(EP-284.1) King #3

284 – Bandit King #3

“It’s a typical cave-style hideout. It shouldn’t be too difficult to infiltrate.”

According to Stella, the bandits’ hideout followed a fairly standard design—consisting of narrow passages like an anthill, with flickering torches, voices echoing from beyond the corridors, and numerous traps set on the ceiling and floor.

As I swallowed nervously, Narmi trembled with excitement, “It’s like an adventure! I feel like Tureuki’s Sindbad!”

Click.

At the sound of something activating, Stella stopped in her tracks.

“Narmi-yang, don’t step on that stone. It’s a trap. It’s connected to a string that would ring a bell—then the bandits would come rushing.”

Hearing the explanation, Narmi panicked.

“Ah! I already stepped on it…! What should I do…!?”

Thankfully, Stella remained calm.

“Then don’t lift your foot. It seems to be a pressure-sensitive trap that triggers when the weight is lifted. We were lucky. There should be a release mechanism around here….”

Clatter, click.

“Got it.”

“Unnie, thank you…! You saved me…!”

“Uh, unnie? Well, just be more careful from now on. I’ll go first, so only step where I step, and don’t step where I don’t. That’ll make things easier.”

Sassaak.

Elves were generally light and agile. Perhaps that was why Stella was able to navigate the area filled with traps set by the bandits with such ease, even disarming and neutralizing them with light steps alone.

━Did you just hear something?

━Probably just a rat. Or maybe those imps we caught earlier—hey, what are you—ugh! What was that in my neck…ugh….

She also silently neutralized the occasional bandits that appeared using her unique throwing skills and blowgun.

Such skills were something neither I, Lady Draco, nor Elga possessed, so I couldn’t help but be impressed. This wasn’t something she’d done just once or twice.

“There’s quite a lot of guards.”

As Stella began stuffing the unconscious bandits into a nearby crate, Narmi, who had been watching, couldn’t hold back and exclaimed softly.

“… Amazing! You’re just like Alibaba Bellhawk—the Bandit King! The one who escaped from the dungeons of Angmar palace!”

Alibaba Von Belhawk.

I knew the name.

He was the miraculous figure who escaped from the prison I was locked in not too long ago? That fella even got praised as the Bandit King because of his dexterity and exceptional skills.

Being compared to Alibaba as a bandit or trap disarmer was a high compliment, akin to calling a mage as great as Solomon.

Though, both were ultimately villains….

At that praise, Stella rubbed her nose.

“Well, I’ve been in dungeons so often I just picked up a few tricks here and there. Haha. But I guess I am still a bit impressive, huh?”

Though her smugness was a bit annoying, I had to admit that even if she wasn’t the Bandit King, she would be at least their princess.

Honestly, if Stella hadn’t come along, it would have taken me forever just to find the entrance.

Even if I had found it, I’d probably have triggered every trap and wasted my magic fighting off the bandits head-on.

“Stella-nim, I think I’ve been misunderstanding you up until now.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“I thought you were just all show—someone who enjoyed tormenting assistants and stealing other people’s research….”

Stella let out a helpless laugh, as if dumbfounded by my honest confession.

“… Well, I may be a lousy professor, but as an adventurer, I’m pretty top-notch. Seeing you so surprised makes me realize I’m really that shallow to look at.”

After that, Stella continued to lead the way, using her tools and experience to navigate through many traps and obstacles.

I had only known her as a professor or a hunter, so it was fascinating to see her talents as an adventurer for the first time.

Everyone has at least one talent. Plus, for a long-lived elf, there would be plenty of time to figure out and develop one’s own skills.

“… So, where do you think Tefer-yang or the captured imps might be? This place is so twisted and confusing, I can’t figure it out.”

Narmi said, furrowing her brow as she examined the map acquired from the bandits.

Despite having ventured deep into the bandits’ hideout, as Narmi pointed out, we still had no clue where the captured imps or the Archmage Tefer were being held.

At that moment, Stella made a suggestion.

“Should we capture one of the higher-ranking ones and question them? I’m not really confident in interrogation, but once we catch them, we’ll figure something out, right?”

“If it’s interrogation, please leave it to me.”

“Really?”

I nodded at Stella’s query. Then, as we continued down the corridor, we soon discovered a space illuminated by a bright light.

━If this goes well, it won’t be difficult to be promoted, brother. Congratulations!

━Alright. In that case, I’ll play Obelisk the Colossus and end my turn.

We could see a group of men gathered around a table, chatting as they played cards.

Among them, a man with a hood and a thick beard seemed to hold a higher rank.

“I’ll take care of this.”

She drew four darts from her belt, gripping them in one hand before tossing all into the air as if scattering seeds.

Swish— Fwoosh—

In an instant, the four darts found their mark, embedding themselves in the necks of the bandits playing cards. Their heads even slumped onto the table as if they had died on the spot.

━What the…? What just happened!?

The hooded bandit hadn’t grasped the situation. But he was quickly subdued by Stella, who moved with the speed of a puma, and became unable to move an inch.

“Geukh-.”

Stella effortlessly pressed her foot against the man’s throat, pinning him to the wall with the elegance of a Taekwondo or Taekkyeon master.

As Narmi clapped her hands, I slowly approached the bandit and twirled my fingers.

─Mero Mero Beam!

It worked.

I could feel the spell taking effect.

“You can release him now.”

At my words, Stella lifted her foot and let go of the bandit. The bearded man collapsed to the ground, clutching his throat and asking.

“Who… who are you… cough… exactly?”

“That’s not important. All you need to do is answer our questions.”

* * *

The bandit’s name was Crox. He wasn’t a high-ranking officer, just a squad leader of sorts.

“I-It’s not like I’m telling you this because I like you! There’s a bunch of terrifying officers down below anyway…! Even if you go there, it’ll be a waste of time!”

Using the Mero Mero Beam on a man was pretty sh¡tty.

It seemed this spell still had room for improvement.

Nonetheless, it proved highly effective in controlling one’s mind, allowing us to extract crucial information about the traps ahead and the location of the imprisoned imps.

“Do you know the names of the imps?”

Edited by: faker