Chapter 17: Booby-Trapped Bait Zell

Merry Tuesday ya beautiful bastards!

I know I said two chapters a week, but uhh… just consider that last one a bonus, alright? coming next week. For real this time. I promise.

First, big, BIG thanks to my latest Ko-Fi contributors, Ever, kirindas, first last, and… the #1 Zell fanboy himself, 50% chance of hotglue!

Second, more thanks to my fellow Foxaholic translators chocolala and barebones, for always being there and helping me out with some of the harder translations! If you’re on the Discord, please send some love their way (tell them I sent you), or better yet, check out their work right here on the site!

Our favorite Faerie has a lot of screen time this chapter, hopefully she doesn’t get covered in adhesive.

Enjoy!

Faeries, being so small and nimble, made for the best scouts.

At least it would seem like it, but truth is, they weren’t that great.

They physiologically had a tendency to faintly glow.

It was fine in the daytime, but at night or in dark forests – like the one they were in right now, they would stick out like sore thumbs.

Generally, it was fine even if they did stand out – they flew quickly and were agile enough to slip away from any would-be pursuers.

The largest issue was that Faeries, being the airheads they are, tended to forget their very own nature.

It was like hiding your head without covering your ass.

Faeries would try and use the cover of darkness to sneak around, blissfully unaware that they themselves were a source of light and end up being spotted and caught.

Fortunately, Faeries were rarely killed, even when captured.

Most people kept any Faeries they detained alive to harvest the dust their bodies gave off, while other more superstitious individuals thought that killing a Faerie would earn you a one-way ticket to hell.

Truthfully, Bash didn’t have much hope for the Faerie’s reconnaissance operation.

If she came back safely, then good, that was that.

When it came to Zell, she wouldn’t be caught if the only thing she was dealing with was bugbears, and if she got caught by a person, then she definitely wouldn’t be killed.

If she ended up getting captured, Bash would just have to follow Zell’s trail, just as he had done during the war.

And, as expected, she didn’t come back.

“Looks like she got caught.”

Bash and the others had followed Zell’s scent to a small densely forested area.

In front of them was a cave whose entrance was cleverly camouflaged with vines, leaves, and roots.

If they hadn’t been told that there was a cave right there, Houston and the other Humans wouldn’t have noticed it.

“This looks like a man-made operation. Seems someone is controlling the bugbears.”

“A beast tamer?”

One of the many applications of Daemonic Secret Arts was controlling magical beasts and monsters.

Initially, only the Seven Races Federation had access to this technique, but over the course of the long war, it was analyzed, and its use eventually spread to all nations.

It became so well-known and studied that a Human Sage managed to use it in order to control a gigantic Dragon.

With the end of the war and the signing of the peace treaty, many former soldiers found themselves unemployed and either unable or unwilling to abandon their former profession and skills.

It wasn’t hard to believe that some ex-military Beast Tamers had turned to banditry to earn a living.

“If that’s the case, let’s go in right away! We’ll rescue the Faerie, kill all the bugbears, and arrest the Beast Tamer! Isn’t that right, Sir Houston?”

Judith insisted.

If someone was trapped, they should rescue them – it was just the natural thing to do.

“No, we should wait until nightfall.”

But Houston was having none of it.

“We don’t know the layout of their hideout. We don’t even know how many of them there are in there. If we go in unprepared, we’ll all be killed. At the very least, we should wait until it gets dark, so we have some cover.”

“That’s…”

The target was a cavern.

A location that might possibly be the enemy’s home base.

Going by the book, the right thing to do should be returning to the city and calling for reinforcements.

With 20 to 30 men in tow, they’d surround the cave and smoke them out – literally, and capture or kill them once they inevitable try to flee to avoid asphyxiating.

At least that’s what Houston would have done were it a normal situation.

But right now, one of their allies was being kept captive.

Nobody knew how the robbers would treat prisoners.

They had been extremely careful up until this point.

If they found out about the assault team coming their way, they’d first think about ridding themselves of any “unnecessary baggage”.

That said, it was unlikely that Zell would be killed right away.

Zell was a single Faerie, seemingly travelling solo.

Unless she slipped up and confessed, the assailants wouldn’t be aware that she had comrades nearby.

And she wasn’t just any Faerie either. She was a seasoned veteran. She wouldn’t let them know any important information that easily.

In which case, it was reasonable to assume that the robbers would bottle her up and keep her as a supply of Faerie dust.

Of course, if it were up to Houston, he would have operated differently.

He would see the Faerie wandering in as a sign of things to come, promptly kill her and immediately flee the cave.

But the robbers seemed to be doing pretty well for themselves.

When things are rolling along nicely, it was difficult to take the slightest roadblock as a warning that you need to drop everything and run.

However, they couldn’t remain optimistic.

If Zell’s flippant and light-heartedness was anything to go by…

She might go, “Screw you guys! My friends will come save me in no time! Krassel’s tip-top bestest security! You guys are going to get caught and chop-chop! Off with your heads!”

If that happened, then it would be a different story.

At first, they would probably snicker at that statement.

After all, those were just the words just a dumb, overly talkative Faerie. Nothing more than a walking (but mostly flying) medicine cabinet.

But that would only last until tomorrow’s dawn.

After sleeping on it, they would realize the gravity of the situation.

And when the sun was finally high in the sky, Zell’s life would be gone, and the raiders would have long since fled.

These bandits were meticulous and careful enough to have avoided detection by Krassel’s troops up till now. That’s what they’ll do.

To be honest, Houston would be fine with this conclusion.

The highway incidents would cease, and Krassel’s peace would be restored.

Only, right now, he’s was in front of his men.

Zell wasn’t his subordinate, but it wouldn’t be a good look to abandon a prisoner right here, right now.

And even more importantly, he was in front of Bash. Houston didn’t have the courage to just turn his back on the Orc Hero’s precious friend.

Therefore, he was going to conduct a rescue mission with his currently available forces.

It would be even worse if he wasted his men’s lives, so he decided to conduct a night raid to increase the mission’s success rate.

If Zell hadn’t kept her mouth shut, the bandits would start getting nervous.

They’d be bracing themselves for an enemy attack right about now.

But their tension wouldn’t last forever – they had to sleep eventually.

By waiting a few hours, Houston and the others would be able to catch them off guard.

If the Faerie was still alive, doing this should increase her chances of making it out in one piece.

“Is this alright, Sir Bash?”

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Houston decided to ask for Bash’s opinion.

He had the strength to rush in alone and annihilate all the enemies inside.

In which case, Houston and the others would not even need to participate.

If that was the case, why not just go in right away?

Houston was a caution man.

He didn’t want to rely on an uncertain factor.

Of course, if Bash disagreed with Houston’s plan and wanted to go in, he would follow along.

“…It’s alright.”

But Bash replied after a moment of silence.

Judith voiced her displeasure at his response.

“Huh…? What are you waiting for? Your friend is being held captive! Aren’t Orcs supposed to be brave warriors that fought with courage no matter the odds?!”

“Yes, we fight no matter how disadvantageous the battle. But Orc warriors also obey orders. What the Commander decides, I follow.”

It was only in the early stages of the war that the Orcs would repeatedly launch themselves into the fray, without a plan and with only the strength of their arms to rely on.

After a while, they began using ambushes, nigh raids, divide and conquer, battlefield assassinations, scorched-earth tactics, striking at the supply lines, and even flooding frequently used paths and roads.

All these actions were in accordance with a commander’s orders.

Ironically, it was the Humans who taught military organization to the Orcs over the course of the hundreds of years of war.

Although they couldn’t move as sophisticatedly and precisely as Humans, Orcs could still think and act.

Otherwise, military hierarchical ranks such as Platoon Leader, Company Commander, and Battalion Captain would never have been created.

Moreover, Orcs had a law: ” When in another clan’s village, obey that clan’s leader.”

In other words, Bash was a true Orc warrior, and he was going to think of Houston as his commander.

“Besides, Zell will be fine.”

“I’m not sure what you’re basing that on… Argh, we don’t have time to talk about this! Sir Houston, please, give me the order. I’ll lead our soldiers, and the six of us will go in and kill everyone inside!”

Houston stroked his chin as both Bash and Judith looked to him.

“Hmm …… Judith is right, I do fear for Lady Zell’s life. Sure, it’s often said that Faeries won’t be killed, but that’s not an absolute. Do you have any reason to believe this?”

“She survived the war.”

Houston mulled over Bash’s brief words.

Even Faeries die when they are killed.

But Zell was a Faerie that had been caught a tremendous number of times during the war

And yet, she survived.

At first glance, it would seem like she was just incredibly lucky.

But… Houston didn’t think so.

You can find a lot of people who have been caught by the police.

The Knight Commander was aware of multiple instances in which the Human forces had taken her captive.

Now, if you included the times she was captured by the other factions in the Alliance, it would amount to quite a large number. An ordinary Faerie would most likely have died a hundred times over.

But Zell was still merrily flying around to this day. This wasn’t just chance.

“I see… Yes, she’s “Booby-Trapped Bait Zell” after all. I’m not entirely convinced, but let’s hope for the best.”

Zell’s was famous in her own right.

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She had even earned herself a nickname – that’s how active she had been in the war.

Regardless of if she truly lived up to them, she definitely had a modicum of skill.

“Alright, everyone standby on my orders. We’ll keep an eye out on the cave from outside the ineffective range of the soundproofing magic, and strike when they’re asleep.”

Houston had decided to wait and see.

Judith was still not convinced.

“Please, Sir Houston!”

“Hmm? Yes?”

“One of our allies is being held captive right now!”

“That’s right, which is why I’m taking every possible precaution. We don’t have time to go back and call for backup, so we’ll mount a night attack with everyone here.”

“We should go in now!”

“No, it’s too dangerous. Stand by.”

Houston sternly replied.

Judith’s shoulders slumped as she backed off.

But she still looked dissatisfied.

Her boss was putting more weight on Bash’s words than her own, and if things kept going this way, he’d take all the credit for solving this case.

Houston thought that she was probably unhappy about that.

[I guess it can’t be helped. It’s her first real mission after all.]

Although he felt that way, he was now in command.

The moment he had announced that he would accompany her, it was no longer Judith’s mission alone.

Although he had taken command of the case halfway through, he would make sure that all his men returned alive and the case was solved.

These were Houston’s intentions.

“Okay, so one of us will be on watch duty while the rest of us get some sleep… Bash, is that alright?”

“I’ll follow the commander’s orders.”

Bash replied, leaning his back against a nearby tree and closing his eyes.

“Alright, then. Jet, You’re the lookout. If anything happens, wake me up.”

There were five hours left until sunset.

At which point he would let the sentry go to sleep and assign another soldier to guard the entrance. Those two would be backup. The rest would go in.

He would left those two behind just in case he needed a messenger to go back to town and tell the deputy commander what had happened – for example, if enemy reinforcements arrived in the middle of the night or if Houston and the others were wiped out.

Normally, it would be Houston himself who would take on this role.

Judith was the field commander.

As the chief executive, Houston had to play it safe.

However, in front of Bash, he couldn’t afford to stay safely in the rear.

He had to join in on the assault.

“…”

But Houston had forgotten.

The soldiers, however, hadn’t failed to remember that Judith was still a novice, having been knight for only a year.

She was knighted after the war and had only worked as one in times of peace.

And he didn’t notice.

He didn’t realize that his subordinates were trying to give that a new knight a good boost – a kickstart to her career.

They were a little frustrated with Houston, who was careful and cautious, putting a lot of weight on the Orc’s words…

Zell right now… (NSFW-ish)

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