Ch.2525. Slash-and-Burn Settlers (2)

The life of slash-and-burn farmers is harsh.

Slash-and-burn farming—the agricultural method of setting fire to forests to create farmland—inherently prevents those who practice it from ever living a stable life due to the mechanical characteristics of this cultivation method.

Dense primeval forests are quite barren as trees absorb all the nutrients. To farm in such environments, one must simply set fire to the area and rely on the remaining ashes.

Of course, these slash-and-burn farmers don’t particularly have fertilizers or such things to add, so once they’ve farmed a plot of land, all nutrients are depleted. Consequently, they must move on to another area and start the slash-and-burn process anew.

Due to these characteristics, slash-and-burn settlements must be located within forests… and naturally, there’s absolutely no reason for wanderers to be welcomed in this world.

To the lords who own the forests these farmers burn to create fields, they are nothing but vermin. Even to the wild animals that originally inhabit these forests, the slash-and-burn farmers are mere intruders.

Moreover, while there are some decent slash-and-burn farmers, the vast majority are criminals who fled after committing crimes. Additionally, the work itself is extremely arduous and the forest dangerous, resulting in many deaths. Consequently, criminal slash-and-burn farmers survive without being weeded out, inevitably lowering the overall quality of their communities.

Furthermore, since thugs and runaway serfs rejected by society frequently crawl into the forests, slash-and-burn farmers seem to appear endlessly no matter how many are killed.

…Of course, when criminal slash-and-burn farmers appear, knights from surrounding territories lead armies to attack them, which is why slash-and-burn villages rarely survive for more than ten years.

In any case, these communities are considered groups of heinous criminals… and indeed, they are criminals who can be found in virtually every mountain and forest.

The mountain range that can be reached after about a six-hour walk from Baron Dren’s castle also contains quite a large number of slash-and-burn villages.

This mountain range, essentially abandoned due to the barony’s administrative limitations caused by poverty, has few dangerous creatures except in its deepest parts, and moderate foot traffic.

In other words, it was an ideal place for slash-and-burn farmers to live.

They typically hide cleverly between mountain valleys, practicing slash-and-burn farming, and when people pass by, they let the strong ones go but plunder the weak ones, capturing them to sell to friendly slave traders.

This was the general pattern of slash-and-burn farmers’ daily lives, and this time was no different.

Among the forest’s slash-and-burn communities is one called the Arrowhead Village, the largest in the area (with 200 people).

True to its name, this village was established primarily by criminals who were originally illegal hunters (poachers), and consequently, many of its inhabitants have mastered the advanced skill of archery.

If they were to apply for residency in some distant territory based on their archery skills, most lords would gladly accept such talented individuals.

However, criminals think differently from ordinary people. Despite having worked hard to master archery, rather than using it to live honest lives, they operate on the criminal mindset that hunting people is easier.

And now, a group of 30 raiders from this village with such a mindset is targeting someone presumed to be a magician who has entered the forest riding a silver deer beast.

In truth, these bandits tend to faithfully adhere to the principle of preying on the weak and avoiding the strong—those who don’t follow this principle all die—so any experienced bandit would have left this magician alone.

“Hey, hey! Look over there!”

“A m-magician?!”

They already know that taming a magical beast indicates considerable fighting power, and like most people in this world, the bandits are well aware of the power that magicians possess.

“Hey! What’s there to be afraid of?”

“That’s right! We’ve caught a magician before!”

“That flame-thrower… we can beat someone like that!”

However, these 30 bandit slash-and-burn farmers happened to have hunted a low-level magician in the past, and this experience became their downfall.

Why do they say that a person who has read just one book is more dangerous than someone who hasn’t read any?

The fatal mistake these bandits are about to make stems from their confidence based on their past experience.

“S-silver deer?!!”

“Gold coins! Gold coins! How many gold coins is that thing worth?!!”

Moreover, the fact that the magical beast the magician is riding is a silver deer—a creature whose antlers and hide are both incredibly valuable—was known to them because they were formerly poachers, which further stimulated their greed.

And so, they thrust their heads into the jaws of calamity of their own accord.

“—Fire!!!”

-Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh-whoosh!!!

The moment the magician entered their ambush point, immediately after the bandit leader’s command, 30 bandits who had been hiding in the trees released their bowstrings, launching 30 magnificent arrows.

Having faced magicians and magical beasts before, the arrows they fired were poison arrows coated with a deadly toxin made from a special combination of poisonous herbs.

As arrows coated with poison capable of killing with just a graze were fired from all directions in an encircling pattern, the bandits grinned bloodthirstily, imagining the magician’s possessions and the silver deer’s carcass…

”””’……..?!!!”””’

‘W-what?!’

‘Th-they bounced off……..?!!’

The bandits were all shocked when they saw the fired arrows suddenly change direction and fall to the ground as if deflected.

Of course, this shock lasted only briefly. The bandits noticed that the gust of wind surrounding the magician had defended against their attack, and they nocked arrows without poison this time, intending to launch another attack.

They had a rudimentary understanding that such magical defenses continuously consumed magical power to maintain, so they planned to drag out the battle, but…

[….Come forth, predators of the wild. Flesh-tearing beaks of pitch black.]

Before they could act, the magician had already finished preparing a counterattack by softly chanting an incantation.

[[[Caw! Caw! Caw! Caw! Caaaaw!!]]]

As soon as the incantation ended, crow calls began to echo from all directions. These crow calls, like a dissonance that instinctively repulsed living beings, grew louder and louder as time passed…

Eventually, they materialized into hundreds of black monstrous birds embodying the mysteries of the wild.

These monstrous birds with shadow-like black feathers resembled crows—specifically ravens—but had clear differences in detail.

Their large, beautiful black beaks had grown saw-like, pointed teeth. Their pupils were dyed blood-red, and the overall shape of their bodies gave a sharp impression.

This flock of monstrous birds, suddenly appearing in midair, attacked the bandit group without giving them time to react.

“Aaaaargh!!”

“It h-hurts—!!!”

While fear and confusion about magic spread, from an objective viewpoint, these monstrous birds weren’t opponents that armed humans couldn’t handle.

The bandits’ leather clothing at least prevented instant death from fatal wounds, and if they somehow landed a hit with their weapons, the birds would be effectively neutralized. The 70cm monstrous birds couldn’t overcome humans due to the difference in size.

But even knowing this wouldn’t change much.

“””—Aaaaargh!!!”””

“Ugh, ugh, ugh……..gack!!”

“D-die! Die, die! Di—”

Being attacked by a flock of monstrous birds while in a state of confusion up in the trees was extremely fatal to these lightly armored scouts, especially since these birds, being byproducts of magic, had no fear of death.

In the end, regardless of how it played out, the fate of these bandits was sealed—they would be gnawed upon by the flock of ravens until they became corpses.

However…

“—Die!!!”

From among the ambushed bandit group, one bandit charged at the magician.

In his mind, he thought that even if he died, he would at least take the magician with him—a desperate attack considering that such sustained magic would be dispelled upon the caster’s death.

“…Fool.”

-Thwack!!!!

Of course, a bandit charging with a logging axe was no match for the enhanced strength of a mid-level druid.

The staff, coated with magical power on its surface, came crashing down on the man’s head, and the sound of a skull being destroyed echoed. The monstrous birds resembling ravens rushed toward the fallen corpse, thrusting their pointed beaks.

The rest of the slash-and-burn bandits had already been devoured.

And so, one group of bandits ended their lives as a meal for a flock of man-eating ravens.