by Funa
Even with guards present, the bandits could attack with ease. There were sixteen bandits. Without at least seven or eight hunters, there would be no contest. They’d be forced to surrender before the battle even began, and the bandits would escape without injury. Even bandits were not interested in killing hunters on a whim, so if they could do their job without fighting, all the better.
“We have to surrender.”
“No, I want you to fight them!”
“What?”
The merchant, their employer, directed them to fight.
As leader of the Crimson Lightning, Braun protested. “B-but it’s sixteen versus four! There’s no way we can win! We’d just be throwing our lives away!”
“Isn’t that a guard’s job?! Besides the fact that I’ll lose my money and my cargo, do you expect me to pay a guard that abandons their job?! Now, get out there and fight them off!”
“…………”
After several moments of silence, Braun declared, “We’ll surrender.”
“Roger that!!!”
“H-how dare you disobey a command from your employer?! This is a breach of contract!” the merchant cried.
Braun’s voice was cold. “Perhaps you’re hoping to surrender after your guard is all wiped out, so that you don’t have to pay our fee? There is a rule in place for such malicious clients: Surrender is allowed by the consent of the client or when deemed necessary by the escorting party. If the circumstances are accepted as valid, then the escort is considered to have performed their duty, and the fee must be paid. In any case, the guild will run an official inquiry. As no rules have been broken, judging by the circumstances here, I don’t think there will be a problem.”
“Wh-what are you saying?!”
Ignoring the still-shrieking merchant, Braun loudly announced their surrender. The bandits, seemingly relieved, approached at a leisurely pace.
Even if there were few guards, fighting against hunters who were most certainly stronger than they were was likely to see some of the bandits injured or killed. If they could complete their job and avoid that, things would go far smoother. In fact, the bandits had gathered together this group of weaker, less experienced men just to bolster their numbers, hoping for such an outcome.
“We surrender. Please leave us with our lives. You may confer with our employer about the money and goods.”
“Roger that. Yer free to go, as is the custom. Just give us that wagon and yer coins and we’re square.”
After the exchange with the hunters was complete, the bandit leader moved to speak with the merchant.
“So what’cha got in there?”
“Salt and dried meat. Pickled meat, flour and other foodstuffs. And liquor.”
“Yahoooo!!!!”
A great cheer rose from the bandits.
“All right! We’ll take all of it!”
“Wait! I’d like to negotiate!” said the merchant.
“Negotiate what?”
The bandits’ leader looked dubious. Naturally so. What was there to negotiate with a bunch of bandits who had just decided to take all of your cargo?
“What’s yer angle? You got somethin’ else to offer us?” the chief asked, with a vulgar laugh.
The merchant continued, “I request that you leave me one empty wagon and half my salt. As payment, I’ll offer you a girl. She can produce water and light fires—she’s useful for all sorts of things. All sorts of things…”
The words sent a chill down Reina’s spine.
“What are you doing?!”
“This wasn’t part of the deal!” The members of the Crimson Lightning bellowed in rage.
“Aha!”
It was clear from the bandit’s face that he was suddenly very interested, though his words conveyed the opposite.
“Yer a pretty funny guy, aren’t ya?” said the bandits’ leader. “Trying to sell off yer own guards… however, that’d be against the terms of the surrender. If we go around breakin’ our promises, eventually the hunters are gonna stop surrendering, and that means more of our guys get hurt. This ain’t just a problem for us, ya see. It’d make life harder fer all the guys out there who don’t have no choice but to start banditing. And that ain’t somethin’ I can abide.”
“But that’s only if people found out…isn’t it?” the merchant replied, with a grin. “What if we had a bunch of foolish hunters with their eyes on the reward, refusing to surrender despite their employer’s orders? And a little girl who abandoned her fallen friends to run off with the bandits… it’s a likely story, isn’t it? So long as I can say that’s the honest truth, the matter should be settled.
“I don’t have to pay a wage to guards who disobeyed my command to surrender, and I keep one of my wagons and half my salt. You didn’t break any promises, and you get your hands on a useful little slave girl. I’d say it works out pretty well for both sides, don’t you think?”
“Wh…”
The Crimson Lightning was dumbstruck. Reina could barely breathe.
“Hehehehe! What a snake! Yer a disgrace to mer—no wait, I guess that’s just like a merchant!” the chief laughed.
His roving eyes fell over Reina. He thought for a moment, then issued his command.
“…Kill ’em.”
In a flash, a thought crossed Reina’s mind: if she could kill the merchant with magic, this exchange would never take place.
Killing a bunch of bandits would change nothing but, if the merchant died, it would look as though the bandits made a kill despite agreeing on a surrender. That would be exactly the outcome they’d been trying to avoid. It would be a matter of hunters killing a merchant who tried to betray them, in which case perhaps the bandits would think it best to simply take the cargo, release the hunters, and call it a day. Since he was not a bandit, but merely a defenseless merchant, perhaps even someone with relatively weak magic abilities could…
Yet Reina had never even considered killing a person, let alone done so in the heat of the moment. It was all she could do to even squeeze out a word of protest.
“St—”
Before even that single word was spoken, the bandits’ swords and spears rained down on the Crimson Lightning.
Surrounded by bandits, Braun, Ari, Gordon, and Erik had no means to resist, and fell to the ground, crying out.
“A-aah!”
Reina crumbled to her knees.
“Ah… Aah… Aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!!!”
“Now then, let’s unload that cart there, and move the salt…”
Ba-dump.
“Man, you really are a snake in the grass, huh?”
“Ha ha ha, same goes for you, doesn’t it?”
Cr-crack…
Cr-runch…
She didn’t have the magical strength to become a mage.
She wasn’t a hunter—just a civilian who could summon a few puddles.
That’s what the merchant had been told about Reina when they were introduced, and what he had related to the bandits.
Though she was still weak, Reina could use some combat magic. It was something the Crimson Lightning always told their employers. It was close to the truth, that even if her magic was modest it showed battle potential—belaying the misgivings many had about bringing a young girl along on a mission. On the off chance that it convinced their enemies to drop their guard, then all the better.
Reina’s true specialty was water magic, but with her abilities so weak, she could not produce anything particularly impressive. Or so you’d think.
“Man, if we don’t gotta worry about water we can spread out a lot farther. Guess Lady Luck’s on our side…”
Szzzzzzzz…
What was this thing, bubbling up hot inside her chest…?
Was it sadness? Despair? Anger? Or perhaps…hatred?
The bandits laughed wickedly and leered at Reina, who was still on her hands and knees on the ground, muttering.
“Well then, let’s hurry up and collect our…”
A warm
breeze rushed past the bandit leader and the merchant, who were still deep in conversation. When they turned to see what was causing it, they were faced with—
“Gaaaaaaaaah!!!!”
About half of the bandits had become torches, each one enveloped in raging crimson flame.
“Wh-wh-wh-what is…”
The merchant couldn’t believe his eyes, and the lead bandit was petrified, his mouth hanging dumbly. Dazed, the other bandits could only watch as their companions burned.
And then, from the midst of the flames, a small silhouette emerged.
“Th-that’s impossible! You can only summon water! You’re just a half-baked…”
“Oh, yes. That girl?” Reina interrupted. “She’s dead.”
“Huh…?”
Seeing that the merchant did not understand, she continued.
“Reina, the merchant’s daughter, wielder of only weak water magic? She died just a short time ago, along with her dearest companions. Now I am the embodiment of the Crimson Lightning’s dying wishes.
“I am Crimson Reina, the Bandit Slayer!”
“Kill her!!!”
The chief screamed, his body still paralyzed. But the bandits had yet to draw their swords, and Reina was very close. There was no time to even swing before the spell was complete.
Reina’s words flowed. Words that boiled up from the bottom of her heart.
“O flames of Hell, blaze! Reduce them to ash and bone!”
***
A large-scale merchant caravan of thirty wagons and a great number of guards passed by a scorched field. They saw what appeared to be the corpses of four hunters, seventeen piles of ash and two wagons, their drivers trembling within.
And one little girl standing still as a statue, with a blank expression.
Chapter 17:
The Fight
“I don’t remember much about what happened after, but the two drivers testified on my behalf. They had seen something so terrifying that they were certain they’d be killed if they lied. So they told the whole truth, and I was found innocent.
“The merchant’s assets were seized and distributed to the families of the Crimson Lightning. But the money that I had from selling my father’s wagon and wares was considered part of the party’s property as well. It was all handed over, and I was penniless.
“Apparently, awakening to such magical ability in the face of mortal danger is fairly rare. I suppose most of the time you end up dead, which means it would be rare to find out even if it did happen… anyway, they wanted to study me closely.
“They found that I didn’t have the enormous power the drivers described, but I did now possess a fair amount of magical ability. It was concluded that the drivers, in their fear and awe, had overestimated the power of the magic. And I, having cast a series of fire spells well beyond my magical limits, had suffered a kind of power deficiency that clouded my recollection of that day.
“After that I registered as a hunter and, a year and a half later, after I was promoted to E-rank, I was encouraged to take the prep school entrance exam.”
“Hmm…”
“Hmm? That’s all?”
Reina seemed dissatisfied at her party members’ relatively subdued reaction.
“Did you want us to say something?” Mavis asked bluntly. “Like, ‘Ah, so that’s why you’re so interested in killing bandits,’ or, ‘No good can be born from hatred!’ or…”
“Wh-wha?!”
Reina’s face turned bright red.
“Anyway,” said Mavis, “now that we understand why you’re so obsessed with bandits, let’s just leave it there. You’re free to think or feel however you like. That said, you still can’t pull the other members of your party into your affairs. Got it?”
“Let’s put an end to this business of ‘killing practice,’” Mile chimed in.
“Wh…”
Reina looked displeased.
“We thought you were supposed to be showing us the right way to do things, as the senior hunter!” Mile continued. “But, you were just being selfish, weren’t you?”
“Uh…”
Reina couldn’t reply.
“I’m sure there will be a ‘first time’ someday, against someone and for some reason. But I don’t think it’s necessary to make that day come any sooner. Even just preparing oneself for such a time would be…”
“……”
Reina had no words to reply to Pauline, either.
“Anyway,” Pauline continued, “if you killed them, they’d only be in pain for an instant, right? I think it would be much more satisfying to draw out their suffering and make them really regret their actions…”
There went another perfectly ethical argument.
“Until the time inevitably comes, let’s try not to kill our opponents in vain. However, if our friends or allies—or even strangers—should ever be threatened, then I for one will not hesitate to slay the enemy. The life of my allies is far more important to me than those of any foe. Still, that doesn’t mean that an opponent’s life is worthless, just that an ally’s life is so much dearer. And also…” Mavis continued. “I said it already, didn’t I? If you’re facing an opponent who aims to kill you, if you only aim to capture him then the battle will be a difficult one, regardless of your strength. But it’s only a difficult fight if there’s a small power gap—for if the difference in power is great enough, then the battle is already over.”
“Wh…” Reina gaped at Mavis’s words. “I-I’m not stupid! I already…”
When she looked at Mile, who appeared not to have a worry in her mind, she realized that this much was clear already.
“It doesn’t mean you can’t wound an enemy. We have recovery magic, and even if they lose a few limbs, there are plenty of places for a criminal laborer to be put to work. If they die, then they die—that just means that it was ‘that time.’ But just as there’s no need to go around killing on purpose, there’s no reason to go to such lengths to avoid it that you put yourself in danger.
“If you capture an enemy alive, you’ll get a bigger financial return and they’ll suffer for a nice long time. Therefore, capturing should always be our primary policy—but not to the point of obsession. It’s a little different when you need to make them talk…”
Pauline was Pauline, as always.
Reina kept silent for a little while longer, then uttered a single word.
“Understood.”
The wagons stopped, and they ate lunch.
The merchants and drivers ate as normal, but the hunters barely touched a thing. Today they’d reach the climax of the journey, meaning that it was time to ready themselves for battle. Except Mile…
“Mile?”
As Mile ate with her usual enthusiasm, Reina looked on, exasperated.
“If you eat like that, your body’s going to cramp up! And no one can help you if you swallow a bone!”
“Oh, really? They never taught us that at the school…”
“Because even a child knows that!”
“Oh. Well then, I’ll just hurry up and digest it!”
“Just what kind of a body do you have?” Reina huffed.
“You look tired, Reina.”
“And whose fault is that?!”
“Um, might we butt in?”
As Reina stewed, the three men of the Flaming Wolves approached.
“After this job is over, would you like to—”
“Absolutely not!” Reina refused without even hearing the rest of the sentence.
“Wh—a-at least let us finish! Anyway, we’d like to hear the opinions of the other thr—”
“Absolutely not!”
“Absolutely not!”
“Absolutely not!”
Having heard the other three’s opinions loud and clear, the Flaming Wolves slunk back.
Their stations were fairly far apart during travel, and that evening they wouldn’t have much opportunity, so perhaps they’d figured that this was their only chance to ask. B
ut it truly didn’t matter if they did it now or at any other time. The girls’ reply would always be the same.
Overhearing this exchange, the men of Dragonbreath all felt rather sorry for the boys. As far as Vera and Jeanie were concerned, the Flaming Wolves were better off knowing their place.
After lunch and a long rest, the caravan set off again.
From a distance, the captured bandits probably looked no different from guards. Of course, that was only true if you were a fair distance away. If you saw the ropes the jig was up, but no bandit scout would ever come so close—preferring to confirm the numbers from the distance of a nearby peak.
Although these were not the bandits they had been aiming for, it was quite likely that they had attacked plenty of parties traveling along this road and, depending on the circumstances, killed not only guards, but merchants as well. Considering their clients’ desire to wipe the bandits out, capturing even these criminals could be considered a part of the job.
But it would be a bother to encounter any others besides their true targets. Therefore, they put a stop to the girls’ overly effective “lure” tactic. Instead, the Crimson Vow remained on standby in the fourth wagon, just as they had upon leaving the capital.
Inside the wagon, Reina hugged her knees, thinking.
Bandits were the enemy. Villains who preyed on those who followed honest paths and snatched their lives away. Just like goblins and orcs, they were dangerous predators and should be killed.
Even if bandits remained alive at the end of a fight, that didn’t mean they should be allowed to live. How many people had they already killed? How many families had they sent into the depths of despair?
If they were allowed to run, they would continue to inflict pain. If they ran, they would try to kill those who’d captured them or return for revenge later, even after they’d made their escape. And if they couldn’t pursue their captors, they might even target their captors’ friends or family…
The danger was too great.
Killing them was the safest route. It kept you safe and unharried, and it put your mind at ease. The others were all far too optimistic: Mile, Mavis, and even Pauline.