kscans

Chapter 175 - The Bandit Leader

Far to the west of the Royal Capital Anhemudal lies a place called Pireria Gorge.

It is a land of nothing but brown rock, but in the past, one had to pass through it to reach another kingdom from the Royal Capital Anhemudal. However, that was long ago. Now, with teleportation devices, there is no need to travel that path.

Now a desolate road, it became a gathering place for outlaws who would attack the occasional traveler. With no need to pass through, and the continued danger for those who did, people stopped coming near it altogether.

As a result, a great bandit clan formed, using the gorge as their stronghold, and they began raiding nearby towns.

However, because the location was on the border between nations, neither kingdom could organize a large-scale subjugation force. If they were to carelessly assemble one, it would be seen as an act of aggression.

Furthermore, both countries found it easier to monitor the outlaws when they were all in one place, and they also served as a buffer in case of an invasion, so they were overlooked.

If resources had been discovered it might have been a different story, but it has been determined that there is nothing there, so they have been left alone under the pretense of, well, it's probably fine. Such is the setting.

This place serves as the headquarters for the bandit clan "Greedy Fire Serpent," and it is also the location they designated to exchange Rose for Hayato.

Hayato and the others were on the eastern side of Pireria Gorge.

"Is this the right place? Is a bandit clan's hideout really in a place like this?"

"The maids investigated and confirmed it. This gorge, it seems they have hollowed out some of the rock to shelter from the elements. However, they seem to have done a great deal of digging, and the inside is apparently quite complex, like an ant's nest."

I’d like to know how the maids managed to find that out.

Hayato had his doubts about the Maid Chief’s explanation, but he decided to put that aside for later and immediately confirmed their plan.

Not that there was much of a plan to speak of. Seek and destroy. Defeat any bandits on sight.

For good measure, Rosalie and her group were watching the west side of the gorge. They were the bulwark in case the bandits tried to flee westward.

"Alright, Hayato! Let’s go rescue the maid right away! Annihilate the bandits!"

"Ney, let’s calm down a bit."

Ney really enjoys this sort of thing. She has a chivalrous mindset, helping the weak and crushing the strong. But she's related to one of the Foundations, isn't she? I don't know anyone else from the Foundations, so I can't say, but are there a lot of people like her? Honestly, I only had an image of them as arrogant people who flaunt their authority.

The twelve Foundations could be said to rule the world. Ney is related to one of them.

The council at Earth’s central management bureau, "Central," holds the power to decide on important matters. Ney is one of its members.

It’s said that the twelve Foundations keep an eye on each other, and I’ve heard stories that if you show another Foundation an opening, you’ll be crushed. I don’t know how she was raised, but I personally like her sense of justice… though she is a bit of an airhead who rushes headlong into things. Whoops, this is no time to be thinking about that.

Just as Ney said, Hayato switched his focus to rescuing Rose first.

Perhaps as a holdover from the salvage operation, Hayato was acting as the leader for this bandit subjugation as well. No one would charge in until he gave the order.

"Uh, well then, everyone, let's go get the bandits."

As Hayato said that, most of the people there let out a cheer and ran toward the gorge.

Some members remained behind to prevent any bandits from escaping the gorge.

Those members were Hayato, Diite, Sonia, and ten members from the Treasure Hunter Guild.

The Treasure Hunter Guild members were reasonably combat-oriented and fairly strong. They said there would be no problem handling any bandits who tried to escape.

Havato was no fighter, so he waited here. Diite volunteered to act as the healer for the Treasure Hunter Guild members, as they didn't have one. Sonia said she would leave this to Relic and remained on standby here.

After a short while, voices echoed in the gorge. Most of them were close to screams. Hayato figured the bandits who had been lying in wait were being defeated.

Anyone should have known this would happen. So why did the bandits do something like this? It was more likely Ban’s decision than the whole bandit clan’s.

From what Relic and Sonia told him, Ban had an image of an arrogant person who relied on his talent. If so, he must have believed he could win this fight for some reason.

Aside from the blueprints, I think demanding me personally was to have me build an airship, but does that mean Ban has the blueprints for the Grand Prison? Or is he planning to get them?

Various questions popped into his head, but he had no answers. Hayato knew he shouldn't overthink things, but it was probably part of his personality.

Hayato told himself this was no good, took a deep breath, and decided to focus on rescuing Rose first.

Just then, he heard the sound of something falling to the ground nearby.

When Hayato looked in the direction of the sound, one of the Treasure Hunter Guild members was collapsed on the ground. The sound wasn't something falling, but someone falling.

"Huh?"

Looking closely, their HP bar was at zero. Which meant they had been defeated by some kind of attack.

Havato hurriedly looked around and saw a person walking from the direction of the gorge.

He was a man of about thirty, dressed in a light black vest and pants. His brown hair was messy, and he wore a faint smile. He was casually tossing a small stone up and down in his right hand.

"Ban…"

Sonia muttered upon seeing the man.

So this man is Ban… But why is he here? No, how?

Ney and the others had just headed in. He had walked out normally, rather than having escaped.

"Hey, old woman. It’s been a while, but you look as young as ever on the outside. I thought you and old man Relic would be heading to the hideout, but I guess my hunch was off."

"Have your hunches ever been right? In my memory, they were always off."

"Memory… well, whatever, I’m not here to talk about that. You’re Hayato, right? Come over here. I’m taking you into custody."

Ban said this while looking at Hayato, but Sonia just snorted at his words.

"What are you talking about? As if we’d let that happen. Do you plan on beating everyone here all by yourself, with just your thief skills and a few combat skills?"

"That’s the plan."

"…What did you say?"

"Hey hey, is it just your looks that are young, or have your ears gone bad? I said I can beat all of you. Besides, I just took one of them down over there, didn’t I?"

Hayato and the others looked at the fallen member.

Since his HP was gone, he had definitely been hit by some kind of attack. If Ban in front of them had done it, then the suspicious object would be the small stone in his right hand.

Throwing Skill…? But he defeated him by throwing a stone? I didn’t see a thing, and even if his Sniping Skill and Throwing Skill were at 100, is it possible to defeat a character with combat skills just by throwing something?

As Hayato was thinking this, Diite approached him and spoke in a low voice.

"Hayato-kun, force a logout right now. Things have gotten bad."

"Huh?"

"Hurry up. The field settings for this entire area are about to be forcibly changed. If this keeps up, you won’t be able to teleport or log out… no, it’s too late."

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

"Exactly what I said. We’ve been had. I can’t believe he would use such a tactic… So this is what the hacking was for. No, I suppose it could be called a common tactic… To think he made allies on the outside."

"Diite-chan, what have you been saying—"

"Hey hey, what are you all casually talking about? You’re Hayato, right? Get over here."

Partly because he was having an important conversation with Diite, and partly due to Ban’s overly commanding tone, Hayato felt a small bit of defiance.

"…What if I say no?"

The moment he said it, Ban threw the small stone. It hit one of the Treasure Hunter members, and in an instant, his HP dropped to zero and he collapsed.

Everyone was shocked by what they saw, but Ban just kept grinning at Hayato.

"You can say no 11 more times, but do you want to give it a try? I’ll save you for last, but carrying you would be a pain, so I’d appreciate it if you’d just agree while you’re still standing."

Two members of the Treasure Hunter Guild were already down. There were eleven people left, including Hayato. He was probably saying that each time they refused, one person would be defeated, and in the end, he would defeat Hayato too.

But if that happens, I can ‘Return from Death’ to the base. I don’t think there’s any point in defeating me…

Havato glanced over at Diite.

Diite seemed to understand the meaning behind his gaze and subtly shook her head, careful not to let Ban notice.

Could it be that I can’t even Return from Death? What on earth did Ban do?

No logout, no teleportation, no return from death.

This was even worse than what Diite had done before. Hayato was shocked, wondering how it was possible for someone to do something more than Diite, the administrator.

"May I have a word?"

Diite raised her right hand slightly and addressed Ban.

"Who are you?"

"My name is Diite. If you’re taking Hayato-kun, I would like you to take me as well. Is that acceptable?"

Ban stared at Diite but didn’t answer. He was probably thinking about what to do.

"How about it? If you take me with you, I shall persuade Hayato-kun."

"…You, judging by your clothes, are you in service to the church, to God?"

"That is correct, but is there a problem?"

"No, no problem. In fact, it’s convenient. Alright, I’ll take both of you. Come over here without doing anything foolish."

"Understood. Let’s go, Hayato-kun."

Just as Diite was about to walk, Sonia stopped her.

"Hold on. If I let them take you here, I’ll get an earful from everyone. How about it, Ban. Won’t you take me along as well? To be honest, I’m curious what you plan to do after abducting Hayato."

"I don’t need an old woman."

Ban said that and threw the small stone he was holding at Sonia.

Sonia dodged the stone in the nick of time. But Ban had already thrown a second one.

Everyone thought she couldn’t possibly dodge it, but the stone never hit Sonia. A sword suddenly fell from the sky and deflected it.

"Hey hey, throwing stones at a lady is the one thing a man should never do, you know?"

Hayato and the others heard Ivan’s voice from behind them. He didn’t know how he controlled it, but he had thrown Excalibur to prevent the stone from hitting Sonia.

"Ivan!"

"Yo, Hayato. I finally made it. I don’t know the situation, but is that guy the bandit? No mistake?"

Ivan slowly walked over and pulled Excalibur from where it was stuck in the ground. Then he took his stance.

"The Hero, huh. To think you could call on someone like him."

Just as the two were about to fight, Diite stepped between them.

"Stop it. You can’t win against Ban-kun."

"You’re Diite, right? Are you saying I’ll lose to a bandit? For what reason?"

"…He is currently outside the laws of the world. No one can defeat him. Hayato-kun, let’s go. There is no need for any more pointless fighting."

Diite gently pushed Hayato’s back and started walking toward Ban.

"Di, Diite-chan, what on earth is—"

Diite whispered to Hayato from behind his back.

"Ban-kun has currently modified his own settings and is in a state where he can deliver a one-hit kill. To put it in game terms, he is in a cheat state."

Havato looked at Ban with a shocked expression.