Chapter 9
Chapter 9
The first thought that crossed my mind was this.
Things were going too well.
"It's an ambush!!"
"Ambush!!"
I hurriedly placed the helmet I'd set aside onto my head and scanned my surroundings.
The merchant caravan's guards were startled, repeating the orders as they scrambled up, only to dive for cover as arrows flew in. The merchant staff were cowering here and there as arrows rained down in volleys. The mercenaries hired for protection were fumbling around, not knowing what to do.
It was a shitshow.
Well, it's not like I don't understand the situation.
Usually, a merchant caravan's guard force is basically just a bunch of thugs.
I don't mean they just extort money like gangsters, but their purpose is just to say, 'We're strong, so don't mess with us.' Besides, even the Explorers are only veterans in the Labyrinth; they aren't used to this kind of situation.
So, it was understandable that they were fumbling around like thugs when a real situation hit. The problem was, this was absolutely not the time to be understanding.
"Stick to the barricade-!"
Whether they came to their senses at my shout or it was just instinct, the mercenaries started sticking to the wagons. I turned my head to look at the merchant staff and shouted in a low voice.
"Get the horses to the back!"
"Pardon?"
"If the horses get hit by arrows now, we're all dead!"
The moment a horse gets hit by an arrow and starts thrashing, we'll be trampled to death by the horses, not the enemy. Realizing this, the coachmen quickly began leading the horses to the back with their heads bowed.
"Ugh."
In the midst of that, someone collapsed, likely hit by an arrow.
It was one of the Explorers.
The arrow was buried deep in his eye, much like Xiahou Dun, and Hera, who had been nocking an arrow, fired back in that direction.
Soon, screams were heard from over there as well.
A 1:1 trade, huh.
Even so, the situation wasn't great.
I scanned the surroundings and racked my brain.
I had to think, I had to think.
Arrows aren't infinite.
Judging by the frequency of the shots, the number of enemies isn't overwhelmingly high.
Even so, why did they launch a surprise attack like this?
Why did the ambush happen here?
Why did the wagon wheel break...
I moved after the rain of arrows paused for a moment.
It was when someone stirred during the lull.
"Aaaargh!"
I swung my hand axe to sever an arm, then kicked him away.
The mercenary who had been beaten up by Hera yesterday stumbled back, spraying blood. People's gazes focused on the sudden commotion, and I shouted.
"It's a traitor!"
"Fuck!"
Realizing they'd been caught, the guy's accomplices immediately latched onto the other mercenaries. Perhaps the pause in arrows was the signal, as enemies rushed in from the outside as well.
"Stop them from getting in-!"
I shouted and charged at the traitors.
Dealing with this side would make the next part easier.
The traitors seemed to know that too, as they clung even tighter to the other mercenaries, preventing me from swinging my weapon easily.
They aren't Explorers, so these regular mercenaries couldn't last long against me; two of them were incapacitated in an instant.
But even that much was fatal right now.
"It's breached!"
I turned my head.
One side of the entrance was breached while some were down and others were running away.
Hera's arrow flew toward it with a sharp whistling sound, but a single arrow wasn't enough.
The enemies pushed in forcefully, using the guy with the hole in his head as a shield.
It wasn't a great situation.
"Come in if you want to die!"
I left the remaining two to be beaten down and dealt with.
I threw a throwing axe to send another one to the afterlife and shouted.
Even though two had clearly died right in front of them, a situation that should have made them hesitate, the bandits only paused for a moment before continuing to push in.
What is driving these guys so hard?
The answer came quickly.
Swae-aek-!
"!!"
Teong-! An impact force that was hard to believe came from a regular arrow slammed into my shield.
I lowered my body to deflect the force, and when I peeked out, I caught a glimpse of something in the distance. Hera's counter-shot made a sound as if it had hit something as well.
"Fuck, there was something there."
I signaled to Hera and was getting into position to charge when the Merchant Guild Master shouted something from behind.
"Wait, wait! Why on earth are you attacking! Stop the attack!"
Like they'd listen to that?
"Let's talk about this!"
Talk about what, talk.
If they were the type to talk, they would've blocked the road and demanded money, not launched a night ambush like this. I wanted to rush out and wipe them all out, and if this were the Labyrinth, it would've been perfectly possible.
But this is the surface, and the Paladin's oath applies here.
It was impossible to just jump out and slaughter them all.
But in the meantime, the attack unexpectedly stopped.
An answer even came back from the other side.
I had no idea what kind of guy he was.
"What kind of talk?"
The voice was gloomy.
It was certainly not the voice of a mere mercenary.
"Do you need money, or how much do you need! If we give you a share of what you want, wouldn't that be a peaceful resolution!"
"Hmm."
"Let's solve this like civilized people!"
"There is one thing we need from you."
"What is it!"
Thinking there was hope, the Merchant Guild Master raised his tone even higher in response. The gloomy voice continued.
"Your heads."
Ha. I knew it.
"If you stab your own throats and commit suicide, I will not do anything worse out of courtesy. But if you continue to resist, your corpses will be torn apart and become food for the crows, your families will all become slaves, and your souls will never return to the heavens."
"W-what is that...!"
The guy robbing us is acting like such a drama queen.
Anyone would think he's a noble who came out to the battlefield.
When in reality, he's just a robber.
But I had a rough grasp of the situation. I finished sending the hand signal for Explorers with my hand hidden behind my back and spread my hand wide.
It was a signal to move, and the Explorers followed.
"Valtern-!"
Whether moving on their own or being cleared away by others.
The front was temporarily cleared.
Not missing that gap, I swung my axe low as if pulling it from the ground, and like a Lurker's attack, a formless force tore through the ground and surged up.
Not only the corpses but the wagons were smashed and sent flying. Debris scattered, and so did pieces of people.
And, the charge came one beat faster.
The black shadow rushed in before the debris floating in the air had even settled.
"Kuh!"
Puh-ung!
The impact I blocked by raising my left arm was too much, way too much. As I stumbled to the side, almost sent flying, the charge continued through, jumping over the wagon tongue and disappearing.
"Fu... cking hell, why is a knight here."
It was a Bandit Knight.
It's not like Paladin or Healer, where it's an established specific title, but if it's a knight who's robbing, he's a Bandit Knight.
"K-k-k... a knight... We're all going to die..."
"Shut your trap."
Originally, the plan was to use my power to break through and kill everyone, but if there was a knight, I had to revise the plan.
Because even if I caught the rest, if one knight survived, we could all be wiped out.
Watching the bandits pouring into the crushed barricade entrance with screams of "Waaaaah!", I put away my axe and picked up a longsword that had fallen on the ground.
I let out a breath.
I want to join the front where they are fighting fiercely and slaughter all the enemies, but I can't do that.
Because if I take my eyes off him for even a second, he'll charge in at a speed I can't respond to.
Blocking the first one was beginner's luck.
The second will be hard.
So I didn't move and calmed my heart.
That knight bastard must know it too.
That the deaths of the grunts fighting now don't matter, and that in the end, the outcome will be decided by the fight between him and me.
The sounds of the fight in front quieted down, and I couldn't even hear the voice of the Merchant Guild Master yelling from the side, "This is not the time for this!!"
As I focused to that extent...
I heard it.
Click-clack, the sound of horseshoes hitting the ground.
He was circling, stepping on the ground.
To look for where my opening was.
From a walk to a trot, to a canter, and then a gallop.
When the sound that was getting fiercely faster moved slightly away and then charged this way, I turned my body toward it.
Jumping over the wagon tongue, the lance charge rushed in again.
"Hee-eek!!"
As I jumped high to avoid the charging spear and swung my sword, the opponent also blocked the attack by matching swords with one hand. The knight jumped over the wagon tongue once more and disappeared.
"Hoo-huh..."
The Merchant Guild Master groaned at how I had dodged it.
I scanned the surroundings.
While I wasn't participating in the defense, the situation was slowly, albeit weakly, turning in our favor.
The arrows were no longer being fired, and the mercenaries had driven the enemies back.
It seemed we had gained the upper hand, perhaps because I had used Valtern's power once.
And that meant.
That side had no choice but to be impatient.
No matter if it was a fight between me and that guy, it would feel different if he saw all his subordinates die.
'Come on in.'
"Two-hander."
I dropped the dented shield in my left hand and held out my hand.
One of the merchant staff brought me a two-hander that had been lying on the ground.
The quality isn't good, but this is enough.
The opponent must have seen this too.
He must have understood that it was a sign to end it in the next clash.
I focused my mind again.
Walk, trot, canter... and gallop.
The sound of hoofbeats thundering away, then charging in fiercely.
In the darkness, a black shadow jumped over the wagon tongue and extended death.
Instead of dodging widely, I offered my left shoulder, twisted my whole body, and swung the two-hander.
The opponent seemed to have anticipated that and tried to block by clashing swords, but...
Swaek-!
"...!"
At that moment, an arrow flew toward the knight's head, tearing through the air.
The knight instinctively swatted the arrow away and realized his mistake.
But it was already too late.
The two-hander, swung up from under his arm, blew off his arm, and the line continued, burying itself into his waist.
While the horse bolted off on its own, the knight fell from the saddle.
"Ugh! Keuk... You bastard..."
"Shut your trap!"
No need for long words.
Instead of the two-hander that had been sent flying along with the knight, I pulled out an axe and buried it in his helmet, and the thief's mouth went quiet in an instant.
When I turned my head, the rest of the thieves were already running away. An arrow was stuck in the back of each of their heads before they stopped.
"Are you alrigh... Aaaah!"
"Are you okay? You crazy!!"
Hera, who had pushed the Merchant Guild Master aside and rushed over, saw my half-torn shoulder and immediately pulled out a potion from her waist and poured it on me. The pain of new flesh growing over me.
"Hey, fuck! Tell me before you do that!"
"Ah, sorry."
"That's amazing!! How did you... a knight..."
As I was clutching my shoulder, the Merchant Guild Master threw his body as if almost kneeling and praised me.
The surroundings I looked at while half-ignoring him were, well.
Corpses of bandits and mercenaries scattered everywhere.
About three merchant staff members dead.
Two wagons I had half-smashed, and human pieces.
Traces of a fierce battle and one Bandit Knight bastard who died with his head blown open in front of me.
"Ugh, fuck... They say leaving home means trouble."
More than anything else, that saying came to mind right now.
* * *
The rest of the journey was, well, smooth.
Actually, it wasn't smooth. Since so many people had died, there were many places left for the remaining people to fill.
But nothing special happened until we arrived in Arcanum, so we were able to arrive in Arcanum a little later than the expected time.
As for the battle results, I didn't take all the loot.
In this case, I decided to give up a little of the grunts' share.
It was because so many people had died, and I hadn't killed that many of the bandits myself.
Hera complained about taking the full share, but I told her to give up at least that much.
Instead, I took the entire share of the thief leader.
"The breastplate... it seems it will cost a bit to repair. There is a way for us to repair it on our end, but in that case, the purchase price will be lower."
"Lower it and buy it. The rest of the equipment as well."
"Just a moment. Then, if I calculate it..."
Usually, the most expensive thing knights possess is their warhorse.
But the warhorse that guy rode was nowhere to be found.
It seems it bolted like it was possessed by the soul of a Marine.
It seemed the knight's personal luggage was loaded on the warhorse, so there wasn't much luggage the knight had.
The most expensive thing among them was the breastplate.
I had made it not very pristine, but they still gave a decent price for it. The thigh armor he was wearing, the lance he was holding, the longsword, gauntlet, leather straps, chainmail, and other miscellaneous items... the secondary equipment also had a decent price.
When I settled the accounts, it came out to about 5 Gold Coins.
In other words, maybe that's all one knight is worth.
Of course, I hadn't calculated all the money or other miscellaneous items, precious metals, etc., that he had on him yet.
Anyway, I got a good price for it.
This isn't because I'm a High-level Explorer, but thanks to the Merchant Guild Master.
"Really, truly, thank you so much. If it weren't for Rian-nim, we would have all really died!"
Arcanum's general Armory was quite crowded, excluding us.
While other mercenaries or Explorers were going in to sell the equipment they had looted, the Merchant Guild Master held my hand and said, shedding tears sincerely.
"Things like that happen in life, you know."
"Really, truly sincerely..."
"I know what you mean. Either way, I'm glad it didn't become a bigger problem."
"Meeting a noble person like Rian-nim is a blessing in my life. I want to give you more, but since you won't accept it..."
"One should only receive a fair price."
I'd like to receive a lot of money, but this Paladin class stops me. This is the end result of being a performance-chaser. Hera was watching this with a pouty face, but she didn't say anything more. She knows the situation roughly too.
"Thank you. Thank you!"
"Yes, take care."
I bowed back to the Merchant Guild Master, who was bowing as if to hit his head, and after roughly patting the head of the Merchant Leader's son, who had made a bold proposal yesterday.
We left the place.
The way he kept looking at us even after we turned around, he seemed genuinely grateful.
"Ha~ seriously, at that level, you could have taken all his assets and it would have been fine."
"They have to make a living too."
"Hey, if we say that, we can't make a living. What are we, priests? Doing charity work?"
"I'm something similar to a priest, so it can't be helped. More than that, we've arrived, so think about it in advance."
"Think about what?"
"What do you mean, what."
What is the purpose of coming here.
We didn't come to earn daily wages by doing transportation work, and we didn't come to kill thieves and get loot.
"We need to think about what kind of Healer to bring."
"Ah, right."
"What do you mean 'ah, right'. We came to find party members."
I don't know if we'll be able to find a decent one, though.
Anyway, we had to find a Healer we could see as we went along.