I got off of my horse and went to Silvergreen…to Asagi.
Even during the fight, he wore a pained expression as he swung his sword. And he was fighting bandits. The emotion suggested a resistance to killing but also the knowledge that he had to in order to survive. It was all in his expression.
“Good work, Asagi.”
“Mmm…ah, Miss Tetra. Were you hurt?”
“Just a few cuts. Nothing out of the ordinary for an Adventurer, wouldn’t you agree?”
“Uh, yeah.”
He wiped at the blood on his cheek. Under the blood that dripped from his face, there was not a single scratch.
Asagi didn’t seem enthusiastic about taking the leader’s head, and so I offered to do it. I grabbed the hair in order to pull it up to the right angle, but the whole upper torso came with me.
“Huh…”
I let go without thinking. The torso fell into a puddle of blood with a wet thud. How did you he cut it to end up with a body like that? This wasn’t the work of any normal movement or use of strength. The sword itself would have to be very strong. I nervously glanced towards Asagi.
“Hahhhh…”
He looked at the blood on the cloth he used to wipe himself and sighed. I could see the reluctance in his expression. It was glaringly obvious.
However, what he had done was almost more terrifying than the bandits.
A man with great strength but a brittle heart. That was my first impression of him.
□ □ □ □
With the head in hand, we returned to the road. Asagi had wanted to bury the bodies, but I told him that we hadn’t killed all the bandits yet, and so he just put his hands together and bowed. Was it some tradition he had?
When that was finished, he picked up his sword and began to run. As his alias suggested, wind wrapped around his legs as he took off at a great speed, quickly disappearing from sight. The carriage would be fine if he was there. More importantly, I had to make sure that none of the other bandits had escaped.
And so I watched for them as I made my way back. That was when I encountered the man with the scar on his face. He had been in the carriage the last time I saw him…
“Woah, that’s a lot of blood. I hope it’s not yours?”
“It isn’t. And what about the blood on you?”
“Of course it’s not mine!”
He grinned. So he must have killed some of them too. Well, this part of the forest was likely fine then. And so I had him ride on the back of the horse as we continued on. It was probably safe, but I stayed alert.
The carriage was surrounded by corpses. The bodies of the bandits piled over one another. An exhibition of cuts, arrow wounds and broken bones. Each wound suggested a different weapon, a different passenger.
“Ah, you’re back. Miss Tetra.”
“Yes. What a great mountain of bodies you have here.”
“I didn’t do this. It was like this when I got back.”
Not this one, you mean.
I got off of the horse and we all talked about what had happened. It seemed that we had killed all forty of the bandits. Lightwind’s Presence Detection abilities were quite advanced, and she was sure that there were no other groups, let alone a settlement. The merchant then urged us to waste no time in leaving this place. He was right. And with that, everyone began to put away their weapons. I too sheathed my sword and got into the carriage.
My horse was tied to the carriage by the driver, who intended on taking it with us.
“Asagi, we are leaving.”
I looked up when I heard Lightwind’s voice. She was looking out of the carriage and at Asagi. He was looking at the forest. Perhaps he was regretting the lack of a burial.
Indeed, leaving the bodies out to rot would mean corruption and the possible spread of diseases. However, there were monsters in the area. They would likely take care of that. The monsters would grow fat, bear their young and eventually grow in numbers and be killed by us. That was the life of an Adventurer. It seemed that for him, living in our world meant fighting against something within him. Well, only Lightwind would know about that.
“Yeah, I’m coming.”
When he finally looked back, his expression was indeed sad.
□ □ □ □
“We’ll be arriving at Yukka shortly!”
The driver called out. The sky was blue and beautiful. But when I looked down, my gauntlets were stained with red. It was the red that seemed to cast a shadow over everything.
It had not taken more than an hour after the battle with the bandits to get this close to Yukka. The path had started to branch out and we saw other carriages on the road. However, the passengers all gasped when they turned towards us. Most of us were covered in blood. Who wouldn’t be surprised…?
The carriage bumped and shook. Inside, I leaned against Daniela’s shoulder. As if noticing something, she turned to look at me and smiled.
“I think we should have a good long rest today and tomorrow.”
“Yeah…I would like that.”
I still wasn’t used to the act of killing, but at the same time, I felt a strong joy over my survival and the fact that Daniela was safe. I felt that this was what real fighting was.
Suddenly, I thought back on Nicora. Back then, I thought that I would not be able to protect anything if I didn’t kill. And so I did. Well, in the end, I only killed the wind dragon. Not the bandits.
So this was my first time since having that necessary change of heart. Gaining that resolve had toughened me a little. But I knew that I was still not used to it yet. The values and sense of morals ingrained in me could not be overwritten so easily.
But that didn’t mean it couldn’t be. Because it was necessary in order to protect what was important to me. I couldn’t imagine losing Daniela. She was a part of me now.
“The first thing we must do when arriving in the town, is to do something about your clothes.”
“I envy you and your bow. You at least don’t get drenched.”
“Aye. I fully intended on using my bow no matter what this time. These clothes deserve better than to be covered in blood.”
“And I thought you wanted to support us.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle at her ridiculous reason. I wish that I had her inner strength.
Though, perhaps it was something only acquired after three hundred years of life.
□ □ □ □
The town finally came into view. And by town, I mean trees that were planted around a circular wall. As monsters were so widespread in this word, every town was protected by an impressive wall. Towns themselves were starting to feel like a familiar sight to me, but each one had its own taste and color. The town of Yukka was made of stone and felt both systematic and artistic.
There were a large number of merchants and Adventurers lined up at the gate. And there did not seem to be much movement.
“Hey, is this the only entrance into the town?”
The scarred man asked the driver.
“Yukka only has two entrancs. This one, the west gate, and the north gate.”
“Huh. Strange way to build a town.”
“There are forests with monsters on both the east and south sides. And they happen to be very strong… This town used to have gates on those sides, but they keep them closed now and they are never opened.”
“I see…”
The scarred man must have been satisfied with that answer, because he leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes. Still, he had gotten the answer to a question that the rest of us had been wondering. And so we all nodded and continued to wait for our turn.
“I wonder what kind of monsters they are?”
I could not help but be interested. After all, from what I learned at the guild, there were no monsters in these parts that seemed like that big of a threat.
“They’re quite famous around here. Loup-garou.”
“Loup-garou…”
Werewolves?
I glanced at the beastkin girl. But she was looking down and I couldn’t see her expression.
Well, it’s not like werewolves had anything to do with her… Still, my curiosity about the beastkin seemed to know no bounds ever since I found out about them. What if these Loup-garou were beastkin too? It could be some misunderstanding and they were just treated like monsters. That would be tragic.
Such fantasies played out in my mind as we waited. Loup-garou… I kind of wanted to meet them.
I got off of my horse and went to Silvergreen…to Asagi.
Even during the fight, he wore a pained expression as he swung his sword. And he was fighting bandits. The emotion suggested a resistance to killing but also the knowledge that he had to in order to survive. It was all in his expression.
“Good work, Asagi.”
“Mmm…ah, Miss Tetra. Were you hurt?”
“Just a few cuts. Nothing out of the ordinary for an Adventurer, wouldn’t you agree?”
“Uh, yeah.”
He wiped at the blood on his cheek. Under the blood that dripped from his face, there was not a single scratch.
Asagi didn’t seem enthusiastic about taking the leader’s head, and so I offered to do it. I grabbed the hair in order to pull it up to the right angle, but the whole upper torso came with me.
“Huh…”
I let go without thinking. The torso fell into a puddle of blood with a wet thud. How did you he cut it to end up with a body like that? This wasn’t the work of any normal movement or use of strength. The sword itself would have to be very strong. I nervously glanced towards Asagi.
“Hahhhh…”
He looked at the blood on the cloth he used to wipe himself and sighed. I could see the reluctance in his expression. It was glaringly obvious.
However, what he had done was almost more terrifying than the bandits.
A man with great strength but a brittle heart. That was my first impression of him.
□ □ □ □
With the head in hand, we returned to the road. Asagi had wanted to bury the bodies, but I told him that we hadn’t killed all the bandits yet, and so he just put his hands together and bowed. Was it some tradition he had?
When that was finished, he picked up his sword and began to run. As his alias suggested, wind wrapped around his legs as he took off at a great speed, quickly disappearing from sight. The carriage would be fine if he was there. More importantly, I had to make sure that none of the other bandits had escaped.
And so I watched for them as I made my way back. That was when I encountered the man with the scar on his face. He had been in the carriage the last time I saw him…
“Woah, that’s a lot of blood. I hope it’s not yours?”
“It isn’t. And what about the blood on you?”
“Of course it’s not mine!”
He grinned. So he must have killed some of them too. Well, this part of the forest was likely fine then. And so I had him ride on the back of the horse as we continued on. It was probably safe, but I stayed alert.
The carriage was surrounded by corpses. The bodies of the bandits piled over one another. An exhibition of cuts, arrow wounds and broken bones. Each wound suggested a different weapon, a different passenger.
“Ah, you’re back. Miss Tetra.”
“Yes. What a great mountain of bodies you have here.”
“I didn’t do this. It was like this when I got back.”
Not this one, you mean.
I got off of the horse and we all talked about what had happened. It seemed that we had killed all forty of the bandits. Lightwind’s Presence Detection abilities were quite advanced, and she was sure that there were no other groups, let alone a settlement. The merchant then urged us to waste no time in leaving this place. He was right. And with that, everyone began to put away their weapons. I too sheathed my sword and got into the carriage.
My horse was tied to the carriage by the driver, who intended on taking it with us.
“Asagi, we are leaving.”
I looked up when I heard Lightwind’s voice. She was looking out of the carriage and at Asagi. He was looking at the forest. Perhaps he was regretting the lack of a burial.
Indeed, leaving the bodies out to rot would mean corruption and the possible spread of diseases. However, there were monsters in the area. They would likely take care of that. The monsters would grow fat, bear their young and eventually grow in numbers and be killed by us. That was the life of an Adventurer. It seemed that for him, living in our world meant fighting against something within him. Well, only Lightwind would know about that.
“Yeah, I’m coming.”
When he finally looked back, his expression was indeed sad.
□ □ □ □
“We’ll be arriving at Yukka shortly!”
The driver called out. The sky was blue and beautiful. But when I looked down, my gauntlets were stained with red. It was the red that seemed to cast a shadow over everything.
It had not taken more than an hour after the battle with the bandits to get this close to Yukka. The path had started to branch out and we saw other carriages on the road. However, the passengers all gasped when they turned towards us. Most of us were covered in blood. Who wouldn’t be surprised…?
The carriage bumped and shook. Inside, I leaned against Daniela’s shoulder. As if noticing something, she turned to look at me and smiled.
“I think we should have a good long rest today and tomorrow.”
“Yeah…I would like that.”
I still wasn’t used to the act of killing, but at the same time, I felt a strong joy over my survival and the fact that Daniela was safe. I felt that this was what real fighting was.
Suddenly, I thought back on Nicora. Back then, I thought that I would not be able to protect anything if I didn’t kill. And so I did. Well, in the end, I only killed the wind dragon. Not the bandits.
So this was my first time since having that necessary change of heart. Gaining that resolve had toughened me a little. But I knew that I was still not used to it yet. The values and sense of morals ingrained in me could not be overwritten so easily.
But that didn’t mean it couldn’t be. Because it was necessary in order to protect what was important to me. I couldn’t imagine losing Daniela. She was a part of me now.
“The first thing we must do when arriving in the town, is to do something about your clothes.”
“I envy you and your bow. You at least don’t get drenched.”
“Aye. I fully intended on using my bow no matter what this time. These clothes deserve better than to be covered in blood.”
“And I thought you wanted to support us.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle at her ridiculous reason. I wish that I had her inner strength.
Though, perhaps it was something only acquired after three hundred years of life.
□ □ □ □
The town finally came into view. And by town, I mean trees that were planted around a circular wall. As monsters were so widespread in this word, every town was protected by an impressive wall. Towns themselves were starting to feel like a familiar sight to me, but each one had its own taste and color. The town of Yukka was made of stone and felt both systematic and artistic.
There were a large number of merchants and Adventurers lined up at the gate. And there did not seem to be much movement.
“Hey, is this the only entrance into the town?”
The scarred man asked the driver.
“Yukka only has two entrancs. This one, the west gate, and the north gate.”
“Huh. Strange way to build a town.”
“There are forests with monsters on both the east and south sides. And they happen to be very strong… This town used to have gates on those sides, but they keep them closed now and they are never opened.”
“I see…”
The scarred man must have been satisfied with that answer, because he leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes. Still, he had gotten the answer to a question that the rest of us had been wondering. And so we all nodded and continued to wait for our turn.
“I wonder what kind of monsters they are?”
I could not help but be interested. After all, from what I learned at the guild, there were no monsters in these parts that seemed like that big of a threat.
“They’re quite famous around here. Loup-garou.”
“Loup-garou…”
Werewolves?
I glanced at the beastkin girl. But she was looking down and I couldn’t see her expression.
Well, it’s not like werewolves had anything to do with her… Still, my curiosity about the beastkin seemed to know no bounds ever since I found out about them. What if these Loup-garou were beastkin too? It could be some misunderstanding and they were just treated like monsters. That would be tragic.
Such fantasies played out in my mind as we waited. Loup-garou… I kind of wanted to meet them.
