On the first day of our journey toward Niver, we camped out on the prairie.
―― The second day since departure.
The weather blessed us again today.
We had just finished breakfast and resumed driving the carriage.
Once we reached this area, unlike the region around Grimm City, there were no houses or farms anywhere.
A single highway stretched straight across the prairie.
Apparently, settlements were scattered beyond the side roads, but none of them could be seen from the main roadway.
”Boss. There are a lot of bandits ahead from here,” John said.
”I’ll call you immediately if anything happens,” Reina added.
”Yeah. Stay alert,” I replied.
Far from the towns, prairies spread endlessly while forests covered the surrounding land.
Naturally, lawless outlaws like bandits settled in places like that.
Apparently, this was true outside other cities as well.
John was driving again today.
Basically, John handled the carriage while Reina kept watch with her bow ready.
Since we had no idea when arrows might fly at us, the side windows of the passenger cabin remained shut.
Instead, the driver’s-side window was left wide open.
Because the air created with ‘Air’ was warmed using ‘Warm,’ the open window let in neither cold nor wind.
And since the carriage floated using ‘Fly,’ there was no vibration either.
As we continued along the road, another carriage heading toward Grimm came into view.
Several people walked beside the carriage.
I called out to Reina in the driver’s seat.
”A carriage is coming from the opposite direction. Any problem?” I asked.
”I think it’s a merchant carriage. The people walking beside it are probably adventurer guards,” Reina replied.
”I see. Still, don’t lower your guard.”
”Yes.”
The approaching carriage drew closer.
Three men and women who looked like adventurers guarded it from the left, right, and rear.
We passed each other without incident.
”That carriage was moving pretty slowly,” I remarked.
”Goshujin-sama, that’s normal. They’re matching the guards’ walking speed,” Nier explained.
When I asked Nier, she said that even at maximum speed, carriages could only maintain something roughly equal to a jogging pace.
If they pushed the horses any harder, the horses would tire too quickly and fail to maintain the pace over long distances.
In the end, traveling at the guards’ walking speed was apparently the most efficient method.
Carriage travel took much longer than I had expected.
Today as well, we saw no travelers on foot along the roadway.
In the end, we encountered no other carriages besides that single one.
Without wolves or bandits attacking us, we camped at a suitable location and finished the second day.
―― The third day since departure.
That afternoon, the carriage suddenly stopped while traveling along the roadway.
Called over by Reina, I climbed up to the driver’s seat.
”Over there. A carriage is being attacked by bandits,” Reina said.
Far ahead, beyond the gentle downhill slope, a lone carriage was surrounded by a huge mob of bandits.
Inside the encirclement, the guards and bandits were still fighting.
The carriage had quite a few guards.
Not just a handful—there were more than ten.
But the bandits outnumbered them badly.
There were far too many.
I couldn’t tell the exact number, but there seemed to be dozens.
”Are bandit groups usually this large?” I asked.
”No, that’s strange… Aren’t multiple groups attacking together?” Reina replied.
”Probably. Looks like they teamed up,” John added.
”Going any closer is dangerous. …What are you going to do?” Reina asked.
Tall grass reached waist height along both sides of the roadway.
Trying to bypass them looked difficult.
From the looks of it, the surrounded carriage was already overwhelmingly outmatched.
Even if the bandits won, there was no way they would politely let the next carriage pass afterward.
Naturally, we would be attacked too.
If we were going to fight anyway, striking first was the better option.
Alright.
Let’s do this.
”It’ll be troublesome, but I’ll scatter the bandits. You guys stay here and protect the carriage,” I said.
”Eh? Ryuu-sama alone?” Reina asked.
”That’s a huge crowd. Even for the Boss, isn’t that impossible?” John asked.
”It’ll work out somehow. Enemies at that level aren’t a problem for me alone,” I replied.
”If the Boss says so…” John muttered.
”Ryuu-sama, if things become dangerous, may I come help?” Reina asked.
”Hmm. I’ll rely on you if it comes to that.”
I left Nier and the others under their protection.
Against a large crowd, fighting alone let me use magic more freely.
After hearing Helga’s explanations, I had a decent understanding of how magic worked in this world.
At this point, I figured revealing magic on the level of high-grade spells—or slightly beyond—wouldn’t matter much.
Apparently, firing around five shots of a spell like Flame Ball, which launched large fireballs, already qualified someone as a skilled high-grade sorcerer.
If that was the standard, then rapidly firing Fire Arrows or ice magic in succession would probably just make me look like some rare genius sorcerer.
Fire Breath or tornadoes would probably be going too far.
Handled badly, I might get classified as a monster.
”When it’s over, I’ll fire a Fireball into the sky as a signal. Once you see it, bring the carriage over.”
”Yes.”
”Understood.”
I walked alone down the roadway.
By the time I closed to roughly one hundred meters from the battle, the noise had become deafening.
Angry shouts echoed in every direction.
No one paid any attention to me standing alone in the distance watching the fight.
Several of the carriage guards had already been killed.
Little by little, the bandits’ encirclement tightened.
It was only a matter of time before the guards were wiped out.
Should I wait until everyone inside the carriage died before moving?
Once the bandits scattered, I could take the cargo for myself.
Oh?
A fireball suddenly shot out from the carriage window.
So someone inside could use Fireball magic.
Honestly, it looked like elementary school dodgeball.
Still, if one hit directly, it would probably hurt.
Not that it mattered much.
Against numbers like this, it was meaningless.
Even so, anyone capable of using Fireball was an intermediate sorcerer.
Intermediate sorcerers were valuable.
After all, only one in a thousand people could use it.
Part of me wanted to recover the corpse later.
One guard after another fell.
Eventually, the carriage door burst open and the bandits poured inside.
The people inside the carriage had likely all been killed.
The battle was over.
The guards held out longer than I expected.
Well then. Shall we begin?
”‘Fire Arrow.’”
An arrow of flame materialized above my head and shot forward instantly.
With a thunderous roar, it streaked toward the bandits clustered around the carriage.
A bandit struck directly in the back exploded apart, while several nearby were blasted away by the impact.
The sound of the explosion echoed across the prairie.
Every bandit turned toward me at once.
Some of them even looked like women.
”A little higher next time, I guess,” I muttered.
At this distance, the impact point landed about a head lower than intended.
Still, there wasn’t much wind drift.
One after another, arrows of flame formed above my head before firing forward.
Explosions erupted around the carriage.
As I adjusted while watching the impacts, my aim steadily improved.
The arrows of flame flew like rockets.
It took less than a second for them to strike targets one hundred meters away.
To the bandits, it must have looked like people were suddenly exploding the moment something flashed in the distance.
”Guaah!”
”Gyaaaa!”
”Kill that bastard!”
”Shoot him with bows!”
Several arrows flew toward me.
”‘Wind Shield.’”
A swirling storm formed around my body.
The incoming arrows were deflected and dropped harmlessly to the ground.
Before leaving town, I had developed wind magic specifically to counter arrows using Reina’s bow as a reference.
In return, I answered with more Fire Arrows.
The archers exploded apart.
Four bandits charged toward me.
I fired four Fire Arrows in rapid succession.
All four struck.
Their torsos exploded away.
Heads and limbs rolled across the ground.
As I continued firing toward the bandits around the carriage, fewer than half remained standing.
”I-It’s a monster!”
”Run!”
”Move, damn it!”
”Hieeee!”
The moment someone shouted to run, panic spread instantly.
The bandits scattered in every direction like startled spiders.
I continued firing Fire Arrows at the fleeing bandits.
A short while later, not a single bandit remained.
I walked toward the carriage.
Groans echoed here and there.
I finished off the wounded survivors with Ice Bullet.
Then I stopped in front of the carriage.
Nothing around me moved anymore.
Corpses littered the area.
Blood and entrails mixed together across the ground.
Limbs scattered everywhere, impossible to identify.
A severed head stared resentfully in my direction.
I had no idea how many people I had killed.
A lot.
It was slaughter.
By now, I had grown accustomed to killing humans.
No guilt or revulsion surfaced anymore.
I had grown used to corpses too.
My stomach no longer churned at the sight.
Only the stench of blood, entrails, and waste still bothered me.
It was an endless cycle of killing.
Monsters. Animals. Humans.
For more than a month and a half, that was all I had done.
Had my humanity become numb? No.
If anything, maybe this was more human.
Human history itself was mostly the history of people killing one another.
Since arriving in this world, I had changed.
At this point, returning to who I once was would be impossible.
And I had no intention of going back.
If you couldn’t become ruthless here, you died.
I wasn’t going to be the one who died.
I would always stand on the side that kills.
(I will survive and return to my original family.)
(For that sake, I will become a demon—or even a devil.)
Surrounded by the world of death I had created, I found myself thinking those thoughts.
Well then.
Time to call John and the others.
I fired a Fireball high into the sky as a signal.
”Ugh… this is unbelievable,” Reina whispered.
”What the hell happened here…” John muttered.
John and the others arrived with the carriage.
”So you came. Reina, keep watch. The fleeing bandits might return,” I said.
”Yes, Ryuu-sama.”
”John, strip the valuables off together with Helga. For the bandits, just take the wallets. If any are still alive, finish them off.”
”Oh. Understood.”
While John and the others looted the corpses, I peeked inside the attacked carriage.
There were two survivors.
A young woman and an elderly woman sat collapsed on the floor.
Their clothes were disheveled, but it looked like they had not yet been violated.
There were also two male corpses inside.
One of them still contained traces of Mana.
So this was the sorcerer who had fired the Fireball earlier.
”T-Thank you for saving us,” the young woman said.
”…I wasn’t trying to save you. It was coincidence. Don’t misunderstand,” I replied.
The young woman thanked me again.
Apparently, I had accidentally rescued them from being killed or kidnapped by the bandits.
”I-Is that so? My family and guards are all dead. Could you please help us somehow?” the young woman pleaded.
There was no obligation for me to help her.
Silently, I stepped into the carriage and tossed one of the male corpses outside.
”John. Strip this one too.”
”Oh.”
”Wh…” the old woman gasped.
I instructed John to collect the dead man’s belongings.
The elderly woman stared at me in shock.
Inside the carriage sat a locked iron box secured with a padlock.
It practically screamed treasure.
There were also ornate candlesticks, elegant candles, silver-looking tableware, luxury accessories, cases full of women’s clothing, food supplies, and several books.
There was all sorts of expensive-looking cargo.
”Um… if I may? You appear to be a renowned sorcerer-sama. Could you please help us?” the young woman asked again.
How troublesome.
Time was precious too.
Still, I supposed I could at least hear her out.
”…And what exactly are you offering in return?” I asked.
”…I-I apologize. As thanks for saving us, I will give you everything in this carriage. However… please spare only this.”
She pointed toward the locked iron box.
As expected, there was valuable treasure inside.
”…That’s not a negotiation. Everything here already belongs to me. Including that iron box.”
”……”
”Wh-What insolence! How dare you speak to Lady Mira that way!” the old woman shouted.
”Isobel, restrain yourself,” Mira said.
”But, My Lady…”
The old woman named Isobel glared at me furiously.
”If I hadn’t shown up, you’d already be dead and the bandits would’ve taken all this anyway. Offering dead people’s property as a reward? Don’t make me laugh.”
”……Your words are correct. Then could you at least escort us to Niver? We will pay an appropriate reward,” Mira said.
”Oh? A reward? What kind?”
”Anything you desire… equal to the value of my life.”
”My Lady, you mustn’t!”
”Isobel, be quiet.”
”The value of your life, huh? And what exactly is that worth?” I asked.
”Forgive my rudeness for not introducing myself sooner. I am Mira Brooke Taylor, second daughter of the Brooke Taylor family, nobles of Niver. May I ask your name?”
”…Ryuichi.”
”Ryuichi-sama, I swear my father Roman will properly reward you.”
This situation was becoming more and more troublesome.
By pure coincidence, I had apparently saved a noble’s daughter from a bandit attack.
Summary:
Ryuichi encounters a catastrophic carriage raid down a gentle slope, immediately deploying a high-volume salvo of rocket-like Fire Arrows that ruthlessly tears through the massive bandit encirclement. After executing the remaining wounded outlaws, he methodically inspects the targeted vehicle and discovers two surviving noblewomen hiding amidst corpses. His mechanical looting methods provoke intense anger from their maid servant while the young noble lady attempts to bargain for safe passage to Niver using her pedigree as leverage
Trivia:
- The exact distance calculation of Ryuichi’s spells shows his precision baseline sits at 100 meters without structural wind drift.
- Intermediate sorcerers who can cast basic Fireballs exist at an exact statistical rarity of one out of every one thousand individuals
Character Insight:
Ryuichi shifts completely into a state of psychopathic pragmatic detachment, openly rationalizing mass slaughter as a human historical norm while feeling absolutely zero guilt or moral aversion toward structural violence.
Glossary:
1 ↩ Air: A foundational elemental magic utility technique used to generate breathable atmosphere.
2 ↩ Warm: A fundamental thermodynamic utility spell utilized to regulate temperature within localized environments.
3 ↩ Fly: An advanced mobility spell that provides levitation vectors, entirely eliminating ground friction and kinetic carriage vibrations.
4 ↩ Fire Arrow: A standard military-grade offensive spell that projects hyper-accelerated combustion charges over long ranges.
5 ↩ Wind Shield: A defensive defensive kinetic spell that manifests a counter-cyclonic gale barrier to systematically deflect oncoming projectile vectors.
6 ↩ Ice Bullet: A highly localized, lethal piercing projectile spell optimized for quick execution.
7 ↩ Flame Ball: A high-grade sorcery art characterized by the continuous emission of massive high-explosive thermobaric payloads.
8 ↩ Fireball: A standard intermediate-tier combat spell considered the metric benchmark for professional, mid-tier academy sorcerers.,