Chapter 286: The Megzam Thieves Band and the Reunion with the Cursed Child Emi

The Megzam Thieves Band and the Reunion with the Cursed Child Emi

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“Well, but you know… hehehe, this is easy, isn’t it, Boss! The ruins must be scared of how terrifying the Boss is!”

Tappa, one of the members of the Megzam Thieves Band with a square face, said that while twiddling his fingers and leaning against a stone wall, addressing the bearded large man sitting casually… in other words, their boss Megzam.

“…Yeah.”

Megzam, being spoken to, gave a brief response, then stared intently at Tappa.

What was ‘easy’ was, in short, the path to the deepest part of these ruins where they were currently taking a break.

The Megzam Thieves Band and the “Ruins Plunderer” Ibrabarleg had been descending the stairs relentlessly after dropping Mitran and the others deep underground.

These stairs were a shortcut, a detour to the deepest part of the ruins. Unlike the regular route that Mitran and the others were currently advancing through, there were no particularly dangerous trials prepared along the way.

There were indeed a few occasions where they needed to operate some old-fashioned machine-like things along the way, but Ibrabarleg swiftly performed the correct operations while looking at a notebook, opening the path ahead.

The Megzam Thieves Band had accompanied Ibrabarleg up to this point after being requested to escort him, but… there were almost no situations where an escort was necessary.

Almost, none.

However, there was one time.

It was when this Tappa, who was now twiddling his fingers and trying to flatter, did something stupid, causing Ibrabarleg to make a mistake in operating the machine and trigger an alarm.

Wee-oo, wee-oo, wee-oo!!!

When such a warning sound echoed through the ruins and the magic lamps suddenly turned red, even Megzam’s heart froze.

However, what happened afterward was simply three hairy monsters that Ibrabarleg called “Guardians” suddenly appearing from holes in the walls, which were easily dealt with.

Ibrabarleg tilted his head at the small number of Guardians, but he decided not to dwell on it, and the four villains proceeded onward.

And the room they arrived at was the one where Megzam was currently taking a break.

According to Ibrabarleg’s explanation of the writing on the wall, this room was located in the deepest part of the ruins, and the relic he was seeking, the Magic Sword ‘Soul Devourer’, should be enshrined in the next room.

Whether that was true or not, they didn’t know.

Because Ibrabarleg had told Megzam and the others to wait here and eliminate any intruders ‘just in case’, and he had quickly entered the next room alone.

The moment he entered the next room, the door leading there closed on its own and even locked, so Megzam and the others didn’t know what the room beyond was like.

…And so, Megzam and the others became idle.

The entrance to the secret route they used should have automatically closed when they started descending the stairs, and from the outside, it should look like just a wall with a strange picture drawn on it as always.

It was unlikely that any pesky adventurers would enter from there.

That being said, they couldn’t imagine anyone being able to reach this far by clearing the regular route either.

If there were such people, this kind of ruins would have already been conquered long ago.

The trials of these ruins should have only been cleared up to ‘The 3rd Trial’ so far.

Megzam and the others also gathered that level of information.

Furthermore, the Guardians hadn’t shown up again since then, and in any case, these villains were currently at a loss with nothing to do.

That’s probably why Tappa, recalling his earlier blunder, started flattering Megzam to make up for it.

“…………”

Megzam stood up abruptly while ignoring Tappa’s stupid flattery about how ‘strong’ and ‘scary’ he was.

And then, without any context.

With all his might.

He punched Tappa’s face!

“Guhe!?”

Tappa collapsed, bleeding from his nose!

“…Tch! Hey Ander! Don’t just stand there, you come here too…”

“Y-Yes sir…”

Megzam called out to Ander, the long-faced one who had been seriously keeping watch, and when he approached… he punched him too.

“Aga!?”

Ander collapsed, bleeding from his nose!

It was a completely outrageous act of tyranny.

But this was the nature of their relationship.

Tappa and Ander were disciplined and restrained by Megzam’s violent communication.

“Hey, you guys, what are you lying down for? This is deep underground in the ruins. You never know what might happen. Is this the time to be taking a break? Huh?”

Megzam looked down at his two subordinates rolling on the floor and scolded them, ignoring the fact that he had been taking a break himself.

“”Yes! This is not the time to be taking a break!!””

Tappa and Ander jumped up with blood still flowing from their noses and shouted in unison.

Their eyes were filled with fear and tension.

Satisfied that the relaxed atmosphere had been tightened again, Megzam sat back down.

“According to that hat guy, this is the deepest part of the ruins. Which means, you guys, our most important job is coming up soon. Do you know what that is?”

Now, Megzam, who had sat down again, glared at his two subordinates and asked solemnly.

“”Yes! We don’t know!!””

The two subordinates shouted reflexively without thinking.

“Hey, Ander, Tappa, what are we?”

“”Yes! We are the ‘Mad Dogs of Yabonove’! The Megzam Thieves Band!!””

“That’s right!!”

Satisfied with the energetic response from his subordinates, Megzam nodded vigorously.

Then he lowered his voice and quietly began telling the two about a terrible plan…!

“Can those ‘Mad Dogs’ be satisfied with accepting an escort request, getting paid, and pretending to be adventurers?”

“”Yes! We can’t!!””

“That’s right! We can’t, can we!? That’s why… we’ll take it!”

“”Ohh…!””

Being told this much, the two subordinates finally understood what their boss was thinking.

They also started responding in a low voice.

“In a little while, that hat guy… that Ibrabarleg bastard will come out of that room with the treasure. We’ll catch him off guard from behind when he’s relaxed about the success of the exploration! That way, we’ll hit the jackpot, not only with the money but also with his treasure. What do you think? Did I say anything strange?”

“”Yes! You didn’t!!””

“You guys also think this plan is brilliant, right?”

“”Yes! It’s brilliant!!””

“Alright! Then put more spirit into it! Our last job is waiting! Okay… grit your teeth!!”

“Guhe!?”

“Aga!?”

Lastly, Megzam stood up again, punched his two subordinates meaninglessly, and concluded his violent communication.

With this, his stupid subordinates would tackle the upcoming job with proper determination.

Megzam grinned wickedly, dreaming of the success of the job that was about to begin.

However, that’s when it happened!

BOOM!!

Such a roaring sound echoed from somewhere far away in the ruins, and it reached Megzam and the others along with the vibration!

“Huh?”

“What the hell is this?”

BOOM!!

BOOM!!

BOOM!!

That sound… seemed to be getting closer and closer to Megzam and the others!

“Draw your blades! Be on guard!!”

Scolding his subordinates who were making idiotic noises and flustered, Megzam also drew his machete and swung it around.

BOOM!!

BOOM!!

…BOOM!!

After that, the roaring sound was repeated many times, and finally… along with that sound, the door connecting to the room where Megzam and the others were, different from the one Ibrabarleg had entered, was blown away with great force!

CLANG!!

The heavy door made of some kind of metal bounced and rolled on the floor like a child’s toy that had been roughly handled.

Rising dust.

And the one who appeared through that dust cloud was… a small black shadow.

“””…Huh!!?”””

The three members of the Megzam Thieves Band, upon seeing that shadow, let out surprised voices and froze.

Because, that shadow was.

That girl was.

That black-haired, black-eyed girl was.

…The cursed child with deep ties to the Megzam Thieves Band!!

The moment the Megzam Thieves Band recognized the cursed child, she seemed to have noticed them too.

And… it seemed this cursed child remembered them.

“…………”

She was silent.

She was expressionless.

She was silent and expressionless, but.

…She was emitting a terrifying amount of 【Intimidation】… murderous intent!

Directed at them!

Even Megzam was trembling and couldn’t stop sweating.

If they let their guard down even a little, just receiving this 【Intimidation】 could make them lose consciousness.

That’s how much pressure it was.

This was the third time they had encountered this cursed child.

The first time, when this cursed child was still weak, she took advantage of an opening and escaped.

The second time, when this cursed child had already become stronger than them, she slaughtered all their underlings except the three of them.

And now, the third time.

Just by receiving this 【Intimidation】, they could tell.

Unfortunately, this cursed child had become even stronger compared to the second time…!

“…Long time no see.”

While Megzam and the others were desperately raising their blades, trembling, the cursed child spoke to them in a cute voice.

“What are you doing in a place like this?”

“…………”

Megzam and the others were silent.

It wasn’t that they didn’t want to answer, but rather, they had lost the composure to answer when being glared at by an overwhelmingly superior monster.

“Ignoring me? That’s fine, though.”

“…………”

If only.

If only this monster’s 【Intimidation】 was just 【Intimidation】.

Surely this monster was conquering these ruins.

Then, she should ignore Megzam and the others and quickly proceed onward.

They no longer cared about Ibrabarleg’s treasure.

They wanted to flee as soon as possible.

While sweating profusely, Megzam wished for that.

“…………Now then, how do you want to die?”

Ah.

Seems like it’s no good.