Savage Ascension: Starting with God-Tier Plunder Ability-Chapter 87: The Hidden Chimney

The nameless robber gang, having lost their boss, guided Rowan’s party to their hideout. Of course, Rowan didn’t trust them. He sent Brown Wolf Dono ahead to advance, and more than anything, he kept turning direction to face the side where wind blew against his face.

No one knew the terrain here as well as robbers, so even so, they found the way well.

If there was good fortune, it was that there was no additional combat.

’This is a hideout?’

The robbers’ hideout was no different from a cave. You’d believe it right away if someone said wild beasts were inside. Rowan checked for any traps with a branch. Putting forward other people wasn’t a good thing.

’If I’m lucky enough to see an expensive jewel, I can pocket it.’

The possibility was low, but silver coins or silver rings were also easy to steal. He had to check if there were things easy to sneakily steal.

There were no traps, but instead the entrance itself was narrow. It made both coming in and going out uncomfortable. Also, there was one more separate exit.

In the center of the cave was a furnace, and except for the place to put firewood, everywhere was blocked, and there was a chimney.

’I didn’t see the chimney from outside.’

He became curious how they hid the smoke. Rowan searched the cave. Nothing that seemed quite valuable was visible. Most were plunder, and if there was anything useful, it was weapons, armor, and leather clothes.

’Leather boots. Pretty good fur. Did they make it themselves?’

In this business, even things others wore were washed, dried in sunlight, repaired, then went back on the sales counter. They were also mixed in with peddlers’ goods sold for commoners or in small villages.

Rowan confirmed the amount of plunder was quite considerable.

The Tracking Mercenary Group combined forces to take out the plunder and preserved food in the cave. Rock salt ground into powder and caught freshwater fish dried were woven on rope, and it looked quite delicious.

"If you dig the floor to the right of the entrance, there’s rock salt gathered too."

"Knik! You!"

One robber with a strong desire to live told them about the secret resource. Rowan could take the rock salt in clay jars baked from clay that could be seen by flowing water, smiling satisfactorily.

’This is money too.’

For robbers, they seemed to have luckily discovered rock salt. They would have dug it and brought it here before anyone saw. The reason they buried it in dirt seemed to worry that comrades would just steal the rock salt and run away. They’d notice something during digging, and digging would take time.

’It’s not even a world of backstabbing...’

Rowan made a disgusted expression inside. But it wasn’t that he couldn’t understand. Because even in modern times there are island slaves.

’It’s a big harvest.’

It wasn’t enough to receive silver coins, but rock salt was still quite valuable. He naturally got excited.

When they took out all the luggage, the robbers made tense expressions. Because here another turning point would arise. The question was whether that young-looking mercenary captain would really let them go.

"10 copper coins of course, and I could get 600 coins too. There’s a lot of luggage."

He couldn’t even guess how many they’d killed. It could have been boots made from badger fur that a drifter vagrant luckily caught with a trap. The plunder the 6-person robber gang collected had plunder from plundering about 20 people.

"You lit fires in the cave, but where’s the chimney?"

"It’s inside that tree. At first we dig a little, light a fire, and make smoke rise up the tree. We put out the fire, scrape the burned part, apply mud inside the tree, light fire in the cave again, and repeat."

Rowan could tell it was a fairly elaborate camouflage. The smoke rising like that went through a tree chimney over 2 meters tall, and only a little smoke spurted out through small holes, and it was a system of discharging smoke through numerous holes.

Smoke gathered coming out in one place rises far, but the hollow tree chimney had small smoke escape through many small holes drilled in the tree and quickly disappeared. It would give off smell but the location couldn’t be known.

’Not bad.’

It was amazing concealment technique.

"Let us go now."

Rowan nodded. He drew his shortsword and aimed at the throat.

"Heeup."

The robber fell backward.

"Y-you said you’d let us go!"

"If I let you go, you could stab me in the back. To give freedom, I have no choice but to kill."

When Espin tried to stand up the fallen robber, he wriggled like a worm. He kicked his feet greatly, and the splattered dirt even hit Espin’s face.

"Stop, stop. If you don’t want to die, you’ll have no choice but to go to the kingdom camp."

"You, you son of a bitch."

Before Rowan’s expression could harden, Espin struck the bastard’s cheek with his palm. It was Espin with quite a large build. Blood immediately burst from the robber’s lips and started swelling.

"Choose your words. If you really don’t want to die."

"..."

True to his back alley origins, he was good at threatening. On the robbers’ backs were loaded the plunder they’d plundered.

"Ugh."

Because their arms were tied they had a hard time, but there was nothing to be done. The quantity was so great. Others also carried loads. They headed back to the kingdom camp. The plunder they’d stolen and gathered would be the biggest evidence telling that they’d committed robbery.

They had to rest often, and each time Bedri watched Rowan’s face. Rowan also felt that gaze.

’The bastard, seeing there’s a lot of plunder, he’s even aiming for a share of that.’

He was being expelled from the Tracking Mercenary Group anyway. But when saying expulsion, Rowan only mentioned daily wages and per-head bounty, and didn’t talk about shares of plunder. Because of that, he was burning inside. But Rowan had no intention of giving him anything.

It was Crossbowman Bedri who couldn’t even pull aggro when catching robbers.