I murmured to myself as I thought about the snow falling last night. “It was snowing just yesterday, but now it’s raining. The days pass steadily one by one, yet the seasons change as quickly as a bugbear launching a surprise attack!” While I was composing this clumsy little poem in my head, Bugs scratched his shaggy armpit and spoke.
“So, how are they?”
“They? Oh, you mean the bandits?”
Hagen answered with a wink.
“They’re sleeping soundly. Cute little guys. Aww~ The leader was quite burly and hairy. Makes me want to hug him and shower him with affection.”
“Ugh.”
The image involuntarily crossed my mind, and I pretended to gag. Hagen looked at me and grinned mischievously.
“Oh, sweetheart, are you jealous? Aww, I knew it—Kairas is the cutest of them all. Getting jealous over something like that.”
“Take that nonsense and head to the moon,” I shot back, pulling out the knife tucked into my boot to inspect it before sheathing it again and standing up.
“Okay! All set! Let’s grab breakfast and then get moving.”
I swung my arms around to loosen up and declared cheerfully. The group nodded in agreement.
In truth, we were in the middle of a dangerous mission—not a simple training exercise, but actual combat. Still, there wasn’t any tension.
After all, our opponents were just bandits, not the Yen Empire’s troops or the Holy Palma Empire’s forces.
Winter was always a rough season for bandits. Once the harvest ended and farmers left their fields, any lord could summon their troops. Of course, nobles didn’t raise armies for the people’s sake. Most of the time, they used these forces to settle disputes among themselves, only to burden the peasants further with enlistment. However, some level-headed lords occasionally used the gathered forces to hunt down bandits.
The surviving bandits often fled to the Velkysus Mountains. But as protectors of Lionia, bearing such a grand title, we couldn’t allow that.
“Still, I feel bad for them,” Hagen remarked casually as he climbed a rain-slick rock, his voice light as though he were strolling through a field.
“Why?”
I grabbed his outstretched hand and pulled myself onto the rock. The view opened up, and crisp, fresh air filled my lungs. The mountain, soaked in spring rain, exhaled mist into the sky. It was a sight I’d seen many times before, yet nature’s grandeur always struck me anew.
“Hey, Kairas! Are you going to help me up or what?!” Bugs grumbled from below as he struggled to climb the rock.
Without turning, I retorted, “You’re half yeti, half human. I figured this would be a breeze for you.”
“What the hell? Why are you picking a fight so early in the morning?”
Bugs muttered angrily but didn’t press further. I admired the scenery a moment longer before turning back to my companions.
“What’s the situation with the bandits? How many are there?”
“Hmm, about eighty to a hundred. Not a lot,” Hagen replied with a sly smile.
“Not a lot, huh?” I said sarcastically.
Hagen ran a hand through his tousled blonde hair and winked. His pale blue eyes, carrying a touch of decadent charm, met mine with a playful glint.
“Right? Still, that’s a bit much for just the three of us to handle outright.”
“Our mission is to lure them to Outpost 16. No unnecessary heroics,” I stated firmly, sensing the reckless undertone in his words.
“Ugh, there you go again with the nagging. You’re like a mom,” Bugs grumbled, folding his disproportionately long arms across his chest.
“Well, I’m sorry about that,” I replied dryly.
“You know,” Bugs continued, “if we don’t use our weapons in real combat, we’ll lose our edge. Let’s just take care of them ourselves.”
“A hundred of them?”
“We could thin their numbers with arrows from higher ground, knock them off as they climb, and handle the rest with our blades. Has a Velkysus Ranger ever fallen in these mountains in the past two hundred years?” Bugs argued.
While it was true we were all itching for action after endless training, I couldn’t afford to indulge in reckless behaviour.
“Our job is to herd them. If we fail to send even one to Outpost 16, I’ll be held responsible.”
“Just one?” Hagen teased with a smirk.
“Yes, even just one,” I clarified, already regretting my choice of words.
“Then we’ve done our job if just one makes it, huh?” he said, clearly enjoying himself.
“That’s not what I meant! Besides, their numbers are too much!”
My protests fell on deaf ears as Hagen, lost in his own fantasies, ignored me. Despite his carefree and roguish demeanor, his combat prowess was unmatched among our peers. His massive frame and powerful muscles hinted at his monstrous strength. Stories of him snapping a bear’s neck with his bare hands weren’t exaggerations.
“Anyway, where are they?” I asked.
“They’re in the valley to the right. Stay alert; they might spot us,” Hagen replied, his tone mocking.
As we crept along the ridge, the Velkysus Mountains, softened by the spring rain, glistened below us. Soon, the bandits came into view.
“…Are those the guys?”
The bandits had set up camp in an open area and sprawled out carelessly. Exhausted from traversing the rugged terrain to evade pursuers, they had fallen asleep without even posting guards.
“They’ve really let their guard down,” Bugs muttered, pointing to a sleeping sentry.
It was laughable. No sentries, no watch—just a group of tired men lying in the open. Their lack of discipline made them an easy target.
“Let’s wake them up and lead them to Outpost 16,” I said.
But before I could outline a plan, Bugs had already pulled out his repeating bowgun. The repeating bowgun was a large crossbow fitted with a rapid-fire winch and a cartridge for supplying quarrels (crossbow bolts). Once spun in a frenzy, it could fire off a significant number of quarrels, making it highly advantageous when facing multiple enemies. While it required considerable strength to even operate, the Velkysus Rangers were all capable of wielding it with ease. Bucks, without hesitation, began raining quarrels down on the bandits below the hill.
“Damn it.”
I cursed under my breath, grabbed my own repeating bowgun, and joined him. Hagan, also armed with a repeating bowgun, added to the assault with unrelenting volleys aimed at the bandits sprawled on the ground.
“Argh!”
“Damn it! We’re under attack!”
“Where is it coming from? Where?!”
It wasn’t until we had emptied an entire cartridge that the bandits finally realized they were under attack and began panicking. By then, we had already taken cover behind some rocks and were repositioning to the side.
“Wow, their reaction time is slow.”
“Seriously. It’s hard to believe these guys managed to survive in this cutthroat world while preying on others.”
I muttered as I reloaded my cartridge. The bandits were probably frantically scanning their surroundings, trying to locate us. Tch. If only we had spread out and fired from multiple directions earlier—it would’ve been chaos. Oh well, this approach is working just fine.
No point nitpicking about strategy now and earning a reputation as a perfectionist or a clean freak among my comrades.
“Well, shall we continue?”
I said to my companions, cautiously extending my repeating bowgun from behind the rock and spinning the rapid-fire winch again.
Thunk-thunk-thunk! The bowstring snapped repeatedly, sending bolts flying in quick succession.
“Arghhh!”
“Over there! They’re over there!”
The bandits finally pinpointed our position. However, with Bugs and Hagen joining in, another wave of arrows rained down, causing more bandits to collapse, some bleeding profusely and others dying instantly from critical hits. A few were merely wounded, but considering there were only three of us against such a large group of bandits, this was a pretty impressive outcome.
“You bastards!”
“You dared kill Kant! I’ll skin you alive!”
“Jemu! I’ll avenge your death!”
The bandits, shouting vengefully, began climbing the hill to reach us. Their camaraderie was almost touching. These were likely the same fools who had taken pride in their mercilessness when looting and pillaging, but now that the tables had turned, they suddenly discovered a sense of humanity and loyalty. How amusing.
Thud!
“Argh!”
At that moment, one of the leading bandits, who had been charging up the hill with vengeance in his eyes, fell to the ground. He was one of those shouting about avenging the bandit named Kant. Hagen raised his hand and mockingly apologized.
“Sorry! You all seem to have such strong bonds that it makes you dangerous. I couldn’t help but feel the need to eliminate you quickly.
My bad!”
