?" Surprised by this new information, I asked for more details. It seemed the bounty for my heart was currently set at two billion stones. The identity of the person who put out the request, however, was somehow unknown. "The black market, huh?"
Noticing the thoughtful look on my face, the archer quickly took advantage of the moment to try and appeal to me. "So... what do you think? W-Was this information of enough assistance to you, Your Lordship...?"
Oh, that? It was undoubtedly valuable information. In fact, this was the first I'd ever heard of it since I didn't have any connections to the black market. I would definitely look further into it when I returned to the city. However, I had more pressing business to take care of right now.
"...P-Please don't kill me. I'm different from those guys. I-I didn't want to do it. Th-they tricked me into it! I'm not lying!"
The archer, the only survivor of his team, was now at my feet, begging for his life.
Shing.
Ainar lifted her sword, causing the archer to let out a shriek of terror. "I-I have information!"
Hm?
"Information?" I raised my hand, signaling for Ainar to stop.
The archer must have felt a glimmer of hope at the sight, as he immediately tried to strike a deal. "If I tell you, then... please swear that you'll spare me."
"Swear..."
What a ridiculous guy.
As I stood there grinning, Ainar raised her voice in complaint. "Bjorn! It would be better to just kill this guy already!"
"Stop. Calm down."
She went silent.
"All right. I swear on it. If I think the information you give me is worth it, I'll spare your life," I calmly agreed.
Even though I was telling him what he wanted to hear, the archer still looked hesitant. Perhaps he was trying to decide whether to believe me or not. However, he didn't hesitate for long. "S-Since you're a baron, you must be telling the truth..."
Apparently, he was convinced that someone of my status wouldn't be able to go back on my word all that easily. "Hurry up and tell me what you know."
The archer slowly opened his mouth at my prompting, unable to hide his nerves. "Th-the wizards..."
Wizards? What do they have to do with anything?
"Some of the wizards," he continued when I leveled him with a glare to get his ass in gear, "are making requests through the black market. They've increased the payout for anyone who brings them barbarian hearts..."
"Hmmm..."
What the hell?
"Is that it?"
"...Pardon?" The archer froze at my displeased response.
What did he want me to do with that? What he told me wasn't valuable at all. He hadn't offered any insight on why this was happening, let alone given me any information about who these alleged wizards were. Plus, even if he gave me a list of names, I couldn't exactly go and punish these people without evidence.
"If that's all you have—"
It's time to end this.
Before I could finish my sentence, he quickly cut me off. "I have more! I have more, Your Lordship! O-On the black market... there is also a bounty for your heart..."
"...What?" Surprised by this new information, I asked for more details. It seemed the bounty for my heart was currently set at two billion stones. The identity of the person who put out the request, however, was somehow unknown. "The black market, huh?"
Noticing the thoughtful look on my face, the archer quickly took advantage of the moment to try and appeal to me. "So... what do you think? W-Was this information of enough assistance to you, Your Lordship...?"
Oh, that? It was undoubtedly valuable information. In fact, this was the first I'd ever heard of it since I didn't have any connections to the black market. I would definitely look further into it when I returned to the city. However, I had more pressing business to take care of right now.
"No. Not at all. It's time to end this."
If I said it wasn't good enough, what was he going to do about it?
"Th-that's not what you promised—"
What was this bastard going on about?
Slam.
I planted my foot on his head, and the archer began to squirm frantically. I didn't feel any sympathy for him nor any guilt about breaking my promise to him.
"Promises are made with people."
With that, I pushed down.
Squash.
Upon dealing with the last one, we went around and took their equipment and backpacks, putting them in our sub-spaces. It wouldn't be worth much, but it would be perfect karma if we put it toward the barbarians' funds for our young warriors.
Splat.
...Huh?
I turned around at the strange squelch just in time to see Ainar driving her greatsword into one of the corpses.
"What are you doing, Ainar?"
"Can't you tell? I'm taking out their hearts."
I stared at her in confusion.
"We need to show them, right? That if they are aiming for our hearts, they should be ready to risk their own."
Huh... so she wanted to use them to send a message?
"I'll be quick, so don't worry about me." With that, Ainar went back to work. She cut out the hearts of the two corpses that weren't splatted into pieces, then placed their bodies on a nearby rock like an art exhibit. "All right, I'm done. Let's get going, Bjorn. Are we going to go and kill more of them now?! I think I can do an even better job at acting now!"
The way she was acting now was scary enough already.
***
Day four, day five, day six...
After our first successful catch, time flew by. We continued to wander around the Crystal Cave, barely resting. As the days passed, we got even better at fishing for plunderers.
We started paying attention to the finer details, such as smearing Goblin blood on ourselves. We also gathered as many rank-nine mana stones as we could to make it seem like our bags were full and worth looting.
It would have been nice to have a few cuts and bruises on us as well, but that just wasn't possible. A wound of that size wouldn't even take a minute to heal for the two of us.
Our efforts bore fruit, though, as before the end of the fifth day, we were able to kill another party of plunderers in a similar fashion. However, these guys were much more careful than the previous team, even secretly tailing us for a while to make sure we really were easy prey.
"Shit."
When we searched their bags, we were met with an unpleasant sight. Four fresh hearts lay inside. So they had already killed a few of us before we found them.
"...Ainar, calm down. As soon as we get back, I'm going to do something about this, so let's just go for now. Everyone's waiting for us."
"All right..."
After mollifying Ainar, we headed toward the center of the floor where our comrades were waiting for us.
"Mister!" Apparently having sensed me approaching from far away, Erwen ran out to meet me, and the three of us walked back toward the statue together. When we got there, we quickly turned on Voice Control to discuss our raid.
"Emily, did anything happen?"
"Of course something did. Exactly what you had feared."
"Then that means..."
"People are watching us nearby."
So it really did play out that way...
"What should we do? If they're people sent by Count Alminus, it might be dangerous to summon the Lord of the Floor with them around," Versyl said, looking grim.
I chuckled in response. "Don't worry too much. This is all going just like I expected it would."
"...You expected this?"
Of course. I purposefully went to the guild to publicize the fact that I was attempting a raid against a Lord of the Floor. It was only natural that there would be people here trying to sabotage us.
Besides, I didn't actually "fear" this outcome to begin with.
No, I was actually looking forward to it.
When Versyl expressed confusion as to what we were going to do now, I decided to answer her. "We're going to summon the Lord of the Floor as planned."
The big fish had taken the bait.
"No. Not at all. It's time to end this."
If I said it wasn't good enough, what was he going to do about it?
"Th-that's not what you promised—"
What was this bastard going on about?
Slam.
I planted my foot on his head, and the archer began to squirm frantically. I didn't feel any sympathy for him nor any guilt about breaking my promise to him.
"Promises are made with people."
With that, I pushed down.
Squash.
Upon dealing with the last one, we went around and took their equipment and backpacks, putting them in our sub-spaces. It wouldn't be worth much, but it would be perfect karma if we put it toward the barbarians' funds for our young warriors.
Splat.
...Huh?
I turned around at the strange squelch just in time to see Ainar driving her greatsword into one of the corpses.
"What are you doing, Ainar?"
"Can't you tell? I'm taking out their hearts."
I stared at her in confusion.
"We need to show them, right? That if they are aiming for our hearts, they should be ready to risk their own."
Huh... so she wanted to use them to send a message?
"I'll be quick, so don't worry about me." With that, Ainar went back to work. She cut out the hearts of the two corpses that weren't splatted into pieces, then placed their bodies on a nearby rock like an art exhibit. "All right, I'm done. Let's get going, Bjorn. Are we going to go and kill more of them now?! I think I can do an even better job at acting now!"
The way she was acting now was scary enough already.
***
Day four, day five, day six...
After our first successful catch, time flew by. We continued to wander around the Crystal Cave, barely resting. As the days passed, we got even better at fishing for plunderers.
We started paying attention to the finer details, such as smearing Goblin blood on ourselves. We also gathered as many rank-nine mana stones as we could to make it seem like our bags were full and worth looting.
It would have been nice to have a few cuts and bruises on us as well, but that just wasn't possible. A wound of that size wouldn't even take a minute to heal for the two of us.
Our efforts bore fruit, though, as before the end of the fifth day, we were able to kill another party of plunderers in a similar fashion. However, these guys were much more careful than the previous team, even secretly tailing us for a while to make sure we really were easy prey.
"Shit."
When we searched their bags, we were met with an unpleasant sight. Four fresh hearts lay inside. So they had already killed a few of us before we found them.
"...Ainar, calm down. As soon as we get back, I'm going to do something about this, so let's just go for now. Everyone's waiting for us."
"All right..."
After mollifying Ainar, we headed toward the center of the floor where our comrades were waiting for us.
"Mister!" Apparently having sensed me approaching from far away, Erwen ran out to meet me, and the three of us walked back toward the statue together. When we got there, we quickly turned on Voice Control to discuss our raid.
"Emily, did anything happen?"
"Of course something did. Exactly what you had feared."
"Then that means..."
"People are watching us nearby."
So it really did play out that way...
"What should we do? If they're people sent by Count Alminus, it might be dangerous to summon the Lord of the Floor with them around," Versyl said, looking grim.
I chuckled in response. "Don't worry too much. This is all going just like I expected it would."
"...You expected this?"
Of course. I purposefully went to the guild to publicize the fact that I was attempting a raid against a Lord of the Floor. It was only natural that there would be people here trying to sabotage us.
Besides, I didn't actually "fear" this outcome to begin with.
No, I was actually looking forward to it.
When Versyl expressed confusion as to what we were going to do now, I decided to answer her. "We're going to summon the Lord of the Floor as planned."
The big fish had taken the bait.