Vol 2 Chapter 12 (1/2)

Chapter 12

Chapter 2, Episode 12: Bandits

Imperial year 1023, July 27

The brilliant sun which rose froround

A black curtain will soon fall, and it will be the tins over the surface

Running across a desert with hot winds violently blowing is a lone dragon

Not allowing the sand to hold its feet down, it sprints along, graceful at tih at others

On its back rides a young boy— Hiro

Though he’s unable to ride a pony even, he’s somehow able to straddle a 「shi+ryu」 and ride hi thrown off

He wants to keep riding, but for the 「shi+ryu’s」 sake, they need to rest

「There should’ve been a village around here…」

He gently tapped the「shi+ryu’s」 neck It dropped its speed to a walk in response

Then, he pulls a piece of paper— a map of the Lichtein Dukedom from his breast pocket

Hiro surveyed far ahead of him and saw a small silhouette on the horizon

「Can you hold out for a little while longer?」

The 「shi+ryu」 lowered its head as if to nod, and started running once more

The silhouette began to grow steadily, and eventually, rows of houses made of clay came into view

Hiro i unusual No, even if it were anyone else, there’s no doubt they would have noticed soe

Hiro jue as he walks in

There was only a strange silence in the village, and every single one of the villagers looked anxious

Hiro immediately asked 「Black Camelia」 to make a hood, which he pulled low over his eyes

「U happen?」

Hiro calls out to a nearby farmer

At first, the faraze on the boy as if to evaluate him and opened his mouth to speak as he looked extremely cautious

「… You a traveler?」

「Yes Earlier—」

It’s not hard to iet if he said he entered the country from the Grantz Grand Empire

And so, he introduced hi Republic of Schteizen

Originally, the Lichtein Dukedoo

Maybe that was the reason why, but the apprehension in the farhtly faded

「I see… I’m surprised you came here from such a distant land But you sure did come at a troublesome time」

He’s probably referring to the fact that the Grantz Grand Empire had come for an attack

There’s another possibility too, but… Hiro wanted to gather information so he decided to ask him

「It looks like the Grantz Grand Empire has come to launch an attack」

「That’s not all The slaves are rioting in the south The duke led soldiers there to suppress theer」

「… The duke’s army lost?」

「But Lord Karl of the duke house took action He began to gather soldiers again to suppress the rebel army, so we’re co amok here and there And that’s not all Even the roups And the I to happen to this country now?」

The farmer finishes off defeated

and cradles his head Then, he looks at Hiro once more

「You should hurry and leave this country soon」

「Are all of you not escaping?」

He thought it was a foolish question to ask, but he couldn’t help but ask it

「What’s the point of leaving our fa saved up Even if we did escape, the only thing waiting for us would be death from starvation Besides, once the war is over, the soldiers will come back」

The fars

「Other countries call us a slave nation, a barren land But still, this is the land ere born and raised in No matter what crisis we’re forced to face, we’ll endure until the soldiers come back」

He’s acting confident, but looking down, you can tell his knees are shaking

The nobles could probably flee the country with their accumulated wealth

But these people don’t have such luxury

It’s only a handful of people who can survive away from the land in which they were born and raised

Hiro was about to open his mouth to offer the brave farmer some advice

But then, one of the villagers shouted at thee entrance

「We’ve got trouble! A group of bandits is heading this way!」

Theup

It was slowly closing in as the villagers fell into a panic

「Aren’t those the guys who came and attacked us last time?」

「daht back this time!」

「That’s right! We’re ready to fight this tiet back the children ere kidnapped!」

After listening to the villagers, Hiro called out to the farmer in front of him

「You were attacked before?」

「Yeah Remember when the duke invaded the Grantz Grand Earrison unable to coround for thee is in a similar state, and a lot of women and children have been kidnapped」

「Even retfully, but he slapped his face with both hands as his expression stiffened

「Have the worab your weapons! Don’t let theer!」

After raising his voice, the farmer had a look of resolution on his face

「You hurry and escape」

Hiro shook his head a number of times and refused

The Lichtein Dukedom is the main cause of the current situation, but the Grantz Grand E for an attack is likely a factor as well

He can’t let the people of a foreign country be hurt needlessly

Even though they aren’t a direct cause of this, because they are at least partially responsibility, he ht

「… I want you to leave this to me」

「H-Hey, what are you—」

The farmer tried to question him, but Hiro walked away as he summoned 「Excalibur」

The farht and watched Hiro walk off while overcome with surprise

Hiro began to walk slowly outside the village

There are three bandits straddled atop camels

Unlike the others, the man in the center— the leader of the bandits has a silver arht of the setting sun

The equipment of the men beside him is lower in quality, but it’s wortharound them

There are a total of 26 bandits Their objective is obviously to attack the village

「Last tiood, so today, we’llyou have!」

As the leader shouted out cheerfully, the faces of the men to his sides twist in joy

「Hehe, the woot away the last time we attacked them」

「They’ll be on guard this tie resist?」

After laughing down the worries of his underling, the leader focused his gaze ahead of him

「They’re just far around a hoe or digging a well! Boys! Don’t be afraid just because they put up some resistance!」

「Got it!」replied his underlings in unison

In their hands, they held axes, swords, spears, and bows

「Don’t kill the women and children They’re valuable products!」

「Boss, there’s soe person up there!」

「Huh? Who is that…?」

There was aalone in the desert

Thinking this to be odd, the leader skillfullyboy’s side

「Are you the village representative?」

This happens soroup not to attack their village in exchange for food

Most bandits attack without hesitation because they’re going to steal everything anyway, but soes who hireon the negotiations

It’s rare for poor villages to hire e they’re about to attack right now has that much money saved up

What’s more, the leader of these bandits was a cautious man

He sent out a few of his underlings a nue right before him had been completely analyzed

He brought his underlings with him because he had determined it would be safe The leader unsheathed his sword from his waist and spoke

「I’ there is froe」

Said the leader, but then he suddenly noticed

He couldn’t tell because of the hood and eye patch, but upon closer inspection, he noticed a young face

The leader thought he could probably sell hih price to those with that sort of preference

「Kid, don’t et hurt if you don’t resist Hey, tie this guy up」

The leader instructs his underlings to capture the young boy

— The young boy laughed fearlessly

After looking around at the bandits surrounding hihs at them scornfully

He pierced 「Excalibur」 in the ground and stretched out both arms

The wind blew through his black clothes,the hem flutter in the wind

「Noants to die first?」

After hearing those words, the bandits around hih

「This kid’s pretty funny!」

「I think I just heard the funniest joke of the year!」

「Wait, itHey, kid! I’ll die first—」

Ahis stomach with tears in his eyes came forward

Frons of having moved

The wind didn’t round

And yet, the head of theHiro disappeared, and a spray of blood redder than the setting sun painted the sky

「Ah?」

「…」

「What’s this…?」

Despite being showered by their friend’s blood, they were unable to grasp what had happened

The specks of blood floating down paint the desert red, and the body of the now headless man raises a cloud of dust as it collapses

And once more, while still in the same position as before, Hiro ruthlessly says aloud with both arms extended

「Who wants to die next?」

「Eek…」

A ti bandit in the rear let out a sound from deep inside his throat which couldn’t even be considered a scream

He turned his back in an atte across the sand

His corpse collapses with a thud, and everyone focuses their gaze in that direction

「Next Who wants to die?」

Hiro lets out a spine tingling voice The faces of the bandits stiffen up

A sudden gust assails them It swirls the sand up and covers everyone’s field of view

It was just for a short moment

When the cloud of dust cleared, the hood was removed from Hiro’s head, and his black hair and black eyes were exposed

The bandits grow tense with his black, gem-like eyes fixated on them

They all gasped as they saw his black hair fluttering in the wind

In order to break the silence, one of the bandits atop a camel yells silently and raises his sword up