chapter 5
Although the weight was reduced by one head.
The sound of a strong adult man collapsing on the floor was louder than I thought.
“… Gee, f*ck!”
That was enough to make the bandits, who had been distracted for a while, come to their attention.
“Kill that bastard!”
Maybe the fallen guy wasn’t really their leader. Or, I don’t know if it’s a system that doesn’t have a leader in the first place.
As one of the survivors shouted, the bowstring was pulled toward me.
‘Ting! Ting!’
right end. And second from the left.
The arrow coming from the right was blocked enough by the arcane barrier, so let it be.
An arrow flying from the left was blocked by swinging a piece of wood from the stacked pyre.
It’s a pity it’s not a sword. It was a good-sized object to shoot out arrows.
As soon as I confirmed that the arrow was stuck in the firewood in my hand, my staff was directed at the second guy from the left.
“… Kuck!”
The beam of light from the tip of the staff penetrated the guy’s heart.
“Hey, f*ck! He said he wouldn’t respond!”
“You didn’t know, it’s a baby!”
In a chaotic situation where they were divided among themselves, my staff headed straight for the second sniper.
“Kahak!”
The beam of light extending from the end of the staff penetrated the heart of the guy standing on the right end.
The remaining light magic, now one more time.
The number of enemies left is now four.
There will probably be more than enough.
“Even, run away… Oh no! It’s an operational retreat!”
If pushing in with the number of people without countermeasures was a strategy, was it a strategy?
The one with the loudest voice among them screamed and tried to run away.
‘Tuk.’
After I took a step out to close the distance, the wind blade I used separated the head and body like the first one.
“If you draw your sword, you must be prepared to die. Did you intend to risk someone else’s life and live brazenly?”
“““… … .”””
A common emotion appeared on the faces of the remaining three guys who saw the guy who had passed away without even being able to resist properly.
He said he would have no choice but to kill me in order to survive.
The three bandits, each equipped with their own weapons, started charging at me with a slight lag.
“die!”
The first of the three to arrive was the one armed with a longsword.
He swung the chunk of firewood he was holding towards the gray blade that swung in the air.
If it had been an ax or mace, it would have been powerful enough to shatter not only firewood, but also my skull.
Unfortunately, what he was holding was a knife.
It was just an ordinary knife, not sharp enough to cut firewood.
“Hey, why not… !”
With the blade stuck in the firewood he was holding, he approached the panicking guy and kicked him with his right foot.
“Kahak!”
With a muddy groan, the guy let go of the handle holding the sword and fell face down on the bonfire.
As the light disappeared, the surroundings temporarily became dark.
It was the moment when the wizard gained an advantage over the swordsman.
It wasn’t that difficult to deal with them if you could only recognize the magic response felt in the dark.
“Ouch! hot, hot… !”
Light a bonfire on the back and cut the neck of the guy who tried to get up with the blade of the third wind.
“Such a dog… !”
The one on the right swinging at me with a buckler hanging from his fist pierced his upper body with the longsword he took from the dead guy.
The firewood stuck in the blade was stabbed so hard that it flew out, so unless it was an undead, it must have died.
“What, what?!”
As soon as the temporary darkness lifted, what I saw were the two remaining corpses.
It was enough to panic the guy who was still alive.
“Sir… aaagh!!”
It wasn’t too difficult to cut off one arm of the guy who lost his eyes during the battle.
The right arm of the guy who was holding the arming sword fell off the body along with the sword.
“Ugh, aaa!!”
He knelt on the floor, holding the place where the missing arm had been.
Picking up one of the swords rolling on the floor and putting it to the scruff of the guy’s neck.
“Hey, hee hee… !”
The boy quickly forgot even the pain and threw out his head in horror before his eyes.
“Sah, save me, sir!”
“… … .”
“Well, we stopped not knowing you and were rude! Please save my life, please!”
He doesn’t seem to care about the comfort of his colleagues who passed away first.
The remaining guy knelt down and begged me with his one-handed arm.
“Guide me.”
“… Yeah?”
“If you want to live, guide me to your base.”
“It’s just us! We are really alone!”
“If you talk nonsense one more time, I’ll cut off your left arm.”
At my threats with a knife drawn out, he nodded his head with a pale face.
“Yeah, there is a base. Ha, but really, that’s all there is to a person… .”
“Guide me.”
“Uh, over there, my arm… .”
“You want the other side balanced too?”
“Oh no! Let me guide you!”
After grabbing the scruff of the neck of the guy who was still spouting half-lies, he stood him up.
I picked up the arming sword of the appropriate length I had picked up when threatening him and fixed it inside my mantle.
I had already used light magic twice in the battle, so I had to pack at least one auxiliary tool.
⁎ ⁎ ⁎
In the woods led by the guy, there was a large house that was presumed to be the base of the bandits.
Considering the size of the building, which was not hidden even by tall trees, it could be considered Baron Ormund’s villa built in the mountains.
If these bandits had the skills to build a base of this size in the mountains to avoid the eyes of the baron.
You can probably make a lot more money by working in the building business than by being a bandit.
“This is it… . W, this is our base… .”
“It’s a bigger house than I thought.”
“That, yes… .”
“It’s too big for seven bandits to use. Besides, it’s suspicious that the house is made of bricks, not wood, in a mountain like this.”
“… … .”
“And above all, hiding your presence is awkward.”
As is common with untrained bandits.
The guys were clumsy at hiding their presence when a stranger appeared.
When guessing from the presence of two humans agitated in the dark.
It seemed difficult to avoid the battle to occupy the base.
“Kill this bastard! This bastard killed them all… !”
‘Suddenly!’
Realizing that he had no way to survive, he started screaming loudly, so I calmed him down with the Arming Sword.
‘Ting! Ting!’
Then, in the darkness, I heard the sound of two arrows flying towards me.
The arrow that flew in the first direction was blocked by using the body of the guy who had been talking until just now as a shield.
The arrow that flew in later bounced off with the swing of the arming sword he took out from his chest.
He immediately shifted his gaze and fired a beam of light in the direction the arrow flew.
“Cheuk… !”
The last scene shown by the faint ray of light was that of a bandit archer whose heart was pierced by a brilliant strike.
There were still too many enemies to waste time in hesitation.
After creating a windstorm around the arming sword he was holding, he made a structure that was good for flying.
I threw it with all my might in the direction the arrow had come from.
‘Pu-wook!’
“Kahah… !”
The muddy screams that came from the darkness were letting us know that he was dead, even without seeing it with our eyes.
“what!”
“What a fuss!”
From now on, all you had to do was defeat each enemy that appeared in front of you.
“Why is this bastard… .”
“What is this… .”
“Damn it… .”
The guys who jumped out of the house were knocked down all at once with a stupid sound by my wind blade.
“… … .”
After the last three, I couldn’t feel any more disturbing energy.
was just human. Or, only the corpses of things that even humans couldn’t do were rolling on the floor.
“ha… .”
I just killed guys who couldn’t do anything. Even if it wasn’t me anyway, someone had to do it anyway.
Killing a real person was also an unpleasant sensation.
After clearing away the corpses of the guys blocking the entrance, enter the building with the door open.
Five or six men and women were found lying on the floor with their entire bodies tied.
“… uh?”
Most of the people were lying down as if they had fainted from pain and fatigue.
Among them, one awake found me and opened his eyes wide.
I’ve only met bandits dressed like ragpickers, but I’ve met a wizard dressed up properly.
Perhaps it was the anticipation that I would not be one of the bandits.
“I-I… .”
Of course, I wasn’t sure yet if I was with the bandits or not.
Words of conviction could not easily come out of her mouth.
“The bandits have all been wiped out. You can rest assured now.”
“ah!”
After hearing my words, she let out a word of exclamation and made a bright expression as if she saw hope.
Now it was time to finish the rest.
⁎ ⁎ ⁎
The work of rescuing the hostages held in the bandit’s lair was carried out in a flash.
First of all, after loosening the rope of the girl who was the first to wake up. He woke up other people who were asleep one after another and released their restraints.
After that, without delay, I immediately descended from the bandit’s lair with five or six people.
Perhaps if I hadn’t rescued them today, these people would have been sold into slavery in a foreign country or far away within a few days.
Did you realize what kind of situation you were in?
As soon as I got down to a safe place, I spit out a long thank you.
“oh my. thank you, my dear! How should I repay this favor… .”
“I really owe you a favor, sir.”
“At one point, I thought I was being sold as a slave without moving. But it was worth not losing hope until the end.”
Apparently, most of the personnel were kidnapped while passing through this Ormund estate. Or, like me, he must have been attacked and captured while camping on the mountain behind the mansion.
In general, it would be difficult to imagine that a group of bandits would live on the hill behind a noble mansion.
In fact, many adventurers and merchants camped near the manor of the landlord for similar reasons.
For this reason, you cannot say that these people are insensitive to safety.
Although this was not the main purpose. Anyway, my actions saved the lives of six people.
Six lives worth far more than the lives of dozens of bandits who died at my hands.
“From now on, I plan to take a carriage to Highgarden. Do you have someone to accompany you?”
Three of the six men and women raised their hands in agreement.
Among them was the young lady who was the first to get up and rescued the others with me.
While collecting information on the identities and methods of the bandits from three people who were on the same road as me in the carriage heading to the High Garden estate.
At some point, the wagon crossed the border of Ormund Manor and entered the center of High Garden Manor.
As soon as they entered the city of Marquis Baekryeong, two of the four people first vacated their seats in the carriage.
“It’s not enough that you saved me, I don’t know what to do with you seeing me off like this.”
“Be careful next time. Always hire an escort when going on a long journey.”
“I will definitely keep that in mind.”
Eventually, when only me and the young lady were left in the carriage.
She again exclaimed the same thanks as before, making eye contact with me.
“Thank you so much for rescuing me. I will make sure to repay this favor.”
“I just did what I had to do, so you don’t have to worry about it.”
“As a child of a well-known merchant in my own way, I cannot just wipe my mouth and move on.
Right now, there are several of our stores in High Garden Marquis. If there is something the benefactor needs, he can do it in return… .”
Introducing herself as the daughter of the Wintemire Company, she started talking about the reward she could give me right now.
As soon as I heard that she was the son of the Wintemire Company, there was only one thing I would ask of her.
“It might sound a bit strange for a reciprocation, but. Could you testify?”
Her head nodded easily up and down.
It was the moment when the intuition that the rest would be solved easily passed through my head.