Chapter 196 – Mercenaries Fall.

Varkas, the leader of the Black Hounds, barked out some orders, and his people immediately began to move. Around twenty of the cavalrymen who had come with him surrounded the burned bandit camp while the rest went inside to see what had happened. The fire that had been started was now out, though a few glowing embers still remained.

“This looks like more than a simple investigation.”

Alexander said as he watched with Rusty while the mercenaries searched the camp.

“Was there something in that treasure chest they could want?”

Rusty asked his guides while opening his system window. Inside his storage, he could not examine the contents clearly, since it appeared only as a box with a broken lock. He had noticed some papers inside, so it was possible.

“Perhaps, but it is more likely they are here to finish off any survivors. That is quite standard for villains like this.”

Alexander added, believing their purpose was different. In his view, they were eliminating loose ends and killing anyone who might testify against the merchants or the nobles in the settlement.

“Oh, why are they doing that?”

Rusty asked, to which Alexander replied.

“To see if anyone is hiding or pretending to be dead.”

It reminded Rusty of the battle against the orcs, when after the fighting ended, people went around piercing the bodies of the monsters with spears. They were doing the same now, making sure everyone was truly dead. Yet from what Rusty understood, the bandits were supposed to be allied with the mercenaries.

The more time he spent among humanoids, the less he understood how they operated. Some were driven by family and comfort, while others were consumed by greed and would kill anyone or anything that stood in their way. There were also the cunning ones who hid their true intentions, and those were the ones he disliked the most.

Rusty watched through his puppet helmet from a distant treetop, completely still. The mercenaries worked with practiced efficiency, making it clear this was not their first time doing such a thing. They swept through the camp in groups, overturning ashes and stabbing even the charred corpses to confirm death. In a world filled with strange abilities, surviving being burned was not impossible.

Their leader, Varkas, did not enter the camp. He sat on his armored horse, his dark coat swaying faintly in the wind, watching without showing the slightest concern for the survivors. In time, the men finished their search, and as expected, there were no survivors and no treasure left to claim. He and Gleam had already taken anything of value, and the prisoners who escaped had done the same before fleeing.

“….”

One of the soldiers spoke after returning from the burned camp. Rusty’s skill allowed him to see through his puppet armor helmet, but hearing was another matter. However, he could still piece together what the group was doing by watching their movements.

They seemed to have realized that someone had escaped. Rusty knew there were two groups involved: the barbarians and the regular merchants. The barbarians had fled toward the mountains, while the merchants had gone in the opposite direction. It was likely that the merchants had learned about the bandits working with the nobles and decided to flee to another city ruled by someone else.

“Will they give chase?”

“Probably. They have fast horses. If they go now, they could catch up to those merchants in half a day.”

Alexander replied.

“Can they make it to the next settlement?”

Rusty asked, knowing there were some villages and smaller cities in that direction.

“They might, if they do not make any stops along the way.”

Aburdon answered this time, and considering he knew the map of the area in detail, he was probably right.

“I see.”

It was clear that the mercenaries planned to chase the merchants rather than the group heading for the mountains. If any survivors reported to other nobles, there could be consequences, and their entire scheme might be exposed. Yet, knowing how the powerful operated, Rusty doubted anything would happen. Even if the captured merchants reached another city and told the truth, without solid evidence, nothing would likely be done.

“Will they leave a few people behind?”

Rusty wondered. The only reason he had decided to wait was to get some easy kills and more loot. The weapons and armor these mounted mercenaries used looked valuable, and he also wondered how strong they were. When he had been an E-rank monster, he would not have stood a chance against Varkas and his men. But what about now?

From his hiding spot, he could see the mercenary leader speaking with a raised hand. It was easy to tell that he was ordering his forces to split into smaller groups. By their formation, it seemed that the largest group would pursue the merchants in the wagon they had escaped in, while the second group of five mounted riders would chase after the barbarian.

However, the situation was not over yet, as three more people appeared to be heading back into the camp, probably to search it again in case they had missed something. A chance had presented itself, and Rusty now had an opportunity to eliminate a few of the mercenaries and perhaps gain enough experience to reach the next stage of his evolution.

The mercenaries acknowledged the command with nods and began to move, but then Varkas did something unexpected. He raised his hand again to stop everyone, and one of the soldiers stepped forward and handed him a bow.

“Wasn’t his weapon a sword?”

For a moment, Rusty was confused, but then he noticed an arrow aimed directly at his position. In the next instant, his skill was shattered as the arrow struck the helmet he had been using as an extra set of eyes.

The arrow hit the helmet with a sharp clang, knocking it from the treetop post where Rusty had hidden it. Through his link, Rusty felt the sudden jolt as the Puppet Armor connection was forcibly severed.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“Uhhh…”

The double vision disappeared at once, and the world returned to normal. Varkas’s arrow had hit dead center. The helmet tumbled into the bushes below, and one of the soldiers quickly moved to retrieve it. Rusty had been watching from a safer spot in another tree, with Gleam positioned even farther away. The moment the soldiers found his helmet, he blended into the shadows using his skill and stayed perfectly still. Some of them had entered the sparse forest, searching so thoroughly that he could hear their movements and voices nearby.

“Nothing here. It was just a helmet, probably something one of those drunk bandits tossed up there.”

The voices grew faint as they continued searching, but they never found his hiding spot. When they were done, they returned to their leader, who looked disappointed. He now held the helmet with the arrow still lodged through it. The force behind his shot was impressive, and Rusty realized that he might not be ready to face the mercenary leader in a real fight. The man’s subordinates were not weak either. They were on the lower end of D rank, though likely still weaker than the instructor Rusty had faced back in the settlement.

Once the group decided the helmet was nothing more than a leftover from some drunken bandits, they turned away and left. Rusty waited until he was sure that no one was watching and that Varkas was out of sight before he finally moved.

“That was close. It’s a good thing I didn’t attack them.”

Rusty knew he had grown stronger, but he was not confident he could defeat Varkas in direct combat. Comparing humanoids to monsters was difficult since their leveling systems differed, yet Varkas seemed close to C rank, though not quite there. Perhaps after his next evolution, Rusty could challenge him, but for now, he needed to stay cautious and survive.