Chapter 2-21 : Leading The Rats Into The Trap (part 1)
*This part is in the third-person perspective*
「Dammit! How the hell did this happen!?」
「They’re too strong for just freaking soldiers!」
「I heard this city has the strongest soldiers in the entire region, but dammit!」
「Can’t believe we were the ones that got ambushed!」
「Boss, what should we do!?」(bandits)
「Just keep running goddammit!」(bandit leader)
Several men were running through the dark streets of the city. They were the Keemariq Bandits.
They were trying to attack Kako and her family and take away the Blizzard Magic Sword from them but failed.
They planned to ambush their stagecoach on a quiet street, but they ended up getting ambushed by the Kushaq Family’s soldiers instead.
Most of their members had been captured by the soldiers in the ambush, but their leader and several members managed to flee from the battle.
Of course, the Kushaq Family’s soldiers wouldn’t let them go away.
「There they are!」
「Over here!」
「Don’t lose them!」(soldiers)
「Shit!」
「Where the hell did they come from!?」
「They’re everywhere!」(bandits)
「Doesn’t matter. This way!」(bandit leader)
The bandits were confident in their swiftness and ability to escape. To avoid the soldiers that randomly appeared wherever they went in the city, they chose to head to the nearby forest.
However, little did they know, they were actually being led by the soldiers to a ‘certain place’.
Marquis Elvent Kushaq knew how good these bandits were at fleeing. He thought he wouldn’t be able to capture all of them in a normal way, especially their leader, so he came up with a plan.
Before everything started, he stationed his soldiers all over the city, hiding in the shadows. When the leaders and several other bandits tried to escape, the hiding soldiers would watch their movements and then lead those rats into the ‘trap’ somewhere in the nearby forest.
The bandits, who didn’t have a choice other than escaping to the forest, kept running through the tree branches and bushes, damaging their clothes and skins. It was very difficult to run in the dark forest at night, but they didn’t stop.
「*Heavily breathing* Hahh… Hahh… Did we lose them?」
「Seems so… Hahh… Hahh…」
「Hahh… What now, Boss?」(bandits)
「We stay low for now… Khh! Most of our guys have been captured and we failed to get that magic sword. What a horrible day. Dammit!」(bandit leader)
After running for a while, they could no longer hear the soldiers’ voices. They thought they managed to escape and chose to stay in the forest for the time being just in case.
Howeverー
「O’ great forest, lend me your powerー Vine Shackles!」(Martz)
「What theー!?」
「A magic spell!?」
「My legs!」(bandits)
They had no idea that they had already fallen into the ‘trap’.
While they were confused by the vines that suddenly grew from the ground and entangled their legs, three people appeared from the shadows and surrounded them in three different directions.
「Ou, ou! Look what we got here!」(Izack)
「Uwaah~ They really fell into our trap!」(Palfi)
「How foolish of them.」(Martz)
They were none other than The Wings of Steel adventurers.
「Who the hell are you people!? Kushaq’s soldiers!? ーNo, adventurers!?」(bandit leader)
「You don’t know us but we’ve been targeting you rats for a while. Now stay still so we can do our job easier, or elseー」(Izack)
「Or else what!? You think these stupid vines can stop us!?」(bandit leader)
As the bandit leader said that, he and the other bandits unsheathed their weapons and cut the vines entangling their legs.
「Ho? They can cut my vines easily. Those weapons are no ordinary weapons.」(Martz)
「Figures. They’ve been stealing powerful weapons after all.」(Palfi)
「So what? We can handle them no problem. Right, guys?」(Izack)
「「Of course!」」(Martz & Palfi)
「Khh! How dare you look down on us! Kill them all!」(bandit leader)
「Khu khu! With pleasure, Boss!」
「We’ll make them regret it!」(bandit)
Even though The Wings of Steel members were outnumbered, they were confident they wouldn’t lose to scoundrels. After all, they had fought countless high-ranked monsters much stronger than these rats.
As soon as they freed their legs from the vines, the bandits scattered in three different directions, trying to attack the three adventures.
Four people were charging toward Martz, but he quickly jumped backward, did a backflip in the air, and landed on a tree branch.
「You cowards!」
「Get down and fight like a man!」(bandits)
「You said that, but you outnumber me. How stupid.」(Martz)
The bandits only had melee weapons such as daggers and swords since their archers had been captured by the soldiers.
They provoked Martz to get down, but he kept his cool. He was an archer, it would be foolish to fight four people in a close-ranged combat.
He drew four arrows from his quiver and pulled them on his bow altogether.
「Huh! You think you can hit us at once!?」(bandit)
The bandits were confident in their swiftness. They had fast legs, but unfortunately for them, they had no brains.
「Vine Shackles!」(Martz)
「Oh, shit!」
「This again!?」(bandits)
「Fools. You already forgot I had this spell, huh?」(Martz)
The bandits tried to cut the vines entangling their legs, but Martz’s arrows were faster.
The four arrows he shot at once hit their legs.
「「Aaghh!」」(bandits)
Meanwhile, on the other side, Palfi was dealing with just one person. However, this bandit had a well-built body and was much larger than Palfi. He seemed to be the strongest fighter and was using a huge axe as a weapon.
Palfi was a cleric who supported the other party members, so fighting wasn’t truly her forte. However, in terms of raw strength, she wasn’t inferior to Maitena and even Izack.
「Gahaha! This is your bad day, Woman! You know what delighted me the most in this world other than money? Children and women’s cries!」(muscular bandit)
「Waahh… You really have a terrible hobby.」(Palfi)
「Say whatever you want. Ahh! I can’t wait to hear you crying!」(muscular bandit)
The bandit raised his axe and swung it down at Palfi but she quickly blocked it with her mace before the blade reached her.
「The hell!?」(bandit)
「So~? You think you can make me cry~?」(Palfi)
「Khh…! Thought I was dealing with a fragile woman. Turns up I’m dealing with a freaking gorilla!」(muscular bandit)
The bandit was surprised that a weak-looking woman like Palfi could block his axe.
He had no idea that what he just said cost him big time.
「What did… you just say…?」(Palfi)
「Huh?」(muscular bandit)
The G-word coming from the bandit’s mouth got Palfi triggered.
ーCLANK!
She deflected the bandit’s axe, held her mace backwards with both hands, and thenー
「I’m not a freakingー」(Palfi)
「Ghaa!」(muscular bandit)
「ーGORILLAAAAAAAA!!」(Palfi)
She hit the bandit’s torso with all her might and sent him flying into the air like hitting a baseball.
The bandit then hit his back against a tree and fell to the ground unconscious with his armor broken in the torso area.
「Hmph! That’s what will happen if you call a maiden gorilla!」(Palfi)
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Noted. Don’t call her gorilla