Chapter 14: Think Twice Before Acting

Ignoring the manager’s well-meaning advice, Cynthia and Ina reached the foot of the mountain where the bandits were said to lurk.

Gazing at the dense vegetation blanketing the slopes, Ina felt a pang of uncertainty.

This mountain was smaller than others, but finding a band of bandits in such thick foliage was like searching for a needle in a stream—if not a haystack.

The task was daunting.

“So, how are you planning to find these bandits?”

Ina scanned the area but found no paths leading upward.
She spread her hands, looking at Cynthia.
“Don’t count on me—my dark magic can’t track people.”

Cynthia didn’t respond immediately.
Instead, she tilted her nose upward, sniffing the air.
“It smells like human blood.”

“Are you a dog? How’s your nose that sharp?”

Ina was skeptical, but then remembered Cynthia was a vampire—smelling blood was probably normal.
“Where’s it coming from?”

“Follow me. It’s not far.”

Without another word, Cynthia pushed through the bushes and plunged into the forest, homing in on the scent.

“Wait up! Damn it, why are you so fast?!”

Guided by the blood’s aroma, Cynthia sliced through thorns and soon reached a clearing.
A charred, extinguished campfire suggested recent activity.

“Huff… huff… I’m exhausted…”

Ina staggered into the clearing moments later, wiping sweat from her brow.
She glared at Cynthia, exasperated.
“Why’d you stop? Tired already?”

“…So polite.”

Cynthia shot Ina a sideways glance, raising an eyebrow.
“The blood scent and energy trail end here. Someone covered their tracks.”

“Oh, got it.”

Ina nodded, plopping down by the campfire.
“If we can’t find them, let’s rest and head back.”

“Worst case, I’ll borrow money from that uncle or go back to Tara and shake down Mayor Pop. There’s always a way.”

Hearing Ina’s muttering, a mischievous idea sparked in Cynthia’s mind.

She stepped forward, knelt on one knee, patted Ina’s shoulder, and flashed a sincere smile.
“Hey, Miss Ina, I just thought of a great plan. It’ll let you rest and find those bandits.”

“Oh? Really? Spill it!”

Ina’s face lit up with hope at the promise of rest and progress.

Cynthia leaned in, whispering softly in her ear:
“We do this… then you do that… and I finish with this… and we’re done~”

As Cynthia spoke, Ina’s expression morphed from eager to uneasy, then outright horrified.

“Come on, Cynthia-chan.”

Ina forced a smile, scooting away to put distance between them.
“That kind of thing… isn’t right for me. Why don’t you do it?”

Cynthia, anticipating this, let her sincere smile twist into a smirk.
“Think about walking to Barlia—on your own two feet!”

“Picture finally reaching the kingdom with no money for food or a bed, sleeping on the streets, scrounging garbage for scraps!”

“And! If you’re broke, you’ll—”

“Stop! Are you the devil?! Fine, I’ll do it!!!”

Boom!

A deafening explosion echoed through the silent forest, startling a flock of birds into frantic flight.

“What was that?! What’s going on?!”

The Black Hand bandit gang, entrenched in the area, was equally alarmed.

“Boss, it came from one of our outposts!”

“Could it be a raid? Vic, Lu, take your men to the outpost and check it out!”

“Yes, Boss!”

The wiry bandit, Vic, acknowledged the order loudly, then turned and kicked a hulking figure snoring in the hall’s corner.
“Lu! Still sleeping? That blast didn’t wake you?!”

“Huh? Dinner ready?”

“Goddamn it, all you care about is food! Grab your gear and move!”

Vic, Lu, and a dozen bandits cautiously approached the outpost where the explosion had rung out.

A massive crater greeted them, making Vic swallow hard.

“Damn… what could’ve caused a hole this big…”

“V-Vic, look! There’s something in the pit!”

Lu, hefting a massive iron rod, pointed at the crater.

“Something? What?”

“Looks like… a person?”

“A person?”

As Vic’s curiosity piqued, a desperate female voice rose from the pit:

“Is anyone there?! Can someone help me?!”

“A woman?”

Vic and Lu exchanged glances.
Lu’s eyes screamed a longing to get back to eating, while Vic’s held suspicion.

No relying on this oaf.
Vic waved to his men to investigate.

“Brother Vic, it’s a dark-haired woman—pretty, doesn’t seem dangerous.”

“No threat?”

Hearing this, Vic stepped to the crater’s edge and peered down.

A dust-covered, black-haired girl sat helplessly at the bottom, looking up.
“Kind sir, can you save me?”

“Who are you?”

“I’m an adventurer. I took a job to gather herbs in the mountains, but I accidentally set off a fire crystal a friend gave me, and it blew this crater.”

“You survived that explosion?!”

Vic eyed her skeptically.

“…I fell in when I was checking the crater’s size.”

“…”

Both men fell silent.
Vic scanned the pit’s edge, spotting a patch of broken ground, as if someone had stepped through it.

Seems plausible…

His gaze returned to the girl.
Adventurers usually carried money…

And she was pretty.
If he brought her to the boss, his rank might climb.

With their numbers, she couldn’t pull any tricks.

His expression softened, a false smile spreading.
“No problem, miss! Just wait—we’ll get you out!”