Chapter 34 : A frightening habit

As they passed through the valley, the waiting bandits appeared!

“What in the world! Why are there bandits near Carvalon Castle…?!” Morutun was aghast.

In truth, bandits—or the broader category of thieves—existed everywhere on the continent. If life got tough and you took up a sword and went out, you became a thief. Even innocent village youths, middle-aged men, and village chiefs could turn to banditry when poor harvests made life difficult. There were even frighteningly realistic rumors that nobles and knights would impersonate bandits to extort money if taxes weren’t enough. But bandits were rare near Carvalon Castle. The knight order patrolled regularly, and monsters roamed the area, so anyone who valued their life wouldn’t operate here.

That was why Morutun, a caravan leader accustomed to encountering bandit groups, was shocked like a novice. He had been wary of monsters, not humans. Emotionally, he was even more surprised than when he first encountered bandits on his initial trade journey.

“Wow! Bandits!” To Lena, on the other hand, bandits were fascinating figures she had only seen in history books and textbooks. Bushy beards, stout men each gripping a sword, blocking the path. According to preconceptions from visual media, their clothes should have been filthy, but they weren’t—they looked neat. Well, they probably had some concept of hygiene. How could they live their whole lives wearing itchy, grimy clothes?

Of course, fascination and forgiveness were separate matters. Bandits—evil criminals who steal others’ property. There were various types, but simply put, those living in the mountains were bandits, and those by the sea were pirates. Since these appeared in a valley, “bandits” was the correct term. Supposedly, there were also righteous thieves who stole from corrupt officials or misers and redistributed it to the people, but to Lena, they were all just thieves.

Stealing my food? Death sentence. They should just put the goods on the line and face her head-on, fair and square. Lena fiercely cherished her own things, but she didn’t complain if something was taken from her by superior force. My weakness is the crime. In the wild, strength was power. Of course, there were exceptions—like Badugi, who unavoidably had to covet others’ things to provide for his parents. That was a justifiable reason, a mitigating circumstance in law, so it could be understood.

“Mercenaries! Step forward and deal with those—!”

“There. Stop.” Lena cut off Morutun’s command. Her tone was peculiar, showing her unwillingness to waste words on dirty thieves. Nevertheless, she didn’t attack without question, preparing for a one-in-a-million chance. What circumstances led those guys to take up thievery as their profession? Honestly, with their healthy limbs and sturdy builds, they didn’t look like they had any tear-jerking sob story. Still, you never know. They looked perfectly fine, but they could secretly be terminally ill with cancer, right?

“Purpose. Explai—”

But Lena’s words were cut short. In the blink of an eye, a fountain of blood erupted. Celine had stepped forward and swung her sword. Five bandits blocking the path fell with a single strike. Their falling expressions showed they didn’t even understand why they had died.

Oh, clean. Lena admired it. Is it because I learned swordsmanship from Celine? Surprisingly, she had developed an eye for it. She could see how clean and beautiful the trajectory of that sword stroke was. Her complaint about being interrupted vanished completely. It was only human nature to forgive after being shown something so impressive.

“What the…?!” The bandit leader gasped. That he was the bandit leader was Lena’s perception. The name that actually appeared above his head was [George’s Crew Action Leader Mykol]. Why is the name so long? You’d run out of breath just saying it.

“Knight!” Morutun was overjoyed. It was unexpected help. Normally, escort knights only cared about the safety of their charge. Dealing with mere bandits was outside their duty. It was typical for them to grab their charge and flee only when the caravan faced annihilation. But for her to draw her sword herself—and with such outstanding skill. Morutun’s mind, which had panicked at the sudden appearance of bandits, began racing.

“Mercenaries!” According to the original plan, if something happened, the mercenaries were supposed to buy time while the caravan escaped. Cheap mercenaries could do little more than stall. But with Celine helping, the story changed. They could wipe out mere bandits. “Don’t just stand there gaping, help the knight—!”

“Don’t move! If you so much as lift a finger now, this wench dies!”

“Lena!”

The problem was… the mercenaries had intended to betray them from the start.

Shit, I almost died. Mykol, the action leader of George’s Crew, wiped the cold sweat trickling down his cheek. It wasn’t just an expression; he really almost died. Knights were generally monsters transcending human limits, but that female knight was exceptional even among them. Though he made a living by the sword and was confident in his skills, he had no idea how to deal with her. If the mercenaries hadn’t taken that girl hostage, he’d have been finished in the space of five breaths.

But the hostage tactic worked, so the advantage was back with him. Mykol hid his inner fear and smiled wickedly. “Heh heh, you scared the hell out of me. Should’ve moved sooner, you bastards.” It wasn’t just banter; there was genuine cursing mixed in. Those moronic mercenary bastards. If there was a knight involved, they should’ve given a heads-up beforehand. When he glared, the mercenaries avoided his gaze. This is the problem when working with incompetent fools. Still, they had avoided the worst, so he could overlook it. For now, things were going according to plan.

Morutun, stunned by the thick tension, shouted, “You scum! Are you betraying us, ignoring the contract?!”

“Sorry about that. But it’s not betrayal. We’re just acting as promised.”

“What…?”

“To be precise, it’s less betrayal and more like you got scammed.”

Each mercenary grabbed a worker and held a knife to them. Morutun, the caravan leader, was no exception. His face showed dismay. He understood the whole situation from those words. Still, he had one last resort.

“You bastards! This place is within Carvalon Castle’s sphere of influence! Don’t you fear the retribution of the Red Rose Knights?!”

“Fear them? You guys died after being attacked by monsters.”

“You think the knights are fools?!”

“Yeah, fools and idiots. Look at that wench—she can’t move an inch right now. Hey, hey, don’t tense up. Move, and this girl dies, I tell you!”

“Kuh.” At the mercenary leader’s nod, Pardon, the mercenary behind Lena, pressed the knife closer. Celine’s attempt to exploit a gap in the conversation was blocked.

“And the cleanup won’t be done by us, but by them. You know George’s Crew, right?”

“George…!” Morutun jumped.

As the conversational baton passed, Mykol received it as if he’d been waiting. “That’s right.” All eyes focused on that heavy word. Mykol thrilled. He had waited for this very moment. The pleasure of revealing his identity and plunging his opponents into despair was just too intense. It was why, despite being an action leader, he volunteered for tasks he could’ve delegated to his subordinates.

“I am the action leader of George’s Crew—”

“Ugh, smells like sweat.” The anticipated climax was ruined by the grumbling voice. Mykol’s eyebrow twitched, but he suppressed his anger.

“I am the action leader of George’s Crew, Myk—”

“Anyway, it just means you’re all bad guys, right?”

“…You b*tch!” He exploded. “Still don’t grasp the situation?! Show her what happens!”

At Mykol’s command, Pardon gritted his teeth and pressed the knife closer—so close there was no space between the blade and her skin. The mercenary’s blade might not be top quality, but it wasn’t so cheap it couldn’t cut human skin. Once blood flows from her neck, she’ll understand the situation. Of course, it was just a threat. He had no intention of killing her. They needed this girl to restrict the female knight’s actions.

Pardon tightened his grip. The blade, pressed tightly against her skin, dug in deeper. Amidst spreading shock—Clang!—everyone’s gaze gathered in mid-air. Half of the broken blade was spinning. The moment it touched Lena’s neck, it had shattered as if struck against hard rock. The mercenary holding the broken hilt wore a dumbfounded expression.

“The knife broke…?”

“You guys put the knife to me first.”

Pardon met the girl’s eyes. They were slit vertically, like a reptile’s.

[Knight’s Vow reinforces skin strength!] She had that intuition—the feeling that a thin blade like this wouldn’t even leave a scratch. That’s why she’d remained still when the mercenary held the knife to her. It was a cliché for bad guys to talk endlessly, spilling all the details, as if their mouths itched when they had their opponents cornered. Just as expected, the scum boasted about being criminals. The truth was the bandits had no tragic backstory; they were just conspiring with these mercenaries to backstab them. Then there was no reason to wait.

Lena’s fist slammed into the mercenary’s head. When fist met face, it wasn’t a thwack but a crunch. It burst like a watermelon splitting open, splattering blood everywhere. Lena reflexively licked her lips, then spat repeatedly. “Ptui! Ptui!”

“Damn it.” I might live on monster blood, but human blood is a bit much. Habits are really scary. Lena kept spitting—”Ptui, ptui”—trying to erase the metallic taste in her mouth. The sight of the pretty girl grimacing and spitting repeatedly looked strangely mischievous. It would’ve, had the headless corpse not been standing behind her.