18 — More Than Bandits

18 — More Than Bandits

The journey to Merratoni was uneventful. Until that evening.

Lionel and I rode at the front, with Kefin driving the carriage behind us in place of Dhoran. Ketty and Estia were talking inside. I looked back at them and grinned. Everything was peaceful.

But as the sky started to burn orange and I began to think about where we might spend the night, Estia flew out of the carriage. I turned to her, and Forêt galloped in her direction all on her own. Strange behavior for a horse, but it didn’t bother me. She was my partner through and through. I trusted her judgment and urged her on.

“Estia!” I shouted. “What are you doing?!”

She suddenly faltered. “This is Estia’s home. The topography. It’s all the same.”

Two voices. She had switched with the Spirit of Dusk.

“The sun hasn’t even gone down yet. What are you doing out already?”

“Estia saw her surroundings and began to panic. The cat-woman tried to calm her, but she became incoherent and jumped out of the carriage.”

Estia had been a slave in the past. This must have been where she had lived when she was free and still happy.

“She’s your kin, isn’t she? Can’t you give me something more specific?” I asked.

“Our relationship does not allow me unchecked access to the lock and key of her memories. She needs time. May she have it?”

“Of course. We’ll push on a little farther once you’re ready. There’s a village we can stay at just a short way from here.”

“Thank you.”

As our conversation came to an end, Ketty and Lionel arrived. I decided they should hear about Estia’s past, except for the spirit.

“Estia was sold to the empire as a child,” I told them. “Apparently, this place is triggering memories of her past from before she was a slave, so she’s just going through a bit of shock right now.”

“Can’t blame her,” Ketty said. “Nothin’ harder to forget than childhood trauma.”

“Perhaps she was kidnapped from Merratoni or one of the surrounding villages?” Lionel suggested. “Or sold in one of them.”

“I don’t think it’s Merratoni. She worked at the Healer’s Guild there for a while.”

“Then let us hurry to the next village, where we can rest more easily.”

“Yeah. I’m not worried about any nocturnal monsters with you guys around, but some rest would do her good.”

We laid Estia down in the carriage while Ketty joined Kefin in the driver’s seat and continued on. But the trouble didn’t stop there.

Moments before the sun had set entirely, we came to a village. Except something wasn’t right.

“My name is Luciel,” I announced to the nervous men at the entrance. “S-rank healer of the Church of Saint Shurule. May I speak with your mayor?”

The men stirred, tension in the air, until the two collapsed on the spot. I whipped around to look at Ketty and Kefin in bemusement, but they were gone. The men had fallen to them. The pair had knocked them out for some reason.

“What’s going on?” I demanded.

Why would they have attacked innocent villagers? They had been acting strange, yes, but not that strange.

Before anyone could answer me, Forêt reared up on her hind legs, throwing me helplessly to the ground.

“Ow! What was that for?!” I jumped to my feet and she brayed angrily in reply. “Uh, sorry?”

I felt her aggravation overshadow my own, and with renewed composure I asked Lionel, “What’s happening?”

“It seems Shurule has found itself infested with bandits,” he answered. “An admittedly rare occurrence for the republic.”

I understood now. The village had likely been overtaken by miscreants.

“Bandits? Are they domestic or did they come from another country?” I wondered aloud.

“Shurule enjoys a great degree of safety.” He dismounted his steed. “The empire often has to dispatch entire platoons to deal with its outbreaks of brigands.”

He held his hand out for a coil of rope. I handed him some, and he promptly tied up the men.

＊

Ketty and Kefin, having discerned that something was wrong with the village, left Luciel in Lionel’s care while they investigated the situation. But the mysteries only continued to pile up.

“Never mind bandits, it’s not even sundown and I haven’t seen a single villager,” Ketty murmured. “Doesn’t make sense.”

“What if the bandits already set up camp?” Kefin wondered.

Ketty shot him an exasperated look. “Then they’d have caught us miles down the road, not let us waltz right in.”

“Good point. I can sense them, but it’s like they’re not even here.”

Ketty figured the villagers could have been enslaved or subjected to some kind of dark magic. If that was the case, then the best course of action would be to have Luciel heal them all.

“Any other job and this’d be the end of it, but we’d better fill Mister Luciel in,” she said.

“Right.”

They had started to return to the entrance when it happened. All of a sudden, the villagers flew out of their houses as dark magic fell upon them from above.

＊

In spite of my concerns, the situation didn’t seem to escalate. The villagers remained missing without a trace, and I didn’t hear any sort of scuffle that might have indicated Ketty or Kefin had been attacked.

“Sir, wake Estia and secure the carriage in your magic bag,” Lionel urged me. “It tells the enemy our location. You should shelter the horses in the hermit key as well.”

“Good idea. Forêt, I’ll see you again tomorrow. Promise.” She shook her head at me. Something like determination gleamed in her eyes. “Okay, fine, but the carriage has to go. Can Estia rest on you?”

She drooped her head. We appeared to have reached a compromise.

“Sir!” Lionel hurried me along. “The enemy could be anywhere.”

I peeked into the carriage. “Estia. There might be bandits around. I need you to come out and stay with Forêt.”

The Spirit of Dusk would surely come to her aid if danger did arrive. I guided Lionel’s horse as well as the ones pulling the carriage into the stable within the hermit key, then started to stow the carriage itself away when my eyes wandered to the enemies Lionel had bound.

“Hey, wouldn’t it be better to have the carriage out so we can toss the bandits inside? The thing’s light enough to drag.”

“I suppose so,” he replied, nodding and doing just that with the two unconscious men.

“We’ll be taking Forêt with us. I’m confident she’ll be able to sense any enemies, and she knows I’ll toss her in the hermit key for our whole trip in Merratoni if she acts up.”

“Hm. Very well.”

Forêt gave me a blank look.

Night was just about upon us. From here on out we’d be getting a bit of extra help from the spirit.

“So, should we just wait? Or should we go find the mayor’s place?” I asked.

“You know where it is?”

“I’ve been here a few times.”

“Then let us go at once. We may find the chief of these criminals there.”

“Got it.”

“However,” he added, “should we take that course of action, I must insist that we put the carriage and horse away to conceal ourselves.”

I groaned. “But that’s a pain. Let’s just go. If they find us, we’ll beat them to a pulp. You know Ketty and Kefin will have our backs.”

“As you wish.”

I cast Area Barrier and off we went. The town was free of any traces of battle and yet there wasn’t a single sign of life around. It was well and truly night now, but not one house had any lights on.

“Maybe they’re all together somewhere?” I said.

“What concerns me is the lack of any evidence that a battle took place.”

We proceeded towards the mayor’s house, cautious, until we saw something illuminated in the distance.

“I’m worried that we haven’t seen Ketty or Kefin yet,” I commented.

“Those two would never be done in by a sorry band of brigands,” Lionel replied. “They couldn’t be. Not unless there was someone particularly exceptional in the group.”

The closer we got, the more distinctly we could make out what sounded like cheers. A bit farther down the road was the mayor’s residence, and there seemed to be some kind of party being held in front of it. But, as with everything in this place, something was wrong.

The villagers were gathered in a ring. Ketty and Kefin were in the middle of it. In the air was a strange, demon-like being, horns poking from its head, tail sprouting from its lower back, black wings stretching out from its shoulder blades. It was launching dark spells at the pair as the two dodged frantically.

I would have panicked if not for the surreal nature of the scene. There were cheers and applause in place of battle cries and shouts.

I told Lionel to get ready to move, and he did.

“Assuming that’s a demon, what are its weaknesses?” I asked. “The same as the undead?”

“Light and holy magic,” he replied. “If you can hit it with Sanctuary Circle, you might be able to weaken it. However, it won’t die so easily.”

“Then that’s what I’ll do. Be careful.”

“Understood. Advancing.”

“Do what it takes to protect them.”

“Yes, sir.”

Lionel let out a great war cry and charged towards the beast.

“Luciel. Sister.” I heard the spirit speak in Estia’s voice nearby. “If Sanctuary Circle isn’t enough to return the humans to normal, I will use my magic. Take care of Estia’s body when it is done.”

There was no time to answer. My sights were already set and the spell had been aimed. The light in the darkness expanded from the flying devil, engulfing the area with a great whirlpool of incandescence. I could hear it shrieking.

I pulled the carriage towards the cacophony and almost lost my lunch when I saw what looked like a pile of dead bodies. But it was just the villagers who had been under the demon’s control, having fainted.

“Sir,” Kefin panted, “you saved us. The bastard wouldn’t fight fair. Nearly had us.”

He and Ketty were bloodied with deep wounds, and Lionel’s shield had already been eliminated in the short time he had been in the fight.

“You interrupted the demon when you hurt it, and the villagers stopped trying to shield it,” Ketty said. “Gave us a solid opening to pounce on it and put it down.” Sweat poured from her face. This foe had clearly been a monstrous one. Yet, she and Kefin had fought to protect the innocents. I swelled with pride.

“I don’t understand what such a powerful demon is doing so far from the empire,” Lionel said. “It is concerning.”

I agreed wholeheartedly. Shurule was supposed to be protected by a barrier that kept strong monsters out, but Ketty and Kefin were lucky to be alive. We hadn’t had a fight this close since the red dragon. And Lionel’s shield had been custom-made. Now, it was gone, and the wielder’s arm was bent in the wrong direction too. But he never once took his eyes off the beast that had inflicted the injury on him.

The fallen demon looked like a human in both size and features, but it had horns and a tail like a beastperson. A closer look revealed hard scales covering the ends of its appendages like a dragonewt.

“You guys really beat that thing,” I said in amazement. “It looks...human.”

Even in death, the thing was terrifying. I managed to bring myself close enough to put it into my magic bag, which I did with the utmost caution. Immense relief washed over me when it went in.

“We need to question the townspeople when they wake up,” I said. “But first, I’ll heal everyone.” Forêt whinnied, drawing my attention to Estia, who was passed out on my steed’s back. “Then the spirit used her power.”

Forêt, the only one to hear my muttering, nodded at me. I hadn’t seen any of the action go down, but it was an easy explanation for why all the villagers had collectively fainted.

I cast the highest degree of healing magic at my disposal on my team, including Purification and every ailment-curing spell I had. Then I proceeded to heal the townsfolk with Recover and Dispel.