Slave Harem in the Labyrinth of the Other World (LN)
Volume 1 - Ch 5.09

Well, I thought you might try to pull something like that off since you kept glancing at my waist as if you knew that I am carrying a weapon there.

Oh really? And how is that going to help you now that you dont have any weapon on you? Or are you saying that youre going to fight me bare-handed?

Im not that suicidal yet. Ill give you the Bandit Bandana.

I placed my right hand under the mantle again in search of the Bandit Bandana while hiding my left hand behind my waist in such a way that he wouldnt notice. As far as this guy is concerned, Im just rummaging through my belongings in search of the item he wanted. Good, let the poor dimwit think that, because unbeknownst to him, I do have another weapon on me, I just dont have it equipped yet.

Keeping the Bandit Bandana in my right hand, I showed it to the Bandit who reached out for it. But before he could claim his prize, I threw the Bandana into the lanterns flame.

WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOURE DOING?!

And he rushed towards the lantern to try and salvage the Bandit Bandana before the flames consumed it. That was his final mistake.

..! Ghaaaaaa.

He didnt even realize what was going on until he looked at his own chest, out of which the Durandals blade was now protruding. Thats right, when he was overcome with panic at the prospect of losing the Bandit Bandana and showed his back to me, I used that moment to summon Durandal into my left hand and stab him in the back. I wasnt putting much attention to where I was stabbing him, but I think I either got him straight through the heart, or somewhere around it. I killed him when there was no one around to witness it, just like he wanted to do with me. Turns out that we both had the same idea in our minds.

Soiled with his own blood, the Bandits body fell to the ground with a silent *thud*. Bandit Bandana was also consumed by the flames, but I didnt consider that to be that much of a loss. I wasnt going to wear it myself because of the stigma it would have inevitably brought down on me, and selling it at a high price would be extremely difficult too. But I gotta say, using it as Bait to upset this guy so much that he would drop down his guard was a brilliant idea on my side. I was worried that this little provocation might fail, but apparently the Bandit Bandana is of such a high value to the criminals that they are willing to risk their goddamn lives to get their hands on it. And speaking of hands, I picked up the Scimitar that the dead Bandit dropped and cut off his left hand with it. Next, I wrapped a piece of the bedsheet around the wound to stop it from bleeding and then placed the Bandits body in the bed and covered it with the sheets. Now its looking like hes just sleeping, so that should delay the discovery of his body for at least some time. I waited until the Bandit bandana Burned completely and then put out the lanterns flame. Now I can warp to the room where the big cheese is supposed to be sleeping.

The room was pitch black, making it impossible to see farther than my outstretched hand. There was no light source in my immediate vicinity, and nothing was making any sound. No, wait, actually, I do hear something if I listen calmly. Its the sound of the breathing of someone who is asleep. Someone is here with me after all! I used Identify to carefully apprise my surroundings. Man, I am thankful to whoever it was who designed the Identify in such a way that it can be used even without any light around the user.

There was a total of four people in here: Lv.11, Lv.14, Lv.35 and Lv.38 Bandits. A little surprising, but it shouldnt be anything that I wouldnt be able to handle with my Durandal. The levels of the Bandits are not that high, but they should be enough to fetch me a nice prize money after Ill dispose of them. Now, the room itself may be bathed in darkness, but thanks to Identify I also know where the enemies are in relation to my own position. Two of them, Lv.38 and Lv.14 are in the back, and lv.11 and lv.35 are in the front of the room. They are sleeping in two male/female pairs. Oh, la la, looks like somebody was enjoying themselves last night.

Okay, theres no telling when any of them might wake up, so Ill have to move as quietly as possible. Slowly but surely, one foot in front of the other to avoid tripping over them like some kinda idiot.

First, I made my way towards the Lv.35 and Lv.11 pair. I crouched next to their bed and poked them lightly with my fingers to determine if I am at their feet side or head side. Yup, those are their feet. Moving to the other side it is then. When I got to the right side, I confirmed the position of the Bandits neck and placed Durandal on it. All that is left to do now is to pull the blade towards me as strongly and quietly as possible.

*SLIIIIIIIIIIIIT!*

The sound of the skin being cut open was so silent that I was the only one who could hear it. The Bandit died without uttering as much as a single word because I cleanly cut all of the arteries in his neck. With hat out of the way, I proceeded to cut off his left hand. I mustnt forget why Im here. Not to defeat the Bandits, but to claim their Intelligence Cards. With the second wrist in tow I opened the Item Box and placed it in the same slot as the first wrist, and wrapped the body in the sheets. Since this Bandit was Lv.35, Im bound to get a nice sum of money for his Intelligence Card, Im sure of it. Now to collect the Card of that other Bandit. And if something unexpected happens, I can always run away with Warp. I moved to the other side of the bed and placed Durandals blade at the Lv.11 female Bandits neck. This time I pulled it diagonally upwards.

Gu!

The female Bandit moaned weakly. Looks like I overdid it this time because I pushed the hip of the blade further than I have originally intended and misjudged the distance. The second Bandit is dead, but there are still two of them remaining. And with that moan just now, theres no telling if they wont wake up, so I grabbed the third wrist and made my way to the other bed as fast and quietly as possible

Ugh whos there?

The other womans voice echoed throughout the room. Fuck, so she woke up after all! I confirmed her exact position with Identify, and cut off her head with one swing of Durandal. The head fell onto the bed without making any sound, but even so I heard that something was moving hurriedly across the bed. That must be the Lv.38 Bandit attempting to escape. He rolled of the bed and hit the ground pretty hard, but seconds after that I heard the sound of something being picked up and swung around. Looks like my current enemy equipped himself with a Copper Sword. It must have been hidden under the bed. Dude, I understand that you might be confused, but who in their right mind would be grabbing a sword first thing after being awoken?! Were you assuming that you might get attacked in your sleep?! Anyway, this puts me at a disadvantage here. I dont know the exact layout of the room, so the wisest option is to fall back to the corridor where I will have more space to move around. So, I warped there without a second thought and waited outside the door. Just like the room, the corridor was now pitch black. I readied my sword, assumed the stance and braced myself.

Seconds later, the door to the room where the Bandits slept seemed to have opened with a *click* sound. The real question is: what should I do now? If I allow the is Lv.38 Bandit to leave the room, hes surely going to try and call for help, assuming that there are still more people in here. If I allow him to do it, I will learn their location, which will in tur allow me to take their Intelligence Cards if their levels will be high enough. But that option might as well backfire against me if the numbers of the enemies will be too great for me to handle by myself. No, that is a risk that I absolutely cannot take. Alright then, Im offing this guy as soon as he walks out of that door.