Cardboard Houses Do Not Tear

8 – Catching Thieves (2)

We quickly descended the watchtower.

The sea of fire has begun. There was only one thing I had to do.

“Mr. Jack.”

“Huh?”

“For now, join the assault team.”

Safe reunion with the main force and survival.

Because that was a hundred times better than getting stabbed and killed by the thieves who were gathered there just trying to catch the boss and earn extra money.

As if he agreed with this, Zach said with a smile.

“I thought you were going to catch the boss, so I was nervous. What are you saying so spleenly? You’re afraid of people.”

“Hey, if you’re going to kill yourself, you just fell head first from the watchtower. I want to live.”

Screams were everywhere. Our conversation, which didn’t need to be muted, became more or less normal again.

Tung, Tung, Tung.

Zach, who hit the shield a few times with the sword side of the arming sword he pulled out before he knew it, stepped forward and asked.

“Did we catch the archers?”

“About one at the watchtower at the beginning, and then one after passing by?”

“Three of them. At least you won’t have all your arms and legs sewn up at once. Aye, if you see an enemy with a bow, give me some cover.”

I nodded, strapped my quarterstaff back on, and hung it behind me.

Then he took up his longbow, took two arrows, put one on the string and the other on the index and middle fingers before he spoke.

“You take the lead.”

“Ugh. To make an old man hold the arrow first. Young people these days are scary.”

I felt ashamed to hear such a thing from someone who was not much older than me, but I thought that would be the case now.

Tadadak!

“Quick! Let’s go this way!”

From a far corner, I heard a shout and the sound of running this way.

“More than two guys.”

His voice crackled again.

I estimated the distance to the corner, and after shooting three arrows, I had to draw my dagger.

“Should I avoid it?”

“No. I can’t avoid it. All the alleys are blocked.”

Jack said firmly.

I took another arrow from my waistband and stuck it into the ground right next to it. Because of the distance, I can’t use more than that.

And after a while, I saw them.

“What the f*ck.”

Jack groaned lowly.

Six people.

It was the worst.

I didn’t see a guy that was crazy enough to wear a woman.

In other words, they are all sane lunatics.

But are we sane too, let’s make a more rational judgment-

Thought so, I opened my mouth.

“Jack, are you good at running or jumping?”

“You want to run away from them?”

He asked.

“What are those bastards!!”

“Quick and jump out!!!”

Just to the right, in front of the burning log house, I saw something to climb.

I told Zach about his plans.

“I’ll take one shot. Go upstairs.”

They didn’t hear. I set out to get ready to stop them.

The tension of the longbow was not strong enough to allow a sudden shot.

So, after putting the arrow on the left side of the bow, I set my posture.

Leaning his upper body forward, he straightened his left leg and bent his right leg outward, then pulled on the string he was holding with his three fingers.

With a whooping sound, the vision slowed down. It narrowed very slowly.

And the other visible obstacles between the goal and me disappear.

“Ugh, that guy. He’s holding a bow!”

“You bastard!

Huh. And hold your breath

“Hey! Come on-“

Only one can be seen.

―Peeing!

A piece of wood that had lived its entire life stuck in the ground was horizontally free from the world it lived in.

An arrow that rips through the air and flies like lightning, but it seemed very slow to me.

At the same time, the blurry features of the creature were a little more blurry, and at the same time, a destructive sound came from far away.

-f*ck!

“Billion!”

The level of armor worn by bandits was obvious.

An arrow neatly pierced the chest created a miracle that slightly lifted the target.

Kudangtang!

Twelfth.

“- I’m sorry!!”

“That bastard killed Jayne!”

I heard the howl of his fellow man.

Chatan is already prepared between your fingers.

An arrow was stuck in the string again.

“Ahhh!! Don’t be a jerk and come up quickly!”

Jack shouted from above the burning log cabin.

With a crack, the side of the house he climbed landed in front.

Ahhh.

I pulled the bowstring again. It was as planned.

“Stop it!!”

A thief shouted.

The other guy shouted.

“Shoot again!!”

So the next one was the guy on the far left who shouted that word.

They were running side by side, so there was nowhere to dodge to the right.

Seeing that he flinched slightly and ran a bit slowly, he saw something to avoid.

That’s why I anticipate it and aim slightly to the left. Even if you aim incorrectly, your arm will be hit.

The distance is getting closer. The target got bigger.

“Huh.”

It was very good.

Tooung!

With a ping, the bowstring passed my ears.

The sound of pangong spread far away,

The tails of the fluttering feathers instantly shrank and shook.

The guy who told me to shoot him slipped to the left to avoid it.

And then it stopped. Everything.

The thirteenth.

“Keoouk!”

A small tombstone made of feathers was erected on the chest of the fur-clad creature.

I think he wanted to become a bird.

I wish I could fly away to the other world.

“Ahhhhh!!!”

My hand tingled after pulling the string continuously. As a bonus, it rang brightly in my ears.

The ominous sound of a crackling, crackling sound grew louder and louder.

“Jack, you can run in a bit.”

“What bullsh*t! Throw it away?”

He asked incredulously.

“If you stay there, you will turn into charcoal, so if I fire you one more time, please jump to a safe place. Even if it seems dangerous, just bounce.”

I didn’t even get an answer.

I picked up the arrow that was placed next to me. Because he was wearing his gloves, it didn’t happen that his fingertips would come off.

After I shot an arrow through the bow, I screamed.

“Come closer! You assholes!!”

The bandits stopped. I glimpsed something silvery in the alleyway behind them.

I didn’t miss it and opened my mouth.

“If you guys come any closer, will there be anything but grilled skewers for my arrows!”

“You are alone anyway, we are four!!”

The thief holding the ax shouted. I couldn’t remember his face.

“What are you alone? Just because you grew up without parents, does anyone else think you’re alone, you bastard who doesn’t know the fundamentals!!”

Called the unburned man on the burning roof. The logs are almost burned.

“Thugs over there. I have something to tell you.”

You should be running soon.

“I want to live. I don’t want to be a hero.”

After fixing the arrow on the bow stick with the thumb of his left hand, he gently brought his right hand to his waist.

“So? Then come this way. I’ll take you with me.”

Then a guy who looked a bit like a captain stepped forward and said with a condescending tone. The swelling of his flesh was a rare feat in this world.

“If I take someone as talented as you, they’ll love it too.”

I could feel something elongated between the gloves.

“Hey. Does that make sense. Why don’t you turn yourself in?”

I only picked up one.

The space between the index and middle fingers was completely filled. The man’s plump face darkened even more.

“The negotiations are broken. f*ck everything!”

I quickly pulled an arrow from my waistband and put it in my hand.

He rushed recklessly. However, I don’t know if it was because he weighed a lot or because he was tired, but the speed was very slow.

The arrowheads in the alley began to shine again. The target was me.

The goal is five,

Two arrows.

One bow.

You couldn’t shoot both at the same time.

The time for selection and concentration is back.

I pulled the bowstring right away, and my field of vision narrowed.

There was no time to regret the choice.

Tung.

The beginning of announcing someone’s end sounded dull.

―Peeing!

The process was light and cheerful. A curve that pierces a person cuts through the air freely.

However, the results are by no means light.

Hook!

The fourteenth.

Kung, kooung. Thud.

The unknown fell over slowly, very slowly.

Then something came right in front of me, and I dodge it in the blink of an eye.

It was a silver arrowhead, and it was the fatal blow that the archer slashed with his own life.

And what he earned was time.

“Die!!”

That pig from earlier appeared in front of me.

My balance was twisted because I pulled my shoulders too far back. But there’s no problem pulling the bow-

“Khehehehe!!”

I saw something terrifying in his eyes, and his body instantly stiffened.

The ax was thrust down vertically.

Then suddenly, his eyes shook. His body is free again.

A dagger protruded slightly from his right arm. It was Jack’s thing.

“Hey! Get that damn thing back!!”

He disappeared leaving a fan the size of a dagger.

At the same time, his ax was still stuck vertically.

Selection and concentration were still valid.

I’m stubborn! I lost my longbow with a clatter.

He got an arrow in his temple.

I could have read something in the eyes that were blurring like motion, but I forgot all about it.

Fifteenth.

Ujijik, Jijijik. The sound only got louder. Jack had already run away for a long time. It was a wise decision.

The thieves, now three, were coming.

But the results I wanted did not happen, and the time has come to prepare.

I first picked up Jack’s dagger, then rooted the pig-like guy.

The artifact the late thief distributed to me was an axe, and I willingly became its heir.

“Lovely.”

Inspiration struck.

Now, the time has come to bring something new to the battlefield.

A hatchet as thick as the belly of the previous owner would surely give me the results I wanted.

I scanned a moderately burnt pillar.

Those who don’t know anything were walking on their limbs.

I prepared to swing the ax held with both hands horizontally.

“Hey! Hey, stop!”

“You crazy bastard!!”

They finally figured out my intentions, but it was too late.

The log cabin was quite huge. Even before that tree house burns down, it’s enough to have three grown men crushed to death.

Perhaps I am in a position to get caught up in, but what can I do?

If it had been my original plan, Zach should have been struggling like crazy and knocking the house down this way, but he didn’t.

So this was the surest way for now.

“Hyaaa!!”

“Stop it!!!!!!”

Kwajik!

***

“So. The guy I caught is the thief leader?”

“Is that so?”

That’s how Jack explained, sitting me in front of the wagon.

Rames said that the ax I was carrying belonged to the thief leader, and the village chief also replied that it was the same.

Unlike the thieves, I was fortunate not to be crushed or burned to death. I was just knocked out by shrapnel.

“No, by the way, if that was the plan, you should have said it. I thought you were trying to escape on the roof. What is it?”

Zach, who returned his dagger in good condition, spoke succinctly. I said emphatically.

“Tenor said, there was an escape hole right behind me. If we avoided it at that time, we made a request.”

“Yeah, that’s fair too.”

“Hey. If you’re going to take money, don’t you have to be sure? Zach also waited and threw a dagger to see if he could have escaped a long time ago. Seeing that, he also asked for help.”

“I was just trying to get the dagger back, dude. I got the dagger, so I’m going again.”

After saying that, Zach disappeared again, and this time the tenor squad leader came and listened to the details and nodded his head.

He said he’d probably catch the boss himself and get an extra reward.

Then what should I do? I have to ask for all the longbows and arrows I broke and ate anyway.

Before he left, I asked something that came to my mind.

“By the way, why did the thief boss bring that boy?”

“I don’t know. He was wearing some kind of strange outfit. The village chief took him away.”

A weird outfit?

Damn it, I almost came out with double swearing.

I decided not to ask any more for my own sake.

***

After a while, a tenor approached after receiving a hand from the village chief. It was a pleasant declaration of work.

“Now, let’s go back. Pack your things.”

“Oh, thank you!”

“Thank you!!”

“……”

“Ah. Ah…”

With the thanks of the village headman and the villagers, who had a glimmer of hope in their eyes, and the victims who had no light in their eyes, the carriage set off.

Now, the story with them is over.

I will live on my own. Those people and me too.