Chapter 303 : The Guards
The next morning, Celine and Garrett went to the town to bring the guards.
Before they left, Celine asked Tio if she wanted to go with them, but she chose to stay with us, saying that she wanted to keep us company. After all, even though we are strong, we are still children.
By the way, she cleaned my container house while I was watching the bandits with Ester. I’m kinda lazy so I’m grateful to her.
The next day, while Tio, Ester, Nicola, and I were chilling under a tree while watching the bandits, we saw a large group of armed men in horses lined up neatly across the plain.
It was led by a simple open carriage that was followed by three carriages that looked like box-shaped prisons.
I could see Celine sitting next to the coachman on the driver’s seat of the open carriage.
When Celine pointed toward us at the top of the hill, the coachman nodded.
By the way, I have put the container house in my Item Box. It would be troublesome to explain if the guards saw it after all.
「Whoa… There are a lot of guards…」(Ester)
Ester muttered while looking at the guards who were climbing up the hill, approaching us.
「We have so many bandits here, so we need a lot of guards to take them to the town. I’m still impressed that you were able to defeat them without getting hurt. I’m sure you will become a skillful adventurer.」(Mark)
「Hehe~ You think so?」(Ester)
Ester smiled and scratched her cheek with her index finger shyly.
She is hiding her pointy ears with a magic tool, so they look just like human ears, but I can tell that her pointy ears are twitching. It’s because I’ve been trying to always be aware of the flow of mana in my surroundings.
Nicola told me to get used to being aware of the flow of mana. Of course, it’s not easy to do, but if I can master it, I might be able to fight against enemies who can hide their presence like Lumon in the future.
Shortly after, the group of guards stopped near us.
Celine got off the leading carriage and waved at us.
「I’m back~」(Celine)
「Welcome back, Celine.」(Mark)
Then the guards in the carriage got off as well and looked at the unconscious bandits in the cage.
I kept draining their mana with Mana Drain to make them feel weak to prevent them from trying to escape. That’s why they’ve been sleeping all the time.
Most of the guards looked young, but there was a guard who looked exceptionally older than the others. He seemed to be the leader of the group.
He approached the cage and looked at the bandits.
「So, they are the bandits?」(captain)
「Yeah, they tried to kidnap us. You can have them.」(Celine)
Hearing someone talking, some of the bandits opened their eyes.
It didn’t take long for them to realize that they were surrounded by guards.
「…Hm? ーHiiiiiiiyyyy!! We’re surrounded!」
「Dammit! What should we do!?」
「Hey, you damn kid! Get us out of here!」(bandits)
I instinctively looked away when the bandits glared at me. They seemed to be mad because I kept draining their mana.
The leader of the guards who were looking at the bandits with disgusted eyes as if looking at trash got closer to the cage and took a closer look at it.
「This cage is made using earth magic, but it looks as sturdy as steel… Hmm… Did you make it?」(captain)
The captain turned his face to Celine and asked.
「Nope. This boy did.」(Celine)
Celine then answered while patting my head.
「…….」(captain)
The captain looked at me with doubtful eyes. He didn’t seem to believe it.
「Well, it doesn’t matter… Ahem. You are completely surrounded! Don’t do anything stupid and try to escape if you don’t want to get hurt!」(captain)
He returned his gaze to the bandits and warned them.
At the same time, the other guards surrounding the cage pointed their swords and spears into the cage.
「ーHiiiiiiiiiiiiiyyy!!」
「Please don’t hurt us!」
「We surrender!」(bandits)
While the other bandits were raising their hands, surrendering, I noticed Lumon was glaring at me. He looked really mad.
It seems that he just realized that I’ve stolen his Gift.
I could do nothing but look away from him, trying not to make eye contact with him.
「Alright guys. Let’s put these scumbags in the carriage cage.」(captain)
「「Aye, sir!」」(guards)
After I opened the cage with earth magic, the guards began to put the bandits in the carriage cage.
Some of the bandits were still unconscious, so the guards had to carry them.
Fortunately, the conscious ones were not resisting. They knew they wouldn’t be able to win against the armed guards. After all, we have confiscated all of their weapons. Besides, their hands were all tied with ropes. There was no way they could fight.
While watching the guards working, I asked Celine about Garrett.
「Celine, where is Garrett oji-san?」(Mark)
「He’s waiting for us in the town. He said it would be better if we go to the town with the guards. More importantly, are you sure you don’t want to tell them the truth?」(Celine)
Celine asked while patting Nicola who was clinging to her waist.
What Celine meant by the truth was the fact that I defeated the bandits’ leader, Lumon.
We told the guards that Ester was the one who defeated the leader.
I think it would be better if Ester took that credit since it would help her when she applied for an adventurer job in the guild.
「It’s alright. We’ll share the bounty anyway, so there’s no problem.」(Mark)
After I said that, Celine lightly combed her hair with her fingers and gave me an awkward look for some reason.
「Umm, about the bounty… Since this bandit group had been hiding all this time, it seems that the guild had no idea about their existence, so they’re not on the guild’s bounty list. We’ll still get some money for catching these bandits, but it won’t be much.」(Celine)
These bandits had been trying not to be noticed by the guilds by hiding and waiting for good opportunities to take action, and I must say that they really did a good job for that.
It’s unfortunate that we won’t get much money, but it can’t be helped.
『Nooo…!! My pocket money…!!』(Nicola)
Nicola grumbled via telepathy while pressing her face against Celine’s waist.
Come to think of it, she doesn’t have any pocket money.
Perhaps I should give her some money I got from selling logs the other day.
「Too bad that we won’t get much money.」(Mark)
「Yeah, but I heard that we still have a chance to get a special reward from the feudal lord. First, the guards will interrogate these bandits. If they are proven to have a relationship with the evil organization that does human trafficking in this region, then the feudal lord will give us a special reward.」(Celine)
「I see. I’m looking forward to it.」(Mark)
The feudal lord, huh…? I wonder if he’s doing well.
To be honest, I don’t want to get too close to him, but the Silver Eagle Amulet he gave me saved my life many times, so I’d like to thank him if I ever meet him again.
TL : In case you forget, Mark got the amulet from the feudal lord when he worked as “Mary” at Iris Bar (chapter 94)
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Haha I remember cross dress arc…
Hmm, the bandit leader just keeps his mouth closed that mark can steal gifts if he knows he had his gift stolen, i mean wouldn’t that be a good bargaining chip
He knows Mark did something but he doesn’t know he stole it. Also, how is he gonna prove that he had a gift or that Mark can alter gifts? It’s more believable to think that his powers have been sealed or destroyed (due to overuse or some similar historical reason) and that nobody will really believe that there’s a kid that can steal gifts as long as Mark doesnt use multiple gifts at the same time.
tldr, he’s safe
Eh, authorities either know that gifts can be “transferred” and just keep the knowledge suppressed (in which case hw will probably just get a verbal warning) or they don’t in which case Lemon will sound like a lunatic
“I am not crazy! I know he stole my Gift! As if I could ever just lose it. Never. Never! I just – I just can’t prove it. He – he covered his tracks, he got that idiot at the guard station to lie for him. You think this is something? You think this is bad? This? This chicanery? He’s done worse. That house! Are you telling me that a boy just happens to have a house like that? No! He orchestrated it! Mark! He defecated into a hole in the ground! And I helped him! And I shouldn’t have. What was I thinking? He’ll never change. He’ll never change! Ever since he was 5, always the same! Couldn’t keep his hands out of the people’s Gifts! But not our Mark! Couldn’t be precious Mark! Stealing them blind! And he gets to be a hero? What a sick joke! I should’ve killed him when I had the chance! And you – you have to stop him!m!”
There is no information to suggest that mark stole his gift. Bandit leader just knows that he can’t activate his gift, probably sealed or destroyed forever. The only thing he knows, is that it happens after Mark defeated him, so he knows who is to blame for it (regardless of whether it was done on purpose or accidentally)