I Became a Veteran Who Has to Stir Up Trouble to Survive - Chapter 12

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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[012] Bandit Gang Assault
Malton skillfully roused the sleeping mercenaries.
“Wait, you’re telling me the sentries vanished without a word…?! I can’t believe it! They abandoned their posts and deserted without permission!”
“….”
“But, um, both my cheeks are tingling quite a bit. Do you happen to know why…? It feels exactly like I got punched by someone….”
“I’m not sure.”
“I wouldn’t know, sir.”
Malton and I quickly hid our flushed palms behind our backs.
As the mercenary peered at us suspiciously, Malton cleared his throat and spoke.
“…This is hardly the time for idle chatter. You need to wake all the sleeping companions. We’re going to search for the mercenaries who abandoned the campsite.”
“Ah, understood…! I’ll make sure to wake everyone!”
The mercenary, realizing the gravity of the situation, swallowed hard and rushed out of the tent.
After confirming he was moving about waking his sleeping comrades, Malton headed toward the forest, and I immediately followed.
Upon reaching the forest’s edge, Malton flipped his robe inside out, revealing the black lining on the outside for camouflage.
In an instant, Malton transformed into a figure optimized for covert movement.
He adjusted the lamp’s shutter as he spoke.
“…If we keep the lantern too bright, our position will be exposed. I’ll reduce the light output as much as possible. Since we don’t know what dangers lurk ahead, stay close behind me and follow carefully.”
“Understood.”
Malton ventured deeper into the forest, following the traces left by the mercenaries with effortless precision.
Even in the darkness, his movements were remarkably fluid and practiced.
“…What business would bring them into such a dense forest? And deliberately choosing the time when everyone else was asleep, no less.”
“We’ll find out soon enough. Though I doubt it’s for any good reason.”
“Have you often pursued people like this before?”
“…That couldn’t possibly be the case.”
“….”
A lie.
I subtly probed Malton while continuing forward diligently.
Navigating the forest with minimal light wasn’t easy, but this was precisely when the techniques I’d learned in my past life proved invaluable.
First, I slowly closed my eyes and then opened them, allowing my vision to adjust to the darkness.
Since rod cells, which are sensitive to light and shadow, exist primarily around the retina’s periphery, I observed objects through peripheral vision rather than direct sight.
Rather than relying solely on sight, I engaged all my senses—the texture of leaves brushing against my forearms, the sound of wind, and more….
“Wait…!”
Suddenly, a discordant sound reached my ears, and I grabbed Malton ahead of me.
Male voices faintly mixed within the wind’s whisper.
Not dryads or forest spirits, but unmistakably human presence.
Cautiously observing ahead, the flickering torchlight from a clearing revealed three silhouettes.
‘Wait… these aren’t the missing mercenaries…?’
Yet their silhouettes seemed strangely unfamiliar.
They wore dark-toned light armor unlike anything I’d seen on the mercenaries we’d traveled with for the past four days.
The numbers don’t match the missing mercenaries, and the Mercenary Captain isn’t among them.
Malton muttered under his breath.
“…Bandits, I see. Like rust clinging to weapons and armor, no matter how many times you scrub them away, they keep crawling back.”
“That’s true… I never expected to run into them in a place like this.”
“Hmm… can you tell at a glance that they’re bandits?”
“Yes, their equipment is a complete mess. Tattered quilted armor on top, but mismatched greaves on their legs… weapons that don’t fit their frames. It looks like they’re just using whatever they looted from adventurers.”
And in the process, they’d dyed all their gear black to gain an advantage in ambushes.
Wrapping cloth around their daggers to reduce reflections was also typical of assassins.
If it were me, I would’ve been far more thorough—wrapping cloth around parts that could make noise, like buckles and greave joints, or even applying adhesive slime gel as a precaution.
Malton’s eyes widened as he listened to me.
“For a young man to possess such keen insight… truly remarkable…! Could you be…!”
“Let me be clear—I’m not a bandit. I’ve never robbed innocent citizens. It’s just that I dealt with them so often back in my hometown that I understand how they think.”
Of course, my patron deity was a filthy, contemptible god of petty theft.
They said the rune would be chosen to suit the player best, so why did they pick this one for me….
“I see. In any case, we need to subdue them first and figure out what’s going on. I’ll handle the two on the left, so I’d appreciate it if you could take the one on the right. No need to hold back.”
“I’ll take care of it.”
I quietly drew my weapon alongside Malton and we moved into action.
Thanks to four days of hunting monsters and leveling up, I had gained some confidence in combat against people.
I approached the assailant from behind, careful not to let the blade reflect in the moonlight.
‘If I don’t finish this in one strike, I’m the one who dies…!’
So I’d kill him in one clean motion.
Shhwing—!
I swung my cutlass with all my strength while concealed in the shadows.
A slashing attack that leveraged the cutlass’s strength—superior for cutting rather than thrusting.
Avoiding the protective range of the gambeson, I severed his neck in a single stroke, and blood sprayed as his body collapsed forward.
「You have defeated a Bandit! A clean strike!」
Despite the cheerful log message, my heart felt uneasy.
‘This unsettling feeling won’t fade easily.’
Now that I’d left the modern world behind, it would probably take more time before I became truly accustomed to killing.
Pushing aside the guilt that gnawed at me despite my cold resolve, I turned to look beside me, and there unfolded a grotesque spectacle.
A spell that made a human head simply vanish!
The bandit’s skull caved in, his brain matter spilling out.
“Tsk… I failed to control my strength… I’ve never actually hit a person before, you see….”
「Malton struck the Bandit’s vital point with precision!」
「A flawless blow—only an accomplished expert could pull off such a strike!」
As Malton’s mace claimed his companion’s life, the remaining bandit screamed and drew his blade in desperation—.
“Shh… keep your voice down.”
Crack!
Malton swung his mace again, and with a sickening sound, the bandit’s right arm bent at an unnatural angle.
“Oops… I was just trying to give him a bruise….”
“….”
I clicked my tongue as I watched Malton spout his shameless lies without hesitation.
To survive in this world, I’d need to make this level of acting a passive skill.
Malton and I quickly subdued the screaming Bandit and began our interrogation.
“…Speak. Who are you and what are you doing here? What’s your connection to the Mercenary Captain Lehiman?”
“Th-this is… cough!! I-I think I’m going to talk…?! If you don’t let me go right now, my comrades will swarm here soon…!”
“Whose orders are you following? What’s your objective!”
“….”
The Bandit clamped his mouth shut.
I could feel his resolute determination never to reveal the secret.
“Doran, I apologize, but I have a favor to ask of you….”
“Understood.”
I shoved a twig deep into the Bandit’s mouth to silence him.
Malton stared at me for a moment, surprised that I could read his intentions without a word—like a comrade whose rhythm I’d matched for years—but he immediately got to work.
Crack—!!
“Gggguuugh?!!!”
The mace shattered the Bandit’s kneecap.
Again and again, each blow of the blunt weapon produced the horrific sound of bone shattering.
A pool of blood spread across the grassland as the Bandit’s eyes rolled back and he screamed, but the deeper I drove the twig into his throat, the more his cries were muffled.
“Grrrrgh…! Cough-hack-ack!!”
“…I think that’s enough. Have you found the will to speak now?”
“I-I’ll talk!! Ah, ah-ugh…! Gack… I-I’ll talk!!”
“It seems a bit insufficient… shall we break the shins as well?”
“Please let me speak!!! Sob….”
“Is that so?”
“It is.”
Malton brought the mace down with satisfaction.
What the Bandit confessed was simple.
“So that Mercenary Captain… Lehiman is in cahoots with your Bandit Gang, and the plan was to lure the Merchant Caravan here, slaughter them all, and strip them clean?”
“Exhaust the other mercenaries by making them fight monsters, then drug their alcohol and ambush them at night… it’s exactly the kind of scheme bandits would dream up.”
I’d suspected something when they offered alcohol without compensation, but now that my suspicions had become reality, my mood was complicated.
The way they’d asked about my level and lost interest after hearing my answer must have been because they judged I wouldn’t interfere with their plan.
There’s nothing to resent. Belheim is that kind of world.
A den of swindlers filled with those desperate to prey on the weak—where the honest lose out.
“Wait, wasn’t this request supposed to go through the Adventurer’s Guild? Everyone’s identities should be verified, so why would they do something like this….”
“Perhaps they were planning to pull off one big score and disappear before their tails were caught from petty crimes in this area. …As a fellow escort, I’m sorry you got dragged into this mess.”
“No, there’s no need for you to apologize, Malton. It’s all those bastards’ fault.”
“I appreciate that. …But how did they manage to summon the monsters?”
“I-I don’t know…! I-I was just a foot soldier, so I only did what I was told!”
The Bandit protested desperately even as he writhed in agony.
“…It seems you have some idea about this.”
“….”
I nodded without protest.
Indeed, such an item existed among Belheim’s consumable materials.
It had been banned from use due to its extreme danger and potential for criminal exploitation.
“…For now, let’s return to the campsite. According to what this man said, the Bandit Gang should be preparing to ambush the Merchant Caravan around this time.”
“That sounds wise. And this bandit….”
“No, please… I beg you…!”
Those were the Bandit’s final words.
* * *
Malton and I quickly retraced our steps and emerged from the Forest.
But before we could fully escape the woods, I sensed that combat had already erupted.
“Right flank, secure the right! Damn it! Someone with a shield, get out there and block those arrows!!”
“Shit! We’re about to break! Everyone, hold the line!!”
“Anyone with magic scrolls, use them all now! Don’t regret it in the afterlife while eating bone broth!”
Angry shouts and the clash of weapons echoed through the air.
Simultaneously, my log window updated with a notification sound.
Ding―!
｢Emergency Quest Triggered!!｣
｢The Merchant Caravan is under attack by the Bandit Gang!｣
｢You escaped disaster by being away from the campsite, but if this continues, you will soon be discovered by the bandits!｣
｢Will you join forces with the Mercenary Group protecting the caravan to repel the bandits, or will you quietly retreat?｣
｢In Belheim, ethics and morality are sometimes merely expensive luxuries! Few would blame you for fleeing with your tail between your legs!｣
Malton muttered quietly, his voice trailing off.
“…It seems we arrived a bit late. We must have passed them on the mountain path.”
“Still, I’m grateful we managed to wake people and come back. If we hadn’t….”
“They would have been assassinated under cover of darkness by now….”
Rather than rushing out recklessly, Malton and I hid behind trees to assess the situation.
If the battle turned too unfavorable, we should consider fleeing immediately rather than engaging.
“The number of bandits slightly exceeds the mercenaries… but it seems the mercenaries are at a disadvantage due to the ambush. They’ve been exhausted from fighting the endless monsters these past four days….”
“They’re barely holding on by using the carriages as a barricade. The mercenary we woke seems to be making a difference. If we join now, we could provide some assistance… but what would you prefer?”
“What? Of course we should help.”
This wasn’t mere meddling.
If they were ordinary civilians, I would have fled immediately, but the Merchant Caravan is mixed in with them.
And even for a small-scale merchant group, creating a debt with merchants proves incredibly convenient.
Not only can you receive various benefits, but if you receive a letter of introduction, you gain the opportunity to establish connections with other merchant groups.
Of course, if we die, it all becomes meaningless, but don’t I have the strongest backing right now?
‘With Malton’s abilities, a Bandit Gang like that is child’s play.’
Malton’s true strength shines more when facing people rather than hunting monsters.
I called out confidently.
“Let’s go right now, Malton. Go show those ruffians the taste of justice!”
“Hmm… even in a life-or-death situation like this, you prioritize the safety of others. You’re far more righteous than I gave you credit for.”
“What? That came out of nowhere…”
“I’m afraid I won’t be able to help.”
“No, why are you saying that now of all times… Oh.”
The moment I turned my head absently, I realized Malton was different from his usual self.
Trembling fingertips, golden hair dulled of its luster, a complexion so pallid it seemed almost undead.
I knew these symptoms all too well.
‘The harbinger of a curse….’
A vicious curse that wouldn’t fade even if you carved away flesh and scattered burnt bone to dust.
The precursor to the endless nightmare that had gnawed away at my friend and NPC companion.
True to my fears, Malton soon gasped roughly and coughed up blood.
“I’m… I’m sorry… *cough*! Of all times… *hack*…”
I stared down at Malton, clawing at the ground with my fingertips, his feet stained with blood.
How many times had I witnessed this moment before?
With each cycle, I searched desperately for a way to break the curse that bound Malton.
Yet by the time I finally grasped a thread of hope, the symptoms had already progressed beyond salvation.
Each time, I felt the helplessness of a player and could only let him go.
But this time was different.
I gripped the humming, vibrating orb from my pocket and asked.
“What if… I could erase that curse? What if I could relieve the suffering bound to you… would you help me then?”
“…That’s too much of a jest. *cough*… I didn’t just sit idle and let the curse spread through my body. The renowned paladins and priests of the Religious Orders couldn’t dispel it—how do you propose to break it?”
“….”
“But… if you could truly lift the curse bound to me, then I swear I would aid you with all my heart and resources.”
“…Are you serious?”
“Serious or not, stop joking in a situation like this!”
Before Malton could say another word, I pulled the cursed orb from my pocket.
Malton’s eyes widened in recognition of what I held.
“H-how did you get that…?!”
“…I raided Lich’s treasure vault. Malton, that orb is the source of your curse, isn’t it?”
“W-well, a curse this powerful isn’t something you’d find just anywhere… Wait, you raided Lich’s treasure vault…? How in the world did you manage that?!”
“We can talk about that later over drinks… So, with this, can you fight?”
“W-well, if this curse were lifted, I could dispatch those bandits easily enough… but there’s one thing you still don’t know.”
Malton continued, his expression etched with bitter sorrow as though expelling a curse himself.
“That cursed orb was created by the Andira Cult. It’s such a powerful artifact that once a curse is activated, it never truly disappears. There is a way to destroy the orb itself, but if you resort to such drastic measures, you’ll inherit the curse in my stead.”
Malton slowly shook his head.
He raised his hand, stained with blood and mud, and pushed the orb away.
Though it was his only chance to break free from the curse that bound him.
Even in terrible agony, those green eyes had not lost their clarity—they burned with an unwavering resolve never to live as a coward, even drowning in suffering.
Yes.
That’s right.
The elf warrior Malievertone I knew was exactly this kind of man.
In a world overflowing with villains and schemers, Malton’s unwavering conviction to uphold his principles shone all the brighter—like a pearl gleaming within mud.
But.
I would never have spoken if I were prepared to surrender like this.
“What if… what if I possessed a means to turn the curse back upon itself?”
“What do you mean…?”
“Watch carefully.”
I slowly turned my back to him and rose, uttering the incantation.
“O walker within death’s embrace, rise once more and stride forward.”
A skeletal warrior materialized before Malton’s widening eyes, shock etched across his face.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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