Episode 66 Unjust Deal (3)
The night the dark clouds swallowed the moon.
The Merchant Union, including Lord Smuggler, was gnashing their teeth and making their way through the sea.
“Eh! You bastard mosquitoes! Now I’m sick of this kind of jungle.”
Everyone is tired and full of complaints.
They returned to the base camp, using their palms to slap the mosquitoes that clung to their bodies with their bizarrely long stingers.
There, a crowd of men with stern faces were waiting for the merchants.
The furry man in the front row grinned at Lord Smuggler.
“Looking at the death, it doesn’t look like it’s going well, right?”
“…”
Lord Smuggler threw away his luggage in a nervous manner instead of answering.
Then the men nearby chuckled.
“Look at that. Balaks are not allowed to speak.”
“What kind of a deal is a deal with such brutes.”
“It’s enough to just kill them and make them all slaves. Barbarians.”
They were a mercenary group of ex-convicts, escaped convicts, and deserters who were wanted by the Empire.
Lord Smuggler warned the mercenaries.
“You shouldn’t take Balak’s lightly. It’s not easy to beat them in battle. You guys might not know much about it since it’s your first time here in the flood…” “Oh, and if you’re going to be so
scared, why did you bring us? Didn’t you bring it here to overthrow it?”
“No, there are escorts from monsters… rather than having an all-out war with Balak.”
Lord Smuggler licked his lips worriedly.
However, even he, who would not have dreamed of an all-out war with Balak as usual, cannot stand the huge amount of trade goods he left behind in Balak’s village.
The mercenaries and some merchants who were new to the jungle also began to raise their voices.
“I can’t just fool around like this! How much did I spend on the Merchant Guild’s competition to participate in this trade!”
“Didn’t we decide to deduct our guard fees as a percentage from the total revenue of the trip? Do you think I protected you guys from monsters just to earn this kind of pennies?”
“Aren’t Balak’s a big deal! It’s enough to set a fire and steal things by surprise in the middle of the night!”
Veteran merchants who have traded with Balak a few times know the fear of Balak’s warriors.
But even they seem to be greedy for the things they left behind in Balak’s Village.
In the end, the result was close to unanimous, with the majority in favor and the minority in silence.
said Lord Smuggler, the sword half drawn from his waistband.
“Okay. It’s getting dark, so let’s go quietly and rob the stock. And everyone knows who we have to kill first, right?”
Then the expressions of the mercenaries and merchants around them change.
saw them too Who caused the trade to fail today?
“You mean that black kid? Okay, I got it.”
“I’m going to give that cheeky black kid a knife first.”
“But I thought he wasn’t black for some reason? Even his palms were black. Even black people have white palms, right?”
“Could it be that you are from the Empire?
Everyone, including Lord Smuggler, was in unison.
They mended spears and swords with murderous expressions and prepared to burn everything.
yet.
They performed the pre-battle ritual in the dark.
Even if it’s a ritual, it’s nothing special, just smoking a cigarette.
Chick-
Cigarette lit.
A mercenary puts a cigarette in his mouth and takes a match at the end.
Eventually, the mercenary next to him took the match and lit a cigarette.
And then he tried to put out the match.
Then the third mercenary stretched out his hand to block it, annoyed.
“Oh, why put out a match so you can still burn more?”
“This kid is a newbie, so I don’t know what to do.”
The first mercenary and the second mercenary laughed at the third mercenary.
“Don’t you know that there is a saying that three people cannot use one match on a battlefield?”
“What? Where is that?”
“Yes. The rule is to light matches for two people only.”
Then the third mercenary snorted.
“I don’t believe in that.”
After he finished speaking, the light was about to go out, so he hurriedly took the cigarette from his mouth to the match.
Eventually, the moment the match that lit the three cigarettes went out.
…puck!
A dull sound echoed through the darkness.
The third mercenary’s cigarette light went out. And his head too.
The first mercenary and the second mercenary stared blankly on the spot with the hot liquid splashing on their faces.
blood. The blood of a comrade whose throat was blown off.
before they even grasp reality.
…puck! …puck!
Two more arrows flew.
The arrow was aiming at the cigarette light and was accurately inserted into the mercenary’s mouth or neck, separating the torso and head.
“Hee!?”
Lord Smuggler quickly threw the cigarette on the ground.
OK.
…puck!
The arrows pierced the cigarettes that fell to the ground without fail.
Arrows with such power that they exploded the surroundings as soon as they got stuck.
“Cigarettes! Throw away cigarettes… Billion!?”
An arrow entered the mouth of the mercenary commander who was giving out loud instructions.
The mercenary captain collapsed to the bottom of the floodwaters, losing most of his head except for his neck and lower jaw.
All other people who screamed even for a moment in shock at the sudden situation were shot in the mouth and neck area and fell out.
The number of mercenaries, which had been over a hundred, was reduced to half of half of half in an instant.
That’s just a few seconds.
……Meanwhile.
On the other side of the rain of arrows, Balak’s archers were grinding their teeth.
“Fire the first cigarette at the location, the second at the street, and the third at the street.”
The hunting leader Iyan’s order is given.
…ping!
Iyen, who had just fired an arrow, turned her head and smiled.
“There really were. Crazy guys who would fight us first.”
Balak is basically a fighting people.
In the first place, it is an ordinary tribe to fight first, but there is no way to avoid a walking fight.
Iyen opened fire at the mercenaries and merchants in the distance with a cheerful expression.
They are the warriors of Balak who can pick up extremely small lights and extremely small sounds.
Even if they can only identify the brightness of a very dim cigarette light, they have the skill to pierce the flesh into that spot without fail.
So was the sound.
Whether the sound came out of the mouth, passed around the throat, or hadn’t even started from the lungs, the arrow would invariably hit the part where the sound stayed.
After Iyen had been happily shooting her bow for a long time, Bikir grabbed her arm and pulled her.
“now stop.”
Then Iyan opened her eyes wide.
“……what?”
“You can’t kill them all. Let some live.”
“Why should I?”
Iyen frowned. And he spoke.
“Couldn’t it be forgiveness or generosity? Words like the fallen empire, Sannim…” ”
That’s not it.”
Vikir raised her hand to interrupt Ayen.
And stared with cold eyes at the few lights that hurriedly moved in the dark.
“…I’m saying this because there’s a high possibility that there will be a latecomer on that scale.”
Vikir deliberately left the survivors behind and planned to figure out their escape routes.
And even the location of the base camp that might be in the cove.
Iyen hesitated a little at Vikir’s attitude, which was much harder and sharper than he was about to burst.
Suddenly, a smile forms on her lips.
“…Good. Passed as expected.”
Vikir thought that it was impossible to know what and where the passing grade was given all the time.
* * *
Bikir’s prediction was correct.
Lord Smuggler, shot through the shoulder by an arrow, hurriedly fled, passing through a narrow ravine between boulders.
In the large camp behind them were the rest of the mercenaries waiting.
Figures that look almost white come out of the barracks to cover the defeated soldiers.
“If it’s hand-to-hand combat, we’re confident too!”
“The shields are overlapped, so even arrows will be useless!”
“All Aura users, come out!”
“A gathering of wizards! Block the arrows with the shield!”
There must have been many wizards among the mercenaries, and shields were installed everywhere to block the rain of arrows.
but.
…ping!
This time, rather strange things started to fly.
Several arrows fell from above in a parabolic arc, and they had ropes hanging from the tails of the arrows.
And at the ends of the ropes, one can see a large wooden barrel hanging.
“……Oil?”
The mercenaries muttered in dismay.
A few arrows work together to come carrying oil barrels one by one.
pop! Kwajik! Smack!
When an oil barrel hits the ground or hits a shield, it shatters, scattering wood splinters and spraying oil all over the place.
Then, a shower of fiery arrows began to ignite the oil.
Kurrureuk!
The fire that occurred in an instant completely surrounded the base camp of the mercenaries.
Even if they took shelter from the fire, food, water, medicine, weapons, etc. were all burning inside the barracks, so it was wrong to escape the jungle alive.
dead life.
Those who die due to unlucky people and those who are less fortunate to die yet share the same fate.
Lord Smuggler was shaking with rage.
“You said you tied ropes to several arrows and blew up oil barrels? Were these bastards so smart?”
Lord Smuggler had seen Balak’s archers fight several times, but this was the first time he knew they could fight like this.
If I had known in advance how clever my enemies were, I wouldn’t have fought them in the first place.
Right then.
Something came into Lord Smuggler’s field of vision as he was flustered by the spreading flames.
Bikir.
He is seen standing still over the blazing fire.
Lord Smuggler gritted his teeth.
“You bastard! Is this something you made up too!”
“…Should I say I’m quick-witted?”
Bikir looked around and said.
All around is corpse fire, death explosions.
It was a mockery that if he had been quick-witted in the first place, he would not have been in this situation.
Lord Smuggler’s eyes rolled over when he heard that.
“I’ll kill you bastard!”
That moment.
Bikir picked up something.
It was a bow and arrow.
Ping-
The arrow flew with some force and stuck in Lord Smuggler’s lower abdomen.
“Huh!?”
It hit an obscure spot. It won’t die right away, but it’s still quite painful and deadly.
“…I didn’t mean anything like this.”
Bikir licked his lips apologetically.
Although he learned archery from Iyan, he still feels lacking.
Kirik-
Sorry is sorry, and apart from that, Bikir takes another shot.
Lord Smuggler was startled and stretched out his bloodied hand and stirred it.
“Now wait! You can’t kill me! You’ll regret it badly if you do! It’s true!”
“Why is that?”
When Bikir asked, Lord Smuggler rummaged through his pockets and pulled out a bloody paper.
“This is an exploration permit from Underdog City! It’s real! It’s not fake! It’s branded with the newly appointed deputy consul! The Baskervilles are behind me!”
Lord Smuggler’s words were true at first.
He was one of the researchers officially licensed to explore.
Then Bikir paused for a moment. And then
“Bring it here and see.”
Bikir waving his hand at Lord Smuggler.
Lord Smuggler struggled in pain, but took the bloody permit and held it out in front of Vikir.
With the other hand, she quietly grabbed the dagger hidden in her waist.
Right then.
Swipe-
Bikir erased the soot from his face.
At that moment, Lord Smuggler’s eyes widened.
“All of you…!?”
Lord Smuggler, who recognized Bikir’s identity, was so surprised that even the dagger he was holding fell to the ground.
Bikir, who stared at the knife on the ground, gave a dry laugh.
And then
“This is a cancellation.”
I smeared the soot on my face with my fingers and drew an X on the stigma on the permit.
The permit loses its legal effect in real time right in front of the Smuggler’s eyes.
Bikir, who personally stamped the jijang and canceled the authority of the permit, finally threw it into the fire and burned it.
at the same time.
…puck!
An arrow lodged right in the middle of Lord Smuggler’s forehead.
And then.
…puck! …puck! …puck! …puck!
Four more arrows lodged in about the same place.
Lord Smuggler’s head had been split several times, leaving almost no trace of it.
“He was a cool guy.”
Iyen snorted and stood next to Vikir.
Right then.
“Captain! It’s time to get out!”
From behind the flames, Ahhun’s signal is heard.
Ayen quickly hugged Bikir like a princess.
Then, it climbs on the back of the wolf Vakira, who was waiting behind, and escapes like the wind.
The shouts of the surviving mercenaries and merchants from behind echoed loudly.
“Balak’s out! They don’t have too many of them! If you chase them, you have a chance!”
“Hahaha! Almost all the fires have been extinguished! The fact that they attacked with fire must mean that they are not confident in their strength!?”
“We survived! We just need to get the rest of the supplies! It’s a counterattack against the Balaks!”
Hearing that, Ayen laughed as if it was absurd.
“Idiots. You think we started the fire because of them.”
“……You’ll find out soon.”
Bikir replied coldly.
yet.
Sussssss…
Suhae reacts.
The sound of leaves sweeping in one direction all at once within a wide range.
Something huge was coming towards us through the darkness.
Tsutsutsutsutsutsutsu……
The heavier darkness that oppresses the darkness casts its shadow on the water sea.
Explosive noises, bright lights and high-pitched shouts erupted from all over the base camp of merchants and mercenaries.
And there is one here that responds to the turmoil they create.
‘The Eight-legged Madam’.
A piece of legend like a ghost story. The moment when unprecedented fear shows interest in this side.
“Turn off the lights! If we turn off the lights, can we reverse the situation…!?”
“A counterattack! A counterattack…!?”
“Huh? Wasn’t there something on the other side? Something big just…!?”
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah…!?”
The screams go off one by one.
Iyen and Vikir ran with all their might while leaning on Vakira’s back.
…
until no more sounds could be heard from behind.
