164 Luring the Bandits
"Did you hear how the leader caught a top-notch beauty? I heard that he likes to torture the women if they can't satisfy him."
"That's not true. He only tortures if they scream or squeal. He admires them if they can withstand him and the crew. I want to be like him and have total power."
Emile laid low on the ground at a distance close enough to hear their conversation. The inner hero syndrome acted inside him. He suppressed that urge and remained at his position. He observed their movement pattern to find a place to act.
Emile decided that he would pretend to be a merchant who lost his way and trick these bandits. He'd run away and lure them to the party and let them finish the bandits off.
After studying them for around 15 minutes, Emile walked to a location further in their route. it would take them four minutes to walk to Emile.
Emile took out a bag of gold coins and left two gold coins on the soft mushy ground. He was ready to pick them up whenever the bandit guards could see him. He wanted to show them that he was rich so that their greed would act up.
Emile also wanted to look weak, so they would lower their guard and act on a whim. He put dirt on his face to make him look battered from a harsh journey.
Emile didn't know what else he could do to lower the opponent's guard. He waited for them to arrive. Soon, the bandits appeared in the distance.
Emile dropped his pouch which was slightly open. He wanted to create the most believable act. His arm reached out to pick up one gold coin from the ground. He moved his arm in slow motion and cleaned the coin without obscuring it from the bandit's view.
The man and the object in his palm intrigued them. They walked closer and noticed the small gold object in his hand. They couldn't discern the exact object he was holding.
Anything golden caught their eye. Their eyes swept across Emile who was propelling his hand into his pocket with the coin.
He bent down again to pick out the second coin and repeated the same actions once again. The bandits knew he had two golden materials inside his pocket. Their greed flared up as they discerned that the object in his hand was a gold coin after a closer look.
A gold coin was something they haven't seen before. They heard rumors about how it looked like the other coins but was golden.
They noticed the same design as the silver coin and bronze coin which caused them to act quickly. These bandits wouldn't report to the higherups about a fat customer they found. They wanted to eat him whole without leaving a morsel for the other bandits.
The bandits charged forward.
"Stay back! Let me deal with him in case he's dangerous. You can stay back and relax."
"No, you should relax while I stop this man! Take a break!"
They argued as they ran. They didn't want to fight in case the person noticed them and runs away.
The bandits fell for the bait.
Emile looked up and pretended to notice these bandits. The bandits noticed the glance and sped up their pace.
"He's about to run! You're too scary, so stay back!"
"You're the scary one with that rough beard of yours!"
Emile turned around and ran. These bandits were slower than his max speed, so he had to decrease his speed to match theirs. It took a bit of effort to control his speed to a certain level.
He ran towards the ambushing location with leisure as the bandits chased after him hoping to catch him.
They noticed a pouch on the side of his waist. It was a money pouch. Their hopes of getting rich quick increased.
Emile realized that these bandits weren't too smart. They didn't think about the circumstances that led to this chase. A random man with multiple gold coins appeared out of nowhere next to a bandit hideout. It sounded like a fantasy or a wild story.
Emile reached the valley, and the bandits followed close behind him. He continued running and noticed the party hiding behind the tall rocks.
They saw Emile run past them and assumed that there were people behind him. Emile relaxed as he turned around to look at the bandits that chased after him.
These bandits thought he grew tired and their morale shot through the roof as they sped up. The party leaped out from the rocks with spells blazing.
A confused look appeared on the bandit's face as the many spells destroyed them. Some attacked in close range. They couldn't fight back as the multiple spells weakened them.
Serena summoned wood from the ground that wrapped around the bandit's legs tightly and held them in place. It was much easier to tie them up with the ropes after she did this.
Emile walked back to the camp after witnessing the capture. His desire to get Serena as his knight increase. Soon, he found the singular bandit roaming the edge.
The plan was that he would lure three while Lily would lure the other four.
Emile didn't know how many she had lured. He brought the remaining bandit back using the same method. After a few minutes, Lily messaged him saying she successfully lured away all the bandits.
She told him to meet up at a location.
Emile and Lily grouped up a distance away from the camp after they removed the guards.
"What's the plan when we're inside the camp?" Emile asked.
"It will be easy for me since I could sneak and look for small groups to bring back, but I don't know what you could do. The clone you created of me could help us out since it also knows the sneak skill. I think you could pretend to be a bandit and mix with them. Tell them a lie or two about how you found lots of gold and make them follow you. I think you can figure out how you'll be able to do that," Lily said with a gentle smile. She trusted his abilities to get something accomplished.
"I need one of those rags they wear over their face," Emile said as he pointed to his face. He noticed that all the bandits he encountered wore the same mask.
"I'll get you one," Lily said.
"All right," Emile said. He didn't know why he agreed to her help when he could have done it himself. He waited at the same location without a word thinking about the day's events.
She arrived in five minutes and got a rag. She handed the rag to him.
"How am I supposed to wear this," Emile said as he moved the rag around.
"It smells like sweat... I'll regret wearing this in the future," Emile took a sniff of the rag.
"Do you need my help?" Lily asked as she watched him struggle.
"Yeah," Emile said with embarrassment.
Lily helped him put the mask over his face. Blending with the bandits became easier after he did this.
"The smell will annoy me a lot," Emile said. He felt irritated every time he had to breathe. He would get a whiff of the rag and the sweat that existed on it.
"You'll be fine," Lily said with a laugh.
"My clone and I will go in first by sneaking. Find a way in. Good luck," Lily said as she walked away.
Emile walked towards the camp with his normal attire including the red rag that hung over his mouth and neck.
He walked into the camp without worry since there weren't any guards to stop him.
Emile didn't know if these bandits could identify one from the other. If they could wouldn't get far before someone stopped him. He hoped that these bandits couldn't tell the difference between each other.
A few steps into the camp someone shouted towards Emile. The man was surrounded by six other bandits who looked over at Emile.
"Hey!"
