Wolf Hunt #2
"I can't believe there's a path leading through a place like this." Mitchell whistled as she spoke. We were inside the underground waterway. A secret passage stretched between the precarious, crumbling cave walls. We had already determined beforehand that this path led directly to the vigilantes' secret hideout.
"Tell me immediately if you hear anything, Mitchell."
"Yeah. Don't worry."
Mitchell's ears were as good as a living radar. The superhuman hearing unique to elves detected threats ahead. On top of that, with my Clairvoyance ability as a backup, it was safe to say there was zero chance of us being ambushed in the dark.
"Seonbae."
"Yes?"
When I called out, Flora, who was following behind, blinked. She was clearly very nervous. Well, that was to be expected. This was her first real combat mission against humans, not monsters. I didn't have to worry about Mitchell or Wagner since they were experienced, but I couldn't help but feel uneasy about her.
"If we don't suppress them, countless innocent people will die. You know that, right?"
"Ah, don't worry. I have enough sense to understand that much."
"The cause is on our side. So don't hesitate to fight."
"Understood!"
Flora nodded firmly. Fortunately, there was no longer any wavering in her eyes.
"Shh."
Mitchell, who was leading the way, held up a finger. We stopped in our tracks immediately.
"There are people ahead. Three of them, I think."
"Are they approaching us?"
A secret passage isn't something only one side can use. Just as we were infiltrating their hideout, they could just as easily come through the underground waterway, just like Max had.
"No. They've stopped in their tracks. They don't seem particularly on guard, either. I'll have to get closer to know for sure."
"Then I'll check."
It was my turn. I focused my mana into my gloves, drawing out the keen eyesight that could pierce through distances. My vision raced through the passage leading into the underground cave.
"I see them," I muttered quietly. Just as Mitchell said, there were three vigilantes. However, they didn't have a threatening aura.
"They've lit a campfire and brought out a mess kit... Did they come here to eat?"
"They came all the way here just for that? They must be slacking off. Those bastards are so lazy."
"Tell me about it. What do you want to do? We could wait until they leave."
At my words, Mitchell pursed her lips with an expression that asked what I was talking about.
"Is that even a question? We should thin their numbers by at least one while we have the chance. Let's go and ambush them first."
"I agree with Mitchell," the stoic Wagner nodded as well. We slowed our pace and approached them, muffling our footsteps. By the time we were close enough to see them with our own eyes:
"Hehehe—this looks delicious."
The laughter of the vigilantes reached us. We hid behind a cave rock and watched them.
"Look at the oil floating in that meat broth. Man, my mouth is watering."
"Hey, throw in some chili powder and pepper. That's how you get the real flavor."
"I know that without you telling me, you idiot."
The vigilantes were completely preoccupied, having placed their mess kit over the campfire. The stew bubbled away, and the savory smell wafted all the way to us.
"But are you sure Dawson doesn't know? If he finds out we swiped food from the supply warehouse..."
"Don't worry. There's no way that guy is going to go to the warehouse and count every few pounds of meat and sacks of rice. He's such a 'precious' person, do you think he'd do such a boring task himself? We won't get caught."
"I guess so."
"Whatever, let's eat."
The vigilantes leaned their faces over the steaming mess kit. They moved their spoons as if competing, slurping the broth with it smeared all over their mouths.
"They're defenseless," Wagner whispered quietly.
"Should we strike now?" Mitchell asked in a cold voice. They might look pathetic, but the guys in front of us were definitely vigilantes. If we fought them head-on, it might be a bit of a headache. However, their attention was entirely focused on their meal. Whether human or beast, this was the time when their guard was lowest and they were most vulnerable.
"I'll choke them. You guys finish them off."
"Okay."
I gathered mana at my fingertips. I intended to use Telekinesis. I didn't have the power to choke someone to death with just telekinesis like Darth Vader yet, but it was enough to subdue three humans.
'If they don't know how to resist, they won't be able to escape on their own.'
I stretched both hands forward and spread my palms toward them in a stance as if firing a palm blast. I didn't know if they would move around, but since they were sitting still, aiming was easy.
Squeeze.
I clenched both palms. The intangible mana that extended through space gripped their throats.
"Guh, kuck—"
"W-what, suddenly, kuck—"
The vigilantes groaned, unable to breathe properly. The meat broth they hadn't managed to swallow yet dribbled from their mouths. The vigilantes desperately clawed at their own throats, as if they could tear away the invisible force choking them by struggling like that. But the power of telekinesis had no substance. There were only two ways to escape: either interfere with me, the caster, or break the binding with a force stronger than the telekinesis itself.
"Ugh, guh..."
Both were impossible for them.
Tap.
Wagner and Mitchell dashed out from behind the rock. Their movements were as swift as leopards.
Crack!
Maces and kicks rained down on the heads of the vigilantes who were suffering under the telekinesis. With the sound of bones breaking, their eyes quickly turned dull.
"Damn it!"
When his two comrades fell, the eyes of the remaining vigilante changed. He moved his hand to the hilt of his sword with bloodshot eyes.
"You damn bastards—"
Even while suffering from the telekinesis, the vigilante moved his body, creaking like a broken doll.
"They say even a dog isn't bothered while eating—"
Shing.
Foamy saliva dripped from his mouth. He drew his sword with a hateful glare. The next moment.
Bang—
A mana bullet fired from afar struck the vigilante's face. He couldn't finish his sentence and collapsed face-first onto the ground.
"Whew."
Flora took a deep breath. Magic Arrow. It wasn't the clumsy power she had shown in the underground waterway before. Flora had also gained experience in real combat and boosted her stats with magic stones. Now, her magic had enough destructive power to take a person's life.
"Well done, missy." Mitchell grinned and patted Flora on the shoulder.
"This cloak seems like it could be useful right away," Wagner said, stripping the cloak from the vigilante's corpse. The vigilante emblem was printed in a large size on the back. If we pulled the hood over our heads to cover our faces, we could hide our identities perfectly.
Mitchell, Flora, and I put on the vigilante cloaks. Since Wagner was already wearing vigilante armor, he didn't really need a cloak.
"Then, shall we keep going?"
"Ah, wait."
I squatted down in front of the boiling stew. I tasted a spoonful.
"Hmm."
It tasted pretty good. It was a bit oily, but it was seasoned spicy, giving it a taste similar to potato stew.
"We'll be busy moving soon, so let's have a hearty meal here before we go. They even set the table for us."
"That sounds good," Mitchell said, sitting down next to me. We ate the food the vigilantes hadn't even managed to take a bite of. We had to eat. We do everything to live, after all. Even if people have sins, food has none.
The inside of the underground cave was a natural fortress. Even in the game, it was quite tricky to clear using standard tactics, but seeing it with my own eyes, the difficulty was absurd. If the guards had entered this place without any countermeasures, they would have been annihilated in an instant.
"Hurry up, you bastards! It looks like the guard bastards are planning to have a go at us."
"Let's smash their faces in while we have the chance."
The vigilantes ran around the hideout with fierce expressions. By now, the guards were likely creating a distraction outside according to the plan we had laid out. I could almost picture Dawson’s face, flushed with rage.
"Fortunately, it seems no one has noticed us," Wagner said, carefully observing the situation around him. Since all the vigilantes were busy with sudden combat preparations, they didn't pay any attention to us as we infiltrated secretly.
"But there are quite a lot of them. Forty, no, fifty people... This won't be easy," Mitchell narrowed her eyes under her hood. Although Mitchell was confident in a fight, if there were dozens of heavily armed vigilantes, even she wouldn't dare to charge in blindly.
"It's fine. If we follow the plan, we can blow them away in one shot."
We began our operation. Speed was crucial from now on. To move more quickly, we split the party into two groups. Flora and Mitchell were one team. And Wagner and I were the other. The goal was simple: rescue the dwarf technicians being held and forced to work, and with their help, seize the arcane cannons.
"Then let's meet up later."
"Kid, be careful."
"You too."
I unfolded the map. I had already grasped the structure of the underground cave with Clairvoyance. I knew where the dwarves were being held. The area Wagner and I were responsible for was the right side of the underground cave. As we hurried our steps through the maze-like passage:
"Yo, big guy."
Suddenly, a vigilante appeared in the passage and spoke to us. Wagner and I stopped in our tracks.
"What is it?" Wagner replied, lowering his voice.
The vigilante, not noticing anything unusual, continued to speak nonchalantly. "What are you doing here? Didn't you hear? Dawson said to gather everyone at the central cavern. Is it okay for you to be wandering around leisurely like this?"
Wagner glanced at me.
"Ah—of course I heard. I forgot a piece of equipment, so I'm going to grab it and join up immediately."
"Is that so? Hurry up. If you're late, Dawson will tear you to shreds."
"Hmm."
The vigilante drew his thumb across his throat and stuck his tongue out frivolously. Leaving the vigilante behind, we continued down to the prison where the dwarves were being held.
"It seems like the entire force is gathering in one place, just like you said. But, Estelle. How did you predict that? Do you have some kind of precognition ability?" Wagner tilted his head.
Well, even if he asked me why, I couldn't exactly answer, 'Because it was like that in the game.' In a way, Wagner's words were correct. To the people of the Nine Stars world, it might as well be that I had precognition.
"I just had a feeling."
"I don't know the details, but that's impressive."
Wagner accepted my vague excuse without further questioning.
"Hey, guys! We've finished all the work we were told to do. So give us a beer. We're dying of thirst."
"It would be great if you could spare a piece of boiled dog leg as a side dish too... Heh heh."
As we approached, the dwarves locked in the prison shouted loudly. "We are not vigilantes. We've come to rescue you."
Wagner spoke, but the dwarves didn't look very happy. The dwarf who seemed to be the leader twisted his beard and grumbled.
"Now? If you were going to come, you should have come a bit earlier."
"That's right. We went through all the trouble of making the cannons, does that mean we just have to leave them behind?"
"Oh my. Without even firing a single shot..."
The dwarves clicked their tongues and sighed. 'They really are crazy.' Dwarves were a craftsman race born with excellent dexterity. Even if they had been kidnapped by Dawson and forced to make cannons, they would never have made them sloppily. Since they were cannons made by mobilizing all their skills, they seemed to have taken pride in the result in their own way.
'Just as I expected.'
However, I had already grasped that characteristic of the dwarves as well. There was a separate way to handle these stubborn dwarves.
"Don't worry. I'll let you fire the cannons to your heart's content. Fire them until you're sick of them."
Rest assured, dwarves. I'll decide the new targets you need to fire at from now on.