kscans

Chapter 174 - Preparations for Annihilating the Bandit Clan

Upon returning to the base, Hayato immediately logged out and explained the situation to Ash and Ren.

Ash and the others, who knew about the NPCs' circumstances, readily agreed.

"Should I send Dad and the others over? You could use all the help you can get, right?"

"What? No, they're busy with their movie, aren't they? It would be a great help if Veru-san and the others came, but we have to prioritize reality."

"I'd like to say the same to you, Hayato. In that case, we'll take care of the cafe, so leave this side to us."

"That's right! We'll fill the shop with customers for you!"

(It would be kind of frustrating if the shop was full of customers while I was gone, though.)

Hayato thought this to himself, but he told Ash and Ren, "I'm counting on you," and logged back in.

Awakening in his room at the base, Hayato contacted the other members who could be of help. The Demon Summoning Research Association and the Bandit clan.

The Demon Summoning Research Association unfortunately replied that many of their members were unavailable and couldn't participate, but Jolth and a few members from the Bandit clan said they would help, on one condition.

"You're still doing interesting quests, I see. How in the world does this kind of thing happen to you?"

"Well, you know. So, is the condition for your help some kind of information?"

"Of course, but I'd like a little something upfront. Got anything?"

"How about information about the airship design document? There are three in total, and I'll give you information on one of them."

"...I knew there were multiple design documents, but I didn't know there were three. We found one in a treasure chest in some ruins, but we were stuck without any information on the others. I'll take information on one other than the one in the ruins."

Jolth said this happily and agreed to cooperate with Hayato.

(Alright, the Bandit clan is pretty strong. Even if it's a large-scale bandit clan, we won't lose with this much fighting power. But maybe I should call a few more people.)

Hayato contacted Mist, Maris, and also Ivan and Noat. They hadn't participated in the Salvage because they were busy, but this time he needed all the fighting power he could get. He intended to have them stretch themselves a little.

He contacted them, but Mist and Maris were unable to get away and couldn't participate.

Noat agreed on the condition that he take care of her meals for a week.

And Ivan said he would head over right away.

"If that's the case, then that's a different story. I'm in a dungeon right now, so I might be late, but I'll head over right away. I'll go directly to the scene, so tell me the location later."

"Got it, I'm counting on you."

Ivan was hot-blooded and couldn't read the room, but as befitting a Hero, he had a normal sense of justice, and there was no doubt he was strong. Hayato felt relieved, thinking that there was no way they could lose now.

Then, Hayato headed to the storage to make some items that might be useful in the upcoming battle. He had no combat power himself, but he did have production skills. He began making items that would support everyone, like potions and juice.

After a while, when the appointed time came, the members participating in the operation arrived at the base.

After discussing various things at the base, they decided to launch an all-out attack on the bandit clan's hideout.

This was because, even if they were holding Rose hostage, she could be revived at the Maid Guild if she were defeated, so she had no value as a hostage. Therefore, they concluded that there was no problem with annihilating the bandit clan.

Conversely, even if they defeated the bandits, they could be revived somewhere, but criminals like bandits had a system where they revived not in a set location, but in a prison in the Kingdom or Empire, so they decided to defeat them on sight this time.

Originally, Sonia and the others were also criminals, but since they had become a nationally recognized guild, the Treasure Hunter Guild, they were exempt from various things.

"Um, it's fine to defeat them on sight, but isn't Rose-san also in danger? Like, we might defeat her by mistake... You're not aiming for that, are you?"

"Rose will survive even if we attack, so rest assured."

"Is that an answer? No, maybe it is...?"

The Maid Chief only smiled at Hayato's question. He couldn't ask any more, but he felt such an intensity from the Maid Chief that he began to wonder if he was lending a hand to something sinister.

Putting that aside, there was something that bothered him.

The bandit clan should have known that Rose was useless as a hostage, so he didn't understand why they had proposed an exchange of Hayato and the design document for Rose in this situation.

In the end, they decided that there was no point in thinking about it. The fact that almost all the members here were hot-blooded probably had some influence on that conclusion.

(Everyone's opinion makes sense. There's no use thinking too much about things we don't understand. If anything, since she was just kidnapped, it's better to go before the enemy can prepare anything. We should have more than enough fighting power, so I'll stop overthinking things. But—)

Hayato looked at Diite.

Diite had said on the ship that the NPCs were alive. She called them NPCs, but they were humans inside. Humans who had their memories erased and were living in this virtual reality as if it were real. There was no doubt that they were alive.

But NPCs were sometimes influenced by the events Diite set up. Just as Veru and the others had been during the last Stampede, NPCs who played an important role in an event had their actions restricted in various ways.

He began to wonder if the bandit clan was under some kind of restriction in this Treasure Hunting event.

Hayato called Diite over and moved to a spot where the others couldn't hear them, near the stairs leading to the second floor.

"I want to ask, is this some kind of Treasure Hunting event?"

"I know what you're getting at, but it's not like that at all. The bandit clan is doing this on their own."

"Even so, isn't the bandit clan's movement, or rather, their thinking, strange? They should know that doing something like this will bring retaliation from the Maid Guild, right? So why are they doing this?"

"That's certainly true. However, Ban-kun, the leader of the 'Greedy Fire Serpent' bandit clan, has a history with Relic-kun and Sonia-kun. He may not be able to make a calm judgment. Or perhaps—"

"Perhaps?"

"He was instigated by someone. Ban-kun is quite the cautious type. Maybe he has some kind of secret plan that will allow him to win. Just so you know, I don't know anything. As I said before, this is outside of the event. And unlike before, I've stopped monitoring the actions of players and NPCs. I want everyone to live freely in this world, you see."

"I see. So we should probably assume there might be a trap."

"With these members, I don't think it would be a problem even if there was some kind of trap."

Hayato nodded at Diite's words.

It was the same when they fought Poseidon during the Salvage, but the members here were strong. Furthermore, this time they had the Maid Chief and the combat-oriented maids, and Relic had gathered members from the Butler Guild, and Sonia from the Treasure Hunter Guild.

Their total number was over a hundred, so even if the opponent was a large-scale bandit clan, there was no way they could escape.

Hayato told everyone that there might be a trap and to be careful, but they all looked at him as if that didn't matter.

"Master, please give the order to depart soon. Everyone is getting antsy and looks like they're about to explode. If you're too slow, my Beelzebub might open fire on you. Or I'll have you make me one parfait for every second. One, two, three—"

"Don't say such scary things. Alright, let's go. We're going to destroy the bandit clan and get Rose-san back."

At Hayato's words, the more enthusiastic members let out a roar.

And when Hayato led the way out of the base, the members everyone had gathered outside also let out a roar, creating a nuisance for the neighbors.

Some players were watching them with the curious gazes of onlookers, wondering what was going on.

Hayato felt incredibly awkward, so he immediately started moving out.