Two warriors, an archer...
And...
'Is the one without any armor an ability user?'
Probably.
Mages rarely participated in looting, especially not high-level ones.
And priests were even less likely to be involved.
'Anyway, looting on the 1st floor with this kind of team...'
It was disheartening.
I couldn't imagine how helpless the young barbarians must have felt.
"..."
But I could at least make these bastards understand.
"What's so funny?"
One of the looters frowned.
He didn't seem suspicious of my identity.
He was just mocking .
"Wow, barbarian hearts must be really valuable these days. These guys are fearless."
I decided to play along.
So...
I took a step back, as if I had just realized sothing was wrong.
And I glanced at Ainar, who was pretending to be asleep on the ground.
Snore... Snore...
How long was she planning to keep up the act?
I nudged her back with my foot.
Ainar imdiately jumped up.
"...Whoa! W-What?!"
It was a surprisingly realistic reaction.
'She was actually asleep...'
How could she sleep through all the commotion?
I didn't understand, but it wasn't a bad situation.
"W-What?! Who are you?!"
How could they not be fooled by this?
"Ah! Y-You guys are...!"
Ainar seed to have realized who they were, so I quickly interrupted her.
"Be careful what you say."
Ainar moved behind , gripping her weapon.
I raised my iron greatsword and looked at the looters.
They were smirking, stretching their muscles.
"Let ask you one thing. Are you looters?"
They didn't answer.
"Hyungnim, let's just finish this quickly. I think the guild is on to us."
They were treating like I was already dead.
Just try it.
I'll show you what happens when you underestimate a barbarian.
"Wait! That barbarian... he looks familiar... Where have I seen him before...?"
The hunchbacked crossbowman narrowed his eyes, staring at .
Had he recognized ?
I would have to switch to Plan B—
"Familiar? They all look the sa. That's why he looks familiar."
One of his companions interrupted him.
"Hmm, that's not it..."
The archer's survival instincts were impressive, but unfortunately, the lee attackers had more say in the group.
"We'll think about it later. Let's just take care of these two first."
That was their decision.
"Hehe."
They grinned and closed in on us.
And...
Thud.
My back hit the wall.
The swordsman on my left swung his sword.
Whoosh-!
It was a decent attack.
But I just stared at it.
"..."
He smirked, thinking I couldn't react.
But his smile quickly vanished.
Clang-!
His sword bounced off my skin harmlessly.
"...Huh?"
That expression... it made all the waiting worthwhile.
I grabbed his sword with my bare hand.
And...
"...!"
I pulled.
He hadn't let go of his weapon, so he was dragged towards .
I reached out with my other hand and grabbed his neck.
The warrior with the double-bladed axe tried to attack , aiming for my arm... but...
Clang-!
He had made the wrong decision.
"Ainar."
I gave her the signal, and she swung her greatsword.
Whoosh-!
The warrior's body exploded into a bloody mist.
"...S-Storm Sword!"
The ability user's shriek was his last.
Kaboom-!
He was blown to pieces.
But one of them had made the right choice.
The hunchbacked crossbowman had kept his distance.
"...B-Bjorn Yandel!"
He had recognized .
He turned and ran.
But...
「Character has cast [Transcendence].」
Did he really think he could outrun ?
「Character has cast [Eye of the Storm].」
Not a chance.
___________________
Crack.
I twisted the swordsman's neck, and his body went limp.
I let go, and he crumpled to the ground.
I looked down at the crossbowman, who was prostrating himself before .
"...P-Please spare ! I'm not like them! I was tricked! I told them not to do this!"
He was the only survivor.
He was begging for his life.
Swoosh.
Ainar raised her sword, and the crossbowman shrieked.
"I-I have information!"
Hmm?
"Information?"
I stopped Ainar.
The crossbowman, seeing a glimr of hope, offered a deal.
"...I-If I tell you... will you... swear to let go...?"
"An oath...?"
He was amusing.
I chuckled, and Ainar protested.
"Bjorn! Just kill him!"
"Calm down."
"..."
"Alright. I swear. If your information is valuable, I'll let you live."
I made the oath.
The crossbowman looked at with a strange expression.
He didn't seem entirely convinced.
But he eventually made up his mind.
"I-It's valuable information... I'm sure of it..."
He seed to think I wouldn't break my oath.
"Just tell ."
The crossbowman spoke, his voice trembling.
"I-It's the mages..."
Mages?
Why mages?
I gave him a look, and he continued.
"So mages... are placing requests on the black market. They're offering a high price for barbarian hearts..."
"Hmm..."
So what?
"Is that all?"
"...Yes?"
His face fell.
It wasn't valuable information.
He hadn't told which mages were involved. And even if he had, I couldn't do anything without proof.
"If that's all—"
Just die.
I was about to say that when he interrupted .
"Th-There's more! Baron!"
"...?"
"Th-They're also after... your heart..."
"...What?"
I was shocked and asked for more details.
The bounty on my heart was 2 billion stones.
And the client was unknown.
"The black market..."
I thought about it for a mont, and the crossbowman, seeing my hesitation, spoke up.
"...I-Is this... helpful...? Did I... help you...?"
Ah, that.
It was helpful.
I had no connections to the black market.
I would have to investigate this later.
But...
"No, not at all. Now die."
I wasn't going to let him go.
"B-But you promised—!"
He protested, but I ignored him.
I stepped on his head.
He started squirming.
I didn't feel any sympathy.
And I didn't feel guilty about breaking my oath.
"Oaths are for humans."
I pressed down with my foot.
Crack-!
I collected their equipnt and backpacks and stored them in my subspace pocket.
It wasn't much, but it would be a nice addition to the tribe's funds.
Thud.
I heard a sickening thud, and I turned around.
Ainar was stabbing the corpses with her greatsword.
"What are you doing, Ainar...?"
"Can't you see? I'm taking their hearts."
"...?"
"They should know. If they want our hearts, they have to risk their own."
Hmm...
Was she trying to make a point?
"I'll be done soon, so don't worry about it."
Ainar extracted the hearts from the two relatively intact bodies and then arranged the corpses on a nearby rock.
"There, all done. Let's go, Bjorn. We have more looters to kill! I'm getting better at this!"
She was terrifying.
___________________
Day 4, Day 5, Day 6...
Ti flew by after our first successful hunt.
We spent every waking mont exploring the Crystal Cave.
Our disguises beca more elaborate.
We sared goblin blood on our clothes and wore pouches filled with 9th-grade magic stones.
We couldn't fake injuries, though.
They would heal too quickly.
But our efforts paid off.
We found another group of looters before the end of the 5th day.
They were more cautious than the previous group. They had been following us, observing us from a distance.
"Damn it."
It wasn't good news.
We found four fresh hearts in their backpacks.
They had already killed so barbarians.
"...Ainar, calm down. We'll deal with this later."
"..."
"Let's go. The others are waiting."
"Alright..."
I cald Ainar down, and we returned to the central area.
"Mister!"
Erwen had co to et us.
We went to the Great Sage Monunt and activated the Voice Control spell.
"Alia, anything happen while we were gone?"
"Of course. The thing you were worried about."
"Worried about...?"
"We're being watched."
As expected.
"What should we do? If they're from Count Alminus, it's too dangerous to summon the Floor Lord."
Bersil looked worried.
But I just smiled.
"Don't worry. It's all part of the plan."
"...You planned this?"
Of course.
I had filed a raid request with the guild.
They were bound to notice.
'And it wasn't sothing I was 'worried' about...'
It was sothing I had 'hoped' for.
"We're summoning the Floor Lord as planned."
I told Bersil, and she looked at with a puzzled expression.
The bait had been taken.
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