A sudden request. I looked at him.
His name was Harsen Cailen, if I remembered right.
A clean-cut face. He had a sturdy build, as if he had trained in his own way, yet he had the unmistakable air of a sheltered young master who had never known real hardship.
I didn't take long to think it over. Keeping the expedition commander standing around wouldn't be wise.
Turning my gaze away from Renia, who was glancing my way, I spoke.
"By all means. Please, have a seat."
Polite enough, without being overly servile.
"Ah, thanks."
Oblivious to any subtlety in my tone, Harsen gave a small smile and sat down.
Someone else reacted to the way I spoke.
The man standing beside him raised an eyebrow slightly and stared at me.
I didn't look away. At the same time, a hunch struck me.
'A knight?'
An unusual presence hung about him. I couldn't be certain, yet I faintly sensed a bearing quite different from an ordinary person's.
It wasn't particularly surprising.
If the enemy had a knight, our side would naturally have dispatched one too. All the more so when the Count's own son was taking part in the subjugation force.
"..."
He didn't butt into the conversation, of course. He simply stood behind Harsen in silence.
"I just finished speaking with the representative from the Mercenaries' Guild. I wanted to have a quick chat with you two as well."
"Ah, I see."
"Hmm. The thing is, I do not know much about the profession of adventuring. Aren't adventurers usually unsuited for direct combat like this? I cannot help wondering if fighting bandits might be a bit tough for you."
The question was delivered quite bluntly. Since it came from genuine ignorance rather than malicious condescension, I didn't take offense.
Besides, I barely had one foot in the Adventurers' Guild to begin with.
Renia, on the other hand, seemed a bit bristled by Harsen's remark. Her gaze turned frosty as she stared at him.
Having no desire to cause a scene, I smoothly drew his attention back to me and answered casually.
"Well, not necessarily. Adventurers are tempered through all sorts of real combat experience."
"Hmm."
Harsen nodded at my reply. Looking at me, he asked.
"Then what weapon do you mainly use? A sword? A spear? Or a crossbow?"
His eyes swept me up and down, taking in my lack of weapons. Looking back at him, I gave a short answer.
"Magic."
There was no reason to hide it. Everyone would find out once the fighting started anyway.
"Magic...?"
Startled by my answer, Harsen's eyes widened. The knight standing behind him hadn't expected that either, tilting his head slightly to study me.
"Hmm. A mage, huh... I was a bit rude just now."
Realizing that his attitude had been somewhat lacking in respect, he offered me an apology.
"Not at all. Happens all the time."
I smiled faintly and accepted his apology. At least the guy had basic manners.
Not that I had any intention of handing over the target of this expedition, the Arachne Pill, because of it.
"We should be getting underway soon."
Checking the position of the sun, the knight standing behind him spoke quietly.
"Hmm. Understood. Let us go teach those wicked bandits a lesson."
Answering in a voice brimming with confidence, Harsen rose to his feet. Before long, shouts announcing the end of the break and our departure echoed across the camp.
***
The expedition's tactics were simple.
Split the forces in two: one half would launch a frontal assault on their stronghold, while the other cut off their escape route.
I had no real complaints with the plan itself.
When holding a clear numerical advantage, a straightforward assault like that was the most effective approach.
There was only one variable: their ringleader, Barak.
A former low-rank knight who had pulled several bandit gangs together in one stroke.
"There it is."
Renia spoke. Following her gaze, I spotted a wooden palisade and the edges of buildings poking up above the trees.
Their stronghold, well hidden deep in the mountains.
The scouts had tracked it down after two days of searching.
Shing. Standing at the head of the column, Harsen drew his longsword. Unaccustomed to real combat, he looked visibly tense.
Half our troops had already set out to block the escape route. Confirming that the agreed-upon time had passed, the knight gave a nod.
Letting out a shallow breath, Harsen straightened up from his crouch. At the same time, he bellowed a command.
"Attack, attack! Wipe them all out!"
At that signal, the troops crouching in the brush sprang up as one and charged toward the bandit stronghold.
The vanguard broke through before the palisade gates could even be shut. Several bandits guarding the entrance went down without putting up a proper fight.
Believing his surprise attack had worked like a charm, Harsen's face lit up with elation.
Yet.
"Something's off."
Instead of charging blindly with the vanguard, Renia kept a measured pace beside me and muttered under her breath.
She was right.
Although a small skirmish was playing out at the very front, once we passed through the palisade into their stronghold, there was barely a soul in sight.
That ran completely counter to our intel that they had united several bandit gangs into a sizable force.
"The intel wasn't exaggerated."
Scanning the area with sharp eyes, Renia spoke. Numerous buildings stood inside the palisade.
Clear signs of recent use remained everywhere; this wasn't a dummy village thrown together as a decoy.
That left two possibilities.
Either the bandits had spotted our approach ahead of time and abandoned their base to flee, or else—
"...An ambush."
Almost the instant the words left my mouth—
FWOOSH—
Flames shot up from the palisade and wooden buildings all around us. Then arrows rained down.
"...!"
"Ambush, it's an ambush!"
"These goddamn bandits—"
Piles of hay and wood had been laid out everywhere. As the dry kindling caught fire in a flash, acrid black smoke billowed out and swallowed the main force.
"Gah—"
"Forward, break through to the front!"
Desperate shouts rang out. However, thanks to the smoke produced by wet firewood and tar stacked with the wind direction in mind, the area had already descended into chaos.
A meticulous ambush.
Being blindsided after splitting off half our troops to block their escape route was devastating. Shouts echoed from every direction.
Even so, I calmly drew up my mana. And cast Wind Blade.
Wind rushed forth at once.
Transparent blades began to generate an airflow pushing directly against the wind blowing toward the entrance.
"...Cough!"
The black smoke cleared away as though wiped clean. Letting out a harsh cough, Renia wiped the soot from her face and looked around.
"Kael, watch your flank!"
Twang—arrows whistled in from all sides. Snatching up a Round Shield dropped by a nearby soldier, she quickly moved to my side to cover me.
There was no way to clear the black smoke away from the entire main force of well over a hundred men.
Many had already lost their bearings, scattered, and begun falling, while thick black smoke and arrows kept pouring in from ahead.
Breaking through as fast as possible to eliminate the source was the best way to save the greatest number of allies.
Making a snap judgment, I conjured even more wind blades and broke into a run.
"G-good heavens!"
Thick black smoke choked the surroundings. Yet the path I sprinted along was wiped completely clear, as if an eraser had swept through it.
"F-follow behind the mage over there!"
"Damn it, raise your shields and run!"
Dozens of blades carved out a path. In the distance, the bandits firing arrows came into view.
"...!"
Stunned by a sight that defied common sense, the bandits hurriedly aimed their arrows my way, but my magic was faster.
Swish. With a flick of my finger, Wind Blades whipped forward. Easily slicing or deflecting the incoming arrows, the blades began to butcher the bandits.
"M-monster!"
"Run... Gah!"
Meanwhile, Renia lunged forward and swung her sword swiftly, cutting down the bandits who had been hauling tar-soaked firewood to feed the black smoke.
Having wiped out the archers ahead, I quickly scanned the area.
I had put out the most urgent fire, quite literally, but the fight wasn't over yet.
The core of the enemy force was the bandit chief, a former low-rank knight named Barak. I needed to take him down.
Narrowing my stinging eyes, I focused my search. Through the black smoke still hanging thick in places, a blurry blue afterimage flickered.
"...!"
Over there. Without hesitation, I bolted forward.
Moments later, faint figures came into view.
"Ugh...!"
The escort knight who had been guarding the Count's son, Harsen, was down on one knee with blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.
Behind him, Harsen sat half-collapsed on the ground, his face pale as a sheet beneath disheveled hair and smudges of soot.
Both of them were injured. I swept my eyes quickly over the surroundings.
Over a dozen men holding iron nets and long harpoons. A hulking man gripping a massive longsword.
And a faint, pungent odor hanging in the air—some kind of poison.
'They came well prepared.'
Clicking my tongue softly, I sprinted toward them. It looked like the knight had tried to get his charge out of here the instant he sensed the ambush.
Only to walk straight into a trap laid in advance.
"Damn you, Barak!"
Down on one knee and bleeding, the knight barked out a shout.
Poisoned and covered in wounds, he already looked beyond saving.
"Even if you cast aside your duty, how could a man who was once a knight stoop to such cowardly tricks?!"
A cry ground out through clenched teeth. Grinning, the hulking man stepped forward and answered.
"Cowardly, my ass. Do I still look like some stuffy knight to you?"
"You bastard, I'll tear you to—"
SHHK—
A blade flashed out at once. Tinged with a faint blue aura, the longsword cleanly severed the knight's neck.
The body crumpled on the spot. Behind him, Harsen's lips trembled where he sat slumped on the ground.
"Hey there, young lord. Relax. Until we get your ransom, you—"
He never got to finish his sentence.
Over a dozen blades tore through the air, sweeping over him and the men around him.
"Gah—"
The bandits went down without putting up a fight.
Against blades curving down from midair, the iron nets and steel harpoons they had readied to snare a knight were nothing more than cumbersome dead weight.
The mob was cleared out in the blink of an eye. Aside from Harsen, who was still slumped on the ground, the only one left standing was Barak, who had barely deflected the blades with his faintly glowing blue sword.
Having watched his men get slaughtered in an instant, he snapped his gaze toward me. Tension flickered across his face as he tightened his grip on his sword.
"...The 2nd Circle spell Wind Blade? Multi-Chant, huh. Not bad for a low-rank mage."
He turned his body toward me, his tone probing.
"You should have saved some of that mana, though. Now it's my turn."
His eyes sharpened as he spat the words. Chuckling softly, I took a light step forward.
At the same time, the runes engraved on my wrist lit up in sequence and began to weave new spells.