After dropping from his horse, Roal, bearing the pain in his shoulder, put his left index finger on the upper dent of his cheek plate. Then, gliding down to the lower dent, murmuring, "Detective mode. Lens: Magic density." Suddenly, the world changed in his eyes. The plants, rocks, water, arrows, and soil all turned blue, while the only object with high magic density, people, turned red. Including the two spearmen, ten people in total were surrounding them. Another volley was launched at him from all directions before he could take another action. Luckily, none had hit.
While the volley was completely missing its target, three shots were made before the roaring flame reached the ground; the first two shots each punctured the head of a bowsman; the last one pierced through the skull of two slingers at once. Ranith extended his left hand beyond his head, fully stretched his fingers, and pointed his palm in the direction of the particles. A blue transparent film appeared above his palm, sheltering the cowboy's whole pudgy body from the particles. He could feel the arrowhead scraping his muscles while he raised his hand. It was not enough pain to put him down. A few bandits without guns wouldn't even be a threat when he used to be a detective. Another shot was made, and this one made a hole in one's eyes and another's forehead.
The spearman at the left tugged his spear out of the ronin's chest and received a bullet to his brain. The abrupt death caught the attention of the man on the right, giving Akki enough time to toss his katana from his right to his left hand and launch it at the man's face. The blade was neither thrown at a high speed nor with much strength. Regardless, it punctured the man's skull and slid out of the hole it made.
Roal let his left arm hang down to rest after the transparent particles entirely disappeared. That film had drained almost all the magic in the old man that he could barely see the remaining two bandits escaping. The ronin was out of stamina and swords. The cowboy was out of ammunition and magic. The situation would be horrible if they decided to fight. Luckily, that was never possible. Roal knew too well about those cowards of greed. They ran whenever they felt threatened, unable to take a risk.
As Ranith unbuttoned the first and second buttons on his waistcoat, he stood up from the ground and plodded toward his companion, slightly stooping. The hem of his cloak was dragged on the mud. Roal reached his right hand into the left side of his waistcoat and drew out three vials of elixir from his inner pocket. The other two vials were broken when he was knocked off the horse. Their glass fragments were now pricked on his hand, and the splashed purplish liquid seeped to the outer layer of the coat.
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"Can you hear me?" Roal fell to his knees next to Akki's body. He was too exhausted to try a better sitting position.
Akki, having his eyes closed, nodded without much movement. Blood flowed out of his wounds like streams and soaked his whole body. He was unable to answer the question after having his stomach and one lung incapacitated. His entire oral cavity was drenched in blood.
"Listen, I can't stay awake for much longer. This wound was too much for a person my age. The two remaining had run away. More will come," Ranith tugged the arrow out of his wound, accidentally pulling out some of his muscle structures, "I am now going to fix your wound. Just run. Don't try to fight them. I know you don't accept failure normally. Just treat this as an exception." Akki protested by making strengthless, hoarse noises as the cowboy started performing the ritual for healing. Roal had seen the obvious after putting up a fight like his young self would. There was no way for both of them to survive. There wouldn't be another lord coming out of thin air to save them. Roal had given up again.
The glaring elixirs sprung from the vials and filled the ronin's wounds. With the last drop of magic gone from his body, Roal Ranith toppled to the ground, wrapped in his new and grimy cloak. The cloak was warm, and his suit was handsome enough for a burial cloth. "This death was a nice one," the old man told himself silently. He didn't bother to make a voice, and the young one wouldn't like to hear it.
A bigger group of approximately twenty bandits soon surrounded the scene. They were wearing dirty, even shabby, tunics and pants. Most owned an extra beanie or coat. Some even had shawls and hooded capelets. Yet, the only one with a leather brigandine and a proper rapier was the head, Krux the Butcher.
Scratching his bald head, Krux tramped toward the body of Ranith with heavy steps. His troop was readied, waiting three meters away behind him. The cowboy was lying in the same position, untouched. The tree near him was still there; the corpses surrounding him were still there; the revolver beside him was still there. Nothing was moved, excluding the disappeared ronin and an unknown heap of soil next to the cowboy. "What the fuck is this?" Krux pointed his rapier at the pile, lightly poking and messing with the loose dirt. He knew he was too smart to be caught in this trap. A haughty smirk replaced the confusion on his face as the body of his sword started to emit a fearful red light. Suddenly, he jabbed his blade into the heap, "Whatever you are. You're dea—"
Jumping off a tree branch, Akki landed on the flank of the bandit leader, then slayed his right arm from the elbow. The light on the rapier faded, and the forearm dropped beside it. Both were bathed in the blood spurted from the upper arm.
"Ahhhhh!——" Accompanied by the screech, Akki tried to stab Krux in the abdomen yet was stopped by his brigandine. Before the troop could approach, the ronin shifted to the back of the bandit leader, holding one of his katanas against Krux's head.
"No elixir can heal a dead brain," he mumbled into Krux's ear, sliding his other sword into the scabbard and grasping Krux's right shoulder. The troop stood a few meters away with their knives out and bows pulled, waiting for their leader's command. Suppressing his eagerness to yell and cry, Krux told his men not to step closer. Tears slowly glided off his face. Akki continued whispering, and Krux declared his command to the rest of the bandits.