Chapter 54: The Black Fangs vs. The Empire (2)
Chapter 54: The Black Fangs vs. The Empire (2)
Chapter 54: The Black Fangs vs. The Empire (2)
Chapter 54: The Black Fangs vs. The Empire (2)
I clutched my head, overwhelmed by the headache, as I stared at those three pathetic figures.
They were all trembling and had surrendered. To make matters worse, a yellow liquid was trickling out of one of their armors.
My mind couldn’t keep up with the situation. What on earth was happening?
‘Why are they so pathetically weak?’
If I had attacked them with the holy sword, this scenario might at least make sense.
But the holy sword had already been sent to the blacksmith for repairs.
The sword I was using now was one I had borrowed from Miss Rubia. It was expensive, but it didn’t have any remarkable abilities.
Yet, that guy was taken down with just one slash.
The other two were shaking so much that they didn’t seem strong at all.‘These guys aren’t even bait.’
I thought maybe they were throwing out decoys to make me lower my guard before sending in the main force, but a quick scan of the area revealed no other presence in this mountain.
Ironically, trying to understand the situation only raised more questions.
I realized that the amount of magic power I sensed from them was absurdly low.
It was below the average for even the weakest of the Imperial Army.
These guys were the lowest of the low.
They were definitely not elite soldiers. The magic power I sensed confirmed that they were, indeed, just a bunch of losers.
The Black Fangs’ extermination squad, sent to capture me.
A legendary organization known for assassinating the Empire’s knight commander, annihilating an elite unit, and even recently erasing the Black Market from existence.
The Empire chose these losers to go against such a formidable group.
I seriously wondered what kind of thinking led to such a stupid decision.
After contemplating for a while, I finally opened my mouth.
Regardless of the situation, my immediate course of action was clear.
“If you want to live, swear by mana that you will never harm me or my companions.”
I deliberately made the conditions broad.
Even the mere awareness of doing something harmful to us would break the oath.
With this, they couldn’t report our location or call for reinforcements.
The mana oath is never taken lightly.
There’s no way to evade it.
The moment they realized they had done something to harm us, they would lose their lives.
Of course, the weight of the mana oath is well-known to everyone.
So, to help these fools make a wise decision, I should probably threaten them with my sword.
I prepared to release my killing intent.
And then...
“I-I swear by mana!”
Before I even drew my sword, they started speaking.
They recited the restrictions I mentioned, swearing by mana as if they were rapping.
I was taken aback by their ridiculous display, but they must have misunderstood my reaction, thinking I was displeased.
They went ahead and added more severe conditions on their own.
Saying they’d commit suicide if they harmed me.
Vowing absolute obedience to any order I gave.
Promising never to lie to me.
It was like they were competing with each other.
Naturally, my head started spinning.
Did these idiots not receive basic education?
It’s common knowledge that you should never make such a hasty mana oath.
And I’m here as the leader of the Black Fangs. Is it okay for Imperial soldiers to surrender so easily?
What kind of morons are these?
I stared at them while pondering this. They kept glancing at me nervously.
The first to speak was the knight who had lost an arm.
“Um, excuse me. I’m really sorry, but... I feel like I’m going to die soon. Could you please treat me?”
Asking the enemy commander for treatment.
I sighed deeply and spoke.
“Stop the bleeding yourself. The Imperial Army’s standard gear includes bandages. High-quality ones.”
I knew this because items dropped when fighting the Imperial Army. Their bandages had the best recovery efficiency among such items.
Although, fighting the Imperial Army made the game’s difficulty skyrocket, making it hard to use them properly.
“...I didn’t bring any.”
While reminiscing about playing the previous game, I heard something incomprehensible.
Is he joking in this situation?
I checked his backpack, thinking this.
...Nothing.
More than half of the standard Imperial Army supplies were missing.
“Forget the bandages, you didn’t even bring food?”
“Well, it just happened...”
“You didn’t forget that you swore by mana not to lie to me, did you?”
The man’s face turned pale at my words.
...He must have genuinely forgotten after making that oath.
“It’s just that carrying too much is heavy. We can resupply locally if needed...”
‘They plan to rob anyone they come across.’
The average Imperial soldier hasn’t changed from the last game to now, I thought as I looked at them.
Those clueless expressions.
There’s no way they’re pretending. And you can’t deceive a mana oath.
These guys are just ordinary Imperial soldiers.
Stereotypical Imperial soldiers.
“Why are you even here?”
I asked them.
Even if the Black Fangs is notorious, it’s hard to believe they’d send such incompetent soldiers.
If I had to guess.
They probably just stumbled upon us by chance.
They were passing through for another mission and were mistaken for elite soldiers sent to kill the Black Fangs due to poor timing.
There’s no other plausible explanation for this situation.
“We were ordered to eliminate a group suspected to be the Black Fangs...”
But it seemed that wasn’t the case.
The Empire really sent these idiots to take on the Black Fangs.
I felt embarrassed for having overestimated the Empire. Were these guys even in their right minds?
They accurately deployed these guys here, which means they knew we were operating in this area, right?
With such excellent intelligence, they tracked our movements but responded like this?
‘It can’t be that the Emperor has gone senile...’
Unless that cunning old man has developed dementia, there’s only one logical explanation.
Somehow, the information got miscommunicated.
It looks like we’ve been mistaken for a fake Black Fangs group. A rather pathetic fake Black Fangs at that.
Should I call this incompetence or competence? We are, after all, not the real Black Fangs.
It’s like catching a rat while trying to catch a bull.
“Uh, excuse me.”
While I was lost in my troubled thoughts, a timid voice interrupted.
“It hurts so much... I feel like I’m going to die...”
The burly man was pathetically teary-eyed.
After thinking for a while... I eventually picked up the severed arm.
I don’t see these guys in a good light, but.
This is the best course of action.
If I kill them thoughtlessly, it might cause unnecessary trouble.
They were just sent to kill a group falsely claiming to be the Black Fangs. If these lower-ranking soldiers die, it will definitely raise suspicions.
Killing these guys and risking our cover being blown isn’t worth it, right?
I sighed deeply, attached the severed arm to the stump, and cast a healing spell.
Strangely, the wound healed almost instantly. I thought it would take at least several minutes, was my healing magic always this good?
“Th-thank you!”
He bowed his head excessively, expressing his gratitude.
“Go and report that you’ve dealt with the people who appeared to be the Black Fangs. Just say they were ordinary imposters.”
As soon as they heard my words, they cautiously began to retreat, glancing at me nervously.
I was about to let them go when...
“Wait, you guys stop right there.”
Then I thought about it.
Come to think of it.
This doesn’t sit right with me.
Even though I prefer peaceful means, healing and sending off the people who came to attack us seems a bit much.
I pondered for a moment... then spoke.
“When you received orders like this in the past, you didn’t just complete them immediately, did you? How much time did you usually waste?”
“Not much... When we were dispatched far away, we usually dragged it out for about a week or two after completing the task. Working hard for such a small salary feels like a loss.”
I looked at the man, who nearly forgot the no-lying restriction and almost died, with a pitiful expression and then opened my mouth.
“You’ve got... quite a lot of time left.”
If I send them back right away, it might raise suspicions since they’d finish their task unusually quickly.
Moreover, looking at their demeanor, I doubt they can even act convincingly. They might need some training.
And crucially... we were short-handed lately. And right now, in front of me, were potential slaves.
Slaves who could do the dirty, hard work, saving our people the effort.
I smiled as I looked at them.
The men, unable to keep up with my sudden change in expression, awkwardly smiled back at me with tears in their eyes.
They still didn’t quite understand the situation.
“Well then, how about you spend the extra time doing some community service?”
Coming here was on your own terms, but leaving will be a different story.
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