I succeeded in handing over the sake-infused melon to the bandits.
“Wake up, wake up, the lizard folks are here!”
I jolted awake, hit by Piyo. I had intended to rest for a bit, but it seemed I had fallen into a deep sleep. Outside, the sun was setting, and the sky was stained purple.
I headed towards the water source with Karubene and Elana. From what I observed from a distance, there were only a few people sleeping outside. The rest were probably inside.
“Heh heh, even the sentries are asleep. How stupid.”
Karubene chuckled and approached the entrance, which was a large rock. Peeking inside, I saw a large pool of water, like a lake, deep within. Many were sound asleep on the ground in the front and on the rocks inside the cave.
I looked around at the bags scattered nearby. In one of them, I found an egg of the Desert Scale Tribe that had likely been stolen. It was oval-shaped, like a snake’s egg, and larger than my palm. It had been separated from its parents, but I wondered if it was still safe. For the time being, I slung it over my shoulder.
“Alright, let’s escape before they wake up. Hey, what are you doing!”
Karubene was carrying a child from the bandit group who had been sleeping with them. Bandits are bad, but involving a child is not right.
“What do you mean? It’s a hostage. Even if you get the egg back, Brother, it won’t solve anything.”
What she said made sense, but now we seemed to be the villains.
“Even the worst villains will come back for their own children, right? Don’t worry, I’ll return it. It’s just a little threat.”
“Well, if that’s the case. But you’re only taking those two.”
We immediately retreated from the place and returned to the farmhouse. Nina approached us when she saw us.
“How did it go? Did it work out well? Huh? What’s that child? Did you kidnap them?”
I explained to Nina, who was frowning, that it was a hostage.
“Hmm, well, that sounds like something Karubene would do. Even so, it seems like there’s no other choice.”
While my companions were muttering that it couldn’t be helped, Imon was in a panic.
“Oh no, what do we do? They’re definitely going to be angry. When will they come? Ah, what do we do? We need to evacuate.”
Nina sighed at him. They would definitely come once they sobered up. But we couldn’t back down either. We had come this far, so we had to get the water back no matter what.
With Imon bustling around behind us, we decided to wait at the entrance of the farmhouse. Night fell, and the sky began to regain its bright light.
Piyo and Pauline, tired of waiting, had fallen asleep. As I sat quietly in the cold air, Veronica came and sat next to me, pointing to the sky.
“Look, the vultures have arrived.”
I raised my head and saw several faint shapes in the distance against the clear sky.
