The leather armor didn’t seem like it’d net me much on the open market, so I decided to leave it all behind. It was all pretty roughed-up and drenched in blood, so I wasn’t even sure I could sell it.
As I knelt to search the nearest bandit, I noted how difficult it was to tell the bad guys from the good. A wry laugh echoed from deep within my helmet.
I found a leather pouch tied to the bandit’s waist. Inside, there were four silver, hundred-yen-sized coins and fifteen more that looked similar in size and color to the old ten-yen coins. They all bore the same mark on them and appeared to be the local currency. Silver and copper? They were poorly minted compared to the coins used in Japan, but they certainly fit with the rest of the world. I went about collecting money from the rest of the bandits.
The man with his backside sticking out—the leader, I supposed—had six gold-colored coins approximately the size of one-yen coins. The gold, or at least what I believed was gold, was surprisingly heavy for its size.
All told, the nine bandits had six gold, thirty-one silver, and sixty-seven copper coins. Whether this was a significant amount or not, I couldn’t say yet. I didn’t know anything about the cost of goods here.
After that, I collected a total of six swords, one mace-like club, and three short swords. I tied them all together and put them into a burlap sack tied to the back of one of the bandits’ horses. Then I piled all the bandits’ bodies up in the grasslands next to the road. I was surprisingly calm about the whole thing. Maybe all those foreign medical shows I’d been watching had desensitized me to seeing bodies like this.
Figuring that the bodies would just start rotting if I left them like this, I cast Fire. Flames burst from my right hand, bathing the mound of corpses in a continuous stream and incinerating the bandits’ remains.
I moved upwind of the flames and smoke to watch the scene unfold. As they burned, I thought about how even miserable excuses for humans like these could eventually become fertilizer and provide some sort of benefit to the grass and flowers once they were reduced to ash.
The two women returned from the river, and their complexions were notably better now. The chestnut-haired girl was wrapped in a large cloth and supported by her chambermaid. She was still somewhat pale as she made her way toward me, bowing her head slightly when she arrived.
“Th-thank you for saving me from such…dire circumstances.”
Tears formed at the edges of her eyes. She must’ve been absolutely terrified. Despite all that, the very fact that she could approach a mysterious, armor-clad man and express her gratitude made it clear to me that she wasn’t some simple, young girl.
“You have certainly met with a great deal of misfortune here. Though my words may ring hollow, I am relieved that you are safe.”
After hearing my response, the chambermaid next to the girl bowed her head and spoke up. “Please allow me to also express my gratitude. Now, madam, let’s get you into the carriage. I will bring you a change of clothes.”
With that gentle prompt, the young girl walked to the carriage and climbed inside.
The chambermaid stepped behind the carriage, removed one of the leather bags tied to the luggage rack, and began searching for spare clothes.
“I’ve burnt the bandits’ bodies. What would you like me to do with the guards?”
She stopped her search and thought for a moment.
“Put them to the side of the road.” She bowed her head daintily as she replied. “We will send soldiers to collect their bodies. The weapons and horses will be coming back with us. I would greatly appreciate your assistance in gathering them together.”
“Understood.” I tilted my helmet curtly in reply and began moving the guards’ bodies.
The chambermaid took the change of clothes inside the carriage and pulled the window curtain shut.
I gathered together the guards’ weapons in a separate burlap sack, which I then put into the carriage’s luggage compartment. The harnesses on the guards’ horses seemed sturdy enough, so I used some rope the bandits had been carrying to tie them to the back of the carriage, hoping it would be able to pull them along. Then I tied together five of the bandits’ horses and mounted the sixth, the sturdiest-looking one.
It’d been awhile since I’d ridden a horse—probably not since I’d taken a few lessons at my friend’s riding school—but I felt comfortable at least getting the horse to walk. Running would be an entirely different story, as I’d never tried that before. Nor was I sure I could lead the other horses all the way into town.
All the horses were massive, nothing like the thin, streamlined thoroughbreds I was used to seeing. The muscles in their legs and throughout their body were thick and round, and the one I sat astride had little difficulty supporting my nearly two-meter-tall, hulking frame. It just looked back at me and my heavy armor as if I was some sort of annoyance.
A short time later, the chambermaid stepped out of the carriage in a new set of clothes and approached me.
“I would once again like to express my gratitude to you for rescuing us from that awful situation.” She clasped her hands together at her waist and bowed her head deeply as she spoke.
“No thanks needed, I simply happened across you. However, I will gladly accompany you to the next town.” I spoke with a slight air of arrogance as I redirected the discussion to my actual goal—getting to the next town.
“Thank you!” The chambermaid didn’t seem to notice anything amiss and was rather cheerful as she thanked me before moving up into the driver’s seat. She gave the reins a light snap, causing the horses to once again resume their march down the road.
Once the carriage had begun its silent procession forward, I brought my own horse alongside it. The horses tied together behind me dutifully clopped along in stride.
Looking up at the sky, I could see that the sun was now low and night was rapidly approaching. The horizon to the west was bathed in a deep burgundy, meaning we probably had another hour or so until it was completely dark.