Harpies of the Forest and Cat Thieves (4)
Arisukawa manages to survive the initial attack, but what is the reason behind the thieves' kidnappings?
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I know this is a stupid question. But I asked, hoping to find a way out of my situation.
"Haa, originally we don't do something as cowardly as kidnapping people."
"Huh? Really? Then why..."
"Well, I steal from time to time, but I don't do it in a flashy way."
The thief woman looked at her boss.
"Yeah, we steal, but we used to make a living by hunting and selling the meat and pelts we got from our hunts. But recently, we were driven out of our territory by bandits."
"You can fight those bandids, right?"
"Normally, yes, but lately they've been gaining a lot of strength."
The other thieves also fell silent.
"What are these bandits?"
"The Forest Orcs."
The woman spoke again.
"To begin with, Forest Orcs aren't bandits—they're a friendly race. Although some of them have strayed from the right path. I don't know why they're gaining strength, but it seems the Dark Orcs are the ones behind it."
According to their stories, the thieves, driven out of their territory, had no choice but to kidnap people to survive. I don't really know what kind of existence these Forest Orcs or Dark Orcs are, but it seems the Dark Orcs are an evil race capable of manipulating magic.
I managed to convince them to release the kidnapped harpies and persuaded them to return the stolen supplies. Later, we returned to the village and informed the villagers about what had happened, requesting them to provide support to the thieves who had been driven out of their territory.