Due to the change of their schedule, as soon as they returned to the village, Noel headed to Brad's house to talk about his choice.
Meanwhile, Anna went to the village chief's house since there was no inn in the village.
Before sleeping, Noel went to talk with Anna about his plan. He even brought the map with him, showing it to her.
"Let's see. There are a few places potentially holding the hostages. It'll be hard if they're using the hostages as their shields." Noel pointed at three large spaces according to the map.
"That's true. So, what should we do? Should we go with the intention to kill everyone, including the hostages? Although I'm sorry to say this, but they're mostly women. And after what the bandits have done to them, I don't know if they can still live normally again." Anna explained with a disappointed expression.
"First of all, we're going to capture the bandits outside the mine and interrogate them. After learning about the location as well as the number of the hostages, we shall go to ambush them. No, more like…" Noel paused for a moment and asked, "I am afraid I need you to do the hardest task."
"So, you want me to storm inside alone?"
Noel nodded with a solemn face. Even Anna looked at him for a while to see how serious he was in proposing this idea.
Ultimately, Anna nodded. "Fine. I'll do it. But how much confident are you in this plan?"
"Eighty percent success rate. And I believe we can rescue the hostages with this plan."
"Alright. Let me hear the details."
Noel took an hour to explain his plan. It was quite surprising for Anna to know this elaborate plan. She finally understood the reason why she had always been tricked into his scheme in her previous life.
The next morning, Noel and Anna left the village. To her surprise, Brad also followed them, begging them to let him tag along.
Although it was true that Brad's bow mastery as a hunter was quite good, she never expected that Noel would ask the people to fight.
As soon as they reached the mine, they waited and continued observing them. Still, no matter how hard they tried, it would be impossible for them to calculate the enemy's exact number.
However, Noel predicted that there were around seventy bandits. He calculated based on the fact that he had seen thirty different faces during their observation and believed the number inside would be twice to thrice the number what they could see.
Raiding such a stronghold was definitely a challenge even for them. Luckily, Noel had prepared a plan for this.
The moment the night came, Noel and Anna moved out, leaving Brad behind. Of course, Brad was preparing his bow, planning to kill a few people even though this was the first time he hunted something other than animals.
Anna led Noel to go to the mine's entrance secretly. There were four people who stayed in the lookout and according to Noel, they always changed people every two hours. And this time, there were only ten minutes left before the changing shift.
Anna and Noel climbed the hill, specifically the tree around the entrance.
Now that their position was right above them, the two exchanged looks to confirm each other was ready.
Then, Noel raised his left hand as the signal. Both of them then jumped behind the bandits.
Anna had prepared wet rolled clothes. As soon as she landed on the ground, she skillfully wrapped the bandit's mouth with the clothes, preventing him from talking.
"Wha—" The other wanted to react, but Noel appeared next to them.
He waved his sword swiftly and precisely, cutting all their necks. Thanks to his Increase Agility Rune, Muscle Strengthening Technique, and Swift Strike, a normal bandit couldn't even react to his strike. This was similar to how helpless he was against Anna at the first time they met.
Meanwhile, Anna immediately dragged the man into the woods while placing her sword on his neck.
After they reached a hundred meters away from the mine, Anna dropped the guy and released her killing intent to scare him.
"Who—Aaaahhhh!" The bandit wanted to talk, but Anna stomped his leg, bending his knee in a weird way. This was the reason why she brought him far from the mine. Even if he screamed, no one would realize it.
"Shut up. I ask, you answer. Say another word other than the answer, I'm going to crush your bone one."
The bandit's body trembled. He was still screeching in pain, but he didn't dare to talk anymore because of the first stomp. He was truly scared of what was going to happen to him.
"How many people do you have?" Anna asked the first question.
"Fif… Fifty…" The guy answered immediately.
In that instant, Anna stomped his other knee, bending it to another way.
"Aaaahhhhh!" The bandit screamed in pain while holding his other knee.
However, Anna kicked his face and put him back in his place, not allowing him to do something to ease the pain.
"I ask, you answer. Give me a wrong information, you're going to experience this much longer."
"Don't do something that dangerous." Noel had finally arrived after dragging the three bodies elsewhere.
The bandit looked at Noel and remembered how he killed the other three bandits.
Noel squatted and said, "Well, I'll let you go if you answer my question honestly."
"Wait, what did you say? You'll let him go?" Anna was the first to question his decision.
But Noel nonchalantly shrugged. "What's wrong with that? However, that depends on him. If he doesn't answer me honestly, then…"
The bandit panicked and realized that Noel was his chance. Unlike Anna, there was a chance to escape with Noel's condition.
"How many people are in your group?"
The bandit immediately used this chance and said with a scared tone. "82… 82 people."
"Good." Noel smiled, satisfied. "Are there any people beside your group? Like women, kids or elderly?"
"There… There are… 20 of them."
"Then, where is your leader?"
"He… he is with them."
"How many demons do you have?" Noel asked another question.
"We have seven Low Level Demons."
"Alright. Two last questions." Noel felt he had gotten enough information, so he just proceeded with the extra information. "What's the route to your leader?"
"That's…" The bandit didn't know how to say this. He looked around, panicked. Noel's expression darkened during that time, making him scared. So, he blurted, "Every junction you meet, go right!"
"Alright. The last question is… who taught you to capture demons?"
"The leader… The leader suddenly defeated our previous leader and…"
"Taught you a lot of things, huh." Noel narrowed his eyes and saw the bandit nodding furiously.
After receiving the answer he needed, Noel rose from the ground.
"Then…" The bandit looked at them with a brightened expression, thinking he was spared.
However, Noel and Anna were acting this whole time. The moment Noel finished the interrogation, Anna waved her sword, slicing the bandit's neck. "He lets you go, but I don't."
Noel smirked and glanced at Anna, "Now, let's take down the bandits, shall we?"