Chapter 12

'Bloody John' is not a name won in a card game.

It's because he usually messes around like a sex maniac.

John is a skilled mercenary.

"Die! Die!"

John charged at the bandit in the lead.

Although the bandit's face was covered with cloth, John realized that his opponent was also a sellsword, just like him.

"Damn you, you little sh*t, for my brother!"

John swung his sword at the bandit like a raging boar.

With no choice, the bandit threw their target onto the ground and drew his sword to block John's attack.

"Boss! We're going in!"

"Yaaaaaaah! Damn bastards!"

John's brothers also charged fiercely, following their leader.

They didn't care how many enemies there were or who they were targeting.

It was too dark to see anything anyway.

They just clung to anyone who looked like an enemy and beheaded them.

That was all.

The sound of cold steel clashing, human screams, and blood spraying were chaotically loud.

Perhaps because of that.

In the midst of the turbulent chaos, the mercenaries failed to notice a woman escaping the battlefield.

Having gained her freedom, Cassie sprinted through the darkness with all her might.

Screech!

"The target is escaping!"

The bandits chased after Cassie like magnets.

"Where do you think you're going, you bastards!"

Leaving the mercenaries behind, Cassie ran.

Heading straight for the wizard.

She didn't stop her legs.

"Sir Wizard! Sir Wizard!"

Startled by the urgent calls, Ian opened his eyes.

'What's going on?'

As soon as he regained his senses, Ian heard the ground thumping.

The earth seemed to be warning him with a roar.

[Humans! Humans are coming!]

"What's happening?"

"Big trouble! Bandits! We're surrounded by bandits!"

Rick rambled in panic.

The other workers were hastily preparing to flee with the bare minimum of their belongings.

'Bandits?'

It seemed strange, but Ian thought it was possible.

This area was known for Drake sightings, but for someone starving and near death, a Drake was the least of their concerns.

They had chosen to gamble their lives - either die at the hands of a Drake or survive.

Ian and his group were just unlucky.

'The mercenaries... they must be fighting.'

Ian guessed the mercenaries' situation from the rumbling sound.

Judging by the sound of people scrambling nearby, they seemed to be still fighting.

"The mercenaries are buying us time. You need to get to safety now!"

Rick ruthlessly wrote off the mercenaries.

No one thought Rick's decision was strange.

Mercenaries are hired precisely for such situations.

It's good if they repel the enemy; if not, so be it.

'Sigh. This sucks.'

Ian slowly regulated his breath, calming his pounding heart.

Being attacked by a band of armed robbers in the middle of the night was a truly unique experience.

'Unique' is too mild a term.

It was closer to a terrible experience.

As if drenched in cold water, he painfully realized the fact that he had reincarnated in this godforsaken medieval fantasy world!

"Rick."

"Yes, yes! Wizard sir!"

"If we get caught, we'll die, won't we?"

"... They probably won't kill us. But they will sell us into slavery."

A dark shadow fell across Rick's face.

Freemen captured by bandits usually end up as slaves.

Unless their relatives pay a ransom, they must work off their value through labor.

Most of the Rabbit Foot Company's men are the breadwinners of families with no other source of income.

If they fall, their families spiral into ruin.

Wives resort to manual labor or prostitution.

Children are sent into unpaid labor in exchange for food and shelter.

That's often the grim fate of a family without its head.

"Then we need to escape as quickly as possible."

The thought of the future was daunting.

However, Ian's calm tone filled Rick's heart with hope.

Ordinary men from the company would have little chance of escaping from the brutal bandits.

But here, they have one of the Empire's top talents, a 'wizard.'

The wizard's alias is 'the miracle worker.'

He turns the impossible into possible and weaves miracles into reality.

The workers quickly gathered only the most valuable items, leaving the rest to distract the bandits.

The plan was to make a swift escape while the bandits were preoccupied!

"Has everyone got what they need?"

"Yes!"

Ian was about to lead the workers away from the site.

That's when it happened.

"Pant... Pant...!"

Cassie emerged from the darkness.

"Wizard!"

Gasping, she placed her hand on Ian's shoulder.

"Please... help me."

Ian, looking at her drenched in sweat, nodded.

It seemed she was being chased by bandits.

Naturally, he had to help.

It wouldn't be right to just leave her behind and escape, would it?

"Follow me closely."

"Okay!"

The company workers and travelers all looked towards Ian.

Ian closed his eyes momentarily, focusing his mind.

[Humans! Come this way!]

[Play with us!]

[Let's do something fun! With us!]

The playful whispering voices were directed at him.

Usually barely audible, but in pitch darkness, their shy voices faintly reached him.

The voice of darkness.

"[Darkness]."

As soon as Ian chanted in the magical language, pitch-black darkness gathered around him like a cloud.

"Eek!"

"Wha, Wizard Sir?"

The innocent company workers screamed in fright at the chilling sight.

The faint moonlight had made it possible to just discern the outlines of objects, but the darkness summoned by the wizard turned the surroundings into a realm of perfect darkness.

"Everyone, hold onto the person in front of you. We'll escape in this direction."

"Yes... Yes! Everyone, hold hands with the person next to you! Quickly!"

After summoning complete darkness, Ian then cast the next spell.

"[Darkness, light the way!]"

[Dark Magic – Darkvision Cast.]

A spell that allows one to see in the dark as if it were broad daylight.

As the casting finished, Ian could see the people fumbling around him.

In the pitch-black darkness, they couldn't even find the hand of the person right in front of them.

Ian kindly helped those who couldn't find a partner and connected them.

Cassie, too, was wandering, so he lent her his coat's edge.

"Let's go."

"Okay!"

Ian walked through the night, shrouded in pitch-black darkness.

Soon, a band of bandits was trailing them.

"Damn."

Ian watched as the bandits openly panicked.

A curtain of black darkness, as blinding as being blindfolded, blocked their path, and they dared not jump into it.

One bandit bravely stepped into the darkness.

"[Earth, rise!]"

Ian summoned a small stone to trip the bandit, causing him to fall.

Blinded and now tripped, the bandit's morale plummeted, and they dared not continue the chase.

"Sir, Sir Wizard..."

"Everyone, keep quiet. Don't make any noise and follow slowly."

The company workers were occasionally startled by the sound of footsteps, but they trusted Ian and moved slowly.

The strategy was paying off.

Moving quietly, shrouded in darkness, and confusing the enemies...

They scattered in all directions, unable to continue their pursuit.

"Damn it! Find them! Find them somehow!"

The bandits lit torches belatedly, but there weren't many.

A few torches were no match for Ian's magic.

"[Wind, arise!]"

Ian created gusts of wind to snuff out each torch as it appeared.

Groans and cries like screams filled the air among the bandits.

"A wizard! It's a wizard!"

"Damn it! The wizard is over there!"

"Light the torches again! He must have his limits!"

Despite the odds, the bandits persisted like mad dogs, refusing to give up the chase.

At this point, Ian became curious.

Really, what's with these guys?

The company has a wizard, yet they still don't give up.

What honey did they put on the company?

"Over here! This way!"

Finally, one of the bandits managed to dispel the darkness with a torch.

[Ouch! No!]

The darkness cried out shrilly.

Ian immediately targeted the torch-bearing bandit and uttered the magic words.

"[Fire, blaze up!]"

Whoosh!

The torch flared up explosively, gruesomely burning the upper body of the bandit.

"Aaaaah! Aaaaaah!"

The sizzling sound and the acrid smell of burning flesh filled the dark forest.

'It's time to escape.'

Ian sighed.

After showing off such a performance, burning a man alive.

Will they still come at us?

You fools?

However, while their comrade was burning alive, the rest of the bandits were stealthily approaching.

"Here! Kill the wizard!"

'Are they completely insane?'

Ian was dumbfounded.

Strangely, the bandits didn't flee.

What kind of bandit risks their life to attack someone?

Is this the norm for bandits in this era?

"Everyone... prepare for combat."

Ian took a deep breath and calmly issued the combat orders.

Now that they were this close, they had to resolve the situation through close combat.

Yes, the last resort of a wizard who has used all his magic... becomes a warrior wizard.

Breaking the enemy's skull with a weapon!

As Ian's command was given, the company workers drew their daggers and clubs, their hands trembling.

Amidst the suffocating tension...

"Kill them!"

The bandit's order was issued.

And in that moment, as the bandits charged in unison...

Crunch!

Out of the darkness, a massive maw snapped forward, tearing apart the upper half of a bandit.

"...Huh?"

The light from the burning corpse illuminated the monster.

Glistening scales.

A terrifying face that sent shivers down the spine, and a massive body like a moving boulder...

It was a Drake.

The true master of the mountain appeared, crunching the bandit's torso like a chicken leg...!