Chapter 296: Bandits

“Ha…”

“How dare you doze off!?”

In the forest halfway up the mountain, two burly men in leather clothes stood.

One had bare arms and looked drowsy, leaning against a tree and yawning.

The other, seeing him slacking off, kicked him in the shin.

These two were low-ranking members of the bandit group marked on the map.

They were currently posted at the mountainside standing guard.

“Ow… that hurts! Why’d you kick me out of nowhere?”

The pained burly man instantly lost his drowsiness, hopping on one leg while glaring at his companion.

“You have the nerve to ask? The boss specifically told us to keep a close watch on this hill, and you’re almost falling asleep!”

“Hmph…”

Mentioning the boss, the burly man had nothing to say.

After all, it was indeed their boss’s orders.

He plopped down onto the grass, picked up the simple telescope he’d thrown aside, and began scanning the foot of the mountain.

“Say, why does the boss have us keep watch here? Even if we’re going to rob passersby, we can’t see anything from here, right?”

It wasn’t his fault for dozing off.

Normally, when they wanted to raid a caravan, they’d keep watch near the road at the foot of the mountain, assess the number of guards, and then decide whether to strike.

But these past few days, their stronghold’s boss only let them watch from halfway up, and they didn’t know why.

“Idiot, that’s because the boss has no intention of robbing caravans. The loot from last time is enough for us to squander for half a year. There’s no need to take risks robbing others!”

The slightly smarter bandit scolded the burly man.

“What are you yelling at me for? Then tell me, why are we posted here?”

The burly man scratched his head, confused by his companion’s insults.

“Isn’t it to guard against anyone coming to exterminate us?”

The companion shot him a glance.

“We robbed such a big haul last time. Even if it was a large merchant guild or a noble, they’d be hurting. If they have some backing, they might hire people to wipe us out. Our job is to watch for anyone coming up this hill. Besides, we won’t have to worry about spending for half a year, so it’s good to keep a low profile.”

“Oh, I see. The boss is really thoughtful.”

The burly man finally understood, admiring their stronghold leader from the bottom of his heart.

“Heh, you’re just stupid!”

The companion rolled his eyes, sneering at the burly man’s muscle-bound brain.

But this time, the burly man didn’t retort.

Instead, he raised the simple telescope and stared blankly into the distance.

“Huh? What do you see?”

Realizing the burly man had spotted someone, the companion snatched the telescope and looked in the same direction.

“Holy crap!”

Not seeing something was fine, but seeing it gave him a shock.

The shock wasn’t from spotting an army coming to exterminate them, but from seeing the most beautiful women he’d ever seen in his life.

On the winding mountain path below, three girls were chatting and laughing as they ascended.

These three girls were the cream of the crop among Beauty Tributes.

The most striking was the petite girl with silver-white hair walking in the middle.

Her delicate and pure face, even seen through the telescope, captivated him.

“Why’d you take my stuff!”

The companion was engrossed, but the burly man whose telescope had been snatched was displeased.

He bellowed, snatched it back, and continued looking toward Liyakade and the others, letting out an infatuated laugh.

“Hehe, hehehehe…”

“You!”

The shoved companion also got angry, squeezing in to fight for the telescope.

“Drool almost dripping on your clothes, how disgusting! Let me see too!”

The telescope was crude but binocular, so they could barely share it by squeezing together.

These two had been on the mountain for nearly ten years.

Since becoming bandits, they rarely saw women, let alone such stunning ones.

Even when robbing, any woman with a bit of charm was taken by their boss, leaving them either withered leftovers or unattractive women.

“Hey, what do you think three women are doing in a place like this?”

“Who cares, let me look some more!”

“Can’t you have some ambition! Three top-class women in this wilderness, shouldn’t we take good care of them? It’s been so long since we’ve had any women.”

“…What do you mean?”

Hearing this, the burly man suddenly understood, saliva nearly dripping.

He wiped his mouth and looked toward Liyakade again.

“That’s why I asked what they’re doing on the mountain. Look at their clothes—they’re not ordinary. They look like noble ladies. And they don’t seem to have any combat ability. I think they came for camping or hiking but didn’t study the map carefully and just picked any mountain.”

The companion never considered that Liyakade and the others were there to find bandits.

After all, they were wearing casual and luxurious private clothes, only three of them, no guards, so they really looked like campers.

“So? Do we strike directly, or pretend to be hermits living on this mountain, wait for them to let their guard down, then drug them?”

“I don’t care, as long as I can have fun with those women.”

The burly man, aroused by his companion’s words, had no more complicated thoughts.

As long as he could enjoy those women, he’d be willing to stay in the stronghold forever.

“Then let’s disguise ourselves. Later, we’ll give them some potion to make them compliant, and also search them for anything valuable.”

Saying so, the bandit went back to the wooden hut, changed into simpler clothes, took a backpack and an axe, and came out.

Meanwhile, the burly man continued peeping at Liyakade and the others.

As he became engrossed, he suddenly noticed that behind the girl’s back, a pair of black wings were faintly visible.

At the same time, the girl looked up toward him, as if making eye contact through the telescope.

The burly man shuddered.

They were a hundred meters above the girls, and the trees here were dense and leafy.

How could she possibly see him?

He quickly rubbed his eyes and looked down again.

Everything in the telescope seemed like an illusion.

The three girls were still chatting and laughing, and the silver-haired girl wasn’t looking this way.

Was it an illusion?

“Hey! Stop staring at them! Change clothes quickly and come with me to wait on their path!”

The bandit was getting impatient, yelling at the dazed burly man.

“Oh, oh! Coming!”