First servant III

As morning dawned, Takeru and Ken resumed their journey after a breakfast of milk and cereal from Ken's supplies.

They both spurred their horses until they reached the forest road. From here, the atmosphere became tense as, in the open terrain, they couldn't hide. The pursuers from the city of Midgrad were likely to carry out their actions here.

"Ken..."

"Yes, Sir!"

Takeru slowed down his horse to be level with Ken behind him. At that moment, he sensed something through his senses.

"Get ready; they're coming..."

Saying that with an expressionless face and a cold gaze, Ken immediately went into alert mode, accelerating his horse to take the lead. Takeru also prepared, holding the AK-47 he carried on his back.

Meanwhile, Ken readied his hand to draw his Glock pistol when encountering enemies directly. After riding through the forest road for a while, something suspicious appeared. A fallen tree obstructed the path, and it seemed unusual because the tree was intentionally cut, not due to strong winds.

Takeru then surveyed the surroundings, stopping beside Ken as the fallen tree was still about 100 meters away.

Both of them immediately readied their weapons when a rumble was heard from the depths of the forest. On high alert, as the group of bandits emerged, Takeru mercilessly fired his AK-47 without dismounting from his horse.

The screams of pain from the bandits created a terrifying scene, where their bodies were pierced one by one by iron projectiles. Some shots hit their heads, making the scene even more gruesome for onlookers.

"Curses! They anticipated our arrival!"

"What is that! Our friends are dying one by one from that weapon!"

"Magic! This person must be a Wizard!"

After emptying the magazine, while Takeru had killed about a dozen bandits, the remaining ones hesitated to advance further because their comrades lay dead in front of them.

As Takeru was about to reload, suddenly a dagger flew straight towards him. Takeru's head would have been pierced if not for Ken, who shot the dagger while it was still in the air.

"How dare you!"

A robust man with many slash wounds on his body advanced with hot steam emanating from his mouth. He was furious because their plan to ambush had failed, and half of his subordinates died before putting up a fight. Seeing the bandit leader emerge, feeling that Takeru was in danger, Ken asked for permission to deal with this bandit leader alone.

"Sir, for this one, let me handle it."

Takeru looked into Ken's cold eyes and the dark aura around him. Besides, Takeru needed to see Ken's skills as his first servant, and this was the chance.

"Don't disappoint me. For the remaining subordinates, let me deal with them."

Hearing that, Ken bowed momentarily and nodded. He felt helpless because he wasn't the one who had to deal with all these bandits.

"Don't worry about me, Ken. Go and show your abilities."

Takeru wasn't foolish; he knew Ken's uneasiness just from his expression. Listening to that made Ken's spirit burn, and he nodded while promising to himself and Takeru.

"Yes, sir! I won't let you down!"

Then, he dismounted and walked towards the enraged bandit leader.

As Ken stepped forward to face the bandit leader, Takeru watched the fight with hopeful anticipation. He felt proud of his decision to entrust this responsibility to Ken, and in his heart, he hoped Ken could showcase his extraordinary abilities.

/--/

I watched Ken shooting the remaining bandits, still not moving from my place on the horse. Although the horse was initially startled by the gunshot sounds, over time, the animal got used to it.

Ken, not using his pistol to end the life of the bandit leader but rather a military serrated knife. After the last bandit fell, my attention focused on Ken's fight with the bandit boss. At that moment, the bandit boss cursed Ken with anger, reminding me that fantasy story villains tend to talk a lot rather than act.

However, Ken didn't let himself be attacked so easily. He cut the bandit boss's ankle coldly, causing him to lose balance. The bandit boss, enraged, slammed his axe horizontally.

Ken jumped and performed acrobatics, evading while counterattacking with five slashes on the now-prone bandit boss. The bandit boss's cries of anger filled the air, creating a scene that became even more heated.

Yet, Ken calmly stood in front of the increasingly furious bandit boss. The bandit boss's eyes radiated rage, and with brutality, he swung his axe towards Ken. However, Ken agilely avoided the attack and strategized to counter.

The battle continued, with Ken evading the brutal attacks of the bandit boss. His speed and proficiency in Close Quarters Combat (CQC) were evident as he utilized every opening to avoid attacks.

At the right moment, Ken approached the bandit boss, who was growing weary. He successfully avoided the final axe strike, causing the bandit boss to stagger. Swiftly, Ken slashed his knife across the bandit boss's waist, causing fresh blood to spurt.

However, the bandit boss didn't give up so easily. With the remaining strength he had, he attempted a final strike. Ken dodged gracefully, but the attack hit Ken's shoulder, causing him to stumble momentarily.

Seeing an opportunity, the bandit boss tried a finishing move. Ken, in a challenging position, responded by leaping to the side and kicking the bandit boss's leg, bringing him to the ground.

With a calm demeanor and incredible speed, Ken executed a spinning kick to the face of the fallen bandit boss. In an instant, the fight concluded, and Ken stood up calmly while caressing his knife.

I, witnessing the battle with admiration, gave a nodding smile to Ken. "Excellent, Ken. You're amazing."

Ken, returning the smile, replied, "Thank you, sir. It's just part of my duty."

Dismounting from the horse, I nodded in satisfaction at his response. Seeing the scattered corpses around, I felt a bit nauseous. I, a modern human living in peace, still found it difficult to face corpses like this. Unlike monsters, I didn't see them as intelligent beings but rather as animals.

'Do I still see my classmates as potatoes if they were in the bandit's position?'

I thought silently. Since my arrival in this world, no one from this world seemed like potatoes to me. On Earth, every person walking down the street and classmates chatting in the schoolyard, in my eyes, they were just potato-headed humans. While in this world, its inhabitants viewed them as complete humans.

Then, what makes the difference in perception?