The Party Leaves and The Guests Continue On Their Way

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I got off of my horse and went to Silvergreen…to Asagi.

 

Even during the fight, he wore a pained expression as he swung his sword. And he was fighting bandits. The emotion suggested a resistance to killing but also the knowledge that he had to in order to survive. It was all in his expression.

 

“Good work, Asagi.”

“Mmm…ah, Miss Tetra. Were you hurt?”

“Just a few cuts. Nothing out of the ordinary for an Adventurer, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Uh, yeah.”

 

He wiped at the blood on his cheek. Under the blood that dripped from his face, there was not a single scratch.

 

Asagi didn’t seem enthusiastic about taking the leader’s head, and so I offered to do it. I grabbed the hair in order to pull it up to the right angle, but the whole upper torso came with me.

 

“Huh…”

 

I let go without thinking. The torso fell into a puddle of blood with a wet thud. How did you he cut it to end up with a body like that? This wasn’t the work of any normal movement or use of strength. The sword itself would have to be very strong. I nervously glanced towards Asagi.

 

“Hahhhh…”

 

He looked at the blood on the cloth he used to wipe himself and sighed. I could see the reluctance in his expression. It was glaringly obvious.

However, what he had done was almost more terrifying than the bandits.

 

A man with great strength but a brittle heart. That was my first impression of him.

 

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With the head in hand, we returned to the road. Asagi had wanted to bury the bodies, but I told him that we hadn’t killed all the bandits yet, and so he just put his hands together and bowed. Was it some tradition he had?

When that was finished, he picked up his sword and began to run. As his alias suggested, wind wrapped around his legs as he took off at a great speed, quickly disappearing from sight. The carriage would be fine if he was there. More importantly, I had to make sure that none of the other bandits had escaped.

 

And so I watched for them as I made my way back. That was when I encountered the man with the scar on his face. He had been in the carriage the last time I saw him…

 

“Woah, that’s a lot of blood. I hope it’s not yours?”

“It isn’t. And what about the blood on you?”

“Of course it’s not mine!”

 

He grinned. So he must have killed some of them too. Well, this part of the forest was likely fine then. And so I had him ride on the back of the horse as we continued on. It was probably safe, but I stayed alert.

 

The carriage was surrounded by corpses. The bodies of the bandits piled over one another. An exhibition of cuts, arrow wounds and broken bones. Each wound suggested a different weapon, a different passenger.

 

“Ah, you’re back. Miss Tetra.”

“Yes. What a great mountain of bodies you have here.”

“I didn’t do this. It was like this when I got back.”

 

Not this one, you mean.

 

I got off of the horse and we all talked about what had happened. It seemed that we had killed all forty of the bandits. Lightwind’s Presence Detection abilities were quite advanced, and she was sure that there were no other groups, let alone a settlement. The merchant then urged us to waste no time in leaving this place. He was right. And with that, everyone began to put away their weapons. I too sheathed my sword and got into the carriage.

My horse was tied to the carriage by the driver, who intended on taking it with us.

 

“Asagi, we are leaving.”

 

I looked up when I heard Lightwind’s voice. She was looking out of the carriage and at Asagi. He was looking at the forest. Perhaps he was regretting the lack of a burial.

Indeed, leaving the bodies out to rot would mean corruption and the possible spread of diseases. However, there were monsters in the area. They would likely take care of that. The monsters would grow fat, bear their young and eventually grow in numbers and be killed by us. That was the life of an Adventurer. It seemed that for him, living in our world meant fighting against something within him. Well, only Lightwind would know about that.

 

“Yeah, I’m coming.”

 

When he finally looked back, his expression was indeed sad.

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Isekai ni Kita Boku wa Kiyoubinbode Subaya-sa Tayorina Tabi o Suru Jack of all Trades