Chapter 24 – Auxiliary Magician, Heading to the Bandits’ Hideout

Abruptly, I would like to share with you the value of money in this world.

Copper Coin = 100 yen (0.87 USD)
Silver Coin = 1,000 yen (8.66 USD)
Gold Coin = 10,000 yen (86.55 USD)
Platinum Coin = 1,000,000 yen (8655.42 USD)
King’s Gold Coin = 100 million yen (865542.40 USD)

I will let you know if there are any changes in the settings.
I will try to avoid that, but I apologize if it happens.

「Yuan, you okay?」
「Ah, yes. And you, Shea-san?」
「All good」

It seemed that the bandit I had defeated was the last.

「Shea-san, you cleared most of this up by yourself. I’m sorry」
「Thanks to Yuan’s magic. Yuan also knocked his head off, amazing」

By the way, the one I was dealing with was a leader-like person. I didn’t recognize him because he didn’t seem to be very strong.

「Yuan, you okay?」

You asked me the same question earlier, and you seem to be quite worried about me.

「Yes, as you can see, there’s not a single scratch. And this blood is actually just spilled」
「No, your heart」

Heart?

「For the first time, it’s hard to kill someone. Not like with monsters」
「I’ll be fine. I wouldn’t know if I was alone, but Shea-san is here for me」
「Yes… if it’s hard, tell me. I’ll be by Yuan’s side」
「Thank you very much. Are you okay, Shea-san?」
「I’m fine. I was wrong earlier… when I said it was my first time. In fact, I do have experience」
「A misunderstanding, huh?」
「U- Un… we should probably clean up」

If it were true, I would feel guilty for killing someone, but I don’t feel guilty, either because of the excitement of the battle or because Shea-san is with me. I don’t know if it will settle down, but for now, I have to deal with the reality in front of me.

「Shea-san, I know you don’t want me to do this, but would you mind bringing the corpse to me?」
「I got it」

With help, we gather the bandits’ corpses in one place.

「They may be bad guys, but it’s the end…… Holy Fire・Saint Flame」

The heatless blue flames turn the corpse of the bandit into ashes. This magic has no effect on monsters, but is used on human corpses. It is a magic often used by priests. It is said that if human corpses are left unattended, they will become undead and diseases will start from there, so this is a countermeasure. Personally, I don’t think they will become undead. I don’t think it’s possible to create an undead being without a necromancer or a monster that can handle necromancy. I don’t think it can occur naturally. All that was left of the corpses were ashes and the weapons and clothes they had been wearing.

「How should we handle this?」
「You’re allowed to take what you get from defeating the bandits as loot」
「What if I don’t want it?」
「You can sell it for a cheap price, so keep it」

The bandits’ belongings are all shoddy, and the clothes smell so bad that I don’t even want to pick them up. So, we burned the clothes and other items and took only the armors.

「And now all we have to do is…」
「I’ll talk to the person watching there」
「That’s right~」

Our gazes converged on one place. While we were surrounded by bandits, there was a person who was watching us without approaching.

「So you noticed…」

A man emerged from behind a tree, as if he had given up on our words.

「I let you live because you weren’t trying to kill us. I want information」

While we were burning the bandits, I talked to Shea-san, and he said that the bandits must have a hideout somewhere in order to operate. Just as the bandits had told us about the slaves, there was a possibility that there were captured people there, and we needed to find them. It’s hard to be trapped and starve to death without the bandits or help coming.

「Well, that’s a relief」
「So, after all this time, are you willing to fight?」
「No, I’m not going to fight you in the first place」
「Then take us to your hideout」
「Of course. That’s why I’ve been watching you」
「What do you mean?」

The man put his hand in his pocket. We’ll be on the alert, no matter how the man moves.

「I’m a D-Rank adventurer from a village called Talis, near Tanza」

The man didn’t approach us, but threw his guild card on the ground to hand it to us. Shea-san stands between me and the man to protect me, and then I pick it up.

「Bandit… ?」

There is an occupation field on the guild card. Shea-san is listed as a swordsman and I am listed as a wizard. To be precise, Shea-san is a Dual-Wielding Swordsman and I am an Auxiliary Magician, so this is a rough registration. The man’s guild card lists him as a Bandit in addition to his name, and it looks like his name is Kabai.

「D- Don’t get me wrong, there’s a difference between a bandit registered on a guild card and a bandit like these guys. Maa, they may be a little rare around here」
「I know. Party scout, profession specializing in disarming traps」
「I didn’t know such a position existed」

I know the unusual occupation too. For example, a tamer who controls monsters or a summoner who makes full use of summoned animals. I’ve never met any of them because of their special skills, but they are well known in that area. I didn’t know about bandits, but I heard that bandits are useful in dungeons and ruins.

「So, what were you, an adventurer, doing here?」

We can’t trust them right away simply because they are adventurers. In some cases, we have to consider the possibility of them being enemies.

「I’m just here to get my daughter back」
「Daughter?」
「I heard the conversation with the bandits, too. They took my daughter, too」

According to Kabai-san’s story, the village of Talis was attacked by bandits some time ago, and some of the village girls were kidnapped. Two of them appears to be Kabai-san’s daughters.

「I was away at the time, taking a request from Tanza. While I was there…」

After returning to Tanza and learning about the attack on the village and the kidnapping of his daughters, Kabai-san had researched and infiltrated the bandits who had taken his daughters. However, by the time he managed to sneak in, his daughters were already gone. It’s a credible story. I’m not a good judge of character, so I don’t know.

「We can’t trust you on that story alone」
「Yeah, I know. I’ll take you to the hideout first. Then you can make your decision」
「If the information is false, we won’t know about it until then, will we?」

We would have to decide later whether we could trust him or not, but we kept a certain distance as we followed Kabai-san through the forest. The roadless path, overgrown with grass and trees, will likely lead us astray if we proceed in the dark, and it will take us a long time to find the hideout.

「There are markings etched all over the place that only members of the group can recognize. If you don’t follow them, you won’t be able to reach them easily」

Kabai-san told us that there are marks on trees and stones. The marks look like the claw marks of a monster or beast, but I couldn’t tell.

「Here」
「Where is it?」

We followed Kabai-san to a place where a cliff led to a dead end and there was only a large rock.

「You’ve heard that the lord is behind all this, right? We’ve been entrusted with a magic item by the lord. Without it, we can’t go any further」

When Kabai-san held his magic dagger to the rock, the rock moved sideways and the entrance to the cave appeared.

「That’s amazing!」
「There are still some bandits inside, so we’ll have to proceed with caution」
「How many bandits and how many people are being held captive?」
「2 bandits on guard, 3 women」
「Yuan」
「Okay」

When I use the sensing magic, there are 3 blue dots in one place and 2 blue dots a little farther away.

「I don’t think it’s a problem」
「All right. Lead the way」

The inside of the cave is not completely dark, due to the use of magic stones for light. However, it’s not bright either, and I almost tripped over my feet in the rugged passageways that are unique to naturally formed caves.

「The ground that changes color is a trap, so be careful」

If I don’t walk carefully, I won’t notice it. There aren’t many, but there are some burnt-looking stones mixed in with the gray ones. Those are traps, it seems.

「Stop. Just up ahead」

Kabai-san stopped us with his hand. When we peeked ahead to avoid being spotted, there seemed to be some bandit-like people chatting. There were drinks on the table, and they were talking loudly without seeming to notice us.

「What took them so long? Should we go check on them?」
「Stop it, you drunk. You know we can’t help if we go」
「Yeah? You’re a drunk, too」
「That’s why it’s useless for us to go there. We’ve got better things to do than that, so just be quiet」
「Yes, I have a job, drinking」

It appears that they are both drinking.

「Hey, how about a taste of the women before the leader come back?」
「Of course not. The boss will kill us」
「You’ll be fine. You’ll all be dead before then」
「「Eh?」」

That was the last thing they said to each other. They were caught off guard and were easily defeated, by Shea-san.

「Oi, you can’t just go off on your own」
「No problem. I’m confident」
「Jeez… Those women they’re holding on to are over there」

I burned the bandits with the Holy Flame and followed Kabai-san to find 3 women sitting there, crouched down.

「Oi」
「Aah!」

When Kabai-san approached one of the girls, the girl looked up and her expression tensed up.

「No, you can’t. You can’t talk to her like that」

Kabai-san’s outfit is that of a bandit. Maybe the girls thought he was going to be rough with them.

「Are you okay? We’re here to help you」

Shea-san was not very good at talking to people, so I had to talk to them.

「Help?」
「Yes, I’m Yuan, an adventurer」

When I showed the guild cards to the girls, they started to cry. I suppose it’s hard to imagine a C-Rank from my appearance, but they didn’t seem to notice that. I think that’s how overwhelmed they were.

「Kabai-san, are all the bandits the ones we defeated?」
「No, there are others. But they won’t be back for a few days」

The bandits are still going about their bandit activities outside of the forest, and there are still bandits who have gone to raid villages.

「Then we’d better get out of here before they do. Can you guys walk?」
「We’re fine. We’ll do our best to get back to the village」

We left the cave and went outside. Outside, the sun had begun to rise and it was beginning to get brighter.

Author-san

The names of the magic are based on a game that is no longer in service.
It’s a game with a lot of emotional attachment that ended about 5 years ago at this time.
If any of the magic names ring a bell, maybe we are on the same side!

I wonder if it will ever come back……

Thank you for reading.