Chapter 231
Chapter 231
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 231
Chapter Title: Not by Chance: Fellow Travelers (1)
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A stealthy approach that no one noticed. The bandit leader died a pathetic death because of it.
The ten bandits who had been guarding their leader were fiercely loyal. They genuinely grieved and raged at his death, baring their teeth at Willes.
Even though the odds were against them.
Willes casually lifted the panicked female hostage and pulled her behind him, then raised his short dagger—about twenty centimeters long—into a fighting stance.
Thud thud thud—!!!
"......!!!"
The moment everyone's attention was fixed on Willes, Oliver poured a hefty dose of mana into his tonfa and hurled it with all his might.
Surprisingly, even with a bit of skill in compressing the mana, the tonfa pierced through three and then two bandits apiece.
Like cannonballs... The five bandits hit by the tonfa were reduced to mangled lumps of meat, halving the remaining enemy forces.
"You bastard!!"
One gutsy bandit, far from cowed, charged at Oliver to avenge his comrades.
Oliver tried to yank him back with the mana thread he'd attached to the tonfa for a counterattack, but another bandit armed with a longsword sliced through the thread.
It had the strength of a steel chain without the weight, yet the bandit was apparently a skilled mana user.
Left empty-handed, Oliver pointed his index and middle fingers like a gun barrel at the approaching bandit, naturally compressed his mana, and fired.
Pew—!
The compressed mana shot out with a gunshot-like crack, blowing the bandit's head clean off. Now the survivors turned their fangs on Oliver.
But that was a grave mistake.
Turning their backs on Willes, who had raided Landa Prison.
The instant the bandits showed an opening, he carved through them with his dagger.
They fell too quickly to even scream.
At the sight, the passengers who had fled the train halted their frantic escape, staring at Oliver and Willes in dazed disbelief.
As if they couldn't believe their eyes.
With the bandit gang wiped out in seconds, the tense atmosphere of fear and confusion dissolved, replaced by a refreshing breeze laced with hollow relief.
Everyone stood frozen, unsure how to react, when Oliver strode up to Willes and bowed his head.
"Thank you for the help, sir."
There was no special reason for the greeting. He was genuinely grateful, and it was nice to see him again.
Willes wore a leather mask and blended in among the passengers, suggesting he needed to hide his identity. So Oliver planned to play it cool with just a polite nod, without drawing attention.
Willes stared at Oliver, then glanced at the woman who had been held hostage behind him. She was trembling in her family's arms.
Then he turned back to Oliver.
"......With a hostage right there, what were you thinking, throwing that tonfa?"
***
Oliver couldn't answer and just looked at Willes. He was furious. Extremely so.
"I asked what you were thinking, throwing that tonfa with a hostage there."
Oliver eyed Willes's emotional state and the hand gripping the dagger.
He was angry, but not about to attack Oliver. Still, it was clear he was only holding back out of necessity—deep down, he wanted to hurt him.
'On some kind of mission?'
"Hey, I'll ask one last time. What were you thinking, throwing that tonfa with a hostage there?"
"Ah...... I'm sorry. I got distracted for a moment. To be precise, I was aiming for the guy holding the hostage."
"And if you hit the hostage?"
"Well...... I'd be sorry and regret it, of course?"
At that, Willes's emotions—restrained only by sheer patience—surged, his eyes flashing with clear killing intent toward Oliver.
His rationality hung by a thread.
As Oliver prepared to back away and defend himself if needed, someone timidly interjected.
"S-Sir......?"
A voice thick with fear. Oliver and Willes turned. A middle-aged man stood there.
The kind of middle-aged man you could see anywhere.
'Where have I seen him...... Ah.'
He was the one Oliver had instinctively saved from the double-bladed axe bandit earlier.
"Ah, you're from the same carriage."
"Yes! ......Yes! From earlier...... Thank you so much for helping. You're our family's savior."
He pointed to his family in the distance: a middle-aged woman, a boy, and a girl.
Oliver looked at him again.
Still pale with fear, wiping cold sweat as he bowed to Oliver.
He seemed uncomfortable under Oliver's gaze, but his emotional state was intriguing, so Oliver couldn't help staring.
The man feared and disliked Oliver. Yet he also felt genuine gratitude.
The conflicting emotions clashed within him like beasts devouring each other. Forcing down his fear, the middle-aged man approached Oliver to express his thanks.
Even though he clearly wanted to bolt.
"......If it's all right, may I ask your name?"
Oliver placed a hand over his heart and gave a slight bow, the polite gesture he'd learned from the waitstaff at Angel's House. It looked perfectly natural—enough for a stranger to mistake him for nobility.
"Ah...... Cliff. Cliff Lira."
"Thank you for telling me, Mr. Cliff. And thank you for the greeting."
For a moment, Cliff softened at Oliver's kind response. Despite his sleeves and pant hems being soaked in blood.
Cliff relaxed a fraction, gave one last thank-you, and returned to his family.
Oliver watched him briefly, then turned back to Willes.
He'd wanted to clear up the misunderstanding, but Willes was already walking away.
Suppressing his ill feelings toward Oliver with effort.
Without thinking, Oliver called out to him. He wasn't sure why. Was it curiosity about why he'd gotten so angry earlier? Lately, even Oliver struggled to understand his own emotions. Or maybe he was only now starting to care.
Either way...
"Excuse me, sir......"
"Why are you stopping me?"
Willes paused and asked.
"I thought we should finish our conversation?"
"What conversation?"
"You know...... What were we just talking about?"
As Willes ignored him and resumed walking, a heavy rumble of engines approached from afar, accompanied by about fifty people.
The ominous sound sent some fleeing passengers scrambling back into the train.
Willes tightened his grip on his dagger and assumed a combat stance, but Oliver raised a hand to stop him.
"They're not enemies, so no need."
"Not enemies?"
"Yes."
His words were quickly proven true. The fifty or so approaching figures came into view.
Kingdom troops stationed near the train.
'......Ah, but they might be more dangerous to Willes?'
Oliver realized a bit too late.
***
"My God...... His head's cracked open like an egg."
"Oh, shut up. I had eggs for breakfast."
The kingdom soldiers, alerted by the rescue flare, pulled bodies from the train.
Every corpse was gruesome.
Some had heads split like eggs with contents spilling out—just as the soldier had quipped—others had holes in their chests or guts ripped open.
Oliver belatedly examined the bandits he'd killed and checked his makeshift weapon.
"Hmm...... Come to think of it, the ends are way too sharp. Overkill."
It reminded him of his first time swinging a sword.
He hadn't noticed in the heat of the moment, but the tonfa's lethality was excessive. Especially compared to a quarterstaff.
He hadn't realized when the corpse puppet Duncan used it, but wielding it himself revealed the flaw.
'Maybe if I blunted the ends?'
"All clear, sir."
Captain Evan, who had led the fifty soldiers, checked Oliver's Magic Tower employee ID and letter of verification, then handed them back.
With his sharp eyes, he genuinely scrutinized the documents rather than just pretending.
"The bandits are dead—will I be punished for it?"
Oliver suddenly remembered this wasn't Landa, and he wasn't fixer Dave Wright but Magic Tower employee Xenon Bright.
"No need to worry. Those dead scum were filthy Northmen bandits. Far from punishment, you deserve a commendation."
His voice dripped contempt and loathing for the Northmen, but he spoke kindly to Oliver.
A treatment Oliver wasn't used to. He soon learned why.
"Your letter lists Kevin Dunbar as your employer. The Magic Tower's elementalist Kevin Dunbar, right?"
"Yes...... Do you know the professor?"
"Of course. Fought alongside him on the same battlefield two or three times and got his help. Nice to meet one of his people."
His feelings were sincere. He held genuine fondness and respect for Kevin.
"Knowing the professor makes me all the happier."
"How's the colonel doing?"
Colonel. Probably Kevin's rank during his military service.
"Not sure if he's 'well,' but he's tough as ever."
"That's a relief, then."
From Captain Evan's respectful tone, Oliver caught a glimpse of Kevin's life and character.
"Captain. We've confirmed this man's identity. Seems like a legitimate passenger. But we should take him in for more details."
The kingdom soldiers Evan had brought surrounded the masked Willes.
He'd killed fewer than Oliver, but from overhearing the soldiers, it seemed his Northmen origins were the issue. Hmm...
"......Captain Evan."
"Yes, sir."
"He's the fixer I hired for my Magic Tower mission. How could I go without him?"
The captain raised a hand, halting his men who were dragging Willes away.
"A fixer?"
"Yes. Can't go into details, but I heard this area was rough, so I hired him for protection."
"......For protection? You seem pretty capable yourself, sir."
"They just got lucky."
"The Tash Bandits are the biggest headache lately. There was a thirty-million-Landa bounty on their leader's head last week...... And you say he's a fixer?"
"Yes."
"......Let him go."
The captain granted Oliver's request. One subordinate voiced concerns, but Evan didn't waver.
"If the Magic Tower complains, you wanna take the heat?"
That settled it. After releasing Willes, Captain Evan gave Oliver some advice—like heading straight to the inn he'd mentioned upon arrival, washing up, and changing out of his bloodied clothes.
"Your current look screams 'protector of citizens,' but to someone without context, you might scare them half to death."
"Ah, fair point...... Thanks for the advice."
Oliver replied and boarded the train with Willes. Captain Evan had one last question.
"Oh, right...... What about the bounty on this guy?"
Evan pointed to the Tash bandit leader, his face pierced through.
"Won't take long, but if you want paid now, come with us and fill out some paperwork."
"Hmm...... What if I just go?"
"It'll take time, but we'll arrange for you to collect through the Magic Tower."
"Could you do that?"
"Of course."
"Thank you. You're very kind."
"Thank you. Thanks to you, the damage was minimized. My thanks."
With that, Oliver and Captain Evan parted ways. They might never meet again after this brief encounter, but it had been a pleasant one.
"Hey."
As the afterglow faded, Willes—standing beside Oliver—spoke up.
"Yes?"
"......Thanks for the help."
"Thank you too. For saving the hostage in my place. Since we've crossed paths like this, it's fate—care to sit together?"