Luckily, Anne gave me time to equip my Drakelord’s armour set before we left the prison. She treated my request as unimportant when I asked it, but her jaw dropped as she saw the armour’s quality. Her shock was also enhanced by the fact I pulled it out of thin air, but she cared less about that than the armour itself.

“Where the hell did you get that from?” She picked up one of the gauntlets and stared at it. “Even in the Holy Kingdom, this sort of thing was rare. There’s no way a low level like you could have something like this, never mind the fact you’re a Supp-”

“I borrowed it from Clive, but he doesn’t know that yet.” I pulled the glove from her grasp and pushed my hand into it. “Come on, we don’t have long.”

“Ha! Good man. You’ll have to tell me how you managed that when we get out of here.” She clapped my shoulder and turned away. Equipping the armour would ensure Clive’s wrath, but he had already planned to torture me before I was sold like a piece of meat for some experiment.

If this annoys him that bit more, I’ll just count it as a bonus.

Anne wasn’t as gung-ho as I had thought. Before we stepped out of the prison, she lead me down a side path into a less populated area of the building. We found the occasional patrolling bandit, but they were easily dealt with before they could raise the alarm.

“Where is the bandit king?” I asked as I dragged a bandit into a side room. It felt like we were playing a stealth-action game, and that I was doing a particularly difficult escort mission. Until I made the point several times, Anne didn’t even make an effort to hide the evidence of our battles.

“Not too far, I think. It’s been a while, but his old office is just around the next corner.” Anne watched me with a raised eyebrow as I pulled the last bandit out of sight. “We won’t be in here too long, do you really want to mess about with this?”

“We might be in here longer than you think if we don’t clean up after ourselves.” I pulled the door closed and sealed its lock with Transmutation. “Come on, let’s get this done…”

Anne hadn’t exaggerated. It only took a minute to reach a large corridor with an ostentatious door at the far end. No guards stood along its length, which left me confused. If this really was the main home of the bandit commander, it should surely have some security posted nearby.

“OK, wait here.” Anne muttered as she moved into the corridor.

“No.” I shook my head and followed her. “We go in together, or not at all.”

She turned and glared at me for a moment before her expression visibly collapsed. Her stern glare vanished, replaced by what seemed to be… embarrassment.

‘Come on, Rook. She’s never acted like this before.’ Claire spoke out in my mind, though she did sound like she was holding back from laughing. ‘She won’t take too long. If she does, you have my permission to bust in on them.’

“Fine.” I waved Anne off down the corridor. “But be quick, I won’t be able to hold off more than a few of them if they find us.”

“… thanks.” She nodded and sprinted down the corridor. The floor under her feet clunked oddly as she dashed forwards. Up to this point, the wooden boards had been solid and well-built, so why would they fail just before the commander's room-

“Accelerate! Strengthen!” I yelled and dashed forward. The tile beneath her foot broke apart and rose up around her leg, transformed in an instant into a makeshift trap. Anne paused and turned to face me, her expression grim as she drew her sword. I tried to focus on the plate beneath her feet in an attempt to break it apart with my Transmutation as I ran.

But we were too slow.

Several slots opened on the walls as various spears and arrows rained into the corridor. They weren’t just focused on Anne’s position but covered the whole length up to the door. My reactions had been improved, but I still didn’t have the skill to evade everything. I trusted in my armour as I dashed towards her.

These spears and arrows were mechanical devices, and thus wouldn’t be affected by stats or abilities. they were still deadly, but I couldn’t let Anne die like this. The first shots came from the start of the corridor and cascaded towards the commander's office.

I spun my staff by my side as a makeshift shield. Arrows and spears dinged off as I sprinted towards her. A faceplate swept up automatically, which covered the one weak spot left in the armour. It was weird, but the material seemed like a fine cloth. It didn’t block my vision at all.

But, as an arrow was deflected an inch from my face, I couldn’t help but thank it.

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I kept pace with the trap, but only just. Anne attacked the bind on her leg, but she still hadn’t broken free from it. This trap would likely cause little damage to a high level with good equipment, but Anne only had a sword and a thin set of common clothing to protect her.

At the last stretch, I leapt towards her and slammed my staff into the ground at her feet.

“Buffed Strike!”

My hit was enough to break the rocks apart. Before Anne could react, I grabbed her in a bear hug and sprinted down the corridor.

“Put me down!” She yelled at me. Her angry face was pressed up against my makeshift visor, so I could clearly see the fury in her eyes.

But I ignored her.

Even with the added burden, I kept ahead of the traps by a step. Their blows rattled from my back and side as I approached the door to the commander's office. Now that we were closer, I could see that it was slightly ajar.

Perfect. If it was locked, I might crush Anne if we ran into it at full speed.

Before we reached it, a set of spears shot out and formed a grid an inch before it. The corridor was a perfectly designed deathtrap for low-level adventurers, and it would be a huge distraction to anyone below a certain level. This final trick was enough to leave me speechless.

Why the hell did I even think something that optimistic…

But our run continued. The only other option would be to stop and let the traps overtake us, at which point Anne would take the full brunt of their attacks. After all the effort I had put into saving her, and her link with Claire, I couldn’t let that happen.

I grunted and stamped my feet into the ground. There was one more thing I could try, but it was risky.

“Buffed Strike!”

I focused the power of my ability into my legs… and leapt at the spear wall.

They weren’t pointed at me directly, so it wasn’t as though I wanted to impale myself. I swung around in mid air as we flew towards them until the point I was between Anne and the metal rods. If she took the brunt of this impact, it might be as bad as leaving her in this deathtrap of a corridor.

“Sto-” She tried to speak, but my back slammed into the metal grid. After a moment of resistance, they snapped lie dry weeds as we tumbled into the office.

“Rook!” Anne pushed herself up and stared at me. I winced and tried to answer, but all that came out of my mouth was a low groan.

“… Anne?”

A deep voice echoed out across the room. I couldn’t turn my head to see, but Anne’s reaction was enough.

She was furious.

“You! What the hell are you doing standing there, help me with him!”

She pushed herself up and grabbed my shoulder. The unknown man paused for a moment before he moved to my other side.

“Who’s this, then?” His voice grumbled as they lifted me onto the desk. “Friend of yours?”

“He saved my life, which is more than you can say, you big lump.” Anne reached out and pushed the man away before she looked down at me with a smile. “Just wait, we’ll sort you out.”

She started chanting and a pale, white light covered her palms. She casted multiple spells over me in rapid succession. Compared to the other holy users I had seen, her skills were unmatched. The pain receded instantly, but a deep ache still hung around my back.

I turned and swung my feet off the desk as I faced the other man in the room. Without even being told, I knew who this was.

It was the bandit king, the one who was behind the attack on the town.

This meeting hadn’t started how I imagined it. The hulking bear of a man stared at me with narrowed eyes as I tried to pull my thoughts together. All of my efforts to make a stealthy approach had been wasted due to the trapped corridor. If anyone in the mansion didn’t hear that, then they were deaf.

“We need to get out of here.” I pushed myself off the desk and stretched my neck. “Anne, where is the best way-”

“Wait, why do we need to leave?” The man frowned and turned to Anne. “Who is this guy? Why does he want to run away?”

“Be quiet, he’s right.” Anne crossed past me and thrust a finger into his face. “Tell me, can you fight against a squad who have all forced their way past the second advancement test? We got here past a few stragglers, but Clive has been planning a takeover for a long time.”

“I know he has. The only thing that stopped me from ripping his head off was you.” The man turned and walked towards the door. “And I think I’ll go do that right now.”

“Stop!” Anne jumped in front of him again and folded her arms. “We are leaving before you can make any more of a mess. That’s exactly what they want.”

I watched them argue back and forth. It was difficult to hold my temper in check, but Anne had the best chance to persuade this madman. Her battle crazy style matched him, and my attempts at persuasion would just be met with a stark refusal.

“What do you mean, that’s ‘what they want’?” The bandit king paused at the door and turned around. “I just need to tell everyone else what he did-”

“You never think more than a step ahead.” Anne moved to the opposite end of the office and rested her hand on a candlestick holder. “He’s made a deal with the cult, and the only thing they want is anarchy. Do you think your little bandit project could survive a civil war with them sniffing around?”

“It might.”

“It won’t. They’ve already worked together to attack the town, so you have the rest of the country after you already.” I interrupted their conversation as my patience wore thin. “Maybe if you hadn’t moved against a bunch of innocent people, you wouldn’t be in this mess.”

“Wait, attacked the town? What rubbish are you talking about?” The huge man turned to face me, his eyes cold and deadly. “We might be bandits, but there are rules. They wouldn’t do that.”

“They did.” Anne pressed the holder as she spoke, which caused a small section of the wall to creak aside. “I trust him, so should you. Come on, or we’ll leave you behind.”

Anne walked off down the corridor without a second look. The bandit king stood motionless for a moment before he followed her, but only after he gave me one last chilly look.

“This isn’t over. You’ll explain what you meant when she’s safe, kid.”

Yeah, I will explain it. And if you don’t have a good excuse…

I held that thought in by the skin of my teeth. We could have our showdown once we weren’t being hunted. I pushed the office door closed and sealed its lock before I followed the pair down the secret corridor.

There were still several barriers between us and our escape, and this pair wouldn’t help with any of them.