4. Three Gains in One Stroke
“So you’re telling me to believe that right now?”
The bandit leader looked at me with a suspicious gaze, but I cleanly ignored his words and looked out the closed window in admiration.
“I like it very much. To think you’re running a bandit group at this scale.”
The bandit leader couldn’t hide his bewildered expression. No, perhaps he simply couldn’t.
*Well, of course he’s bewildered.*
A man he’s seeing for the first time suddenly shows up claiming to be a Magistrate, without any attendants to boot. Yes, even if he were to accept by some chance that I am a real Magistrate—his eyes said he couldn’t understand why a Magistrate would suddenly be evaluating a bandit stronghold. It’s not as if a Magistrate had come house-hunting because he planned on moving into the stronghold.
“Yes. I’ve come to make a proposal.”
Even in a situation where murderous bandits surrounded me as if they would rush at me any moment, I smiled brightly. And for good reason—the bandit stronghold was quite large, bigger than I’d thought. It was decorated decently enough for a bandit group that it could pass for a small village. The numbers were greater than expected too, so I was very satisfied.
Moreover, the leader seemed to have considerable patience. He could communicate to some degree. Strength was one thing, but anyone who’d risen to the position of leader couldn’t have poor situational judgment or brains. If that weren’t the case, he would have ordered my death long ago.
Of course, having subdued thirteen of his men without a sword or armor, I probably didn’t look easy to deal with.
It was the perfect condition. This kind of moderate fool was just right to exploit.
*That aside… for a bandit group to build cabins and settle down like this. Evolg, its internal affairs are a real mess.*
Even when I thought back on the reports that had come up to me, there had been no mention of this. It was a testament to how ruined House Evolg was. It meant they had been unable to take any countermeasures until the bandits settled down.
*Five cabin houses. I thought they would be living in caves or roughly pitched tents made of animal hides.*
It was a scale that could convincingly pass as a logging camp built on the lord’s orders.
*Anyway. This is excellent.*
“Well, you never had a choice from the start. The moment you caught my eye, it was already checkmate.”
“Ch… ch, what? Have I ever seen such a lunatic…”
Hmm. He’s slower to catch on than I thought. The bandit chief, in his bewilderment, didn’t seem to have yet realized that his comrades who’d gone to block the road and collect tolls as usual had returned as bloody pulp.
The leader sprang up from his chair and slowly walked toward me. He was a mass of muscle two heads bigger than me.
“You… are you a bit soft in the head?”
I crossed my arms conspicuously and sneered.
“Would someone soft in the head have dragged your men all the way here?”
“Didn’t the adults around you tell you that a young punk who talks so disrespectfully will end up dead? Brat.”
“Maybe you should have kept your men in line before they got beaten to a pulp like this.”
The leader’s face contorted roughly as he looked at Pako, who was standing behind me.
“You… don’t tell me you got thrashed by such a scrawny greenhorn…?”
He looked utterly thrashed no matter where you looked. Pako simply lowered his eyes.
The killing intent in the bandits’ gazes fixed on me intensified.
*Hmm, good. They seem to have camaraderie between them. Next…*
I raised my head and stared straight into the bandit leader’s eyes.
“Well… if you really want to have a go at it, I wouldn’t mind.”
It was a bluff.
No matter how much sword training I’d received from Maice, facing dozens inside this cramped cabin was another matter entirely. Even if I drank a potion and fought, it would take at least twenty seconds for the medicinal effects to kick in.
But the possibilities of alchemy were endless.
In that instant, one of the underlings giggling in the back staggered and collapsed with a thud. At the same time, the bandit leader’s fist flew toward my philtrum.
“Hmm, that was close.”
I stepped back and lightly evaded the sharp fist.
“You! What did you… do…”
The bandit chief struggled to maintain his balance, reaching his palm toward me as if to grab my throat. But that was as far as he got. The hand flailing in empty air fell straight to the floor.
The leader too collapsed onto the floor.
Really, he was too slow to catch on. Though I had deliberately fluttered about in front of them to draw their attention.
I whistled as I looked around. Everyone except me had collapsed on the wooden floor, twitching.
A hallucinatory paralytic. *Fairy’s Dance.*
[*Hoo…*]
It seemed Isaac hadn’t expected me to subdue them with alchemy either. As expected, raiding Master Adriel’s warehouse had been worth it.
I pushed the glass bottle that was peeking out from inside my outer garment back in and carefully closed the stopper. Then I crouched down before the chief, who had collapsed on the floor and could only blink his eyes, and opened my mouth.
“Listen well. This isn’t a bad proposal for you either.”
* * *
After hooking the entire bandit group with the effect of a highest-grade paralysis potion I’d originally planned to use at Evolg Castle, I laid out the contents of my proposal before the subdued bandits.
“There are three conditions. First, I’ll borrow the labor of your men. I intend to capture the ogre that’s said to be here.”
At that, the leader scoffed.
“An ogre? Kuh, dy…ing like this would be better…”
“I’m the one who’ll fight. What I want from you is one thing: labor. I’m thinking of moving the ogre alive somewhere.”
The leader’s physical ability was quite outstanding. Even though he’d been exposed to the same paralysis potion, his pronunciation was relatively clear. As if finding this absurd, the leader scoffed at me.
“I don’t know what scheme you’re up to, but the moment this wears off, you’re dead by my hand.”
“Can’t you see I took you all down without lifting a finger?”
[*Hee-hya… so you’re saying we have no choice!*]
Isaac watched the situation with interest, as if amused. The leader blinked his eyes instead of answering. His eyes were full of distrust. I paid no heed and continued.
“Second. From now on, you’ll become the Magistrate in my place.”
Now he closed his eyes as if to ignore me. His lips curled up in an obvious sneer. I shrugged and delivered the final proposal.
“Lastly. From now on, you’re a mercenary company.”
I stood up and swept my gaze over the collapsed bandits. I could see those watching me rolling their eyes or shutting them tight.
“Well, if you have no will to talk… I’ll have to ask each and every one of your men myself. Now. From now on, any of you who wants to live after hearing my words, blink your eyes twice when I meet your gaze.”
Then I picked up a dagger that one of the bandits had dropped.
“Otherwise, you’ll all die.”
Exactly all forty-three members of the bandit group revealed their will to live, blinking their eyelids like mad the moment I met their eyes.
I stood before the leader, who still kept his eyes closed, and looked down at him.
“Your men all seem to have no desire to die.”
“…”
“It’s all for your own good. Come on, think about it. A Magistrate of a Great House, no less? A great figure of the Ten Families that command the continent. You’ll be able to enjoy the life of the highest nobility that you couldn’t even imagine. I’ll replicate my face for you through magic.”
“…!”
The proposal seemed to have hooked him.
[*Hey, old man. I want to trade what you were going to teach me earlier for this instead.*]
I knew how to replicate a face through alchemy. I’d even brought the materials just in case. But with Isaac’s knowledge, I’d be able to deceive people even more perfectly.
[*Mwahaha! Replicate a face through alchemy? Hehahaha! Well! It’s not impossible! My alchemy is all-powerful, after all! Very well! Improving upon the recipe you know is…*]
—Click.
The moment I got confirmation, I closed the window.
“How about it? You see, I finally got out of the Tower, and I have no desire to live as a boring Magistrate.”
Pretending to be a greenhorn curious about the world, I whispered sweet words into the leader’s ear. I didn’t forget to put on an expression brimming with excitement.
At that, the bandit leader’s eyes snapped open. He met my gaze, then closed his eyes again, but I could see his eyes rolling as if he were rapidly organizing his thoughts.
*He took the bait.*
As expected. A greedy fool is easy to use.
I stood up, took out a flask from inside my clothes, and sprinkled it on the floor inconspicuously. The antidote vaporized upon touching the floor and spread through the air. After a suitable amount of time passed, I opened the window and door to ventilate.
Shortly after, the bandits rose unsteadily, as if they’d just woken from sleep. The leader had gotten up and sat down early on.
Once the men had roughly all gotten up, the leader began stretching, cracking the muscles of his neck and the joints of his limbs threateningly.
“A wizard… you’ve survived well while evading the Holy Knights. You don’t think we’ll report you?”
He flaunted his threat, alternating his gaze between his knife and my face. Those eyes contained an unspoken intimidation that he could split my head open at any moment, but I remained confident. On the contrary, I smirked and answered.
“Who would believe a bandit’s word? The guards? The Knight Commander? Getting arrested while going to report me wouldn’t be a bad choice either. Is that what they call turning yourself in?”
The underlings seemed to be watching the leader’s temper, unsure of what to do. Each was muttering about what course to take.
“Tch! Shut it! You brats! Grab the tools! Grab the ropes too!”
The leader grunted and accepted the proposal. Only then could we exchange names. The bandit leader’s name was Al.
* * *
While moving toward the cave where the ogres lived, I began explaining the detailed plan. The grumbling leader and even the bandits shook their heads at first, but as the explanation continued, they began nodding as if entranced.
While the bandit group prepared, I rummaged through the bag I’d brought from the carriage. Rare medicinal herbs and potions made by mixing such herbs were contained in transparent, thin flasks. The truly important ones were carefully packed separately in glass bottles, wrapped in layer upon layer.
From among them, I’d brought only one simple clump of grass and one bottle containing a blue liquid. A sleep herb I’d planned to chew when I couldn’t sleep, and the venom of a Swamp Wolf Spider. It was a paralytic that paralyzed the central nervous system.
I ordered the bandits to bring oil and torches, along with sturdy ropes in addition to regular ropes.
The Swamp Wolf Spider’s venom had minimal effect in liquid form. However, it was a unique substance whose effects amplified instantly when vaporized by fire. An alluring substance that displayed fatal toxicity through the simple method of contact with flames, rather than simply vaporizing into the air.
But as it was a monster’s venom, even a minute amount entering a human body was enough to cause immediate death—it was extremely toxic. However, if it was a monster, the story changed.
Drawing out the hidden value in ingredients that others don’t know—that is the basics of alchemy.
“So, if we… just have that clump of grass and swamp venom, we can subdue the ogre?”
“No. Special processing requires other drugs too.”
[*Oho… certainly. Well… it’s crude, but with that much, you could probably put an ogre to sleep.*]
The bandit group members had already been recruited. I’d promised that if they became a mercenary company, I’d erase their criminal records in exchange. Of course, I’d planned to secretly filter out anyone with heavy crimes or lacking character.
Listening to them chattering excitedly, some had committed theft, some tax delinquency. Manslaughter from excessive defense against sudden violence. No wonder they’d seemed sloppy—they were all small fry. They looked fierce, but I got the feeling they would have lived quietly if Evolg hadn’t been tyrannical. Even now, they were making future plans, saying they would farm or hunt later, so remarkably docile.
Perhaps because I appeared to be leisurely twisting a clump of grass, the bandit captain grumbled.
“I’m saying this just in case, but from this distance, the ogre brats will smell humans and come rushing out.”
I thought he was speaking up a bit early, but truly, it was an incredibly stupid remark befitting his face. Isn’t checking and calculating wind direction before a hunt the most basic of basics? Inside the cave would be one thing, but this spot, slightly removed, had a headwind blowing, so it was safe.
“That’s exactly what I’m waiting for, so be quiet. Just manage the fire well.”
Shock settled on the leader’s expression. I walked toward the ogre cave as if to show off. Currently, the only ones standing before the cave were the bandit leader, Al, and me. Even if many had wanted to follow, I would have refused, but no one followed us to the cave entrance anyway.
It was then. The wind shifted, blowing into the cave.
“Now!”
I instantly pulled the wooden stopper from the potion bottle and sprinkled the drug onto the sleep herb. Al cursed as he lit the sleep herb on fire.
“Hold your breath!”
The moment it caught fire, I held my breath and quickly ran into the cave. As if smelling human flesh, ogre cries echoed from deep inside the cave.
“Kraaaaah!”
Too late, you bastards.
Holding my breath halfway, I ran deep into the cave where almost no light reached. I grabbed the burning sleep herb and threw it as far inside as possible. Right on time, the wind whipped fiercely into the cave, laden with white smoke. Afraid I might inhale even a little, I hurriedly dashed outside.
“Hoo… hoo…”
“Kraaaaah!”
“Kraaaah!”
As I’d heard, it wasn’t just one. The strange screams of several ogres reached here. Their voices were growing louder. I too put as much distance as possible in case of unforeseen circumstances.
The bandit group? They’d long since retreated the moment they heard the ogres’ voices.
“Crazy… Captain, should we run?”
I ignored the whispering voices from behind and waited at the very front of the line, as if to prove I wasn’t wrong. The ferocious roars echoing right before the cave and the gradually approaching vibrations. Giant silhouettes flickering amidst the thick smoke. One of them was walking out of the cave entrance. As the mist slowly cleared in the wind and its face was about to be revealed—
“Kraaaah….”
Thud.
Finally, the ogres’ voices went silent.
* * *
Al stared straight at me. His expression said, *So this works….*
“Easier than I thought.”
Looking at Al’s disgruntled face, I shrugged.
Of course, it wasn’t entirely without losses. I’d used up a rare central nervous system paralytic and a sleep herb that maintained my quality of life. But it had been worth it.
“It’s about a day’s travel from here to Evolg Castle. Hurry and load the ogre onto the wagon! We move quickly.”
The time an ogre remained unconscious would vary depending on the amount inhaled, but it would last at least one to two days, so there would be no problem moving it. Once the grimacing leader began exerting himself first, the other bandits hesitated before starting to move the ogre.
It was unexpected. Though he was a bit dull and greedy, there was a reason the bandits followed him. He was unexpectedly reasonable, but also the type to be easily fooled.
But there had been no lies in what I’d proposed or said directly. Except that I was an alchemist, not a wizard. Moreover, I intended to faithfully keep all those proposals.
The moment we departed in the carriage for Evolg Castle.
The bandit leader Al would gain the status of Magistrate. I would become a mercenary captain and be able to change my fate.
This much was enough.
The chess piece to change my fate was ready.