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CHAPTER 20 – WAR WITH THE BANDITS
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After receiving two quest with the same objective, Bunny and co exited the village.
Bunny suggested her battle plan:
“Let's summon all the animals we have, then do a frontal charge. The bandits will make light of just 3 people and some random animals, when they attack with their guards down, we can show them our strength. It will cause confusion when they fight rabbits similar to their levels.”
Confidently outlining her plans, Bunny earned a knock on the head from Gene's staff, which sent her sulking in some imaginary corner. Gene had became friendly enough with Bunny that he would not hesitate to stop her from impulsive actions.
Looking at the other two, Angel sighed.
To Angel, Bunny had both originality and ingenuity, with plans that were bold and diverse. Her special animal training methods, creation of passive income and the great bluff on the Lair of Litvart... These were just examples of her unique ways of thinking.
However, originality and ingenuity were terms only awarded to successful ventures. When things go bad, they were termed as unorthodoxy and eccentricity. It was a double edged sword. Bunny's idiosyncrasy plan on gaining more hedgehogs by releasing the two she currently had ended with feeding the poor animals to larger predators, while her current battle plan screamed 'Crazy Idea'.
Gene did not make unique plans, but he was level-headed. With a clear mind, he could foresee possible flaws in Bunny's absurd plans and upgrade or avoid them accordingly. Even for the great bluff, Gene took extra effort to 'tutor' the twins Annie and Anna into using terms like 'The owner said...' in order to increase their credibility. She was also the one who misdirected people in the forums.
The two made an amazing partnership with Bunny cooking up exotic ideas while Gene sharpening them into great strategies. They could had become a great couple if not for their laughable circumstances of switched gender avatars.
*****
“To win a battle, the most important aspect is information. From what village elder Garlen said, we only know there are 500 bandits and the bandit fort location. Factoring in the fact, for most D rank quest have 800 enemies instead 500, we can either assume a boss leader within the bandit fort, or bandits are extremely difficult opponents.” Gene calmly explained the situation
“Rushing in is no good, we would win, but death tolls will be high.” Angel agreed
Bunny just continued sulking.
“We need to gather more information before planing. In wars, we need to know both our strength and the enemies' power to win. Since today is Saturday, we can spend the day spying, collecting info then do strategic planing and preparation . We can launch an attack tomorrow morning. Everyone free tomorrow?”
“I have no previous appointments” Angel replied
“Me neither, so what do we do now?” Bunny asked, still rubbing her head.
“I'll go scout with the minks, their camouflage cloaks are ideal for recon work. Bunny, get me 20 minks first, then prepare the army for war. We only need those above Level 50s and make sure they are well armed, we need to know of our power too.
“Alright!” Bunny answered
“Angel, can you go handle those children who think themselves militias? We will keep each other updated using PM.”
“Not a problem”
After receiving instructions, Angel left for the village and Bunny summoned 20 of the 35 minks. Gene formed a temporary companion contract with them before setting out to scout. With the temporary contract, Gene gained the mink's 'cloaking ability' and could revive them if they accidentally got killed.
With the others gone, Bunny communicated with her 5 squirrels aides, checking the status and levels of all the animals she owned, as well as the plague rats and worms.
There were currently around 200 animals that were combat ready. Over 250 rabbits, 50 cats, 50 squirrels were above Level 50, but not all had acceptable gears meant for war. The racoons and cats were tasked to finish the remaining gears within 3 game days.
There were a total of 100 worms, but only 42 were transportable, the rest were too large to carry. Rats population in the lair was just enough to sustain its presence. If Bunny need more, she would need to capture them directly from the sewers.
When inquiring about the chickens, Bunny only got vague answers about them being 'cheap labor' in Sera-Ranch. With her interest piqued, Bunny decided to make a trip back into the city. Getting onto her carriage, chauffeured by Derrick, she started her task to visit all her ranches for a more detailed update report.
Bunny had another reason to return to the city, she had reached level 62, as well as gain the 'Concentration' stat. With over 300 unassigned stat points, she needed to visit Magic Guilds within the city to know what spells she could learn. It was common knowledge a player could learn magic when their Intelligence raised above 300. Bunny needed information about magic before investing the points.
*****
A game day passed, the trio gathered near Soie Village again. Gene and his team of minks had uncovered great information, thus the meeting.
“The bandits fort is more like a manor with its estate fenced up. Within the area, there are around 30 tents, and two guard towers, from the size, I estimate no more then 200 people inside. There are smaller camps scattered around the lowlands, where I think the remaining bandits camp.” Gene explained
“Are the villagers in that fort?” Angel asked
“No, the villagers are forced to do mining work in a nearby iron mine. There are around 100 bandits guarding the villagers. I suggest we rescue the villagers first.”
“I think we should sweep the smaller camps, cutting down their number is vital” Bunny suggested
“I want to sweep up the smaller camps as well, but securing the villagers is more important. If we sweep too many camps, they will become alert, even using the villagers as hostage, that would be bad.” Gene stated his stand.
“But if we rescue the villagers first, they camps may gather within the fort. Having 200 bandits in the fort is very different from having 400 there.” Bunny supported hers too.
Angel pondered upon the situation. When plans were discussed, she seemed to always end up with the final say, supporting her decisions with cold logic and probabilities. She thought about various pros and cons with the two plans and finally made her deduction.
“Both sides are equally important, we will split into two groups. One will rescue the villagers while the other sweep the smaller camps. Bunny, give us a breakdown on number of active animals”
“There are 122 Twin-Horned Rabbits, 127 Tri-Horned Rabbits, 54 Cats, 42 Squirrels and 26 Minks for combat without weakening the security of the ranches. Twin-Horned are those that evolved at 60, so they can be disguised as critters for ambush, while Tri-Horned have grown too big.”
“The racoons are bad combatants, so I left them to do crafting and repairs. If both teamster transports are set to rest, we can squeeze out another 10 more squirrels. There are also 40 chickens that can become suicide-bombers.”
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
“What?!?” Gene gasped
“Wait... What do you mean by the Chickens suicide bombers?” Angel asked
“When I was not around, the squirrel overlord in Sera-Farm bought some chicken eggs and hatched them. They lack any intelligence, but somehow made it to Level 15, by following the sewer raiding parties. I'm thinking of strapping Litvart worms on them and send them running into bandit camps.”
“No!” Gene rejected the idea.
“Hmm... how about you make some explosives or bombs instead, for the chickens to carry?”
“I think... I can... make sure not to touch my worms.” Gene compromised
“You ever think of rearing them normally, like egg laying hens?” Angel questioned
“Blame the luck of that squirrel overlord, 40 eggs become 40 roosters, no hens... what can I do?”
Angel just shook her head... still she did not deny the chickens and set them as extreme measures.
*****
Sunday, 7am. Rise and Shine!
In RR, the time was just after the virtual sunset.
A cloaked figure was scuttling along wild bushes beside a working mine; He was not very skilled in stealth but thanks to his color changing cloak, which blend with the shades, he was able to move undetected. Beside him were blurry figures, meaning he was not alone.
Bright lanterns lit the mining area, showing tired faces of the miners. They looked undernourished and overworked but had not stop to rest. Groups of well-armed men directed the miners, they dressed in mismatched armor, and most held machetes or large knives in their hands.
While making his way to the guards sleeping quarters, the cloaked figure mused at the situation.
'If these bandits were a little smarter or hardworking, they would be working the mines themselves. The bandit to worker ratio was extremely bad. 100 bandits to guard 100 miners, they would have no troubles if all 100 bandits worked instead.'
Pondering further, he retracted his first thought. If the bandits were smart or hardworking, they would not be bandits in the first place..
The sleeping quarters of the bandits near the mine, were 8 simple tents, big enough to accommodate 10 people each. Within each tent, slept 5-10 bandits.
The cloak figure took out a few pills, a mixing bowl, 8 smaller bowls and two vials. He consumed the pills before emptying the contents of vials into the mixing bowl, and started mixing them. The mixture started to smoke and gave off a sweet smelling fragrance. Shaking away the drowsiness caused by the smoke, he scoped the content of the mixing bowl into the 8 smaller bowls, then placed one into each the sleeping tents.
After counting two minutes for all the tents to be smoked, he directed his comrades to start working. To each sleeping man, the minks sunk their poisonous teeth. Within a minute, all the sleeping bandits were replaced by wisps of gray smoke.
The group then stealthy moved away, not bothered with gathering loot. They continue towards the mine entrance, silently murdering any bandits they encountered, while gathering the villagers. Upon reaching their destination, a group of 25 children, escorted by a larger group of rabbits and squirrels, joined up. Villagers whom were liberated earlier, were crossed examined by the children, making sure no bandits had mixed in.
Gene estimated there to be 100 bandits, of which 78 had be disposed. The remaining bandits, if any, were either hiding in the mines or disguised as the captured villagers. 20 Squirrels were sent around collecting loot while being alert of any extra bandits that would visit the mines.
Sneaking time was over, the group would now move into the mines as an army on a rescue mission. Placing 20 children with 20 rabbits as guards at the entrance, Gene entered with the 20 mink, 20 rabbits and 5 children militias, summoning his oversized red bear cub as vanguard.
*****
While Gene was busy rescuing the villagers, Bunny led a group of over 150 rabbits armed in their newest shell armor. Her motive was a simple forward attack at one of the smaller bandit camps. From information gathered while scouting, there were 5 camps with only 50-60 bandits in each. Rabbits were proficient in fighting with numerical advantages, while Bunny's high leadership stat improved their overall coordination.
The two bandit lookouts were the first sacrifices. Due to lack of light, they only saw hundreds of red eyes staring them down before getting stampeded.
“Arrrggg.... Demons!”, “The Devils had come!” were their last words before fading into gray wisps.
The bandit camp was in disarray, although alarm had been sound, panic, fear and terror caught the hearts of those within. No one could blame them; What they saw under the starlit sky were massive amounts of red glows from the enemies' eyes. Dim light often reflected off the carapace of the exoskeletons on their bodies. The bandits had never saw such terrifying creatures before.
With non-existent morale, the defending bandits were demolished without much effort. Those that escaped... tried to escape were killed off in the dark. While running away, some fell from arrows shot from the darkness. Others got slashed by daggers from various directions and quickly fell dead from the ambush. If they were calm, they would have noticed the paws attached to those 'daggers'
Bunny and Angel made sure to erase the whole bandit camp without leaving any survivor. If someone escaped, they may inform the other camps lowering the effects of the night raid. Using their Scan skill, locating any hidden or dying bandits was easy.
*****
Once they had completely destroying the first camp, they followed the same procedure on the next. Angel would position her troops to surround their target before Bunny led the charge. While Angel's troops were slaughtering those trying to escape, the squirrels would gather loot, while racoons did repair work.
After charging into the fourth camp, that went down easily like before, Bunny received a PM from Gene while Angel was at work.
- Is Angel busy?
“Yes, she is currently cleaning up the remains”
- Have you girls killed everything?
“Not yet, we are finishing up on No.4, one more to go” Bunny replied
- Don't kill off the last one yet, wait for me to meet up, there are changes
“Alright, but we only had 6 hours before dawn, so you better hurry up”
- I am sending the 20 squirrels as escorts for the villagers, bringing the rest to meet up now
With the PM ended, Bunny sent the unharmed rabbits outwards to help deal with the cleaning up operation, while walking towards the direction Angel would had been.
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