Aliza was scared out of her wits by the sudden betrayal. A few moments ago, they talked to her respectfully, but now she felt like she was a sheep in a lion's den.
'Even if I start running now, I know these bandits would outmatch me in speed and capture me in mere seconds. I can also feel the malicious intent hidden in Keith's words.' Fear gripped her heart.
'What can I do in this situation?' Aliza soon trembled as she sensed a gaze from behind and realized that Rudie was looking at her with his disgusting lustful gaze.
'Damn, I shouldn't have come with them.' Aliza bits her lips and quickly took out a scroll and a low-tier magic stone from her backpack.
In truth, she took them out from her spatial ring and made others think she took them out of her backpack.
'Thankfully, Teacher Murius gave me this scroll and a few other items in secrets.'
Without delay, she ripped the scroll and threw the low-tier magic crystal at the magic circle that appeared under her feet.
"No good! That necromancer even gave her a spell scroll. Attack! No! Capture her!" Keith bellowed in anger and dashed forward towards her at a quick speed. But his hand only managed to grab the empty air.
Aliza's figure slowly turned illusionary when he arrived much closer to her and disappeared from there, leaving everyone dumbfounded.
After a short silence, Rudie managed to wake up from the shock and asked in a scared tone.
"What should we do now, boss? If Lord Murius knew about this, he would come for our heads." The scene of Murius killing him and turning his body into an undead skeleton appeared in front of his eyes.
"Don't worry about that. I already gave the full information about the Tower to Drake pirates. If I'm not wrong, they might be on their way to capture the magic tower." Keith said with a grin and then looked sharply towards the area where Aliza stood before.
"She wouldn't have gone far. Everyone! Move in different directions and search for her in the nearby surroundings." He clicked his tongue and walked in a southern direction.
On the other hand, the other pirates also split into six ground and went in different directions.
…
At that moment, Aliza reappeared in the middle of the woods and looked around in anxiety.
After confirming she had escaped from the bandits, she breathed a sigh of relief and noticed that she was standing at the foothills of a small unknown mountain. Dense woods and the chirping sound of birds made her heartbeat race faster.
'I have to return to the Tower.' She nodded inwardly and started moving in the eastern direction.
I think I'm around two kilometers away from the bandit group.' She secretly thanked the necromancer Murius for giving a few materials to her before their departure.
It had been almost two years since Murius came to her hometown and saved her from being burnt to death by her grandparents and the Light Church members.
'Well, I won't even call them my family. They are murderers who killed my mom before my eyes and tried to kill me.' Just thinking about their face made her eyes colder. She shook her head and walked ahead towards the east.
'I don't have any clues about Lord Murius's background. But at least he isn't a cruel person like the Light Church members.'
In this fearful world, the only person who helped her was the necromancer Murius, and she felt grateful. She also knew why those Light Church bastards went after her mother.
'My father is also a necromancer like Murius. Is that why Lord Murius appeared during the purification ceremony and saved me from being burnt alive?' Such thought crossed her mind.
'It's highly possible.'
She clenched her fist and moved deep into the woods.
'There are many questions I need to ask Murius about my dad. Why did Lord Murius save me? Who is he? Where is my dad? Is he still alive?' She thought of asking these questions countless times but had no courage to ask him due to his cold attitude.
Just as she took the next step, an enraging voice came from the deep belly of the woods and caused her body to tremble in fear.
"USELESS FOOLS!"
It was Keith's voice!
'Please save me! Unholy Lord of the Dead! Keith is going to sell me to the Light Church for sure.' She covered her mouth in panic and ran faster without turning back while avoiding a slithering snake's attack from the birch tree's branch. Her heart pounded faster, and the fear in her heart deepened.
But before she could move further, a shadowy figure suddenly appeared behind her and smacked her on the nape.
"Boss, I caught her!" A familiar voice came behind her as a sharp pain appeared on her head.
At that moment, Aliza knew she was caught by the fat-bellied bastard Rudie!
Her head became fuzzy the next second, and slowly, darkness enveloped her eyes.
Thud!
She slowly fell unconscious and landed on the ground with a loud thud.
Within moments, the other bandits came from different directions and looked at her body with bright expressions.
"Boss, shall-" Rudie started to speak with a goofy smile but couldn't finish his words.
Slap!
"Do you know what you are doing? You almost killed her, moron!" Keith slapped Rudie, squatted down a little, and checked her pulse quickly. After confirming that she was still alive and kicking, he breathed out a sigh of relief and gave a sharp glare at everyone.
He knew what these morons were thinking in their heads and sighed helplessly.
"You guys want to enjoy her, right?" He asked.
As everyone was about to nod in unison, he punched his fist on the nearby tree and asked angrily.
"Do you know the value of this girl, Morons?"
"Value?" A black-haired bandit asked curiously.
"Didn't you find something was off about her? Why did the Necromancer Murius give her special treatment?" Keith asked the fools, who were already looking at the girl with lustful gazes.
"Isn't it because she is pretty?" Rudie rubbed his chin and replied with a foolish grin.
"No. I already checked about Aliza's past," Keith said while shaking his head.
"About her past? What is it, boss?" Rudie asked while fixing his gaze at her melons.
After taking a deep breath, Keith looked at everyone and responded.
"The Light Church wants her head." Upon hearing Keith's words, everyone became dumbstruck.
"B-Boss, L-Light Church?! Are you sure?" Rudie's face instantly went death pale as he asked in a stutter. Meanwhile, other bandits backed away two steps from Aliza and stared at her nervously.
"Yes, we will sell her to the Drake Pirates and get her bounty money through them." Keith clicked his tongue and continued.
"Rudie, pick her up. We are going to the pirate town."
After giving Rudie an order, Keith turned around and started walking in the southern direction. Meanwhile, the other eight bandits also glanced at each other and started following him with hasty footsteps.
But unlike before, none of them even thought of doing anything sneaky.
Likewise, Rudie picked Aliza, put her on his shoulder, and followed after the group with a swollen face.
"Come faster. We will meet the Captain of the Drake pirates to sell her." Keith shouted at Rudie without turning back and moved further into the woods.
"How much is her bounty, boss? What is our share?" A lean bandit named Edsel asked curiously.
"Original bounty on her head is 50,000 white gold coins. But we can only get ten percent of the original amount," Keith's reply made other bandits' expressions drop.
"Why shouldn't we directly send her to the Light Church and get the bounty by ourselves, boss?" Rudie asked from behind. If the share was 50-50%, he could agree with what the Drake Pirates said. But 10% of the original bounty amount was too less in front of his eyes.
In truth, even the mere 10% would be more than enough for the whole bandit gang members to live a luxurious life in any kingdom for the rest of their life.
Unfortunately, Rudie didn't see the number of gold coins he would get from the bounty but only the percentage.
Upon hearing such a foolish question from his minion, Keith almost lost his temper.
'Tsk, I worried all this time for nothing. Even after learning how to read and write from Aliza, these guys are still the foolish ones.'
He soon let out a deep sigh and shouted angrily.
"Fool! Don't you know our faces are already plastered on every Adventurers guild's wanted list? If we leave this Alastall woodland territory, we would be the first to be surrounded by the soldiers and adventurers and thrown into the dungeon cells."
"Ah! I almost forgot about that boss." Rudie scratched his head awkwardly and peeked at Aliza, who was already sleeping on his shoulder.
"Let's go. We have to reach the town before nightfall." Keith said while slashing his sword at a lone goblin that ran in his direction.
Meanwhile, other bandits glanced at each other and quietly followed after him.