Chapter 33

Of course, the reason I handed the mana crystals over to the Rabbit Tribe was to have them make and use mana bombs.

The plan was simple: use the mana bombs to draw the attention of the Levelium Merchant Group’s guards, and then escape quickly.

But it wasn’t meant to cause a full-blown riot like this.

—Wasn’t that too many mana crystals?

“No, supplies have to be enough. There’s nothing dumber than losing lives because of a lack of resources.”

Supplies could always be returned if there was any leftover.

The memory of losing comrades due to a shortage of resources was one of the worst in my life, and I wanted to avoid repeating it at all costs.

“This is going to be exhausting.”

The territories around Levelium generally acknowledge the merchant group’s authority quite broadly.

If problems arise within the group, they usually handle it themselves.

If something happened that the merchant group couldn’t handle, they would provide support—but such help wouldn’t be immediate.

“So if we cause just the right amount of commotion, the territory soldiers won’t intervene.”

—Is that even “just the right amount of commotion”?

“That’s the problem. I need to hurry.”

Territory soldiers are tricky opponents.

The merchant group’s guards are pretty much all the same, but the regular army of a territory can’t be ignored.

Especially here in Levelium, the wealthiest area of the Ribella Peninsula, they were bound to be much better armed than the soldiers of Johnson Territory.

“Plus, the knights will be coming out too.”

Knights were the real problem, not just the soldiers.

Once the knights were fully mobilized, escape might become impossible.

“Leisha. You need to stop the knights.”

“Understood. I’ll handle the knights.”

“Good. I’ll join in as well.”

We dashed like lightning to the Levelium Merchant Group’s livestock barn—or what had been the barn.

It was utter chaos, flames everywhere.

And there, I spotted Rabbit Tribe workers fleeing with piles of supplies.

“There! Capture them!”

We weren’t the only ones after the Rabbit Tribe workers.

Guards from the castle, the gate sentries, and even the knights on duty—all were charging toward us.

The only saving grace was that the barn had been completely destroyed, and with livestock scattering in every direction, the guards near the barn weren’t paying attention to us.

“Exactly what I wanted—they’re only focused on the barn.”

A sigh escaped me at the thought of how thoroughly the Rabbit Tribe had executed their plan.

—I guess there’s no helping it. They’re terrorists made by their master. Just endure with all you’ve got.

“Ugh, really.”

We charged toward the knights first.

They didn’t look too healthy, probably having been startled awake.

Well, night duty can be grueling.

So we’d make these tired knights rest a little longer.

“What? What’s this? Rabbits?”

“I am Jontos, a Rabbit Tribe warrior of the Bopalebbit Squad!”

I was wearing a mask over my face, with rabbit ears sticking out from my head.

My Unbreakable, my signature weapon, was temporarily set aside since it was too conspicuous, and I only had on the gauntlets I borrowed from Leisha.

No one could mistake me for Iron Johnson of Johnson Territory, so I moved proactively.

“Damn it. What kind of rabbits…”

“Gah! A female… Rabbit Tribe warrior!”

The knights from Hawrun Territory suddenly appeared—four of them.

All four were mid-to-lower ranking, not particularly skilled.

They were probably on night duty because they’d been pushed down the seniority list, which seemed to be the usual system in this area.

“If that had happened in Johnson Territory, they’d all be dead by now.”

Is this place just too comfortable to live in?

For me, it was a blessing, though.

“Alright! Take out the following soldiers quickly, then get out.”

The Black Lion female warriors easily incapacitated the knights and the soldiers chasing the Rabbit Tribe workers. It didn’t take long.

The first wave of forces that had burst from the castle was dealt with faster than expected.

They were probably still alive.

Being from a wealthy region, their armor was solid.

Even the soldiers wore magically enchanted armor, making the difference in combat power obvious.

Though their individual skills were somewhat disappointing.

“Could this complicate things?”

“Yeah. This is getting bigger than expected. We need to understand the mood in the castle.”

It’s one thing to clash with the merchant group, but beating the castle’s regular army and escaping is significant.

I couldn’t predict how the territory would judge this, but it definitely wouldn’t feel good.

Are they really going to form a serious pursuit party?

—If that happens, it’ll get tiring.

—Weren’t you supposed to meet a pretty female subordinate in the middle region? A female fox, that is.

“That’s right. Yuria said she’d help with the final supplies.”

Would Yuria’s subordinates, who likely escaped the castle before me, know the mood in the castle?

I hoped they knew even a little.

“Oh, really? Muscular Rabbit Tribe warrior?”

“Yes, that’s what they reported in the castle. The Rabbit Tribe warriors came and rescued the Rabbits.”

Surprisingly, Yuria’s subordinate had a good sense of the castle’s mood.

They even had a way to contact Yuria.

According to him, our cover seemed convincing enough.

After all, with the chaos at midnight, no one could have noticed fake rabbit ears.

The knights hadn’t even regained their senses before Leisha and I hit them.

“The young lady laughed uproariously at the thought of a muscular Rabbit Tribe warrior…”

“Ah, whatever. How’s the pursuit going?”

“Yes. The merchant group quickly gathered mercenaries.”

“Mercenaries? What about the lord?”

“Chairman Albert reported that the merchant group would handle it. He seemed quite wounded in pride.”

“Ah, really?”

So the regular army isn’t moving?

Good.

Yuria laughing uproariously might indicate some annoyance, but the situation itself was favorable.

At least we didn’t have to face the castle’s regular army.

“How skilled are the mercenaries?”

“Hm, the mercenaries from Hawrun Castle? None of them are particularly impressive.”

“Still, shouldn’t they be good at pursuit?”

“That’s true.”

“So it’s certain that a pursuit will come.”

Sending a pursuit team from the Levelium Merchant Group was a given.

The only fortunate thing was that, perhaps because the barn had exploded so spectacularly, Chairman Albert was furious and had decided to handle things himself rather than relying on the lord.

‘Maybe he doesn’t want the lord to strip away his vested rights. If he keeps relying on others one by one, the balance will eventually tip.’

It seemed a bit twisted, but the result was exactly as I expected.

All we had to do was deal with the pursuit team prepared by the Levelium Merchant Group.

Because the Rabbit Tribe had caused such a huge commotion, more forces than I anticipated were being deployed, but mercenaries were still just mercenaries.

They were far easier to handle than regular troops.

And in this, the Rabbit Tribe workers—now awakened to the new world—acted even more proactively.

“Lord, we will use the weapons you taught us to stop their pursuit. Give us the chance as well.”

“The Rabbit Tribe?”

“Booby traps! Mana bombs! Booby traps! Mana bombs!”

“No, wait, calm down a bit.”

So, they wanted to set up booby traps with mana bombs along the expected pursuit route?

In truth, the Rabbit Tribe were the specialists in escape, weren’t they?

They knew better than anyone how pursuers would chase them.

“That… actually sounds like a good idea. Let’s do it immediately.”

Perhaps these Rabbit Tribe guys were just naturally good at this.

I only taught them the basics, and they applied them right away.

Come to think of it, even the earlier barn explosion was, in terms of results, a proper act of sabotage, wasn’t it?

‘The amazing part is that no one got caught, and they escaped successfully.’

True to their reputation as professional escapees, having played hide-and-seek with monsters in the Forest of Illusions, they were unrivaled when it came to running away.

‘And now they want to set up more booby traps.’

These guys… have they found amusement in this?

The Rabbit Tribe weren’t just simple workers, were they?

Maybe I’ve brought out their hidden true nature.

The Levelium Merchant Group had hired a significant number of mercenaries to track us.

Given our numbers, outrunning them was realistically impossible, and the best option was to set traps along the routes where we wanted to stop them.

Especially the Rabbit Tribe, now aware of these new devices, set traps that were so precise and wicked even I had to mutter, “This is serious.”

“Die! All you wicked humans, die!”

“Bam!”

At this point, I had to wonder if I had made a mistake.

Had it been my fault to teach the professional escapees and guerrilla specialists of the Rabbit Tribe about booby traps?

It was practically impossible for me and the Black Lion female warriors to stop all the pursuers, but with the Rabbit Tribe’s traps added, evading the pursuit became remarkably easy.

“Kill them all!”

I tended to show mercy when facing regular troops, but mercenaries couldn’t be treated the same way.

The biggest issue was that some of the mercenaries knew the faces of the Black Lion female warriors who had fought alongside us briefly.

Mercenaries lived chaotic lives, risking their lives—how could they simply be let go?

It was far wiser to cleanly eliminate them and move on.

“The Rabbit Tribe is amazing.”

“What on earth did they manage to take?”

Another astonishing fact was that the Rabbit Tribe, after completely destroying the barn, had also cleanly stolen the butchered meat stored in the barn warehouse.

And on top of that, they had managed to gather supplies on their own.

No wonder they were collecting things as they fled—it turned out to be all meat.

“The Rabbit Tribe were good friends indeed.”

Thanks to them, Leisha and the Black Lions had enough nutrition even while fleeing, and it helped maintain good relations between the Lion Tribe warriors and the Rabbit Tribe workers.

Yuria had helped prepare supplies, but keeping up with the Black Lions’ appetites was difficult.

The Black Lions were consistently easy to handle.

“Now, it seems most of the pursuers have fallen behind.”

“The mercenaries we dealt with were not insignificant in number. It should be roughly under control.”

“Exactly. Phew, can we finally see the end?”

It had already been four days since the party began fleeing.

True to their nature, the Rabbit Tribe workers marched quickly, and after four days, they were approaching the Forest of Illusions.

Once we entered the Forest of Illusions, no matter how wealthy the mercenaries were, they wouldn’t be able to follow easily.

No matter how much money they had, pursuing into the forbidden depths of the Forest of Illusions was impossible.

The tedious chase over several days was finally drawing to a close.

‘Hmm?’

—Master?

‘No, it’s just… a foreboding feeling…’

While taking a brief rest on the open plains, a strange premonition swept over me.

It was not a good feeling.

“My instincts feel off. Something big is about to happen.”

And I wasn’t the only one sensing it.

Leisha also felt a sense of foreboding, gathering the female warriors around her.

She then dispatched them in all directions to survey the surroundings.

“Great Warrior, Raptor!”

“A huge group. Too many to count.”

The female warriors who had scouted north came running back, bringing dire news.

A massive horde of raptors was approaching us, so large that counting them was impossible.

“Why are raptors here?”

And leading such a massive group?

What kind of nonsense is this?

It seemed that our grand escape, guiding the Rabbit Tribe to the territory, was far from over.

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