In the middle of the night, Bai Ye slowly opened her eyes.

She hadn’t really been asleep. She had something to take care of tonight.

“Yilisi, are you asleep?”

Bai Ye softly called to Yilisi, but got no reply. It seemed she really was asleep.

“Sleep tight, Yilisi. I’ll be right back.”

She gently slipped out of Yilisi’s embrace and climbed down from the carriage. She didn’t have time to rest tonight. There was something she had to do.

When she rescued Yilisi at the slave auction, Bai Ye had pressed Li Ke about where he got his slaves and whether he had a supplier.

She’d only asked on a whim. But to Bai Ye’s surprise, she actually managed to get him to reveal a band of bandits who specialized in working with Li Ke to kidnap young girls and sell them.

But when she thought about it carefully, it wasn’t strange that Li Ke had partners.

He’d managed to win over so many nobles in the Royal Capital, which meant most of his time and energy went into the city. If so, how could he possibly have time to hunt down slaves himself?

Once you thought it through, it made perfect sense that Li Ke had partners.

As luck would have it, according to Li Ke, the bandits’ main hideout was near the route from the Royal Capital to Nokan Territory.

Bai Ye had driven until nightfall and stopped where she was now so she could take care of the bandits while she was at it—and nip any future trouble in the bud!

“Let’s see…”

Bai Ye took a map from her spatial ring. Li Ke had already told her where the bandits were, but she still had to find their exact location herself.

“Somewhere around here, I guess…”

By the light of the moon, Bai Ye studied the map and thought it over. At last, she pinpointed the bandits’ location.

Now that she’d found their location, there was no need to waste time. She could just go wipe them out. But before leaving, Bai Ye had one more thing to do.

She held out her hand, channeled her magic, and cast several defensive and alarm spells on the carriage.

“Silence, Defense Boost, Iron Wall, Danger Alert…”

Bai Ye cast more than a dozen spells on the carriage one after another, afraid Yilisi might be in danger while she was away.

After all, the road was surrounded by towering mountains and forest. There was no telling what wild beasts might be lurking nearby.

If Yilisi were attacked by a wild beast while Bai Ye was gone, no one might be able to save her.

“Sanctuary Flash, Flowing Fire, Synchronized Sense… That should about do it.”

Once she’d finished casting the spells, she finally felt a little more at ease. Then she set off for the bandits’ hideout.

“You scumbags, here I come!”

Bai Ye’s gaze sharpened. Then she leaped into the air!

“Sky Wings!”

She traced a graceful arc through the air and shot toward the depths of the forest.

……

Few people knew that a band of bandits operated along the road connecting the Royal Capital to Nokan Territory.

In truth, the bandits kept a low profile. They rarely robbed travelers, and their hideout was tucked deep in the forest. They called themselves bandits and had even built a stronghold in the woods, but they hadn’t actually done much of what ordinary bandits did.

After all, this was near the Royal Capital. If they hadn’t kept their heads down, the Empire’s knights would’ve wiped them out long ago. How else could they still be alive today?

Of course, just because they didn’t rob travelers didn’t mean they were good people.

They might not spill much blood in public, but they’d kidnapped plenty of girls and forced them into prostitution!

In fact, Li Ke wasn’t their only partner. They also worked with plenty of brothels and other pleasure houses.

Take the pleasure district in the south of the Royal Capital. At least one in five of its prostitutes had been supplied by them!

Li Ke wasn’t the bandits’ only partner, but he was a rather special one. He had plenty of money, extensive connections, and the nerve to openly auction off the girls under his control as slaves.

He didn’t sell them often, but every time he did, he made a tidy profit. That made him a partner the bandits valued.

“Big Brother, Fourth should’ve been back by now. You think something happened to him?”

The bandits had four leaders. Three of them were gathered together drinking at that moment.

There were only three because Fourth had been sent to Li Ke’s auction and wasn’t at the stronghold. He wouldn’t return until the auction was over and he’d split the money with Li Ke.

The auction should’ve ended last night. Even if Fourth hadn’t left right away and only set out this morning, he should’ve been back at the stronghold by now.

“Don’t worry, Third. Did you forget where Li Ke’s auction house is? I bet Fourth got his share, couldn’t keep his pants on, and got lured into some woman’s bed. It’s no surprise he’s late. Don’t worry about him.”

It was Second speaking. He knew Fourth all too well. Whenever the guy got his share of the money, he’d go find women and spend the night living it up. There was no way he’d be fit to travel the next day, so Second wasn’t worried at all that Fourth hadn’t returned.

Of course, he had no idea that Li Ke’s auction house had already been taken down by Bai Ye. The Fourth he was talking about, like the nobles at the auction, had fallen at the auction house and was awaiting the judgment of Imperial law.

“That may be Fourth’s way, but he’s still our brother. We can’t not worry. Third, if he still hasn’t come back by tomorrow morning, go check on him.”

Compared to carefree Second, Big Brother was much more cautious.

“All right, Big Brother. I’ll go check tomorrow morning.”

“All right, all right. Quit worrying about it.”

Second waved a hand and raised his cup again.

“Come on, let’s keep drinking!”