Chapter 10

Well, now to deal with the remaining bandits... It was all too anticlimactic.

Despite making such a commotion near the entrance, not a single person came out. No guards, no sense of danger—these bandits were seriously lacking. As I entered the cave, I found a bandit, who seemed to be a guard, lying on the ground, bleeding.

At that moment, I clicked my tongue, thinking, "Have I been beaten to the punch?" However, as I moved deeper in and found no other bodies, a sense of unease grew. I extinguished my light and moved through the shadows.

After a while, I finally heard voices. Still, it was a strangely spacious cave. For a place that had been modified by humans, the rock surfaces were uneven, and there was no discernible pattern to the room placements. Could it be a natural cave? The idea of a secret base in a natural cave was somewhat appealing.

I digress.

Hearing the voices, I tried to get as close as possible in the shadows to gather information. The result was clear. It seemed that a group supporting a new boss had ambushed the old boss and succeeded, killing the old boss and half of his subordinates, thus establishing the new boss.

Seeing the subordinates celebrating the new boss, I decided to join in the celebration by surprising them with a Fireball. After all, we had been in the forest with a strict no-fire policy. Given the ample oxygen, it should be fine.

Here, a problem arose.

The Fireball I launched hit the boss perfectly and exploded, taking out the remaining bandits. This meant the failure to secure experimental subjects for verification.

In the end, I concluded that the target of the attack card must be either "something I recognize as an enemy" or "something in a hostile relationship."

If it were "something with hostile intent," the Fireball wouldn't have worked when ambushing the boss. "Something I recognize as an enemy" would work. Initially, I thought it was this, but another idea came to mind: "something in a hostile relationship." In other words, if the target belonged to a hostile force.

However, there had been a struggle for the boss position, which might have changed the dynamics. Without a clear criterion, it boiled down to either "something I recognize as an enemy" or "something in a hostile relationship." Given the current situation, the former seemed more likely.

In the future, I'll try to be more conscious when using the card and re-evaluate if I feel any inconsistency.

With that, the verification was complete, and it was time for the long-awaited treasure hunt.

Thinking this, I grimaced at the smell of burning flesh and continued deeper with a flashlight in hand. Here's what I found:

- Silver coins: 37

- Copper coins: Too many to count

- Gems and other valuables: None

- Food: Looks unsanitary

- Beautiful women: None

At that moment, I genuinely clicked my tongue. It was a hassle to process, so I converted everything into points. It turned out there were 778 copper coins. I took 22 copper coins and 5 silver coins from my bag, converted them into points, and added up to 50,000 points. It was a meager reward for the effort, leaving me somewhat disheartened.

I pondered my next move. Should I head to the next town or take out another bandit group?

Frankly, the bandits were weak. This world seems to have frequent wars, with many former soldiers and mercenaries, who are generally troublesome. However, in actual combat, they were quite disappointing. I wondered about the training of the soldiers in this world.

Still, it wouldn't be wise to judge the strength of bandits based on just one encounter. Therefore, I decided to take out another group.

I also wanted to gather information, and eliminating them afterward would leave no problems. In a way, the bandits had their uses.

So, I was currently searching for bandits in the forest... but couldn't find any. I had been wandering for about 30 minutes, but there was no sign of bandits. This area was likely the territory of the previous group.

With no other choice, I used the shadows to climb a tree and activated "Far Sight."

Moving my viewpoint to the sky, it was as convenient as using a map in a game, making it hard not to rely on it. While using it, it was difficult to notice any changes around me, but the performance was irresistible. I felt I was using it a bit too much, so I needed to be careful not to exhaust it.

As the usage time was running out, I discovered a man-made structure hidden like a hideout. A small wooden building was concealed among the trees. I saw a glimpse of a person, so it was likely a bandit hideout.

It seemed rushed, but unfortunately, the time ran out before I could observe further. I decided to head to the location quickly.

I approached the hideout without any issues, moving through the shadows. There was no problem since I was moving through the shadows, and there were plenty of shadows in the forest. I wanted to finish quickly and head to the town before nightfall, as I preferred to avoid moving through shadows at night.

When I entered the shadow, the room inside abnormally expanded. The size of the room changed according to the size of the shadow, and the ceiling was also quite high. Without using the shadow transfer ability, it was impossible to leave. In the capital, there was a light source, so it was fine, but even then, I was surprised by the vastness.

The shadow transfer ability, which could only be used in shadows, put a strain on my body, even for short distances, causing unbearable dizziness. Therefore, I tried to avoid using it.

While it was a safe place to sleep, I couldn't grasp the surroundings, so I preferred to avoid moving through shadows at night.

I moved through the shadows and occasionally looked around from the trees as I approached the hideout.

But something was off. There was no one around.

Could it be that the hurried appearance I saw earlier was due to an urgent job?

If so, the timing was bad. What I needed was someone who could provide a lot of information. I no longer expected to find anything valuable.

After exploring for a while through the shadows, I found a dead bandit inside the building. However, there were no signs of a fight, and it looked like the bandit had been assassinated.

A bad feeling crept in as I moved to other buildings. There, I found another bandit, who was maintaining a bow, killed in the same manner. The blood pool was still fresh, indicating that the murder was recent.

This meant the culprit might still be around. To avoid trouble, it would be best to stay in the shadows or leave the area.

However, someone was hunting bandits, which meant I had been beaten to the punch. It was somewhat boring, so I decided to see who had taken my prey. Depending on the situation, I might make them do the bandits' job.

To restrain them, I could use the "Sleep" status card. It was the last one, but it was a necessary expense.

As I rummaged through my bag for other useful items, I heard a woman's scream. It was slightly muffled in the shadows but clearly came from the building. I rushed inside and looked around, but there was no one in sight.

"Damn!"

I clicked my tongue and stepped out of the shadows. The limited visibility in the shadows made it difficult to grasp the surroundings.

As I looked around, another scream echoed. I found a staircase and ran down it.

It was likely a basement, where the woman was screaming. The scream was clearly one of pain, which made me more anxious.

Feeling a sense of dread, I descended the stairs. Light was leaking from the basement, making it impossible to observe from the shadows. I kept my mind ready to use the card at any moment.

I ran down the stairs and opened the half-open wooden door. There he was.

A young man in the attire of a priest in this world, with a hood, was looking at me. He had blonde hair and blue eyes, a typical Caucasian appearance. His face was well-defined. In his hand was a blood-stained dagger, and beside him was a woman with her limbs twisted and her hands and face covered in blood.

"...What are you doing?"

My voice carried a hint of anger as I saw the woman. The young man had beaten me to the punch, and the woman had large breasts, which were now exposed. From this angle, they were definitely E-cup or larger.

This is outrageous. Absolutely outrageous!

What was unforgivable was that this idiot had mutilated the face of such a beautiful woman.

"What do you mean... Can't you see?" the young man replied with a look of exasperation.

"Ta, ta, ta, ta, ta..."

Seeing the woman with a broken arm reaching out for help, I thought, "This is a kind of horror." The woman's face, covered in blood and tears, was repulsive. Moreover, the smell, similar to the bandits I had encountered earlier, made me even more repulsed.

"Are you trying to be a hero and save the woman?" the young man asked with a mocking laugh.

"I'm already repulsed. Do what you want with her."

The young man looked bewildered at my sudden loss of interest. The woman, who had hoped for help, was also taken aback by the sudden change.

"Ah, I was targeting this place. I was in a bad mood because I was beaten to the punch. Now, I don't care anymore."

The young man remained stunned.

"By the way, I'm a bit angry that you mutilated the face of a woman with such a beautiful body."

The young man continued to stare with his mouth open.

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