Koloki and Silas were D-rank adventurers, while Ante was only E rank.
That was simply the result of devoting themselves to swordsmanship rather than working as professional adventurers.
Because they were temporarily forming a party, Ante had to be registered as its leader.
An adventurer could only join a party led by someone of the same rank, one rank higher, or one rank lower.
For example, an E-rank leader could have D-, E-, or F-rank members.
The rank of requests a party could accept was determined by the party’s overall level, calculated from the average rank of all its members.
In the end, perhaps because the receptionist considered their actual combat strength—or perhaps because of those three surnames—she approved the request and assigned it to them.
The newly formed party left the town behind.
The snowy plain opened around them, and gusts of wind whipped loose flakes directly into their faces.
This was Noah’s first time traveling so far from home.
It felt a little like leaving the beginner village and entering the wild monster zone: players grouped up to run a dungeon, then split the experience and loot afterward.
The only important difference was the lack of a respawn point.
Otherwise, adventurer life really wasn’t that different from a game.
They followed the main road for a while, then crossed two mountain ridges to shorten the route and increase their speed.
Since everyone was traveling light, difficult terrain actually worked in their favor.
Koloki wanted to resolve the request as quickly as possible and return to the Holy Land without delay.
After they crossed the mountains, the terrain began sloping downward.
The snow thinned, exposing patches of gray-black rock and soil beneath.
Deep wagon ruts marked the main road, twisting southward.
Before noon, the party finally reached the location described in the guild’s information—the place where one of the merchant caravans had been attacked.
Honestly, it wasn’t even particularly far from the Holy Land of Swords.
Most merchant caravans hired armed escorts.
Perhaps being so close to a supposedly safe region had made them lower their guard, allowing the bandits to strike so thoroughly that not a single survivor remained.
Koloki and Ante examined the scene together.
Too much time had passed, however.
Thin snow now covered the area, and almost no useful clues remained.
Even the old bloodstains had been disturbed by monsters attracted to the scent.
Koloki frowned deeply.
This was troublesome.
“What do you think, Koloki?” Ante asked.
Naturally, his field experience also fell short of Koloki’s.
“Let’s search nearby for wagon tracks leaving the main road,” Koloki said after some thought.
“The stolen cargo would’ve had to be hauled away by wagon.”
He relied on his old adventuring experience and began looking for traces.
“Right.”
“Understood.”
Before long, they found wagon ruts branching away from the main road.
One trail headed southeast.
The other headed southwest.
Unfortunately, there was no obvious way to tell which one the bandits had used to retreat.
“If we’re going to follow both directions, should we split into two groups?” Ante suggested as everyone gathered to discuss their next move.
“No.” Koloki shook his head.
“We still don’t know how many enemies there are. Splitting up before we know their numbers is asking for trouble.”
“I agree,” Silas said.
“It would be safer to investigate them one at a time—or choose whichever direction seems more likely and pursue that first.”
Nina and Jino didn’t speak.
They had come primarily to gain experience, and neither possessed enough practical knowledge to contribute much here.
Noah thought for a moment.
He had made plenty of preparations for the day he could travel alone, including reading maps of the region surrounding the Holy Land.
“My guess would be southwest,” he said after a brief hesitation.
“I remember from the maps that the nearest forest in this area lies southwest. The forest to the southeast is much farther away.”
“Bandits would probably prefer somewhere they can hide. Though southeast is also possible, since it leads farther from the Holy Land.”
The Holy Land of Swords sat on a peninsula in the northwestern corner of the Central Continent.
The farther southeast one traveled, the farther away from the Holy Land one generally went.
Koloki considered that for several seconds.
“True. Those pieces of trash would probably rather hide in a forest than out on the southeastern snowfields. And if their goal was simply to stay far away from the Holy Land, they wouldn’t be robbing caravans this close in the first place.”
Koloki was the real leader of the party, so once he stated his view, the decision was effectively made.
They set off again.
By the time the sun was approaching the horizon, the group stopped along a mountain ridge.
Noah crouched against the wind and narrowed his eyes as he looked down below.
With daylight fading, the forest beneath them appeared as a mixture of white snow and deep green shadow. Enjoying the story? Read on at g.com.
Several thin trails of cooking smoke rose from among the trees, distinctly unnatural against the otherwise untouched landscape.
A small adventurer party making camp would usually have only one fire and one column of smoke.
Several fires suggested a much larger group.
The party rested briefly and eventually decided to send Silas, who had more adventuring experience, to scout the area.
If this really was the bandit hideout they were searching for, perfect.
If not, they would have to return empty-handed—or possibly spend the night outdoors and continue searching tomorrow.
After several careful reminders from Koloki, Silas waved them off and disappeared into the darkening forest.
…
The scouting trip didn’t take long.
Silas returned with good news.
His expression, however, was so grim it looked almost heavy enough to drip from his face.
“It is a bandit hideout. From what I could observe, there are at least twenty people. I don’t know their exact strength, but judging by their movements, most appear to be Beginner or Intermediate swordsmen…”
Silas relayed everything he’d seen, then hesitated before turning to Koloki.
“I also saw captured adventurers inside. I’d like to ask both senior brothers to participate directly, so we can make certain the hostages are rescued as well.”
Koloki and Ante exchanged looks.
That would technically violate Gal’s orders.
The bandit camp Silas had observed was arranged in several layers.
The outermost area held the largest number of bandits.
Several bonfires surrounded a special little ‘dance floor.’
Female adventurers who had been captured were dressed in torn clothing and forced to ‘dance’ under threat of death.
The watching bandits shouted excitedly.
Some even scooped up snow from the ground, packed it into little balls, and threw them toward particularly humiliating parts of the prisoners’ bodies.
Farther inside were several tents on either side of the camp.
Thanks to his sharp senses, Silas had clearly heard screams and pleas coming from within as people were whipped and tortured.
Even strong-willed adventurers were gradually broken by starvation and near-death suffering.
Rationally, they knew submission wouldn’t save them.
More unspeakable torment would still be waiting.
At the center of everything stood a crude wooden cabin.
It wasn’t difficult to guess that the leader of the bandits lived there.
The anger Silas had felt while witnessing the scene only burned hotter during his return to the group, fed by the sense of justice that had guided him for years.
And as he described what he’d seen, that silent anger spread to everyone listening.