Side Story 17: Bandit Subjugation. [Release Version] (Patreon)

“Listen up, holy knights of Origin Goddess Aurena!” a commanding shout echoed through the ranks of knights, prompting all to tense up and straighten their backs. “Today, the Cardinal Vicar himself has issued the Knights of Aurena a church Quest to suppress a growing group of highwaymen, foolish enough to not understand their place in society. Their ignorance in threatening subjects and clergymen is a stain on our honor as defenders of the Holy State of Aureolis!”

I’m getting the chills here … so this is how Yorshka usually behaves, huh? It’s completely different from how she treats us.

“Tatsuya, you alright?” Kyouya asked me, making me realizing my leg had been tapping the ground like crazy up until now.

“… Yeah, all good.” My answer prompted him to nod, before we return our attention back to the front.

It had been three days now since my class and I left the church on a carriage towards a nearby bishop’s mansion. Because it was the closest place to the last sightings of the bandit group we were supposed to subjugate on the orders of the Church of Aurena, we were using the mansion as our temporary base.

After getting a night to prepare with my classmates and to rest, we were now receiving a speech from Yorshka before we started our task. She was fully clad in her beautiful white dragon-scaled armor while carrying her dragoon helmet in one arm and her spear in the other.

Assigned by the Knight-Commander himself, Yorshka was acting as the leader of the knight detachment for today’s Quest. Which was weird seeing as she was a commoner and there were plenty of nobles around, ready to take the helm. I guess it did make sense for somebody stronger and more imposing to take the stage, and Yorshka right now was the right person for the job.

Looking around, none of the younger knights were disobedient, all of them were listening intently to Yorshka’s speech. The aristocracy was prominent in this world as even the church showed how influential it was, so seeing these nobles act this way was … refreshing?

Well, aside from them, the older knights assigned as our guardian knights didn’t look too pleased. Everybody but Elrick were unhappy that they couldn’t gain the honor of leading the Quest themselves.

“Today will be a perilous day, but do not forget that you are knights! Your training and faith are superior to these scoundrels, so hold up your weapons and fight with your brothers- and sisters-in-arms to cleanse these filths!” Yorshka raised her spear with fervor, invigorating the young knights into a cheer. “And rest easy, for today we have Goddess Aurena’s chosen, the heroes, with us. And with them, we have our two saint candidates, both given this honor by divine right. We have faith, righteousness, and our Goddess behind our cause!”

The cheers boomed around me, as not only the knights but also a few of my classmates were infected by the atmosphere, clapping and shouting in support of Yorshka’s speech. This lasted a few more seconds until she dismissed everybody, telling them to get ready for the moment the scouting party returns, we would depart.

I wasn’t so sure what to do in this situation as I had everything I needed on me, so I simply followed Kyouya back to our party.

“Alright, well … that was certainly a surprise. I didn’t know that Dame Yorshka could be so … tough,” Tamae commented the moment our party ‘The Misfits’ joined with her ‘The Magical Biscuit.’

“She is a knight. Considering she was an adventurer before, she probably had to do this once or twice already,” Misaki, our archer, explained with a finger on her chin. “If the leading figure of an organization composed mostly of noblemen personally recruits a vagrant, then you should expect her to be competent.”

Yorshka did mention that the Knight-Commander of the whole order wanted Yorshka to join. Either it was nepotism or she really was good enough to join, and I was leaning on the latter option.

“I wonder how high her ‘aura’ skills are. I can understand with the recently appointed knights, but even the older ones looked pretty nervous around her,” Kohaku, our runeslayer, mentioned, tapping her sword “Kotodama” restlessly. “… I know I sound pretty nervous, but shouldn’t we go and talk with Light-san, like, now? I know the plan is pretty safe for us, but I still want to go over everything with him.”

Light, or how I liked to call him ‘Daisy,’ announced in the class assembly that he had a plan for anybody who would prefer not to engage a bandit in the raid. He explained that some of our classmates weren’t mentally able or prepared to fight a human to the death … which I had to admit was very much true.

Despite my absolute hatred for that guy, I couldn’t exactly go against my party’s decision. Both Tamae’s and my party decided that they would stick with Daisy’s plan while Akabanae’s “Fight with the knights” plan only got one party’s support.

After getting a few potions and supplies, our three parties discussed the plan again to make sure everybody knew what to do until the scout team came back. The moment Yorshka got a grasp of the situation, she announced that we would start the Quest.

All knights took out small brown figurines, which were designed after monsters, on command. Each of the knights injected a certain amount of mana into them and threw them on the ground, where those figurines quickly grew in size until they were all large enough for the knights to ride on them.

“Gargoyles;” this was this world’s version of the gargoyle trope in fantasy games, created using alchemy. Instead of looking like grotesque bat-lions, or whatever, they came in various forms like pegasus, griffons, or eagles. Inanimate like puppet, they weren’t suitable for battles but were indispensable for the knights as they could fly on them.

As we had to hurry and keep up with the knights, all 25 members of our class had to ride with one of the knights. Besides Asaka and Aiko who rode with their respective escort knights—Elrick and Royce—everybody had to choose their own.

Once everybody had a “chauffeur,” the Quest officially began. Traveling through the sky was a pretty fun activity. The cold air breezing through my hair really freshened me up and getting a bird’s eye view of the lands was pretty wild, especially when I saw how organized the farming fields were. It was a totally new outlook on the world.

After what felt like a 30 min ride we landed a few miles away from some woods, presumably where the bandits were hiding. The knights withdrew their figurines, shrinking them with their mana before Yorshka explained the plan for the operation.

Essentially, we would split into two groups. The first group would be the raiding party where Akanishi’s party would participate. Yorshka would be leading this group, and considering how strong she was, the bandits had to have somebody on her level to even slow her down from demolishing everybody. Seriously, even the younger knights were saying that it would be a cinch with the “White Winged Dragoon.”

‘White Winged Dragon?’ How did she get that nickname if she doesn’t have any wings? I thought, curious about the origin of this epithet.

The second group, mine, would be responsible for long-range attacks. We would support the main raid with spells and arrows, acting as an artillery squad, to keep the bandits down. Daisy wanted us to completely avoid the battle, but it seemed the knight’s and the priests denied this suggestion.

Our three ‘hero’ parties would act as the core of this group. Although each knight was proficient with the bow and magic, most of them were more interested in joining the main raid as this would be the best way to gain honor … and experience.

To make sure that we would be useful here, he had our mages and archers buy and upgrade skills that would benefit this strategy. We didn’t have too much SP but it was enough for some of us to gain some useful spells and skills.

For example, our mages, like Tamae and Nishio, were able to use buffing spells like [Strengthening Flames] and [Swift Winds], transferring their effects after buying [Synergist’s Oath]. Asaka, as the saint candidate of our group, had to learn a few custom spells useful for her role. Of course, she already knew them before Daisy explained his plan to us. The church and Elrick were pretty persistent about having her learn those spells.

It was a pretty SP expensive plan, but, at the end of the day, it only mattered that most of us were allowed to sit out from the main raid. Daisy and I had some history; I hated him … but this was a considerate plan.

“…” After he was done with his explanation, he just walked past me, not even giving me a glance at all. Watching his white hair flutter away with him, treating me as if I was nothing … how it made my blood boil.

“Sir Karlst, we will need you in the raiding party, so get your party ready for combat,” Yorshka suddenly announced, shocking Daisy and his party.

As Sir Karlst von Kriemhild was the supervising knight of Daisy’s party, that meant they had to follow him. Karlst looked pretty pleased about this decision, but that couldn’t be said about Daisy.

“Dame Yorshka, what is the meaning of this? I thought we agreed that I would stay with the supportive party,” Daisy complained with a scowl. “Taking Sir Karlst and my party away would leave Asaka-san vulnerable to ambushes. What are you planning?”

“Sorry, kid, but the situation has changed. We’ll need Karlst with us, although technically you don’t have to come, I still believe this a good experience for you,” Yorshka explained with an aloof expression, leaving no room for Daisy or anybody else to talk up. “Sir Elrick, choose five additional knights to stick with you. Until I return, you are their commanding knight and your orders are to protect Saint candidate Asaka and the remaining heroes. Aid them in their duties, also.”

“Yes, Dame Yorshka!” Elrick called out, saluting by grasping his pendant of Aurena, a symbol of his faith.

Obviously, the five extra knights that Elrick picked out were a bit disappointed that they couldn’t join the raid but quickly shrugged it off after Elrick reminded them that they would be guarding Asaka.

Why is everybody so excited about all of this?! They’re about to go into a life-or-death situation…

Asaka and the mages in our group began buffing up the departing knights, wishing them luck with a very religious “May the Goddess of Light sanctify your path, guiding you through darkness and trials. The Light is with you.” Playing along with the whole “Aurena’s Chosen” thing seemed smart, after all.

“Well, there they go. Hopefully, everything will work out,” Kyouya commented. “Keep your senses up, Tatsuya. We're in enemy territory.”

“No need to tell me twice, I have [Enhanced Enemy Sense] on the whole time,” I responded, still unable to keep my leg from shaking. “Damn, not only is it cold as hell but I can’t calm down at all. It feels like my whole body is vibrating at this point.”

Yorshka and Elrick already pounded proper survival techniques into me, to the point I couldn’t even rest even with [Enhanced Enemy Sense Lv. 3]. I did believe I wouldn’t be ambushed by some sneaky bandit, but what about spells or arrows? Would my [Prediction] go off in time?

Sure, I might have become sturdier in Peolynca, but an arrow piercing my skull would kill me, nonetheless. It almost felt like I was relapsing on my coffee addiction, despite having mostly recovered from it.

We won’t need to fight, we won’t need to fight. Tatsuya, you won’t die today. You will make it back home. Make it back to Japan. To Earth.

While I tried to cool down, Elrick started taking control of the situation and directing people to their positions. Misaki, being our archer, was assessing if she could see and hit enemies from here, to which she confirmed. Haruka, although not in combat, was keeping our flanks secured by setting traps and scouting for us. A rogue didn’t need to fight, after all.

A huge contrast, if you asked me. Misaki had no problems shooting at people as she looked at it pragmatically. On the other hand, Haruka’s fear of blood stifled any combat potential she could have had.

Moving behind the main raiding party, our group had assumed proper combat formation. Frontliners in front, mages and healers in the middle, and flankers and scouts behind. Once I heard Yorshka roar followed by the sound of spells and Misaki shooting an arrow, I knew the battle had begun.

“Tch … leg. Too low.” Misaki clicked her tongue at a rare miscalculation, before readying another arrow. Even behind her stoic facade, she was still nervous seeing how she missed a shot.

Regardless, even if she missed a vital, a leg would still cripple somebody and I bet the knights would storm through anybody Misaki shot at. I knew we caught them off-guard, but the blood and flesh spraying around the place, painting the dark green grass still unnerved me. This was a battle; I had to stop panicking.

So this is the strength of a knight against an average person?

Honestly, it did seem like our presence was entirely redundant. The knights, especially the guardian knight led by Yorshka, mowed them down like fodder. Sure, the students in the main raid and in our group were helping out with spells and arrows, but not like it would tip the scales. It felt like a PR stunt from the church.

The more the raiding party advanced into the bandit camp, the more we had to go deeper with them. Thankfully, [Enhanced Enemy Sense] hasn’t detected any enemies close to us yet, which meant that I didn’t have much to do but I was just glad that everything was working proper—

“Arggghhh! Urgh—!”

However, as if I had jinxed it, things were about to go wrong.

What?!

“Hansel! Gillian! Octovus! Goddess of the Depths, I plea to you, grant me the privilege to be one with your element. Your grace, your element I call, Water Ball!”

What was going on?!

A shiver ran down my spine as I snapped my head around to those loud, shrill cries. It terrified me instantly, as I realized what had happened. Just as I saw Elrick douse a burning knight with water, my body stiffened as [Prediction] activated, just in time as an arrow pierced through my right cheek, gouging out some blood and flesh as I recoiled.

“Tatsuya!” Kyouya cried out with shock, looking as if he had seen a ghost, only to snap at the direction where the arrow came from. He charged forward, recklessly, and placed his shield up to defend some of the knights from the incoming arrows.

“Eeeeeeeeek!”

“What the hell!”

Ear-piercing shrieks from the girls and shouts from the guys hurt my ears, but what caught my attention wasn’t them nor my bloodied cheeks, but the people in front of me. Something seemed to have clicked in my head. I felt fear, trepidation, and a frightening wish to run the hell away, leaving everybody behind. However, I stood my ground … I had to; I couldn’t ignore Kyouya.

My eyes darted around, searching for the enemies, before I stopped at the river of blood flowing on the ground. Two of the knights lay there, gurgling on their own red liquids. One had their throat slit right up, while the other had a hole on the side of his stomach. The attack had broken through his armor and chainmail.

“Fuckin’ hell, Boss told us to attack their rear but who woulda thought that they had more manabloods behind them. Oi, Macklemor, wanna capture them?” a human man grinned with glee, twirling two blood-stained daggers playfully.

“Well, that was obvious, but they brought a lot with them. I don’t know why the Knights of Aurena brought some young noble lords and ladies with them, but we better not kill them,” a red-robed human man responded, tapping his staff on the cold ground as he ignored the people they had killed. “Jasper, Kaian, call off the archers. Don’t let them kill the kids, otherwise we won’t get out of here at all. Take them out and get the main group away, so we can fle—Oooooh, are you a fire mage?!”

The mage suddenly cried out as Daichi readied a fire spell, unnerving the trashtalker as he accelerated his chant. However, at the same time, the mage readied his own fire spell, slinging it at the same time as Daichi. They clashed, but the latter’s fizzled out, forcing Elrick to defend the flabbergasted Daichi with a water spell.

“Oooh, yo, Kaian,” the rogue man called out a lean panther-like beastman from behind him. “That knight is not a pushover. Mind helpin’ us out?‘

Flaunting his bloodied spear, the panther beastmen smirked, eyeing Elrick like a hunter. “Sounds like fun. Part of the contract, after all. Wouldn’t be a black merc if gave up now, yeah?

“Owe ya a mug of ale for that, mate. Don’t have too much fun, otherwise, the Boss and the others might have too much trouble. I heard the ‘White Winged Dragoon’ bitch is here today.” That Jasper fellow then whistled, summoning a horde of bandits from the shadows of the forest. “Ok, lads! Kill the four remaining knights and capture the brats! Don’t fuckin’ end them manabloods yet, ya hear me? We need bargaining chips to get out of today’s mess.”

The bandits quickly surrounded our group with frightening speed, all having drawn their weapons.

“Lady Asaka-! Urgh!” Elrick wanted to break through this formation but the panther beastman quickly dashed between them and attacked him with his spear.

“Wrong target, human!” Kaian provoked Elrick by baring his fangs, glaring at the blond-haired knight with predator-like eyes.

“Tch, damn beast! You face a servant of the Goddess!” Elrick shouted with wrath, pushing the panther away before engaging him in battle. “Julius! Wendell! Protect the heroes with your life! Release the flare!”

“Heroes, Saintess Asaka! Stay behind us, now!” Julius, one of the two still standing knights proclaimed, while the other, Wendell, shot out a red flare into the sky.

All of us crammed ourselves between the two knights, with the mages and archers in the center while Kyouya, Kazumi, Kohaku, and I acted as their frontline, completing the circle. Everybody was nervous, but Haruka seemed affected by it the most, to the brink of tears. She was mumbling how her traps didn’t work and how she couldn’t detect them at all, blaming herself for this failure.

Tamae tried to soothe her, but we didn’t have the time for it. We didn’t even have the time to heal the wound on my cheek.

While we stared at the bandits that encircled us, Jasper went over to the charred body of the knight Octovus and callously pierced his throat with his daggers. “Damn, these knights are low-leveled! Rookies, huh? Only got two levels for killing two, damn shame.”

Bastard!

“E-everybody, I-I-I identified them. I-I’ll send you the infor-information now.” Surprisingly, although she was almost hyperventilating, Haruka still sent over information to us through [Telepathy].

Seeing as she was a good scout with her unique skill [Foxian Slyness], Yorshka had advised her to buy [Telepathy] to send information directly to our brains. Since she could ignore [Identity Blocker], she could appraise people’s Profiles without any restrictions as long as her [Identify] was strong enough.

Name: Jasper   Level: 29   Race: Human

Age: 30 Years   Job: Stalker

Status:   Health: 834/834            Mana: 171/171

Strength: 377             Intelligence: 149

Vitality: 338   Wisdom: 306

Agility: 741    Stamina: 834/834

Effects: None

Skill:  Physical skills and related:

[Unarmed Technique Lv. 2] [Unarmed Mastery Lv. 5]

[Dagger Technique Lv. 5] [Dagger Mastery Lv. 4]

[Piercing Enhancement Lv. 4] [Sundering Enforcement Lv. 3]

[Stamina Strike Lv. 2]

Senses and movement skills:

[Stealth Lv. 6] [Accuracy Correction Lv. 5]

[Concentration Lv. 1] [Prediction Lv. 6] [Danger Perception Lv. 7]

[Probability Correction Lv. 3] [Enhanced Enemy Sense Lv. 7]

[Enhanced Auditory Sense Lv. 3] [Enhanced Olfactory Sense Lv. 1]

[Enhanced Vision Lv. 3] [Tracking Lv. 6] [Night Vision Lv. 5]

[Presence Killer Lv. 5] [Evasion Lv. 6] [Acrobatic Lv. 5]

[Terrain Maneuvering Lv. 4]

Resistances:

[Physical Resistance Lv. 5] [Pain Resistance Lv. 5]

[Bleeding Resistance Lv. 4]

[Poison Resistance Lv. 3] [Paralyzation Resistance Lv. 3]

[Torpor Resistance Lv. 1] [Fear Resistance Lv. 4]

[Holy Resistance Lv. 1] [Fire Resistance Lv. 4]

[Earth Resistance Lv. 1] [Wind Resistance Lv. 2]

[Water Resistance Lv. 3]

Stat growths and related:

[Health Recovery Lv. 4] [Stamina Recovery Lv. 5]

[Enhanced Health Growth Lv. 3]

[Enhanced Health Capacity Lv. 1]

[Enhanced Strength Growth Lv. 4]

[Enhanced Strength Enforcement Lv. 2]

[Enhanced Vitality Growth Lv. 3]

[Enhanced Vitality Enforcement Lv. 1]

[Enhanced Wisdom Growth Lv. 2]

[Enhanced Agility Growth Lv. 5]

[Enhanced Agility Enforcement Lv. 3]

[Enhanced Stamina Growth Lv. 4]

[Enhanced Stamina Capacity Lv. 3]

Others:

[Handicraft Lv. 5] [Woodworking Lv. 2]

[Battle Mind Lv. 1] [Leadership Lv. 2] [Dismantle Lv. 5]

Job Skills:

[Dagger Mastery Lv. 3] [Agility Increase Lv. 1] [Stamina Increase Lv. 1]

[Armor Piercer Lv. 1] [Critical-Damage Amp]

Ability: Dagger:

[Backstab] [Dagger Throw] [Parry Blade] [Vital Pierce]

He’s too strong! No, that mage is the larger threat! We should be able to react to his movements, but those spells will be a problem.

Jasper might be somebody my party could fight against if we ganged up on him and only him alone, but with all these bandits and that mage, Macklemor, supporting him, it would be impossible. The bandits themselves were weak, around our levels, however, their stats and skill quality were inferior to ours by a mile.

The normal bandits were around the strength of a rank G adventurer, Jasper was an upper rank E, while Macklemor could probably pass as a rank D at best. Unfortunately, that meant that we were grossly outmatched here.

The two remaining knights were new recruits, so they were around Jasper’s strength while Elrick had to deal with that beastman fellow, but both were moving too fast for Haruka to stop to memorize his Profile. We were only rank F at best … and this was a life-or-death situation where we weren’t in control.

What the fuck are we supposed to do?!

“Everyone, we have to stall for time until the others come back. P-please, stand behind us and allow us to protect you,” Julius forced those words out, clearly distressed by the situation just like all of us.

“No, it's ok,” Kyouya responded, trying to rally everybody. “We can fight, at least, we can support you and cover your backs!”

“T-the Warriors o-of L-Light are here to h-help. How c-could we back d-down-n now?” Kohaku declared with teary eyes, trying to pump herself up with chunni talk, despite how much her body was shivering from sheer terror.

Why can’t I say anything?! Talk, you bastard! Come on, Tatsuya, this is the time where you stand up and act heroically just like in an anime. Come on!

“Nice talks, mana bloods, pretty brave talks. However, do us a favor and just give up, ‘kay?” Jasper announced with a smile. “We’ll be rough with the capture but ya don’t have to worry about us hurting ya.”

Everybody looked at each other, their eyes clearly asking, “Should we?” I know we shouldn’t trust these people but it beats dying. That was the rational decision, right? The correct one, r-

“Fuck off! Fire Ball!” Amidst the silence, where only the sound of clashing spears could be heard, Daichi shouted in defiance and shot out a fire spell with his staff. “I’m the hero here, motherfucker! No fucking piece of shit will stop me!”

“Woah! Fire, hear my command, for I am a servant of your lord, Reduce Heat!”

The giant fireball was aimed at Jasper, but quickly disappeared into thin air, having hit nothing.

The mage in the back pumped his fist into the air after he fizzled out Daichi’s spell. “That’s the spirit, fellow Danterno worshipper! How about you join me and have me teach you, huh? I’ll promise your safety as my apprentice!”

“How about you kill yourself, you son-of-a-bitch! O, I plead for your support, oh mighty flame lord! Grant me power, grant me strength, burn my enemies, Fire Ball!” Daichi rejected Macklemor’s offer with another [Fire Ball].

“Tamae-san!” Nishio suddenly called out to Tamae-san, which she quickly responded with a nod. Both prepared to cast their spells.

“O, Goddess of Earth, we beseech you for your protection, Earth Wall!”

Two walls of earth erupted from the ground, blocking our sides, creating a two-way chokepoint for us. Our two ex-class representatives quickly assessed the situation and created a way for the two knights to defend us from only two directions.

Seeing us defend ourselves, the bandits quickly rushed into the two pathways, grinning sadistically as they began to swing their weapons.

“Tatsuya, let’s go!” Kyouya slapped my back before starting to help Wendell.

“Y-yeah!” I shouted out to hype myself up before jumping into the fray with my best friend, clenching my spear hard enough to create blisters.

The fight quickly descended in chaos as spells and metal clashed with each other. Macklemor continuously tried to stop us by launching high-level fire spells at us but the combined efforts of Nishio and Tamae using water magic to protect us and Daichi using fire spells to counter them, prevented us from being destroyed by their mage. However, that meant that our three mages couldn’t help us with the mob.

Misaki, now in the ‘zone,’ continuously shot out arrow after arrow with formidable accuracy. Although most of them were blocked by shields, a few of them did hit a bandit straight in the head, instantly killing them. This helped Tamae-san’s party level up, which meant their mana would continuously recover.

Kazumi and Kohaku both helped Julius out, swinging their personal weapons with adrenaline-empowered strength. Flames, water, wind all exploded from Kohaku’s blade as she continuously switched from one element to the other with her rune sword, while Kazumi supported both Julius and Kohaku by fending and debilitating the bandits.

While their side was doing alright, ours was having some trouble.

Asaka was the only healer amongst us, including the knights, so she was constantly on healing duty. Not only did she have to take care of our party but also Tamae’s as everybody was receiving chip damage.

Haruka wasn’t a fighter. Instead, she supported Daichi and Asaka out by helping them drink mana potions, all while screaming from the top of her lungs. It also couldn’t be helped that her outfit was slowly being drenched in tears as her eyes couldn’t stop crying.

The biggest difference between our party to Tamae’s was that we aren’t able to kill anybody. Both Kyouya and I were having problems landing the last hit on anybody as the mob of bandits kept protecting each other. The wave was only thinning due to Wendell’s efforts.

It couldn’t be helped. The bandits might be weak, state-wise, but that didn’t mean they were any less of a threat. Spading forks, farming scythes, hoes, axes, all they were carrying were farming weapons, no real swords or spears. They might not be as sturdy as our church-issued weapons but one clean hit to any of our vitals would mean death to us.

We also had to be careful of the stones that they were throwing. A thrown stone could knock any of us down if it hit somebody’s unprotected head. We frontliners couldn’t even dodge them as we had to block them, otherwise, our backline would get hit.

<[Exhaustion (Minor)] inflicted on [Human, Tatsuya Nagata]>

We were slowly taking down the bandits with this strategy, however… “Argh, I c-can’t cast any spells anymore.”

That didn’t mean that we could continue this for too long. Exhaustion and arcane corruption finally reared their heads.

“Fuck … fucking arcane corruption! Urgh …”

Both Tamae and Daichi reached their limits concerning arcane corruption. Considering the amount of spells they were slinging around, it was obvious that they were accumulating too much for their body to handle. Even Asaka and Nishio were showing signs of fatigue.

“No, I’m out of arrows!” Misaki cried out in distress, eyes widened in surprise and fear as she checked her empty quiver. The normally aloof girl was finally panicking with her greatest weapon gone.

While the frontline was keeping up well due to our backline’s support, the moment that broke down due to arcane corruption and lack of arrows, the bandit’s counterattack began.

A spear of fire suddenly broke through the [Earth Wall]s, destroying them and reducing them back into rubble. With a single spell, our entire strategy to funnel the bandits through two entrances was demolished!

“Hey you tired, knight? Haaaa!” As the stones and fragments of the wall pummeled us, Jasper slipped through our attention and dug his knife right into Sir Julius’s throat!

“Kyaaaaaaaaaah!”

A shriek. An ear-piercing shriek escaped Kohaku’s throat as she tried to suppress it by blocking her mouth with her hand.

Jasper snapped his fingers, clearly happy as he dropped the knight’s head on the ground, letting it bounce around lifelessly.

“N-No, no, no, no! Keeeeeek!" Kohaku couldn’t compose herself any longer at the sight of Julius’s body slumping to the ground.

“Kohaku-chan, focus! Focus!” Kazumi desperately tried to wake her up, all while defending her from attacks.

“ARGH!'” As I was distracted by the two girls trying to support each other, I didn’t realize the fireball shot at Wendell, lighting his armor up on fire. He flailed on the ground, screaming in pain as the fire slowly cooked him alive.

While this was happening, Kyouya and I couldn’t do anything but defend him from stones and metal. We didn’t have the time to smother the flames, neither did our teammates. All of them had their own troubles to worry about in this chaos.

“Waghhh!” Another scream! It was normal at this point as these bandits would cry out, too, but the problem was that the person who yelped was—

“Kyouya!”

My best friend, who had a hammer smack right into his chest. My head snapped around as he fell on the ground, wincing and breathing heavily. He too was at his limit!

“Nice job, lads! Last knight, take him out and we’re done,” Jasper suddenly said.

Wha—?! They thought he was knight?!

“Stop, he’s not a knight. He’s one of us!” I cried out in desperation … All for it to fall on deaf ears as the hammer-wielding bandit ignored me and was about to hit him again.

Kyouya! Nooooo!

Kyouya? Not Kyouya, not Kyouya, not Kyouya, not my friend! NOT MY FRIEND! NOT HIM!

RUSH HOUR!

<[Rush Hour] [Adrenaline (Major)] inflicted on [Human, Tatsuya Nagata]>

A foreign energy began to surge through me, forcing my heat to accelerate and pump blood at an increased speed through my veins. The adrenaline was filling my body, to the point it felt like pieces of me were starting to break down. However, the energy numbed any pain. [Exhaustion (Minor)] disappeared from my status board and was instead replaced by [Rush Hour] and [Adrenaline (Major)].

As if my mind emptied itself from all my conflicts and hesitation, it immediately went into overdrive with a sole goal.

Protect my friends!

“HAAAAAAH!”

“Gurck?! Bwuaaaah!”

Using the increased speed that I got from my unique skill, I dashed forward, swinging my spear and piercing the bandit’s throat, before taking it out and slicing his head with a [Sweeping Farewell].

<Experience has reached multiple breaking points. [Human, Tatsuya Nagata] has risen from [Level 12] to [Level 13]>

<Attributes have increased due to level up>

<Acquired 200 skill points>

Despite my initial goal having been fulfilled, I didn’t let go of my aggression. The effects of [Rush Hour] were limited because the longer I had it active, the more serious the aftereffects would be for my body. If I didn’t want to die, then I needed to finish this as fast as possible.

Kill every last one of them!

“AHHHHHHHHH!”

Almost like a frenzy, I plunged myself into the bandit crowd, swinging my spear tirelessly, taking somebody’s blood with every strike and movement. It got to the point where blood painted my skin like makeup, blocking my sight and drenching my mouth in iron-tasting fluids. It felt disgusting … but it only pushed me further.

I’m still alive!

I could still taste, feel, and see; as long as I could stand, Kyouya would survive! I won’t lose him again!

<Experience has reached multiple breaking points. [Human, Tatsuya Nagata] has risen from [Level 13] to [Level 14]>

<Attributes have increased due to level up>

<Acquired 200 skill points>

“Fuck this shit! Fuck this shit! As if I’ll let you top frag, Tatsuya! KAMIKAZE!”

I didn’t detect anybody else but the sound of the bandit’s agony-filled cries. I ignored everybody else.

Eventually, somebody’s blade finally stopped mine, ringing a shrill sound from metal clashing. “Woah, shit! That’s some strength, mate! Ya think ya can hit me, mana blood!”

I couldn’t see anything with all the blood, but I could hear. At this stage, I wasn’t able to distinguish it from the countless cries of pain, but it was enough to provoke me.

“Haha! Can you even see with all that blood on ya face, mate?” my opponent taunted. “Try it when ya can’t hear me.”

“Urgh!” I narrowly defending against something, only thanks to [Prediction] and [Danger Perception]. I couldn’t hear that person anymore.

My instincts told me to wipe away the blood, but as I was about to do that, both [Prediction] and [Danger Perception] warned me to block again. I did what my skills told me too, but …

“Argh!”

“Shit! Nice dodge at the end there, kid. One more second and I would have gotten your throat there, heh!” he proudly flaunted his success as I crashed onto the ground.

A terrible pain assaulted me around my mouth. Touching it caused the pain to amplify. Warm fluids gushed out of the spot, drenching my gambeson below.

I wanted to see what it was. I wanted to see it so much that I wiped the blood away from my eyes, slowly clearing up as my tears cleaned them. My vision was blurry but it was enough to see the person standing before me: Jasper.

“That oughta leave a nice scar for ya, kid. The lasses are gonna swarm ya the moment it heals up, hah!” He kept taunting me, egging me on to keep up the fight. However …

<[Exhaustion (Moderate)] [Starvation (Moderate)] [Bleeding (Minor)] inflicted on [Human, Tatsuya Nagata]>

This was all I had left. This small distraction had caused my senses and adrenaline to dull, letting all the strain and pain through. [Rush Hour] was deactivated.

No, damnit! No! Stand up, body!

Despite all plea, my body was unable to move any further. I felt hunger, a ravenous hunger that was huge enough that I could eat the whole world with. But I could only helplessly look up.

“Not moving? Huh, ya should’ve learned how to control ya stamina first, before you go on fighting, kid,” Jasper stated. “Well, can’t be helped. Ya brats put up a good fight and killed a few of my men, so gotta respect ya for that. Still, sorry, but ya still unlucky.”

Beaten? Is Kyouya alive? Haruka? Asaka? Daichi? Tamae? Nishio? Kohaku? Kazumi? Misaki? Are they all right?! What happened with Elrick?! Where are the others?!

… But none of those words escaped my mouth.

“Welp, time to end thi-HUH, WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?!” he exclaimed, turning his back to me as he gazed up in the sky.

There the white silhouette of a dragon mysteriously appeared. Glowing so incandescently that I could even see it with my blurry vision. With a loud roar, the dragon descended on the ground, exploding, and sending a shockwave that shook the very earth that I was laying on.

“Shit! That fuckin’ dragoon bitch! It’s that fuckin’ ‘White Winged Dragoon’!” Jasper shouted out in distress. “Lads, go! Fucking run away now!”

“Huh!? Jasper, what about these brats-!”

“Did ya see that, you fuckhead!? That white bitch will hunt us down if we capture these brats at this point. We fucking screwed up! If we only had been a bit faster! Fuck, somebody help Kaian! That knight injured him!”

Who is speaking? Who?

I couldn’t make out any voices any more. My eye lids felt heavy. My arms and legs wouldn’t listen to me. My thought dulled down to the point I couldn’t even muster the power to think of anything else but sleep. I wanted to make sure Kyouya was alright … that Aiko was alright …

But darkness consumed me.

***************************

“H … Tat … ya! … a… e… UP! Wake the fuck up, Tatsuya!”

“Woah!” I blurted out, grabbing onto somebody’s arm. “K-Kyouya?”

His short black hair, his perfectly aligned chin, and black eyes that could mesmerize any girl into a dream world with him. My-my best friend Kyouya! He was alive!

“Huh, what is with that face, Tatsuya? Did you see a ghost when you were sleeping?” he asked with a pale face.

“Nah, he probably dreamed of coffee. That fulinoe tea, I mean. The church gave him so much but this addict used up all the tea leaves in a week,” turning my head toward this stern voice, a blue-haired girl with defiant eyes glared at me with suppressed interest.

“Asaka-san?” The last thing I remembered was Asaka coughing up blood from [Arcane Fever]. She looked so exhausted … but here she was, energetic and dismissive like always.

… Right, it was a memory.

“Is something the matter, Tatsuya-kun?” A high-pitched voice directed my attention away from Asaka towards the petite girl that was sitting to her side, Haruka. “Did you have a nightmare?”

“Hey, Daichi! Wake up! Sir Elrick told us that we are about to arrive,” Kyouya shook the red-robed guy sleeping beside him, waking him up into a daze.

“I’m awake, I’m awake. Urgh, these carriages are so uncomfortable. Couldn’t they have given us a larger one? Or better yet, how about you two dudes sleep outside and let me enjoy the trip with the girls?” he complained with a lecherous gaze.

“Shut it, trash,” Asaka spat out.

“You aren't making yourself more likable with that, Daichi-san,” Haruka criticized with a worried expression, agreeing with Asaka despite their still strenuous relationship.

Right … that nightmare had long passed. We all made it out alive.

Realizing how it was just all a memory, it made seeing them all well even more sentimental. I couldn’t help but burst out of laughter, “Pfft-ha ha ha ha ha!”

Everybody looked at me with an expression of confusion until Kyouya built up the courage to question me about it. “

Sorry, sorry, guys. I was just … I just dreamt about how we got here. You know, our first few months up until that bandit subjugation.”

“What do you mean by ‘how we got here?’ It’s literally been three months since that Quest. Don’t speak like we spent years in this world,” Asaka stated with a frown. “… Guess you have PTSD.”

“Ahaha, can’t argue against that …” I smiled wryly, staring down at the carriage’s wooden floor. “Thank goodness, right?”

“… Yeah.” Asaka showed a rare smile as she stared out of the window. “Not like I cared, but I did think you and Kyouya had died. Well, not like I could care … I thought my brain would explode from that [Arcane Fever].”

“Yeah, I remember that fight.” Slapping my back with a firm hand, Kyouya began laughing merrily. “I really owe you for that, dude. I honestly thought I was about to die back then, so you coming in clutch with your hero act was awesome. Damn, have I already told you that I seriously fell for you because of that.”

Flustered, I shoved his head away from mine, trying to punch some sense back into this idiot. “S-shut it, dude! I know in which direction you go, so don’t confuse me here!”

Haruka chuckled. “But it is true that you were pretty heroic back then. You slashed your way through so many of those criminals that I couldn’t help but be grateful to you. You were really cool back then, Tatsuya-kun!”

Asaka smiled teasingly, touching my chin and right cheek with her soft hand. “Got some scars from it, though. PTSD or not, they sure bring you up a level in the attractiveness scale. Should learn how to dodge more if you don’t want more.”

My face heated up, forcing me to turn my head away from her. The arrow and dagger scars I gained that day were still around since Asaka couldn’t heal me fast. They were a reminder of that day. Asaka was teasing me about it but … Why did I feel so happy hearing that from her?

Urgh, calm down. Legs up; hide it.

Once I cooled down, I had to agree at how lucky we were to survive being outnumbered like that. Unfortunately, none of the knights survived that ambush, aside from Elrick. It made me appreciate the fact I was still able to breathe.

I honestly thought that I would die on that day, but thankfully Yorshka did something that pretty much scared away all the bandits, even defeating the bandit leader. The Quest was a success, regardless of the fact that we couldn’t capture all of them. As we routed them and they fled from the country, the church considered it a job well done and gave us all a reward.

Thank goodness Elrick and Haruka were still able to walk after that mess. Haruka, who didn't fight, was physically alright, able to feed us potions and medicinal herbs just in time. Kyouya and our mages probably would have died without her.

After some time had passed after the Quest, the church finally announced that we were finally ready to venture out to the world. That meant that our original Quest was about to start.

However, somewhere during those three months since the bandit quest, our groups just split apart. We were all wounded from that battle, so I thought we would bond from it, but it seemed both Daisy’s and Akanishi’s faction couldn’t.

It just all fell apart. Daisy’s, Akanishi’s, and Yuuko Takeshita’s parties all decided to take a boat ride south to the Folschreck Empire, wanting to join the frontlines immediately. On the other hand, Tamae’s party decided they would hang around the area of Aureolis to recover mentally, before they eventually were sent out to a neighboring Kingdom.

We? Well, we had no other choice, in the matter.

“Pardon me, but if everybody is awake, may I ask you to look to your right?'” After knocking three times, a small wooden window opened up and Elrick’s voice could be heard, directing us to look outside.

What we saw there was a majestic city, so large that it could easily rival the capital city of Aureolis, no, I believed it was even larger. Massive walls surrounded the city, protecting its citizens from any threat from the ground and above. There, in the back was a humongous mountain in the shape of an eagle’s talon, where this city’s rulers were situated.

“Look, there are griffons flying around!” Haruka blurted out, opening the window of our carriage to shout at the one behind us. “Kohaku-chan, look, look!”

A black-haired girl with tints of red suddenly poked her head outside the window of our neighboring carriage. “Woah, you’re right! Ahhhh, fantasy! This is so anime! Kazumi-chan, Tama-chan, Misa-chan, you guys have to look at them too.”

As the right side was too crowded, I went to the left side, opened up the window, and looked up. Besides the wind flowing through my hair and the bright blue sky, the first thing to draw my attention was a platoon of griffon knights, flying through the sky in a formation. I heard these knights belonged to the famous Order of the Lionhearts, an order of knights riding griffons as their mount.

“Hey, what are you kids doing, huh? Some of you are already 19, so stop acting like a bunch of kids,” a silver-haired woman scolded us from the driver seat of Kohaku’s carriage. “All of you are heroes so act like ones. If a guard sees you guys acting like this, they might even give me some trouble. So, calm down already!”

“Sorry, Dame Yorshka, we were just overwhelmed by the scene, hahaha,” Kyouya apologized in our stead.

“The Kingdom of Artorias …” I uttered.

“The Misfits” and “The Magical Biscuits” both chose to stay with each other. We would travel together and handle the Church of Aurena’s business in the Kingdom of Artorias. Although our Quest was to defeat the demonkin lord, the church wanted us to rally the faith in this place, to make sure they would help the Empire by sending troops.

I was pretty sure they were driven with more selfish desires, but I was thankful that we didn’t have to plunge into demonkin territory just yet. We still needed to train and gain strength after all, and nothing was better than to go on an adventure.

So close to the place with the fulinoe leaves. Just pass this kingdom and we would reach the Belzac forest!

Today was the present day, the 13th of AutumnSun in the year 2678, and we arrived at the capital of the Kingdom of Artorias, Griffonpeak.