Chapter 4
I dropped down on the side hidden from the forest and jogged lightly parallel to the carriage for a bit.
As I felt the tension in my stiff body loosen, I also confirmed the sensation of magic flowing to my extremities.
Alright, I'm good to go.
Putting strength into both legs, I took off running.
*
Dirt kicked up by my feet swirled behind me.
I'd heard that even if a seasoned adventurer runs at full speed, they wouldn't dig into the ground with their feet—so that means I'm still green.
But I must have passed the speed test, because I could hear the driver let out an impressed sound from far behind me.
A few people, startled by me suddenly bursting out from the shadow of the carriage, came rushing out of the forest.
Three of them.
That's a bad move.
Apparently, I wasn't the only one who thought so—I heard someone yelling at the three who had jumped out of the woods.
The three men who had rushed out tried to aim their bows at me despite the scolding.
They'd completely misjudged my speed and the distance between us.
Carefully adjusting my strength, I drove my fist into the first man's abdomen.
The look on his face—like he couldn't understand why I was suddenly in front of him—stuck oddly in my mind.
Maybe because if I'd misjudged my strength, this could've been my first kill.
Pushing thoughts of whether he was dead or alive aside, I kept moving toward the next man.
And then the next.
As the third man collapsed to the ground, arrows came flying out of the forest.
Three arrows. Looks like no one's trying to run.
I deflected the incoming arrows with my sword. Just as the driver had assessed, only one of them had a bit of weight to it.
I dashed into the forest in the direction the lighter arrows had come from.
A man who had been using a tree for cover, trying to nock his next arrow, saw me charging in and tried to flee—but of course, I wasn't going to let him.
I punched him in the gut with practiced restraint, making him writhe in pain, then grabbed him by the collar and flung him toward the road so I wouldn't lose track of him.
Before he even hit the ground, I saw another figure trying to escape and dealt with him the same way.
"Damn it!"
Cursing with zero creativity, the man—probably a washed-up adventurer—burst out toward the road, trying to escape. Faced with the choice between the hard-to-run forest and the easy-to-run-but-hard-to-escape road, he chose the road.
For a second I wondered if he had confidence in his body enhancement skills, but really, if someone was capable of that, they wouldn't have fallen so far as to become a bandit for such low returns.
He was faster than a regular person, but for an adventurer, it was a speed that wouldn't even qualify for Rank 2.
I could easily catch up.
He must've seen me charging from the carriage to here, so choosing the road to escape meant he was either desperate or confused.
Whatever.
I caught up to the man and gave him a slightly harder punch.
He let out a short scream and passed out.
I had to admit, I handled that pretty quickly.
"Alright then."
Let's tie them up before the carriage catches up.
Grabbing the unconscious man by the collar, I headed back the way I came.
*
"Not bad at all, boss."
As I was tying up the unconscious bandits and lining them up at the edge of the road, the driver caught up and praised me.
I could tell he was impressed that I'd captured them all alive, and it made me a little happy.
"Still though......"
The driver sounded a bit exasperated.
"You even had rope on you? And not just any rope—Needle Spider silk?"
In response, I slapped the tool pouch on my waist.
"There was this kind soul who patiently taught a clueless rookie like me everything."
Rope made from Needle Spider silk is a must-have item for adventurers.
It's compact, lightweight, and durable—and depending on how it's tied, even high-ranking adventurers can have trouble escaping it.
"More importantly......"
I ignored the man who still looked like he had more to say.
"What should we do with these guys? If we turn them in, I don't mind letting you have the bounty as a bonus."
"Let's just leave them."
The driver replied immediately.
"I've already been paid plenty. Can't load them on the carriage or drag them around with us. It's fine to leave them here."
The knights will probably pick them up before they die.
He shrugged as he said that.
Yeah, realistically, that's how it'll go.
It's not a time-sensitive journey, but there's no reason to slow down over a bunch of bandits.
"By the way, boss, what rank are you?"
The man suddenly changed the subject.
"Just hit Rank 4. It's tough when you're also attending the academy......"
I said that much and grimaced, realizing I'd slipped up.
I must've let my guard down after my first real fight against people—I said something I didn't need to.
Seeing my expression, the man gave a wry smile.
"Don't make that face, boss. Some folks hate nobles becoming adventurers, but I'm not one of them."
The Adventurer's Guild, which manages adventurers, is essential to the kingdom's national security.
But at the same time, since it's mostly made up of commoners, its relationship with the kingdom is complicated.
And its relationship with the nobles who make up the kingdom's largest armed force—the royal army—is even more so.
That's why many adventurers are hostile to nobles registering with the guild.
For a moment, I considered how I could talk my way out of this—but gave up.
A sigh slipped from my mouth.
I didn't know if the man was telling the truth, but at least his tone wasn't mocking or malicious.
"Yeah, I'm an adventurer, senior."
When I called him "senior," the man let out a weird little chuckle.
"Name's Merceja, boss. Mind if I ask yours?"
"Shin Longdagger. Second son of a ridiculously poor viscount family."
"Shin Longdagger... so you're the one from that rumor......"
The driver's words never made it to the end.
Or maybe he did say something—but whatever it was, the sound of an explosion drowned it out before it reached my ears.