Chapter 158: Bandits

The next morning after coming to the surface.

I parted ways with El and the others, and I descended into the labyrinth with Joe and the two others, and Borg, making a total of five people, aiming for the 10th floor.

At this point, the remaining preserved food I had brought was: 2 servings of frankfurt, a small amount of dried vegetables, 1 piece of honey preserve, and jam that altogether filled half a bowl.

At this rate, it would all be eaten up in just one day.

A devil whispering inside me… if this was enough for five people for one day, then eating it by myself would last for five days, right?

I shook my head to dispel the wicked thought.

No, that wouldn’t do. Joe and the others were trustworthy companions, and Borg had helped me in many ways.

I continued to delve into the labyrinth while fighting my own desires.

In the end, with everyone staring at me while I cooked, and having no guts to eat alone… pitiable as it was, the preserved food was eaten up in a single day.

I received praise from everyone, saying it wasn’t just because the preserved food was tasty. They even indirectly asked if they could eat it in their normal meals if possible.

I thought, ‘This might sell as well…’ and gave an ambiguous reply of ‘I’ll think about it.’

From there, the nightmare of dried meat and black bread began.

It took two days to move to the tenth floor, two days to return, and two days for butchering, so out of the total six days, I was in despair thinking we’d be eating only dried meat and black bread for five entire days…

But when I secretly spoke to El through Ao without Joe and the others knowing, he convinced everyone that we were allowed to eat the Earth Dragon’s meat only during the two days of butchering.

Dragon steak! Meat that represents fantasy on par with giant roast meat!

The five of us hurried to the tenth floor and devoured the Earth Dragon’s meat relentlessly.

We must have looked like the undead swarming around the living.

After finishing the skinning and throwing the meat into the hole, only the skeleton of the Earth Dragon remained, and the fact that it looked completely suspicious was part of the fun.

Apparently, the internal organs could also be used as medicine and could be sold at a high price.

When I sent the blood and meat through the last hole and my magic was depleted, Joe started talking to me.

“Aldo, once you recover your magic, you should return to the royal capital with Borg.”

“What about Joe and the others?”

“We’ll instruct the adventurers to carry the materials to the royal capital. I don’t think anyone has the guts to steal your loot, but just in case, we have to keep watch.”

“I see… wouldn’t it be better if I was there too?”

“A dragon slayer who defeated an Earth Dragon can’t be made to do that. Leave the chores to us and rest in the royal capital.”

“Even so…”

“Even considering it as the price for the dragon armor, this still doesn’t nearly make up for it.”

I shrugged my shoulders and spoke to Joe.

“Got it. I’m counting on you.”

“All right. Leave it to me.”

Then I recovered my magical power and spent two days returning to the surface together with Borg.

“Aldo, I’m going back with the hide. You go ahead.”

Without even looking at me, Borg spoke while fiddling with the hide.

“Understood. I’ll go ahead and return first.”

Borg raised his hand in reply, but even while handling the hide, he never looked back at me until the end.

He said it was only the second time in his life he’d touched a dragon’s hide… but the blood of a craftsman probably stirred within him.

It took an hour to pass through the Wise Wolf Forest, and from there, two hours to the royal capital.

Even if I went slowly, I should reach the royal capital by evening. Once I was back, the first thing I wanted to do was take a bath.

Let’s take our time in hot water. It would be perfect if there were sake and mackerel…

While thinking about such things, I walked leisurely toward the royal capital.

Along the way, I passed a few carriages running back and forth between the Labyrinth of Claws and Fangs and the royal capital.

It seemed that they were still transporting materials from around the 8th layer for now, but by tomorrow or the day after, they should start transporting the ones from the Earth Dragon as well.

As I casually walked on the surface after a long time, I felt an unpleasant gaze. I felt like ever since I became an Apostle, I’d become strangely sensitive to human malice.

Could it be related to the miasma…? It was a mystery.

Just in case, I tried using a 1000-meter range sonar.

About 300 meters ahead on the left side from here, there was a forest, and 15 people were hiding there, watching the highway.

I felt something suspicious, but they hadn’t done anything yet.

If I had the ability to foresee the future, I could defeat them first, but just in case I was wrong, I would end up becoming a thief.

If I were to change jobs from Apostle to thief, all I could see was a future where I’d be laughed at as the Thief King in later generations.

I could just throw caution to the wind and say, ‘I will become the Thief King!’ but for now, I wanted to hold back.

I had no choice but to have lunch near the place where the (temporary) thieves were hiding.

The menu was dried meat and black bread. A devilish menu.

However, on the way through Wise Wolf Forest, I picked some oren fruit and edible wild plants.

I took a cup from my backpack and made a soup with the dried meat and the wild plants.

After simmering for about 15 minutes, a good smell wafted through. When the dried meat soup was ready, I softened the black bread in the soup and then began to eat.

While I was rating my cooking as barely edible, a cart carrying Minotaur and Tigris ingredients ran toward the royal capital.

While I was preoccupied with the (tentative) thieves, it seemed they intended to attack and started moving hurriedly.

I shoved the rest of the soup and black bread into my mouth, cleaned up the cups and whatnot, and braced myself to dash out at any moment.

I was curious about how they planned to stop the cart, and I found that a simple trap had been set where a rope was shallowly buried in the ground and pulled sideways just before the horse passed, making its legs stumble.

The horse fell spectacularly, flipping over along with the wagon.

At that time, one adventurer who seemed to be a bodyguard was caught in the wagon.

Thinking things were bad, I dashed to the adventurer using spatial kicks and Vernier thrusters, and cast a recovery spell. I also had them drink a healing potion just in case.

Fifteen thieves quickly emerged from the forest, weapons raised, approaching us. On our side, there was one injured coachman and two guardian adventurers—we couldn’t stand a chance.

I let out a single sigh. Then I stepped between the cart and the thieves, standing in the way to keep them from getting any closer.

“Who are you guys?”

When I said that, a man who seemed to be the leader stepped forward and glared at me.

“You’re the kid eating lunch… The smell of your food made us hungry. You should hate yourself for eating here. It’s unfortunate, but now that we’ve seen you, you’ll have to die too.”

Even while the boss was speaking, the thieves carefully surrounded the cart.

I gathered eight Wind Bullets (lethal type) and faced the thieves. I wouldn’t use the non-lethal type against opponents directing lethal intent at me.

“Kid. You’re a magic user, huh…”

The thieves were wary of me, but I ignored them and fired Wind Bullet at them.

I aimed for their legs. If I immobilized them, guys like these were nothing.

Second shot… second shot… ultimately, one person got hit twice. I fired Wind Bullet into both thighs and subdued the thief.

The battle lasted only 1 minute and 30 seconds.

First, I cast recovery magic on the adventurers and the coachman, and once I confirmed they were safe, I also healed the horse.

Then, after righting the cart and rearranging the cargo, I spoke to the thieves.

‘Do you want me to help you?’

Most of the thieves were bleeding heavily, pleading for help with pale faces.

‘Understood. But there’s a condition. I’ll only help those who haven’t killed anyone.’

My words brought silence among the thieves.

“Now, you want me to help, right? You’re going to beg for your life. Of course, that person would have helped anyone who begged for their life. There’s no way he would have committed murder.”

Glancing at the thieves, most of them were clutching their weapons tightly.

“Aren’t you here?”

When I raised my voice like that, they all came at me, dragging their feet but still holding their weapons.

I lightly boosted the Vernier and instantly created a distance of about five meters.

My movement using the Vernier probably looked like teleportation to the level of ordinary thieves.

Without a word, I fired Wind Bullet (for monsters) into the legs of all the thieves.

The power of the (for monsters) version was tremendous; their legs exploded, and the shock killed some instantly, while even those who survived soon succumbed to bleeding.

After the battle, all fifteen of them equally had lost both legs and lay exposed.

“Well then, adventurer.”

“Y-yes!”

Among the two adventurers, the elder one was too frightened to be able to speak.

Earlier, I had spoken to a female adventurer in her twenties whom I had cast a healing spell on.

“What should we do if we deal with thieves?”

“Th-then, you need to report it to the gatekeeper and have the guards check the scene…”

“I see.”

“Y-yes…”

“I’m sorry, but could you talk to the gatekeeper and have them call the guards?”

“Y-yes. Understood.”

“Thank you.”

As if fleeing from me, the coachman and the two adventurers ran off toward the royal capital.

It seemed I’d frightened them… There was a way to kill with less blood, but having the feeling remain in my hands was definitely unpleasant…

It couldn’t be helped. As I was taking another break, two knights came from the direction of the royal capital.

“Ah, it’s you. You say you defeated the bandits… but aren’t you still a child…?”

“Ah, are you the warrior who was taken down by Vice Commander Malik?”

“Do you know him?”

“He’s one of the warriors from Blue Ring who stormed the knights.”

“The one who took down Commander Shirea?”

“That’s right. Somehow, Vice Commander Malik barely won.”

“No way… you’re still a child, aren’t you?”

“According to Vice Commander Malik, it seems it was a mock battle with restrained force.”

“…”

“Well, that’s fine. You. What was your name again?”

It looked like one of the knights knew me.

“I’m Aldo.”

“Aldo, can you tell me what happened?”

“Yes. Understood.”

I didn’t say that I had ambushed the thieves; I told them that I had happened to be at the scene while having lunch.

“I see, that matches the testimony of the adventurer who came to report it…”

“Is that so? Then am I free to go now?”

“Well, yes… but won’t you take your equipment?”

“Equipment?”

“The person who defeated them has the right to take the thieves’ belongings.”

“Is that so…”

I looked at the thieves, but their lower body armor was in tatters from my Wind Bullet.

As far as I could see, they didn’t have any notable weapons either.

If you have top-notch weapons and armor, you wouldn’t stoop to becoming a thief.

“I don’t need it. You can have it if you like.”

“Don’t need it? Even just the swords and weapons could bring in a coin or two…”

“Please use it for the knights’ social gathering or something.”

“Really? I feel bad about that.”

Saying that, the knight began checking the thieves’ wallets and other equipment that could be worth money.

“Well then, I’ll take my leave.”

“Yeah, take care.”

As I walked away, I could hear voices behind me: “Hey, isn’t that bad?” “It’s fine. He’s a noble. He doesn’t need a few coins.”

It wasn’t that I didn’t want it, but even if they were thieves, taking it from them after killing them was a bit…

Either way, if the thieves weren’t dealt with, next time they would aim for dragon materials.

Surely, even if I had forgiven them, those guys would have continued doing the same thing. Even if that weren’t the case, there were already victims. It wasn’t something I should forgive.

I proceeded on the road to the royal capital carrying a somewhat gloomy feeling.