Two warriors, an archer, and...
Is that guy a special abilities user? Yes, it seems that way.
Since magicians had a lot to lose if they were caught committing crimes, they didn't usually participate in things like that. This was obvious, but they also did not have a priest in their group.
But looting on the first floor with this kind of group...
My heart was pounding. How helpless had our little barbarians felt when facing opponents like these? I couldn't even imagine it.
But at least now I could make these guys feel the same way.
«Are you smiling?» One of them frowned. Based on their expressions, they had not recognized me yet. They probably saw me as an innocent barbarian who smiled because I still didn't know how scary the world could be. «Wow! I see why their hearts are considered so valuable. Just look at that one. He's not afraid at all».
I decided to play along.
Step.
I took a step back, as if I was slowly realizing that something was wrong here. Then I looked at Ainar, who was sleeping on the floor.
¡Hooonk! Honk ...
How long was I going to pretend to be asleep?
Tap, tap.
When I nudged Ainar with my foot, indicating that it was a good time to get up, he immediately jumped into a fit of rage. «...A-Aaaghk! W-what?!
His reaction was too real to be a performance.
...So she was actually asleep.
It was one thing not to feel them approaching us, but not to wake up even when they were talking right on top of their sleeping bag? I didn't understand it at all, but his confusion worked in our favor.
«Hey? Wh-what?! Who are you?!»
How can you not be fooled after a reaction like that?
«Ahhh! Do not tell me! You are...!»
Obviously, it didn't take long for Ainar to realize who our uninvited guests were, but before she could say anything else, I quickly cut her off. «Be careful».
Of course, what he meant was to be careful what he told them, not what he did to them.
«Ya this price. »
Ainar grabbed his gun and turned it with its back to mine. I also grabbed my long iron sword as I looked at them carefully, pretending to be on high alert. In response, they laughed as if we were nothing more than a joke to them.
«Let me ask you something. Are you looters?»
They didn't give me an answer.
«Brother, let's get this over with before someone finds out. The guild has discovered us».
Ha, they're treating me like I'm already dead. Yeah, I guess that's how they'd see us. But unfortunately for them, I'm going to do whatever...
«Wait!» Suddenly, the hunchbacked archer looked at me, eyebrows furrowed. «That barbarian... seems strangely familiar to me. Where have I seen it before?»
Had he recognized me? So that meant I would have to move on to Plan B.
«Why would you have seen it before? They all look the same, anyway, so that's probably why it looks familiar».
Luckily for me, however, the rest of his party came through help.
"Hmm, no se... ⁇
This archer's survival instincts were impressive. Unfortunately for him, it seemed that his other companions had more to say than him. «Let's worry about that later. For now, let's get rid of them».
What a plan they had.
«How.»
With a sinister laugh, they prepared to attack us.
Hit.
The moment my back hit the wall, the one to my left quickly brandished his long sword at me.
¡Whoosh!
Its blade cut through the air with an audible hiss. I stared as the sword headed towards my neck. He must have assumed that he had no hope of responding in time to a surprise attack like that.
The swordsman opened his eyes wide. It was logical that he would be surprised by what was happening.
Kachink.
The long sword had been deflected by my skin without even a scratch.
«…¿Eh?»
Yes, that was the expression he had been waiting for. Finally, my patience was being rewarded.
I grabbed the sword with my bare hand with the energy of someone facing a mosquito that had just bitten him. «...Ah!» With a flick of my wrist, I pulled the sword towards me. The swordsman quickly stumbled forward without resistance, as if he had not even thought about letting go of the sword.
My other hand shot out to grab his neck. The other man next to me, who was holding a two-handed axe, ran towards me, attacking my arm. Although he clearly didn't know what was going on, he probably felt the need to save his partner.
Clang.
Yes, it wasn't easy to make the right decision when you didn't have time to think.
«Ainar».
The moment I gave him my permission, Ainar brandished his sword downwards. The target was the warrior who had tried to cut off my arm.
¡Boom!
As soon as his sword made contact with him, there was a massive explosion. The warrior holding the ax turned into pieces of flesh and his blood gushed everywhere.
«...Wild Sword!» the special ability user shouted as a warning sign. Unfortunately for him, those were his last words.
¡Boom!
A split second later, he too was blown to pieces. Meanwhile, however, one of his companions had made the right decision.
Step.
Maybe it was because of his role in the team, or that his instinct had worked in his favor, but the goalkeeper was already far from us.
«...¡B-Bjorn Yandel!»
It seemed like he had finally realized who he was. The moment his partner exploded, he tried to flee.
[You have launched Transcendence.]
But what made you think you could run away from me?
[You have cast Eye of the Storm.]
Did you think I would ever leave him?
***
Goteo, goteo.
Blood continued to drip from the swordsman as it hung from my claws. With a flick of his wrist, he finally became limp. I let go, letting his body fall to the ground with a blow, and then I looked at the archer, who was lying on the ground and staring at me.
«...P-Please don't kill me. I'm different from those guys. I didn't want to do it. They cheated on me. I'm not lying!»
The goalkeeper, the only survivor of his team, was now at my feet, begging for his life.
Shing.
Ainar raised his sword, causing the archer to let out a cry of terror. «I have information!»
¿Hm?
«Information?» I raised my hand, signaling Ainar to stop.
The goalkeeper must have felt a glimmer of hope when he saw him, as he immediately tried to reach an agreement. «If I tell you, then... swear to me that you will forgive me».
«Jura...»
What a ridiculous guy.
As he stood there smiling, Ainar raised his voice complaining. «Bjorn! It would be better to kill this guy at once!»
«Enough. Calm down».
He remained silent.
«Okay. I swear. If I think the information you give me is worth it, I will spare your life», I accepted calmly.
Although he was telling him what he wanted to hear, the archer still seemed undecided. Maybe he was trying to decide whether to believe me or not. However, he didn't hesitate much. «S-If you are a baron, you must be telling the truth...»
Apparently, I was convinced that someone of my status couldn't go back on my word so easily. «Hurry up and tell me what you know».
The archer slowly opened his mouth, unable to hide his nerves. «The magicians...
The magicians? What do they have to do with it?
«Some magicians - he continued when I glared at him to make him move his ass - are making requests through the black market. They have increased the payout for anyone who brings them barbarian hearts...»
«Hmmm...»
What the hell?
«That's all?»
«...Sorry?» The archer froze at my unpleasant response.
What did you want me to do with that? What he had told me had no value. He hadn't offered me any clues as to why this was happening, much less given me any information about who those supposed wizards were. Besides, even if he gave me a list of names, I couldn't go punish those people without evidence.
«If that's all you have...»
It's time to end this.
Before I could finish my sentence, he quickly cut me off. «I have more! I have more, Your Honor! On the black market... there is also a reward for your heart...»
«...What?» Surprised by this new information, I asked for more details. It seemed that the reward for my heart was two billion stones. However, the identity of the person who made the request was unknown. «The black market, huh?»
Noticing the thoughtful look on my face, the archer quickly took advantage of the moment to try to attract me. «So... what do you think? Has this information been of sufficient help to you, Your Honor...?»
Oh yeah? It was undoubtedly valuable information. In fact, it was the first time I had heard of it, since I had no connection to the black market. I would definitely investigate it further when I returned to the city. However, I now had more pressing matters to take care of.
«No. Not at all. It's time to end this.»
If he said it wasn't good enough, what was he going to do about it?
«That's not what you promised...»
What was this bastard about?
Hit.
I planted my foot on his head and the goalkeeper began to squirm frantically. I felt no compassion for him or guilt for breaking the promise I had made to him.
«Promises are made with people».
With that, I pushed down.
Squash.
Taking care of the last one, we turned around and grabbed his gear and backpacks, placing them in our subspaces. It wouldn't be worth much, but it would be perfect karma if we allocated it to barbarian funds for our young warriors.
I'm looking for.
…¿Eh?
I turned to hear the strange roar just in time to see Ainar stabbing his greatsword into one of the corpses.
«What are you doing, Ainar?»
«Don't you realize? I'm taking out their hearts».
The miré confuso.
«We have to show them, right? That if they target our hearts, they must be willing to risk theirs».
Huh... so I wanted to use them to send a message?
«I'll be quick, so don't worry about me». With that, Ainar returned to work. He cut the hearts of the two corpses that were not splattered into pieces, and then placed their bodies on a nearby rock as an art exhibit. «Very good, I'm done. Let's get going, Bjorn. Are we going to go kill more of them now?! I think I can do a better job acting now!»
The way he was acting was already quite scary.
***
Day four, day five, day six...
After our first successful capture, time flew by. We continued wandering through the Crystal Cave, barely resting. As the days went by, we got even better at raider fishing.
We began to pay attention to the subtler details, such as smearing ourselves with Goblin blood. We also gathered as many rank nine mana stones as we could to make it look like our bags were full and worth looting.
It would have been nice if we had had some cuts and bruises too, but it wasn't possible. A wound that size wouldn't take a minute to heal us both.
However, our efforts bore fruit, as before the end of the fifth day we were able to kill another party of looters in a similar way. However, these guys were much more careful than the previous team, even secretly following us for a while to make sure we were really easy prey.
«Shit».
When we searched their bags, we found an unpleasant sight. Four fresh hearts lay within. So they had already killed some of us before we found them.
«...Ainar, calm down. As soon as we get back, I'm going to do something about it, so let's go for now. Everyone is waiting for us.»
«Okay...»
After appeasing Ainar, we headed towards the center of the floor where our companions were waiting for us.
«Sir!» Apparently, after feeling me approaching from afar, Erwen ran out to meet me, and the three of us walked together towards the statue. When we got there, we quickly activated voice control to talk about our raid.
«Emily, ¿pasó algo?»
«Of course something has happened. Exactly what you feared».
«So that means...»
«La gente is watching us fence.»
So he really played that way ...
«What should we do? If they are people sent by Count Alminus, it could be dangerous to summon the Lord of the Ground with them nearby», Versyl said, looking grim.
I chuckled. «Don't worry too much. Everything is going as expected».
«...Did you expect this?»
Of course. I purposely went to the guild to publicize the fact that I was attempting a raid against a Soil Lord. It was natural that there were people here trying to sabotage us.
Also, I didn't really «fear» this result.
No, I was actually looking forward to it.
When Versyl expressed confusion about what we were going to do now, I decided to respond. «Let's invoke the Lord of the Soil as we had planned».
The big shot had taken the bait.