Volume 6 - CH 5.4

Translator: DarkHeartedAlchemist Editor: jturtle136

「X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X!」

「X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X!」

The six people argued with one another and then charged towards me at all at once.

Though the 「Fire Wall」 just disappeared, there are three people over there including Roxanne, and I am over here by my lonesome.

Naturally they will try for the exit on this side. But, it’s not a good idea for them, and they probably haven’t thought it through. There was a「 Fire Wall」 between the six Bandits and Sherry until just now, but it’s gone now, so I use the 「Fire Wall」again without incantation as the six outlaws approach her.

The first Bandit took some serious damage, and was beheaded by me as he was startled by the fire that appeared behind him. The second and third Bandits ran directly into the 「Fire Wall」, burning on the spot. I’ve recovered some MP off of them, but not nearly enough because the fire killed them almost instantly. The fourth Bandit stepped into the fire for a bit, and then jumped away in a panic, ending up getting cut down by me. The fifth Bandit only touches it a little, and then jumps backwards immediately, falling down on his ass. Is he the one person that got off safely?

「I’ll be taking you down now!」

Roxanne and the others are also here with me, so he’s outnumbered. He turns back and tries to make some distance between us, but I advance forward towards the Bandit who fell on his ass.

I’m nearly in melee range, so I take a great step forward and aim for his neck…. But then the standing Bandit rushed towards me, trying to stab me. It was a good idea for a lowly Bandit…..

If my weapon wasn’t Durandal, that is.

A normal sword can’t cut off someone’s head so easily, and if I tried to do it with a normal weapon, I might’ve gotten stabbed to death. But the sword I am using is a Holy Sword Durandal.

I easily cut off the head of the man who fell on his ass and continue the swing into the side of the man who was trying to attack me. He loses his momentum, and I avoid the attack. I draw the sword back, and then push it into his stomach at full force, and then I slowly pull it out.

The Bandit collapses, dead on the spot.

「Master!」

Roxanne rushes up to me.

「Is everyone alright?」

「Yes, we are.」

「Good. Roxanne and Miria, please confirm that there are no Bandits who ran away. Sherry, please help me collect the Intelligence Cards, I’ll need something to wrap the hands up so you can cut some pieces of fabric off the Bandit’s clothes.」

It might not be over yet, so I gave instructions to the girls immediately. That being said, all the Bandits we were able to confirm should have already been defeated. In addition to me using magic with no incantation, I also used 「Warp」and 「Equivalent Exchange」. If someone saw me doing all that, I have to dispose of them.

Roxanne and Miria head towards the small room that had the six Bandits in it.

「It was a wonderful fight.」

「Thank you, Sherry.」

「That being said, you should collect the hands quickly before they disappear.」

Sherry started working with indifference, and I cut off the Bandits hands along with her, piling them up on the clothes that Sherry had cut off.

It seems I did it just in time.

When I cut off the hand of the Bandit, his equipment was left, and the body got absorbed by the Labyrinth.

The body of the Bandit sank into the floor in an instant. The other Bandit’s bodies disappear as well, one after the other. This is how the Labyrinth digests people, right?

「I don’t think that there was anyone who managed to escape.」

Roxanne and Miria reported when they came back.

「I see.」

「It was an amazing fight. As expected of master.」

「Thank you. I’m glad that Roxanne and the others are safe an uninjured though.」

「Yes, we’re all safe and sound.」

None of the three seem to have been injured, which is good, because I was most worried about them being hurt. This is the best possible result for this battle.

「The Bandits weren’t able to do much because of the 「Fire Wall」that master made.」

「X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X!」

「Miria also says that it was amazing.」

Even though I’ve just hacked up the Bandits like a butcher, these three don’t seem to be avoiding me because of it, probably because these three were the ones who instigated this in the first place.

When I count the hands, there are eight of them. The Explorers hand will not have a bounty on it, so I don’t take it, and the hand of the Pirate who exploded because of 「Equivalent Exchange」 was not possible to be collected, since it blew up into bloody bits along with the rest of the pirate.

I finally breathe a sigh of relief, and collect the treasures that were left behind by the defeated Bandits. Whatever items they might’ve had on them, we’ll be taking possession of them now. I’m also reasonably sure I don’t need to strip search every last one of them, just like it was with the previous group of Bandits that dared to attack us.

「I’ve let you experience something horrible today. Will you forgive me for it?」

「What are you talking about, master? You defeated all of those Bandits, so there is nothing that you’d need to be forgiven for.」

While picking up the equipment, I looked at Roxanne’s expression and listened to her words. Was it really all right for me to kill those Bandits like I did?

「This could have happened to anyone at any time, but what’s the most important is that we managed to survive.」

Sherry also had something reasonable to say to me.

These three have been growing up in this world where the Bandits attacking people is a commonplace happening that no one really pays any mind to anymore, and killing those Bandits is something that they’ve come to expect.

「X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X.」

「X X X X X X XX X X X X X X X X X X X X X X.」

「X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X.」

「It seems that Miria was quite surprised, and thinks it seemed easy for master despite it being a place like this. She also says that she’s going to keep the amazing way that master fought against those Bandits a secret so that master wouldn’t get in trouble because of it.」

It would seem that every member of my Party had different assumptions after they have witnessed my battle against the Bandits, but I don’t think that I should be praised for getting us int such a situation to begin with, and Miria should also be taught that this situation was a bad one to be in, and even though we managed to get out of it unscratched, things might’ve ended up very differently if only a few things went differently, but if Roxanne told her that she should always praise me no matter what I do or how badly I might fuck up, then I think that I’ve really chosen a wrong person for handling her education, so maybe I should be doing that from now on?

I don’t comment on that anymore, and devote myself to collecting equipment in order to keep my mind off of it.

The Leather equipment that the Bandits left behind has some pieces of Hardened Leather equipment mixed in with it.

A Hardened Leather Helmet, Hardened Leather Gloves and Hardened Leather Boots. These pieces of equipment would certainly make for a nice upgrade of the gear for us, but only one of them comes with an actual Empty Skill Slot.

After I’ve checked them, I put them in the Item Box. Hardened Leather Armor, huh? Judging by the glare that Sherry was giving me when I was inspecting it, I am probably going to be the only member of my Party who’ll be able to use it. After all, all of the girls in my Party have a very distinctly shaped breasts, so none of them could wear it, which naturally leaves me as the only possible candidate.

There isn’t enough room in my Item Box to hold it, so I give it to Sherry instead. Should I remove Alchemist, and use Cook instead so that I could make use of its increased Item Box Space?

Miria has leveled up quite a bit, so she should be fine without 「Plating」from now on, so I might as well just go and do that.