Leaving the estate of Lord Veloren, which felt like a new home, we headed towards the destination written in Argantir’s letter.
The destination was Svinarant, a circular city built around a large lake.
“So, is that Abyss Priest named Ganagl hiding there?”
“Not inside the city. They say he’s hiding in the ruins around it. If he’s caught inside the city, he wouldn’t have anywhere to escape.”
“That makes sense….”
Friede nodded.
If the city guard blocked the walls, those hidden inside would essentially be trapped like mice in a jar.
If he had any sense, choosing to hide outside the city was the obvious choice.
Though Ganagl’s intelligence was that of a child, not everyone who followed him would be as foolish.
“Then we….”
“First, let’s enter the city, rest for a bit, and when ‘Shadows’ contact us, we’ll get to work. It said that in the letter too.”
“…I really don’t like that prince.”
Friede pouted, expressing her displeasure with Argantir’s openly exploitative attitude.
“I feel the same way. But what can we do? We have to endure since he’s helpful.”
I gently embraced Friede from behind, resting my chin on her shoulder and whispering in her ear.
It was a bit annoying to be used as a handy resource, but honestly, there weren’t better options than Argantir.
At least he paid for the help. If we were going to be used, we should choose someone who at least compensates us.
“Just let it go. We won’t have to see him again anyway. For our future.”
“If Hilde says that… then yes, I’ll try to endure.”
Friede smiled shyly.
Seemingly pleased to be held, she kept rubbing the back of her head against my chest.
“Heehee….”
Hmm… does she like it that much…?
I’m not sure. Normally, it would be soft, but with the armor on, it must be hard.
Well, if she’s happy, that’s good enough.
I looked at Friede, who was rubbing her head against my chest with a strange expression, then smiled and turned my head forward again.
Beyond the reins I was holding, the frosted mane of the pack horse swayed in the wind.
Since it was a bit far to walk, we had gotten a horse to ride, but the only horse we could find in the village was a single black pack horse.
So I moved forward with Friede half-hugged in front of me.
I was slightly worried whether the pack horse we randomly bought could bear our weight, but it seemed to hold up well, probably because Friede was light.
Or maybe the horse itself was just really big.
It had white fur only around its ankles, making it look like it was wearing socks, so I named it ‘Socks,’ but Friede said it was a terribly rustic name.
– Then you can name it, Friede. What do you want to call it?
– Umm… ‘Black Storm’ or something?
– …That sounds even more rustic. It’s too long.
After a dismal discussion showcasing our terrible naming senses, we finally decided to name the pack horse Schwarz. It meant ‘black.’
I mean, calling it ‘black’ for being black is as racist as it gets!
If Lincoln had heard about this, he might have come at us with an axe!
But there was no Lincoln here, and to be honest, I doubt that guy would want to free not just slaves but also horses.
Unless he treated horses like people, I guess…
Anyway, we rode all day, and when the sun set, we looked for a cave to camp out while heading to Svinarant.
Whenever we stumbled upon a village, we rested at an inn for the night.
It was an altogether peaceful journey.
Thanks to the obscuring helm and the coloring magic tools that Argantir provided, along with Fernhilde’s identification badge, we didn’t have to particularly hide from people.
Perhaps because of my stark black hair, different from Brunhilde’s wanted poster, nobody recognized me even if I took off the helm.
Of course, I still wore the helm at all times, except when sleeping or washing, since I still caught attention due to my appearance.
Six days went by.
By the time we were just two days away from reaching Svinarant…
“Ahhh!”
A scream echoed, similar to a clash of weapons, blocking our path.
“Scream…? Someone’s fighting, it seems?”
“Yeah. Should we avoid them?”
I tugged on the reins to halt Schwarz, straining my ears to catch the details of the commotion.
“Ha ha! You should’ve handed over the girl and the cart when you had the chance!”
“Hey, hey! Be careful when you shoot! It’s been ages since we had a girl with us; don’t waste it!”
The rough and crude speech gave me an immediate idea of the situation.
“Bandits.”
“Looks like bandits.”
Up ahead, a group of bandits who really loved women were having a blast with an unfortunate merchant group.
“What should we do? Taking a long way around will probably take half a day more.”
I loosened my neck and asked Friede for her opinion—whether we should avoid the bandits or just charge through.
“Um…if they’re bandits, shouldn’t we combat them…?”
Friede glanced at me, giving a hero-like response.
Yet, the way she was peeking at me suggested she intended to look away and pass by if I refused.
That might weigh on her conscience, but it seemed my decision was more important to her. A solid 90-points response.
Minus 50 points for being a hero wanting to ignore bandits, plus 40 points for caring more about my will.
I gently pinched Friede’s cheek and chuckled.
“Of course, we should. If we ignore those in danger, we wouldn’t even deserve to call ourselves knights, right?”
With that, I lightly slapped the reins and steered toward the road echoing with curses and clashing metal.
Seconds later, after galloping at full speed with thundering hooves, we discovered a group of about thirty bandits facing a small merchant convoy, made up of a total of thirteen people including guards.
And six corpses littered around.
Two dead pack workers full of arrows and four bandits cut down by spears lay sprawled in the cramped pass, like garbage.
“Friede!”
“I’ll go first!”
As I jerked the reins, Friede launched herself at the enemies, seemingly ready for action, gripping the black steel sword gifted by Lord Veloren…or rather, her mother.
“What the heck is that kid?!”
“A girl? She’s no bird…!”
The bandits, startled by the unexpected intruder, turned towards Friede and started shooting arrows at her.
“Hyah!”
Friede spun in mid-air, catching the arrows with her cloak and, as if diving down, she brought the sword crashing down on a bandit, splitting him in half.
WHOOM!
With a resounding crash, blood sprayed up as the blade struck the ground.
The bandit split in two fell to either side, and before the innards fell to the ground, a lightning-fast back-swing of her black steel sword sliced through another bandit’s waist.
“Max-!”
“What the hell, that crazy chick!”
The bandits turned pale, stepping back in shock as they witnessed two of their comrades turned into four pieces in an instant.
“Look out! There’s another one! In armor on a horse…! No way, is that a knight?!”
One bandit turned his head away from the horrifying sight and, spotting me just dismounting Schwarz, began trembling and pointing at me.
To them, bandits’ skills could barely compete with a level of run-of-the-mill adventurers. The word ‘knight’ was synonymous with the grim reaper.
If they had about a hundred members, they might charge forward based on sheer numbers, but with just thirty or so, they wouldn’t stand a chance.
Unless they were utterly deranged, they’d logically panic and run the moment a knight appeared—
“Don’t be scared, you fools! She’s just a girl in armor! Either way, a blade will kill her just the same!”
“Y-yeah! Armor barely covers her! Aim for her legs, her legs!”
These guys are truly out of their minds.
In this intense moment, were they able to recognize me thanks to the invisibility magic in the helm—it seemed they could perceive my appearance fairly accurately.
That’s why they boldly charged at me, driven by reckless bravado.
“Raaah!”
A hairy bandit rushed toward me, swinging a double-headed axe wildly.
“Dumb as bricks.”
I laughed at his slow attack, throwing my left fist out toward him. Since it had come to this, I figured I’d try to manifest my power as a warmup.
A blue glimmer gathered around my eyes.
Fueled by my power and a restrained level of strength, my punch shot forward like a missile.
CRACK!
The punch shattered the axe like a candy bar, smashing straight through the bandit’s face…no, it pierced through.
Uh-oh, I didn’t plan to go this far.
It was more shocking to me than to the bandit getting punched.
Truthfully, my left arm was buried in his face, reaching all the way to his elbow.
I crushed his eyes, nose, skull, and brain while cleanly piercing through to the back of his head.
“Glhh…ugh….”
The bandit, with his tongue blown to bits, made a grotesque sound as he quivered.
Blood and foam spilled out from his open mouth, and his pants turned dark from fear.
Gross, ugly, and smelly.
“Ugh.”
I instinctively grimaced at the sight, kicking his corpse away, which went flying and slammed into another bandit.
“Uhh….”
“Uhhh….”
Everyone around stared blankly at the bandit’s mangled body. To be precise, the hole blasted right through his face.
A flailing pile of meat gushed out its contents, shivering.
If it had been decapitated, I might not have felt so squeamish, but with just the middle blown out, it looked so grotesque it was almost creepy.
The bandits seemed to think so too.
“AHHHHH! What a freak, a crazy—!”
“It’s a monster! A murder monster!”
“Hyeeeek…! Save me, someone save me—!”
Seeing the bandits collapse in fear or toss aside their weapons, scrambling in all directions, I was left just dumbfounded.
I was originally hoping to defeat the bandits and rescue the merchants, making my grand debut as Knight Fernhilde.
Now, the scene I created was not a heroic act but a gruesome horror show filled with screams and cries.
“Ughh…! Hurry, hurry and flee…!”
What? Even the merchants were running away.
Instead of thanking us for saving them, the merchants weren’t even slowing down, abandoning their carts and dashing away from the bandits as fast as they could.
Their desperation was so palpable that I wondered if they could have won without us, had they fought to the end.
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