Braun, the swordsman, was thirty-eight years old. August, also a swordsman, was twenty-seven. Gordon, the spearman, was twenty-two. And Eric, known as "Jack of All Trades," was twenty-eight, a magician and archer. Eric didn't have much magical power, but he could use a variety of spells without any particular strengths or weaknesses, and he used a bow to conserve his magic. Although he wasn't particularly skilled at either, his presence was very convenient. That was his role.
They felt a bit responsible for the death of Reina's father, thinking that their careless approach might have been one of the reasons. In reality, it was an act of God, and they had no reason to feel responsible, but they were all the type of hunters who tended to be kind-hearted.
When they learned that Reina had no other family besides her deceased father and had never met any relatives during her nomadic merchant life, they consulted for a while and then asked Reina:
"Would you like to come with us?"
"Huh……"
For a ten-year-old girl to survive alone in this world was tough.
She could be sent to an orphanage, but that would only happen with great luck or connections. Otherwise, she would be used as unpaid labor somewhere, and if she got sick, she would be kicked out, or she would have to live as an orphan in the slums. For a girl with a good appearance, there was also the risk of being targeted by slave hunters, making it a dangerous life. In comparison, it would be much better to travel with hunters.
Reina, being the daughter of a merchant, had seen and heard many things during her travels and knew this much.
After thinking for a while, Reina replied:
"……Please."
The members of "The Red Lightning" dug a hole and buried Reina's father's body, then loaded the bodies of the defeated bandits onto Reina's father's carriage and headed for the city. Even just the heads would have been enough, but it was easier to claim the reward if they could transport the entire bodies.
The carriage and its load were to be sold in the city with Reina's consent. While a carriage was convenient for traveling on roads, it was useless in forests or mountainous areas and required a lot of maintenance and horse care. For C-rank or lower hunters, a carriage was nothing more than a money pit.
Of course, the money from selling the carriage would belong to Reina personally.
Thus, the ten-year-old Reina began to travel with "The Red Lightning."
Reina, who had been practicing useful magic for her travels with her father, could only use a few basic spells: a water spell to provide water for the horses and herself, an earth spell to prevent the carriage wheels from sinking into muddy roads, and a small fire spell to light firewood. She learned various spells from Eric, the "Jack of All Trades" magician, and with even less magical power than Eric, who was already at the bottom of the magician hierarchy, she steadily walked the path of becoming a "Jack of All Trades 2.0."
She was small, her magical power was not enough to be a full-fledged magician, and she had no strength or combat skills. Perhaps because of this, the members of "The Red Lightning" did not register Reina as a hunter, even though she was ten years old. They probably thought she lacked the strength to become a full-fledged hunter and planned to get her a regular job in a city when she grew up. Therefore, they taught her useful spells that she could use with her limited magical power and how to handle a staff for self-defense.
On the other hand, Reina practiced hard to be of some help to everyone. She practiced magic, staff techniques, and honed her knowledge as a hunter.
Among the adult male hunters in their twenties to forties, there was a ten-year-old girl who was not even registered as a hunter. "The Red Lightning" was often mocked by other hunters, but they knew the background of how "The Red Lightning" had taken in the orphaned girl, and they were not serious. It was half teasing and half envy that a cute girl was with them.
One day, when Reina was thirteen, "The Red Lightning" accepted a job to escort a caravan.
There were two carriages, and the escort was "The Red Lightning" with four members. It was a reasonable number. Reina had learned offensive spells, but she was not counted as part of the fighting force, as she was responsible for water barrels to conserve Eric's magic and for weak healing and recovery spells.
In addition to "The Red Lightning," there was one merchant and one driver for each carriage. It was clear that the carriages were not for a merchant's general goods but for transporting something specific from city to city, as evidenced by the presence of the escort. The bandits would either be cautious and let them pass or, believing it to be a lucrative target, take the risk and attack. It depended on the bandits' judgment and their financial situation.
On that day, the bandits decided to attack.
"Right front, bandits! They're blocking the road! About ten of them!"
"Six from behind! Too many!"
They would attack even with an escort. With sixteen of them, it would be a tough fight even for seven to eight hunters. In this case, they would surrender without a fight, and the bandits would suffer no casualties. The bandits didn't want to kill hunters if they could help it; they preferred to make money without a fight.
"We have no choice but to surrender..."
"No, we will fight."
"““““What?””””
Braun, the leader of "The Red Lightning," suggested surrendering, but the merchant, the employer, ordered them to fight.
"But, sixteen against four, we can't win! It would be a waste of lives!"
"That's the job of an escort! If we lose the goods and the job, we won't get paid! Fight and drive them off quickly!"
"““““...””””
After a moment of silence, Braun declared:
"Surrender."
"““Understood!””"
"Are you going to defy the employer's orders? That's a breach of contract!"
Braun coldly replied to the shouting merchant:
"Are you planning to have us surrender after the escort is wiped out and avoid paying the fee? There's a rule that 'surrender is allowed with the employer's consent or if the leader of the escort deems it necessary. If it's deemed reasonable, the escort is considered to have fulfilled their duty and will be paid.' The guild will investigate, but with this disparity in numbers, it will be recognized without issue."
"What?!"
Ignoring the still shouting merchant, Braun loudly declared their surrender. The bandits, feeling relieved, approached casually. Even with a small number of escorts, if they fought against stronger hunters, their comrades would be injured or killed. It was better to avoid that and make money safely. The bandits were a group of not-so-strong individuals gathered in numbers to achieve this effect.
"Surrender. Don't harm the humans. Negotiate the money and cargo with the employer."
"Understood. As per custom, we won't harm the humans. But we'll take your weapons. We need to eat, and weapons can be sold for a good price. Some of our weapons are getting worn out."
"Ugh... Last time, you let us keep half the weapons. We can't afford to replace all of them."
"No can do. Go gather herbs for a while and come back! But we'll let you keep your armor."
"Damn, it hurts, but I have no choice... Understood."
Armor, due to size issues, couldn't be used by just anyone and sold for much less than weapons. However, it was customary to take weapons and armor from those who surrendered, so it was a favor to leave the armor.
After negotiating with the hunters, the bandit leader ordered his subordinates to confiscate the hunters' weapons and then turned to the merchant.
"What's the cargo?"
"Salt, dried meat, salted meat, wheat, and barrels of alcohol."
"““““Hooray!””””
The bandits cheered.
"Alright! We'll take it all!"
"Wait! I want to negotiate!"
"Negotiate?"
The leader looked puzzled.
Of course, there was nothing to negotiate. What could they negotiate with bandits who were going to take all the cargo and carriages?
"So, what do you want, and what will you offer in return?"
The merchant replied to the leader's sarcastic question:
"I want one empty carriage and half the salt returned. In return, I offer a girl who can produce a lot of water and make fire, and is useful in many ways. Yes, useful in many ways..."
Reina froze at these words.
"Out of the question!"
"That's a breach of the agreement!"
The members of "The Red Lightning" shouted in protest.
"Hmm..."
The leader showed a moment of interest but then said:
"You're a funny one. Selling the guards you hired...
But that would break the terms of surrender. If the terms are broken after surrender, hunters will be less likely to surrender in the future, causing more casualties for the bandits. This is not just our problem; it will make life harder for all bandits. It's not allowed."
"But only if it's discovered, right?"
The merchant smirked.
"The employer ordered us to surrender, but the hunters, not wanting to lose their weapons and wanting the reward, refused and fought. The girl, who was only a water barrel, betrayed them and joined the bandits. Is there a problem? If I report it honestly, I won't have to pay the guards who disobeyed and were wiped out, and I won't lose a carriage and half the salt. You won't have broken the terms, and you'll get a useful slave. It's a win-win, don't you think?"
"““““What...””””
The members of "The Red Lightning" were speechless at the merchant's words. Reina couldn't even speak.
"Hahaha, you're a tough one! A merchant, indeed!"
The leader looked at Reina with a lecherous gaze, thought for a moment, and then gave an order to his subordinates.
"…Kill them."
For a moment, the thought crossed Reina's mind that if she killed the merchant with magic, this deal would be impossible. Killing a few bandits wouldn't change the situation, but if the merchant died, the bandits would be seen as having killed the surrendered guards and merchant, which the leader was trying to avoid. In that case, the bandits might think it better to take all the carriages and release the hunters, claiming the merchant was killed for betrayal.
However, Reina, who had never killed anyone or even considered it, couldn't bring herself to kill the merchant and could only manage to utter a plea to stop.
"St... stop..."
But before she could finish, several swords and spears pierced the bodies of the four members of "The Red Lightning."
With their weapons taken and surrounded by bandits, the four—Braun, August, Gordon, and Eric—could only let out a slight groan before collapsing to the ground.
"A, a, a..."
Reina fell to her knees.
"A, a, aaaaaa..."
"Then, unload the cargo from that carriage and transfer the salt..."
Splat
"But you're a tough one, too!"
"Hahaha, we're both tough, aren't we?"
Plop plop...
Bump bump...
Reina didn't have enough magical power to be a full-fledged magician.
She was a non-combatant who could only produce water.
The merchant, who had introduced Reina as such to the bandits, had told them the same.
In reality, Reina could use a few offensive spells, but the members of "The Red Lightning" always told the employer she couldn't, probably to avoid being counted as a combatant and to protect her. They also wanted to use her as a surprise in emergencies.
However, Reina's specialty was water magic, and with her weak magical power, she couldn't do much damage. Or so it was supposed to be.
"But if we don't have to worry about water, we can expand our range. This is a stroke of luck..."
Sizzle...
What was this hot, sticky feeling in her chest...?
Sadness? Despair? Anger? Or hatred...?
Reina, on her hands and knees, muttered to herself, while the bandits watched her with lecherous grins.
"Then, let's start unloading the cargo..."
At that moment, a hot wind swept over the bodies of the bandit leader and the merchant, who turned to see...
"““““Aaaaah!””””
The sight of about half of his subordinates, engulfed in swirling crimson flames, turned into torches.
"What... what is this..."
The merchant, confused and panicked, and the leader, frozen with his mouth agape, along with the remaining subordinates, could only stare in shock at their burning comrades.
Then, a small figure emerged from the flames.
"Y, you're just a half-trained girl who can only produce water..."
"She's dead."
"Huh...?"
Reina continued, addressing the merchant's confusion:
"Reina, the merchant's daughter who could only use weak water magic, died with her companions just now.
I am now the one who carries on the will of everyone, the 'Red Lightning.'
I am 'Red Reina,' the bandit killer!"
"KILL HER!"
The leader screamed with all his might.
But the bandits hadn't drawn their swords, and Reina was a bit away. There wasn't enough time to attack before she cast her spell.
And Reina began to speak, the words bubbling up from the depths of her sticky, boiling heart.
"Blaze, hellfire! Burn them to the bone!"
A large caravan with thirty carriages and many guards. What they saw as they passed by was a burned field, seventeen charred remains, four bodies that looked like hunters, two carriages, and two drivers shaking in fear inside.