Don't move, it's a robbery!

In the eyes of ordinary people, bounty hunters and mercenaries are actually quite similar; both are professions where people risk their lives and live a life where there is no certainty about tomorrow.

While mercenaries might have some decent jobs escorting caravans and not have to fight every day, bounty hunters, who have to catch wanted criminals to make a living, are obviously much more dangerous.

Generally speaking, only those who have no land, are struggling to make ends meet, and do not want to become bandits, become bounty hunters.

However, due to the uneven quality of their professions, bounty hunters don't hold a very high social status. Since the areas where bounty hunters appear are often frequented by wanted criminals, some ignorant people even regard them as jinxes.

Nobody cares about them, and nobody wants to see them.

Just like now, these bounty hunters are clearly innocent victims, pitiful people who have been betrayed, but not a single passerby shows them any sympathy. Some even cursed, "They died so cleanly."

Ironically, the person who felt most sorry for them on the whole street was actually me, a wanted criminal.

To be honest, those soldiers probably weren't short of money. After killing people, they didn't even send anyone to stay and clean up the battlefield.

Moreover, they seemed to have underestimated their opponents. When I arrived at the scene, I discovered that the bounty hunters had actually left one alive. He wasn't faking death; he was just lucky that the wound wasn't fatal. However, with that much blood loss, it would probably take a lot of effort to revive him.

What? You're saying my pills can save me?

Of course I could, but why would I save him? I don't even know him.

Hmm, wait, it seems like we actually know each other!

I've seen this guy once before. Last time, I was carrying a forest witch pretending to be Tina in the middle of the night when I went to find Leos, which woke up a big guy next door.

Yes, that's the guy.

"Alright, you're lucky."

I put a pill in his mouth and gave him some water. This guy is quite resilient; he actually opened his eyes right away.

"Yes, it's you? Why did you save me?"

"I just helped out, there's no need to ask why."

The burly man staggered to his feet, looking at his dead teammates with a sorrowful yet murderous gaze.

"Damn bastards! I'll fight them to the death!"

He picked up his weapon, ready to seek revenge on those soldiers. I didn't stop him, but he fainted after only a few steps, which made me shake my head.

With this level of skill, I don't think he has much hope of getting revenge.

Since I had already saved him, I felt it would be a huge loss to just watch him go and die. So I rented a donkey cart, carried him to the hotel, and asked Leos to look after him.

Then I learned that Leos had not returned.

"Do you know where he went?"

"Mr. Leos went to Parliament. I heard the Speaker of Parliament wanted to see him."

I nodded, left the wounded man at the inn, and prepared to leave. But as soon as I turned around, I saw a guard carrying a mercenary covered in blood running in.

"Quick! Someone, go find the rest of the Whispering Wind Clan! Their captain, Leos, has been kidnapped by outsiders!"

hiss~

I gasped. Had Leos's princess status been triggered again? Wasn't he summoned to the council? Did the council arrest him?

I quickly stopped the guards and asked what had happened.

This afternoon, just as Tina and I were having a magical sparring match, an army of more than 60 men arrived in Linde City. These soldiers were all from Asalich and were said to have important matters to discuss with the council.

The council initially felt that the other side had too many people and was afraid of causing panic in the city, so it was unwilling to let them into the city. However, the other side's leader could bring a few people to the council for detailed discussions.

Faced with the reasonable demands of the Linde City Council, the leader of the opposing army felt there was no problem, so he led all 60 men into the city and went directly to the council for a friendly exchange.

The guard didn't know exactly what they discussed, but afterwards everyone in the council was furious.

The council president even specifically ordered his most trusted advisor, Leos, to take guards and keep an eye on things, lest these Asari people cause trouble in Lind.

"and then?"

"Then Leos discovered that they were trying to plunder the belongings of nearby vendors, so he went to stop them. As a result, we were beaten up. The guards who went were injured, and Leos was even captured."

I was getting angry. Everyone knows that I'm protecting Linde City now, yet they dare to cause trouble in my city. Do they really think I can't do anything to them?

It seems there's really no way; no matter how good I am, I can't beat the army.

"They actually dared to do this. Linde City is indeed a bit weak, but aren't they afraid that the Kingdom of Fesland will declare war on them?"

"Who are we going to declare war on? There's no one in charge in Asari City right now. I heard it's been turned into territory shared by four or five countries. There's no way to reason with them. Besides, the Kingdom of Feslant wouldn't start a war over such a trivial matter."

Okay, this is a mess.

But when he said that, my eyes lit up.

In other words, the reason this group dared to act recklessly in the Kingdom of Fesland was simply because their ownership issues were currently in a mess, and fighting was not worthwhile. Reasoning with them was simply not going to work, so the council was powerless to do anything about them.

This is both their strength and their weakness.

If they all die here, no one will stand up for them.

As for whether it would be unreasonable for me to directly confront them since they haven't provoked me, I should say that they haven't provoked me.

Just kidding, do you think I'm a reasonable person?

What's the point of reasoning with a robber like me? I'll just do it!

Of course, an army of 60 men is already a very powerful force. A head-on confrontation is definitely not an option, but if it comes to playing dirty tricks, then I'm quite good at it.

"Alright, young man, I'll trouble you to go to the council and tell those members that I will rescue Leos. The council only needs to send guards to stand near the Asari army camps and help pick up Leos when he escapes."

The guard looked at me in shock, then asked me a question.

"Uh, no, bro, who are you?"

"...No, I'm a Robin Hood! My wanted posters were plastered all over the streets, didn't you see them?"

"Oh! Oh! So you're the Robin Hood! Can I get your autograph? I admire you so much!"

"Uh, I can't write yet. Maybe next time. Remember to pass on my message."

The guard left happily, and after I fed March the pills, I also left the hotel.

Since we've decided to do it, we have to do it well.

The greatest advantage of an army is its organized structure; they can often coordinate with each other. If I want to deal with them, I must find a way to disperse them and defeat them one by one.

Normally, I could never create a way to make them disperse, but right now I have a tremendous help.

Tina is in their hands right now.

Since these soldiers are after Tina, they must want to find the ancient scroll. To find the ancient scroll, they must go to the primeval forest.

In that kind of terrain, no matter how many people there are, they can't coordinate effectively. Their thick armor will only become an obstacle. I'm used to fighting in the mountains and forests. As long as I don't get surrounded, no matter how many of them there are, they can't be my match.

As for whether they would return immediately after learning of the loss of the ancient scroll and send other professionals to search for it, I think that's impossible.

It's not that I can predict the future, but I believe that the leader of this force must be a greedy and selfish person.

You can tell from their previous slaughter of bounty hunters in the streets. Even I, a bandit, know that promises should be kept, but these regular soldiers just slaughtered bounty hunters who came to collect their rewards.

Even if they just pass the buck and shift the responsibility of collecting the bounty back to Asalich, would these bounty hunters dare to complain? After all, they're not the ones paying, so why bother killing people?

It's very simple, it's all about taking credit.

As for human lives, well, let's not talk about that.

If they are willing to kill mercenaries who come to claim rewards for merit and money, would they be willing to give up this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to someone else if a greater temptation appeared in front of them?

No, they won't! Not only will they not, they will even actively isolate themselves from the news to avoid attracting more attention.

To do this, an ancient scroll alone is not enough; they need an even bigger bait.

Infiltrating the military camp wasn't difficult, especially at mealtimes. Apart from a few guards responsible for watching the cells, everyone else had gone to eat. If it weren't for the helmets on their heads, I could have knocked them out right now.

Tina and Leos both looked miserable. Tina was in a slightly better state, as she didn't seem to have been tortured yet, but Leos was in a terrible state. Not only was he beaten black and blue, but all his equipment was also removed.

These two guys weren't locked up together, but they were guarded by about the same number of people, four each.

Two were outside the cells, and two were inside. However, these were more like tents with cages set up. The two tents were not far apart, so if one of them had an accident, the other would be able to come to its aid quickly.

But that's not a problem.

I pulled a small bag of smoke bombs out of my pocket. These were made by Little Dot. I saw that she made them quite well, so I borrowed some from her. Now I'm using them to save her captain, so it's making the best use of them.

I scattered smoke grenades inside Leos's tent, then leaped down, knocking out two soldiers standing at the entrance. Since they were both wearing helmets, I had to use force; the impact of the short stick against the helmets made a loud noise that the entire camp must have heard.

To speed things up, I decisively rushed into the tent and, using the smoke as cover, took down the two soldiers inside.

"Cough cough cough! Who?"

"Shut up, Leos, you little princess who gets captured every day. I'm here to rescue you."

Several soldiers next door had already rushed to the tent entrance, but because of the smoke, they didn't dare to come in and could only block the entrance, preventing us from leaving.

But they forgot that this wasn't a house, but a tent. A tent is something you can easily cut open with a knife, right?

I dragged Leos straight out from behind the tent and ran all the way to the stable. Ignoring his protests, I threw him onto the horse's back, then cut the rope holding the horse in half with a single stroke, and kicked the horse hard in the rump.

The frightened horses began to run wildly, carrying Leos out of the camp. I did not follow them, but instead used my rabbit knife to slit the throats of the remaining horses to bleed them. Then I took out the fuel and flint I had prepared beforehand and started setting fire to the surrounding area.

Leos's fleeing figure was quickly spotted by the soldiers, and almost everyone in the camp began to give chase. However, they soon discovered the burning stable and hurriedly began to put out the fire.

Since all the warhorses except for the one Leos was riding had been killed, it was practically impossible for them to give up, but no one was willing to give up.

Amidst the chaos, I made my way back to the vicinity of the cell.

Because of the recent commotion, Tina was under even tighter guard. Fortunately, I wasn't in a hurry and quietly hid in the shadows, waiting for my chance.

Darkness and exhaustion are always on my side.