Bear School Astartes

Chapter 66: 66. Come to a halt

Ubank held absolute trust in his hunting dogs.

His family has always been the dog trainers of the Udwick family on the Skellige Islands.

He didn’t want to continue as a dog trainer, so he left the islands and came to the mainland.

However, his dog training skills were unparalleled.

The hunting dogs trained by his family were even considered prizes in competitions on the Skellige Islands!

The two hunting dogs at his feet were the result of two years of training; with his command, these dogs would dare to face a griffin!

But today, the dogs’ eating and drinking were fine, physiological and emotional responses were fine too... Why did they lose control so inexplicably?

Watching the child swimming desperately in the seawater, Ubank squinted his eyes.

”...Forget about him, we can’t delay, keep rowing.”

A mile away, a merchant ship with lights was anchored on the dark sea surface.

The Head Eater’s ship approached the merchant ship, and under threats of blades and the curses of ruffians, more than twenty children boarded the ship while crying as cargo.

Next, it was Ubank leading his ruffians aboard.

A group of people climbed the great ship with agility, only to see that the decking of this merchant ship was already populated by many people.

They were armed and armored, the quality of the armor was very good, but there were no emblematic signs of identity on them.

A bald man with a face mask that covered the lower half of his face and clad in light tight leather armor stepped forward from the crowd.

”Take a look, take a look.”

The man, with a tone of clear mockery, approached Ubank. The stocky man was bringing his two hunting dogs onto the ship at this time.

”Isn’t this our infamous ’Head Eater’?”

”You said you’d get a large batch this time, at least eighty kids, the boss was thrilled. But now there are only twenty here... Have you figured out how to explain this?”

The bald masked man’s tone was hard to comprehend, making it unclear whether he was mocking or reminding.

Ubank showed no reaction, but the subordinates he brought began to stir.

The Head Eater knows the ’boss’ of the opposite buyer, and from the sound of things, it’s the kind of relationship where explanations are needed if things go wrong?

Isn’t that a superior-subordinate relationship?

There’s nothing surprising, nor anything to be concerned about in their leader being someone else’s subordinate.

But what made the seasoned ruffians uneasy was—Ubank had never disclosed this situation to anyone in the squad!

Not a single one!

For this deal, the Head Eater had always explained to his men as simply ”cash for goods”.

Yet now, they’re blatantly, without reservation, intending to speak openly.

This behavior at this very moment was somewhat chilling for them.

”Master Safra, I had bad luck this time, no choice. If the boss insists on an explanation, I can only say ’I’ll put in double the effort next time.’”

Ubank finally got the dogs on board, raised his hands helplessly and said.

”Unfortunately, the Head Eater, such a useful cover, can’t be used again after this time. But future matters are for the future; for now, we should tidy up the loose ends.”

The bald masked man nodded, ”Right, tidy up the loose ends first.”

During their conversation, the ruffians brought by Ubank formed a wary circle.

Some even had fierce eyes, clutching knives, and slowly approaching Ubank, intending to take him hostage.

Old Hansen wasn’t stingy with money anymore, nervously scanning around: ”Everyone! Lords, we will pretend not to have heard your conversation, and we don’t want our share of the money—how about letting us leave the ship?”

Ubank said nothing, just squinted and smiled.

The waves slapped against the hull, and the atmosphere began to grow deadly still.

The ruffians, under scrutiny, were prepared for a life-and-death struggle.

”Wasting time,” snorted the bald masked man, Safra, lifting his hand targeting the circle of ruffians.

Then, the light of magic started flickering in the eyes of the ruffians.

”Mage! He’s a mage! Break... thump!”

There was no time to shout ’scatter’, as a semi-transparent magic shockwave directly swept through the bodies of the ruffians.

The combination of physical impact and magical damage made the unarmored men immediately fall to the ground.

This demonstrated the damage a well-prepared mage could inflict on average humans.

Appropriately positioned, wiping out a group in one strike.

”Settle the kids, throw the bodies into the sea. Ubank, think carefully about how you will explain yourself.”

Having said that, Safra returned to the cabin, no longer lingering.

The Head Eater nodded indifferently, then took a few steps toward the stern.

From there, he could see the burning camp on the shore, and a silhouette standing at the harbor.

Ubank waved with a smile towards that silhouette.

The ship sailed away into the distance.

~~~~~~

The commotion in the camp was gradually calming down, not because the armed ruffians suddenly became courteous.

But because those audacious enough to make a disturbance in this camp were essentially lying on the ground.

Either lying about in pieces, or lying about in puddles.

Lann stood at the harbor, with Philip leading the cavalry behind him, severing heads as proof of their merits.

Those deep black eyes watched the distant merchant ship depart.

The Head Eater was waving hands at him from a mile away on the ship.

That must be the buyer’s ship.

”Yangbian Lie Ma, the ship marks were two fierce horses pulling a war chariot... I remember you, scum.”

The Demon Hunter murmured lowly.

From a mile away, an average person couldn’t hope to discern any details on the sea merchant ship, and remembering the number of masts or sails would be impressive.

But the [Cat] potion’s effects in Lann had not yet worn off, with the super-sensitive vision, the signs on the ship were absolutely clear.

”Lann!” A familiar shout came from behind.

Philip walked over holding a torch and familiarly patted the Demon Hunter on the shoulder from behind.

”I really didn’t think, really couldn’t think! I knew you Demon Hunters were capable, but how could anyone actually slaughter through... My God!”

As he was expressing his disbelief and the accomplishment of the mission, Lann silently turned around.

Under the torch, the Demon Hunter’s visage was even more bizarre and menacing after drinking the potion.

The sight startled the Sergeant officer.

But luckily, he soon managed to shrug it off.

Philip always respected those with abilities, and in his view, Lann’s ability wasn’t just ”great.”

...It was rather ”massive!”

Even without his arrival, this organized large-scale armed criminal group would turn into scattered fugitives.

—The Demon Hunter had really shattered them!

The organizational capability of the entire crew fell apart!

”Really sorry, we’ve been trailing you for some time. We saw those three soldier ruffians’ corpses... Honestly, we thought you lost control then and didn’t dare come near.”

”It wasn’t until we followed further, using information from the peripheral camps, that we concluded you had found the Head Eater’s hideout; we rushed to follow up.”

As he spoke, Philip looked overjoyed.

”Ha ha! Never thought, never would have thought! The Head Eater and the human traffickers were in cahoots! This time, our brothers’ merits are huge, all thanks to your effort. Wait a moment longer, the Duke’s reward will come, surely giving you a large share!”

”By the way, we guessed you were madly slaughtering your way through; surely someone important was involved. Now the camp is chaotic, tell the men what that person looks like, and we all can lend a hand.”