An Honest Mistake
Before long, the bandits and the first-year cadets of Innocence Academy clashed. The clashing of metal echoed from all directions, accompanied by the whistling of magic flying through the air. The bandit group was large enough to raid a carriage caravan. However, it was truly a pity that not a single one among their vast numbers recognized the academy's uniform.
Their charge was a mindless, furious rush. The cadets casually absorbed the bandits' raging wave. The difference in their skill levels was staggering. It was a simple matter. Innocence Academy, where the continent's most talented youths gathered, boasted a fierce competition rate. Every single cadet was practically a superhuman compared to ordinary people. Thus, no matter how many there were, a mere band of bandits stood absolutely no chance.
Slash.
"...I'm still half-asleep."
After slicing the throat of a bandit rushing toward me, I muttered those words for no particular reason.
Sierra, who was watching me from the air, let her voice trail off. While it was true that I was still a bit drowsy, capturing enemies alive with a single sword in a large-scale battle like this was incredibly tedious. So, I was simply cutting down whoever appeared in front of me.
Edward's request to capture them alive was solely to avoid forcing the cadets to commit murder. In reality, leaving villains alive was completely contrary to Edward's style. Since there was an experience point penalty due to the level gap, killing a lot of them wouldn't yield much EXP anyway. And above all...
"...Chain."
In the distance, I could see Yuri, her crimson hair fluttering as she bound a bandit with chains. For some, this was their first real combat against humans without any protective gear, making it a crucial learning experience.
Boom!
Suddenly, a deafening roar erupted from up ahead. I turned my head to see a cluster of bandits launched high into the air.
Cr-cracklet!
Immediately after, a bolt of lightning surged.
"My magic went astray, Instructor," Eisel said in a nonchalant voice, looking at Edward.
Edward, who had been darting around the battlefield to assist cadets about to be hit by dangerous attacks, turned to look at Eisel and smirked.
"For Cadet Eisel to make a mistake... you must not be feeling well today."
"Yes, well..."
Eisel, responding listlessly to Edward's sly remark, locked eyes with me. Well, to be precise, it wasn't so much locking eyes as the two of us turning our heads toward each other.
"..."
"..."
"He clearly said it would be better to capture them alive..."
Yuri, who had been watching this from afar, muttered under her breath.
"...I told you, it was a mistake," Eisel muttered, turning her head away.
Sierra clicked her tongue and grumbled, asking what on earth we were doing in a life-or-death battle. She wasn't wrong. At any rate, the cadets were dealing with the bandits in their own ways.
Suddenly, from among the crowd of bandits, an exceptionally tall and muscular woman pointed at me and shouted,
"That guy with the bandages over his eyes is mine! Don't touch him!"
...For some reason, I seemed to have become the target of the one who was clearly their leader.
"A handsome blind man... I'll make sure to keep you as my personal toy! Hehehe!"
Just as the leader spewed those words and rushed toward me with a sinister laugh, my Ki Sense picked up the ominous creaking of Eisel's head slowly turning toward her.
Suddenly, flames erupted from beneath the rushing leader's feet, and a massive pillar of fire surged violently upward.
"Aaaaargh!"
The leader's entire body was instantly engulfed in flames, and she shrieked in agony. This was... Yuri Clementine's primary spell, Fire Pillar.
The agonizing screams of the thrashing bandit leader echoed through the forest. I had heard that being burned alive was an excruciatingly painful way to die.
With her index finger pointed toward the sky, Yuri stared at the pillar of fire, her eyes blazing as if they were made of fire themselves. Eventually, the massive pillar of fire that had erupted amidst the enemies subsided with a low hiss, but only after the leader had been reduced to nothing but ash.
The bandits stared at the pile of ash that used to be their leader, utterly paralyzed with horror. Their hands trembling violently, they began to drop their weapons one by one. Faced with such overwhelming power, the bandits' morale shattered in an instant.
"..."
Yuri looked at me in silence. Her eyes held mine without a single tremor. I didn't know what she was thinking as she stared at me, but she showed absolutely no shock or remorse over taking a human life for the first time.
Eisel walked over to Yuri and spoke.
"I suppose that was a mistake too?"
"...Yeah. I made a mistake."
Yuri shrugged, looking away as if conceding defeat.
Still, that was incredibly powerful...
She had her ancestral bracer, which she had obtained from the armory and could be considered her signature weapon, as well as the Red Dragon's Orb. Although she probably hadn't figured out how to use the orb properly yet, I had no doubt she would master its power in no time.
Though there will be side effects...
After all, red dragons were closely associated with 'wrath' among all dragon kind. Still, her growth was impressive. Even among the members of the Four Element Families, Yuri possessed exceptional potential. If she could just achieve inner growth, she would be perfect, but she seemed to lack the right catalyst for that at the moment.
Having lost their leader, the bandits' organization quickly collapsed. As the battle drew to a close, I slowly scanned our surroundings. Roughly speaking, it seemed we had killed half of them and successfully captured the other half.
Surprisingly, the one who captured the most bandits was Amon. His earth prison, which bound the targets' bodies with chunks of earth, was highly effective at restraining multiple enemies at once. I won't bother mentioning who killed the most. Her face was still rigid, looking as though her anger hadn't subsided in the slightest.
The instructors took charge of the aftermath, which involved disposing of the bandits' corpses and handing the prisoners over to the nearby city's guard. Reina, looking thoroughly annoyed as if she had lost yet another game of rock-paper-scissors, mounted her horse and immediately set off to summon the guards.
While waiting in the forest, the cadets gathered around campfires they had lit here and there, chatting and boasting about their exploits. When I checked on Lucia, she was still fast asleep in the carriage. Despite how noisy it must have been, she was sleeping soundly without even tossing or turning.
In many ways, it was probably for the best that she hadn't woken up. If she had witnessed blood splattering everywhere and a person being burned alive, she might have fainted on the spot. Sitting by the campfire, I fed Shady his 'food' while organizing the events that would unfold in the near future.
The first event went smoothly...
Many things would happen during our stay in the desert, but the one I looked forward to the most was the Ancient Ruins. I would probably have to visit them at night...
...Will I even be allowed inside?
Since it was a location never implemented in the game, anything could happen. It was best to be fully prepared.
"And... the Outworlders we're going to hunt are extremely dangerous creatures...!" Lucia said, her eyes bright and clear.
She was talking about the Outworlders, monsters that only appeared in the desert. Our destination was Delgrad, a beautiful city built around a massive oasis in the desert. It was also Lucia's hometown. The Windless family, which ruled the city, was her family.
Outside the window, a desert of endless golden sand stretched out. The carriages carrying the cadets were now traversing the desert. Lucia, eager to share everything she knew with those of us who had never set foot in a desert, continued talking in an excited voice.
"Outworlders emerge through dimensional rifts called Gates. By nature, they have a strong urge to harm humans. They're very bad creatures...! But don't worry. Fufufu... in Delgrad, we have powerful warriors who specialize in fighting Outworlders!"
"Oh... What do these Outworlders look like? Is there any monster that looks similar to them?" Amon, who was sitting next to Lucia, asked.
Even though they were both from the Four Element Families, they had never held a gathering in the desert, so neither Yuri nor Amon had ever been to one.
"Hmm..."
Lucia groaned at Amon's question. It was a surprisingly difficult question to answer. After her lips twitched for a moment, she finally spoke.
"Well, they're like... 'machines' with scrap metal stuck all over them... and, um... they make a sort of *vroom-vroom* sound..."
"...Are you sure those are monsters?" Yuri questioned, skeptical of Lucia's bizarre description.
Indeed, explaining robots or mechanics in a fantasy world was no easy task. By 'vroom-vroom,' does she mean the sound of an engine?
Eisel, who had been staring out the window, rescued Lucia from her awkward struggle to explain.
"I suppose you mean those things over there."
At Eisel's nonchalant remark as she pointed outside, everyone's eyes turned toward the carriage window. Of course, it would have been strange for me to look out the window as well, so I remained still.
"...To call them monsters..."
"...They look incredibly strange."
Those observing the Outworlders muttered one after another.
"B-but... it looks like that thing is running toward our carriage...?!"
"It seems so," Eisel replied indifferently to Lucia's panicked voice.
Lucia began pounding on the wall separating them from the driver, asking if they shouldn't stop the carriage immediately.
"Please stop the carriage... Ugh..." Lucia made a tearful face as she repeatedly banged on the wall.
There was no need for that. My Ki Sense picked up the presence of someone rapidly approaching across the desert, heading straight toward the Outworlder. The driver, who had a better view of the outside, also seemed to be aware of the situation.
Suddenly, from the side opposite the Outworlder, something kicked up a cloud of sand, dashed toward our carriage, and leaped into the air.
Thud.
The carriage shook slightly as that "something" stepped on the roof and leaped over.
Everyone inside the carriage looked up at the ceiling before turning their gaze back toward the Outworlder. A woman wrapped in robes was visible, carrying a massive, broad greatsword on her back.
"I-Ishmeel...?" Lucia, recognizing her, cried out.
She was one of the warriors specializing in hunting Outworlders that Lucia had mentioned earlier, and a veteran warrior who would teach the cadets how to hunt them during this field trip. It's been a while. She was one of the key figures in this episode. And...
Sierra, who was clinging to my shoulder, gasped in surprise upon hearing her name. She was also Sierra's old friend.