Youkar, Walite - Chapter 3. Camp infiltration

Hey, translator here! I know I kind off blew up my promise to have a daily schedule by the weekend, sorry about that. It starts now. Editor’s off, at least for now, and I’m gonna be editing alone for the next few days.

“Sir, we have arrived.” The coachman walked to the side of the carriage, as the tax official opened the carriage door, walking at a leisurely pace towards the wooden doors.

“Oh, it’s His Excellency the tax official. What brings you here?” The lackey hurriedly approached the tax official, who took out two bottles of fine wine, shook them in front of the lackey, and smirked: “Nothing much, just had a good haul today. Let’s have a drink with your boss and catch up.”

The tax collector tossed a bottle to one of the lackeys. “Here, take it. Consider it a reward.”

The gatekeeper lackey immediately beamed with joy, like a dog getting a bone, nodding and bowing repeatedly. “Thank you, Your Excellency! Thank you, Your Excellency! I’ll go tell the boss right away that you’re here.”

Hiding in the bushes, Youkar observed everything clearly. She bent down, took advantage of the coachman’s lack of attention and darted out from the bushes to slip under the carriage.

Meanwhile, the tax official finished his round and came back to the carriage. As they entered the stronghold and the carriage came to a final stop, the tax collector got off to find the gang leader.

“Sir, please take your time and enjoy your stay.” The coachman respectfully performed a bow, but before she could even finish the gesture, Youkar struck her down behind the head with a scabbard, swiftly knocking her unconscious and then dragging her under the carriage.

Youkar inferred from the path of the carriage that she was in the northeast corner of the stronghold, where piles of a wide variety of items littered the area. On the way in, Youkar did not see any carriages or training grounds, only some basic barricades and a few empty checkpoints.

“Is their defense really that weak?” Youkar glanced at the walls of the stronghold, where there were watchtowers at each corner, but no people on top to man them.

“Come on, brothers, drink, drink! The tax official has rewarded us with wine!” Just now, the lackeys at the door started to shout, and several members of the bandit gang, upon hearing this, gathered around like moths to a flame.

Youkar glanced from the shadows and saw a total of six people gathered around, while one person remained on patrol instead of drinking. Coincidentally, that person was walking right besides where Youkar was hiding.

“Hmm?” The patrolling member of the bandit gang suddenly widened his eyes, seeing a hand protruding from beneath the carriage. He rubbed his eyes, suspecting he was seeing things.

At that moment, Youkar reached out, covered his mouth and skillfully thrust a knife into his heart, eliminating him on the spot.

“Phew…” Youkar took a deep breath. “Such careless fellows, makes it quite easy.”

“What’s this?” She unexpectedly noticed, slipping out of the pocket of the gang member, was a shiny little trinket.

Youkar picked it up. It was a silver badge.

The badge was engraved with the recreation of an eagle on top, olive branches as decorations below, and a line of small words at the bottom: “Kingdom of Winds, Third Guard of Trunk city.”

Youkar carefuly looked over the silver badge. It was covered in nicks and scratches, with a layer of grimy grease, indicating its age. Why would a bandit have something like this? Could it be looted spoil?

She didn’t have the time to dwell on this matter and seeing that the badge seemed valuable, she decided to keep it.

She later took advantage of the drunk guards and stealthily made her way to the side of the tower, discovering a ladder just ripe for the picking.

When she reached the top of the tower, she surprised the hell out of the two bandits on lookout. Youkar swiftly knocked them down with a strong punch and kick, silencing them for a while.

At the top of the tower, a brazier was present for signaling alerts and a zip line hung until the distant woods. Without needing to guess, she knew this was an escape route.

There was a wooden trap door in the center, underneath which should be the interior.

Youkar didn’t take any chances. She carefully pierced through the wooden boards with a knife, then crouched down and peered inside.

Below, the tower had two levels. One level consisted of a corridor built along the walls, while the bottommost level had a table placed upon it, on which two blurry figures sat face to face, engaged in a conversation of unknown content.

Youkar pried open the sealed lid, carefully descending along the ladder. Her movements were light, weary of startling the two individuals.

“Here’s to our deep friendship, Charlie!” The bandit leader Kagu shouted, filling his glass with half a bottle of wine and downing it in a single swig.

“Oh, stop it. We used to be in the same army camp. You looked out for me back then,” the tax official chuckled, grabbing a chicken leg from the plate and taking a bite.

Kagu sports a rough mohawk hairstyle and flaunts a fiery red beard. His right eye was blind, covered by a black eyepatch. It’s this very characteristic that earned him the nickname “One-eyed” from the surrounding residents.

“I thought a clever fellow like you, with all your schemes, could easily become the lord of Cross town. Hmph, after all these years, you’re still just a tax official,” Kagu grumbled, running his thick fingers over the oil on his lips. “A bunch of worthless bastards they are! Spent years in the army and couldn’t even scrape together enough for the trip home! Lost everything, even the house!”

The tax official, Charlie, also took a sip of wine and joined in the rant: “Exactly! Those nobles, they don’t leave us any benefits. Do you know the lord of Cross town? He’s as fat as a lump of dung, no different! He pockets almost half the taxes we collect!”

“Hmph, it’s about time for a change!” Kagu exclaimed angrily, slamming his cup down on the table.

Youkar paid no heed to the conversation between the two men. She found a good position and drew her knife, ready to execute Kagu. Just then, the door was slammed open, and a lackey stumbled in, bumbling: “Bad news! Bad news! Boss! Something’s happened!!” The lackey staggered and stumbled, finally falling flat on his face in front of the two men.

Interrupted from their drinking, Kagu lashed out: “Are you mourning a death at home or did a pig just give birth?! Why the rush and panic coming in here?! Huh? Have you gone blind?!”

Charlie gestured for Kagu to calm down, stood up, turned to the lackey and asked: “What happened?”

The lackey, panting heavily, stammered out: “Someone, someone broke in! Not only did they knock out your coachman, but they also killed one of our brothers!”

“What did you say!?” Charlie exclaimed, shocked. Youkar, hidden on the second floor, was also taken by surprise. She hadn’t expected to be discovered so quickly.

“Where is that person now!?” Kagu demanded, grabbing the lackey’s collar and shouting, but the lackey only shook his head. Meanwhile, Charlie seemed to sense something, lifting his head to examine the upper floor. Youkar hastily concealed herself from the gaze.

Unexpectedly, the support beams on the second floor had long been neglected and on their last leg. Youkar’s foot directly smashed through the floor, causing her to tumble down. Coincidentally, she fell right in front of Kagu, conveniently crushing the unlucky lackey to death.

As splintered wood rained down, Youkar flashed a sheepish smile amidst Kagu’s astonished gaze.

“Good evening?”