NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter 50
Deep within a certain cave, a raucous banquet was taking place.
“Hya-ha! We ripped off those foolish explorers again today and took their dungeon rewards!”
The men laughed heartily, gulping down their drinks.
“By the way, I heard that idiot Roger got taken down.”
“Oh yeah, boss. Seems like he went after ‘Silver Shield,’ who were clearing a Rank IV dungeon.”
“Hmph… I see. That group has been growing lately, and their leader is quite skilled. No wonder someone like Roger couldn’t handle them.”
The man addressed as “boss” took another swig of his drink and wiped his mouth.
“Tch! That means we’ll have to abandon this hideout.”
His irritation was evident.
Yes—this place was a hideout for bandits who preyed on explorers.
“Hey, tell the others to start packing up.”
“Y-yes, sir!”
As he watched his subordinate run off, he muttered to himself,
“Damn dead weight.”
It wasn’t like they’d be found immediately. Roger was tough when it came to resisting torture. They had more than enough time to clear out.
As the boss was thinking that—
—Boom—
“Wha—?!”
“What the hell was that?!”
The ground trembled, and the hideout filled with noise.
“Th-the cave entrance has collapsed! It’s blocked by dirt!”
Hearing the report, the boss’s face twisted in shock.
“No way… Did the city send an extermination squad already?! Even if they got Roger to talk, this is way too fast!”
Roger had only been captured yesterday. It was already past midnight, just a few hours before sunrise. There was no way an official extermination force would move at such an hour.
Besides, this hideout was well concealed. Even if someone knew the general location, it shouldn’t have been easy to find.
—Boom!—
Another explosion rang out—this time, from fire magic.
“E-enemy attack! They’ve already breached inside!”
“Tch! Two mages with Blessings, huh…?!”
To wield elemental magic at this level, they were either highly skilled mages or there were multiple attackers.
“Find them and kill them!”
It was hard to believe, but the city had chosen an aggressive approach—sending in a small elite team to sow chaos.
The boss gave immediate orders, but—
“Uwaah! Now there’s water magic!”
“Guh! And wind blades too!”
Fire, water, wind—at least four different elemental spells were being cast. That meant four magic users were present. And if they had magic support, there had to be frontline fighters as well…
A raid of this scale should have triggered a report from their spies in town, yet there had been no warning.
“Damn it! What the hell is going on?!”
The boss shouted in frustration. Just then—
“You must be the leader. The description matched perfectly, so you were easy to find.”
A boy stood before him, appearing just old enough to have recently undergone the Blessing ceremony.
“Y-you…!”
The boss’s instincts screamed—this was no ordinary kid.
“Die, brat!”
Fortunately, the boy was unarmed and standing defenseless. Seizing the opportunity, the boss drew his weapon, lunged forward, and struck him down in one swift motion.
The blade sliced through the boy’s body, and he collapsed without resistance.
“Hmph… They’ve already gotten this far in.”
Sheathing his sword, the boss scowled at the corpse. But then—
“That was quite the greeting.”
The boy was still standing, his body split in half—yet he spoke.
“Should I not take my revenge?”
“Because of you bastards, we all died.”
“You’re coming with us.”
Before the boss realized it, the room was filled with people—no, ghosts. The faces were all familiar. They were the explorers he had slaughtered in the past.
“H-hiii… Stay back! Stay away from meeee!!”
Surrounded by countless vengeful spirits, the boss lost control of his bladder and blacked out.
—
『Master, we’ve completed the takeover.』
“Got it. Good work.”
Hearing Eve’s report, I leisurely stepped into the cave.
Near the entrance, the walls were scorched by fire magic, and wounded bandits lay collapsed from water blasts and wind blades.
『That was surprisingly easy.』
“Well, they were probably careless, thinking their hideout was well-hidden.”
Yesterday, before Thomas and his group handed the thieves over, I had extracted information from their leader.
I doubted he’d talk willingly, so I used Illusion magic to pry into his mind. Through that, I saw the exact location of this hideout—and the boss’s face.
I had several reasons for attacking this hideout.
First, I felt sorry for those who had lost everything to these thieves.
Second, I planned to continue dungeon diving, and having these kinds of criminals lurking around was a nuisance. Better to eliminate the threat early.
『Master, the treasure is over here!』
And the last reason—
“Just as I expected.”
Piled up were low-rank dungeon cores, mostly Rank II with various attributes. But more importantly—
“Three large transparent cores.”
They must not have known how to use them. Three special cores sat untouched.
『Hehehe… With these, we can expand The World even further, Master!』
“Yeah! Let’s gather what we need.”
By the laws of this world, whoever defeats an opponent has the right to their belongings. So, along with the dungeon cores, I stored any useful weapons and armor into my Room.
『What about the remaining bandits?』
I paused to consider.
“Hmm… I don’t want to draw too much attention right now. Let’s leave them tied up. The city’s extermination squad will find them soon enough.”
Selling them as criminal slaves would bring in money, but I didn’t want my movements to be restricted by too much scrutiny. After emptying out the hideout’s storage, I stepped outside.
“The sunrise is bright.”
Right as I emerged, the first light of dawn painted the sky, making me yawn.
“Fuaaah… Guess I’ll get some sleep once I’m back in town.”
It had been an all-nighter. Tired but satisfied, I strolled back towards the city as the morning sun rose behind me.