Zdeska, the bandit queen, was furious. She stood in the "night-time" oasis, waiting for the next dungeon fruit to spawn a monster. Around her, dozens of dungeon creatures lay dead and torn apart. A faint *snap* sound reached her ears and she leaped the distance towards the falling fruit. The fruit hit the ground and opened to reveal a small pile of leather belts. Zdeska screamed as she ripped a leather belt in two with her bare hands.


    Zdeska took a break from her rage after one of the dungeon fruits spawned an eight-legged cat that led her on a chase over, under, and around the giant vines. When the cat was finally dead, Zdeska sank into the cool sand and stared up into the black "sky". She reminisced briefly about her adventurer parent. Her parent had taken her away from the bandits for a time when she was young to train in an old lost dungeon.


    That was a real dungeon. Zdeska thought to herself. Not like this pile of trash. This dungeon was all wrong. It didn''t have proper rooms or rest areas or treasure worth her time. Why make giant bug husks with the silk? Why not make a spool of silk thread? What is the point? Zdeska moved from reminiscing to complaining. In this backwards dungeon, Zdeska''s dreams of creating a company of adventurer level bandits seemed further away than ever. And that damn goblin witch went and made everything worse. How could a goblin be so soft that she would let half a trade caravan leave with their lives? If the goblin second in command wasn''t so popular, Zdeska might execute her.


    There hadn''t been any more harvester groups to rob since the first one, and Zdeska doubted any trade caravan would arrive from her world without significant protection. With the sad state of her company, they couldn''t do more than slow down a well defended trade caravan. Zdeska gave a long sigh and centered her mind. When her emotions were out of control, she made plans. If we can''t rob trade caravans or locals, we have two options to enrich ourselves: Harvest the entire dungeon or send raiding parties against the locals. We don''t have enough people to accomplish either of those, so we need more people. We don''t have anything to pay to recruit new people, so the very first thing we have to do is find something worth real gold.


    <hr>


    Punch struggled not to glare at the bandit queen. If he revealed his hatred, she would kill him immediately. He clenched his fists hard as he fought to keep his face relaxed.


    "We need a complete survey of the dungeon and we need to find any remaining treasure. Is your team ready to resume duties?" The bandit queen asked.


    Despite his efforts at self control, Punch scowled. "No, my queen. My injuries persist." Punch swallowed hard and forced his face back to neutral. "I think it will be a few more weeks before my ribs are healed enough for me to fight."This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Zdeska narrowed her eyes. "A few broken ribs shouldn''t have kept you out of action this long. What''s really happening?" The bandit queen''s tone of voice held clear suspicion.


    Punch felt his face redden with anger as he struggled to speak. The complete unfairness of the question threatened to erase all his reasoning. "My queen." He nearly choked as he forced out a few words. "Nearly all my ribs were broken. Badly." His emotions were so elevated that he began to feel lightheaded. He found himself looking at his own feet.


    There was a long pause before the queen spoke again. "Sit." Punch looked up and saw the queen was gesturing towards the only other chair in the tent. Hesitantly, Punch sat. The queen stood and left the tent. Punch felt exhaustion creep over him as the emotions withdrew. As the time dragged on, Punch began to feel anxiety about how he acted. As he considered trying to run away before the queen returned, an explosion shook the walls of the tent. A few shouts of surprise followed, but Punch didn''t hear the bandits on watch raise an alarm. The queen reentered the tent soon after.


    Punch stared at the queen in open-mouthed shock. One of her arms was covered in blood nearly up to the shoulder. Her other hand held a small pack. As Punch watched her cross the tent and sit, the blood flowed down her arm and dripped on the floor, leaving clean skin and clothing behind. The bandit queen held out the pack. "Take this." Punch stood quickly and moved to take the pack. "Borth is dead. You''ll be taking over many of his duties. When the dungeon survey is complete, I''ll make you officially third in command." The queen paused for a response, but Punch was speechless. She pointed at the pack. "Use Borth''s supplies to get your team in shape and finish the survey as soon as possible. Any questions?"


    "Borth is dead?" Punch asked stupidly. "Why?"


    Zdeska, the bandit queen, held her head high and her gaze steady as she looked Punch in the eye. "He lied to me about your condition. Never lie to me, Punch." The queen dismissed Punch with a nod to the tent door. Punch bowed, grunted in pain, and left the tent. When he looked in the pack, he found dozens of heal candies and preserved rations.


    Squints and the wizard were in the tent with Shtorrr when Punch entered. The wizard, while not silent, was subdued in his endless lecturing. Squints'' face held a vacant expression and his clothing was speckled with blood. Punch settled himself on the floor and put a heal candy in his mouth. As the healing energy pulled his remaining fractured ribs back together, he spoke to Squints. "What happened, Squints?"


    Squints turned to look at Punch but didn''t respond. Punch repeated the question a couple of times before Squints seemed to recognize Punch. The wizard paused his lecture and patted the bandit on the shoulder. "The queen." Squints said. "She punched Borth."


    Punch was confused. "She told me he was dead. She punched him?" He asked.


    The wizard nodded, looking troubled. Squints looked down at his blood speckled clothing. "He exploded."