I Became The Tyrant Of A Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 189

And so, we were dragged into the lair of the bandit king Kuilan and his subordinates.

“Yeehaw~!”

“It’s a party~!”

…Just as Kuilan said, we were having a fun time.

In the middle of the mountain fortress, a large campfire was burning, and wild animal meat was being roasted.

They had just succeeded in hunting reindeer and wild boar, and were now grilling large barbecues.

Like in some pirate cartoon where they shout ‘It’s a party~!’ and go wild, the bandits were also having a blast around the campfire.

And us?

We, the captured ones, were huddled together, tied up, watching the campfire.

Our bodies and arms were bound with ropes, but we could still use our hands below the elbows, and they even placed roasted meat in front of us.

While blankly watching the bandits sing and dance, we chewed on our respective pieces of meat.

With a look of resignation, the lead knight muttered,

“It’s delicious.”

“Is it?”

“Better than Elise’s cooking.”

“Well, that’s a given….”

Chewing on the gamey but somewhat wild-flavored meat, I looked around.

A mountain fortress… or rather, a village would be a more fitting description.

It was surprising that so many people were living together in such a rugged mountain.

Out of the hundred or so villagers, only about thirty seemed capable of fighting, the ones who had ambushed us earlier. The rest were emaciated… just poor-looking people.

They looked like refugees, no matter how you looked at them.

Thud!

Just then, Kuilan came and sat down in front of me. He was holding a large bottle of alcohol.

“How are you doing, guests? Is there anything you need?”

Kuilan took a swig from the bottle and smiled, raising both corners of his lips.

He looked quite young, but his actions, speech, and the fact that he was a bandit leader made him seem like an old man.

I shook the wild boar bone I was holding.

“Thank you for treating us, your hostages, to meat.”

“Hahaha! Don’t mention it! After all, we’ve already taken all your valuables, and we’re planning to get a ransom, so we can give you as much meat as you want!”

Oh? Now that I think about it, this is a complete loss for us.

Not just in words, Kuilan had his subordinates refill the plates in front of us with meat.

I didn’t refuse and ate comfortably. Kuilan laughed heartily at my behavior.

“To be so calm in this situation! You’re very bold. All the rumors I’ve heard about the Third Prince must have been false.”

“You never know a person until you meet them, right?”

“Hahaha! That’s so true!”

I grinned at Kuilan, who was laughing and slapping his knee.

“I didn’t know you were this kind of person until I met you either, Kuilan.”

Kuilan’s eyes widened.

“Did I tell you my name?”

“I’m the lord of Crossroads. How could I not know the bandit king Kuilan of the south?”

In reality, I just knew it from the game.

“Bandit King Kuilan. A notorious bandit who has been preying on the Empire’s people for the past ten years, making a name for himself in the southern part of the continent.”

“……”

“But your targets are only the Empire’s people, and you even help war refugees from other countries, right?”

I looked at the emaciated villagers.

To think that there were people living like this near Crossroads.

“From the Empire’s perspective, you’re just a bandit to be suppressed. But to the hidden refugees, you’re a righteous thief who helps them… that’s who you are, Kuilan.”

“……”

At my words, Kuilan laughed in disbelief, as if he was dumbfounded.

“A righteous thief? I’m being called a righteous thief?”

“You’ve been doing things that would get you called that, haven’t you?”

“I’m not that generous. I just happen to be wandering around looking for targets to rob, and I end up staying in refugee villages.”

Kuilan looked at the poorly built refugee village, clicking his tongue.

“We provide them with food and money, and these poor people provide us with shelter and a place to hide. After doing this for about ten years, we’ve somehow developed a symbiotic relationship.”

“……”

“The Empire has destroyed more than one or two countries. There are many refugee villages in these remote areas where the Empire’s laws don’t reach.”

I clicked my tongue.

“If they’re citizens of a country that the Empire has subjugated, shouldn’t there be a legal way for them to become citizens of the Empire?”

“Do you really believe that such a path would work properly in these remote borderlands, Your Highness?”

Kuilan had a sneer on his face.

“There are countless people who can’t live within the Empire’s territory.”

“……”

“Their original countries were burned and destroyed, and within the Empire, they are discriminated against and oppressed… It’s hell no matter where they go. Since they have nowhere else to go, they end up living on the edge of a cliff like this.”

Kuilan gulped down his alcohol and wiped his mouth, laughing.

“This time, we’ve robbed someone as big as you, so we’ll have to move these people as well… but it’s worth it, right? I have high expectations for your ransom, Your Highness.”

“My ransom….”

“I’ll send someone to Crossroads in a few days. We’ll negotiate, and once I get the money, I’ll release you immediately. Until then, please bear with it here. Since you’re a noble person, I’ll provide you with as much comfort as possible.”

I smiled bitterly.

“I hope you don’t ask for too much, Kuilan.”

I don’t know exactly how much my ransom will be….

…Because the more valuable my companions think I am, the harder it will be for you to handle.

***

The night grew deep.

The campfire had died down, the food had disappeared, and the villagers, who were excited about the rare feast, the bandits, who were happy about the big score, and the captured imperial soldiers, all fell asleep.

“……”

Looking down at the darkened village, Kuilan continued to drink.

In his mind, the face of Ash, whom he had been talking to earlier, flickered.

‘Did I mess with someone too big?’

From the moment he made eye contact with Ash, Kuilan’s spine had been tingling with tension.

Even though he was just the leader of a bandit group, Kuilan had been ruling as its head and evading the Empire’s pursuit for ten years.

He thought he was not smart, but he was confident in his intuition.

The feeling was not good. It was ominous.

“Tch.”

He thought he had gotten a good catch after a long time, but the opponent was a prince….

But what could he do? He had already messed with the prince’s group, and his situation was worse. He needed money and supplies that he could use immediately.

‘After all, this is the southernmost part of the continent. The edge of the border.’

What did it matter if the opponent was a prince or whatever? This place was the end of the world, where even the imperial family didn’t look and the goddess didn’t care.

He would just rob as usual, take hostages, and demand money. Then, he would escape cleanly, and everything would be resolved.

If he took the money and returned the prince safely, the imperial army wouldn’t chase him to the death.

Trying to think that way, Kuilan lay down and went to sleep like the other subordinates.

Crossroads was more than a day away, and this village was far from the kidnapping site. It would be difficult to find this place in the first place.

Even if a rescue force were to attack, there would be time to spare. He could rest easy tonight.

‘I’ve always been lucky… It’ll be okay this time too.’

Thinking that, Kuilan slowly fell asleep.

That was a mistake.

***

“……”

In a building in the corner of the village.

I was sitting on a bed, though it was shabby, and I was lost in thought.

I had thought about escaping during the lively atmosphere, but the eyes of the bandits on guard were fierce. As expected of the bandit king’s direct subordinates, they were very disciplined.

It would be impossible to escape while tied up like this, so I decided to just wait for the rescue force to come….

Thinking that, I was about to lie down comfortably and go to sleep when,

Thud! Thwack!

I heard dull thudding sounds from outside.

“Huh?”

Wondering what was going on, I looked outside the building and made eye contact with Evangeline, who was carefully placing two bandits she had just knocked out on the ground.

“……”

It was our first reunion in almost a month, and both Evangeline and I froze for a moment when we met in such a place.

Immediately, tears welled up in Evangeline’s green eyes.

“Senior~!”

And then, she suddenly hugged me. I was shocked.

“Whoa!”

“Waaah, Senior~.”

“A-are you crying? Are you crying?”

No, I’m happy about the tearful reunion too, but! The ones who really want to cry right now are me and my group! We were kidnapped!

“Waaah.”

“Y-yes, Evangeline. It’s good to see you after so long.”

I tried my best to comfort Evangeline, who was crying and sniffling.

Was I that much of a worry when I was kidnapped? To react this much, I might be a little happy?

But, she was a little off.

“Hic, Senior. Please help me.”

Evangeline mumbled, wiping away her tears. What? I broke out in a cold sweat.

“Uh, huh? Isn’t it you who’s supposed to be helping me?”

I was kidnapped, you know? Look, I’m still tied up like this!

“While you were gone, Senior, Uncle Lucas, Sister Juju, and Brother Damian, they all….”

Evangeline sniffed and said, hiccuping.

“They’ve all gone crazy!”

“……?”

Gone crazy?

My reliable companions? All of them?

“They all started acting strange because you weren’t there, Senior, and now they’ve become… completely… crazy….”

“Uh…?”

“You’ll see when you meet them. They all came to save you, Senior.”

Evangeline, who had calmed down after crying a bit, untied the ropes that bound me.

As I walked out of the building with Evangeline, I asked,

“But how did you get here so quickly? It hasn’t even been half a day since we sent the rescue request.”

“We were all coming to meet you, Senior. We were camping when Elise came with the rescue request….”

So that’s how it was.

“But how did you find this village? It’s quite far from the kidnapping site, so it must have been difficult to search.”

“That’s….”

Evangeline sighed deeply.

“You’ll find out soon.”

“……?”

Anyway, Evangeline and I left the building and moved to rescue the rest of the kidnapped group.

There, Junior, who had arrived earlier, was untying the soldiers.

“Ah.”

Junior turned to me with a bright expression.

“It’s been a while, Your Highness!”

“Oh… yeah. It’s been a while….”

I pointed at the things hanging all over Junior’s body.

“What… is that?”

Junior was wearing a lot of lunch boxes filled with food and cups filled with drinks all over his body. He was still munching on spinach.

“I was suffering from hematemesis [vomiting blood], but I came up with a solution.”

Then, he picked up a bottle of tomato juice that was hanging from his waist and sucked it down.

“If I throw up a lot of blood, shouldn’t I just make a lot more?”

“……”

“So, I decided to consume food that’s good for anemia 24 hours a day. This way, I’ll produce more blood than I throw up, so it’ll be a plus-minus and maintain the status quo. Hehe, I’m so smart….”

Well… it doesn’t sound completely wrong… or does it? Is it right? Or is it not?

At that moment, Evangeline, who was looking at Junior, shook her head slightly.

“Sister Juju’s craziness is on the cute side.”

“Ah… that’s the cute side…?”

“The other two are in really bad shape… Ah!”

Just then, a bandit guard who had spotted us was about to blow a horn. But before we could react,

Whoosh- Thud!

An arrow flew and shattered the horn.

“Kuh?!”

The moment the horn was broken, shockwaves spread in all directions, and the guard who was knocked away fainted.

There was only one person capable of such precise sniping.

I was happy and looked in the direction the arrow had come from. Damian! My trigger!