Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 47: The Bandit-Subjugation Quest
One week later, a large number of adventurers from the various branches were called together.
It was just before dawn on the day of the attack.
Approximately eighty adventurers had assembled. They were divided into three units and advanced to the forest outside the bandit village, where the reconnaissance team delivered its report.
The village was indeed the bandit gang’s base. It held 152 people in total, including women and children, of whom eighty-seven men appeared capable of fighting.
When Tauro’s team had searched the area, the heavy rain had concealed a fenced compound at the back of the village. The compound had a watchtower and resembled a small fort.
Around fifteen women who appeared to have been abducted were confined in a hut inside it.
The plan was as follows.
Two units would launch a surprise attack from behind the fort, prioritizing its capture and the rescue of the hostages.
Allowing the bandits to barricade themselves inside would be troublesome.
Fortunately, the gang wasn’t currently occupying the fort. Its members slept in the surrounding village, apparently reserving the compound for emergencies.
At the signal for the fort attack, the remaining unit would raid the village and strike down the bandits while they were still confused.
As for anyone who fled, the soldiers stationed at the highway rest stop should already be marching toward the village.
Joining the adventurers from the beginning might have exposed the operation, so the soldiers had departed later and would block every major road.
Tauro was assigned to one of the fort-assault units because of his [Presence Concealment] and skill with a bow.
That placed him in the front line.
His mission was to shoot the guards in the watchtower.
He exchanged glances with the other archers as they approached the fort from behind.
Thanks to Tauro’s [Presence Concealment], the enemy hadn’t noticed them at all.
The rest of the unit kept its distance in case any of the bandits possessed a detection ability.
Tauro located a guard in the watchtower and drew his bow to its full length.
The other archers took aim at the remaining guards.
Twang!
Tauro’s arrow cut through the wind and buried itself in the guard’s forehead. A moment later, the figure crumpled.
Bowstrings sounded around him one after another, and the other sentries fell.
Roy of Blue Guardian, the assault unit’s captain, swept one hand downward. Every member of the unit charged the fort without a sound.
Tauro’s hands trembled slightly.
The sensation of killing a person for the first time remained in them.
He had felt nothing in particular when killing horned rabbits, goblins, and other monsters. These people were enemies, but they were still human, and that affected him somewhere deep inside.
Roy seemed to notice. He stepped beside Tauro and patted him on the back.
“…Do you want to fall back?”
“No. I’m all right.”
Tauro drew his short sword and joined the assault.
Adventurers with [Nimble] bounded over the fence and opened the gate from within.
The rest of the unit surged inside.
Tauro didn’t head for the gate. Instead, he reached a section of fence at the side.
There was something he wanted to try.
“Store: fence.”
At Tauro’s murmur, part of the fence disappeared into his magic storage.
His allies stared at the sight and cried, “What!?” But when Tauro entered through the opening, they followed.
Carried forward by their momentum, the adventurers captured the fort in moments. The guards at the hostage hut fled, allowing the captives to be secured as well.
The surprise attack on the fort ended in an overwhelming victory.
The unit that raided the village had initially advanced through the confusion. Once the far more numerous bandits regained their formation, however, the adventurers began to be pushed back.
Mina of the Saisi branch fought especially hard.
Although she had declined command and yielded it to someone else, she was a C- rank adventurer, and her swordsmanship overwhelmed the bandits.
Five Arrows, the team she now led, fought just as fiercely.
The party included a female mage who blasted one house after another apart with fire magic, steadily destroying the bandits’ will to fight.
As his numerical advantage vanished, the gang’s leader, who commanded the village side, grew desperate.
“Don’t fight them one at a time! We have the numbers—surround them and finish them!”
Then a subordinate came running from the fort.
“Boss! They’ve taken the fort!”
“What!?”
The leader had been considering fleeing there while his men continued to fight.
“How many are there?”
“I don’t know. It happened too fast!”
“Damn it! There aren’t that many enemies here. We’ll defeat them and escape!”
The bandit leader had underestimated Mina and the others.