Today's second consecutive post
I decided to start by building a lookout post that would serve as bait.
I dug a trench about 2 meters wide and 50 centimeters deep at a spot roughly 50 meters from the field, then piled the excavated dirt about 50 centimeters high on the field-facing side to form something resembling a trench.
I built another identical one about 30 meters to the side.
I decided on a spot about 50 meters behind the trench as the place to bring out the carriage, and marked the ground accordingly.
"That should about wrap up the preparations. Let's get the food ready before the sun goes down."
I told the three of them, and we set about making a meal at the marked spot. When I say "meal," I just mean a simple soup using stuff we'd bought in town and some dried meat.
However, I made extra soup—anything beyond tonight's dinner portion would go into the Magic Bag along with the pot, to serve as a late-night snack.
Less than thirty minutes after we finished dinner, the sun had fully set and everything around us had gone dark.
I cast a barrier spell on the marked spot to make it harder to perceive, then placed the carriage there.
At the same time, I expanded the barrier to a 200-meter radius centered on the carriage, set up to trigger an alarm inside my head if anyone other than us tried to enter.
This was supposed to have been a simple Dash Boar hunt, but it sure had escalated into something big, I thought as I went about creating a decoy Golem inside the carriage.
All that remained was the final touch, so I turned to the three of them,
"Could I get one strand of hair from each of you?"
I asked—and the three of them flushed slightly pink,
"What are you going to use it for?"
"You're not going to do anything weird with it, are you?"
"But if it's Tenma, I guess it's fine?"
And for who knows what kind of misunderstanding, they started firing strange questions back at me.
"It's what I need to make the Golem."
I answered the three of them in a perfectly emotionless voice. When they heard that, they held out strands of their hair.
If I thought I caught snippets like "What a shame" or "You really didn't have to hold back" at that moment... I'd like to believe it was just my imagination.
Setting that aside, I embedded the received strands of hair into the Golem and began pouring Magic Power into it. Before my very eyes, the Golem gradually transformed into the likenesses of the three of them — but in their natural-born state, so to speak.
Even I panicked at that, but the three of them were panicking even more and looked completely flustered.
"Nya—! What are you doing, Tenma?!"
"Tenma, you pervert! You lech! You degenerate!"
"Tenma, you pervert! ...I would've shown you anytime if you wanted to see that badly..."
Lily shouted while partially turning into a cat, Nelly hurled insults, and Millie muttered something under her breath — all three of them frantically draping the blankets they'd been using over their respective Golems.
Meanwhile, I was on my knees, prostrating myself and apologizing.
"Sorry! That wasn't my intention! The last time I made one, it was for Shiromaru's Golem, so I didn't think it would turn out like this!"
As I apologized, I reflected that if you really thought about it, Shiromaru was a wolf, and in human terms, he was basically always in a state of full nudity — but I kept that thought to myself.
The three of them put spare clothes on the Golems. Of course, I kept my back turned the entire time and never committed the foolish act of turning around until permission was granted.
Once I was given permission and turned around, there were six faces lined up that all bore a certain resemblance to each other — more precisely, three faces in different colors that each looked reasonably similar to one of three familiar faces.
"When you look closely, there are actually quite a few differences."
"Well, if you were looking from a distance in the dark, you probably wouldn't notice."
"Tenma, you really haven't been doing anything weird with this technique, have you?"
That last remark from Millie prompted all three of them to press me: "Well, Tenma?"
"Give me a break. I swear I haven't been using it for anything weird."
When I answered, the three of them flashed lewd grins and
"Oh my~ Tenma, what kind of imagination did you have when you heard 'used'~?"
"We were just asking whether you'd been playing pranks on anyone with this Golem, that's all~?"
"What could you have been imagining~? Why don't you tell your big sisters all about it?"
They closed in on me while putting on a bit of a character act. I sighed and said,
"What are you even talking about? It's too late to play the big-sister card now. Anyway, I'm about to make a Golem right here, so turn around and look the other way."
The moment I said that to the three of them, they approached with gleaming eyes.
"Well then, we absolutely have to watch!"
"You've seen ours, so it's only fair, right?"
"How exciting~ This'll be the first time I've ever seen a man's!"
They were getting on my nerves, so I ordered the Golems standing behind them to grab all three and force them to face away.
"That's not fair~!"
"You're so tyrannical~!"
"You're so stingy~! It wouldn't kill you to let us look!"
They kicked up a fuss, but I ignored them and quickly put it together.
After I finished dressing it, I released the three of them.
They were grumbling and complaining, but I decided not to worry about it.
After that, I split the Golems into pairs and sent them off toward the trenches.
Even then, the three of them started arguing over whose Golem should be paired with mine, and in the end they settled it with rock-paper-scissors.
The result was that my Golem would be paired with Nelly's, but I kept scratching my head the whole time, wondering if there was any point to it.
For a while, I spent some peaceful time relaxing inside the carriage.
"I still don't sense any Dash Boars approaching."
Sure enough — or rather, as was only natural — there was no sign of Dash Boars coming our way.
Time passed as before, the date changed, and about one to two hours later, an alarm suddenly blared inside my head.
"All three of you, the enemy has moved! Be ready to move at any moment!"
At those words, the three who had been lying down sprang to their feet and rushed to get ready. Lily equipped her bow, Nelly her twin swords, and Millie her shield and one-handed sword.
I had Shiromaru on standby so he could jump out of the bag at a moment's notice, and I drew my blade.
The sword was the same shape and construction as the previous one, but since it was made from the metal that had grown on the Dragon Zombie's shoulder, it qualified as "Superior" grade as far as item classification went — its sharpness and durability were incomparable to the old blade. (The previous sword had been "Advanced" grade.)
"All three of you, the enemy has closed to within fifty meters behind the Golem."
The enemies
were approaching the Golems while ignoring the carriage. It seemed some kind of perception-obstructing magic was at work, pushing the carriage outside the enemy's awareness.
"It looks like the enemy fired arrows — my Golem has fallen! It's almost time to begin the operation!"
The Golems, struck by the enemy arrows, pretended to fall in accordance with orders.
About five minutes after the Golems went down, two enemies at a time began creeping toward each of the two trenches. Based on what we had scouted, there were forty people at a distance of fifty meters from the trenches, thirty at a hundred meters, and the remaining thirty-eight were waiting back in the village.
And the scouts who drew close were captured by the Golems.
"Now! Begin the operation — all three of you, be careful!"
" " "Do your best too, Tenma!" " " "
I sent Shiromaru outside, ordering him to prioritize the hidden enemies — mainly the rear guard — while deploying the Golems as guards for the three of them. I myself used Flight to head toward the village and capture Banza.
With the scouts captured, of course the bandits were gradually inching closer to the trenches.
The
bandits
The bandits realized their plan had been exposed and scanned their surroundings warily. Then they spotted three shadows closing in from behind them.
"Don't hurt the women no matter what! Their value will drop!"
"But you'll have to deal with me first, I'm afraid."
"You bastard! They're ours!"
They let out crude, leering laughter.
The bandits had underestimated the three simply because they were young women. The only obstacle would probably be
a young man
at most, they figured.
But that was a huge mistake. They were a C-rank party, but each of them individually already possessed C-rank combat ability.
Furthermore, all three were said to be skilled fighters ranked closer to B-rank even among C-rank adventurers.
This was an impressive evaluation for someone with only two years of adventuring experience. To put it in perspective, it was not uncommon for adventurers to remain at C-rank for ten or even twenty years, and the wall between C-rank and B-rank was that formidable.
On top of that, all three could cast simple magic in fire, water, earth, and wind, meaning they were said to be capable of aiming for even higher ranks in the future.
Moreover, these three fought better as a trio than they did individually.
Their combination was so seamless it could only be described as something unique to triplets, and among adventurers it was well known that their party rank was already comparable to a B-rank party.
"Nelly, I'm going to focus on taking out the ones with spears, so handle everyone else. Don't overextend yourself."
"Got it!"
"Milly, intercept whoever's coming at us, and I'll provide backup."
"Okay~"
Lily gave directions to the other two. She was the most level-headed of the three, and as the eldest, she naturally fell into the role of leader.
Nelly was the most agile of the three and had an aggressive temperament, so she often took on the attacker role.
Millie was a bit on the laid-back side, but being the most dexterous of the three, she often fought from the position between the other two.
That said, their positions were less about specialization and more about individual strengths—they were all essentially all-rounders.
A bandit who had raised his spear only to draw Lily's bow fell with an arrow sprouting from the dead center of his face; those who pushed forward were slashed by Nelly and left bleeding; Millie shoved them back with her shield, widening the path while the Golems held firm on the girls' flanks.
The careless bandits let Lily's group link up with the two Golems without much trouble.
"Damn it! I let my guard down 'cause they're women! Hey—you guys in the back with the bows, get over here!"
One of the bandits called out to those hiding in the rear, but no answer came.
"I said get over here!"
He bellowed, yet not a single reply followed.
Just then, something was hurled at the man's feet—a round object tumbling toward him. When he looked closely, it was the severed head of one of his comrades who had been hiding in the back.
"Roooaaarrr!"
The moment the head was thrown, a piercing howl rang out. The bandits flinched at the sound, and their attention was uniformly torn away from the three they had been facing.
Lily's group was not about to let that opening go to waste. Coordinating with the Golems, they surged forward and dealt blow after blow.
When the bandits turned to face the three girls, Shiromaru launched himself at them.
It was the very image of a tiger blocking the front gate
and
a wolf guarding the rear.
After that, they easily linked up with the remaining Golems as well. With Shiromaru and four Golems now added to their ranks, Lily's group hunted down the remaining dozens of bandits without breaking a sweat.
To rewind time a little—Shiromaru, who had leaped from Tenma's bag, used his keen sense of smell to locate the enemy's positions, then crept up behind them without making a single sound.
"Hey, something feels off! One of our guys who got close has been captured!"
"If we hear the call, we rush in immediately—stay ready!"
Yet Banza's gang was so focused on peering toward the trenches that they hadn't noticed Shiromaru creeping up behind them in the slightest.
In the next instant, all fifteen men present had their heads severed before they could even make a sound. The last thing those fifteen felt in this world was a gust of wind slicing through their midst.
Shiromaru surveyed the scene, confirmed there were no survivors, then slipped toward the rear squad and wiped them out as well.
Meanwhile, Tenma was hovering above Banza's house, scouting the situation inside.
Twenty-nine people, including Banza himself, had gathered in this house. The remaining nine were in a separate building a short distance away.
He descended quietly beside the house and peered inside.
"Chief, things are looking good. The men are whatever, but the women should fetch a pretty penny!"
"With looks like that and three of them to boot, some noble with a taste for such things would pay through the nose!"
The lackeys were chattering away to Banza. As for the man himself, he wore a slimy grin, positively glowing with glee.
"See? My plan was flawless from the start! Who'd have thought we'd land three prize catches right off the bat!"
He let out a booming cackle. Tenma felt his anger steadily rising.
"Besides, this village is perfect. Barely anyone lives here, and adventurers or city knights almost never show up. That made it a cinch to take over. As for the occasional traveler—just knock them out with a little sedative and they're ours."
He was bragging away without a shred of awareness that Tenma was listening.
"And killing off the villagers, starting from the useless old geezers and hags, was the best part!"
That did it. Tenma could hold back no longer.
He reinforced every wall except the front one with a sturdy barrier spell to make them harder to break, then aimed his left palm at the wall and unleashed an explosion spell.
The wall tore apart like a Claymore mine, sending debris flying straight into the gang of thieves.
Those near the wall were obviously caught in the blast, and of the twenty-nine inside, ten died instantly while nine were left clinging to life. The remaining ten, including Banza, had somehow survived unscathed—the dead had served as human shields.
But they were all frozen in shock, unable to comprehend what had just happened.
Tenma stepped through the breach, his unsheathed beloved blade Kogarumaru slung over his shoulder. Spotting him, Banza roared.
"What are you doing here?! No, more importantly—did you do this?!"
"And if I did?"
I replied calmly.
"Don't think you'll get away with this! It's just one kid—there's no way you lose. Take him out!"
Banza was barking orders at his nine unscathed subordinates.
I watched them with a silent grin.
"What the hell are you laughing at, you little brat?!"
They were shouting as they grabbed nearby weapons—swords, chairs, anything that could serve as a weapon—and slowly began closing in.
Watching this, I said,
"I'm the one who created this situation. Do you realize that one kid just took out nineteen of your men in the blink of an eye?"
As I spoke, the subordinates who had been advancing began to gradually back away.
Banza drew his sword and pressed it against the back of one of those subordinates, ordering him to kill me—
He gave the order.
That was the command.
The man, with a sword pressed against his back, charged at me in a half-crazed frenzy.
"Out of my way."
I sidestepped the man's raised blade with a single step back, then brought my sword down in a diagonal slash.
It didn't look like a particularly powerful strike, but the man's body was cleaved diagonally, scattering his innards as he dropped dead.
The other subordinates who witnessed this rushed toward the door on the far side of me, ignoring Banza's shouts to stop—
"Ah, it won't open!"
"W-Why won't it open?!"
"The windows! Break the windows and get out!"
"The windows won't break! What the hell is going on?!"
They were in a full-blown panic.
And for good reason — I had reinforced everything I recognized as part of the wall, doors and windows included, with enhancement magic. That meant nothing short of force exceeding my own enhancement magic could open or break through any of it.
In other words, they had been cornered into dead-end walls with no escape route, reduced to nothing more than helpless prey.
The only options left to them were to smash through the roof and flee, get past me and escape through the broken wall, or be hunted down. A three-choice gamble.
"What's the matter? Not going to run?"
At my provocation, the subordinates shook their heads and begged for their lives.
"We haven't done anything!"
"Y-Yeah! The boss threatened us — we had no choice!"
"The boss is the one at fault for all of it! We never intended to be your enemy!"
They spouted those pathetic excuses. Just as Banza opened his mouth to roar —
"Shut up, you scum."
From my own mouth came a voice filled with Magic Power and fury — so intense it surprised even me.
The subordinates who heard it went white as ghosts, trembling where they stood. Several of them had wet themselves.
"What do you think you did to the people who lived in this village? When they begged for their lives, did any of you help them? Did you never once consider that the same thing could happen to you?"
As my words closed in on the trembling subordinates —
"He's not going to let us go! The only way to survive is to kill him! Everyone, charge — NOW!"
Banza had goaded them once more, and the subordinates rushed at me in half-madness, brandishing whatever weapons they had on hand.
I barely moved from where I stood, delivering a downward diagonal slash, an upward diagonal slash,
a left sweeping cut,
an upward right slash, a downward vertical strike, another upward slash, a downward diagonal slash,
a right sweeping cut,
cutting down each one in the order they came with a single blow. Every last subordinate died, their bodies split clean in two.
Only Banza remained.
"Hey, king of the hill. You sicced your underlings on me while you watched from the sidelines? That's disgusting."
I addressed the man who couldn't hide his shock
at how easily his subordinates had been cut down —
the "king of the hill."
Banza suddenly put on a grin.
"Man, you're pretty good. How about you team up with me instead? Of course, you'd be the boss. I'll be second… nah, fifth is fine. We split it 70-30 — you take seven, I take three. Whaddya say?"
He said, rubbing his hands together as he drew closer.
And just as he'd closed to within about two meters of me —
"You fool!"
"The fool is you."
He pulled a knife from inside his coat and lunged, but there was no way I'd fall for such an obvious move.
I sliced off the hand that held Banza's knife.
The hand made a sizzling sound, gave off a burnt smell, and dropped from his wrist with a soft thud.
"GYAAAAAA! My hand!"
I was cutting into them with Kogarumaru imbued with fire magic, and Kogarumaru's black blade had taken on a faint red hue.
Banza was clutching his seared right arm and screaming.
I ignored Banza's screams and cut off his remaining limbs.
Banza had been wailing loudly, but eventually fell quiet — perhaps from the pain — and had wet himself.
At any rate, the cuts had been cauterized, so he probably wouldn't bleed to death.
Just to be safe, I stuffed a strip of cloth from one of the cut men's clothing into Banza's mouth to keep him from biting off his tongue.
That was when I noticed the nine people who should have been in a nearby house still hadn't shown up.
When I used Scouting, they hadn't moved from the first house — in fact, their positions hadn't changed at all.
A possibility occurred to me, and I headed toward the house while staying on guard.
When I quietly opened the door and slipped inside, I heard a clattering sound — something moving.
I carefully made my way toward the source of the sound, which was coming from the room at the very back.
Steadying myself, I opened the door and peered inside while illuminating the room with light magic.
"Is anyone here?"
What I saw when I peered inside was exactly what I'd expected: nine women.
All of the women had their hands bound behind their backs, gags stuffed in their mouths, and their legs tied as well.
The women who noticed me were all terrified, and some started crying as I drew closer.
I was wondering what to do when —
"Tenma~! Where are you~?"
"Kuu~n"
"What's wrong, Shiromaru?"
"Is Tenma over there?"
"Woof!"
Hearing the voice, I stepped out of the house and beckoned to the three of them and the one beast.
"Hey, everyone, over here! Are you hurt?"
When I called out, Lily and the others, who had been standing in front of Bansa's house, came running over.
"We don't have any serious injuries!"
"Tenma, are you hurt?"
"Why were you in a place like this?"
They pressed me with questions, and while I told them I wasn't hurt,
"Actually, something unexpected happened..."
I went on to tell them everything that had happened.
I told them about defeating Bansa and his subordinates, about sensing nine presences here, and about the women being held captive and
terrified of
me — I recounted all of it in order.
The three of them said they would go in, release the women, and explain things, then headed inside.
While they handled that, I took out the stock pot and started boiling a large amount of water. I filled a separate pot with water and whipped up a simple soup.
About fifteen minutes later, the three of them came back out of the house.
Some of the women were still too weak and weren't ready to face a man yet, so I handed the three of them the pot of soup and the stock pot full of hot water and decided to leave the area.
I told them that, and that I was heading over to Bansa's house, but they asked me to bring along the roughly twenty prisoners being guarded by Golems in the field.
When I went to the field, blood, body parts, and corpses were scattered everywhere, and in the center, twenty-three bandits tied with ropes sat surrounded by four Golems standing guard.
The bandits had spotted me and were shouting, but they were way too noisy, so I used "Stun" to shut them up.
I took 30 small Golem cores out of my bag, scattered them across the field to create Golems, and had them gather all the corpses into one spot.
The collected corpses were frozen with magic, then stowed away inside my bag.
After that, I ordered the Golems to gag the prisoners and transport them to Bansa's house, and once I had recovered the carriage, I flew ahead to Bansa's house on my own.