Ch.16The Holy Knight Who Came to Destroy the Order (4)

# Today is the day to buy pigs.

I’m planning to go to Odelin City, where our village belongs.

There are small villages nearby like Reangso Village, but they don’t raise enough pigs to sell, so we have to go farther.

Since morning, Mirella has been busy packing.

Extra clothes, cooking utensils, sleeping bags, food, and so on.

It takes a little more than a day to reach Odelin City, so we might need to camp along the way.

The administrator handed me a stack of documents to deliver to Odelin City.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry… I’m incompetent and slow, so the regular reports have piled up like this… I’m sorry… Stuck in this gloomy community center, papers pile up, trash piles up, everything just piles up… truly the worst…”

“It’s fine. I’ll give you a few potions to take while I’m gone.”

“Uuugh… Healing Potion… I’ve become someone who can’t live without Jack’s potions…”

He really has a talent for making innocent things sound suspicious.

Sir Hostante agreed to watch the shop while we’re gone.

I originally planned to leave Mirella behind, but that caused quite a scene.

“Brother! Please take me with you, please please. I really want to visit Odelin City. Pleeeease! If you take me this time, I’ll do whatever you tell me to. I’ll do anything!”

Anyway, the journey is too long for just the two of us.

It would be troublesome if we encountered bandits or other dangerous elements along the way.

Even though Mirella is good with Vint’s Opener, dealing with multiple opponents is a different story.

Plus, it would be quite difficult for just the two of us to bring back the pigs.

So I asked the administrator to lend us five guards.

After all, buying pigs isn’t just for my personal gain but for the benefit of the entire village.

And so, Mirella and I set off on the northern road with five guards.

“Ah, this is so nice. The fresh air.”

As soon as we left the village, Mirella spread her arms and took a deep breath.

She’s right, the breeze is really pleasant.

It’s a day with the warm sunshine characteristic of late spring.

The blue sky and white clouds were reflected like a mirror in the river flowing to our left.

“By the way, once we bring back the pigs, does that mean we can eat meat too?”

I smiled and shook my head at Mirella’s question.

“Not right away. What can we do with just twenty pigs? We need to breed them until we have hundreds, thousands.”

“Hmm, I see. That would be nice. I’ve actually never tasted pork before.”

“I’ll buy you some in Odelin City. I have enough money for that.”

“Yay!”

The guards who had been quietly listening also smiled.

“But there’s one thing I’m curious about.”

Mirella asked.

“Why don’t you sell the new potions you’ve made? I think you could make a lot of money selling them.”

“I can’t sell them because it’s illegal.”

“Illegal?”

“The Potion Association has established very strict Potion Management Act. You can only make potions according to the recipes they provide.”

“Why?”

“Probably because someone could make poisons, and also because it would disrupt the supply and prices they’ve set. Plus, potions are items distributed widely across the continent, so standardization is essential. Without it, there would be chaos. Anyway…”

I stopped walking and looked around.

“It seems we’ve walked right into a trap.”

As soon as I finished speaking, scruffy-looking people with blades and clubs emerged from both sides of the road.

They were a band of about ten highway robbers.

In medieval fantasy RPGs, bandits are very common mobs.

Bandits around the Starting Village are somewhat low-level and provide good experience points for users who are just beginning their journey.

But the problem is that now that this world has become reality, even these low-level bandits are very deadly to me.

Moreover, they outnumber us, so we’re in a tight spot.

“I’ll give you all our money.”

As I took out my money pouch, the bandits snickered.

“How can we be sure you won’t report us if we let you go?”

“Put the money away, Jack.”

The guards said as they drew their swords.

“We’ll handle this.”

“You don’t stand a chance.”

“If we worried about our chances, we wouldn’t have joined the guard.”

Despite saying this, they all clearly showed signs of tension.

They’ve probably never been in a real sword fight before.

This doesn’t look good.

“Everyone, stand back.”

Just then, a voice came from behind us.

It was Holy Knight Liberone.

Why is she appearing here?

“I heard there were wicked individuals targeting travelers in this area for robbery and murder.”

The bandits seemed a bit intimidated by Liberone’s splendid armor and glanced at each other.

“I thought I must pass judgment, and as fate would have it, we’ve encountered each other.”

As Liberone slowly raised her greatsword, the bandits’ eyes grew proportionally wider.

“I, Holy Knight Liberone, cannot overlook this.”

The greatsword began to glow brightly with a golden light.

Let me pray for the bandits’ souls in advance.

* * * * *

“Please spare us… We’re only doing this to survive…”

The bloodied and battered bandits knelt and begged desperately.

All the bandits were now on their knees, while Liberone stood with a cold expression, holding her greatsword.

“We weren’t always like this. After our crops failed repeatedly and we lost all our money to scams, we were so desperate and hungry…”

“I see… You must have been very hungry…”

At Liberone’s words, a glimmer of hope appeared on the bandits’ faces.

“But no matter how hungry I get, I would never do something like this.”

However, with her following cold words, the light of hope on the bandits’ faces was replaced by despair.

“I have a wife and children waiting at home… They’ll starve to death without me…”

“Is that so… So you have dependents to feed…”

At Liberone’s words, a glimmer of hope appeared on the bandits’ faces.

“But those who fell victim to you also had families. I don’t understand why you place more value on your families than those of your victims.”

However, with her following cold words, the light of hope on the bandits’ faces was replaced by despair.

“P-please spare us… If you let us live, we’ll never do this again and live honest lives…”

“Is that so… Are you repenting as you face death…”

At Liberone’s words, a glimmer of hope appeared on the bandits’ faces.

“But your victims must have also begged for their lives many times. Did you spare them then?”

However, with her following cold words, the light of hope on the bandits’ faces was replaced by despair.

“B-but there’s no evidence that we killed anyone!”

When one bandit bravely shouted, Liberone looked at him with stone-cold eyes.

“Didn’t I already say I wouldn’t let you go?”

Liberone’s resolute voice carried such tremendous power that no one dared to argue.

She didn’t even blink as these people begged and pleaded—it was like talking to a wall would be more productive.

It was as if she couldn’t be reasoned with at all, almost like witnessing some cosmic horror.

“Seek forgiveness in death.”

Liberone’s greatsword flashed, and in an instant, it severed all ten necks…?!

“Ugh…”

Mirella couldn’t bear to watch and buried her face in my chest.

The guards whispered among themselves, impressed by the incredible swordsmanship.

“It is done.”

Liberone turned around, flicking blood from her greatsword.

She didn’t even glance at the bodies falling with severed heads.

As Liberone sheathed her greatsword, I asked her:

“What were you doing here anyway?”

“I was camping.”

“Weren’t you supposed to return to your order? Considering how long it’s been since you left, it doesn’t make sense for you to be here.”

“I had a feeling something like this would happen.”

“Something like this? You mean me encountering bandits?”

“Yes.”

Wait a minute. Did Holy Knights have precognitive abilities?

I don’t remember that being part of their abilities.

Especially Liberone, who was an NPC with stats fully specialized in strength and agility for combat, shouldn’t have such supernatural powers.

Either my memory is wrong, or Liberone is lying.

But it’s not really important to figure out which.

What matters is that Liberone appeared miraculously when we could have suffered greatly from the bandit encounter.

“Where are you headed, Guardian Angel?”

“We’re going to buy pigs.”

“To buy pigs, you say?”

After I explained our plan to buy pigs to raise for meat since the village had none, Liberone carefully examined our group.

A red-haired kid with a wooden club, five men with mismatched weapons, and a pale shopkeeper with no strength.

“I will accompany you on your journey. Odelin City happens to be on my route as well.”

“You?”

“Yes. With your current level of armament, it would be difficult to respond to threats on the road. I will accompany you.”

I thought about it for a moment.

A Holy Knight would be a much stronger force than five guards with no combat experience.

It’s an offer with no downsides.

“Alright. Let’s go together.”

“Then let’s be on our way.”

With the Holy Knight joining us, the guards’ expressions brightened considerably.

The village guard is just a group of somewhat strong men from the village.

The swords at their waists are merely substitutes for clubs used to send drunk villagers home.

If we had faced those bandits earlier, at least one of us would have died.

What incredible luck.

* * * * *

In truth, Liberone doesn’t have any precognitive abilities.

She just didn’t want to part ways with the Guardian Angel, so she lingered in the area and ended up camping nearby.

She had told herself she must leave today, but now she’s reunited with the Guardian Angel.

It seems the goddess is on Liberone’s side today.