Chapter 226

Translator: Kell | Editor: Weasalopes

The Fedor Gang

The Fedor gang was a group of bandits led by a man named Fedor, and were known for being elusive . Robbery was their main business, but they would not hesitate to resort to kidnapping, smuggling, or even jailbreaking, if it meant money . But except under extreme circumstances, they didn’t commit murder, as that would result in the authorities searching for them relentlessly, compromising their elusiveness .

They committed robberies in urban places . Normally, they’d hide in the city and gather around using secret codes . The gang had roots mostly in the major cities of Jarazack .

「Is everyone here?」Fedor asked . He was a well-dressed man about 170 centimeters tall .

「Yes, Sir!」a man dressed in a craftsman attire answered .

The other ten or so men wore normal commoner clothes, while some had hunter attires on . Their specialty was disguising and makeup . Mikhail’s men who were after the gang were skilled as well, but the bandits planned to completely transform themselves before making their next move .

「We’ve discussed the plan before, and nothing’s changed . After capturing the target, we’ll throw them into our hideout until delivery to Ludancia . They say we can kill her, but we want to avoid doing the dirty work as much as possible . Best if all the hate is directed to Ludancia . 」

The fire from the hearth was the only source of light in the room . All the men nodded and were about to move when a news came .

「Boss, our scout just returned . 」

「The one we sent to Scholarzard?」

「Yeah . Apparently, the target left Scholarzard and is heading here in Raidzard . 」

「What?」

The gang was staying in a suburban city called Raidzard, the closest city to Scholarzard . Anyone going to Jarazack from Scholarzard would pass through here .

The plan was to enter Scholarzard by the end of the day .

「Hmm . They’re heading back to Jarazack, huh? That’s perfect, then . 」Fedor considered this a golden opportunity . 「All right . We move at midnight . 」

They paid for a large room and a single room . Needless to say, Hikaru would take the single room with Drake, and the girls—Lavia, Paula, Catherine, and Luka—would stay in the large room .

After having dinner, the girls returned to their room and were getting ready to sleep . There were four beds in the room, each one of them sitting on theirs .

「Luka… What are you planning to do once you see Claude?」Lavia asked, embracing a pillow .

Sitting at the edge of her bed, Luka cast her eyes down .

「I don’t know . I was really happy about the marriage, but now I’m starting to have doubts . Strange, isn’t it? I dragged everyone into trouble . 」

「It’s not your fault . 」Catherine said, sitting beside Luka, not hiding her anger towards Claude . The matter at hand seemed to have deepened their friendship . 「This is all Claude’s fault for getting too cocky . 」

「Was he really acting that strange?」Lavia asked .

「Yeah . I’m sure you’ll get pissed too if you saw that guy . When I arrived at the mansion, I spotted him with three women . 」

「Oh…」

Claude’s reputation was taking a nosedive .

「By the way, what is up with you?」Catherine asked Lavia this time .

「Me?」

「Isn’t Hikaru your boyfriend? So why—」

Catherine’s eyes darted at Paula . She was taken aback, not expecting it .

「How could he add another girl to your party?」

「H-Hikaru-sama and I don’t have that kind of relationship . 」

「There!」

「What?!」

「The way you call him! Did he tell you to so he could stroke his own ego?!」

「Th-That’s not true! I just look up to him…」

「Hikaru’s just as bad! How dare he make eyes at other girls when he already has Lavia!」

Catherine was really heating up .

「Calm down . 」

「Ah, I’m sorry, Lavia . I know you’re the one suffering the most . 」

「No, you’re wrong . I’m happy to have Paula by my side . 」

「Lavia…」There was pity in Catherine’s voice .

「Lavia…」Paula felt glad .

「All right . I got it . 」Catherine stood up .

「Where are you going?」

「Isn’t it obvious? I’ll go get Hikaru and interrogate him . 」

「P-Please don’t!」Paula protested .

Lavia stayed calm . 「Hikaru’s not in his room . 」

「What? Why? It’s already late . 」

「He said he had something to do and won’t be back until morning . 」

Lavia knew that when Hikaru said he had something to do in the middle of the night, it meant taking care of any trouble that might befall them .

「Something he has to do… and he won’t be back until morning…」

Imagining nasty things, Catherine’s face turned beet reed . Needless to say, she was hugely mistaken .

The room was dark, the fire in the hearth the only source of light . As the flames were dying, Fedor tossed some more wood . Then he heard footsteps .

「That was fast . Did you finish the job?」

He glanced at the entrance, but he couldn’t see well in the dark . However, Fedor was sure of one thing . No one among his men wore a silver mask .

「Who the fuck are you?」

「No need to introduce myself . I took out all your men . Six main guys and three backups . Surprisingly few . 」

「………」

Warily stepping away from the fireplace, Fedor slowly reached for the dagger in his coat .

He’s lying, the man thought . The guys moved out just half an hour ago . Taking them all out in such a short amount of time is impossible . The only one who can do that is someone who knows everything about our plan or one with detection abilities who could pinpoint the exact locations of my men . The fact that he knows their exact number means someone betrayed us .

Fedor thought one of his men turned traitor and divulged information about their operation to this stupid masked bastard .

They must’ve split up and this guy came here to stop me from escaping . Hahaha . Too bad . You got one thing wrong .

「I want to know what you’re after . 」the masked person asked, seemingly unaware of the thoughts running through Fedor’s mind . 「Why do you want to kidnap Luka Lordgrad Ludancia?」

「Heh . Isn’t it obvious? We’re going to sell her . 」

「So she’s got quite the bounty on her head . But your men didn’t sound satisfied with just abducting her . They planned to assault her as well . 」

「Damn it . I told them we have to keep her alive . I guess they thought they could do anything as long as she lives . 」

「Okay, I get it . 」the masked guy nodded for some reason .

「You get what?」

「So you approve of your men’s actions . 」

「Hahahahaha! Do you have any idea who we are? We’re the Fedor gang! One look and we can silence crying kids!」

「More like you’re a bunch of halfwits who can only make kids cry . 」

Fedor’s eyes narrowed .

「Provoking me was a bad move . You seem to be mistaken . 」

「Mistaken about what?」

Did you think subduing all my men will make me surrender without a fight? Think again .

「I, Fedor, am the leader of the gang . Which means I’m the strongest of them all!」

Fedor dashed forward, quickly closing the distance between him and the masked guy . From his pocket, he drew a dagger . The masked guy leapt to the side to dodge the thrust .

Ha! Idiot!

A huge movement was just what Fedor was waiting for .

「Once you run, you’re a sitting duck—」

Fedor specialized in Throwing . He threw his dagger towards the direction the masked guy jumped to . He was skilled and never missed his mark .

「…What?」

But he stopped before he could let go of his weapon . There was no one there . He quickly surveyed his surroundings, but he couldn’t feel anyone’s presence in the room . He almost wondered if he was imagining things .

「H-How…?」

「How did I disappear?」

Fedor heard the voice come from right behind him . He quickly turned around, but found no one .

「D-Damn it! Where the hell are you?!」

Silence .

「It must be magic! In that case, I have this! I implore you, Air Spirits, find the pitiful fool hiding in the shadows—」

Touching a ring on his right hand, Fedor chanted the spell . The ring flashed .

「Nothing?!」

The man bought this magic item called a Detection Ring for a hefty sum . He used it to find infiltrators in their hideouts or to search for hidden rooms . It never failed him before .

「Hmm . Is that an item used to find someone hiding with Stealth?」

Fedor yelped . Once again, the voice came from directly behind him . And just like before, there was no one there .

「A-A demon! You’re a demon, aren’t you?! That explains the creepy mask!」

「I actually like this mask . Anyway, I just wanted to find out the truth . Knowing that Ludancia is involved in all this is more than enough . 」

「There you are!」

Without looking, the man hurled his dagger towards the direction of the voice . But alas, it hit no one and instead stuck itself into a cupboard .

「Ha…ha… hahaha…」Beads of sweat appeared on Fedor’s forehead . 「In that case—」

He reached for his ring, and screamed . A blade had pierced his hand .

「Whoa, whoa . Were you planning to use an offensive spell this time? Or perhaps a smokescreen? You were thinking of escaping while you had the chance, but you’re not going anywhere . 」

「Y-You bastard…」

「You’re aware that I can kill you if I really want to, right?」

The mask was right before him, its mouth curved into a smile . A demon . He’s a demon in a man’s clothing!

「I didn’t really plan to do more experiments, but might as well . You’ll be my test subject . If you stay put, I’ll hand you over to the authorities alive . 」

Experiment . A demon’s experiment . He says he’ll keep me alive, but I’m sure he’ll make me suffer a fate worse than death!

Color left Fedor’s face and he collapsed .

「Huh? He’s out cold?」

A while later, the sound of a boy sighing in disappointment came from the room . Fedor never realized that his opponent was just a young boy .