Infiltration
Truth be told, the Deep-Dusk Hearth Head that Melinda so absentmindedly dispatched was, in fact, the only specimen in existence.
Putting aside its demise, how was it even set free from its imprisonment in the ancient ruins within Silveria?
To learn about it, let's get back in time about a week or two and change focus from Emeraldios Empire to Diamondium Kingdom to latter make our way to Silveria together with its King.
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A group of small-time bandits decided to make their camp in the northwest part of the Diamondium Kingdom, in an area serving as a demilitarized buffer zone between them and the Emeraldios Empire.
They were a bunch of youngsters bunched together from the local villages.
Unwanted kids chased away from their homes by their parents unwilling to feed a useless set of mouths, or just those who tried to make it big and become someone but were crushed by the steel hammer of reality and failed to fit back into the small world that moved on without them.
Stealing and sometimes shaking unaware travelers from any goods and valuables they could.
By that time, everyone in the group knew their place - their odd little extra-legal found family allowed them to experience the semblance of what was taken away from them.
That particular early morning was like any other - at the brink of dawn, only the one guard stationed at the entrance to the camp was yawning while supporting himself on a worn-out spear with a chipped tip.
The camp itself was situated in the middle of a grove snuggly surrounded by thorny bushes that the young bandits carefully removed in one spot for a safe passage known only to them.
"Mmm… It's Nii's turn to make breakfast today~ Hope she wakes up soon~"
The one guard - barely an adult in the standards of the Diamondium Kingdom and Emeraldios Empire - wearing only a thin gambeson and a leather cap as protective gear on top of linen pants and shirt smiled dreamily, leaning against his spear and hummed to himself.
*rustle*
"...hmm…?"
Suddenly a small movement underneath the thorny bushes within the passage got his attentiion.
He squinted his eyes and leaned in for a better look at the hesitant movement of some small furry creature…
"!!!"
The boy perked up, and his eyes shone with excitement at the sight!
"Hopping Rat!"
He gasped, clenching his spear and starting to sneak up on the creature with its back turned to him.
"...ohh~! A stew~ Nii's Hopping Rat's stew~!"
The young guard licked his lips, running his fingers on the spear as he held it, trying to remain calm and not act too fast in fear of spooking the tasty, nutritious critter.
"...and one, and two, and…!"
He mouthed to himself, studying his hands and focusing so his aim with the strike would be true and…!"
"Sleep."
"Wh-? Nnhn…"
The next moment, the youngster felt someone's hand on the back of his head, and someone whispered an incantation over his ear - resulting in the boy losing his consciousness and falling back limply, only to get caught by the attacker.
A green-haired individual covering his face with a brown bandana laid the sleeping boy on the ground before taking out a piece of thin rope and tying him up in silence.
"..."
Then he left him like that and snuck into the camp.
"Sleep. Sleep."
As the green-haired man was making his way through, he would whisper an incantation and ensure that the sleeping juvenile bandits would not wake up while he was tying them up.
"Lean, is that…?"
"...!"
Almost half of the group was already incapacitated, but it appeared that the silent takedown wasn't in the card for the green-haired rouge as a short-haired, freckled girl leaned out of the primitive hut and called out hushedly.
"...you…?"
Once the girl actually looked out, she spotted the stranger on his way to another victim.
"Intru…!"
"This King takes away your right to make a sound!"
After the brief moment of confusion, she raised her voice—only to have the man raise his hand towards her and declare.
"...! …? ?!?!"
The girl kept opening her mouth, definitely intending to raise an alarm, but she found herself unable to do so.
"!!!"
She stepped back with her face pale as a ghost and her eyes filled with fear as she clenched her hands to her throat in horror, unable to speak even a single word.
"Sleep."
"! …! … …"
The intruder didn't wait for her to figure things out. He launched himself at her and grabbed her face while using the same spell that struck down the girl's comrades, working like a charm without any issue.
Aside from that one event, the subjugation of the bandit camp was completed without an issue, and within half an hour, all the sleeping bandits were bunched up together next to the prepared pile of the goods they had stolen.
It was a rather meager pile as it appeared that they seemed to prioritize food over the goods they had little to no use for without someone to sell them to.
"Whew…! This king declares this gang disbanded~!"
The green-haired man pulled down his bandana and breathed out in relief before raising his hand and pointing his index and middle fingers at his soundly sleeping captives.
"See? This is why you are still barely level 15, Ace."
"Hmm?"
In his moment of triumph, the green-haired young man was approached by the grayish Hopping Rat with glowing pale-blue eyes that spoke up indifferently, making the human look down at it.
"Oh, shush. Just look at them! Snot-nosed brats and nothing more."
Ace scoffed at the small monster speaking in the voice of his friend.
"Snot-nosed brats who resorted to the life of banditry."
The talking monster pointed out without changing its tone.
"As far as we know it, none of them ever killed, mutilated, or kidnapped anyone, so this King deems their transgressions excusable as long as they will pay compensation to the ones they targetted."
Ace shook his head with a strict expression and declared with an unwavering authority.
"Ace, you cannot take responsibility for them. They aren't your subjects."
"..."
The monster spoke again, this time hitting the nail on the head and making the green-haired young man's expression turn sour as if he had eaten a lemon raw.