NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter 31: - Operation to Destroy the Shardina Bandits
Tooi headed home in the carriage Gorteo had arranged, but the mansion was more enormous than he had imagined. It was beyond the scale of a regular house—it was a true mansion.
“There’s no way 5 people can manage this…”
It was a mansion so large that Tooi thought it would require about 10 people to properly care for it.
“We’ll prioritize managing the rooms that will be used. Merlis and I will handle the cooking. Jewel will be in charge of the bath and garden maintenance. The other two will help with tasks beyond our reach,” Mondark explained.
“I don’t really understand, so please don’t overexert yourselves with what five people can do. If you need more hands, just let me know. I’ll do my best to help,” Tooi said.
“Understood.”
Tooi didn’t mind handling the cooking; it was something he was good at.
Gorteo had already cleaned the mansion, and basic furniture was in place. It seemed they were items left behind by the previous owner.
Tooi handed over the magic stones he had acquired in the dungeon to Mondark for operating expenses. “Is there anything else you need?” Tooi asked.
“Please tell us your and the ladies’ food preferences.”
“Ladies!?”
Mondark referred to Anneliese and Rosalina as “ladies,” causing both of them to blush. Tooi didn’t mind, but he respected the two women’s feelings.
“I don’t have any specific likes or dislikes,” Tooi stated.
“What about the ladies?”
The two of them flapped their hands anxiously. They didn’t have any preferences and would eat anything.
“We will prepare dinner. Please wait a moment,” Merlis said.
“Do we even have ingredients?”
“We have some supplies; Gorteo-sama arranged them,” Mondark replied.
It was typical of Gorteo to think ahead. Tooi couldn’t relax knowing such thoughtfulness was involved.
The meal that Mondark and Merlis prepared was delicious. Tooi believed it was on par with the cuisine of top chefs.
“I’m going out, so everyone can go ahead and sleep,” Tooi said, particularly addressing Anneliese and Rosalina. He left his mansion and headed toward the Shaldina Thief Guild’s hideout.
Along the way, he encountered soldiers everywhere. They were divided into multiple units, surrounding the hideouts of various thief guilds.
As he made his way, he heard commotion. At the signal, the soldiers started moving. It seemed like a simultaneous crackdown had begun.
The Duke moved quickly; Tooi hadn’t expected them to infiltrate the hideouts on the same day.
Inside the Shaldina Thief Guild’s hideout, many soldiers were battling the thieves. Soldiers had the advantage in numbers, but the thieves were using the terrain to fight back. The battle was not overwhelmingly in the soldiers’ favor.
Tooi infiltrated the hideout and proceeded deeper. Along the way, he saw several precarious situations involving soldiers, so he subtly tripped the thieves. With this level of interference, his stealth wouldn’t be compromised.
Both thieves and soldiers didn’t understand what was happening, but Tooi ignored them and moved forward.
Old Lady Shaldina was as heavily made up as ever. Under the sudden assault from the soldiers, her makeup was starting to crack. She was puffing her pipe repeatedly, her poor posture indicating her anxiety.
“What are they doing? How did they infiltrate this far? Do they even know why they’re keeping us?” she grumbled.
“Soldiers have surrounded all the hideouts.”
“What a mess. We’re becoming a laughingstock of the world.”
Tooi found it amusing that she, a thief, was talking so arrogantly.
At that moment, a thief rushed in. “Boss!”
“What now?” Shaldina said.
“It’s bad. It’s Balkan. Balkan’s come on an expedition!”
“Ugh, how troublesome…”
“Boss, we can’t handle him. He’s dangerous.”
“I know that much,” Shaldina said.
It seemed that Balkan was feared even by the thieves. He was truly intimidating. The shiver down Tooi’s spine was genuine.
“If he’s here, there’s nothing we can do,” Shaldina said.
She got up. Her pipe made a sharp clinking sound as it fell to the floor.
“Scatter, everyone!”
“Yes!”
They abandoned this hideout and fled. It was surprisingly easygoing. Tooi supposed this level of judgment was necessary for thieves to rise to such a position. If only they had used this talent for something else. If they had become merchants, Gorteo might have had serious competition.
One of the thieves pulled a lever attached to a wall lamp. Rather than holding it, he pulled it. The wall creaked open, revealing a gap of about 50 centimeters, with a rope attached. It seemed to be an elaborate setup, likely costly. Beyond it was the room where the leather bag filled with black gold coins was stored.
Shaldina, infuriated, entered the hidden room. Again, her heavily applied makeup cracked, the cracks growing wider.
Inside the secret room, Shaldina frantically searched. What was she looking for?
“It’s not here! The ledger is gone!”
Ah, she was searching for the ledger. The one I collected and that the Duke now possesses.
“How could this… How could the ledger…”
Shaldina was in a state of extreme panic. The cracks in her makeup grew, and bits and pieces fell off.
“Boss, we need to escape quickly.”
“Damn it! I won’t forgive the traitor!”
The thief pulled a similar lever as before.
This time, the floor opened, revealing a staircase. Tooi hadn’t expected such a gimmick. This place wasn’t just for storing treasure; it was also an escape route. They invested quite a bit in this setup. If they had just stopped stealing, they wouldn’t need to spend so much money…
The thieves, carrying the leather bag filled with black gold coins, descended the stairs, taking as many magical items as they could. Shaldina wasn’t carrying anything heavy; perhaps she didn’t want to strain her back.
The ledger didn’t contain information about this secret passage. Tooi had to do something; otherwise, Shaldina would escape.
No choice. Tooi had to handle this somehow.
The staircase was quite long, likely leading underground. The passage was pitch dark, with only the first thief holding a lamp. Shaldina followed arrogantly behind.
Tooi swiftly cut the throat of the rearmost thief using his dagger. A combination of striking the vital point and stealth ensured a critical hit, instantly reducing the thief’s HP to zero. His stealth was broken, but he immediately activated it again. It was pitch black, and he was confident he hadn’t been noticed.
Tooi silently killed two, then three thieves without being detected.
Why did he have to do something like an assassin? Oh right, he was one now.
Tooi didn’t want to kill, even if the targets were thieves, but he had no choice at the moment. If he let Shaldina and her gang escape, more people would suffer. So, he had to kill them.
Bodies piled up along the passage, and Tooi gradually closed in on Shaldina. They had walked about 200 meters in the underground passage when they reached an ascending staircase.
“I’ll definitely deal with the traitor,” Tooi said.
Shaldina, upon hearing this, widened her eyes when she turned around. “Who’s there!?”
“No one here, huh?”
The passage was pitch black, so the thieves’ corpses weren’t visible. However, Shaldina was wrong. She couldn’t see Tooi, but he was certainly there.
“Boss, where are they?”
“I wouldn’t know! More importantly, hurry up and climb!”
“Yes, ma’am!”
Upon reaching the top of the stairs, they found what appeared to be a small house.
There, Tooi slashed the throat of the last remaining thief, who fell with a thud. Shaldina, who heard the noise and turned around, clenched her teeth.
“Who the hell are you!?”
Tooi had already activated Stealth, so he wasn’t visible to Shaldina.
“Guess who I am? I know you as Shaldina, right?”
She obviously knew. She was the one obstructing Tooi’s peace.
“Do you think you can get away with this!?”
She was screaming loudly. Did she really need to hear that?
Tooi slipped behind her and struck her neck with the edge of his hand.
“Ugh…”
Shaldina fell with a thud, her heavily applied makeup cracking. Her wrinkled skin, normally hidden, was now exposed. This was Shaldina’s true skin. Tooi didn’t want to see it.
However, this was his first neck chop, and it was a success. Trying it out had been worthwhile.
He didn’t kill her. He just knocked her out. He would hand her over to the Duke. She would pay for her crimes. There might be a death penalty awaiting her. Either way, she wouldn’t survive for long as a criminal slave.
It ended uneventfully. It was a bit anticlimactic considering Tooi had expected more resistance. This was thanks to the Duke’s actions surpassing Tooi’s expectations.
By assisting in the destruction of the Shaldina Thief Guild, Tooi had helped them both. He didn’t feel gratitude, but it was a win-win situation.
Now, he just had to tie Shaldina up with a rope, attach a sign saying “Shaldina,” and leave her here. He would leave the corpses of Upas and the other five murderers as well. Their corpses took up five slots in his Item Box, so they were quite a hindrance.
“That should do it.”
He just needed Balkan to find them… Oh, he didn’t need to move after all.
He heard footsteps coming up the stairs. If it was a thief, he would kill them, but it was probably a soldier.
Tooi opened his house door and peeked out.
“What’s this!?”
The person coming up the stairs was indeed a soldier.
“Captain! Captain Balkan!”
The soldier called Balkan, and his face appeared on the stairs. He still exuded a menacing aura, like a monster.
“Is this your doing?”
“No, by the time I arrived…”
“…I see.”
Balkan’s gaze wandered. He seemed to be searching for Tooi, but Tooi had no intention of approaching such a monster.
Besides, Tooi had achieved his goal.
He promptly retreated, putting some distance between himself and Balkan.