Chapter 22: My blunder should be forgiven now

The evening of that day.

I felt something weird.

“What’s this…?”

<<This is the effect of the village skill [Intruder Detection] activating. Someone has been able to trespass into your village.>>

I got that skill when my village level rose to 4.

There hasn’t been a chance for it to activate before, but it was now telling me that we had an intruder in the village.

“It seems like I can tell even how many intruders there are… but is there really only one of them? Wasn’t the talk earlier about a group of bandits?”

The refugees who arrived today told us of the bandits that attacked them, so we were on alert.

“Finding a village in the middle of nowhere might have made them cautious.”

Selen said so.

So, this one’s a scout?

“Can you tell where that person is?”

“Yeah, they’re by the fields.”

And so, together with Selen, I headed toward the fields.

The sun had already set, so we didn’t have much vision. On top of that, there were many tall crops in the fields, making them good hiding places. Even so, we should be able to locate the intruder’s location thanks to my [Intruder Detection].

“They should be around there.”

“Understood. This’ll destroy some crops, so sorry in advance.”

Selen said so and began casting her magic.

“Freezing!”

“!!!”

Right after, the area I pointed to became frozen in an instant.

“W-what’s going? My body…”

“So that’s our intruder, huh.”

“!!”

After walking around a bit, we found a man who was unable to move his body.

◇　◇　◇

“These bastards sure are lucky.”

I unintentionally said out loud.

Capturing refugees and selling them as slaves, that was how our group was making money nowadays.

There was a large battle recently, so refugees from the villages near the battlefield could be found here and there, wandering aimlessly.

So, thinking we’d make a killing, we captured these refugees without even stopping for a rest.

However, just when I was about to sell them off to a slave trader, I made a blunder that allowed a few of them to escape.

There was plenty more to catch, so I thought it was no big deal. Unfortunately, the boss found out and reprimanded me for it. Worse, he told me to not come back until I’ve captured the ones who escaped. And so, I reluctantly chased after the escaped refugees until I arrived at this wasteland.

But how am I supposed to bring back ten people all by myself? Ah well, I guess I should just kill the guys as well as the uglies. They won’t sell as much as the beautiful women anyway.

While I was thinking so, I discovered something bizarre: a village in this wasteland.

I cursed my luck at first, but when I sneaked in to know more about the village, I thanked my fortune instead. There were about 150 people in the village, but most of them were women and children. There weren’t that many young men as well.

Like that, I decided to contact the boss immediately.

Our group had someone with a very convenient Gift called [Telepathy]. As long as I imagine myself talking to the guy, my thoughts would be sent.

<<Hey, hey, sir Satin, you good to talk right now?>>

<<Oh, it’s you Baal. What the hell do you want? Have you found them?>>

<<Of course. And not just them either. I found a village here in this wasteland>>

<<Have you gone mad? Everybody knows there’s nothing there.>>

<<But there definitely is a village here! Plus, after a bit of investigating, I found that most of ‘em are women. My guess is that this here’s a village made by refugees. If so, then conquering it should be easy, right?>>

<<…you’re not just pulling my leg here, are you?>>

<<Of course not. I’m telling the truth!>>

<<Ok, alright. I’ll go tell the boss. If it turns out that you are indeed telling the truth, then good job, this is quite a feat.>>

<<Thank you!>>

As soon as the communications ended, I clenched my fist.

Kukuku, my blunder should be forgiven now. No, not just that, this should be more than enough for me to earn a promotion!

At that moment though…

“!!!”

To investigate the village, I hid myself hiding between the tall crops in their field. Suddenly though, I was attacked by an intense chill, and before I knew it, my whole body froze in place.

While I was unable to move like that, two people appeared before me: a girl with blue hair and a ten-year-old brat.