Chapter 32

(￣(エ)￣)＜Unique views have surpassed 200,000 and the number of reviewers has exceeded 400!

(=ↀωↀ=)＜Thank you, everyone!

(￣(エ)￣)(=ↀωↀ=)＜＜That being said, today's content is for mature audiences!

※Contains graphic violence

■Altera Kingdom <Cruella Mountain Range>

The second-largest city in the Altera Kingdom, Gideon, is located in the east of the city, where the <Cruella Mountain Range> stands. The <Cruella Mountain Range> also serves as the border with the neighboring country, Cardina. Beyond the opposite foothills of the mountains lies a wasteland and desert, which is Cardina's territory. The reason why the mountains and the wasteland are so distinctly separated is not well known and is not particularly important now. The problem is that the <Cruella Mountain Range> has long been a stronghold for bandits.

The bandits are not a single group. Many bandit groups nest in these mountains. Even when they are eliminated by adventurers who accept quests from the Adventurer's Guild, new bandit groups quickly rise up. This cycle continues in the <Cruella Mountain Range>. There are two reasons for this. One is that the kingdom cannot deploy large-scale forces because it is a border area. Moving troops to the border would provoke Cardina, so the military cannot lead a large-scale hunt for bandits. The second reason is that this mountain range is one of the main trade routes between the kingdom's largest city, Gideon, and Cardina, a well-known commercial nation. For bandits who rob goods and money, it is a "lucrative" area with many targets. Due to these circumstances, the <Cruella Mountain Range> has never been short of people becoming bandits.

In fact, the bandit problem was not a bad thing for the Adventurer's Guild. New bandit groups are typically made up of people who have fallen on hard times and turned to banditry. They are usually at a low job level. Such bandit groups can be easily wiped out by active adventurers. In fact, this helps the economy of adventurers. It is not a bad deal for the guild or the adventurers who take on the quests. The bandits who are eliminated are getting what they deserve, and the villages and merchants who are victimized... can only be considered unfortunate.

However, the situation in the <Cruella Mountain Range> changed when a newly formed bandit group began kidnapping children from nearby villages and Gideon. They would demand ransom. If the ransom was not paid, the children would not return. If the ransom was paid, the children might return, or parts of their bodies would be returned. It was a despicable situation. Naturally, the victims whose children were kidnapped requested the Adventurer's Guild to eliminate the bandits, and the guild accepted the request as usual. However, they considered the possibility that there might be skilled individuals involved, given the method of kidnapping children from the city. Therefore, they dispatched a particularly excellent party of adventurers, all of whom were at a high job level, from the guild. This party was capable of defeating even a pure dragon. They were confident that they could eliminate the bandits and bring back any children who were still alive. They were determined to do so. The leader of the party, known for his handsome face, smiled at the people sending them off as he set out to eliminate the bandits. Seeing his smile, the guild, other adventurers, and especially the residents of Gideon believed, "They will surely succeed."

The next day, the leader's "half-eaten" face was found at the entrance of the guild, along with a note saying "seconds, please" and as many fingers as there were children currently kidnapped.

The Adventurer's Guild, caught off guard by this unexpected situation, quickly took the next step. They decided to use a human wave tactic with multiple adventurer parties. Over a hundred adventurers would overwhelm and annihilate the bandits. Among the adventurers sent to eliminate the bandits were several <Masters>. The guild master of Gideon's Adventurer's Guild thought, "This should work, and if it doesn't...,"

Three days later, a revived <Master> reported, "We were all wiped out. It's hopeless."

According to their report, most of the enemies were common grunts, but there were two individuals who were in a different league. One was an undead centaur, and the other was a large man with a bull's head. They were so strong that most of the adventurers were defeated by just these two. Some were killed by high-level undead monsters summoned by the undead.

Upon receiving this report, the guild master realized that this was beyond their capabilities. He also realized that there was no other course of action. He contacted the military, but they could not deploy troops due to the border area. The <Super Warrior> in Gideon who could defeat the bandits alone declined the request. With no other options, the Adventurer's Guild had no means to counter the bandits. Occasionally, skilled adventurer parties would take on the request, but the outcome was always the same. Each time they failed, bodies and children's fingers would arrive. As this continued, the Adventurer's Guild stopped displaying the request to eliminate the bandits.

For over a year, the bandits—known as the Gouz Maze Bandits—have been based in the <Cruella Mountain Range>.

◆

It was a dim basement in an abandoned fort.

"Current month, third entry, payment confirmed. No corresponding material. Scheduled for return."

In the damp, cold air, a man sat at an old desk, muttering to himself.

"Current month, fourth entry, unpaid. Corresponding material present. Materialized."

He compared several documents, spoke to himself, and wrote in a ledger. It looked like a store's ledger, and similar ledgers were visible on the table. One might say he was just a man keeping records in a store's basement, albeit a gloomy one. In fact, that was how he saw himself. The products he dealt with were in the room next to where he kept the ledger. In that room, there were several cages. Inside the cages were small creatures, which were the products he dealt with.

"Current month, fifth entry, payment confirmed. Corresponding material present. After materialization, 'head only' scheduled for return."

Saying this, the man stood up and went to the next room. His gait was peculiar. His upper body was human, but his lower body was that of a horse. He was a centaur, a sub-human race.

In this world, there are both centaur monsters and centaur sub-humans. The dividing line between monsters and sub-humans is whether they can take on a job. Monsters cannot take on jobs. There are entities like [Goblin Warrior] and [Goblin Archer], but they are named monsters, not job holders. They do not have the skills associated with jobs and simply swing weapons around. This centaur man, however, was a sub-human because he had a job.

All the small creatures in the cages were asleep and did not notice his entry. The centaur man took a small creature from the cage marked with a "5" and placed it on the stone floor of his room. He attached shackles with chains to the creature's limbs, which were connected to the floor. A magic circle was drawn on the floor, which he had created himself. He took a crystal-like object from his pocket and held it in front of him.

"■■■■■■"

The man muttered something to the magic circle. It faintly glowed and emitted a slight purple electric spark.

"GYAAAAAAA!!!?"

At the same time, the sleeping small creature woke up. Its scream was filled with intense pain. It tried to jump up but could not because of the chains. It bent its body into a C-shape and slammed its back against the stone floor. The skin around its shackles tore, and blood seeped out. This continued for about five minutes,

"Mommy..."

The small creature—a human child—died.

"It was less than I expected."

After the child died, the centaur man looked at the crystal in his hand and said this. He then cut off the child's head with a large blade, put it in a bag, and threw it into a basket labeled "scheduled for return." The remaining torso was carefully placed in a container labeled "material." He then returned to his desk and continued writing in the ledger. If one knew what he was recording, it would no longer be a ledger. It was a bloodstained curse, recording the end of a child's life.

"Current month, sixth entry, unpaid. No corresponding material. 'Processing.' Gouz."

"Ahh."

Hearing the man's voice, something moved in the darkness of the basement. It was a man even larger than the centaur. A large man with a bull's head and demon's fangs. The bull-headed man, called Gouz by the centaur, dragged a girl out of the cage marked "6." The girl, hanging by one hand, was still asleep. Perhaps it would have been better if she had remained asleep. But Gouz gently slapped her cheek, as if a close friend would. The girl woke up,

"Frightening them makes them taste better, you know."

—She was devoured alive.

◆

By the time Gouz finished his "meal," the centaur man had also finished his ledger.

"Gouz, don't make too much of a mess."

"HAHAHA, Maze, this place is already the filthiest with the kids' blood and bodily fluids."

"I mean your smelly saliva."

"Alright, alright, I'll be careful."

The centaur man—Maze—sighed slightly at Gouz's unreliable response and changed the subject.

"For now, we're done for today. Gouz, when we finish tomorrow, we'll leave this place."

"Ah? Leaving this place?"

"Yes. In two days, that event will take place in Gideon. If it does, there might be people among the gathered crowd who will try to eliminate us. Not all <Super> level individuals are as indifferent as that <Super Warrior>. I don't want any trouble."

"<Masters>, huh? Can't we just play with them?"

"No. We can handle high-level parties, but <Super> level individuals and super-class jobs are a different story. Besides—"

Maze paused and emphasized his words.

"They are the ones who stand where 'we aim to be.'"

"GEHAHAHA, Not true!"

Gouz laughed and responded to Maze's words, which seemed to be directed at something. The men then left the basement.

"By the way, we said we're leaving, but what about the subordinates? They are diligently working, gathering children and doing other tasks."

"Of course, we'll take them with us."

"HAHAHA, I hope they all fit."

Gouz, a <Super Warrior> and a man-eating bull-headed demon. Maze, a <Grand Necromancer> and a centaur who uses grudges.

Their names are the Gouz Maze Bandits. With nearly a hundred subordinates and top-tier combat strength... they are the most feared kidnapping and murder group in Gideon.

Open Episode 【Undead Beasts】

The next episode will be posted at 22:00 today.

(￣(エ)￣)＜Be aware of the content, it may be disturbing.