Bleeding Service
‘This isn’t how it was supposed to go!’
Arrows. Far too many of them.
They rained down like a storm.
Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud!
A few were knocked aside with the blade, but the barrage never ended.
Just when it seemed to stop, the sound returned.
Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud!
Thud!
Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud!
Blocking and parrying only worked so many times.
Even when he dodged, the arrows curved after him and buried themselves somewhere in his body.
An Aura User’s body should have been tough enough that arrows wouldn’t pierce easily.
Yet these insane arrows sank in without resistance.
“Graaagh!”
Fingers flew off.
An arrow pinned his foot to the ground.
Arrows struck knees, wrists, thighs, and forearms without mercy.
“Kuh… What the hell is this…?”
In the end, he collapsed like a porcupine, arrows bristling from every inch of him.
He wasn’t dead yet.
A scrawny black-haired man approached and spoke.
“Hey. You. Want to surrender and become a slave?”
“Th-that’s…”
“Don’t worry about the slave imprint. I’m a specialist.”
The black-haired man’s offer.
Wrong place, wrong time.
Of all things, slavery.
But right now, he had no room to be picky.
Especially not against some third-rate slave-imprint mage.
The humiliation burned.
“I-if you’ll just spare my life, I’ll do anything…”
He lifted his head to look at the black-haired man.
That scrawny body was full of openings.
At this distance…
He could do it!
The man probably wanted to flaunt his power by turning an Aura User into a slave right in front of that pretty girl.
But that arrogance would cost him his life.
Gathering his last strength, he raised his sword.
That was the end.
Thud—
With that final sound, his consciousness cut out.
“Tch. I knew it would come to this.”
I clicked my tongue.
Shaking my head at the bandit leader’s corpse.
The rest of the bandits had fled the moment they saw their leader die.
No point chasing them, so I let them go.
I hadn’t taken any request from the village, and I had no desire to hunt people down just to kill them.
That was when it happened.
Your Hunter level has increased.
You have acquired 5 points.
‘I didn’t expect my Hunter level to rise.’
A laugh escaped me at the unexpected message.
What’s more, I’d even gained points, just like back in my Hunter days.
This could be very useful.
I wanted to test what the points could do, but now wasn’t the time.
Something else mattered more.
I dismissed the system messages and looked around.
‘First, I need to sort things out in the village.’
The damage was lighter than expected.
It seemed the bandits had been stopped before they could properly loot the place.
“I-is everyone alive? Gather up! They’ve all run off!”
Someone shouted.
Probably one of the village leaders stepping forward.
People began gathering one by one.
“The village chief…”
Someone spoke up.
The village chief was dead.
The mood in the village turned somber.
He must have been a decent chief.
Instead, a young man stepped forward.
He looked like the chief’s son.
“We need to treat the wounded first and assess the damage. Let’s move quickly!”
The young man calmly began organizing the situation.
Then he spotted me and bowed his head.
“Thank you so much. May I ask who you are…?”
I hesitated at his question.
I almost said “slave-trader mage,” but stopped.
No need to create unnecessary tension.
I hadn’t come here to turn the villagers into slaves anyway.
“I’m a mercenary. I saw the village being attacked while passing through… couldn’t just walk by.”
The young man bowed deeply.
Then he handed me a pouch of coins he’d gathered somewhere.
Fast worker.
As expected of the chief’s son.
He had the basics down.
“It’s not much, but please accept it. I wish I could give more, but given the circumstances… Please understand.”
The pouch felt light.
Honestly, it was cheap payment for dealing with an Aura User.
‘He didn’t need to go this far…’
A strange sigh escaped me.
Even in the middle of chaos, they still offered money to the strong while watching their expressions.
Seeing that made me feel soft.
Normally, asking for more wouldn’t have been unreasonable.
But because of my memories as a Hunter, these people looked pitiful.
So I asked for something else instead.
Pity was pity, but rights were rights.
“I can take the dead bandits’ belongings, right?”
“Of course! Those are your spoils, so we’ll gladly hand them over!”
The chief’s son answered without hesitation.
It was a natural request for a mercenary, so it felt natural.
But my real goal was different.
‘These look like they could be used as materials…’
With Inventor’s Insight active, various crafting recipes surfaced in my mind.
Especially the bandit leader’s sword, infused with Aura, seemed like excellent material.
“By the way, why was the village attacked? Do you know anything?”
The young man shook his head.
He didn’t seem to know either.
‘Something feels off…’
Ordinary bandits wouldn’t attack a small village with an Aura User in their ranks.
At this scale, they must have had another objective.
That was when Lena approached and whispered.
“Master… I mean, Theo-nim. This is strange.”
Her tone had grown slightly warmer, probably because of the fight against the Aura User.
But now wasn’t the time to dwell on that.
She seemed to share my thoughts.
“For now, I’d like to rest in the village. Is there an inn, or at least somewhere to stay?”
There probably wasn’t.
An inn during all this chaos?
But the answer was unexpected.
“It’s more like a private home… but there is an inn!”
Fortunately, one existed.
It seemed to have survived the attack.
‘I should rest while figuring out the situation. The remnants might come back.’
I wanted to rest.
This was the first village I’d found after sleeping outdoors.
And I’d even fought a battle.
Rest was desperately needed.
As we headed toward the inn, I looked around.
People were struggling to draw water from the well, one bucket at a time.
They needed a lot of water to treat the wounded and put out fires.
‘I wanted to rest…’
I was tired, but a little extra effort seemed acceptable.
Watching them strain to haul water made me feel sorry for them.
I picked up some weapons from the dead bandits and walked over to the well.
[Searching item crafting list.]
[Confirming usable materials.]
[Analyzing surrounding environment.]
[Suitable crafting blueprint found: Improved Hand-Pump Well.]
Just what I had in mind.
Looking closer at the hand-pump well, I could view its information.
Materials: Iron weapons (Intermediate or lower), Wood (Low-grade or higher)
Difficulty: Low
Feature: Manual water pump, up to 1,000L per hour
Estimated time: 10 minutes
Additional option: Can be enchanted
‘Hmm. Enchanting works on this too. Still, no need for that.’
Even everyday items could apparently be enchanted.
Probably something like durability reinforcement.
But I didn’t bother with enchanting.
It wasn’t what they needed right now.
[Crafting initiated.]
[Crafting process optimized.]
The bandits’ weapons floated into the air.
Rusted swords and spears broke apart and began reassembling into a new form.
Like puzzle pieces, the parts clicked together one by one until the desired shape appeared.
Improved Hand-Pump Well successfully crafted.
Inventor proficiency increased: 6% → 7%
‘This was easier than I thought…’
Back in my Hunter days, even a simple machine like this would have taken half a day.
The synergy between magic and crafting ability seemed stronger than expected.
“M-magic!”
“That’s magic?”
“Can’t you tell? It’s obviously magic.”
“But… isn’t magic supposed to shoot fireballs and turn people into frogs?”
“……Is it? Then what’s that?”
“Dunno. Magic?”
The villagers began murmuring as they watched what I’d made.
But the moment they saw the hand-pump well working, their eyes nearly popped out.
“H-hey! Look at this!”
“Water… Water’s coming out! Gushing!”
“Yeah! Gushing!”
The villagers were amazed.
They couldn’t hide their astonishment at being able to draw water so easily.
Some even knelt and prayed.
“Thank you! Mage-nim!”
“What are you all doing? Greet the mage properly!”
“Using your precious power for us… Thank you, truly!”
“Mom! Does that mean I don’t have to fetch water anymore? Huh?”
“No, that’s not how it works.”
An absurd conversation mixed in, but among the crowd, I noticed the children.
They were covered in soot from rolling around during the chaos.
Their runny noses bothered me too.
‘A bit cold, huh?’
The season of cold winds was approaching.
I could feel the weather turning.
Winter in this world was especially harsh.
A remote village would be even colder.
Let alone facing winter right after being attacked.
‘Tch. Bleeding service.’
Doing things for free didn’t suit me.
It hadn’t back when I was a Hunter either.
But seeing the children shivering and sniffling, I couldn’t just walk away.
I hadn’t rotted that much.
‘Something suitable…’
Scanning the crafting list, a fitting item came to mind.
Materials: Iron weapons (Low-grade or higher), Fireproof clay (Low-grade), Wood (Low-grade)
Difficulty: Low
Feature: 300% increased thermal efficiency, reduced smoke, chimney with open/close lid
Estimated time: 5 minutes
Additional option: Can be enchanted
I made several rocket stoves as well.
I added a lid to the chimney to improve heat radiation.
When I demonstrated the rocket stove, heat rose instantly.
“There’s a stove like this!”
“This is really…”
“Do people in the capital all use stoves like this?”
“How can we ever thank you enough…”
“If the mage hadn’t come to our village, we would’ve been in real trouble.”
“Hey! Don’t you have anything to give the mage? Go find something, quick!”
The villagers teared up at the rocket stoves, just like they had with the hand-pump well.
Both adults and children kept exclaiming in wonder.
Looking at their faces, they seemed to have forgotten, even briefly, the sorrow of being attacked by bandits.
‘Well, this should be enough.’
Excessive kindness becomes poison.
That was a lesson carved into my bones since my Hunter days.
Same here.
“Lena. Let’s go.”
“Ah, yes! Theo-nim!”
Somehow, Lena’s voice sounded firmer.
And the way she looked at me felt deeper somehow.
It bothered me in a strange way.