Nile managed to pull himself up on his feet. He was standing with his hands on his knees as a support.
He took the blade lying on the ground, which he had just used.
"My chest hurts so much."
Nile stood motionless for a while, thinking about what decisions had led to this situation and what he must do in the future.
He walked towards the corpse with the blade in his hand.
He crouched down near the 2nd bandit corpse.
"How human life can be so fragile yet tenacious."
"I know you guys deserved death, but not this quickly."
There was a bit of anger in his tone. He was letting out his anger and frustration that he had suffered at their hands.
"I hope you repent your sins in the Underworld and be a good human in your next life."
"Don't worry, I'm going to take care of your things. And also, I am sending your boss next so that you guys can be together even in death. Aren't I a kind person? You guys should thank me."
"Farewell."
After he said that, some liquid droplets fell on his hand from his face. He looked at his hand.
"Blood?"
"I didn't even notice it, some blood must have splattered on my face."
Some blood had splattered on Nile's face while he was killing the bandits.
He wiped out the blood on his face with his ragged cloth.
Then Nile put his finger into the clothes of the corpse, searching for the things he wanted.
He pulled out a half-filled water bag and 4 dried beef jerky.
"So poor."
He continued searching, and he found a pouch.
"Let's see what's in it."
The pouch is made up of a simple circular piece of leather or fabric pulled together with a drawstring.
He opened up the pouch, and inside it were some copper coins.
"1"
"2"
"3"
.
.
.
"30"
"30 copper coins. Is this the currency of this world?"
In olden times in the Nile's world, coins were used as a form of currency. He suspected there might be a similar current system in this world also.
Nile rolled one between his fingers.
The metal felt rough and uneven.
Unlike the machine-pressed coins from Earth, this one looked handmade.
Did that mean this world was less technologically advanced?
"I don't know the value of these copper coins. I don't know if their value is high or low. I should leave this matter aside"
He found a dagger with its sheath. The sheath was made up of leather sewn by an unknown thread around the edges.
He took the dagger from the corpse belt and held it in his hand, examining it. He drew out the dagger from its sheath.
The dagger was quite old. Some rust has formed on the dagger. His thumb traced the dagger edge, checking its sharpness.
"Still sharp!"
He used his palm and finger as a measuring unit.
"It should be roughly 8-10 inches long."
He put the dagger on the side next to the pouch.
"I should take his bow also."
Nile took the bow, the arrows with its quiver. He counted how many arrows he had in his hand.
"7 arrows. I need to use them wisely. I may not be an expert in archery, but I know how to use one and hit the target only if the target is not far."
He slightly pulled the bow string and found that he needed to exert so much strength to pull it.
"It's too hard to pull, but I can do it if I put all my strength into it."
He put the bow and arrow aside. He looked at the bandit's warm clothes and then at his ragged cloth.
He sighed and said, "I can't believe I am doing this."
He took the warm clothes, belt, and the pants that were not too stained with blood.
"This looting reminds me of a game where 100 players go into a huge map and play till there is only one survivor. They were allowed to loot the enemy's body also. I kind of miss it."
Nile looted the other corpse also. Before, he took only food and water. He didn't take the pouch before because he was so hungry and all of his mind was on the food. After eating, he hid himself directly, waiting for his next prey.
He took only the pouch and opened it.
"How much money does he have?"
He counted the number of coins.
"1, 2, ....., 24 coins."
"Only 24 coins? Damn, you are poor, can't you work harder?"
"Next life, try to become rich."
With the 30 coins from before, he now had 54 copper coins.
Nile put the dagger, water bag on the belt, some leftover beef jerky in his pocket, and he carried the bow and the quiver on his back.
And the blade on his right hand.
"I should finish my preparation before it's too late."
"I don't think they will be sending any more people, they have only two of them left. They need someone to look after the hostage, and are not willing to send any more."
He held up the legs of the corpses and dragged them one by one near the camp area, but not close enough so that it wouldn't be noticed by the bandits.
He scattered the leaves soaked with blood around that area.
While scattering the leaves, Nile stumbled and fell down.
"Ouch!"
He looked back where he had just fallen.
"Looks like I tripped on a tree root."
Nile tried to get back up and resume his work, but a particular thing caught his eye.
"An apple?"
The apple was placed in front of the tree with a leaf under it acting as a plate.
It looks like it was an offering by someone to someone.
"What's an apple doing here? As far as I know, I haven't encountered any apple trees around here."
"Weird, should I take this or not?"
Nile's stomach growled.
"I may have eaten those dried meats, but I'm still hungry"
"It's like the world has taken pity on me and offered me food even if it's only an apple."
Nile took the apple and kept it in his pocket, and continued his preparation.
He chose a tree which is further from the blood-soaked area and has an open view to the camp, and not too far away.
He climbed up on it and sat on a branch high above the ground. He could see the camp, but the camp people wouldn't be able to see Nile.
"Now I just need to wait for time."
The sun looms among the hills, its final ray shone over the plane before it could be covered by the mighty hills.
Nile had free time before his plan came into action, he thought of the ruins and summoned them.
The ethereal ruin appeared and formed words.
It read:
[System initializing— 65%]
"Huuhhh?"
Nile was shocked that the percentage of the system went up so much.
"Yesterday night was 0%, today morning was 20%, now its 65% at dusk."
"By the rate it was going, it should have reached between 30 and 40, not 65. Why did this happen?"
"What did I do today, which could affect it so much that it jumped up?"
"I can think of it later, it's not important now."
Nile unsummoned the ruins, and it disappeared into nothingness.
The sun has set, and the mountains covered the rays of the sun. The night starts to take over the day.
The night had taken over the day, no light was illuminating except for the silver moon hanging over the sky. The radiant moonlight coloured the plane with silver light.
A tiny source of light was flickering not too far away in the night.
The light source was from the camp.
Nile was chewing the leftover beef jerky.
The night was cold, but luckily, he had the warm clothes which the kind-hearted bandits had given him. The bandits are on their way to repent their sins.
Nile heard a sound in the quiet night, followed by multiple sounds.
Nile smiled and said, "Finally, the time has come."