Right outside the guild building, it was crowded. Adventurers were running left and right, preparing for the fight ahead. Some vendors seemed to have noticed that something big was about to happen and were here to make as much profit selling all kinds of potions. With the battle against an overwhelming number of bandits, a lot of adventurers weren’t shy to stack up precious supplies that could save their lives or even better yet, their friends’ lives.
Randal was sitting nonchalantly right beside the building door. Its massive presence was enough to make a lot of people scared shitless. Those who needed to go inside did so under the savage glare of a monstrous wyvern that could eat them whole if it wanted. No one dared to say anything back or ask why Randal was there. If anyone was even crazy enough to touch the wyvern, who knows if they are lucky enough to just lose their hands?
Before stepping inside the building, I took a few seconds to scratch under the wyvern's chin. Lavanda must have forgotten his daily care because Randal was especially receptive. It took me a full minute to scratch him until he had enough. When it was over, he let out a satisfied sight, with a small breath of fire going out instead.
Things were better inside the guild, but there were still a lot of people. Most employees were rushing to complete the necessary paperwork for such a big operation. From the amount of people I saw both inside and outside the guild, there must have been around 150-ish people participating in the raid. I didn’t know how they intended to take an entire fortress with a thousand bandit inside with such a limited force, but I guessed this was the part where logistics and preparation were key. Bandits were not equal to adventurers, at least not in skill.
A single adventurer who has seen his share of battle should at least be able to take 3 not professionally trained scrubs at once, and that was for the bottom of B-rank. A-rank and even better S-rank could take dozens of them at the same time, or so, that's what Lavanda said. In effectiveness, that still didn’t compensate enough to make the rule of 3 to 1 on the attacking side true, but it was better than nothing. I was sure that a single big fire-breathing lizard was more than enough to tip the scale in our favour.
Sophia looked more stressed than normal, her eyes kept looking around the room searching for something, and she scratched her claw against the wood of her counter. I had my answer of what she was looking for when she saw us. Making us a sign to come with haste.
She tried to keep her professionalism, to little efficiency. The plan for the raid was simple, the first team was composed of me, Reylia, Phyralia, and thirty-one other adventurers. We had one goal, search and rescue the hostage. Everything else was secondary. The moment our mission either succeeded or failed, we were to launch a fireball into the sky. This was the signal to begin the full raid.
I thought a group of thirty-one was a little big if we needed to avoid detection, but as we didn’t know the full scale of the fortress, we needed a decent amount of manpower to search it all. The hostage’s position was unknown. Me, Reylia and Phyralia would work together while the twenty others would form groups of seven to search more effectively. The only reason our group was smaller was because we had me, an A-rank adventurer, in the lot. The other A-ranks were assigned to the main raid group, so I was all they could spare on the hostage.
Before leaving for the preparation camp, I dragged Sophia away from the main hall and asked her if she could watch the dragon egg for the day. It didn’t need anything, just to be kept away from curious eyes. She didn’t mind, and with that, she held the big egg in her arm with care in her fluffy arms. I was about to leave when she had one last thing to ask me.
“Emery, about the operation… you know about the convoy that was attacked recently. I have something to ask you.” Her voice was frail, almost on the brink of breaking up.
“Sure, are you alright, what is it?”
“My brother … he was travelling with the convoy, he’s not the type to fight, but I can’t say he’s passive either. With the lack of personnel here, I thought he could maybe help me handle some of the paperwork, or at least hunt some monsters since he B-rank.” A few tears rolled down her eyes.
“Please, Emery, I can’t lose him. He agreed to come here only because I asked him. If he were to die because of me, I … I can’t… I can’t lose him.” It felt like she was about to break down. I couldn’t let that happen.
“Hey, it's okay, I’m here. What’s its name?” I gave her a small hug, she needed it.
“Yaresh.” She said in a low voice.
“I find Yaresh, and bring him back alive, I promise.”
“Thank you.”
“Common, don’t cry, Yaresh wouldn’t want to see you like that.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” She said. “He would probably tell me it’s annoying to see me cry, and got beat the shit out of whoever was responsible.” Her smile was weak, but I took that over tears.
“See that the spirit. The only difference is that I will be the one to beat the shit out of someone. Trust me, I kick these bandit butt and bring your brother back right afterwards !”
“Thank you, Emery.”
With nothing but our eyes to see in the dark, we advanced slowly toward the fortress wall. To better search the fortress, we split half our number on each side of the compound. With the twins and another team, we were approaching the left gate as the three other teams made their own way inside the right side. Every team had at least one person able to launch a fire flare for when it would be time to start the party.
For now, we were ten but would separate once we got inside. We were actually more than just ten, but that number was calculated by the number of people we would get paid for this job. Meaning familiars and mount didn’t count when they calculated group size.
Aside from me, Reylia and Phyralia, the noble and the maid I saw at the hot spring were there with their werewolf and five other guys. The noble introduced himself as Reran Greythorn and the maid as simply Virinia. The werewolf probably had a name, but I didn’t ask, Gnash and him didn’t seem to pair well with each other. The five other adventurers were all B-rank and working for the Greythorn family. Apparently, Reran was a big name in the city and even had the means to hire adventurers to work for him personally in these difficult times without any problem. That didn’t mean these guys never took any job at the guild, just that they prioritized their employer's work before doing the guild bedding.
Virinia changed her usual maid outfit that I saw her wear whenever she was at the guild for a more battle-ready attire with a few hints that she was still a maid. She was dressed entirely in black, with her scarlet hair being the only colour contrasting her outfit.
A pair of bandits was patrolling atop the wall with a lantern, but they were too occupied talking with each other to notice us. It was only when Reylia sliced open the throat of one of them that they had an idea of what was coming. Unfortunately for the other guy, I muffled his scream with a patch of highly soporific plant over his mouth. He fell unconscious as I pushed him over the rampart. He didn’t make any sound as his body hit a heavy bush of web Tara placed there earlier. We pushed the other not-so-alive body into the same bush.
Before joining us, Tara quickly tied up the one alive in a web cocoon. He would not get out on his own. With Gnash in a comfy web bag, she had no difficulty bringing him to us. When he arrived in my arms, the dog looked extremely relieved to be on solid ground again.
Mizuko, even in her small fox size, had no difficulty escalating the immense wall, although jumping would be more accurate as she only needed a couple of jumps before reaching us.
The others climbed the pack of vines rising from the bottom to the very top of the wall. I placed it there and used it myself, so I could attest to its solidity. Being a noble, I half expected Reran to not even have the muscle strength to climb the vines, but to my surprise, he climbed with no difficulty. Being only slightly slower than the others.
I didn’t know much about the five others with us, only that they were hired by Reran and that they were professionals in close combat. Three of them were equipped with daggers while one had a bow and the other was mainly a mage, even if he still had a sword with him. Seeing them wear black cloaks almost made me nostalgic for the time when I only wore my black cloak, but the clothes Lavanda made me were just better while still having a hood.
No other patrol was in sight nearby, so we moved toward the closest door leading inside. Despite having a lock, the door opened without needing its key.
With a few window holes far away from each other, it was only possible to see inside due to the lanterns littering along the walls. With a deadly Hybry in one arm and my sharp Flashbang in the other, I progressed as the front line until we reached a cross-section. The two paths ahead looked identical, there was no way to know where they would lead.
Before I could decide on what to do, a lantern light appeared from a room at the intersection. We all hugged the wall, wondering if they were going in our direction or the other.
The werewolf with us sniffed the air as if something triggered his sense of smell. He let out a low, very low growl, but one nonetheless.
“Silence!” Virinia said quietly to the werewolf. Immediately, the beast went quiet, but his bloodthirsty eyes remained.
“What was that?” One bandit said, behind the blind spot of the wall we were hugging.
“Don’t know, maybe one of the new mutt they brought in recently.”
“I don’t know about these dogs, dude, they freak me out.”
“Stop exaggerating, they’re not that bad.”
“They smell like piss, probably lived in a swamp for all their lives with how dirty they are and did you see how they attacked that caravan. It’s a miracle they didn’t kill anybody.”
“Said miracle is called having a healer, and did you ever take a bath yourself? I don’t think so. Come on, don’t be a kitty, maybe the guy walking the mutt would let you pet it. Who knows, maybe next time we’re on the field, the mutt won’t mistake you for a decent folk and much you to death.”
The pair of footsteps walked toward us. Their light coming closer to our position. I patted Gnash on his side and indicated to him to go forward.
The dog turned the corner and walked into the man's sight.
“Damn, didn’t think they were this bad. Guess you weren’t lying. This thing must have been starving since the day it came out of the bog water.” Both men laughed.
“Should we put it out of his misery?” The other one suggested. I couldn’t endure more.
I felt a sadistic smile grow on my face, my grip holding Flashbang and Hybry got all the more tight. “Kill them.” I said lowly to the werewolf. He didn’t move.
“Do as she said. Kill them.” Reran ordered the werewolf. The beast still didn’t move. Instead, it almost redirected its natural anger toward Reran.
Virinia let out a small exasperated sigh. “Kill the men, without noise, and don’t make a mess about it.” She said to the werewolf.
In an instant, the monster was unleashed and disappeared behind the corner. I dashed out right behind it with Tara at my side. Before any of the two poor souls understood what was happening, Tara stitched their two mouths closed with a patch of web. Theirs scream, yell and most importantly, their foul speech was sealed for good.
Gnash jumped on the first guy, biting him in the neck with a strong toxic bite. Dragged to the ground, the last thing he saw was my boot kicking his face and the hydra in my arm spitting a rather uncomfortable amount of acid on him.
Nobody insults my adorable plague dog without suffering heavy consequences. Emphasis on suffering.
The other man was twitching on the ground with a big open wound on his throat. Claw marks and hundreds of wounds were dispersed across his body. His unconscious body fighting against an inevitable death, his life and face in the claws of the werewolf. In a quick motion, the werewolf ended the man's life by piercing his heart, seemingly having got his fill of carnage for the minute.
With no one coming from either or having heard anything, the coast was clear. Tara packed the two corpses in cocoons, sticking them to the roof out of plain sight. It wasn’t exactly hidden, but it was better than leaving an obvious trail of dead bodies behind.
“Two directions ahead. Rooms on both sides.” I said lowly. “The left probably follows the fortress wall, while the other seems to lead closer to the middle.”
“We should split up here.” Phyralia suggested. “Which way do you want to take?” She asked Reran, the leader of the other team.
The others were effectively under his employ and he was a noble, I doubted he would take orders from anyone but himself. At least he didn’t seem to mind me leading the way with the twins, up until now. Probably had to thank my A-rank card for that. Reran only asked questions when he was curious about what magic I used. The only thing I could reasonably answer was plant, how else could I describe green grass magic power? His goons, Virinia and the werewolf were, for all intent and purpose, silent, only talking when asked. Growling in reluctant agreement in the werewolf case.
Even if Reran assured me that the monster was under his command, only the maid, Virinia, seemed to get unquestioning loyalty from the werewolf. When Reran ordered something, it looked enraged, as if what he only wanted was to lunge at the guy to shred him in pieces. When the maid gave an order, literally the same thing her master asked, the werewolf was not only compliant but steadfast and devoted. She was not only his queen but the law in his eyes. What a simp.
Gnash, the most technically similar and my own bodyguard, had way more free-thinking, even if he never disobeyed any order I gave him. Also, Gnash is a dog, man's best friend. He gets a free pass for his loyalty, it’s kind of a dog thing.
From the way he looks, it is easy to forget that the werewolf was once and technically is still a man. Just a very savage, wild, bloodthirsty, uncontrollable, and strong man.
Reran took a moment to think and then said he would lead his group deeper on the right path.
With Reylia, Phyralia and my familiars, I silently walked to the first room on the left side and peeked inside, slowly opening the door. A single lantern illuminated what looked like a barrack with dozens of beds. A dozen or so bandits were sleeping in beds, but they didn’t hear anything. We could have simply ignored them, but this was a really good opportunity to take out some of them for free in anticipation of the battle to come.
Reylia and Phyralia stood guard as Tara, and I put the bandit into a more profound sleep than they were before. As much as I liked putting them to sleep with a soporific plant, I didn’t have an unlimited supply. Tenta could only secrete a small amount at a time and once all his gas was depleted, it would need time to refill.
Still, I only needed to make sure none of the bandits woke up while Tara secured them all in webs. When it was done, we moved on to the next room. It looked like we stumbled into a sleeping section of the fortress because as we went deeper into the hallway, the barrack was all we could find. Reaching the end of the hallway, we must have neutralized close to a hundred bandit in their sleep. Something I was sure the guild would appreciate. When we finished, their barracks reassembled spider nests filled with future meals rather than sleeping carters.
Continuing deeper into the complex, Mizuko proved to be a boon to have. If she concentrated enough, she was able to sense the affinity of everyone around. The range wasn’t insane, around thirty metres, but sensing someone's affinity was pretty much the same as having our own radar. As long as she didn’t have to move or wasn’t bothered, we knew where every bandit was around us. Her designated spot for radar purposes was Tara's abdomen, as the spider was used to carry either Hybry or the egg on her back with perfect stability.
The hallway was rather long, being a series of straight lines with dozens of rooms filling the walls. Dining areas, armoury and the occasional treasure room were everywhere to fill the amount of empty space this place would otherwise have. A part of me wanted to grab a few coins in their treasury, but the twins insisted that we don’t touch the money. The guild would get us a cut of the profit at the end anyway. In the mix were also crates of supplies like food and material from their raids.
What they didn’t mind touching was the armoury. Littered with weapons and armour to the point of having swords and shields spilling on the ground. There was an endless amount of strange designs clustered with regular weapons. I already had my precious and very sharp Flashbang with me, so there wasn’t anything that fancied me. Reylia also had her magic sword with her, so all these were downgrades compared to what we already had.
When it came to armour, we were fine. Lavanda taught me how to harvest skin and leather, meaning the only thing I couldn’t make myself was any part that required metal. It didn’t help that these armours were mostly for men. We encountered a few female bandits, but they weren’t that many at all. Everything here was too bulky to wear or carry silently anyway.
Only Phyralia got something out of the armoury at the end. Her old bow was nothing special, just something she got from a smith in town. Her new bow was longer with a more elegant dark silver design. Instead of being made of wood, this one was entirely made of metal. The real surprise was when we learned that this bow was magical. When Phyralia infused the bow with shadow affinity magic, she was able to store it in her own shadow and take it out at will.
This was apparently the only special magic function the bow had. She tried to infuse her magic for more effect but to no avail. From the way the bow was crafted, it must have been made by Tarek, the elf who created both Flashbang and Reylia's magic sword. The elegant design and small detail of the hilt hinted that way. The bow must have been a prototype if its only magic trick was to hide in the shadow, but that still was extremely good for a bow, so Phyry took her new weapon with joy, eager to test it with real action.
She shot a few arrows at an armour stand to make sure everything was to her taste. The thing had no problem piercing weak and thin armour while metal armour was doing its job properly. In a real fight, that wasn’t really a problem for her, since she mostly fought monsters and when it came to fighting someone in armour, she could aim for weak and unprotected areas instead.
Sneaking deeper into the fortress, we reached the end of our hallway and ended in what must have been an abandoned training ground. The area wasn’t big, with just enough space to properly accommodate a few fights and training dummy for archers. There, a group of thirty bandits was sparing with each other. They looked like absolute noob.
Their technique was brainless, they would have been way more efficient with clubs rather than swords and spears. To say that they were swinging sharp sticks around would have been a compliment. The only one who seemed to know what he was doing was the one in simple armour. Instead of attacking and betting everything on his strength, he sidestepped and flicked his opponent with quick strikes. It didn’t take more than two or three strikes for the receiver to be left panting on the ground.
From where I was I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but I assumed they were being trained rather roughly. Looking disappointed, the man yelled to the scrub to get some heal and get back to training immediately after his wounds were mended.
It was only then that I noticed that on the other side of the training ground, a woman wielding a long staff was healing a trail of bandits covering his similar injuries. None of the wounds were horrible. The captain didn’t want to kill them, but he didn’t go soft either.
Waving her staff toward a man, the woman healed the guy's wounds in seconds, sending him back to being cut open right afterward. A few of them tried to do what I would call a stupid attempt at seduction. I could almost hear their skulls break as she smashed their head with her sturdy staff. She had a look of total disgust on her face, and it wasn’t helped by the fact that she needed to heal again. I was baffled by how some of the guys, who had been smashed in the wrong way in the wrong place, still made brand-new attempts to get the healer into their bedsheet when they inevitably got to her for healing again. If she could kill them, she would have done it a long time ago.
After looking at her a bit more, I recognized her. She was the healer hired at the guild back when the dungeon was blocked. For a second I thought that maybe she was a prisoner like the other we were supposed to rescue. She didn’t have any restraints or chains attached to her. On the contrary, it looked like she wanted to blast off multiple times, but the captain often walked to her and convinced her to keep healing them.
The guy treated her with respect, to the point of apologizing for the way his scrubs treated her. For a second, I even heard him call her boss. She wasn’t a prisoner of the bandit, but one of them, or maybe she didn’t swing that far. Her presence here coincided with what I heard back in the village attack. There, one of the bandits mentioned their boss having hired a healer to work with them. The most probable conclusion was that she was an adventurer, but a very greedy one. If she went to the point of working with bandits for coins, then I would deal with her the same way as all of them.
But that had to wait, there were too many of them. We could have handled all of them easily, with maybe the captain providing the only challenge. The problem was that it would cause a huge commotion, and I couldn’t rule out that a few of them could potentially escape and alert the entire fortress. The captain looked smart, there was no doubt he would order scrubs to fetch reinforcement as soon as we would have downed their numbers.
Saving the prisoners came first, I wouldn’t be able to face Sophia if it ended that I couldn’t save her brother because I killed some bandits. There was another path that detoured the training ground, so we took that one, avoiding the fight entirely, at least for now.
At some point, Mizuko detected a large group of people in a room, with three more guarding the entrance. Peeking just around the corner, three bandits in heavy armour were sitting on chairs in front of a metal door. A dog was with them.
The hound was munching on a meatless bone. He looked in a bad state, but good enough to be called alive and surviving. None of the bandits even looked at the dog or petted him. When the hound sniffed the air and looked in my direction, I immediately went into action.
The three bandits were talking with each other normally when my blade pierced through one of their throats, one of the few spots their armour and helmet didn’t protect. I muffled any sound he could have made with one of Tenta's tentacles.
Tara shot patches of webs to the two others' mouths, as Reylia took the second bandit by leaving a huge gash across his face. The last one dropped dead, trying to scream in vain against his web-stitched mouth. The moment he turned to flee, he died with an arrow penetrating his throat. Thankfully, Tara was able to web his lifeless body to the ceiling in time, avoiding a huge metallic cacophony.
The dog was the last one alive, but he didn’t move. Gnash was letting out a low growl, and the enemy hound didn’t try to attack back with his own. Instead of even doing anything to protect the bandit, the dog just kept munching his bone as if there was still meat left on it. The only reaction we got from the hound was when it covered his bone, thinking Gnash wanted it for himself.
I didn’t know what to do about it, but Gnash looked confident that the dog was really no threat, so I approached carefully. Barely glancing at me, I only got his attention when I took out a small jerky from my pouch and offered it to him. In a predator's way, the dog snatched the meat and began slowly eating it. He was not a threat, the bandit probably thought that giving him meat was enough to win his undying loyalty.
When Mizuko confirmed that they were nobody else around, I snatched the guard key and opened the metal door.
The moment I saw all the poor prisoners. I felt an urge to kill every single one of the scrubs in this fortress. Reylia and Phyralia were also perturbed by the sight and they immediately rushed to check on the prisoners.
The prisoners were alive, which was much brighter than the fate of the bandits that would cross my path.
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