About five days ago.
Theo, who was constantly updating information through the Map feature of the application, found that a merchant with a group of adventurers would pass through an area where bandits ruled.
The incident happened yesterday. That was why, currently the surviving merchant and adventurers had been captured and locked up in the bandits' base.
Saving them in a bandit's base was like throwing oneself into a lion's mouth.
Theo realized that his decision would endanger Rosalina. But the two have discussed and agreed to save the merchant.
The primary reason is to establish a relationship with the merchant.
The merchant who was captured by the bandits was named Jabbar. He is the owner of the Midsun company, a fairly large trading company with branches in eight cities of Amberley.
The main item they sold was materials from monsters, but that didn't stop the company from selling other items.
Currently, Jabbar has been captured by the bandits on his way to Altira. If Rosalina can take advantage of this situation, she can save Jabbar and then establish contact with the owner of the big company.
Rosalina will get connections that are quite valuable for her survival as a trader in the future.
This was the main reason Theo pressured Rosalina to take the route she was taking.
"I don't know what Jabbar is like, but I imagine this guy is an old man, right?"
Asked Rosalina who was wading through the tall grass, walking slowly towards where the bandits' base were.
Rosalina did not go through the usual path. She detoured a bit so as not to be detected by the enemies.
[Who knows. I can only see the name, not the photo or picture.]
"Don't you feel weird? From what I know, bandits usually only catch pretty girls, right? To be used as a toy and later sold as a slave? Well, although there shouldn't be slave traders in Amberley."
[Not officially. But, there are some secret places that still do that business. As for Jabbar's own matter, I guess the bandits know him, so it's a catch for blackmail.]
"Hmm, does that mean they already had a plan before?"
[As for that, I don't know. Do they know Jabbar's route? Or did they only find out about Jabbar after attacking him? Who knows?]
"If they knew beforehand about the route Jabbar used, wouldn't that mean there is leaked information from Midsun? Or maybe there is somebody who wants to harm Jabbar."
[Perhaps. But all of that is just an assumption. Who knows, they have their own information network.]
"A group of bandits? Are you serious? If they have that, it's more profitable to be an informant than just a bandit."
Rosalina chuckled in her heart. The woman was getting closer to the bandit base which was on top of a hill surrounded by dense forest.
The base is an old wooden building with several holes in the walls and roof.
An old house that was probably abandoned by the owner years ago. Although, the thing Rosalina questioned was the person who built the house in the middle of nowhere like this.
"The person who built this must be an old hermit or a retired general!"
Murmured Rosalina who was observing the situation around the house through the binoculars she bought at Altira. She just makes assumptions from many novel troupes she has read.
The woman was perched on top of one of the towering trees. Monitoring the movements of the five bandits guarding outside of the house.
"Theo, how many bandits are there?"
[17. Apart from the leader named Cray, the names and data of other bandits are not shown. Likewise with the existing hostage data. On my map, only Jabbar's name is listed, while the other 9 hostages are unknown.]
"Cray... what information can you give about him?"
[C-Rank. Level 41. He's a Warrior.]
Warriors, unlike Swordsman, those with this class master a wider variety of weapons.
A class that is commonly seen in the world, but this does not mean that this class is easy to master or low class. But this class is popular because the class is indeed strong.
Read Theo's message. Rosalina could only smile wryly. Again, she had to fight the enemy above her.
And that's just the leader. If his men have strength that is not much different. Rosalina really doubted that she could complete the mission this time.
[Stay cool. I think the others aren't that strong.]
"Where does that confidence come from?"
[Because their names and data aren't shown on the Map.]
"...That's a really strange but convincing reason."
Rosalina smiled dryly. She waited on the tree until the sun went down.
After the darkness fell, the woman began to move. Silently, she jumped down from the tree.
On her body, there was a sword hanging from her hip. A stun gun in a waist bag. The shot gun was behind her back, as was a machete. The bullet is in the waist bag. And finally, one mineral bottle contains 250 miles of pesticide.
For this mission, Rosalina had prepared everything she could use.
She sneaked closer. Hiding in the bushes beside a bandit's patrol route. Then when the bandits arrived, Rosalina immediately ambush using a stun gun. Making the man lose consciousness in an instant.
"Gulp… whoaa, things from Earth are too deadly."
Actually, Rosalina wasn't too sure about the stun gun she had. Because as far as she remembered, the people in Etheria had a much stronger physique than on Earth.
In fact, Rosalina had heard several times about adventurers who had survived a thunder magic attack. And that's common, low-level thunder magic doesn't really work on the body of an adventurer with a physical class. It just sting and paralyzed the body for a while.
This is what makes Rosalina's expectations of the stun gun's efficacy low. But what does she have to say right now? Things from Earth seem to be deadlier than they should be.
"So stun guns are stronger than low-level thunder magic… Theo, can you give me a flamethrower? Maybe that thing is more incredible than fire magic."
[...Give me the money.]
Rosalina chuckled as she swiftly moved quickly to the back window of the house in front of her.
Not long after Rosalina left. Several bandits came to where the woman had been. They became suspicious after not finding their partner back from a brief patrol.
It turned out, they found their friend lying unconscious.
"! Intruder! There's an intruder! Tell the Boss quickly!"
The bandits began to panic. Rosalina, who had managed to sneak in, was hiding in the corner of the room, behind a cupboard. She chuckled inwardly hearing the commotion outside the house.
[Now ten people have left the house. There are only seven left, including Cray.]
Theo gives a message about the situation based on his Map feature. Unlike Rosalina's Map, Theo's is more detailed and can also be zoomed in so you can see the floor plan of the house directly.
[The house consists of three floors, including the basement. Right now, Cray was on the top floor. It may be his private room. There, besides him there was one hostage, and two bandits.
[On the floor you are on, there are two people who are looking for intruders in the house, while the remaining two are in the basement, with the other hostages. Jabbar was there too.]
"Hmm, so do I have to subdue the bandits or go to the dungeon first?"
[What do you want?]
Rosalina just smiles while her hands are already in sword hilt.