Chapter 161: A Nap After Returning (1/2)

“Oh it’s alright, isn’t it? Weapons should be used… But, a dagger called ? Do we use it by throwing? The dragon’s breath has a longer range tough.”

Loren brought the valuable items back from the warehouses just as Tizona and Gula returned from searching the main building. As Tizona was in the situation where every single dime mattered, he was worried what she would say when he asked to keep some items for his personal use, but she agreed so easily that it was a bit anti-climax.

“I’ll be thankful if you can consider them as part of the reward.”

“It’s fine for me. Can you discuss with Lapis about their worth?”

Loren answered without hesitation, and Tizona looked disappointed towards a smiling Lapis, who was standing beside Loren. As Loren didn’t know much about goods appraisal, Tizona was hoping to make a good deal out of the two daggers. However, her plan fell to pieces when she was asked to discuss with Lapis.

Anyway, Tizona herself didn’t know that much about the value of magic-infused items, so it was unclear who might have come out with a better deal should she negotiate directly with Loren…

“So, what have you found?”

“Rather meh for a gang this size. But considering their territory being around the borderlands, it’s not that bad I guess.”

Gula dropped the rather heavy bag she was carrying on her shoulder to the ground. The clinking sound of coins coming from the bag let everyone know what it was stuffed with.

“There are a few gold coins, some silver coins, and a lot of copper coins. There are some gems too, but they don’t look to be very valuable.”

Gula wasn’t very satisfied, but Loren thought Tizona seemed relieved. The cash would be enough to pay for their remuneration, and the rest Tizona could claim as her own. They would go to pay the debt she was carrying, but just one look at her face let him know whether it was enough or not.

“This is not enough, right?”

“Did I let it show? Sorry. Of course, it is not, but this is not our target anyway.”

Tizona’s target was the ruin, this depot was just a detour. Loren, however, believed that to be able to earn a rather decent sum from just a detour was a success already.

“Then, do you want to take these goods and the captured bandits back to the post-town?”

They had got what they needed, so there was no need to remain at this place anymore. They needed to return to the town and let the officials know they had completed their request. Furthermore, they also needed to deal with the loot they had salvaged: the sum wasn’t that much, but they couldn’t travel carrying that many coins. There had to be some way to store it.

And, the ten captured bandits also had to be delivered to the town officials.

“Taking these guys back to the town is so troublesome…”

They could be stuffed into the carriage if there were only one or two of them, but ten would break the carriage. Ten people would also be too heavy to drag along, even with everyone properly tied up. Loren also considered waking them up and made them walk on their own, but then the party would have to match their speed, and it would take longer to return to town.

“How about getting rid of half of them here?”

They might be able to manage with five of them by stuffing some into the carriage and dragging the others along, but Loren couldn’t consent to Gula’s suggestion.

“We told them that we would hand them over to the officials during interrogation. It doesn’t sit right with me to break a promise, so no.”

“You’re way too honest.”

Gula was shocked to see Loren keeping his promises even to bandits, but Lapis said:

“It’s what’s good about him.”

Since Loren didn’t consent to getting rid of half the bandits, Gula also didn’t force it. But the problem of how to deal with them still remained.

“Seems like we have no choice but to make them walk back.”

“Won’t it take too much time? Will it be alright?”

“We didn’t expect the raid to end this early anyway. It’ll take about a day to walk back, so it probably won’t be a problem time-wise.”

“So, should we tie them to the carriage?”

“Then if all of them cooperate to pull the carriage back, we won’t be able to move forward, will we?”

What Lapis said was quite reasonable. There was no reason for the bandits to obediently walk behind the carriage at all. They might also risk being killed by Loren for doing it, but if all of them pulled at once, the carriage might stop or even overturn. And if the carriage overturned, they might be able to escape if they were lucky. Considering all this, they probably wouldn’t quietly walk behind the carriage to let themselves be handed over.

“What should we do then?”

“Let’s wake them all up, then kill one in the most gruesome way possible.”

Lapis made that very unexpected statement with a very serious face. Loren looked troubled, while Tizona looked at her with a startled expression.

“The last one in the line will be a good choice. Then Loren will say something like this: ‘If you think of something funny, you’ll become like him. So that you don’t forget, we’ll pull him along together with you’.”

“I see. The corpse will get worse and worse being dragged, making the fear unforgettable. It’s a good example.”

Gula nodded in agreement.