27 Episode 26: Bandits and Group Battles

The day of the bandit hunt arrived.

Besides me, there were two E rankers, two D rankers, one C ranker, and one B ranker. That's six people.

Two of us were wizards, and the rest were warriors.

Considering the scale of the damage, the bandits numbered between 30 and 50.

The number of bandits here is much smaller than that of the enemy, but I heard somewhere that D-rank and above are the most elite of adventurers, let alone E rank. I think it was in a tavern.

But was the ratio of adventurers like this? I don't know, but I think there should be more adventurers in the lower ranks, considering the number of requests.

At any rate, we gathered and sat down at a large round table on the second floor for introductions and a strategy meeting to ascertain our strength. The head of the branch seemed to have a policy of leaving things to the adventurers, so he said to the wizard, "Take care of the rest," and went away.

I'm Rixe, a D-rank one-handed swordsman. I have a short reach, but I have a shield.

He showed me his sword. The blade is about 40cm long, which is short for this world.

The shield is a round shield, but it looks bigger and stronger than mine.

Well, I don't need a shield, but I can use magic armor, and there's a good chance that I won't need a sword with a wand function once it's finished, so I'm not looking for that much protection.

Anyway, this is how I introduce myself.

I'm not going to tell you what my favorite food is, but rather what magic I can use and what my strengths and weaknesses are in combat.

I will introduce myself in the order of the people sitting at the table.

There was an E-ranked two-handed swordsman, an E-ranked one-handed swordsman with a slightly larger weapon and a smaller shield than Rixe, and finally it was my turn.

I'm Kaede, an E rank magic swordsman. I'm an E rank magic swordsman, Kaede. I have a fairly fast rate of fire and a large number of bullets, so I think I have the ability to dominate. I'm looking forward to working with you.

I will show you my sword, shield, and staff.

A man who looked like a wizard, but had not yet introduced himself, made a comment.

He is a lightly dressed man with a staff about his height.

"Wait a minute, what's a mage? I've never heard of one.

A mage is a swordsman who uses magic. He can use magic while attacking with his sword or repelling attacks with his shield, so he uses both.

I don't think you can use magic while swinging a sword, but you're fighting with that weapon.　I can't even use it while running. ......

I'm not sure if that's how it usually works.

It's a good idea to have a good idea of what you're looking for.

I'm not sure what to make of it.

I'm sorry if I'm being rude, but when I appraised it, it had almost 40 MP. On top of that, it has three attributes, fire, water, and wind, and it also has magical qualities. It seems that even a pretty good wizard has this level.

If you think about it, even 40 can fire 80 rock spears. If you hit them, you can kill 80 people by yourself.

Compared to a warrior who has to get close to the enemy and hit them with his sword, a magician who only has to pass through the line of fire is not so inferior.

Oops, I didn't introduce myself yet. I'm a B rank wizard, Magus. The speed of magic is rather fast, reciting time is a little over two seconds with a rock spear or fireball. I'll be your leader this time.

He's a B-rank wizard who can use wind and fire, which means he'll need 20 of these guys to defeat the Metal Lizard.

I wonder if the reciting time refers to the firing speed. It's usually said to be 3 seconds, so it must be excellent.

After that, the other people introduced themselves. The other wizard seemed to be of D rank, and the rest were all warriors.

There were swords of all sizes, but no spearmen. I've seen them in the blacksmith's shop, so it's not as if they're not being used.

After the introductions, Mr. Magus stood up. I haven't heard the plan yet, but are we leaving?

Now that the introductions are over, I still don't understand how Kaede fights, can you show me in the training area?

I don't mind, but ......

I don't want to stand out for nothing.

I don't want to show off unnecessarily, but it would be a problem if something happened to me when I fought with people who didn't know what I was capable of. This is the way I need to stand out.

The training ground was close to the guild. It was high and covered by a wall that looked sturdy, but not as sturdy as the outer wall.

Just swing your sword as far as you can and fire off two spells in a row. Just use spells that don't consume too much energy so they don't affect you later.

So you activate the shotgun spell while swinging your sword. It consumes five magic power and fires twice a second, so it's easy.

Is it like this?

I'm sure you'll be happy to know that I'm not the only one who has a problem with this.

Yes, it's like this. I'm not sure if this is a good idea or not, but it's a good idea.

It's still too fast. I'm not going to save and fight, and I'm not going to hide.

How are your defenses and magic power?

When the battle begins, I deploy defensive magic all over my body. After that, depending on the situation, I protect only the vital points and replenish the defenses that have been breached when there is no need to attack. Since you can use healing magic, you can manage some injuries. Also, the magic power can last for 10 or 20 minutes of continuous shooting.

I'm not sure what to make of that. I'm not sure what to make of this.　I'm not sure I'd be confident as a wizard, but there's no doubt that I can be an asset. Can you be a vanguard?

Vanguard. It's scary to be in the front, but I guess it's expected of me. Let's give it our best shot.

I'm afraid of ......, so I'm going to shove more magic into the armor on my face. You can't afford to get killed by a headshot.

"Yes, I'm going vanguard.

"Okay, I've got a plan. The vanguard is Kaede and .......

In the end, I was in the vanguard with a C-ranked warrior, and Majis was behind us as the main party.

The remaining two D-ranked and two E-ranked warriors became the sub-parties to guard the back entrance, about 100 meters away from the entrance, from a distance.

The specific plan was for me and the swordsman to kill the guards by surprise, Magus to surprise the guards at the back entrance at the same time, and then the sub-parties to set the back entrance on fire to seal it off, and after Magus joined us, the entire main party to attack.

There was a high possibility that the raid would be detected early, but they decided to go ahead with this plan since it would allow them to fight an enduring battle.

By the way, there is no problem of smoke. It has been used for a long time, but there has never been such a problem.

The warrior said that I would take the lead as a scout while the defensive spell was working, and the warrior would catch up with me when the battle started.

As we were moving along talking about this, we arrived near the hideout.

As for the exact path, it seemed that Magus had gone to check it out with the guild members yesterday, so we didn't have to look around for it.

As planned, everyone is in place. They didn't seem to have noticed us at this stage.

When the signal was given, I generated four ordinary rock spears and hit the two guards in the face and the center of gravity respectively.

The spears hit well, and the guards fell without making too much noise.

The other side seems to be doing well, too, and Mr. Magis comes running quickly.

It's obvious that he's running fast. He must be using some kind of magic.

In no time at all, Mr. Magus has arrived. I take the lead and enter.

I've created a large number of rock spears, slightly smaller than usual, for the first shot.

If any bandits come out, I'm going to beehive the first one with this. It doesn't matter if they have armor or not, as long as they are large enough. If it doesn't penetrate, it will just blow them up.

It's important to have a strong magic ready when you have time. The best weapon is the one that can kill you the moment you encounter it.

Mark bandits with information manipulation analysis just in case, and keep five rock spears in stock. You don't want to get any civilians in trouble.

I thought I saw Mr. Magus' eyes widen, but it was too late.

About 30 seconds after I entered, the first bandits appeared. The three of them seemed to be talking about something.

I presented them with rock shotguns, which I had prepared, and all of them seemed to have been hit hard and died.

I quickly prepared the next spear and moved on. The two men behind me seemed to be following me.

The cave was winding, but it was a straight path up to here. For the number of people we were expecting, we hadn't encountered many people so far. ......

And there's a door. I can hear laughter from inside. Is this the main part?

The people behind me seem to have followed me breathlessly, and in ten seconds I'll use my magic to break down the door and charge in.

I fire off a volley of spells to keep them out, and then the warrior charges. Mr. Magus will cover in the back.

There may be civilians in the area, but the plan is to basically wipe them out. We don't have time to worry about them.

I prepared four 200-round piles of rock projectiles, each about 15 cm in diameter, for a total of 800.

Behind me, I thought I saw Mr. Magis' eyes widen, but he didn't say anything.

Time to go. I shot 200 of the 800 spears at the door. Not exactly at the same time, but with a slight time lag.

With a roar the door blew open and the spears flew inside.

He jumped out and shot 200 rock spears at a wide angle to the left and right. The rock spears flew across the room.

The remaining 200 spears were shot in the front direction and the remaining two charged.

They were about to attack with their weapons, but something was wrong. It was quiet.

The room was about the size of a high school classroom.

The room is about the size of a high school classroom, but there's no sign of anyone still alive. They seem to have been wiped out.

I was somewhat disappointed, but I decided to go on. We defeated the remaining three bandits without much trouble, and came within sight of the fire.

I went back with Majis and met up with the sub-parties. We didn't find any civilians.

Is that it?　The end?　I didn't get a chance to fire my shotgun or use my magic armor. Well, I'd rather not have to use armor.