REINCARNATED ARISTOCRAT CHAPTER 235: BANDIT

~3rd Person Perspective~

　As night fell, Takao, who was asleep in bed, awoke to a presence.

(Someone came in…) (Takao)

　There were two in number. Gender and age are unknown.

　It was nighttime, so it was dark, and visibility was remarkably poor.

　Besides, he did not hear any particular noise, but he quickly detected the presence of the intruders with his superhuman senses.

　Rikuya and Maika are unaware.

　They are sleeping. They seem to be sleeping.

　Takao sensed the presence of an intruder approaching Rikuya’s side.

　Takao instantly got up and tackled the intruder.

　He was so fast that it was hard to believe that he was a giant.

　Takao was big and powerful, but he was also fast. His physical abilities were very good.

　The intruder was rushed by the huge body, and the intruder was blown away and slammed into the wall.

　Takao wondered a little about the fact that he had obviously hit the wall so hard and yet there was no noise at all, but he did not think to consider the reason. He was good at fighting, but not so good at thinking.

　The intruder was blown away by Takao, but he was no ordinary man either and quickly got to his feet. While bracing himself, he pulled a knife from his pocket.

　Takao did not have a weapon, but he was not intimidated.

　He had very strong fighting skills and was confident that he could easily subdue his opponent, even if he had a weapon.

　Takao took up a fighting stance to repel the intruder.

“What the…” (Rikuya)

　Rikuya was awakened by Takao’s tackle.

　He looked around while lying down.

“Oh!” (Rikuya)

　It was dark and hard to see, but there was a little light, so Rikuya was able to see the intruder.

　He instantly picked up a nearby Dragon’s End sword, pulled it out, and assumed a fighting stance.

　Rikuya did not move from his location. His vision was poor, so it would have been bad if he had carelessly slashed at the intruder and missed. Although it was a sudden attack, Rikuya was able to act calmly.

　Neither of them moved for a while, but the intruder moved first.

　The destination was not Rikuya and Takao, but Maika, who was still sleeping when the commotion occurred.

　In this darkness, the intruder made a beeline for the bed where Maika was sleeping, as if he could see her. Night vision seems to work.

　Rikuya and Takao, who had expected the intruder to come toward them, were momentarily unsure of the intent of the enemy’s movement and were slow to react.

　Rikuya, who realized first that they were aiming at Maika, moves to stop them but fails to do so in time.

　The intruder takes out a knife and presses it against Maika’s neck.

　He then took out a magical tool from his pocket, manipulated it, and began to speak.

“Don’t move. You know what will happen to this girl if you move?” (Bandit 1)

　It was a man’s voice.

　Hearing this, Takao and Rikuya’s expressions froze.

　Maika, who had been asleep until a moment ago, woke up.

　He seemed to instantly understand the situation from the knife pressed against her neck and from what she had just said.

　He looked worried.

“First, hand me that sword.” (Tougo)

“Oh!” (Rikuya)

　Hearing the intruder’s demand, Rikuya’s eyes widened.

　If he did not hand it over, Maika’s life would be lost.

　He knew that without being told by the intruder.

“Don’t hand it over, brother.” (Maika)

　Maika said with a determined expression on her face.

“Even if you give them the sword, there is no guarantee that my life will be spared.” (Maika)

“I will keep her life. If I kill this one, that monster will kill me. I don’t have confidence that we can defeat him even with the two of us. But I’m not going to let her go just because you gave me the sword. You’ll have to follow our instructions for a while.” (Bandit 1)

　The intruder said so in a bullish tone.

　It seems that the intruder’s strong attitude was based on the fact that he knew that Maika had value as a hostage. It seems that he had already investigated the relationship between the three of them.

“I understand. Let’s give it to him.” (Rikuya)

“Brother…!” (Maika)

　Rikuya had no intention of listening to Maika’s words.

　Even if he obeyed, the possibility of the three being released safely was not very high. The other party would not want to leave any evidence that they had committed a crime, and if they continued to follow the instructions of the intruder, they could end up with their sword taken and all three of them dead.

　If they abandoned Maika here, the sword would not be stolen and Rikuya and Takao would survive.

　But Rikuya couldn’t afford to lose Maika here.

　Even at the risk of the three of them dying in the end, he made the decision to give the sword to Maika and save her for the time being.

　Rikuya held out his sword to the intruder.

“A wise decision.” (Bandit 1)

　The intruder took Rikuya’s sword.

“What are you going to do with them? Are we going to kill them?” (Bandit 2)

“We are bandits. We don’t kill as much as possible. We will take them back to our hideout and lock them in jail for now. After that, we will consult with the head and decide what to do. Well, we’ll either sell them into slavery for the most part, ……, or threaten to pay a ransom to their relatives.” (Bandit 1)

　In a calm tone of voice, the man spoke of the treatment of Rikuya and his siblings.

“Tie the big guy’s hands for now. Hey, don’t move.” (Bandit 1)

　Following his words, the Bandit near Takao took out a cord and tied Takao’s hands, binding them.

“Come on, follow me.” (Bandit 1)

　Since Maika was being held hostage, he had no choice but to comply.

　Rikuya was to follow the bandits quietly.

　They went outside and walked around town.

　The streets are quite empty at night.

　However, it was known that there were bandits, so guards were roaming around the town.

　However, the bandits knew the movements and positions of the guards to some extent, and they also used magic tools to muffle their noises, so they were not easily detected.

　Rikuya and the others could not move carelessly because they had Maika as a hostage. Since the magic tool seemed to be able to muffle the sounds of not only the owner but also those nearby, Rikuya and the others could not be noticed by the noise they made.

　In the end, the guards did not find them, and Rikuya and his siblings were taken to the hideout of the bandits.