CH 62

Chapter 62 : Bandits

Bandits she said…!?

Immediately, I search the surrounding area using the method Celine had taught me.

I released mana from my body and spread it thinly and widely.

Thinly… and widely….

Mmmmmmm…..

ーーFound them!

I felt the presence of people chasing our carriage from left, right, and behind.

I hurriedly looked through the small window of the carriage and saw three men riding horses in the distance.

It seems that they are gradually approaching us.

「Oji-san! There are three men riding horses surrounding our carriage!」(Mark)

「…..!? Roger that!」(Gauche)

Gauche oji-san’s friendly expression suddenly turned into a serious one.

He sped up the horse right away without checking the surroundings.

「Uwa!? Dad!?」(Delica)

Delica raised a voice because the carriage suddenly shook violently.

「Mark’s maybe right. I smell trouble too! I’m speeding up the horse!」(Gauche)

I looked through the window again and saw the men were also speeding up their horses.

They were clearly aiming for this carriage.

Above all, I’m totally sure that they are bandits since they are holding swords.

「They are holding swords! They are bandits for sure!」(Mark)

「Dammit!」(Gauche)

Gauche oji-san desperately sped up the horse but the speed didn’t change.

Looks like it’s only a matter of time before they catch up with us.

「Mark! I’ll separate the carriage from the horse. I’ll be the decoy and stay with the carriage, and you guys run away with the horse! Delica can ride a horse, so she can take you and Nicola to the town! They’re aiming for the carriage after all, not the horse.」(Gauche)

「But, Dad!」(Delica)

Delica shouted at her dad with teary eyes.

「Don’t worry! We got thick timbers in the carriage for me to use as a weapon! You know how strong I am, right? Bandits are nothing to me! Gaahaha!」(Gauche)

Gauche oji-san glanced at several thick timber in the corner of the carriage and laughed.

Perhaps, he laughed so that Delica wouldn’t worry.

Howeverー

「Oji-san, wait a minute. You don’t have to sacrifice yourself.」(Mark)

Honestly, I’m a little scared because the enemies are humans, but I spoke as calmly as possible so as not to worsen the atmosphere.

I looked at the bandits while thinking.

Bandits… Bandits… huh?

They are humans, but they don’t look much different from goblins and kobolds who attack people without thinking.

I was a little worried about how strong they were, but if Gauche oji-san was correct, they were probably just a bunch of beginners among bandits since they were staying at a road where people rarely pass like this.

Anyway, as long as I don’t panic, I think I can deal with them.

The problem is how I will deal with them.

I’m used to killing monsters, but there’s no way I can kill humans even though they are bad people.

However, at the same time I think killing people like them is not a bad thing.

I think it can’t be helped if I ended up killing them as a result of self-defense.

I don’t know why I can think like that.

Maybe I’m getting used to this world?

「Don’t worry guys, I’ll do something.」(Mark)

Again, I spoke as calmly as possible.

The quickest way is to make the ground into sand with earth magic to slow them down, but it’s difficult to do from the top of a running carriage.

Looks like the best way to do this is to aim their horses with stone bullets.

Some bullets might hit the bandits and seriously injure them.

No… since they will fall from the horses at high speed, they will end up seriously injured anyway, so let’s just do this.

While still watching them from the small window, I saw them suddenly increasing their speed.

They are still quite far, but I can now see their faces clearly.

A 30-years-old beard-faced old man grinned and raised his sword with one hand.

He made a face of a villain who oppresses weak people.

Such an unpleasant face to look at…

The moment I saw his face, I lost all my sympathy.

I don’t care at all if they will get seriously injured.

「Stone Bullet!」(Mark)

I don’t have to shout the skill’s name, but I just feel like doing it.

Nine stone bullets flew straight toward the bandit’s horse.

Do do do do doー!

They hit the horse’s chest and killed the horse.

The bandit lost his balance, fell onto the ground, and rolled vigorously.

Without confirming his condition, I looked at the other bandit.

I shot stone bullets at his horse when he was surprised, looking at his friend falling from his horse all of a sudden.

Just like before, the bullets hit the horse, and the bandit dove his face onto the ground.

Alright, one person left!

While I was dealing with two of his friends, the bandit who was left alone sped up his horse and caught up with our carriage.

He seemed to have prioritized stopping our carriage first.

I couldn’t see him through the window, so I jumped to the front of the carriage, right behind Gauche oji-san.

After he managed to approach us about 5 meters away, the bandit shouted at Gauche oji-san.

「Oi! Stop there!」(bandit)

The bandit was shouting while swinging his sword around, but Gauche oji-san ignored him and focused only on speeding up our carriage.

Of course I don’t have the intention to listen to him either.

Immediately, I shot stone bullets at his horse.

Right before he fell, he made a face like “Eh?”, and then slammed onto the ground just like the other two.

After watching the bandit rolling on the ground, I immediately released and spread my mana to search if there were other bandits chasing us.

But apparently, we are good for now.

「…Fiuhh~」(Mark)

I let out a sigh of relief.

My heart was beating so fast.

I tried not to panic, but it looks like I was quite nervous.

「There are no other bandits. We are safe now.」(Mark)

「Really? That’s great! But I’ll run the horse at this speed a little longer just in case.」(Gauche)

Gauche oji-san wiped the sweat off his forehead and glanced at Delica.

Seeing him sending his gaze toward his daughter, I also looked at Delica who was trembling, sitting on the carriage seat while holding hands with Nicola.

She must have been scared.

『Nicola, thank you. I don’t think I can deal with them quickly if you didn’t tell me.』(Mark)

『No problem. Onii-chan too, good job! But more importantly, I’m worried about Boss.』(Nicola)

Delica was still closing her eyes while holding Nicola’s hand.

First of all, I think I should calm Delica first.

Thinking so, I stepped closer to her, but then she suddenly raised her face, looked at me, and made a bossy pose.

「A-As I expected from my subordinate! W-Well done, Mark!」(Delica)

Her face was tense and her voice was quivering, but I could tell that she didn’t want to make us worry.

「Ou! I can’t let my boss down after all!」(Mark)

「Haha…」(Delica)

Delica awkwardly laughed, but then she nodded in satisfaction.