I thought there might be someone with a magical eye like Commander Saran's, so I cautiously approached through the shadows of the trees.
But the people who attacked us didn't even notice my approach.


"Hehe, brother, do they send their princess?


A lowly voice rang out.
That alone was enough to make me angry.
I'm not going to hand over my treasure to these guys.


I'm sure you'll be able to find a lot of good reasons to be a part of it. You can't compare them to the rest of the elves, no matter how much they love you.


There is also a calm voice that seems to be their boss.
I approached the direction of the voice with a dark instrument in hand.
When I searched for signs, the number of bandits surrounding us was about fifty.
And besides that, there are three other weak signs that don't seem to be bandits.
Are they hostages?


You ready to start?
'Yes. Master Gram seems to be waiting for Princess Amelia as well.


As I sit still and listen, I hear an unfamiliar name.
I put that information away in the corner of my mind.
Apparently, that one is going to move too, so shall we move too?


''Huh!''


The sunlight is temporarily obscured by the clouds, and I step out of the sunshine, a little bit of darkness, aiming for a time when my territory is thicker.


'Guhggh!'
Ta-hee!
Hey, what happened to ......!


After neutralizing about ten people in an instant, I jumped on the next prey without stopping to look at it.
The bandits are confused and fall into a coma without being able to even hold their weapons up properly.


''Hey! What the hell is going on here!
'My brother! We're going to be under attack!
What?


The bandit boss, who didn't expect to be met with a counterattack in the presence of hostages, also misjudged the battle situation.
In fact, he should have pulled back when he realized that he was under attack.
But.


'Ugh! I don't know why, but for now, smash all the faces you don't see!
"[Ooh-oh-oh-oh] ！！！！


The bandits rushed into the center of the circle, shouting as they fled from the horror of their companion's clattering fall, not knowing what had been done to them.


'...... ten more? Let Amelia, William and the others take care of the rest, and I'll probably go to the boss and the hostages.


With the strength of Amelia and the others, they could manage to deal with about ten people even without the vanguard.


"Night, when the time comes, Amelia, please.
"I know, my Lord.


I called out to the night with a telepathic message, and a powerful voice came back.
Apparently, they are excited to be able to rampage for the first time in a long time.
It's probably because it's a demon, but it's also more ferocious than other animals.


...... d*mn it, what's going on? Hey! Don't wake up!


The boss kicked his comrade who was lying nearby while pressing his dagger against the throat of the exhausted-looking elven woman.
Still, the unconscious bandit did not move a muscle.
The girl, who must be the woman's daughter, shuddered at the relentless violence, even against her companions.
The other hostage, who could not be seen clearly due to her fall, was also an elven woman.
I wondered if she had lost consciousness from fear.
They were all bound hand, foot, and mouth, and could not move at all.

In order to free the hostages for the moment, I approached the boss with my 'air cover' activated.
I'm sure he was so desperate to wake up his friends that he didn't notice my approach even if he hadn't activated "hiding your presence".
For now, I hold the unconscious woman in my arms and put her on top of a tree, out of sight of the boss.
I cut off the ropes for her limbs and mouth with a dark instrument.

Then I approach the girl to help her.
I didn't want her to get out of control, so I dropped the hand knife on her neck before carrying her away.
If Amelia had been watching, she would surely have been pissed off, but as long as she wasn't looking, it wouldn't be a problem.
Besides, I don't want her to mistake me, a human race, for one of the bandits and raise her voice as if I were one of them, even if she saw me.

I tried to save the woman at the end, but the boss had caught her firmly.
Now, what to do?


'Hey, get your hands off that woman if you don't want to let her head fly yet.
'Wow!


As I said this while holding the darkener to my neck, the boss, who hadn't noticed my approach until just now, jumped up and unintentionally pulled his hand away from the woman in surprise.
Okay, thank God for being an idiot.

I didn't miss the opportunity to quickly pull the woman over to me.
The woman, who hadn't even noticed this one, also widens her eyes at the suddenness of it.
I cut that rope with a dark instrument and point to the tree where I laid the girl down.
The woman understood without saying anything, and she climbed up that tree, peeking at us.
I never take my eyes off the boss, hoping that he will take care of the other hostage in the tree next to it.
The boss seemed to be very angry, his cheeks were flushed and his forehead was covered in blue streaks.
His blood pressure is definitely rising.


''You! How dare you hold me hostage in your care, Master Gram!
I don't know. I mean, who the f*ck is this Gram guy?
I'm not talking to you!


I'm an idiot, but won't you fall for it?
Apparently, those hostage elves were entrusted to that Gram-sama in capturing Amelia.
The boss is furious that he lost them and is glaring at me if only to shoot you.


Now, I've got a lot of questions for you. Aside from the ones scattered around, I'll let you get them.
Kid! Do you know that this me is the boss of the Blue Grade Crime Guild 'Shark' and you're listening to me like that?


Confident boss.
I'm sorry, but it's not that I don't get it when people say it's a blue class or a shark, it's more like it's just blue and shark, which is just fine.
How much of a rank is a blue class?


'I've never heard of it at all. Sorry.


Seeing no use in further discussion, he slammed his dark-armed fist into its pigeontail.
I thought I took it easy on him, but the boss didn't even grunt as he collapsed.


'Well, I wonder if Amelia's done too.


I restrained the boss in a circle with a vine plant that was growing around there and carried it.
No matter how many attempts I made, the one who tried to kidnap Amelia had no human rights in me.
Looking up, I saw that the girl I had lost consciousness on seemed to have returned to consciousness as well.
Her mother, an elf, is holding her daughter in tears.

I guess it's all settled.

I breathed in deeply, looking away from the happy scene of father and son.






But I had no idea.
That this was only the beginning.