191 – A Doomed Robbery (Part 2)
「That's right, I have something to give you two. We are also preparing one for Lady Furcus, so please wait a moment.」
「Mm.」
By the way, after she finished eating the radish, Furcus was munching on some baked sweets she took out from her pouch. She has nothing else to do, so she's just standing next to me.
Maggie handed us a thumb-sized metal plate.
It resembled the Registration Cards that we hold.
The Registration Card is essential to Adventurers and Monsters alike.
Other than having our name, gender, Job, and identification number engraved in it, it is also required when using Teleporting Recording Stones.
But what she gave us were not Registration Cards.
「This is a permit to allow you to fight within the Original Dungeon, as well as a permit allowing you to use magic or skills during times of emergency. Please carry it along with your Registration Card because we will link the permit to the person.」
This size makes it possible to be hung together with the Registration Card on a chain. Like so, it will not be unwieldy.
In everyday life, the use of magic is somewhat allowed, but legally, permission is required.
And even if you do have permission, you are only allowed to use it in specific places.
This is why Adventurers go to the underground area of the Union, and Monsters go to the Dungeons to practice.
In a more or less emergency situation, like if you or someone is gravely wounded and you need to use magic, you are allowed, but you will be questioned in the future on whether or not it was the right thing to do.
「Ah yes, because an Original Dungeon is not your average Dungeon.」
An Original Dungeon is not a licensed facility. It is a natural occurrence.
Therefore, you can't just use magic without permission. It is important to get permission beforehand.
「That, I understand, but what do you mean by emergency?」
「It is to avoid trouble in the future. If you didn't have this and, say, you had to subjugate bandits, soon after, you will have to be questioned by the Knights Order. I cannot allow such a burden to be placed on those that are cooperating with the investigation.」
「B-bandits?」
Milla said in surprise.
I think it's because she grew up in the city.
「They come out quite often, the bandits.」
Furcus and Maggie both nodded at my statement.
「I hunted many of them during my training days.」
「I shall pretend I didn't just hear that, Lady Furcus. Actually, our merchant groups often get targeted, which causes nothing but trouble. If there were no evildoers in the world, there would be no need to hire guards…」
There may not be any war, but that doesn't mean all problems are solved.
There are many reasons that someone has to resort to being a bandit, but that does not mean that they get to strip us of all our possessions.
「L-Lem seems quite calm about all this. Have you encountered them before?」
「I often hear about them. One time, a merchant arrived at our village in tatters… The Knights Order are near large cities, so you probably don't hear that many stories of bandit attacks.」
But there weren't any attacks near my village. Even if there were in the past, there aren't anymore.
If there were bandits who targeted our village, they would have to answer to the strongest Demon King who lives nearby.
「And then, there are a surprising amount of people who want to test their strength. People who either want a match or people who want to know if you really are that strong outside a Dungeon. They cause all sorts of problems… Those people are impossible.」
「Truly. I happen to change my attire in the middle of a Dungeon Clear, so there are more than a few people who come up to me asking “Is it true that you're completely naked for a split second? How about doing it right now?” and other such disgraceful requests… it is a sad state of affairs.」
「Such a man should instead be stripped naked himself and left to rot.」
Said Milla, coldly.
「Oh, I couldn't possibly, Lady Milla. I couldn't handle seeing such filth.」
「Fufu, indeed. I may have been the one who proposed that idea, but I wouldn't want to see it either.」
They laughed amicably.
「W-well anyway, at such a time, I shall do my best to be of use. By all rights, we have a duty to report such incidents to the Knights, so I don't think we can settle things quite like that on this journey.」
To tell the truth, these incidents are normally taken care of individually, but considering that we are currently working as representatives of the government, we have to follow the procedure properly.
「Understood. If I knew this might happen, I would have brought along my lovely little Vampire bats.」
「Did you leave them all behind?」
「No, I brought a few.」
「Oh my, are you a Beast Master, Lady Milla?」
「…Well, not really, it would appear that I have some Aptitude for it.」
「Is that so? It is wonderful to have useful Aptitudes for things outside of your main Job.」
We talked like that for a while.
Then it came time to finally depart.
Milla and I rode on the same horse carriage as Maggie. The maid uniform-dressed Sitri also joined us. Furcus simply said “I sleep.” and disappeared somewhere. Probably in one of the carriages.
Merlin wished to discuss magic, so she hopped on as well.
While talking about this and that, I felt assured.
That no fool would choose to assault this group of people.
Even though everyone is suppressing their Magical Energy, so long as there is just one among the bandits that can sense Magical Energy, they should be able to see the difference in power.
「This is robbery…!」
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A few days later.
We were assaulted by bandits.
Or rather, I should say a coalition of bandits. There were quite a lot of them. At least two hundred.
I could sense them by their Magical Energy movements. From the way each of them moved, it seemed as if several groups of bandits had recently started working together. All bound together by the rule of “follow the leader”, but I can sense several of these leaders. They aren't moving that well as one body.
It's more of an alliance.
「We already know that you punks are the Original Dungeon investigators! It don't matter if you got strong guys on board, you all ain't no match for us! If you all die here, there ain't no goin' back to pretendin' to be Adventurers no more! So just hand over all the goods and then piss off! No, wait. Hand over the women, too!」
Now then, I wonder who leaked the info?
No, we're the additional investigators, they probably only heard about the main group.
The bandit alliance knew that a large number of supplies and valuable equipment like Cocoons will be carried to a place where the Knights Order can't reach. Estimating that they'll score big, they all banded together to form this alliance.
Maybe they were really planning on attacking the main group. But they saw our carriage coming from a distance and decided to attack us first.
Well, whichever way it was, it doesn't matter.
We step down from the carriage.
Mainly the Adventurers and Demi-Humans.
「E-Ex and Arthur?? M-Merlin too…?!」
Within the group that stood in our way, a mediator-type guy shouted.
It's possible that they thought that since the main group didn't have any high-ranking Adventurers, this one shouldn't have any either…right?
「Either way, you're all going to jail. Would anyone like to at least save us some time and go directly to jail by themselves so that they don't get hurt?」
Ex says gently.
「H-hell no! Even if you're a Hero, you're still just a Human! You're the Forever 2nd Ranker, so you don't get to talk big to us!」
Wow.
I flow Magical Energy into my wand. Merlin does the same to her staff.
Furcus rests her spear on he shoulders, and Milla puts her nail to her wrist.
The male werewolves changed into their wolf form, the male Orcs readied their clubs, and the female cat Demi-Humans unsheathed their swords.
Arthur put a hand to the hilt of his blade, and Ex…dropped his shoulders.
「Those are…harsh words…」
He said it like it was nothing, but maybe not.
There are many who are seriously aiming for 1st rank. No one actually says it, but they are all working hard to surpass the Aerial party.
The Aerial party is the immovable 1st rank.
They've been immovable ever since the Unyielding Hero Altreed's party retired.
And for practically the whole time since then, the Ex party has maintained 2nd rank.
They have been close to the top of the summit for nearly ten years.
Those years were not spent day after day with stagnation.
If you stopped, your rank would easily drop.
So you have to challenge and prove yourself every day.
Pay it no mind. Viewers can say what they want, and since you're making a spectacle of your Clear, it's part of your job to accept it.
But we Adventurers have feelings too. We can feel hurt, and even anger.
At the very least, being called the Forever 2nd Ranker is more incorrigible than being attacked by bandits.
「Lem, can you take the left half?」
The trees were overgrown on either side of the road. It looked like a slope from here.
They have the higher ground. They also have the numbers over us. We have non-combat personnel here, as well as equipment that has to be handled with care.
With the path as the centerline, Merlin is asking if I can cast Black Magic on the left half of the bandits, which is roughly a hundred of them.
Normally, it'd be impossible.
But I answer her without hesitation.
「I can take all of them.」
Merlin raised her eyebrows slightly and then…she smiled happily.
「Good. Excellent.」
Milla's expression softened for a moment, and the corner of Furcus's mouth raised ever so slightly…
Sitri yelled “You go, cutie!” in…cheer? I guess.
Did she decide that, with these members, she doesn't have to move?
I suppose if an enemy gets too close, she can just cast Charm.
Having finished grasping all the Magical Energy signatures of the enemy.
Something black gushes forth from Ex's shadow.
「Seems that negotiations have failed. You're all gonna get hurt a little and thrown straight to jail.」
「You're bluffing! E-everyone! Attack!」
The robbery that is doomed to fail, begins.
Chapter end
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