Chapter 79 – The Iron Bandit.

“Huh? Why is it so cold?”

A man’s voice echoed in the large, open chamber. He clutched his head, trying to ease the pounding headache. His name was Richter, and just moments ago, he had been enjoying a regular trip into the maze dungeon with his three companions. It took him a second, but then he remembered – someone had triggered the trap, releasing the sleeping mist.

“What?”

His vision, initially blurry, sharpened, and he realized why he was so cold. His expensive armor was gone. Even his silk shirt was missing, leaving him stripped down to his underpants. The same fate had befallen his companions – three women, all missing their newly bought adventuring gear, left with nothing but their undergarments.

Panic surged through Richter as he scanned the room, realizing the extent of what had happened. His beloved sword, the one he had saved up for months to buy, was gone. The enchanted rings he wore on his fingers were gone. Even his prized potion belt was missing. His heart pounded, his mind racing to comprehend how they had been so thoroughly robbed without waking up.

“W-What happened?!”

One of the women, Lilly, stirred awake, her fox-like ears twitching as she heard Richter’s voice. She, too, quickly realized her missing armor, her face turning pale.

“Where’s all our stuff?”

The other two adventurers, a human named Kara and an elf called Elara, began to rouse as well. Elara, usually the calm one, sat up slowly, a deep frown creasing her face.

“We’ve been looted? They even took my boots?!”

She glanced around the room, searching for any clues, but the stone chamber was empty aside from their discarded bags, a few torn pieces of clothing, and a small pile of crude weapons. All eyes turned to the pile. The items were crude, worthless, barely fit for use. It seemed that whoever had robbed them had left these behind out of pity.

“Who did this? Do they expect me to use this rusty sword?”

Richter staggered to his feet, anger boiling inside him. He sifted through the pile of crude weaponry and pulled out a rusted iron blade. Holding the sword high, his hand trembled with fury. The blade was chipped, dull, and barely held together at the hilt. It was a mockery – a pitiful replacement for the finely crafted weapon he had lost. His heart raced as he glanced back at his companions, all of them sharing the same stunned expression.

“Whoever did this… they’re going to pay!”

Richter shouted, nearly hurling the rusted sword to the ground in frustration. But with nothing else to arm himself with, it was the only weapon available. They were four unarmed adventurers, and even this broken sword was better than bare fists.

“T-There’s something coming… maybe we shouldn’t be shouting!”

Lilly, the fox-eared woman, said, wrapping her arms around herself. Her ears twitched, picking up sounds of movement from one of the corridors. The maze was still teeming with monsters, and it became clear they needed to retreat. Without wasting any more time, the group hastily grabbed whatever crude weapons they could. As soon as they saw a Lizardmen emerge from the shadows, Richter barked the command.

“Run, and don’t look back!”

“Why did they have to take our boots… this floor is so cold!”

“Don’t talk, you’re bite your tongue!”

“Ahhhhh!”

******

Unbeknownst to the group of adventurers, the person who had robbed them wasn’t that far away. Rusty stood in the distance in one of the empty corridors, his life detection skill informing him about the adventurers departing.

“Bah, we should have just killed them.”

“If we kill them, then an investigation by the guild might be launched, Alexander said that the guild won’t investigate robberies as much as murders.”

Aburdon grumbled, not entirely satisfied with Rusty’s approach. While robbing adventurers of their gear was effective and avoided the unwanted attention that murder would bring, it still felt inefficient to him. Rusty, however, was pragmatic about the situation. Looting them and letting them go meant they’d likely survive, return to town, and replenish their supplies – making them future targets.

“I wonder how much this will go for?”

Rusty was looking at the display of his system with all the icons representing the loot he had gotten. The armor set that the person called Richter had was made from some kind of strange alloy. It wasn’t steel but something that condensed mana and also had strange magical words written over it. There were also many accessories, some that he had already equipped to exchange his old ones.

“Probably not that much.”

“What do you mean?”

Aburdon interrupted his thoughts as he answered his question. Then he quickly explained himself.

“Those four if they survive will probably report everything to that guild or even the guards. The armor that one human was wearing is quite peculiar, it will get identified the moment you try to sell it to any merchant and that’s why I said, you should have just killed them!”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course!”

“Isn’t there some way to sell it though?”

“There is but…”

Aburdon had a point but he also couldn’t keep his knowledge hidden away. Rusty already knew how to manage his words around this demon lord who liked to withhold information. The armor set he’d taken from Richter was unusual, and selling it could attract unwanted attention, but there were still ways of getting around that problem.

“A thieves Guild should exist in that city.”

“A thieves Guild?”

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The glowing orb of black light hovered closer as Aburdon continued by explaining to Rusty what this guild was.

“A Thieves Guild is an underground network of criminals who specialize in smuggling, fencing stolen goods, and performing jobs most people wouldn’t dare to touch. They’re like the adventurer’s guild, but for, well, the less savory types.”

For some reason, Rusty felt like Aburdon had some appreciation for this guild of thieves. It was an organization that lacked proper rules and was less honorable. Perhaps it reminded him of the way demons handled things by force and subterfuge.