Chapter 199: [199] Bandits

Eliron walked out of the restaurant with a stomach the size of the eastern continent.

Rice tasting… It had gone a little better than expected.

Although Yennefer had eaten far more than him, her stomach had not even increased in the slightest. It was as though she was a black hole that instantly swallowed anything within an inch of it.

“So, which of them was your favourite?” Eliron asked Yen who had the recipe book they purchased in her hand.

“They are all good. But if I have to pick one, it will be, hmmm….” She breathed out as she considered her options.

“Hmmm…”

“HMMMM…”

Her humming intensified. “I can’t decide.”

“What do you mean you can’t decide? They were all shit!” The sword demon interjected.

“These people have absolutely no idea how to cook rice! As a Japanese man who has eaten the best, it was highly deplorable!”

“You didn’t even taste the food…” Eliron gave him a dumbfounded look.

“I don’t need to taste it to know.”

Eliron shook his head and focused on the road ahead of him.

The eastern continent did cook far differently from how they did back on earth, but it wasn’t bad per say…

Them having different recipes was even a plus for them, that way, when Artaris introduced its recipes, it would be unlike anything they had seen before.

“I mean…” Satrou decided to buttress his point. “You Koreans aren’t that bad, your food is edible at least, compared to the slop they served at that dump—”

Eliron blurred out the sword demon’s words from his mind as a man suddenly approached him.

“Hey, are you listening to me

“Good afternoon sir.” The man greeted with a friendly smile on his face.

Eliron and Yen shared a look. Tsukiko glared down at the man from the top of Yen’s head.

“Good afternoon?” Eliron replied skeptically.

“Thank goodness. I have been looking for you all over town.” The man said, appearing relieved.

“I am Gregor Stanhill. I’m a merchant from the guild.” He continued. “We have registered your order, and I was sent to show you samples of some of the products that are available.”

’The merchant’s guild? Weren’t the products meant to come in three days?’

Eliron was skeptical about the strange man’s claim. But it was not unusual for merchants to show their buyers samples before bulk purchases.

That way, since they had seen the product beforehand, the buyer could not reject the order, which would have led to great losses on the guilds part.

Eliron shrugged. “Alright, lead the way.”

The man bowed. “Follow me…”

<•••>

The more they followed the strange man, the more Eliron suspected something was off.

In fact, he had already concluded that the person leading them was a con man, a robber or worse, .

Now, he was following him out of genuine curiosity. They were pretty much done for the day, and he could use a walk to soothe the coming stomach ache…

Also, on the off chance he was working for a band of slave traders, eliminating them all would make the city safer for future wood elves.

He ended up leading them deep into the town before they took a carriage to the warehouse.

When the carriage finally came to a stop, and dropped them off, it was in one of the less populated parts of the city.

The closest notable building was the magic tower that could be seen from any point in the city.

“Most people don’t live here because of the tower. The noise during duels is too much to bear. That is why it is perfect for warehouses…” the man smiled.

“It is just down this road…” he gestured at an even lonelier alleyway.

“Can he be any more obvious?” Satoru asked as he glared at him. “He should have just nailed a ’I want to kidnap’ you sign up on the wall.”

’Let’s see where it leads.’ Eliron smirked as they followed him.

After walking for a few seconds, Eliron then asked. “Umm, are you sure we are in the right place? I doubt there is a warehouse in an area like this.”

“…”

The merchant did not say a word, instead, his footsteps quickened slightly.

“Umm, did you hear my question…”

Before Eliron could finish, he suddenly bolted, running full speed ahead and disappearing behind the corner.

Eliron blinked. “Well that was anti climatic…”

“He’s so old, but he runs so fast.” Yen commented.

Swoosh!

Suddenly, five men dressed in black jumped down from the roof above. Three of them landed behind him, blocking their escape route while two landed in front.

Two, out of the three behind them, had their swords unsheathed, while the other held a hefty mace.

As for those in front of him, the first person was strangely barehanded, while the second, the one who looked like the leader, wielded a glaive.

Eliron took a casual glance at the bandits at his back. Both of them were knights. Not bad.

Since he had obviously been targeted, they had to know he and Yen were wood elves. Yet, the bandit leader still went as far as to bring knights with him.

In any normal situation, this would have been a bit too much for a wood elf. It showed how meticulous he truly was.

The moment the sword demon saw them, his eyes glinted maliciously. “Finally, some damn action!” He pounded his fists together.

Eliron smirked, agreeing with him. “There is nothing better than a little exercise after breakfast…”

“Alright, there is no need to be rough about this.” The leader walked forward, the glaive resting on his shoulder.

“Kindly give me everything—”

He paused. Blinked. Then his eyes slowly widened as they landed on Eliron’s protruding stomach.

“Wow. You really let yourself go…”

Eliron raised a brow. “Have we met before?”

“W-what??” The bandit leader shook his head. “Of course not!”

Eliron held his belly up, his sword still resting in its sheath. “So what are you guys meant to be? Kidnappers? Slave traders??”

“Slave traders?” The bandit leader looked genuinely offended. “Gods no…. I’m a thief okay? Now give me everything on your person.”

“Especially any rings you may have!” The bandit next to him cut in.

’Oh? So she’s a woman.’ He thought.

“Hmmm… and why would I do that?”

“B-because if you don’t. W-well stab you!” The woman stuttered.

“Cute.” Yen laughed beside Eliron.

“I’m—I’m not cute!” She yelled back.

Eliron frowned as he witnessed the exchange. ’Damn… they are as green as spring grass.’

It was clear that they had never robbed a single person in their lives. How then was he supposed to fight them without feeling bad?

“Actually….” One of the three bandits behind him walked forward. “You did not tell me anything about the wood elf wench boss.”

’Oh??!’ Eliron’s eyes brightened.

On the other hand, the bandit leader’s face darkened. “Bulrius. We have a contract.”

“Fuck your damn contract.” He ripped off the mask from his face and tossed it to his side. The two others behind him did the same.

’Ohohohoho?!’

Eliron shared a look with the sword demon. He had a wide grin on his face as well, one that was even wider than Eliron’s.

Bulrius smiled, revealing rows of decaying teeth. “One of ’em sells for ten times what you’re offering.”

“If you want a raise, then I’ll increase your pay—” the bandit leader was speaking when he was cut off by Bulrius.

“No boss. You can pay the gold, but it ain’t the same without the ride.” Bulrius glanced at the man. “Unless, the little lass with you is ready to…”

He turned at his friends, earning a few laughs. “…do a charitable deed.”

The woman’s eyes widened, and she took a step behind the bandit leader.

“So let me get this straight.” Eliron said, turning towards them. “You want to kidnap us and sell us as slaves, am I right?”

Bulrius glanced at his men, just before they burst into laughter. “Us? You and the damn fox will be dead within a minute.”

Eliron smiled wide, then cracked his fingers. “Well, in that case…”

“What do you think you’re—”

VWOOSH!

In an instant, he was right in front of the bandit. He was so fast that the bandit had not even realized he was in front of him.

Eliron had the privilege to see his eyes widen in fear behind the mask, as his fist slammed into his face.

The bandits body did a three-sixty in the air, just before landing in an awkward position, blood splurting out of his mouth and face.

An eerie silence overtook the alley.

“What the fuck?!?!” The second bandit cried, the mace shaking in his hand.

“Yen…” Eliron wiped the blood off on the man’s shirt. “Make sure no one escapes.

The bandits were smarter than the regular folks in anime. The moment they say their partner fall, they sprinted…

Only to slam into a golden dome that sealed them in.

“Ah, shit!” One exclaimed.

Eliron pointed a finger at them. “I always wanted to try this spell…”

Snap!

A large ball of water suddenly lunged out of his body, crushing both merchants against the shield, and breaking every bone in their body in an instant.

As the blood and water rushed past his feet, Eliron turned around and pointed his finger at the other two.

“Wait, I am not part of them! I just wanted to rob you!”

The bandit leader screamed at the top of his voice, raising his hands up defensively, while hiding the woman behind him.

Eliron cocked his head to the side, his finger still pointed at them. “You say it like it’s a good thing.”

He paused for a few seconds then frowned.

“But it might be a lie right? Maybe you were just pretending to have a disagreement to catch me off guard.”

Of course, Eliron knew this wasn’t the case. But he needed to make them believe he was ready to kill them.

He needed to know why they were after him.

“I wasn’t. I swear, I can prove it!”

Strangely, even as the man seemed to be panicking, Eliron could not sense an ounce of fear from him.

It almost seemed… performative.

At most, all Eliron could sense was concern for the woman behind him.

The bandit leader grabbed his mask and tore it off his face, prompting the girl behind him to do the same.

“See? I’m not a thief…”

The moment Eliron saw the person behind the mask, his breath hitched.

Curly, metallic grey hair, a handsome face with sharp features, and intelligent grey eyes with a malovalent glint within them.

“You are…”

Alexander Coris Golgotha Doniatan. The prince of the Kingdom of Donia as well as the crown heir of the kingdom.

But before the prince could explain what the hell he was doing there—

BANG!

A loud thunderous sound suddenly cut through the area, drawing Eliron’s attention to the magic tower.

He stared at the colossal building, his eyes narrowing.

’Lightning?’

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