Surviving as the Villainess’s Servant in a Martial Arts Novel - Chapter 95

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 95

I looked at the bandits with sparkling eyes.

Looked at them… but soon couldn’t hide my disappointment.

‘Hey, what’s this?’

The bandits blocking our path were only four in number.

I clicked my tongue in disappointment.

What’s this? Did the guy who ran away not tell his colleagues we were coming? Or did he just flee to the mountain hideout by himself?

‘This disloyal bastard.’

If I let him go peacefully, he should have brought his friends!

‘This is troublesome…’

While I was secretly feeling disappointed, Jegal-ye and Peng-ga immediately drew their weapons. Having faced them several times before, their faces showed composure.

I also familiarly stepped back.

Simultaneously, the two rushed at the bandits.

The battle was the same as usual.

Each fairly taking on half the enemies, and if someone had spare capacity or if their opponent seemed to be losing, they would help out, and so on.

However, if there was something different from before, it was that I was purely playing around?

Unlike before when I secretly helped by flicking stones from behind, this time I did nothing and just watched. Unlike before, I was cheering for the pitiful bandits.

‘Fight on, fight!’

Four people can’t even subdue two youngsters? Why are they so weak!

As I clicked my tongue and considered whether to help the bandits this time.

“…Retreat! Run away!”

Suddenly the bandits started fleeing.

“Huh?”

I opened my eyes wide.

Clearly they weren’t being pushed back. No, rather, unlike before, they had only defended and fought passively, so they weren’t even injured.

So they suddenly fled even though they weren’t in a greatly disadvantageous situation. It was completely different from just before when they had gritted their teeth and charged forward with a do-or-die attitude.

‘This is extremely suspicious?’

For now, we chased after the bandits.

After that, they showed the same behavior.

Running away, then fighting, then running away again. Like eels slipping away, which eventually made Peng-ga angry.

“What the hell are those bastards doing?!”

“Exactly. It seems like they have some other scheme…”

‘Oh, you noticed too?’

Compared to Peng-ga, Jegal-ye seemed to have his head working a bit. Then what were they aiming for by doing this?

If I were a bandit, I would devise two methods.

First, leading colleagues to wait and ambush us on the path we’re taking. But seeing as there had been no sign of this so far, this method didn’t seem to be it.

Then the second…

‘Digging a trap and luring us in.’

Come to think of it, those bastards keep pretending to run away while luring us somewhere?

As soon as I realized this, I started pretending to be tired and slowly distancing myself from them. I didn’t want to get hit by a stray blade by staying close.

Before long, the bandits stopped. Then they boldly threatened us.

“Come at us, this place will become your grave!”

And as soon as I stopped, I realized.

Well well, those bastards…

‘Quite a crowd has gathered?’

I stopped in place and quietly surveyed the surroundings. Four in the trees, six lying prone in the thicket, two more behind rocks making four more…

Even those running from far away were quite numerous. Surprisingly, I wasn’t the only one who noticed this.

“Ha, so that’s why you ran away like little mice?”

Peng-ga said in a mocking tone.

“Right, bandits wouldn’t be bandits if they didn’t do such cowardly things. You guys hiding there, all come out. However many of you there are, I’ll slaughter you all!”

“Huh? All coming out would be a bit troublesome. If we all attack at once, we might lose…”

“Shut up! Die!”

“Ahhh, Peng!”

Following Peng-ga who finally charged at the bandits with his great sword, Jegal-ye also rushed in hurriedly with his Pan-gwan-pil.

However, the battle flowed differently than expected.

The bandits who I thought would rush out and attack together as soon as those two charged were strangely quiet again this time.

I tilted my head. What? Why aren’t they all attacking at once? If they attacked all at once now, even if some got hurt, they could still catch them…

But I could soon understand the reason.

I discovered a bandit hiding in a tree right next to me, holding a net.

‘Aha, they’re trying to catch them using nets!’

It seemed the plan was for the four bandits to moderately engage and hold those two, while their colleagues in the trees would throw nets to capture them.

However, that plan didn’t look very easy.

“Argh!”

“What are these guys… Ack!”

The two who had become accustomed to battle began quickly dispatching the bandits.

They were so enraged that the two had already taken down two of the bandits in front of them. Thanks to that, feeling a sense of crisis from that sight, four more who had been hiding in the thicket jumped out and were fighting.

Of course, this wasn’t good for me.

‘No.’

Those guys need to be captured now, they need to be captured by the bandits so I can comfortably enter the mountain hideout.

Quickly, quickly throw the net!

However, as if they hadn’t expected things to turn out this way, the bandits were in confusion. The four in the trees also seemed conflicted about whether to throw the nets or join the battle.

I pressed my forehead and sighed deeply, then suddenly raised my head. My eyes were now shining with determination.

If there’s no bait… I’ll become the bait myself!

“Ahhhhh!”

I rushed forward recklessly.

Simultaneously, both people’s gazes turned toward me.

“…! Jin-hyeong! You shouldn’t come this way…”

“So-hyeop! Over there, there’s a bandit over there! He suddenly tried to attack me, please save me!”

“What? No, wait…!”

I roughly pointed to some part of the thicket and ran toward them in a panic. When the two flustered people hesitated for a moment.

“Throw it!”

An urgent shout burst out from somewhere.

Simultaneously, something spread wide in the sky.

Something that looked like a spider web, or like fireworks decorating the sky…

A festival of nets.

‘Ahh.’

Come, nets.

I spread both arms and welcomed the pouring nets with a willing heart.

The screams in my ears were sweet.

* * *

‘Mission, complete.’

I secretly smiled while bound tightly and forced to kneel.

My plan had ultimately succeeded.

I had sacrificed myself to help the bandits easily capture those two.

“What is this? Untie us right now!”

“Peng, calm down! First try cutting the net with your sword. It looks like an ordinary net, so it should cut quickly…”

“You think I haven’t tried that?! It won’t cut, this isn’t an ordinary net!”

The net was even made of something that couldn’t be easily cut with a sword. Thanks to this, while the two were panicking, the bandits were able to capture them by pointing swords at them.

So we were now captured alive by the bandits. With our entire bodies tightly bound with rope.

‘Right, I knew this would happen.’

I had a feeling from the moment I saw the net.

They had no intention of killing us.

I still didn’t know what their purpose was, but from the beginning, it seemed like they planned to capture us alive. And that meant…

“This bastard, what are you grinning about?”

I must have smiled without realizing it, because Peng-ga, who was next to me, picked a fight. I made excuses awkwardly.

“No, this situation is just so bewildering…”

“Bewildering? Yeah, it must be bewildering. If it weren’t for you, we would have won everything, but you ruined it, so of course you’re bewildered! Why did you have to jump out from there!”

Peng-ga burst into angry shouts at me. He seemed quite displeased, thinking I had ruined everything.

Fortunately, I had one person on my side.

“Peng! Why are you saying such things to Jin-hyeong? Jin-hyeong didn’t do it on purpose, and he had no choice at the time!”

‘It was on purpose though.’

“When bandits hiding in ambush attacked, what could Jin-hyeong, who has no power, possibly do? In the end, we were all captured because we let our guard down.”

“Yeah, you’re so great. What a perfect gentleman!”

“Considering I’ve been following you around all this time, even being a gentleman isn’t enough, is it?”

The two began arguing again, and ultimately it was the bandits who stopped them.

“Won’t you all shut your mouths? If you make any more noise here, I’ll rip your mouths apart!”

We immediately closed our mouths.

The bandit glared at us with displeasure. Just then, one of the bandit’s colleagues approached us.

“Are you keeping watch properly?”

“Ugh, don’t even mention how noisy they are. But why didn’t we kill them? How many brothers fell to those bastards?”

“You still don’t get it? Take a look at their faces.”

At his colleague’s words, the bandit turned his gaze toward us. He didn’t even look at me and muttered while examining Jegal-ye and Peng-ga.

“They look pretty fancy.”

“Right? You can tell at a glance they’re sons of wealthy families. Plus, their skills aren’t ordinary either, so they’re likely heirs of martial arts noble families.”

“Is that so?”

“That’s what I’m saying. But what would happen if we killed them on our own? Their families would definitely come for revenge. And if other righteous faction masters come along too…”

“That would be terrible.”

“So it’s best to capture them first, find out which clan they’re from, and then negotiate. We can extort money and avoid making enemies. How perfect is that?”

“You’re pretty smart, aren’t you?”

‘Indeed.’

To think further ahead than me – this must be what it means to have been living as a bandit for more than just a day or two?

How beautiful it was to see them act wisely, knowing where to step and where not to step. As I was secretly admiring this, I heard the words I had been waiting for.

“Still, keeping them here indefinitely would interfere with the Greedy Flower Bird business, and we need to report the capture to Master Chae, so it would be better to move locations. Let’s take the captives back to the mountain hideout and lock them in prison.”

Perfect!

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