Chapter 35 : Days in the Free City of Loren (11)

Chapter 35: Days in the Free City of Loren (11)

They were enemies, and Hudson was surrounded. In other words, it was dangerous.

Once the judgment finished, their bodies reacted at once. No one had to speak first.

Shatien and Miles lowered themselves and slipped behind a tree.

Both were mercenaries who had already fought several battles. They were not foolish enough to bungle things by being careless.

“Their armament looks better than I thought, Miles.”

From the matted hair and the grime caked on their skin, it was clear they had drifted about for quite a long time. Yet their equipment was solid, which was laughable.

But it could not be ignored.

There were ten in all.

They must have been a band of routed soldiers, and they had some semblance of structure.

“One-handed swords and axes, and huh? That rat even has a bow. This… really does not pay off.”

It was not that he failed to understand what Miles deliberately held back from saying.

He meant, sorry to Hudson, but they should retreat. Fighting ten opponents, and ones well armed at that, was not a good idea.

As Miles said, it really did not make financial sense.

But Shatien’s thoughts were a little different.

‘Hmm…’

He felt it might be possible, no, to be exact, he felt certain.

It was not some vague confidence from his recent sword training.

It was a thoroughly strategic choice.

Their minds were fully on Hudson, so if he charged in by surprise, took one on the left and one on the right, then lopped off the head of the sturdy man in the rear who looked obviously like the leader, would the rest not scatter in disarray on their own.

How much loyalty and discipline could this rabble of stragglers have? If they had such things, they would not have turned to banditry in the first place.

“Aw, fine. I get it. It is our Centurion’s call, so I will follow.”

Reading the resolve in Shatien’s eyes, Miles grumbled and slung his axe over his shoulder.

* * *

Hudson was at least somewhat seasoned.

“Are you the Brothers of the Mountain? I pay a reasonable toll, you let me pass, how about it? I am Hudson, a Decurion of Count Bellua’s army.”

He subtly revealed his status to exert pressure while leaving room to negotiate.

People rarely wanted a fight. Their purpose was money, not battle itself.

If a few words could squeeze some coin out of him, that was enough.

Was it because of that?

“Hmm… he says he will pay money. What do you think?”

“You idiot, get your head straight. What is a handful of coins worth?”

“Still…”

Among those surrounding him, a few clearly wavered.

But that was all.

“Shut up!”

“Count this, count that, if we slice him up, who is going to know?”

“True. There are ten of us, and he is one. Heh heh heh. It isn’t just one or two people that die in the Arhen Mountains. Who would notice if we add one more today?”

They had overwhelming numbers.

Added to that was the feature of the Arhen Mountains, lonely and deserted.

They wanted something bigger than a handful of coins, even if the result would draw blood.

‘Damn it…’

He had felt the day was unlucky, and so it was. Hudson wondered if this was his end. It was too late to run. One of them was an archer.

The instant he turned his back, an arrow unleashed from that archer’s fingers would punch through him.

He bitterly regretted not wearing armor because he was crossing the range.

-Clang!

“S-Stay back. If you come any closer, I will not sit still!”

Hudson drew his sword and shouted, but it seemed to have the opposite effect.

“I will not sit stillllll~”

“What will you do if we doooon’t~?”

“Hahahahahaha.”

They sneered and came closer. It was no wonder, because despite his loud voice, Hudson’s legs were shaking like an aspen. Anyone could see he looked ridiculous.

‘After surviving for so long, I die miserably here huh.’

Hudson lamented his fate. He had only to return home, find a pretty wife, and live sweetly!

At that moment, he caught a glint behind them.

“!”

Shatien.

Swordbreaker Shatien crouched like an angry tiger, watching for an opening.

* * *

Their eyes met.

Fortunately, even without words, Hudson understood Shatien’s intent.

“A duel! I challenge you to a duel! If you are men, let us fight fair and square like men!”

He shouted loudly to draw all attention to himself.

Fortunately, the plan worked.

“What? What dog’s nonsense is that.”

“A man about to die talks about a duel. Soldier, stop babbling and say your last words. Who knows, maybe we will pass them on. Heh heh.”

They did not notice Shatien until he was at arm’s length.

The price for that was very high.

-Slice!

The head of the archer at the far end flew off at once.

-Fwoosh!

Blood spurted from the severed neck.

“A-An ambush!”

“Fuck! What, there is one mor… Ugh!”

Their screams burst out.

After taking the archer’s head, Shatien swung his sword again and again, cutting them down.

It did not end there.

-Crunch!

“Hey now, I am in this too!”

From the other side, Miles crashed in, swinging his axe.

Thanks to that, the ten became seven in an instant.

“Idiots! Do not scatter.”

“Do not run, surround them! There are only two anyway. They are nothi—  Gack!”

The one who seemed to be the leader tried to restore order with a shout, but his head flew to Shatien’s blade at once.

After two running steps, Shatien shifted like folding space and swung, using the very cut he had learned from the old man.

“Damn it! Kill that bastard first!”

“He is inside. Pile on him.”

He landed among the bandits, but Shatien was calm now.

From where his foot touched, a step away, he felt everything within that sphere.

Breaths.

The thudding of hearts.

Twisted faces.

Movements that signaled attack.

The lines of their blades and more.

He felt everything inside it.

‘The training up until now shines.’

Confidence rising, Shatien swung. It was no longer the kind of strike that poured in every ounce of strength.

With proper tension and proper distribution of power, he parted space as naturally as flowing water.

-Clang, clack clack, clack, slice!

“Gurk!”

“Kh, khak!”

The result was brutal.

In the blink of an eye, the bandits clutched their throats and rolled on the ground. With their crude swordsmanship, they could not even respond. Three more died in an instant.

‘Whoa… he has turned into something like a knight huh?’

Miles, who had cut down two himself, watched Shatien fight and thought so. The rookie’s growth rate was truly terrifying. Not long ago he had looked like a mere mercenary, not to mention a knight.

“S-Spare me…!”

-Thud!

Miles took the head of a bandit whose wrist had been severed.

If you coveted what belonged to others, you paid a price to match.

An eye for an eye.

A tooth for a tooth.

They aimed for life and property, so it was only fair to plunder life and property in return.

“Ptui! You rotten bastards. How dare you target Master Hudson, target me in your dreams!”

Hudson spat a yellow gob and shouted. He had somehow slit one bandit’s throat, and his whole body was drenched in blood. A stranger might think it was all his own.

“Looks like our Hudson is done too huh? Heh heh.”

The ten bandits had become one in a flash.

The last one looked ready to follow his friends to the heavens.

“S-Spare me, please, please. I have an aged mother back home, and...”

His leg was already injured, and he could not walk right. He rolled on the ground and begged.

“Ptui! What is this, now you’re talking about your home?”

“Ehehe. Right. A bandit has lost his wits.”

Miles and Hudson snickered, but they did not harm the man.

It was not because they were generous or suddenly felt pity.

It was because the prize belonged to Shatien, who had shown the finest merit in the fight.

Having witnessed his performance with their own eyes, Miles and Hudson thought this was only his rightful due.

“So, what is his condition, Miles?”

“Eh, only the leg is broken… If he is treated, he looks like he will be fine otherwise. Why, what do we do? Drag him and sell him to a merchant?”

“We have to go hunt anyway, and you want to haul him until then? Better to kill him, Shatien. Save the rations, it is the right call.”

They both made reasonable points. Shatien fell into brief thought. What would profit them most?

“Information! I will give you information. If you hear it, you will surely be glad. Spare me.”

“Information?”

“When bandits talk about information, it is all the same. There is something worth looting somewhere, that is it, right?”

“True enough. Let’s just kill him, Shatien, hmm?”

Then the bandit shouted.

“No! It really is information that helps you guys, no, that helps you, sirs. Please, please… I have an aged mother to care for.”

He looked at Shatien and pleaded. He tried to appeal to emotion with his youthful face.

Of course, Shatien…

“Hmm, information you say?”

“Yes, yes, information you truly need.”

“So you say.”

The problem was that, while he looked young, he was not as young as the bandit imagined.

He was a reincarnator who had already been through thick and thin.

-Crack!

“Aaaargh!”

The bandit screamed as one finger snapped. He howled so painfully that even Miles and Hudson flinched beside him.

But Shatien did not stop.

-Crack, crack.!

“Guuh, guh, guhuk!”

He snapped the fingers one after another.

“You are not in a position to negotiate. Speak. I listen to everything and then I decide.”

With that, he went ahead and broke every finger on one hand.

“Do not whine. You still have the other fingers. Well, if you like this pain, you can keep holding out.”

Gripping the middle finger of the other hand, Shatien spoke.

If need be, he would cripple this bandit. Being allowed to live when he should have died was a favor in itself.

Realizing what kind of man Shatien was, the bandit shrieked and opened his mouth.

“I will talk, I will talk, do not break it, my lord, sir, please.”

“Good. If you had said that sooner, things would be easier for both of us. Now speak.”

“I-If I speak, you’ll spare me…?”

“Hmm… have I not gotten it through your head yet?”

Cutting him off, Shatien gave a cold smile.

The bandit panicked and screamed.

“No, no, I am the crazy one. I speak at once.”

“Get your head on straight, friend. So tell me. What is this information you say you have for me?”

If it was trivial or a lie meant to trick him, he would make the man pay dearly.

So Shatien thought.

However…

“We carried out the ambush because…”

“Because?”

“Orlando ordered it.

Orlando gave us your location and commissioned us to kill you!”

What came out of the bandit’s mouth was quite a shock.

“Orlando?”

“The jobber merchant who follows the Count’s army?!”

A problem burst from an unexpected place.

It was an extremely heavy one at that.

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