Ch.12The Road to Rascal (3)

Crunch! Crunch!

It’s always a pleasant feeling to see children eating well and growing plump.

Of course, being too fat isn’t good either, but at this age, it’s natural for them to put on some weight that will later go toward height.

“Do you find those biscuits that delicious?”

“Yesh.”

As I wiped away the crumbs from the baby’s mouth who was crunching through a biscuit, I looked around.

Today we were traveling through a field path beyond the forest.

The serenity of the fields, different from the freshness of the forest…

How majestic, beautiful, and splendid this scenery is!

If I hadn’t learned to read and write, I might have just stared blankly, uttering exclamations at this magnificent view. Indeed, one must be educated.

Soon this short journey will come to an end, and after arriving in Rascal, I’ll accept another request and depart for another city.

An eternal journey… and the adventures that unfold along the way… isn’t that the essence of romance?

Looking at the snow-capped mountain range in the distance and the coastline hiding its true form in the hazy sea mist, I felt a thrill along with a sense of liberation.

This is a sight I’m seeing for the first time in my life.

Though it might be nothing special to someone else, to me, it’s a reward that makes me forget the hardships of the past sixteen years in an instant.

“It’s truly beautiful…”

“Pretty?”

“Yes. Really pretty.”

“Hehe.”

I stroked the baby’s chubby cheeks as I guided my horse.

The procession moved forward continuously, and the scenery around me began to shift gradually.

What was visible fades away, and what was hidden comes into view, forming images in my eyes.

If not for the request, this would be the perfect landscape for a comfortable nap.

Other adventurers must feel the same way, as they all walked with their heads hanging low, seemingly drowsy despite the sun just beginning to rise.

Thud.

Oh dear, the adventurer at the front finally collapsed.

It’s understandable. Walking on such a fine day was a strenuous task.

As I tightly gripped the reins, I noticed an arrow lodged in his side.

“Huh?”

An arrow?

Whoosh!

In that moment, with the sound of air being cut, two more adventurers approaching the fallen one were struck by arrows and collapsed.

“Ugh!”

“Gaaah!”

Seeing this, I instantly shook off my drowsiness.

“It’s an ambush!!!”

Quickly dismounting, I stuffed the baby into the saddlebag and tried to comfort the child who had begun to cry.

“Over on that ridge!! They’re shooting arrows!”

“Battle positions! Battle positions!!!”

Orca’s ragged voice carried throughout the procession, and the drivers hurriedly took shelter inside their carriages.

Shing!

As I drew my sword, other adventurers began to take out their weapons, and spell casters started chanting, creating arrows and orbs of fire and electricity to bombard the ridge.

Boom! Ratatata!

After the overwhelming firepower swept across the ridge, dozens of bandits descended, and as the spell casters depleted their spells, rangers began nocking arrows to reduce the number of bandits.

Thwack, thwack-thwack-thwack!

“Damn it! How many are there!?”

“Battlers to the front! Protect the carriages!”

At that command, I gritted my teeth and moved forward to face the bandits.

“We’ll protect the baby. Fight hard!”

“…Thanks!”

Thank goodness.

Seeing rangers with daggers rushing toward the baby, I began swinging my sword at the bandits, who still numbered well over fifty.

How did such a large group appear here? In a forest, perhaps, but in this wide-open plain?

Clang! Crack! Crunch!

“Grrrk…”

I blocked an enemy’s attack with my longsword, then drew my middle sword with my left hand and stabbed him in the neck.

One bandit ended his life that way, and soon I narrowly avoided two more sword strikes flying at me, putting away my middle sword to grip my longsword with both hands.

“..!…!”

Those guys… judging by their eyes, they don’t seem drugged.

Rather, with such profound gazes, they seem more like mercenaries than bandits…

“Damn it!”

Now wasn’t the time to worry about such things. I deflected an incoming sword strike, tripped the enemy, and stabbed him in the heart. Then, after exchanging a few blows with the remaining bandit who was enraged by his comrade’s death, I mounted him and knocked him down.

Crunch!

“Grrrrgh…!!”

I grabbed his head and repeatedly struck it to crush his resistance, then drew my middle sword with my left hand to cut his throat, and stabbed his heart multiple times to ensure he was dead.

Rising again, I put away my middle sword and picked up my longsword. After confirming no bandits were rushing at me, I looked around.

“Aaaagh!”

“Someone help me!”

The adventurers were fighting hard, but they were being overwhelmed due to being outnumbered by nearly twenty.

I pondered what to do, but as soon as I saw a shield-bearing battler blocking attacks from three opponents, I lunged forward and pierced one’s heart with my longsword.

“Y-you bastard! Kill him!”

Lying on the ground, I couldn’t block his attack, but I was faster at drawing my middle sword and cutting off his leg than he was at bringing down his sword.

Slash!

“Aaaagh!!! My leg!!!”

“Die, you bastard!”

I stabbed the throat of the bandit who was howling and clutching his leg, killing him instantly, then watched the bewildered face of the last remaining bandit.

“Yaaah!”

Crunch!

“Grrrk…”

While he was distracted by me, the shield-bearing battler swung his club and killed him.

After getting up, I looked around again and saw three bandits who had been watching from the rear now rushing to kill me, perhaps intimidated by my prowess.

“Can you help me?”

“Damn right I will.”

I asked the battler with the shield and club, and he smiled painfully in response.

We charged at the three simultaneously, with club and sword bearing down on a swordsman, a spearman, and an axeman.

Bang!

As the spear tip was blocked by the shield, I threw my middle sword at the axe-wielding bandit.

“Ugh!”

It lodged in his body but wasn’t deep enough to cause bleeding. While he was busy pulling out the middle sword stuck in him, I began exchanging blows with the swordsman.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

“I see why you were watching from afar. You’re quite strong, aren’t you?”

“You insolent brat!!! I’ll show you what it means to wield a sword!”

Having turned his comrades into minced meat, he bared his teeth at me with a menacing aura.

Indeed, his sword strikes matched his ferocity, but unfortunately, while he was distracted by me, he failed to block the incoming club.

Crunch!

“Aaaagh!”

With the sound of his left arm being shattered, his stance crumbled, and I seized the opportunity to cut his throat.

Thud!

As the headless swordsman’s corpse fell to the ground, I charged full speed at the spearman who was retrieving his spear. Seeing me get past the spear tip and come in close, the spearman’s face filled with terror.

“N-no!!”

“Yes!!”

Squelch!

As my blade pierced his heart, the spearman died.

As I pulled my blade from his corpse, the axeman panicked and began furiously attacking the shield-bearing battler. On the third strike, the battler’s shield splintered with a cracking sound.

“Aaaagh!!!”

The club-wielding battler fell to the ground from the impact, and I instinctively knew that the axeman could bring down his axe faster than I could reach him.

“No!!!”

At that moment, an arrow flew and struck the axe-wielding bandit, forcing him to lower the axe he had raised.

Taking advantage of the opening, the fallen battler kicked the bandit’s feet, causing him to stumble, and I rushed in, shaking off his grip on my shoe, and plunged my sword into his back, allowing all of us to survive.

“Are you alright?”

“Huff… huff… Yeah. For now.”

In place of his shattered shield, I picked up another shield lying nearby and tossed it to him.

Looking around, I saw that thanks to my rampage that had slaughtered seven bandits, the adventurers’ morale had risen, while the bandits’ morale seemed to have plummeted.

“Damn, did you see what that guy did?! We can do it too!!”

“Blood God have mercy! What’s a monster like that doing in a place like this!”

I looked down at my trembling hands.

I couldn’t remember when I had last fought such a grueling battle, but I knew I could still fight more.

I raised my longsword again and slaughtered three bandits who were trying to sneak away in just 1 minute and 23 seconds.

“Blood God Karil!!! Witness my deed!!!”

As I called out the Blood God’s name while cutting off a head, the bandits, with their morale completely shattered, began to retreat hastily. The adventurers, having protected the carriages and driven off the bandits, let out victory cries.

And I, after shaking the blood off my sword, sheathed it and began to cool my heated body.

“Huff… huff…”

“You… you really fight well.. Did you know you killed ten bandits?”

“Did I…? Damn.. that was exhausting..”

“Hang in there, man. You practically saved us all.”

Saying that, the shield and club battler held out the middle sword I had thrown.

Taking the middle sword covered in blood, mud, and a bit of grass, I wiped the blade clean and put it in the scabbard at my back, then collapsed on the spot.