Chapter 24: Richard’s True Strength

To be honest, I thought, ‘We did it!’

I knew someone had died, but we had taken down the man who seemed to be their leader.

So I thought the rest of them would flee.

…But that was wishful thinking.

“Yooooou bastaaards!”

“I’ll kill you aaaall!”

I flinched at the roar.

Enraged at the death of one of their own, they ignored the false information I had drilled into them and charged straight at us.

The three guards moved to intercept them.

But the ones in the rear realized it then.

‘There are no pitfalls.’

“Hah…!
You think you can mess with us like that!?”

Naturally, their fury turned toward me, the one who had deceived them with bluffs.

At the murderous shouts filled with killing intent, I felt clear, unmistakable fear.

With the threat of pitfalls gone, the threat of poisoned blades was gone as well.

They had seen through it.

All that remained was their rage at losing one of their own.

Against that, we had only our small force and healing magic that might not last forever.

“Drag that woman down!”

The bandits directed their rage at me as I held the makeshift flag.

At the moment when a clear end came into view—

Thud!

“Gyaa!”

“!?”

Something flew in from a completely different direction and struck a bandit in the head, knocking him down.

“What was that…!?”

I turned my gaze toward where it had come from.

There, running at full speed, was Sir Richard.

“Ah…!
Sir Richard!”

He made it!
Much faster than I had expected.
He must have realized what was happening.

I forced my trembling body to steady itself and focused on my healing magic.

I still didn’t fully grasp Sir Richard’s true strength.

But if I kept casting healing magic on a capable warrior, then even with the enemy’s numerical advantage, we had a chance to win!

“…Who the hell are you?”

The bandits clearly saw him as a threat as he came charging out of the forest.

Their focus shifted away from us as they moved to intercept him.

“He’s fast!”

They sensed the danger as he closed the distance in an instant.

“Uoooo!”

But before reaching striking distance, Sir Richard actually threw his own sword.

“Gya!”

Unable to block the blade hurled straight at him at terrifying speed, one man was pierced through.

But that meant Sir Richard had lost his weapon—

“You bastard!”

In the brief moment after that strike, Sir Richard had already closed in on the bandits.

He lowered his body, slid in from below, and evaded their attack.

Then he hooked one man’s leg with his arm and pulled him down, immediately shifting his stance.

Spinning his body halfway, he brought his knee down onto the arm of another armed man and crushed it.

“Gyaaa!”

He snatched the fallen man’s weapon and turned it against another bandit who was approaching.

“Gya!”

“Guh!”

He stripped the bandits of their weapons, tossed them aside, and even took a two-sword stance.

Before our eyes, Sir Richard cut down the bandits one after another.

Like a god of war.
Like an unstoppable force.
A small blood-colored whirlwind swept through them as they fell in quick succession.

“…Wow.”

All we could do was stare, dumbfounded.

Just moments ago, we had been wrapped in life-or-death tension.

We had certainly been the main force in defending the village.

But the moment Sir Richard arrived, we became nothing more than spectators.

There was no time to assist him.
No need to.
He alone eliminated the threat we faced.

I did continue casting healing magic on him, just in case.

But it would be fair to say it hardly mattered.

When he finally struck down every last bandit, the merchant group erupted in cheers.

As for me, my tension finally snapped—combined with the constant use of healing magic, my legs gave out and I collapsed on the spot.

“Ellen!
Are you okay!?”

“…Yes.
I’m just a little tired, Annabel.”

“You did great.
Sir Richard finished it, but until he arrived, you were the one holding us together.”

“That’s not—”

…Well, maybe it is.

I do think that, in that moment, what I did was the best possible choice.

Even I want to ask myself where that nerve came from.

…I didn’t have any prophetic dreams about this incident.

Even if I had returned to the past, my life would have been swept away by a raging current.

I don’t think I should have had any resistance to situations like this.
And yet, I moved.

Looking back on my past experiences, I had never once faced violence on such a life-or-death level.

This kind of situation was completely new to me.

And yet, I was able to prioritize the best action in the moment over my fear.

Rather than courage, it felt more like my fear had gone numb.

“…Haah.”

Only now did I start wondering what on earth had just happened.

For now, at least, I was glad that everyone from the merchant group was safe.

After confirming that everyone was alive and unharmed, the tension finally left me…

And my consciousness slowly faded away.

The last thing I saw was Sir Richard rushing toward me in a panic.