Chapter 511 Tracing the Bandits
On the corner table of a hall, a boy could be seen eating his meal. Around him were many tables with other people.
Unlike others who focused on devouring their food, he was more interested in their discussion.
It had been some hours since he had arrived in this place; this was a village on the outskirts.
The Phantom Claw Bandits had raided this village; this was one of the villages that suffered due to them.
He was here for his mission, and when he tried asking, people tried to maintain distance from him.
They disliked outsiders and blamed them for their suffering. The bandits would target them more if someone came to investigate.
Rishi learned it early and decided to learn bits and pieces by observing the people. He was right; they frequently talked about the bandits.
While it was hard to differentiate rumors from accurate information, he was getting some clues.
After he learned about the location of the place where the villagers had been captured, he decided to visit that place.
It was impractical to camp here and wait for the bandits to return; who knows when they will return?
Due to their constant movement, it was hard to find their traces. They lived the lives of nomads and were always on the move.
Adding to their familiarity with the forest, it had become hard for the government forces to track them.
They were always busy with big issues, which left them no time to deal with these small matters.
Missions like these were passed on to Bounty Hunters and Adventurers, but due to the time, not many were interested.
Another big reason was that many who have accepted this mission have been found hanging in front of the gates.
This made everyone fear them; those who were stronger thought it was not worth it to waste their time and effort here.
The bandits were well aware of this, due to which they created this gap for them. They never crossed the line and got on the nerves of the government, but they also didn't stop their small crimes.
They were like termites, and with time, they were making many people's lives hard.
Rishi approached this place and tried to find out their traces, but he found nothing.
The inspection team that came here had destroyed all the traces.
The only good news for him was that it occurred two days ago. They could not have gone very far, no matter how fast they were.
He took out the map and tried to calculate their current location. He found three places where they might have gone past.
These were based on his calculations; he took into consideration many things, like safety, proximity to villages, and the river.
Next, he summoned his contract beast and sat on its back.
By traveling in the air, he was able to take shortcuts; he used his concealment technique and covered himself and his mount in a veil of shadows.
He didn't want to waste his time fighting with random beasts. While moving, he created multiple shadow bats.
These would help him quickly scan a large area and find any traces.
He reached the first point and released the shadow bats. They started searching for traces. With time, he had also made them better; they could now search while hiding themselves.
They kept sending information to him through a mental link. He was disappointed that no recent traces of a group of humans were passing through this area.
He shook his head and called back the shadow bats. His mount started beating its wings faster and moved toward the second point.
Here, he again repeated the same step. He did find multiple traces, but they were from a week ago.
From the numbers, he could guess that it might be merchant caravans; bandits would not move around with such numbers.
While moving toward the third point, he was a little skeptical about the result. However, he didn't give up and tried; at first, he found nothing.
It was then that he found a slight trace. He approached that area and found a foot mark in the grass.
While it was not very clear, he could guess that it was human due to its shape. It could only be made by someone who wears shoes.
As he scanned this area, he found that there was another route near it.
When he approached, he found small traces.
They were fresh, and he commanded the shadow bats to scatter around the area.
Little by little, he kept finding small traces; it was as if they had never thought someone might inspect this area.
The tracing continued, and he was led to a cave covered by vines.
As he entered it, he found a secret passage; inside it, he was able to find multiple traces.
Many people had moved through this area; he even found traces of bones and campfires.
"I am close," he said as he continued.
He found himself in a tunnel. It was very long.
When he came out of it, he saw that there was a river.
On the branches of trees, he found marks of the ropes.
He noticed the flow of the river. It was moving toward the deep area of the forest.
After thinking for a moment, he started following it. With the help of his mount, he was able to move above the river.
Shadow bats followed him, scanning everything around him.
These bandits were cunning; they used rivers instead of roads to hide their treacheries.
He could guess that it was not a fluke that they had survived and thrived for this long. However, this was their last day.
His killing intent was not far from reaching a new level. It was only possible to bypass this state by eliminating humans and then recovering.
This was very dangerous; he would need to rescue the innocent people and hide them somewhere where he might not see them.
If they appeared before him when he was out of control, then he might get his hands stained with the blood of Innosent.
As he moved along the river, he found the traces of many people on the shore.
"That's it," he said.
He thought he had caught them, but he found out that there was a road here that might lead to their main base.
This mission was testing his patience. He sighed and started moving above the road.
Th𝗲 most uptodate novels are published on free(w)ebnov(e)l.𝒄𝒐𝙢