Chapter 54 \nIt was the second night of my mission with Marida Company. The two horses I had noticed during the day were indeed bandit scouts. They had raided us at night, but their number exceeded my expectation. When preparing for the attack, I heard from Malta-san that a gang of bandits would have as many as ten men. I had thought this attack would have about the same number, but in reality, there were forty on horseback. This was followed by twenty more on foot for a total of sixty bandits.\n
There werenât many large scale bandit gangs in Kurtmelga Kingdom. The bigger their number, the larger the base they would need for accommodation as well as a matching quantity of food. They also needed to feed the horses and such. The number of goods and money needed would swell up considerably. The harvest festival had just begun and it was too early for such a big group to appear now. They wouldnât gain enough spoils from these raids.
[E/N: I just noticed⌠Heâs innocent to the customs of the world, yet he speaks like heâs lived here his whole life. What the fuck Author?]
I had a clear disadvantage and the other three adventurers on this mission had already fled after seeing the banditsâ numbers. It couldnât be helped â It was the right move to run from such a large gang, but I wouldnât forget their actions. I had told Malta-san and the other staff of the company to run to the capital on one of the wagons, but with forty bandits on horseback â it was unthinkable that theyâd overlook one missing wagon.
First of all, I needed to make an attack to make them aware that I was still here and that it would not be easy to chase the fleeing wagon. The bandits charged in while shouting war cries. I went to the back of the two remaining wagons, got my AS ready and aimed down the sights at the coming riders; my crosshairs on them. They were spread out, but I aimed at the leading horsesâ heads, guiding the crosshairs left to right and squeezing the trigger continuously. The VALâs muffling property was excellent, even better than suppressors â they flew through the air nearly soundless. The bullets only opened small holes on the front of the horsesâ heads but wreaked havoc inside. This caused their heads to explode at the riders sitting right behind.
[E/N: Whiskey-Tango-FoxtrotâŚ]
âGyaaa!â\n
âUhohwa!â
The mounted bandits were more shocked at the brain matter flying at them than the sudden explosion of their horsesâ heads. They fell down one by one together with their horses â who were killed instantly. The bandits seemed to use the campfires at rest stops as targets for their late night raids with only the moon as a light source. As the leading group suddenly collapsed, the followers were caught up and also fell down. But there was just too many of them. I had forced about ten of the leading riders to fall off their horses with my preemptive strike, but the following group split into two in order to avoid them and came at the rest stop from both sides.
I saw their movements clearly thanks to my NV mode.
After my attack, the bandits split into three. Two advanced to flank the rest stop and the group that was attacked halted at the back.
âWhat are you doing, stupid? Donât be careless! Louver, chase after that wagon! Donât let it escape!!â
As I was changing the magazine, my earpads caught a man shouting. It didnât feel right. Shouldnât they aim for the remaining wagons, which were loaded with goods? The group split up again, one group took a roundabout to run past the stop. Should I chase them? No, first I had to crush the two groups coming from the sides.\nI took out an M84 and threw it at the group coming from my right. I aimed carefully and the flashbang exploded around the middle of the group. A brilliant flash of light flared up the dark night, accompanied by a roaring sound. Unable to see or hear, the horses became upset. The riders once again struggled not to fall off. I fired at the left group without checking the effect of the flashbang, there was no need too. I knew it was effective by the sound of the explosion. I focused on my fluctuating crosshairs displayed on my goggles instead.
The left group had moved away when the leading horses had been shot down in order not to be caught up in their fall. There was no meaning in shooting the horses again, so I put the crosshairs on one of the bandits for the first time ever in this battle. Shooting at a living human was a line I had to cross sooner or later if I decided to live in this world as an adventurer.
It was time to cross that line.
Taking into account the horseâs speed, I shot down the bandits in the left group one by one. I had to stop in the middle to change magazines since there were only twenty bullets in one, but I had managed to kill nine of them. At the same time, the right group was still struggling with the effect of the flashbang. Suffering from having their vision and hearing impaired like never before, they couldnât recover yet. I took out a frag grenade from my overcoat and threw it at the right group to blow them up. The M67 Fragmentation grenade was green in color, shaped like a pear. It would explode three seconds after being thrown, causing fatal wounds to those within a 5m radius. The fragments inside could injure and kill those within a 15m radius.
In VMB, the fragments that flew out of the radius would disappear into light particles. After crushing the two groups coming to surround the rest stop, I changed out my half-empty magazine to ensure I had a full load while watching for their next move.
âTheyâre not comingâŚ?ââ
The next group didnât come for the stop, they joined the foot soldiers and lined up at the front as if to form a shield. It seemed like they were cautious about my long range attacks. In that caseâŚ\n\nIt looked like Malta-san had gotten into a trance running from the bandits; he didnât notice me riding along the wagon at all. The staff driving the wagon peeked out from inside the wagon and called Malta-san. They finally noticed me. They seemed surprised at me riding some unknown item alongside them and stared at me with wide eyes. I asked them to stop once more and the wagon gradually slowed down.
âAh, youâre alright. Thatâs greatâŚâ
âIâm alright. Sorry, but I burned the other wagons. I also disabled the horses, so probably there wonât any pursuit. Iâll also get on the wagon, then letâs go to the Royal Capital.â
âI see⌠Schwa- Shaft-san⌠No, Shaft-sama, you saved my life not only once, but twice. Thank you.â
âItâs just my job. Iâm sorry I couldnât protect the other wagons. Anyway, letâs go.â
I put my bike back into the garage and went into the wagon. It was full of bags packed tight with mana stones. The staff looked pale and huddled together. I told them everything was alright now and asked the one to drive the wagon. Then I sat down at the back of the wagon where I could see outside. I told Malta-san that there would be no pursuit, but if the target was not the goods, but rather the Marida staff themselves, the attack wouldnât end here. I peeked outside just in case as we drove to the capital in during the nightâŚ