Published: September 2, 2025
※2015/1/18 Typo corrections made.
This is Satou. When I first played Western games, I was shocked at how lightly human life was treated. It might sound trivial to call it a culture gap, but the casualness in this other world was beyond what I expected.
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The bandits seemed to have stopped the knights' legs with ropes and throwing nets before attacking. By the time we reached a place where we could see them, we saw the knights entangled in the nets, desperately struggling inside. It looked like it could be cut with a sword, but maybe that’s just amateur thinking?
The bandits were desperately attacking, but the knights’ full-body armor was too strong, so their attacks rarely got through.
There were only three bandit archers, so Pochi and I split up to shoot them down from the trees. Why are they always up in the trees? It’s strange.
The bandits noticed us and charged, but since we were about 200 meters away, we managed to reduce their numbers by half before they got close. The beast girls mercilessly neutralized the bandits who coughed after inhaling Mia’s stimulating mustard mist. Fortunately, no one seems to have died.
I left the coachman to Lulu and had Nana cast a shield to protect him.
I also cast a shield and headed to the battlefield with the three beast girls.
While the beast girls fought the bandits, I started cutting the nets binding the knights with my dagger.
“Well done, merchant! You scoundrel bandits shall become the prey of Baron Muno’s knight commander Eral’s mighty sword!”
The other knight silently bowed and then followed knight Eral, mercilessly slaughtering the bandits. Although these two are only level 9, their equipment and combat skills made the slaughter one-sided. Even the bandits we had knocked out without killing, lying on the ground, were finished off cleanly. They truly show no mercy.
“Hold it there, knights!”
The bandit leader, a bearded man, stepped out of the forest. One of his henchmen held a woman in travel clothes hostage, wrapped tightly in ropes.
“Hmph, a hostage, huh?”
What’s this? My danger sense is going off big time. Is there an ambush somewhere? I scanned the surroundings.
No.
It’s from knight Eral’s side.
I deflected knight Eral’s sword, which was about to stab the man behind the hostage woman, by throwing my dagger.
Phew, made it just in time.
While confirming the woman’s safety, I dodged the bandit’s sword thrust from behind. Knight Eral couldn’t tell if the attack came from me or the bandits given the positioning.
Then the bearded man shouted curses.
“Damn, no mercy even for a hostage? Are you even a knight?”
The bandit leader showed more humanity than the knight...
Knight Eral’s sword clashed against the bearded man’s axe.
Another knight slashed the man holding the hostage from behind. Does chivalry not exist in this world?
“Toruma!”
That scream came from the hostage woman. What? Wasn’t the man holding her a bandit too? Hearing the woman call the man’s name, the silent knight judged she must be a bandit and attacked her with his sword. I stepped in relying on my shield.
“Knight, you’ve made a mistake. This person is not a bandit.”
I don’t know if my words were trusted, but the silent knight spared the woman’s life.
Seeing the bearded man fighting knight Eral being supported by the silent knight, he was quickly defeated. When the bandits saw their leader lose, they tried to run but Pochi and Tama’s stone throws crippled their legs, and they were captured.
“You cowardly scum.”
“Hmph, fools. Did you really think that a noble knight would treat bandits with equal courtesy while wiping them out? They just keep coming no matter how many we kill.”
After finishing off the bandits, the knights slit the throats of those tied up with ropes in front of the carriage to finish them off. It looked like excessive slaughter. I was about to protest to the knights, but Arisa, who had quietly approached, stopped me.
“Hmph, keeping bandits alive is just wasting food. We appreciate your help. Be grateful. We’ll even give you the bandits’ equipment to use in your trade.”