“Truthfully, I don’t think it will be that difficult. This team here had been camping since yesterday, I have noticed them several times. I guessed their modus operandi was to rob individual or small team of players who had just come back from hunting or questing in the wilderness. This ensured these players to be loaded as they still have their loots and not yet spend them.
“So the position they took will be closed to the city so they can see the people that were on their way, but not too close to not allow the victims to escape back to the city easily. I would say our current distance to the city is about right. We only need to walk in a circling direction at this distance by the capital. With the help of my radar, I should be able to pick up any group in the vicinity, and I just need to confirm that they are robbers by using my own self as bait, considering that I travel alone.”
“Sound vague,” Peniel said, “but even if your way works, you said yourself, they can send messages. What if they lay a trap for you?”
“That’s why I need to move now, they should not be on an alert yet for the moment. Don’t worry, I will take precautions when I see too large a group before engaging. I can detect them with my radar beforehand. I won’t let things go out of hand.”
“Geez, you really like to take a risk. Go ahead, it’s a fun show for me to watch anyway,” Peniel said.
Jack followed his hunch and walked encircling the capital while maintaining the same distance to it. He avoided the monsters with the help of his radar to save time in traveling. He also passed through some blue dots which indicated players like him, but they did not fit the characteristic of the robbers. The ones he met were either too small a group or were in the move.
After walking for a while, he came to a rocky ravine with a small stream going through it. vegetations covered one side of it.
He saw some stationary group of blue dots on his radar, could this be the ones he was looking for? He continued to move towards it. He could start hearing some voices from the direction of the blue dots he was heading to. The voices grew louder, but not only because he was getting closer, but also because the people whom the sources of voice were from, spoke louder. They were… arguing?
“… you fiend! You are a bunch of cowards! You only dare to use your number to threaten us. Let’s duel one on one if you have the guts!”
A chorus of laughter could be heard. Then some slap and smacking sounds, and a grunt.
A female voice was heard, “stop it! Stop! We will give you what you want, just let us go!”
“You should have been obedient from the start, why try to act tough in front of your girl? Now give us all you have!”
Hearing the content of the conversation, Jack knew he had found the right group. He could also see them already. There were seven rough-looking men surrounding a young couple. Since he already confirmed that they were robbers, he no longer needed to use himself as bait. He promptly ran towards them.
The robbers were busy checking on their victims. Only until Jack was close enough that one of them noticed him. “Hey, what’s that clown doing running towards us?” He said.
The others looked over with blank looks. Jack was already upon them and took out his sword.
“Crap!” One of them blurted out as they finally registered that they were being attacked. They would never imagine that one person would dare to blindly crash into the group of them.
Jack’s speed was very fast, all of them thought that he was a high-level Ranger. Even after he brandished his longsword, they still thought the guy was a clown trying to attack them like this. They would let him one free hit before they ganged up on him and made him regret his folly.
But all their thoughts burst apart like bubbles when Jack’s first hit connected. A damage of over 100 points appeared over the head of the Ranger that received that first hit.
Jack did not stop his attack, he was already in top gear while the robbers were still starting their engines. Their minds were still trying to understand what had just happened.
These robbers were a bunch of noobies, Jack thought as he continued to attack. Same as the first group of robbers he dealt with before this. They all froze from things that were out of their expectations. This was a good thing for him though. It made things easier for him. It would be more troublesome if there was an expert among them.
He danced around the robbers while kept on slashing and dicing. Each attack took out a large chunk of their HP. He had identified each of their classes and made sure to not hit more than required to avoid killing them accidentally. Before long, all of them were already in critical HP situations.
The young couple were dumbfounded by what was happening in front of them, and had been motionless throughout the ordeal.
Jack stopped his attack, he stood a distance from them and shouted out, “okay, everyone stop moving. I will kill anyone who made a sudden move.”
One of the robbers didn’t listen, the guy tried to run away. Jack was already expecting this to happen from this bunch of unruly folks. He used Sword of Light and diminished the remaining HP of the guy who was trying to run away. Same tactic as with the previous gang of robbers, he used this to intimidate the others and show that he could attack them from a distance. As expected, they became more docile afterward.
“You two can go now,” Jack said to the young couple.
The two of them were still gaping at this sudden turn of events, and did not react when Jack told them to leave.
Seeing the two vacant expressions, Jack said in a menacing voice, “if you two don’t leave yet, I will cut you like what I did to them!”
The two finally snapped out of their daze and realized that Jack had not touched them during the chaotic fight. They understood at last that they had been saved. “Th–thank you!” They said appreciatively before they ran away from the place.
“Who are you? Do you know who you are dealing with?” One of the robbers found the courage to speak.
“I am honestly very interested in finding out who is behind you bunch. How about you tell me then?” Jack said.
The one who had just spoken realized he had spoken something that should not be revealed, he shut himself up from speaking further.
“No? That’s fine also. Now all of you give me your permission to take things from your inventory. Anyone who resists will be executed. Are we clear?” Jack told them.
“Y–you are robbing us?!” The robbers said with disbelief.
“Hell, no! Who do you think I am? I’m serving justice!” Jack replied righteously. “Now stop speaking nonsense and do as you are told. Or you want to follow your friend’s footstep there?” Jack pointed at the corpse of the robber who he had used Sword of Light on.
The robbers were depressed. They submitted to Jack’s demand compliantly. They might be overbearing when bullying weaker players, but when they met a stronger one, they inexorably turned to be as meek as a kitten.
Jack completely cleaned up their inventories one by one. He put all the items inside his Large Bag. For coins, he collected 6 gold, 51 silver, and 15 copper coins, lesser than what he had gotten from the previous gang despite this one had one more member.
“Go, get the hell out of here,” Jack let them go after cleaning them out.
“You will regret this!” One of the robbers hissed as he ran away.
Jack chased after him and cut him down without mercy under the terrified gaze of his friends.
“Anyone else still wants to make another smart remark?” Jack asked them.
They held their mouth and ran away, afraid to accidentally utter a sound that would displease this demon.
