episode_0016

I looked at the tens of arrows pouring down from the sky.

Difficulty? And very difficult?

Suddenly?

Why? How? What happened?

I couldn’t understand.

All sorts of thoughts filled my head, but even though my head felt heavy, my body was moving according to my survival instinct, regardless of my will.

I bolted from my spot and left the ranks.

There was no way I could block the baptism of arrows that were shot.

I ran without thinking and hid my body behind a tree.

The trees around here weren’t large, but they were enough to hide my small body.

The screams erupting from the arrows pouring down like heavy raindrops muddled my mind.

My brain was ringing.

My breathing was rough, and my body trembled like an aspen.

“Ughhhhhh-!”

“What the fuck are these arrows!”

“Kill that informant bastard! They said they were bastards who started banditry because their farming failed due to the drought! How did they get so many bows and arrows!”

“My arm! My arm!”

A scene of utter chaos.

The knights at least protected the nobles and knocked away the arrows, and the soldiers, while seeming surprised, also raised their shields as trained to defend against arrows, resulting in fewer casualties, but casualties poured out from the adventurer side, who had no shields and lacked the skill to knock away incoming arrows.

With just one baptism of arrows, several people became incapacitated for combat.

The situation was not good.

Embarrassment was also visible on the face of the noble leading us.

They had thought they would have bows and arrows, but they had not expected them to use dozens of shots at once like this at all.

“Sir Neon!”

The noble called the knight, and the knight quickly scanned the arrows stuck in the ground before reporting.

“They are all properly made arrows.”

“Properly… you say.”

At those words, I also felt a chill.

Banditry is something done when driven to the edge of life with nothing left to lose.

For such people to be using ‘properly made’ arrows means something is fundamentally wrong.

Everyone gathered here realized that.

However, the second baptism of arrows poured down faster than we could realize it.

Someone discovered me.

Seeing me hiding behind a tree, he shouted loudly.

“Hide! Hide behind the trees!”

Except for those who were already dead or unable to move, everyone hastily hid themselves behind trees.

Even while running to hide, two more people were hit by arrows and fell.

Blood flowed on the ground.

The day before, rain had fallen, and the metallic smell of blood mixed with the scent of wet soil.

“On open plains where you can’t hide, there’s no weapon like a bow, but in a place like this, there’s eventually a limit!”

It was something shouted loudly on purpose so the bandit group could hear.

The arrows wouldn’t be infinite, so they wouldn’t be able to shoot recklessly.

And if you hide behind a tree, you generally can’t be hit.

The tree trunk blocks the front, and the branches block the sky.

Although the trees were small and the bodies of the people other than me were slightly exposed, if they had the skill to hit with an arrow even when slightly exposed, they would have joined any city as soldiers or worked as adventurers.

They wouldn’t be stuck in the mountains doing banditry.

“Damn it, when we get back, I’ll have to cut off the informant’s tongue and the tendons in his hands and feet.”

The noble muttered the words as if spitting them out, and after scanning the surroundings, gave a signal.

Everyone ran to the tree right in front of them according to that signal and hid themselves.

This is how they were getting closer little by little.

Even though nearly 11 people were incapacitated for combat, there was a belief that they would not be outmatched in quality or number.

However.

“We can no longer trust the informant’s words, so there’s no harm in being cautious.”

The noble gave a signal with his hand, and at the same time, the soldiers began to form ranks, raising their shields and being wary of arrows that might pour down from the sky.

The wooden barrier of the mountain stronghold looked so flimsy that it seemed like it could be broken through with a single charge.

“Sir Neon! Take charge of destroying the barrier!”

“Yes!”

“Adventurers will follow and enter after we break through the barrier to annihilate the bandit group!”

“”Understood!””

Under the command of the nobles, the embarrassment turned into appropriate tension.

It was hard to believe that these were the people who had been bored and not even tense just moments before, as tension was revealed in their eyes and grips.

I looked up at the sky, half-hidden by the branches.

The arrow rain stopped.

I didn’t know if they had used up all their arrows, or if they knew they wouldn’t hit and stopped shooting, but I got goosebumps despite the sunny weather.

It was a sky without a single cloud, but the arrow rain was rain that fell regardless of the presence of clouds.

I bit my lip and felt the sword hilt.

The sticky grip leather clinging to my sweat-soaked palm was an unpleasant sensation.

People died so pointlessly.

Witnessing that sight directly, the emptiness was greater than the shock.

Seeing lives disappear, truly worth less than an insect’s, I reaffirmed my loathing for this world.

It is loathsome.

Therefore, I too must become loathsome.

There was no benefit in pretending to be clean alone.

The battle formation was rearranged. Now, according to the nobles’ command, if the signal was given, the knights and soldiers would charge, and we had to follow them.

And I too would have to kill people with my sword.

The dice that rolled when time briefly stopped and the words ‘Subjugation Difficulty Very Difficult’ heard according to the number on the dice bothered me, but there was nothing I could do to intervene here.

There was nothing I could do but follow.

So, rather than dwelling on what I couldn’t do, I fixed my gaze on what I had to do.

The noble raised his hand.

Everyone looked only at that hand.

The noble lowered his hand strongly, giving the signal.

“Charge-!!”

At the same time, the knight charged forward, wrapping an unknown energy around his mace, and the trained soldiers followed behind him.

And behind those soldiers, we followed once again.

As soon as we moved, the third baptism of arrows poured down immediately.

However, just now, the damage occurred because we were caught off guard by the unexpected attack.

The skilled adventurers could each respond to the pouring arrows.

Knocking them away, blocking them.

I too raised the wooden shield that I hadn’t even thought to take out just moments before, above my head.

Thwack-!

The wooden shield was pierced and the arrowhead popped out, but it did not penetrate my body.

“Ughhhhhh-!”

A sharp scream was heard from behind me.

They were people who neither had the skill to knock away arrows nor the preparedness to bring items to protect themselves.

I wanted to turn around.

If I could help, wouldn’t it be right to help?

The thought that I could at least drag them behind a tree so they wouldn’t get hit by arrows, and a speck of conscience, rose up, but I forced myself to ignore them.

I must become cruel.

I must not leave the ranks.

The powerless cries for help dug into my ears and echoed in my mind, but the direction I was running in was forward, not backward.

“Woooooah-!”

The people around me, the nobles, the knights, the soldiers, the adventurers shouted.

It wasn’t that these people weren’t afraid.

No matter how overwhelming the force, the situation where a life can be lost with one mistake approaches everyone equally with fear.

Therefore, they were shouting and screaming to try and forget their fear.

“Whooaa-!”

I too opened my mouth and let out a scream-like shout, following them.

Fear and dread, since they couldn’t be absent, I was pulling out other emotions to cover up the fear and dread.

Pulling up excitement, thump-thump-thumping from fear – my heart beating uncontrollably fast and cold sweat flowing from my forehead, back, and hands.

The more I cried out monstrous shouts to bring out exhilaration, the narrower my vision became.

I could feel my left and right vision narrowing, but straight ahead was seen with unparalleled clarity.

The poorly made spike barrier was smashed into pieces with a BANG-! by the mace swung by the knight named Neon, along with a thunderous roar.

Pieces of wood flew everywhere.

There was no fourth baptism of arrows.

“Shields! To the front!”

At the command of the knight leading the soldiers, the soldiers’ shields that had been covering the sky were turned forward.

I bent my knees, lowered my body, and held the spear that had been standing upright, horizontally.

“Enter-!!!”

At the noble’s command, I followed the knights and soldiers into the breached interior.

The sharp sound of metal colliding mixed with shouts and screams.

Rising dust and the smell of blood, and the adventurer right next to me was pierced through the forehead by a stray arrow that flew in from the front as soon as we entered the mountain stronghold, and fell.

The damage was too great.

This was not a typical subjugation operation.

Something was strange.

But I shouldn’t dwell on that now.

The adventurers, including myself, grabbed their weapons and scattered.

While the knights and soldiers faced the bandit group head-on, we had to fight the ones trying to escape and surround the bandit group.

I trampled on the blood-soaked ground and dashed out.

I saw a bandit trying to escape.

Since I was the closest, I had to face him.

“Get lost, brat!”

I pointed my sword at the bandit, whose trashy mouth matched his fierce appearance.

“Fuck… This tiny bastard thinks he can make fun of me….”

Perhaps angry that I had pointed my sword at him, the extremely agitated guy grabbed an axe with both hands and charged.

His movements were too big and clumsy.

His innate strength seemed excellent, but he didn’t seem to have learned any techniques.

Although I lacked talent, I could definitely say that my ‘eye for seeing’ had grown through sparring with my grandfather.

I must not confront him head-on.

If it came to a struggle of strength, I would be cut in half.

I judged quickly and chose to dodge rather than block.

I only needed to buy time anyway.

Killing the escaping bandit was best, but if one lacked the skill, enduring until the knights and soldiers provided support was the best option, and that was recommended.

Swallowing hard at the violent attack that whipped up wind, I glanced at the main force.

I saw that the knights and soldiers, who had seemed like they would annihilate the bandit group and finish off the rest any moment now, were struggling.

“Are you looking away?!”

I hastily twisted my waist at the axe being swung again.

My clothes were torn and my skin was cut, and it stung.

Blood flowed.

If I had done it wrong, my waist would have been severed.

Now I see.

“…These aren’t weapons that a bandit group would use.”

The arrow rain that was shot three times, and the axe the bandit in front of me is swinging now.

“…They are all properly made, good quality items.”

I had somewhat guessed it since I heard the arrows were ‘properly’ made, but.

This confirmed it.

These guys weren’t a simple bandit group.

“They are being sponsored….”

“It’s too late now that you’ve realized.”

Heh heh- At the words of the bandit who smiled unpleasantly, I tightly, firmly gripped my sword.

These were not a simple bandit group.

They were individuals being sponsored by some group, for some purpose, to cause harm in this vicinity.

Something flew and fell at my feet.

It was the neck of the adventurer who had come with me.

“I didn’t know because your hair was too long, but it’s annoying, but you’re quite pretty, aren’t you? If you drop your weapon, I can let you live, how about it?”

Breathing heavily at the words filled with vulgar desire, I met his gaze directly.

“No, it’s fine. You disgusting bitch, I’ll chop you into pieces.”

It was a sudden curse, but this was better.

I narrowly dodged the rough swing of the axe, intended to split me in two.

Even if not, my poor skill had emotions imbued in it.

I was gripping with more strength than necessary.

I leaned back to dodge the axe that was coming to cut off my neck, and then swung my sword in a semicircle.

I lacked strength.

Because I lacked strength, it wasn’t a fast sword strike.

But the sword’s path went straight, and the opponent, having swung his axe driven by emotion, couldn’t even fully recover it.

“Die-.”

With the words I uttered low, the tip of the extended sword slit the guy’s neck halfway.

Due to lack of strength, it caught on the bone and couldn’t go further, and the feeling of it getting stuck- on the bone was utterly unpleasant, but the situation did not allow for soaking in sentiment.

I bit my lip tightly-.

Blood spattered, and along with the pain, the metallic taste that flowed into my mouth brought me to my senses.

I shook the blood off my sword and began walking calmly and quietly.

In the melee mixed with all sorts of screams, the clang of weapons colliding, the sound of blood pouring, and shouts, I alone was not in a hurry.

Because I was in a hurry, I walked even more deliberately.

There was no sound.