Episode 3

One Snakes Keep, Basement.

 

2 bandits dragging a beaten-up man coming down from the stair, the man was Baron Larson who is one of Duke Merrica's retainers that followed Duke Merrica on this failed campaign to defeat the vicious bandit groups a few weeks ago. Duke Merrica and his men were beaten up to the pulp every day since they were captured, and today was no exception but amongst the past times, Baron Larson has become the bandit's punching bag the most. The bandit wardens carry Baron Larson to the cell and throw him inside like a sack of wheat, the sound of his harsh land woke up the knights who sleeping inside.

 

< THUDD!! >

 

"Ughhhh...". (Baron Larson)

 

"Larson!!...you animal!!...<BBAAMM!!>…aarrgghhh!!". (Duke Merrica)

 

"Heh!....brainless nobles…how about you run that pie hole of yours some more…..come on~". (Bandit Warden)

One of the bandit wardens kicks Duke Merrica on the stomach, causing the already injured Duke to fall on his knees while holding his bleeding torso.

 

"....".

Fumes with rage and pain, Duke can only glare at the bandit while his head was stomped to the floor.

 

"<Ptui!>…that was I thought..Cheh!..Lock em up..". (Bandit Warden)

 

As the cell doors were finally locked, the rest of the knights rushed to the Baron and Duke, All of them immediately assisting Duke Merrica and Baron Larson in tending to their wounds.

 

"Baron Larson!.. Duke Merrica!!..". ( Knights)

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Outside One Snakes Keep.

 

"Sleeping on duty will kill you.….then.…..sleep tight….forever….".

 

< Psshhuupp!! >

 

The sound of a 7.65mm bullet going off was muffled by the silencer, my first Target was one of the guards on top of the keep since there are 4 of them just leisurely sleeping on each corner, it makes this so much easier. I'm snipping them from the top of a tree, 100 meters away from the Keep, the 4 lucky(?) guards don't even know what happened all of them died in their sleep with their heads blown to pieces.

 

[46 Target remaining..].

 

"....Next up..2 on top of the gate…3…2…".

 

<PSSHHUUPP!!>....< PSSHHUUPP!!>…time to move..".

 

Aiming for the left guard on top of the gates, I pulled the trigger as he turns away from the right guards, once again a head shot. Before the left guard's body touches the floor, I pulled the trigger once again and this time the right guard's head gets popped. As all high vantage points have been neutralized, I come out from the forest and advance to the gate.

 

"Huh?..Hol..< PAASSHH!!..>..".(Gate guard 1)

 

"!!..Ene!!..< BBUUKK!! BBUKK!! ZAASSS!!.>..".(Gate guard 2)

 

As I closed in the first guard noticed me, but before he can finish his sentence, his jaw was blown off by my bullet. The sudden bloody scene shock the second guard, but it was too late I already throwing my fist at his throat which made his shout immediately stop, I then kicked his knees immediately broke them, and before he got to kneels in pain, I grab his chin and slit his throat with my Karambit, drown and choked on his own blood the second guards were dead within 3 moves.

 

[42 targets remaining, sir ].

 

< CLINK!! >….< BBOOOFFF!! >

 

"AAARRGGHHH!!! MY EYES!!!…"(Bandits)

Eyeing for the small gap between the closed gate, I can see the rowdy bandits busy partying circling around the fire pit in the middle of the square, they don't even realize that 8 of them are already dead. Pulling the pin from the Flashbang, I throw it right in the middle of the courtyard where most of the bandits were.

 

< PPPAAPP!!...PPAAPP!!...PPAAPP!!...PPSSHHUPPP!!…..>

Before they even got the time to rub their eyes, I come in and start to shower them with bullets, standing right at the entrance, gave me clear views of every single bandit in the square. No such thing as mercy, Not stopping for anything, my index finger keep pulling the trigger, aiming for the heads and chests of every bandit I saw. After emptying 4 clips and several seconds of death wails, all of them lays cold on the ground.

 

"AAAHHH!!…URGHHH!!…".( Bandits)

 

"..T.A.S…start body count..<kachak!!>…..<Psshupp!!>..Start now..".

I changed the clipped of my SCAR-H, then I pulled out my P226 and Shoot one of the bandits who squirmed around near my feet.

 

[19 targets killed, 23 remainings].

 

"…hmm, acceptable.... actually, I thought it will be a little bit challenging…again….I brought a rifle into a sword fight…".

 

(Sir, what will you do to the Slaves over there?..).

 

"....let's set them aside for now...I think about it after I clear all the bandits..".

 

I pity them actually, but in all honesty, I don't know what to do with them. On the other side, I got other things on my plate now, for now, I think It's better to clear the whole keep first before dealing with them.

 

[Sir, the bandit leader, and all high-level members are located on the 2nd floor, Duke party location located inside the basement..].

 

"..Roger that..".

 

Of course, I'm aiming for the 2nd floor, now that I know Duke and his men were in the basement, that's actually a good thing because they were confined in a single location. The bandits won't kill them, and their position now definitely won't get them involved in the crossfire, also this makes things easier for me, I don't have to worry about misfiring someone.

 

< BAM! BAM! >

 

"(HOLD UP!!)....what do you guys wan…?!<PAASSHH!!>". (Bandit)

Banging on the door, I can hear footsteps slowly coming to the door, with an annoying tone the bandit opens the door, only to meet my riffle barrel right in front of his face. I pulled the trigger, the bullet goes through his head, Then I kicked his torso causing him to fly right back, and opened the door widely. The remaining 3 bandits inside were shocked, but before they managed to ask what was going on, I already pulled the trigger aiming for all of them.

 

<Psshhuupp!!... Psshhuupp!!...Psshhuupp!!...>.

 

Yet another 4 dead bodies on the ground, the smells of blood and musty air filled the entrance, the Keep interior was quite warm, it's just looking more like an animal den rather than a keep. The whole thing was littered with rubbish and disorganized, which already annoyed me, the OCD inside me already going insane.

 

"Why use a Keep if you can't even clean them?...just use a freaking cave then..".

 

[They're bandits after all…this kind of people don't really care about anything other than their greed...].

 

That's right, what can I expect from these barbaric people. Leaving the entrance, I head straight to the staircase heading upwards, and soon after I arrived at the 1st floor. The first floor was unlike the entrance, there's a hallway right upon the staircase it was about 18 meters long and at the end there's another staircase climbing up, the whole floor divided into 2 sides, and on each side, there's a room, it's 4 room in total.

 

[Sir, there are 11 enemies on this floor, 5 inside the first room on the right.…2 in the first left room, and 4 inside the second room on the right..].

 

"…1st left room it is then…".

I'm going for the room with the least enemy first; I can go the other way around but, better go for the easiest one first.

 

Opening the wooden door, I slowly creep in with my rifle muzzle slipping in first. The room was dimly lit, the air inside was musty and reeks of sweat and body odor, and the first thing I saw was a half-naked man lying asleep on a wooden bed, as I was half inside there was another man on the left bed wearing a baggy medieval shirt, this guy also deep asleep. Seeing the free opportunity, I pull the trigger aiming at their heads sending them to sleep forever.

 

[18 targets remaining...].

 

I closed the door, and crept to the second room on the right side, just like before, the room was unlocked, and in fact, it was slightly opened. There's a bit of light coming out from the room, slowly I sneak a peek through the gap. This room was actually a Treasury by the look of it, there's a pile of wooden boxes stacked all around the room, weapons of all types were hung on the racks, and there are 4 bandits squatting in the middle of the room, arguing about how to divide the gold coins amongst them.

 

"Shhh!!…don't be so loud!!..".

 

"Yeah right!...huh?...he!..< PSSHHUUPP!! >..".

 

Giving no chance to slip away I fired 4 shots at the bandits. Each shot made a hole in their heads, needless to say, all four of them were instantly killed. Ever since I started coming to this world, and experiencing the changes due to the increase in my physical state, my overall performance was nothing but inhuman. So far I missed no shots, every move was precise and perfect. Also, my mental state was on a different level, I was able to learn and understand anything simply by reading any thick books for an hour. By the way, after having a higher intellect I realized that my passiveness period or 'trying to be a good man' was actually a waste of time, I tried to become a good guy but what's the use if the society still views me the same and treat me like a trash. All I do was try to satisfy the people around me, but I myself wasn't feel happy and restrained. But now that I was able to travel to this world and the changes I've experienced make me feel free, I was able to be myself for the first time in a long time and I was quite content with it. But, that doesn't mean I was a heartless psychopath, I'm someone who will only use violence if I deem necessary, after all, I am a civilized modern Man.

 

[4 targets eliminated, 14 remainings].

 

"..Gold coins….buck load of em..hehehehehe..".

The feeling of seeing gold coins falls from your hands was definitely a great one. It was breathtaking, but I have to delay my celebration, for now, there are 14 more bandits to kill and also that Duke. I just hope he doesn't die before I was able to save him, still he probably won't die that easy right?.

 

This time I head to the 1st room, seeing that it got the most bandits in it there's probably something valuable in it.

 

[Sir, there's actually something in there…but if it was valuable or not…..you probably have to decide it yourself...].

 

What T.A.S said was actually odd, still, since I'm going to check it out anyway there's no need to pay attention to it. Unlike the treasury room, this one was firmly shut and noisy, as I eavesdropped on the door I instantly know what was going on.

 

"HMMMM!!!....."

 

"shit!!..This one has broken already…". (Bandit)

Skin slapping sound loudly echoes in the room as grunts and annoyed voices complain.

 

"Look, there's elf here…hehehehehe". (Bandit)

 

Even from the other side of the room I already know what happened inside the room, there are at least 2 bandits still busy raping slaves, as for the other 3 they started moving further into the middle of the room, probably to the elf they were talking about.

 

{[HIDDEN QUEST ++ RECEIVED!]}

{Damsels in Distress}

[Save the Banished High Elven Queen Elijah An Quers who's about to be raped to death.]

Reward:

- Opened new status parameter [Loyalty].

- Gain full loyalty and devotion from the Banished Queen and 70 points of loyalty from all slaves saved.

- Gain 5 Advanced level workers and 1 Master level worker

 

Penalty :

- [Loyalty] parameter will be permanently locked.

- Slaves saved will retaliate causing severe damage to your Reputation.

- Duke and his Nation will avoid contacting you.

- 60% of Keep's treasure will be lost.

- Keep will be burned down by Hallerus Army.

 

"Fuck!....< BAMM!! >…".

 

"HUH!!..< PPSSHHUPPP!! >..URGHH!!....".

 

Seeing the sudden quest announcement made me lose my pace, I kicked down the door, immediately the whole attention was turned to me. The first bandit that turned to me was fully naked grunting while pumping his waist on a small naked girl's corpse. Before he managed to say anything I blast his head off with a 7.65mm bullet. The second one was also busy grabbing a teenager in a doggy position right beside the first bandit; I fired 3 shots at him 1 on the left eye and 2 on his chest. Both of them fall dead on top of the girls they're ravishing, as for the other 3 who still standing, stopped their tracks and turned their eyes on the door.

 

"What the?!! Ugh!!..< ZASS!! >…UGHHH!!.. < THUD!!>".

 

I strode forward as I unsheathed my machete from my back, the 3rd bandit who was stunned at the sight of me, tried to step back, but before he does, I take a large step forward and swung my machete across his neck, the slash was so quick and divisive it leaves a straight line of blood across the walls behind him, the head stayed for a few seconds before falls to the floor.

 

"Wait!!..< BUKK!! CRAKK!!>..<ZASS!! ZASS!! >..".

The 4th Bandit, who was startled, shoves his right hand forward and tried to stop me. Using my left hand, I grab his wrist and bend outward them till it's break, I yank his hand causing his body to jerk forward, at the same time I slash down my machete cutting his left hand completely and before he was able to shout and fall pass me, once again, I cleaved his body into two, right in the middle of his torso. The body was split into two parts as it falls to the floor.

 

"RUN!!..HMMMM!!!…< ZUKK!!!..>…GULGGGGGGGG!!..".

Witnessing the fate of his fellow, the 5th bandit tries to run away, but before he was even managed to run past me, I kicked his knees and cover his mouth with my left hand, and using my machete, I slit his throat causing him to slowly choke on his own blood. The sound of his gurgling in his own blood and his body falling to the floor silent the entire room.

 

[5 target eliminated, 9 target remaining….{Hidden Quest ++ Damsels in Distress} complete..[Loyalty] Parameter has been unlocked...].

 

T.A.S's monotone voice broke the silence, looks like I managed to complete my first quest, still, I wasn't able to bask in its glory yet, because right now there are 5 pairs of eyes staring right at me. All of them were wearing only tattered loincloths, revealing their bare body, for a brief moment it was certainly distracting even for a gentleman like me. But looking at their condition, all of them were malnourished, their body was full of bruised and injuries, and their necks, wrist, and ankle were badly wounded due to the iron shackles. I've read about how bad a slave's life was but seeing it first-hand was definitely shocking.

 

After quite some time, I focus on a lady who's laying down on the floor. She was about 190cm, pale white skin, long golden blonde hair, the right half of her body from head to toe was badly burned (2nd-degree burn), her right hand was amputated from the elbow the same goes for her right leg, amputated from the knee. Even so, I can clearly see that she was definitely a beautiful woman, her body, and her face definitely clearly state so. I use [Identify] on her, surprisingly this half-dead lady was the Queen whom I just saved. She, who's aware of my gaze, finally locked eyes with me, yet never uttered a word, which makes me feel uncomfortable.

 

"…So…You're the Banished High Elven Queen Elijah An Quers huh…".

I can't help but feel uncomfortable by the intense gaze she gave me, which makes me sound so snobbish.