Goetz, the leader of the Rusted Blade Band, was currently furious.
The merchant company’s resistance had been far fiercer than he had expected.
His men, who had once numbered more than eighty, had long since been reduced by half···!
Even so, Goetz had no intention of stopping the attack.
Their losses had been greater than expected, but it seemed that if they pushed just a little harder, they would be able to wipe out the merchant company completely.
Once they slaughtered the entire merchant company, all of its wealth would be theirs for the taking!
Imagining the spoils that awaited him, Goetz continued pressing the attack.
“···L-Leader! Look to the west!”
It was then.
When one of his men urgently pointed west, Goetz turned his head.
A man was riding toward them on horseback.
‘Who the hell is that? Don’t tell me he’s a knight?’
Knights were essentially human weapons.
After all, they were people who had spent decades honing nothing but combat skills.
It was said that particularly exceptional knights could even draw forth a power known as “Aura” from their swords.
Goetz had heard that even if ten thousand soldiers attacked such a being, killing one would not be easy.
However, the man currently riding toward them did not particularly look like one of those exceptional knights.
No, he did not even look like a knight at all.
Although he had an enormous build, the tight leather armor stretched around his body made him look ridiculous, and the horse beneath him appeared old and exhausted.
To begin with, his weapon was not a sword, but an axe.
Goetz had never once heard of a knight who wielded an axe.
‘Hmph! Looking at him, he’s probably just some worthless mercenary, not a knight!’
“Leader! What should we do?”
“What do you mean, what should we do?! Just kill him!”
Goetz snapped irritably.
Of course, he still had no way of knowing whether that mercenary was an enemy or an ally.
For all he knew, the man might simply have been riding over to help them with the looting.
But Goetz had no desire to share his spoils with anyone else.
Whether that mercenary bastard was friend or foe was not particularly important to him.
SLASH—!
“···Huh?”
But a moment later—
What was this?
The two men who had charged at the mercenary had their heads severed in an instant!
“W-What the hell?!”
Goetz and his men, who had been attacking the merchant company, stared in shock.
The mercenary paid them no mind and did not slow down in the slightest.
“···S-Stop him!”
As the mercenary charged forward with terrifying momentum, Goetz became frightened and hid behind his subordinates.
Up close, the mercenary looked even more massive.
His forearms were as hard as granite, bulging as though they were about to burst.
CRASH—!
At last, the mercenary collided violently with five of Goetz’s men.
The victor was none other than the mercenary.
The moment he swung his axe, all five men were sent flying through the air.
Goetz could not close his mouth at the sight.
‘T-This is insane···! What kind of monstrous strength is that?!’
Cold sweat ran down Goetz’s face.
Only now did he become certain.
The mercenary before him was no ordinary mercenary.
No, perhaps he was not a mercenary at all.
Perhaps he really was a knight.
“J-Just who the hell are you?!”
Goetz shouted.
Naturally, he was still hiding behind his subordinates.
He was an exceedingly greedy man, but at the same time, he valued his own safety above everything else.
“I am Roan! A knight!”
“Gasp···! A knight! Y-You truly are a knight?”
“That is right!”
“N-No···! Then why would a knight attack us?! What in the world have we done wrong?!”
At Goetz’s words, the knight gave him an incredulous look.
As though he had nothing more to say, he charged at them once again.
“W-Wait! I surrender! We surrender!”
In truth, Goetz still had plenty of men remaining.
Roughly thirty of them···!
However, his instincts were telling him that if they continued fighting this knight, they would all be annihilated.
The knight before him possessed overwhelming martial prowess.
His monstrous strength in particular was beyond imagination.
‘S-Still, knights value honor···! He would never raise his sword against someone who has surrendered!’
Although the knight was holding an axe rather than a sword···!
In any case, Goetz decided to surrender in order to survive.
As long as he kept his life, there would always be another opportunity to escape.
“Surrender, is it···? Then all of you, disarm yourselves.”
“Y-Yes! Understood! You bastards! What are you doing?! Hurry up and throw down your weapons!”
“B-But, Leader···!”
“I told you to listen to me!”
When Goetz barked at them, his men reluctantly began dropping their weapons one after another.
The knight silently watched them.
Then, once every last one of them had thrown down his weapon, he turned toward the merchant company and spoke.
“Who is in charge here?”
“Ah···! I-I am, Sir Knight! My name is Baldor, and I am the head of the Northern Frost Merchant Company!”
Baldor hurriedly prostrated himself on the ground.
At the moment, he felt utterly bewildered.
Until only moments ago, he had been convinced that death was unavoidable.
Naturally, he had also believed that his Northern Frost Merchant Company would disappear from the world entirely.
Yet what had happened?
A knight possessing monstrous strength had suddenly ridden in alone and saved both his life and the lives of his men.
All of it had happened in less than five minutes, so it was only natural that Baldor could hardly process what had just occurred.
“Baldor. I am Roan, a knight. Take responsibility for binding every one of these men. Can you do that?”
“O-Of course, Sir Knight! I will see to it at once!”
Baldor hurriedly began tying up the bandits with the help of his men.
In truth, if he had followed his heart, he would have killed every last bandit there.
Many members of his merchant company had died at their hands.
However, he could not disobey the knight’s command.
The knight named Roan possessed terrifying strength.
Baldor could still vividly remember the sight of him sending five bandits flying high into the air with a single swing of his axe.
“···W-We’ve finished, Sir Roan!”
Afterward, once every bandit had been bound, Baldor reported back to Roan.
Roan nodded in satisfaction, dismounted from his horse, and approached the leader of the bandits.
“S-Sir Knight! Please, I beg you for mercy. We were not bandits from the beginning. Originally, we were···.”
He began speaking while putting on the most pitiful expression he could manage.
CHOP—!
However, he never finished his sentence.
Roan had severed his head in a single stroke.
“···!”
Everyone nearby stared in horror.
A chill crawled down their spines.
Now that they thought about it, the knight named Roan seemed to possess not only terrifying strength, but also utterly merciless hands.