Soon they reached the hill shown in the quest map, making Hans wonder why instead of using his own forces, the city lord decided to leave it to the adventurers.
However, Hans also remembered how everyone else looked nonchalant about it, like this was a regular occurance.
"What do you think Hetzer? Why did the mayor ask private guild to find his gold instead of doing it himself?" He asked the girl walking beside her.
The hill though covered with vegetation was not that steep and both of them were able to climb up with relative ease.
"Hetzer has no idea commander. She doesn't know how the world works." A smug reply.
Hans sighed. "Yeah, I asked the wrong person ..... tank whatever." He thought without spilling it.
Very soon they reached the entrance of the cave where the thieves were supposed to hide. It was covered with shrubs masking the entrance from unwanted intruders.
Hans and Hetzer both hid behind the thick vegetation of the hill as they heard footsteps inside the cave though from the outside the entrance looked abandoned.
"Commander should we storm the enemy encampment now?" Hetzer asked asked enthusiastically after the long journey.
Though Hans wanted to wait first and understand how things were inside. How many people, what equipments they have and the likes.
He placed a firm hand on Hetzer's shoulder, pulling her back from the cave entrance. Prompting her to pout like a little girl.
Hans had two options to consider: either enter the cave and clear it or just blow up the whole thing from the outside using the tank destroyers' main gun.
But suddenly Hans got an Idea. He turned his head and looked towards Hetzer, "Hey, why don't you fire the machine gun towards the entrance from here."
Hetzer was stunned with this idea. She couldn't understand what Hans meant.
"Commander perhaps you want Hetzer to fire the main gun at the entrance and collapse it, not the machine gun, right?"
Hans sighed, "Absolutely NOT. I want you to fire the Machine gun. The MG 34 panzerlauf." He retorted.
"Why, no fun. Hetzer wants to finish this and go eat." She said poking her own hands.
"Just do as I said, will you?"
With a pout, Hetzer brought out her MG 34 from thin air just like before and was about to fire when Hans stopped her again.
"What now commander?!"
"Whatever you do, don't fire the tracers otherwise the whole place will be up in flames."
Hetzer blinked, her small hands gripping the MG 34. "No tracers… understood," she muttered, pouting as if the command had personally offended her.
With that she changed the drum magazine on her machine gun and fired a burst towards the entrance.
When she was going to fire, Hans moved away from the her and covered his ears. The sound was loud and echoed throughout the forest.
The burst didn't cause any damage to the entrance but soon three people came out from inside, startled by this loud weird sound, that they never have heard before.
The thieves were holding primitive weapons. One had a sword and two of them had thick wooden sticks.
But before they could investigate what was going on, they were shredded to pieces by another burst fired by Hetzer after Hans told her to mow them down.
One of them even screamed in pain from bullet wound, while others fell down where they were.
Hearing the scream of their fallen comrade a few more came out to check. One of them seemed like a leader shouting orders.
The cave's shadows seemed to tremble as the remaining thieves froze, staring at the scene before them. The three who had dared peek were now lying sprawled on the ground, and one had a thin scream lingering in the air.
Hetzer's ears twitched, her tiny fingers still gripping the MG 34. "Commander… look! They're scared! Hehe!" she whispered, barely holding back her excitement.
Hans however, wasn't sharing that excitement, "Finish them off will you?" He ordered and again covered his ears.
Without thinking Hetzer fired again at the thieves inspecting their fallen comrades. And within the blink of an eye, this group was finished as well.
"Can we go in now?" Hetzer asked enthusiastically.
"No, let's wait a couple of minutes and see whether any more come out."
Though a little impatient, Hetzer decided to listen to Hans and wait in anticipation for some more to come out.
After minutes pass and no one came out anymore, Hans decided it is now time to enter the cave.
Hans brought out his Walther P38 and led the way while Hetzer with her MG 34 Panzerlauf followed.
Inside the cave, darkness engulfed them but not for very long. As they entered deeper, their were torches on the wall of the cave that paved the way.
However, except for the blickering of the flames there was no sound inside. Fortunately the cave didn't seem to have any bifurcations but still was deep.
Hans and Hetzer both held their weapons tightly and eyes peeled at the front almost hoping someone might come out.
The deeper they went, the narrower the passage became. Their boots echoed faintly, and every step stirred dust into the flickering torchlight.
Hetzer leaned close to Hans, whispering far too loudly for his liking."Commander… it smells like burnt sausage in here. Are they cooking? Oooh, maybe they're hiding food instead of gold~"
Hans shot her a glare, pressing a finger to his lips. She puffed her cheeks but quieted down, though the grin never left her face.
Finally they stood in front of a huge chamber where the thieves seemed to have consolidated their riches and there seemed to be something being cooked in a large pot in the center.
Looking the food and the smell of the meat made Hetzer's stomach growl. She looked at Hans with a pitiful teary big round eyes seemingly begging him to allow her to eat.
Hans looked around the chamber for a couple of seconds. There was no one around. But it didn't mean that no one could come.
However, there were many riches lying around not just the gold the mayor of that city wanted. Which made Hans think of something.
He quickly decided to act. His sixth sense from the Eastern front was always telling him that the mayor was cooking something.
So he asked Hetzer to grab the gold and as much of the riches as she can in her void while keeping the gold separate. However, Hetzer's eyes were glued to the food only.
So Hans gave her a shake, "The food can wait, first collect the gold and the riches." He ordered.
Hetzer pouted but obeyed. She put up the sack of gold and hid it in her void followed by the other riches, gems, diamonds and rubies that would make them the Mansa Musa of this world.
"Now can we eat?" Hetzer asked again.
"No, let's get out of the cave and blow it up, the food can be poisoned." Hans' instincts were kicking in.
However, Hetzer was clearly not agreeable to this idea. Her mouth was watering and eyes were tearing up. But Hans was unmoved, he has seen one thing too many.
pouting and crossing her arms Hetzer stood still and was dragged outside by Hans.
He ordered Hetzer to blow up the cave with her 75mm gun once they were outside. Hetzer still pouting, obeyed. She brought out her main 75mm gun that again made Hans wonder, how she could do it.
But the blast was real. One Sprenggranate 39 shell collapsed the entrance of the cave sealing everything inside off along with the bodies of the thieves that were lying there.
After that both of them quickly left the spot and returned to the city to avoid any lingering thieves outside.
This time they used their adventurers' guild card to get past the city gate. Once in the city, Hans had to treat Hetzer to a meal first before anything else.