AN: Hello! Your lazy author present you chapter 55. Enjoy :D!
PR by Bboybrian
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I was too late. Just as I said that, both Muriem and Kerrina struck their targets. The mana of the 2 mages disappeared from my perception. I wanted to keep the mages alive because they were more likely to be the leaders or subleaders of the group. As for Komodo, he made quick work of his 2 opponents. With haste, strenght enhancement, and his own natural physical prowess, his 2 opponents couldn't handle him for long. In fact, they lasted less than 30 seconds.
The only one left was the one I spared with the earth spikes. My magic sense was so advanced that at close distances I could picture the limbs and the head, thus, I only pierced the limbs. After comfirming that all enemies were neutralised, I put out all the fires I had started and went towards the survivor with the girls. Komodo was sent back to the cart to wait for us.
Once reunited with the girls, my heart grew heavy. I already had prior experience killing people, but not the girls. And when I saw them, I got really worried.
Muriem had a savage look on her pretty face. Her breathing was slightly rough, but not out of exhaustion. She was excited. She had just killed people, and she looked really pleased. In fact, I was sure she wanted more. As for Kerrina, she looked slightly displeased at first, but her tail was shivering. She was trying to appear calm in front of us, in front of me.
Aenthar: 'I really am an idiot... Was it really necessary for me to confront the bandits? Was it necessary to involve the girls in the battle? With my magic and mana sense, I could have dealt with all 11 of them on my own. I could easily locate and strike them from a distance while keeping my position elusive. Yet, I had them accompany me to kill people, without making sure they were ready for it...'
“Muriem, Kerrina... I'm sorry. I'm sorry I got you to kill p-”
Kerrina: “It's fine... It's fine Aenthar. You are an adventurer. You want to see the world, to travel. Dealing with bandits and thieves at some point is inevitable. When we choose to follow you, we knew we would have to kill people someday. When you told us about them, I had already prepared myself.”
Aenthar: “But you're feeling terrible now. I know.”
Kerrina: “Nobody said it would be easy.”
Muriem: “Aenthar, I hope you were not thinking about handling all the dirty work by yourself and babysit us. If you were I'm going to hit you!”
Aenthar: “No, no. I wasn't... It's just, I never really though about the time you would have to kill someone. I always pushed the idea aside. I didn't know what were your feelings on the matter, yet I dragged you into this fight...”
Muriem: “... Aenthar, I hate bandits. They are trash. I have no more consideration for them, than I have for a cockroach. Bandits deserve no mercy, they should be slaughtered and dumped into cow dung. That's what I think.”
Aenthar: “Well, one of them is still alive. I need to question him for informations, we need to know if there are more of them in the area, or who is their boss. Let's go.” 'Now isn't the time to talk about taking lives...'
The last bandit was in a 2m deep hole, with his limbs still stuck above the spikes I made. He was moderately bleeding, and both of his arms were broken. He was barely conscious, probably barely able to bear the pain of broken bones and suffering from anemia. Using earth magic, I pushed him out of the hole by filling it from the bottom. At the same time, I pulled the spikes out of his limbs. Then, I closed the wounds to stop the bleeding, but didn't heal the broken bones.
The bandit was groaning during the whole process, and completely passed out at the end. It took several minutes, some slaps from Muriem and some water magic to wake him up. He looked around confused for a few second, then shock and fear spread on his swollen face. I crouched next to his face.
Aenthar: “Hello mister bandit! I didn't think I would meet your kind here. Mind telling me where you came from?”
Bandit: “... From the capital...”
Aenthar: 'Then they probably didn't come here on their own decision.' “Who hired you?”
Bandit: “... I can't tell you that”
Muriem: “Then you're useless. Die.”
I broke into cold sweat at that moment. A single glance towards Muriem told me that she wasn't joking. When she readied her halberd, the bandit grew deathly pale. While we were surprised by her actions, Muriem was decisive. I knew she intended to kill him, but I didn't know she would act that fast. But thanks to our training I could react. I grabbed the collar of the bandit and pulled him toward me. Muriem's blade struck the ground, lightly cutting his neck in the process.
Bandit: “W-W-W-W-WAIT!!! Wait!!”
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Muriem: “You have something you want to say?”
Bandit: “Yes, yes... The others, and I. We're part of a small group of thugs from the capital...”
Aenthar: “Mage are usually considered good assets. It shouldn't be difficult for one to find a proper job. Why were those 2 mages with you?”
Bandit: “Them? They were lent to us for the mission...”
Aenthar: “What was the objective of the mission, and who ordered it?”
Bandit: “... The main goal was to capture the girls... Then beat you up without killing you. The serran had to be killed... The one who ordered it is a daughter from a good family, probably a noble.”
Aenthar: "... A noble girl?" 'Though there are many nobles that don't like me, most of them are guys. Yet the first one to take such a serious action against me is a girl?'
Muriem: “... That girl, what was her name? What did she look like?”
Bandit: “... She was a pretty honey-head chick with very dark blue eyes. She had a nice body... Arrogant and full of confidence. I can say that she had something nasty prepared for you girls... As for you, half-elf, she did seem to have other plans for you. She didn't want you killed or crippled.”
Kerrina: “Ophelia.”
Muriem and Kerrina: “That bitch!!”
Aenthar: 'Of course... The girls would have attracted a lot of attention as well. They did mention before that some noble girls didn't like them. I completely negelcted that... Since I was usually labelled as a genuis, I assumed that the girls' troubles would be minor compared to mine. Those girls are talented and popular on their own even without me around, of course they would have their own enemies as well...' “Who is she?”
Kerrina: “A nasty dual sword user, able to use air, body and dark magic. She is a magic swordswoman. She is quite proud, and naturally looks down on commoners. It seem like her whole family is like that by the way. All the commoners who got on her bad side didn't leave unscathed.”
Muriem: “Except us. We aren't really the kind to back down when provoked or insulted. And we defeated her in mock battles.”
With Muriem's sentence, both girls started to grin while looking at each other. I was pleasantly surprised to hear about that, but I was also a bit sour. Because I was usually busy, these girls kept things to themselves, probably so I wouldn't worry about them. I decided not to bring out the issue of killing anytime soon. They want to support me and prove their worth, and I should respect that.
Aenthar: “Since she is your enemy, how do yo intend to deal with her?”
Muriem: “I want to pay her back for that attack. With interest!!”
Kerrina: “... We can completely crush her.”
Muriem: “How?”
Kerrina: “We have 2 dead mages and a witness. And we also have strong support through Aenthar with the headmaster of the academy, the head of the magic department, and the members of the student council. Let's report this to the guards and the academy.”
Muriem: “Kerrina, that's really mean... I like it!!”
Aenthar: “I don't. Not completely. Certainly, you will crush that Ophelia girl, but what about her family? While they will lose a lot of prestige, they definitely won't be crushed. And they will certainly bear a big grudge against you... In fact, it's a really bad idea. I believe enough people know that we are from Argot village. They could go as far as to attack our parents and Arren as payback.” 'Still, that was a nice idea for something though on the spot.'
Muriem: “The supporters, Aenthar. The supporters! If you can think that far, then our supporters can also think that far. They will do something about it, they are used to deal with nobles after all!!”
Aenthar: “!! That's right, they are used to dealing with nobles. That's why, we will go first to the academy and report it to headmaster Basililey. He will know what to do about it... Remember this girls, always get some advice from someone with experience in the matter, just like you take advice from your weapon instructor to avoid making mistakes.”
Muriem: “... Yeah, now that you've said it, I think it's a good idea.”
Aenthar: “Alright, it's decided, so we should move now! Take this guy to the cart and secure him, I'll take care of the bodies of the 2 mages.”
The girls gave me a strange look for a second, but did as I told them. Well, through my mana sense, I could tell that Muriem did take the time to check the bodies on the way and take what could be useful. I didn't tell them not to, and I thought I shouldn't try to stop them from doing that. After cleaning the battlefield, wrapping the 2 bodies in a sheet and securing them on top of the Komodo, we went straight to Lana Academy.
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AN:
PN: He didn't write an AN.