Bandits (2)

After dealing with one of them like that, Titan pulled up the corner of his mouth and asked.

“Shaman, tell me. What can you do?”

“Well, something like this?”

I immediately manifest holy power.

I only showed Vesta’s power, the goddess of hearth and home, in front of the coachman. Ordinary priests usually serve only one god.

So what I’m doing now must be quite extraordinary.

Clang!

I pour holy power into the carriage floor that’s incomparably greater than before.

And immediately borrow the miracle that the god grants in exchange for that power.

This time, what I receive in exchange is the white shade of Heimdall, the guardian deity who protects the rainbow bridge connecting heaven and earth.

A pure white veil envelops me and the children in the carriage.

“Good.”

Titan’s evaluation of this was simple. Along with his answer, he immediately raised high the hammer he was holding.

I had already seen once what the result would be like.

The explosion that sent bandits flying along with dirt and gravel when Titan first appeared.

That came again, with even more devastating power.

Boom!

It wasn’t any special technique. What was contained in that strike was purely power.

Everything else was excluded from that strike, and that approach proved right in the immediate results.

“AHHHHH!”

After the deafening roar passed, what followed were screams.

The result of the massive wave of force that swept from where the hammer fell on the bandits, to their surroundings, and even reaching where the carriage was.

“I meant to filter out the riffraff, but what a shame.”

A scene of hell created by a single strike unfolded before our eyes.

All that remained were those screaming after losing parts of their bodies and those who had fallen half-unconscious because they were relatively far away.

That’s how bandits are.

No matter how large their scale or what backing they have, they’re still just bandits in the end.

If they had real skills, they wouldn’t need to be bandits in the first place.

“W-Wait! Spare…”

“Nothing but riffraff after all.”

Crunch!

Titan finished off the bandits who still had breath in them by piercing their necks with his spear.

He chased down those trying to flee one by one and crushed their heads.

There were no survivors among the bandits.

“Nothing more dangerous than letting an injured beast escape.”

He leaves no loose ends. Despite his appearance, he’s quite thorough.

“Now I’ve crushed all the tomatoes, shaman, anything to say?”

After perfectly dealing with the stragglers, Titan approaches the carriage.

As the distance closes, his smile grows, seeming intrigued by how the carriage remains completely undamaged.

When he comes within arm’s reach, I dissolve Heimdall’s shade.

While the other children back away to create distance, I finally end up face to face with Titan.

And as he promised, Titan grabs my collar.

His expression was blank and his eyes were cold as ice.

“One moment.”

Ignoring that overwhelming pressure, I close my eyes and manifest Vesta’s ember at my fingertips.

“I’ve been holding back for a while.”

I take out tobacco I bought in the village and light it.

Taking a drag of the tobacco like that.

“Phew…”

I quietly open my eyes while extinguishing Vesta’s ember. Before me still stands the fierce-looking orc.

“Nothing particular to say? What, got any complaints?”

“HAHAHAHAHA!”

Once I drop the act of playing weak, Titan laughs heartily as if pleased.

Right, an orc would prefer this kind of bold attitude.

“The result was disappointing, but it was quite entertaining.”

Titan finally releases his grip on my collar.

“And you there, black fox, your courage is admirable but your killing intent is too thick. You’ll never succeed in a surprise attack like that.”

Looking where Titan pointed, I saw Linea with her hood fallen off, perhaps from the storm’s aftermath.

As everyone’s gazes gather, the fox ears on top of her head twitch. She must be uncomfortable with the sudden attention.

Linea fumbles around and quietly puts her hood back on.

“How did you know?”

After putting her hood back on, Linea asks in a small voice.

For a moment I thought she was asking how he detected her killing intent, but her gaze was directed at me, not Titan.

The question was for me.

“Know what?”

“How did you know I was a noble?”

She seemed concerned about me from the start, but now that concern has grown into suspicion.

Honestly, it’s understandable.

How could anyone not be suspicious with the way I handled things?

But the excuse is simple.

“It’s not just the hood that’s the issue.”

“Ah.”

Looking in the direction I’m pointing, Linea is shocked as if hit on the head. The storm’s impact didn’t just blow away her hood.

The front of the cheap robe she wore as a disguise was also affected.

“That outfit can’t be found in the Empire or other foreign countries. That’s a Nidavellir special order, isn’t it?”

“Ahh.”

The pink shirt and black skirt.

Black stockings below the skirt.

And the white coat worn over it all.

The quality is 2-3 levels ahead of the current civilization’s standards.

Without the future city of Nidavellir, it couldn’t even be made with current civilization’s technology.

Even if it could be made, it would still cost just as much.

Anyone could easily notice that she must be either a noble or the daughter of a wealthy merchant.

“If you want to hide your identity, you should fasten your robe better, considering you don’t even know how to wear a cheap one properly.”

“Ahhh.”

After giving her that final advice, she can no longer lift her head.

Her face, hidden by the pulled-down hood, must be bright red.

I’ve been thinking since the village, but she seems quite clumsy in many ways.

“I-I’m sorry…”

Linea crumples into a corner.

I could see the children approaching to comfort her.

She had a carelessness that couldn’t be hidden even by her noble status.

And that careless side probably helped reduce the distance between her and the children.

After all, she wasn’t despised by people for being a beastkin or noble, but because of that one moment of scenery that should have happened today.

“But shaman. What will you do now? Haven’t you lost your guide?”

The coachman disappeared without leaving even a trace to Titan’s hammer strike.

“Ah right, then should I go find a guide for a bit?”

“Wouldn’t I be faster?”

“If you go, who will protect the kids here?”

“Hmm…”

Titan turns his head to examine the children huddled together.

Each time his gaze falls on them, the children shrink back in fear.

“Well, they do look too weak to even protect themselves.”

Titan nodded in agreement and the children fell into despair.

Quite a few seem to even resent me.

Well, after showing my true colors, how many would still view me like before? The children’s gazes held only betrayal, their respect gone.

This is common for heresy inquisitors.

*     *     *

Bandits move in groups, but not everyone moves at once.

Of course, small groups might do that, but any bandit group of significant size must have personnel waiting at their base.

Bandits have their own hierarchy, and those higher up rarely come to the front.

Which means.

“From now on, I’ll leave just one alive.”

Their main force must still be nearby.

No need to go all the way back to the distant village to find a guide.

At least one of them should know the way.

I passed the initial battle to Titan, now it’s my time to work.

Unlike the Saintess, I never thought I could make them repent in the first place.

In my own way, as befits a heresy inquisitor of the Pantheon Temple’s shadow.

Time to do something shameful.

I draw my sword.

The pure white blade my master gave me as a parting gift reveals itself.

“We’ll talk details after clearing about half.”

The bandits who were staring blankly in confusion at first start shouting loudly when I draw my sword.

“You…!”

But I can’t hear them.

I didn’t hear any sound.

What I borrowed in exchange for holy power was the starlight ornament of Ratri, goddess of night.

The surroundings fall into silence as if submerged in water. The once bright world is trapped in quiet darkness.

This is my first time handling a sword since regression.

I bridge the gap between my experience of once abandoning the sword and this body in its prime.

By the time the bandits recover from their shock at the sudden change and start rushing toward me.

Once more, I manifest holy power.

This time I borrow the power of Vidar, the god who hunted the monster of Vanaheim.

The swordsmanship I use is originally a technique I shouldn’t be able to use.

Something alien that even I who use it cannot understand.

Following my master’s teachings, it’s good that I can use techniques dozens of times beyond my actual skill level.

But since my body can’t handle it, I need to compensate for the lacking parts or I’ll end up like before the regression.

After all, I was driven to the point where I could never wield a sword again from forcing myself too much.

Grrr!

I grip the sword with both hands and hold it horizontally. I look at the world illuminated by the small starlight in the night sky.

The bandits before me, the trees and forest, the rocks. And beyond that.

I look at the horizon.

Slash!

For a moment, that horizon becomes crystal clear as if swallowing everything else.

“…”

The sword was swung and the bandits charging at me gape at the horizon carved onto their bodies.

Eventually, red spreads across the horizon that swallowed their bodies.

After the starlight ornament that created the silent night lifts, and the trees and rocks collapse along with the bandits.

“That’s half.”

Before my eyes was a clean horizon, and now a different kind of silence settled over the bandits’ base.

“Those who know the way to Forys Duchy, raise your hands.”

Now that the bandits’ fighting spirit is broken, only a simple selection process remains.

Of the half remaining, only one can live.

*     *     *

After bringing back a guide-cum-coachman, we headed toward Forys Duchy again.

By the time I finished the selection process and returned, Titan had decided to walk openly beside the carriage instead of hiding.

Though the children still find Titan uncomfortable, I could see they also find his presence reassuring.

Thanks to that, it also had the effect of keeping the temporary coachman from getting any ideas.

Everything is different from before.

The result was the same, but now the children don’t fear Linea.

Instead that fear is directed at Titan, but that’s not a problem.

In situations like this, who did it matters more than what was done. If Linea had dismembered the bandits it would have been disturbing, but it’s considered natural for Titan to crush bandits.

Image based on appearance.

That’s why it wasn’t much of an issue for Titan.

“Excuse me.”

After the leisurely carriage journey resumed like that.

Linea, who had been curled up in a corner from embarrassment, slowly approached me.

Her eyes still held doubt and wariness.

“Who is that person?”

“Hmm.”

Well, it’s natural to be suspicious when someone who said they’d go find a guide returns shortly after with a terrified person.

“I brought him from the bandits’ hideout. He happened to know the way to Forys Duchy, so I brought him along.”

Usually when someone says this, they’d think of people who were held captive by bandits. Of course, they might also think I brought a bandit.

But ordinary people would find the former more credible.

“He’s a bandit, isn’t he?”

Yet Linea concluded the coachman was a bandit without needing to think about it.

“Why do you think that?”

Though I wasn’t surprised at being found out, I’m curious about the reason for her conviction.

She didn’t even seem to consider the other possibility.

“I could smell blood. Not from him, but from you.”

“My, I tried to be careful not to get any on me, but seems some got on.”

I forgot my opponent was a beastkin.

Well, there’s nothing particularly to hide.

I’ve already shown my true self in front of Titan, so this much suspicion is reasonable.

At this point, no one would criticize me for that anyway.

“Thank you for saving us, for taking on the dirty work.”

Linea bowed her head.

She seems to have good judgment, so I probably don’t need to worry.

“May I ask your name?”

“…”

Linea looks at me with suspicious eyes as she asks. Seeing me pause at her look, she hastily adds.

“Ah, I’m Linea… that is, Linea Spirin.”

The latter part was in a voice so quiet only I could hear.

Though her noble status was already exposed, she probably doesn’t want the other children to know her family name too.

“…?”

When I remain silent even after her self-introduction, Linea tilts her head. The ears poking out above her hood move with her head.

At least it won’t be boring to watch.

“Ah right. A name.”

But contrary to her concern, I wasn’t ignoring her.

I was just thinking.

I once lost my name. No, it would be more accurate to say it was taken from me.

The ones who gave me a second name were the Pantheon Temple and the Saintess.

Since then, I’ve always used that baptismal name as my name.

That’s why I hesitate.

It feels like I’m not yet worthy of using that name right now.

“Hmm…”

Looking at Linea, she was staring at me with half-lidded eyes as if looking at something strange.

The Linea I knew was someone who tried to reassure anxious people with gentle smiles.

I changed things and much is different.

And different means.

It also means I’ve lost something I was holding onto.

Today I changed many things.

I saved someone and lost memories.

-Gaining something means losing something at the same time. So you should always think carefully and pick up only what you need. If you try to hold everything, you’ll end up dropping everything.

Suddenly, I recalled what my teacher who taught me how to live in this world said.

Gaining something means losing something? It was words I couldn’t understand well at the time.

But now I think I understand.

I gave Linea a bright future in exchange for losing my memories with her.

The bitter and painful memories that only she and I shared.

And those have become things that can never be found again.

Yes, what better word could there be.

“I’m Lost.”

That’s why such a name is appropriate for who I am now.

After all, I plan to work hard to lose many more memories going forward.

*     *     *

The carriage journey continued.

The terrified bandit drove the carriage looking only forward, while Titan who couldn’t ride in the carriage guarded its side.

“Hmm…”

Meanwhile, I checked my possessions again.

Everything happened so suddenly from waking up to getting on the carriage that I didn’t have time to check what I had and didn’t have.

As a result.

I had plenty of money. No, perhaps too much.

Probably my worried teacher’s preparation.

And the sword from my master.

Looking at the pure white blade, I could feel a chilling sharpness.

This is quite a sword too.

And finally…

“I had something like this?”

Two small stone fragments.

I never imagined I would have something like this.

While rare in terms of scarcity, it’s an item whose value few people know.

A double-edged sword whose use the Pantheon Temple erased. Just holding it makes me uncomfortable.

<Morpheus’s Dream Fragment>

A stone fragment emitting a faint light.

If my teacher included this knowingly, it’s quite a harsh lesson.

Though it makes me quite uncomfortable, I should probably keep this just in case for any contingencies.

“Wow!”

As I was finishing checking my possessions, cheers erupted from the other children in the carriage.

In the distance, a massive city wall came into view.

It was the moment we finally arrived at the great city of Forys Duchy, where criminals connected to the bandit incident were hiding.

“Halt!”

“Don’t move! We’ll shoot the moment you move!”

Along with some minor trouble.

“What annoying fellows.”

And the source of that trouble quietly raised his hammer.