Ch. 126: Cleaning Up after Attack
Just because weapons were drawn didn’t mean a fight was going to break out right away.
It was since just because some bad looking men were in wait for them, didn’t mean they were bandits.
To Loren, it seemed fine to just attack them, but Klaus, weapon drawn, shouted to the men who appeared.
“Who are you people?”
There was no answer.
The men, who were probably bandits, readied their weapons and all charged at Loren and the company, as if not wanting to give them a chance to run away.
Loren scanned the area and saw that there were around twenty bandits, and with the only ones defending being Klaus and Layla, he didn’t think just the two would be able to intercept all of them.
“Are we going to have to step in to help?”
“I’m not sure.”
As Loren and Lapis were having a stale conversation, Klaus started running.
Loren had seen Klaus fight before and remembered his fighting style.
Of course, he remembered his speed and strength as well, but the speed that Klaus moved in was nothing like the speed he remembered.
“He’s faster than before.”
It was impossible to stop around twenty people with just two.
It was impossible even for Loren, and if he tried to fight near the villagers or the goods, there would be some sort of harm that could be done.
If he wanted to prevent that, he had to fight at a distance.
Which meant he had to fight up front.
“A few would still get past.”
After he muttered, Layla ran in a moment after Klaus ran off, her blonde hair rippling in the wind.
“Kill the men! Immobilize the women! It’s time to make bank! Let’s get them!”
Listening to the leader of the men, Loren was about to draw his great sword, but stopped.
Lapis cocked her head, confused, but Loren had his reasons.
“If I were running in, yeah, but if I start swinging this here the blood and flesh would splatter the goods.”
With the amount of force behind Loren’s blows, any human would easily be cut in half.
Loren didn’t think that was a bad thing, but with the goods containing ingredients and clothes, he knew it would be quite the problem if blood and body parts would be splattered on them.
“Hopefully Klaus and his party take care of all of them.”
Lapis nodded as she said so, which was what Loren wished as well, but as he thought that it would be impossible, Klaus reached the first enemy.
The bandit swung his thick axe with all his strength.
Against the blow that would’ve broken his sword if he blocked it, Klaus met it straight on with his sword.
The axe and sword met slammed into each other with a loud clang of steel meeting steel.
Usually the axe would come out on top, but Klaus’ blade deflected the axe.
Although it wasn’t enough to rip the axe from the bandit’s hand, it threw him off balance, and although he mustered his strength again for another blow, Klaus was a few times faster than he was.
A swift blow to the neck.
Instead of a slash, it was a straight pierce, and as soon as the blade went through the bandit’s neck, Klaus immediately pulled it out and dashed towards his next target.
Slipping through the swords swung at him, Klaus’ blade flashed left and right.
Almost immediately, blood spurted from the deep cuts that the sword made in the bandits’ necks.
The bandits stopped in their tracks as they saw Klaus take down their comrades with a single swing, so fast that the flying blood didn’t even hit him.
“They got scared. Idiots.”
The bandits’ response was so bad, the words slipped from Loren’s mouth.
It was because the only options they had was ignore their comrades facing Klaus and attack Rose and the villagers directly.
If they did so, they could’ve done some damage while Klaus dealt with one or two of them, and possibly distract him by attacking the people he was trying to protect and try to find an opening to defeat him.
But they flinched at the sight of their comrades dying and froze, so they couldn’t do that anymore either.
“Well, that makes it easier for us.”
Loren was supposed to do something about the bandits that got through Klaus, but with them freezing, the chances of that were reduced significantly.
If none of them got close to the supplies, Loren didn’t have to attack them and just leave it to Klaus and Layla, which made it easier for him.
Even while he was thinking, Klaus killed two more, and Layla, who had just met her first opponent, and killed him.
Although she wasn’t as fast as Klaus, Layla was quite skilled with the sword.
She seemed to have learned an orthodox swordsmanship, but she also had an air about her that she had honed her skills and techniques in actual battle, not just training.
Seeing another one of their comrades fall to Layla, as he had underestimated her since she was a girl, the bandits finally realized that the adventurers they were facing were no ordinary adventurers.
“Why are there veteran swordsmen in this group?”
The leader of the bandits shouted, but Loren felt a bit sorry for him.
Usually you wouldn’t expect a swordsman with a Gift and a knight.
It was very possible to overpower a few capable adventurers with sheer numbers.
“You’re out of your league, so just give up.”
“Don’t think we’ll just let you escape. If we let people like you go, you’d just attack someone else, so we’ll have to take care of you here and now.”
“Give me a break, damn it! Run!”
Unlike the army, it was difficult to manage bandits and expect high morale.
Klaus and Layla had already killed around half of them, and each bandit was scared that he would be next.
Once they lost the will to fight, it was as one would expect, with the bandits throwing their weapons away and running.
Klaus and Layla froze when they suddenly showed their backs.
It was because they wondered if they should attack someone from behind.
Klaus’ personality kept him from following, while Layla’s knowledge as a knight stopped her, but Loren could only think that their decision was naïve.
Since bandits weren’t worth anything even if they were kept alive, so although they were retreating, not attacking them was unthinkable, and Loren was itching to run out and attack them.
But he knew there was other reasons for not doing so, and that was because their jobs were to protect the supplies, but there was someone who moved as the bandits were fleeing.
“Scatter the sand, bring upon slumber! <<Sleep>>”
Ange raised her staff and chanted.
The spell took effect and the leader of the bandits fell, followed by the rest of them.
The other bandits who saw this froze again, which gave Klaus and Layla enough time to make up their minds and catch up, and they were either killed or tied up with rope.
“That was pretty anticlimactic.”
“I guess there was nothing for us to help with.”
The villagers cheered as Klaus and Layla returned, sheathing their weapons.
The cheers became even louder when Rose ran into Klaus’ arms and he caught her, while his party members didn’t look amused.
“As expected of you, Klaus.”
“No, it was just because our opponents were weak. And it wasn’t all me.”
“That may be true. So, let me thank you first. I was worried what would happen, but thanks to you we’re all safe.”
From her position, she wrapped her arms around Klaus’ waist, and when she squeezed, of course her chest pressed against his body, and he could feel the soft sensation over his leather armor.
Ange and the other girls glared at him, but the only thing Klaus could think of was the sensation of Rose in his arms and didn’t notice the threatening looks.
Impressed that they were still managed to function as a party, Loren walked over to the sleeping bandits.
“Are you looking for something?”
Lapis tagged along and asked him as he squatted next to one of the bandits and searched their armor and weapons.
“There’s a war going on near here, right? I was wondering if they were deserters or something.”
“Weren’t they a bit too weak to be soldiers?”
It may have seemed like that to Lapis, but from what Loren saw, it seemed more correct to say that Klaus was too strong for them.
Since Klaus was that strong, it made sense that he stopped the bandits in their tracks, and as a result, no harm came to Rose and her villagers.
“I guess they’re not. Kind of strange to say unfortunately, but they’re just bandits.”
Loren knew they weren’t mercenaries either.
If they had any measure of battle experience, they wouldn’t have stopped when they saw Klaus’ fight.
“Hey you! How long are you going to hug Klaus!”
“I-it’s indecent!”
“You too Klaus! Do something about your loose face!”
“Umm Loren? What should we do with the bandits that are still alive?”
“It’ll be troublesome if there’s more of them somewhere and they come to save them. I’ve no intention of taking them, so I guess I’ll just take care of them right here.”
Ange peeled Rose off Klaus, Roll pummeled him, and Layla’s fist cracked across his cheek.
As Rose’s eyes widened in shock, Layla grabbed the knocked down Klaus by the collar and dragged him off, while Ange and Roll stopped Rose from going after him with threatening looks, Loren took out the knife he used to carve materials, and kneeled down next to the sleeping bandits, unaware of their fates.