Chapter 61: Kidnapped Alfredo

Swoosh!!

A vine shot out from the tree and grabbed the monkey instantly.

-Ukk! Ukk!!

“Haah… That was intense…”

Exitra exhaled heavily.

He had almost lost it.

If his Agility stat had been even slightly lower, he might have missed.

This was exactly why distributing stats evenly was important.

“Got you…!”

As Exitra reached out, the vine slowly brought the monkey to him.

He snatched the serum tightly clutched in the monkey’s hand.

— [Quest cleared: ‘Stolen Serum!’]

— [3 points earned.]

— [Achievement unlocked: ‘You Can’t Escape!’]

— [Achievement unlocked: ‘No Use Running, You’re in Buddha’s Palm.’]

“Haah…”

After retrieving the serum, Exitra released the monkey.

‘But I can’t just let it go…!’

Exitra’s eyes glimmered slightly.

He set up a device on the monkey.

The plan involved using the monkey against his enemies.

Few bandits used monkeys, and if these were the ones Exitra suspected, they could be troublesome.

He needed to prepare in advance.

‘This should do it.’

After handling that, Exitra returned to the original location.

But what he found shocked him.

The site showed signs of a fierce battle, but there was no one there.

‘Where’s my brother?’

‘The carriage and the horse are gone too.’

‘What…? What happened?’

“Hmph, I knew it.”

— [Quest created: ‘Kidnapped Alfredo.’ Do you accept? (Y/N)]

Alfredo had been captured by bandits while Exitra was away.

There were quite a few of them, so even someone like Alfredo couldn’t hold out.

‘So it’s them.’

These weren’t ordinary bandits.

If they were, Alfredo wouldn’t have been taken so easily.

These were special bandits.

— [This calls for a showdown!!]

— [Rescue the brother!!]

Viewers started raging.

Alfredo was no longer just Exitra’s brother.

He was everyone’s brother now.

And he had been kidnapped by bandits.

This was unforgivable.

[Viewer DongSam donated 100,000 won.]

“If you rescue your brother safely, I’ll donate 200,000 won… You must save him!!”

“Haha, don’t worry.”

Exitra smiled gently.

“As his older brother, how could I ever abandon someone so adorable? I’ll definitely save him.”

‘And those guys… right?’

This actually worked in Exitra’s favor.

He had wanted to track those bandits later anyway, and now they had shown up perfectly.

‘Their warehouse… should be interesting.’

At this point, Exitra almost regarded the bandits’ warehouse as a delicacy spot.

“First, I need to find them.”

— [Bandits! Step forward, I’ll crush your ribs!]

— [Shouldn’t we find these guys first??]

— [What if my brother gets hurt?!]

— [But shouldn’t we at least find out where they went first??]

If the bandits stole something, they would have taken it while alive.

So it was necessary to find them alive first.

“Don’t worry.”

Exitra touched the ground.

“I can track them easily.”

He summoned the earth spirit, Gnome.

Viewers recalled a previous scene.

The one where he tracked wild animals.

— [Ah! Right!]

— [Spirits can do that!]

— [I forgot about that!!]

“Then… tracking…”

Exitra scanned the area for clues.

There were many footprints, so it wasn’t difficult to follow the trail.

The traces of the carriage and the horse were all visible.

“This is like a complete ‘Please find me~’ package.”

‘Is this a trap?’

Exitra intuitively sensed the bandits’ scheme.

The trail was far too obvious.

They hadn’t tried to hide anything, as if saying, ‘I am here, come and get me.’

‘It makes my job easier, but…’

Exitra thought for a moment.

He remembered this quest from before.

He wanted to use his ‘Fast-Forward’ skill for more certainty, but there wasn’t enough time.

‘I’ll have to rely on memory this time.’

The goal was to rescue his brother.

He needed to hurry a little.

‘If he’s gone, I can’t reach the hidden ending.’

For the hidden ending, Alfredo’s presence was essential.

He had to be saved.

“The trail is found. That way?”

Based on the clues, Exitra roughly figured out the direction.

The bandits had deviated slightly because of the carriage.

But since Exitra didn’t have a carriage, he could go straight.

“Then I’ll pursue them.”

***

Alfredo, tied up with ropes, looked frustrated.

‘Damn it… losing to mere bandits…’

At first, he had been confident.

He firmly believed he couldn’t lose to such uncivilized thugs.

But the outcome surprised him.

The bandits were individually weak, but when the weak worked together, they became difficult to face.

‘Who would have thought the foolish bandits could coordinate like that?’

‘What would my brother have done?’

Alfredo thought briefly of Exitra.

‘What would he have done in this situation?’

He probably would have dealt with the bandits effortlessly.

‘Numerical advantage?’

In front of his strength, such things meant nothing.

‘I’m still not ready…’

Alfredo was furious.

He never wanted to be a burden to anyone, yet here he was—caught, kidnapped, completely powerless.

The moment he was seized, he had hoped to at least avoid being used as a hostage, even considering suicide—but now, he had no choice.

‘Damn it! Damn it!’

He felt humiliated and enraged that he had been captured by these lowlifes.

He couldn’t even handle something like this on his own—how could he ever hope to become the heir of his noble house?

“Ugh…”

“Huh? What’s this guy doing?”

“Boss, he’s crying.”

Tears had started flowing naturally from Alfredo’s eyes, fueled by his frustration.

The bandits, however, mistook his tears for fear.

“Ha! A man crying over this? What are we, your death squad? If you’re useless, sure, we’d kill you, but—”

A rough-looking bandit grinned menacingly.

He seemed to be the leader of the group.

“Exactly. If he’s useful, he lives; if not… well, he dies.”

“Don’t worry. There are plenty of ways to use him besides just killing him.”

“With your looks, I bet there’ll be buyers lining up for you.”

Alfredo’s body trembled with rage.

‘These bastards…!’

He had never heard such words in his life.

He was furious and frustrated.

No matter how much he wanted to make them pay for their insults, tied up as he was, he could do nothing.

‘Damn it…’

“Hahaha! But with a carriage like this and a horse, he must be from a noble family, right?”

“But isn’t the horse a bit old?”

“So what if it’s old? It’s still not cheap.”

“That’s true. The breed is good, even if it’s aged. Only a noble could afford a horse like this.”

Hearing this, the bandit leader grinned in satisfaction, having gotten the answer he wanted.

“Perfect. Then we can demand a huge ransom for him, haha. Excellent.”

“And what about Soong?”

“She’ll come back alive. We trained her to steal valuable items and escape, so she should have done well.”

The monkey who had stolen Exitra’s serum had been specially trained, so it would return safely on its own.

***

“Alright, we’ve arrived.”

The bandits pulled the carriage into the hideout.

Inside, the place was surprisingly spacious.

One side had a stable, another had a large storage shed, and several huts for the bandits to sleep in were scattered around.

The largest hut seemed to belong to the bandit leader.

Alfredo grimaced as he took in the interior.

‘Disgusting.’

The hideout was filthy.

Perhaps because only men lived here—or maybe because they were crude bandits—they clearly had no sense of cleanliness.

The smell was strong, and waste was poorly managed.

‘The last hideout I visited wasn’t like this. Back then, it was captured merchants and guild builders—but now it’s me…’

He sighed at how pathetic his situation was.

The bandits parked the carriage and led the horse to the stable.

Though the horse was a good breed, it was old. They planned to use it as food later.

“Hehe, alright. Let’s start the interrogation.”

They needed to find out which noble family Alfredo belonged to in order to demand a ransom.

“Let’s make this easy. No need to make it painful.”

Some nobles had enough pride to resist interrogation.

To break them, the bandits would resort to torture to make them talk.

“Enduring it won’t help. You’ll feel better if you just talk.”

“True. Clenching your teeth won’t change anything.”

Some would resist even under torture, but eventually, everyone would speak—otherwise, they risked death.

The bandits’ methods were crude and had no limits, so opening one’s mouth early was the wiser choice.

“Still… you have to be careful with his face,” said one bandit, approaching Alfredo and lifting his chin.

“Touching it the wrong way could lower his value.”

With Alfredo’s appearance, there would be buyers lining up to ransom him.

Even a small misstep could reduce his worth.

They might even provide healing potions later as a service.

“Don’t worry. We’re not amateurs,” another bandit said.

“We can’t let the price drop. Better to keep him out of sight.”

The bandits laughed at the thought of making money twice—from the ransom and resale.

Adding in the items Soong had stolen and capturing her pursuer could make this a huge score.

“So handle him carefully…”

[Suddenly, a sharp sound.]

“…!”

Before the bandit could finish his words, he felt searing pain shoot through his wrist.

Something was wrong.

The hand that had been there moments ago… was gone.

“Arghhhh!!”

The bandit screamed in agony.

The other bandits, who had been laughing and joking, drew their weapons in panic.

“What the hell?!”

“Ambush!”

“Watch out!”

They couldn’t see where the attack had come from.

‘I didn’t notice it.’

The bandit leader scanned the area with sharp eyes.

‘What had just attacked them?’

It was invisible to the naked eye.

By the time he realized it, his subordinate’s wrist was already severed.

Chills ran down his spine.

‘What if that attack had been aimed at me?’

It could have been his neck instead of the wrist.

The cold sense of danger was no illusion.

“Be careful!”

The bandits tensed, on high alert.

Exitra, hidden in the shadows, clicked her tongue lightly.

“Couldn’t control yourself, huh?”

— [How could you let that happen!]

— [How dare you touch my brother with those filthy hands!!]

— [Is there no Spirit of Purification?! That dirty hand touched our precious, sacred brother—]

— [Purify! Bring disinfectant! Oh no, germs!!]

— [Medic!! MEEDIIIC!!]

The chat went wild, watching every word the bandits spoke.

— [Human trafficking is disgusting.]

— [Those bastards need to be thrown in prison for life. Make them a model inmate who can never get out.]

— [We have to save my brother first.]