Bandit? Is it a bandit…?
Bandit? Is it a bandit…?
“Did you pack all your things?”
Dacia vigorously nodded at my question.
“yes!”
It’s already been 5 days since we left the capital. If you leave the village where you are staying now and walk for about a day, you can arrive at the coordinates written on the ‘key’.
Of course, things didn’t go smoothly.
Dakia, who was standing next to me as I strode forward, asked me.
“As rumored, is the hideout of bandits near there?”
“It would be more convenient to not have one, but I have a hunch that it might be there.”
“Well, it’s about ordinary bandits. Even Priest Marnak and I can deal with them, so it’s okay!”
A strangely kind tone. Since leaving the capital, Dakia has become much closer to me. It was a bonus that he followed me wherever I went.
“Let’s start slowly. It’s hard to go up the mountain when it gets dark.”
“yes.”
We moved diligently from dawn and left the village behind. As I entered a deserted mountain road, my mother jumped out of my arms along with the soft light.
‘killing!’
My mother jumped and landed on the floor, looked around with her eyes narrowed, then spread her palms out wide toward me. With familiar hand movements, I took out the cookies from the bag, put them in my mother’s hands, and took her into my arms.
‘Kill and kill.’
Mother, who received the snack from me, chewed on the snack and looked around. Mother has been enjoying living in human form these days. Dacia opened her mouth lightly after watching her mother with a happy expression.
“It’s a pretty good day. But rather than a slow road, it’s just a complete slope. I guess I should have hired a guide to come.”
“Isn’t there nothing we can do about it because there is no one who deserves it?”
“Well, that’s also true. If I hired a guide there, I had to take him to the ruins of the ancient empire without moving. Then, Priest Marnak would have a hard time using his powers at will.”
Dacia chattered next to me and took a hard step.
“Still, it’s nice to climb a mountain in the morning because it’s very atmospheric. It’s really the first time I’ve climbed a mountain path leisurely.”
The way people walk has been cut off. I stopped and called Dakia to her.
“Wait a moment. I think I’ll have to steer properly.”
“yes.”
I spread out a crude map I had obtained in the capital city and compared the terrain around me.
“Princess Dacia. Please check the coordinates.”
“Okay.”
As a sorceress, by reading the coordinates written on the key, she was able to sense the approximate direction of the ancient empire’s ruins.
Dacia stretched out her finger and pointed to one of the mountain peaks.
“It’s over there.”
I made a rough estimate of the distance by comparing the map and the direction she was pointing.
“Assuming there are no roadblocks, I think I can get there in half a day if I walk a little faster.”
Dacia nodded and smiled.
“Assuming there is no hiding place for bandits! If there is a hiding place for real bandits, it’s okay to blow it up, right? That will definitely help the safety of the people of the kingdom.”
Seeing Dakia actively proposing to subdue the bandits, I felt that she had changed a lot.
“For now, let’s think in that direction. However, you have to be a little careful. There may be a corner to believe as it is a bandit who has settled here not too far from the capital of the Northern Kingdom.”
They could have been foolish bandits blinded by their quick fortune.
This place is near the capital, so if you rob one of the merchants heading to the capital and take a big hit, you could really live with goodwill for the rest of your life. Of course, breaking that top isn’t as easy as it sounds.
Dacia nodded.
“I’ll be careful.”
“I will take the lead.”
“yes!”
My mother, who had been holding me in my arms and nodding her head vigorously at every word I said, stretched out her finger and pointed to a mountain peak where the ruins of an ancient empire were supposed to lie dormant.
‘killing!’
A powerful cry of ‘Let’s go!’ We made our way through the lush mountain roads towards the ruins of an ancient empire.
***
Seokkul.
I snatched the twigs that had been severed by the frost steel sword before they fell to the ground. I looked around through the twigs I made myself.
Crudely built buildings and large caves. Around it, a small number of people were walking about, each carrying a weapon.
Dakia poked her head over my shoulder and whispered in a low voice.
“A bandit, right?”
“It seems highly likely.”
“Wait a minute. Let me read the coordinates one more time.”
“yes.”
Dakia, who had the key in her hand, read the coordinates and roughly estimated the location of the ruins. After a while, she opened her eyes and stretched out her finger to point to the middle of the hideout in the mountains.
“That’s where the ruins of an ancient empire rest. I don’t think we can avoid a collision.”
All we had to do was go to the place written on the coordinates and enter the ruins of the ancient empire, but since the artifacts of the ancient empire were very valuable, even if we politely asked the men walking around there, it didn’t seem like they would give permission easily.
In addition, if you escape the ruins of the ancient empire in a standard way, they will pop out from the same coordinates, so even if you break through them and jump into the ruins of the ancient empire, if they set a trap while waiting for us to come out, Dakia could be seriously injured without knowing it. there was.
Should I finally subdue it?
‘killing!’
The mother’s cry to quickly wipe out everything and unseal the sacred object. While I was thinking for a while, Dakia asked.
“Where can I cause the greatest confusion by grinding magic? After all, it would be most efficient to create a fire and explode it, right?”
The season has already gone through winter and spring is in full swing. If it was burnt with fire, it could cause a forest fire. I responded while observing the men walking around.
“It’s not clear that they’re bandits yet.”
“Certainly, that’s the case too. But if those who built a hideout deep in the mountains and walked around wearing weapons weren’t bandits, wouldn’t that be more dangerous? No matter how you look at it, you can’t see them as kingdom rangers.”
Dacia was right. If they’re not bandits, they’re probably doing something sinister and secret.
I’m done worrying Because I couldn’t just watch it like this forever.
“Princess Dacia.”
“yes.”
“Princess, please prepare to use magic here and wait. I’ll have a conversation with them. Really, we can’t rule out the possibility that they’re innocent.”
Dakia, who blinked her golden eyes, smiled quietly and nodded.
“I will. But what are you going to send the signal to?”
“When the butcher cries, shoot your magic. And when you use your magic, please direct it as far as possible to avoid forest fires.”
“Okay!”
***
I slowly approached the wooden fence I had made. Those who found me started to move busily. I slowly observed them and opened my mouth.
“What are you guys doing?”
A man on top of a wooden fence shouted at me.
“That’s something we want to ask! Who are you!”
I lifted my robe and showed off the priestly robe I was wearing.
“There is a bandit’s hideout nearby, so I received a subjugation request.”
I was thinking of taking out the butcher if I attack right away. Contrary to my expectations, however, the man opened the door to the fence instead of attacking me.
“Come in at once!”
Following their orders, we entered the fence. The man who came closer to me held out his hand.
“Put down your weapon or we can’t let you in anymore.”
I glanced at the hand and smiled.
“As long as you have the potential to be bandits, I cannot easily surrender my weapon.”
“Then you can’t go in here any more!”
When I went inside and took a closer look, I could see more than I could see from a distance.
Their clothes, which seemed to be different from each other because they were too time-consuming and scruffy, were similar to each other when I looked closely. The odds of bandits wearing uniforms were extremely low, so there was a high probability that they were something other than bandits.
“What are you guys doing?”
“That’s confidential!”
“Then why did you let me in?”
“That’s because you’ve got our exact location!”
‘killing!’
The information that the scruffy-looking man who chats excitedly in front of me is a person with three fingers. The story that he was a person with 3 fingers without any signs of training made it possible to roughly guess his true identity on the premise that he was not a worshiper of evil spirits.
In particular, that way of speaking that didn’t show any manners even though he knew that I was a priest added more confidence to my guess.
“You are a wizard.”
“U-how did you do that?!”
In fact, I still didn’t like the wizards who were basically polite. Dacia is an exception.
“Please call someone who can speak more than you. I have no intention of antagonizing you blindly.”
“What, what?! Does that mean I’m a dumbass who can’t communicate! You’re a bird…”
Fuck!
My fist hit the man’s chin. The properly entered attack knocked the wizard unconscious and fell to the ground. Excited mages can use magic, so the priority was to subdue them.
I screamed loudly with the fallen wizard behind me.
“Is anyone here!”
Suddenly, I felt a flow of wild magic power.
At the same time, water streams rained down from the sky. The man-made rain fell from where I was and onto the poor buildings.
Dakia jumped up from her hiding place, slid down the slope, ran towards me, and shouted.
“Now I’ll galvanize people as soon as they appear! Wipe them all out!”
“yes?”
Dakia, who flew towards me, tilted her head.
“You just punched that man in the jaw and knocked him out. You didn’t mean to wipe it all out from now on, did you?”
“It seems that there is a small misunderstanding.”
“What, what? What kind of rain is it all of a sudden?! Hey! A windfall! Guys! Everyone, get some water! Right now!!! You don’t have to go down to draw water today!!!”
A woman’s voice rang out loudly. A woman in overalls jumped out of the cave carrying a huge pickaxe. The woman’s arms, which were exposed because of the sleeveless top, had thick muscles comparable to those of most men. very resolutely.
Roughly tied red hair and a voluptuous body. And there was a lot of dust, but it had distinct features that couldn’t be hidden by dust. She was the size of a tolerably grown man and had a large horn growing on her forehead.
The one-horned woman, carrying a huge pickaxe over one shoulder, noticed the man collapsed next to Dakia and me, and asked with a frown.
“Who are you?”
