Chapter 40

The Blood Sand Bandits were a large organization that had been active in the southern desert of the continent for a very long time.

The number of members they commanded exceeded hundreds, and among them, most of the combatants were capable of imbuing their swords with magic—making them a force far too powerful to be considered mere bandits.

Given the massive power the Blood Sand Bandits possessed, it was only natural that they caught the attention of the nation of Colony, which was rooted in the desert.

After all, the area where the Blood Sand Bandits were operating was none other than Colony’s capital city.

Like the saying goes, “a nail that sticks out gets hammered down.” It would have been appropriate for the nation to take action and eliminate such a large bandit group.

After all, when bandits loiter around, the nation inevitably suffers damage in some way.

However, the reason the Blood Sand Bandits could continue to operate so boldly near the capital’s desert region was because they had powerful backing.

And not just any backing, but from the most long-standing Baba Yaga of Colony—none other than the warrior, Kalman Arents.

With Kalman supporting them, the group that should have been wiped out long ago grew from dozens to hundreds over a span of ten years.

Today, however, Draco, the leader of the Blood Sand Bandits and Kalman Arents’ trusted subordinate, was in a very bad mood.

“Jack is dead?”

“Yes.”

The reason was that one of his men had gone out to raid a caravan today and was killed.

“Ha—”

Draco scowled in irritation. His frustration wasn’t from the loss of a comrade, but because one of the laborers he had painstakingly raised had died meaninglessly.

‘I had planned to train him a bit more and use him as an assassin.’

Clicking his tongue, Draco asked, “Who killed him?”

“It seems he was killed by a noble while targeting a mage.”

“A noble? Jack?”

“Yes. From what I heard, when the noble used magic, the middle of the desert froze over...”

“What’s their name?”

“We’re currently gathering information from our contacts in Colony, and we should have details by tomorrow.”

After a moment of contemplation, Draco responded, “Let me know as soon as we get the information.”

Naturally, Draco had no intention of letting the mage who killed Jack off the hook.

‘I must avenge the waste of my resources.’

Of course, considering the noble’s status in a foreign country, killing him could lead to all kinds of complications, but Draco wasn’t too concerned.

Killing someone in the desert wasn’t particularly unusual, and as long as there were no witnesses, most deaths in the desert were treated as disappearances.

And Draco was one of the most experienced at such acts.

Once he figured out the noble’s identity, he planned to wait for the right moment to bury him when he tried to leave the desert.

—If only ‘that’ hadn’t appeared.

“Gahk—!”