Chapter 24 Infiltrating the Hideout

Alexander continued to observe the entrance of the bandit's base until nightfall.

He had been hoping that at some point the guards outside would decrease, but there were always at least four.

'There is no way that their leader is just some ordinary person if he has a bunch of common thugs acting like trained troops.'

His uncle had told him stories about some raids on thieves' dens, and most of the time, those that were supposed to be on watch were far from attentive. They would gamble, drink, smoke, and even take naps.

Yet that was not the case here. Every time a change in the guards occurred, they were all on alert and stayed that way for their entire shift.

This was far too much discipline for a motely crew of outcasts that had turned to crime.

Something was certainly fishy, and Alexander felt that he was close to coming up with a reasonable hypothesis.

"I've heard rumors about things like that happening. And I wouldn't put it past my father's enemies." Alexander mumbled.

From time-to-time bands of brigands that were more dangerous than usual would pop up and cause real havoc in the territory they resided in.

Whenever this happened, there would always be talk of some lord or wealthy merchant sponsoring these outlaws to further their own goals.

Alexander knew that his father owed quite a lot of people money, and if he could not repay, his assets would be seized. After that, it would be likely that he would lose his position of Viceroy of Malm.

The city was going through tough times right now since monsters had flooded most of the mines. When prospecting a new area rich in silver, a large hole had opened up into a cave that extended to the other side of the mountain where people did not live, and dangerous creatures were common.

It had crippled the city, and bandits like this group were slowly finishing it off by making the surrounding area more dangerous.

Nevertheless, the city had valuable resources ripe for the taking for anyone that could chase out the monsters.

His father had borrowed a great sum of money to rapidly expand the mines and no longer had enough funding to hire soldiers or mercenaries to clear out the hostile creatures within. However, if another noble with hefty coffers took over as the viceroy of Malm, they could likely afford the necessary personnel to bring the city back to its former heights.

Of course, this was only speculation on Alexander's part. Though, he could not think of another reason for why someone capable of turning a motley group of ruffians into a well-trained and disciplined force would bother to be here.

"Unfortunately, I almost certainly won't find any proof, and I doubt the bandit's leader will tell me who he's working for. I doubt that intimidation will work on him like it did the grunts."

Alexander could sense that something was afoot here, but that did not change what he had to do. He was here to eliminate the group of outlaws terrorizing this region and appropriate their ill-gotten gains.

When night finally fell, Alexander made his move.

The number of guards had not changed, but their visibility was far poorer in the dark of the night.

Some dim torches had been brought out and mounted on each of the walls near the entrance, but they were purposefully lacking in brightness to prevent outsiders from noticing the light and coming to investigate.

'Shadow Cloak.'

Sending magic power into his twin daggers, Alexander envisioned the formation of the spell and its effects.

Thanks to the umbral steel weapons' peerless designs, he was able to succeed on his first attempt casting the spell despite only having studied its functions for a brief time.

"I'm astonished every time I use these." Alexander said in awe.

Magic power flowed into the daggers without a hint of resistance, and they were capable of conjuring magic almost instantly. It was a far cry from the magic tools he had tried to use in the past.

With his form obscured by the shadows that danced through the night from the stars and torch light, Alexander slowly approached the entrance to the bandit's base.

The men on watched seemed to notice something once he was around two meters away from the guards standing just outside the cave's opening. Yet their eyes could not properly perceive him wrapped up in shadows and failed to understand why they were feeling on edge.

Even as Alexander passed right by them, the two out front failed to fully notice him, and therefore did not raise the alarm.

'This should be close enough.'

Having stepped into the cave, Alexander cast off the shadows that were concealing him and rushed towards the two guards that were standing a few meters away.

From the start, he had been targeting the inner guards first.

If he went after the two outside before dealing with them, it was almost certain that the entire band of bandits would be alerted to his infiltration by the two waiting just inside.

In a single instant, Alexander was on top of the men before they could even react.

Instead of his sword, which was difficult to use properly inside a cramped cave, he was wielding the umbral steel daggers as weapons for the first time.

Both of them were so sharp he hardly felt any resistance as he lopped off the heads of the two bandits.

He was honestly surprised by this, as he had only been aiming to slit the two men's throats. Instead, his increased physical prowess and the keen blades he wielded allowed him to slice through flesh, muscle, and bone with ease.

"Wh- what the hell!?"

The sound of two bodies hitting the ground caught the attention of the two guards standing outside, and they quickly turned around to see their friends collapsed and missing their heads.

Naturally, they did not miss the man who was clad in dark clothing standing over them.

At once, one of the guards pulled out a whistle to warn the others, while the final bandit stood in front of the other protectively.

'I won't let you.'

Rushing forward, Alexander cut through the guard standing in his way like a dark whirlwind and reached the second just as he took a deep breath.

The man was only moment away from blowing into the whistle when Alexander jabbed one of his daggers into the man's throat.

Instead of a loud sound, only blood pushed into the whistle. There was a soft sputtering sound, but the only one that could hear it was Alexander.

A second later, the last bandit on guard duty outside of the hideout dropped to the ground dead.

Alexander breathed heavily and felt bile rising up in his mouth. He had resolved himself to kill, but it still took a toll on him. The sight, sound, and smell of it all was overwhelming.

It threw his senses into disarray, and he felt like he would never be able to get used to it.

'Compose yourself. You're at the mouth of the enemy base. Become distracted here and you will die. And I will end up going along with you.'

Hearing Tharildron's voice snapped Alexander out of his stupor. The shadow dragon was right. Faltering here could easily be deadly.

"Yeah, I know. I've still got a lot more work to do." Alexander said, gazing town the dark tunnel that would bring him deep into the lair of a band of heartless thieves and murders.