Chapter 88: Roadside Encounters (1)
“Well, it seems this is where we part ways.”
Remeron said. Phel was behind him, riding on Kry with Aellasis and Kai, who was walking. Russell glanced at the long-eared elf walking next to him.
“Where are you going, Russell?”
“I think I’ll go south.”
Errandis territory is still a territory near the north. Despite the approaching spring, the wind from the growing mountain range to the north of the territory remains cold.
“What about you guys?”
“We must return to our original land with these relics that the Lord has given us.”
“Do elves have a separate land?”
“That’s something I can’t tell even Russell.”
Remeron smiled, and Russell let out a chuckle. These beings, who had the same beautiful appearance and long ears as he had seen in the medium of his previous life, did not talk much about their hometown.
People claim to exist somewhere in the jungle, but they dare not venture into that vast forest. This land, teeming with demon beasts, truly qualifies as a demon realm.
It is said that there is a land in the desert where other elves with skin close to black, brown, or purple live. However, similar to the jungle, the land was difficult to approach due to its vastness and abundance of monsters.
“But still.”
Remeron looked at Aellasis and Phel, who were laughing behind him.
“Russell, I think you’ll come to our land someday. You’re the first person I’ve ever met who’s as curious as I am.”
“Is that so?”
Russell replied nonchalantly. Remeron looked at the human, who was a head taller than him, and thought about what he had just done.
Artificially opening the magic circuit. In fact, it is not impossible. The difficult part was maintaining it.
‘I have heard that nobles or royalty among humans sometimes ask Master Mages of famous Magic Towers to open their magic circuits when they are born.’
However, the process is complex and different from what Russell has just done. People claim to perform actions such as crushing and squeezing special grass that grows through the consumption of magic power, applying the juice to the skin or feeding it, sprinkling the blood of monsters, and even obtaining power from devils.
Power is an innate desire that surpasses all others. Of course, they pay a big price for it, and especially since the fact that they have made a contract with a devil becomes known, the church sends paladins to completely trample on the territory and family, so such attempts are rare.
On the other hand, Russell just did it. The process was quite ordinary. It all ended with just looking at Robin with his eyes and putting his hand on his back.
But if people find out that it can be done this easily, there will be more than a few parents who will come with money in their hands.
Remeron was not an elf who was light-hearted enough to talk recklessly about such a fact. He wanted to befriend Russell, if possible.
While they were talking, they reached the southern gate. There were many people coming and going in the sun. Russell stood in line to go out.
People were surprised to see the large Russell, the even larger orc Kai, and the white-haired girl riding a handsome black horse. However, they did not have the courage to speak.
Remeron and Phel did not line up, so they stepped back. In turn, Russell shook hands with the two elves.
Thus, the party, which contained more non-humans than humans, split into two groups. Russell, who had passed the shadow of the gate, suddenly squinted at the sunlight pouring in.
However, his eyes soon adapted. Russell could see a vast plain spread out beyond the gate, a forest and bushes swaying in the wind in the corner, and a mountain range standing dimly in the far distance.
Now Aellasis, who was good at riding, approached Kry next to her.
“Where to now, Russell?”
Kai looked at him too. Russell took a deep breath and exhaled. His keen senses felt the quiet plain ahead, as opposed to the noisy back of the territory.
The sound of grasses swaying in the wind, brushing against each other, filled his senses. He looked back.
A gray castle wall rises high. Many things happened inside this. The Lord asked him if he would like to stay and rule the territory, but Russell did not want to.
There were still many places he had not visited.
“South.”
Purrung. Kry moved her hooves, whinnying. Russell and Kai walked beside them. The castle walls, which had been guarding their place for a long time, saw off the travelers with a silent gaze.
🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷
Kai’s boast was true. He was really good at cooking. Russell admitted it, putting down the empty bowl and spoon in his hand.
“You’re really good.”
“Would you like some more?”
“I won’t refuse.”
“Just wait a moment. Here, boiling it thicker enhances its flavor.
The orc’s mouth utters the word ‘flavor’. Russell chuckled and put the bowl down on the grass.
They set up camp on one side of the plain, where a small stream flowed. Kai’s bag was full of various tools. Kai quickly made a makeshift tent out of nails, a hammer, and a tent.
It was natural for Aellasis to cheer. Russell, used to sleeping alone, was satisfied enough to wrap himself in a blanket or sleeping bag, but Aellasis was still a girl, cold from the night dew.
Kai spoke to Russell, who was watching Aellasis sleep in the tent, snoring slightly.
“It’s done.”
Russell took another slow sip of the stew in the bowl. The campfire in front of them blazed, crackling.
It wasn’t that big, but the presence or absence of a campfire didn’t matter much to Russell anyway. For him, who could see through any darkness, the usefulness of fire was only to heat food, keep Kry from being anxious, and hear the sound of firewood burning.
“Aren’t you going to ask?”
Kai said.
“What?”
“Why did I say I’d follow you?”
“Not really.”
Russell accepted Kai as a party member because he thought it would help him find the man in gray armor. And now, one more reason has been added. The addition of a handyman and cook who excels at household chores is also a contributing factor.
He emptied the bowl in an instant and put it down. Kai showed up with a ladle, but Russell shook his head.
“I’m currently following the almost forgotten god Vulcan. He is a god that only a small number of orcs like me worship.”
“So?”
“He gives me hardly any oracles. I don’t know if it’s because he has lost his strength or if there is another reason, but one day when I saw Russell, I felt like this was an oracle. To follow you.”
As a god. It was clear that gods also existed as beings with divine power. That’s what piqued Russell’s curiosity and interest. Russell came from a world where there was no god, or at least a world that made him doubt his existence.
The only entity Russell has encountered so far that bears resemblance to a god is the girl he met recently in the dark. But the girl said she wasn’t a god.
Then what are the gods of this world? Are they gods with personalities like those depicted in Greco-Roman mythology?
With a grumble, Russell broke the dried bone he had gathered around him into two pieces and put it in the campfire. The dying campfire flared up again with the newly supplied fuel.
“The reason doesn’t matter.”
“It doesn’t matter?”
“Yeah. It’s up to you to choose whether or not the god you believe in gives you oracles or instructions.”
“. . . . . .That’s right.”
“Then that’s it. There is no one who leaves knowing where I will arrive anyway. Even if there is a destination, there may be circumstances where I have to stay because I can’t get through or get lost in the middle. Then I can just leave again.”
Russell looked back on the cities he had stayed in so far. Suddenly, his hand touched his neck. One of the necklaces that had been hanging around his neck for over half a year was now in his hand.
“Russell, why are you traveling?”
Russell looked up at the night sky at Kai’s question. There was darkness and starlight that could not be seen on a computer screen or a television screen.
The blue moon hanging on one side of the sky was now half full, drawing a pale halo. The twinkling stars and the Milky Way next to them proved their existence with the past light that had traveled a long distance.
The sight of those jewels, submerged in a sea surging with darkness and sparkling on their own, was never boring.
“Just.”
“Just?”
“I do it because I want to. If I had to give a grandiose reason, I wouldn’t be able to give any. As I said earlier, that’s useless. I do what I want to do, and I do it if I can.”
He couldn’t do that in his previous life. His body, despite his desire, refused to comply. That’s why he had to be satisfied with a proxy only for virtual worlds and creations.
Russell looked back at Kai and chuckled. The large, brown-skinned orc was resting his chin on his fist. His posture reminded Russell of a statue from his previous life.
“That’s enough. We’ll have to walk diligently tomorrow.”
“I understand. Wake me up when it’s my turn to watch the night.”
“Okay.”
Kai laid down without saying a word. He was almost bare, but as an orc, he did not mind. A harsh snoring sound was soon heard.
Russell sat still and looked at the plain beneath the night sky. Occasionally, when the wind blows, the blades of grass make an indescribable sound as they brush against each other.
There is no need to close your eyes to think. The volume of darkness that the campfire was pushing away was thick, but even that could not block Russell’s eyes.
Far away, a pack of wolves appeared. Yellow, glowing eyes in the darkness. They were the ones who roamed the fields, ambushing travelers or scavenging corpses.
However, the wolves could not approach the campfire in the distance, even though they had spotted it. The wolf pack tried to think of something edible over there, but their instincts screamed that there was a fearsome beast.
In the end, they gave up and decided to find easier prey. As a result, the ten wolves disappeared over the plains and hills. However, Russell knew that they had not left completely and were planning to wait nearby.
Those who live in nature know that if they follow people, they will somehow get something to eat.
Russell sat still and passed the time. The unresolved power wriggled roughly inside him. ‘It’s not like I can get up and do a sword dance.’
He just kept adding dried bones and firewood to the campfire in an attempt to revive the embers. The campfire and the shadows it cast danced once.
🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷
“What’s that sound?”
Aellasis said it suddenly, two days after leaving the territory. Russell also looked in the direction from which the sound was coming.
Kai asked with a puzzled expression.
“What sound? I can’t hear it well.”
The vast plain easily swallows sounds. This is due to the absence of any obstacles that could block the echoes. However, Aellasis and Russell were not ordinary beings, so they caught the faintly fading sound. It was a scream.
“It’s on the left.”
The scream came from beyond the gentle hill on the left. Russell immediately confronted Kry. He said this, looking down at Kai below him from a heightened perspective.
“Can you keep up?”
“Hmph. Of course.”
Kry gave a loud roar and ran, and Kai, who had snorted, also ran. Despite carrying two people, his legs moved vigorously. Kai ran next to it at an almost identical speed. He couldn’t keep up with the horse in terms of stamina, but he could easily catch up with Kry over a short distance.
They climbed the hill, leaving dust behind them. As they climbed the hill, they found ten to twenty people, surrounded by three or four carriages below.
And a horde that seemed to be several times larger than that was circling the carriages on horseback. The identity of the horde, which appeared to be about thirty or forty, was a group of bandits.
“Aaaaagh!”
“Spare me! Spare me! Ack!”
Because of the distance and difficulty of spreading the sound on the plain, the screams were all faint. However, Russell’s eyes could see all those who were dying, crying out their last words; those whose arms were cut off; and those who fell backwards after being hit by arrows and spears in succession.
The bandits’ joyful laughter filled their faces as they indiscriminately cut and killed people.
Although it had only been two days since leaving the territory, these guys were rampant everywhere. There are not many cases where that can happen. Perhaps nearby cities or territories cannot easily subdue the bandit leader’s force.
Such a group of bandits, who make the fields and wilderness their home and wander around, are not easy to subdue, even by sending knights or soldiers from the territory.
First of all, their primary stage is the plains, and if subdued, they will quickly retreat into the deep forest or mountain range, making the situation more challenging.
Additionally, their open looting indicated that they had support, and it was evident that magic power was awakening.
Knights with enough power to handle all of them at once were rare on the continent, and naturally, there were many such people who took people’s lives for granted.
This group also seemed to have hired a little over ten mercenaries, but there were not many left.
Some were lying dead like corpses around the carriage, and some were scattered and fleeing here and there on the plain. The bandits’ blades deeply cut the backs of those who couldn’t run far, resulting in their deaths.
Heeheeheehee!
Aaaaaaaaah!
A ghostly cry, like the roar of a beast, erupted from the bandits. It seemed that they enjoyed this hunt a lot.
One of them then appeared to be aiming an arrow at Russell’s position. A messy face, with one front tooth missing and dried saliva stuck to it.
Russell saw that they were all guys who had awakened their magic power, albeit faintly.
The bandits soon turned their horses’ heads and began charging towards the hill where Russell and his party were.
“Kai.”
“Speak.”
“Protect Aella. Don’t let her get hurt.”
“I understand.”
Russell said to Aellasis.
“Aella, get off.”
“Can’t I go with you? I’m good at shooting ice awls now.”
Aellasis didn’t stop talking, and she waved her hand in the air. Then, gathering the moisture in the atmosphere, she created a single icicle that emitted a thin chill.
“It’s uncomfortable to swing a sword. Stay here with Kai. If anyone approaches, stick that ice awl in their head.”
Aellasis reluctantly got out of Russell’s arms. Russell confirmed that the girl had gotten off and pulled on Kry’s reins.
“Let’s go!”
Kry started running down the hill. Perhaps due to the reduced number of people or the fact that the route was downhill, Kry was able to run at an incredible speed.
The bandits laughed at Russell, who was riding down on a horse without a weapon. Guys with crossbows took a stable position, even on a running horse. Then pulled the trigger.
Thud thud thud thud!
The arrows loaded into the crossbows all came off the bowstring at once, drawing black lines in the air. Russell and the horse, Kry, were the targets. The two appeared to be immediately vulnerable to the arrows.
It wasn’t. The bandits looked at the arrows that had stopped near Russell and Kry, making a blank expression. The person in front of them hurriedly opened his mouth.
“Be careful! Magic━”
The greatsword cut through the warning before it could pass. Before the oxygen supply to his brain ran out, the man who lost his neck first managed to maintain his brief consciousness.
He witnessed a great sword sweeping like a storm in a world where the sky was on the floor and the earth was above. Before they could act, the sword tore his colleagues to pieces and scattered them on the floor.
Before the guys could channel their magic power into the sword, Russell’s greatsword sliced their upper bodies in half.
Thump, thud.
The first-cut neck floated up, then fell to the floor. His vision turned black.
Nevertheless, his hearing was alive, and he heard his colleagues screaming and screaming. And soon, he couldn’t hear anything.
Russell broke through the bandits, who had no formation like bandits, as if they were nothing. Seven more riders were behind him, bleeding profusely and dead.
The plain’s brown soil soaked up the red and black blood to the fullest.
The bandits, who were following behind their colleagues who had run ahead, turned their horses’ heads and galloped away at the sight. Kry, who was excited, chased after them, snorting.
The faces of the bandits turned black as they watched the black-haired man with a black coat and a black greatsword chase them on a black horse.
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