Barbarians (2)

Ariel fell asleep right after eating the wild boar meat that Ted had cooked.

And when she opened her eyes again, she was in an unfamiliar place.

This had happened to her several times before.

The last time she woke up, she was lying on the floor of a prison cell, but this time she was on a bed.

As Ariel was getting up, she suddenly noticed someone lying next to her.

It was Rakia.

"Mmm, mommy..."

Rakia was sound asleep.

Ariel carefully got off the bed so as not to wake Rakia up, and then she heard a commotion outside.

"Wooww!"

"Catch the wolf!"

At the word "wolf" Ariel's eyes widened.

Ariel looked outside through the window.

She saw Ghost, surrounded by some men.

They were burly men with fierce looks.

One of the men with a scar on his cheek swung an axe at Ghost.

Ghost dodged by crouching down, then swiped with her forepaws, but the man nimbly leapt back.

The man swung his axe down again, and this time the other men also attacked Ghost all at once.

Tas-!

Without hesitation, Ariel leapt out the window.

She immediately ran to Ghost's side and deployed her shield.

Bang!!

The weapons the men swung struck Ariel's shield.

Depending on a mage's level, if they block this many attacks at once, their shield usually gets damaged.

The mage's mana would evaporate and the shield would shatter.

But Ariel's shield showed no change at all.

It didn't fade or grow dim, maintaining its vivid blue color just as when she first deployed it.

"M-Magic?!"

Startled that their attacks were blocked, the men retreated in surprise.

The barbarians were all skilled warriors, instinctively reacting in such moments.

"What, an elf!"

"But just a young elf?"

The men murmured.

And they looked to their chieftain, the man with the scarred cheek.

They didn't know how to act.

"..."

Of course, the chieftain was quite flustered as well.

He had swung his axe aiming for the wolf's head, but suddenly magic activated and an elf appeared.

"Kuhahah!"

Though flustered, it wasn't necessarily a bad situation on second thought.

The chieftain had always wanted an elf bride.

There was no race more beautiful in the land than elves. The barbarian women did not appeal to him at all.

But it was unthinkable that an elf would look at a rough, fierce barbarian like him.

Putting aside being accepted, just encountering an elf at all was difficult.

They say elves are sold as slaves in the imperial cities, but even that required money.

Barbarians had no money.

Barbarians were free spirits who hunted beasts on the plains and slept wherever they wished.

So this chieftain was currently pillaging a village in the western frontier of the empire with his dozen or so followers to raise funds.

Funds to purchase an elf slave.

Of course, his followers were completely unaware of this.

They simply thought they were invading the empire.

This village was the first step, or so he had vaguely explained.

If he said he wanted to buy an elf slave, so follow him, his men might immediately turn their axes on the chieftain himself.

Of course, being part barbarian, the chieftain also had a burning desire to invade the empire.

But only if there was a chance of winning - he had been utterly defeated before and would surely lose again.

While the barbarian tribes had many great warriors, the empire had even more.

Like the fearsome Shane from the north - the empire was teeming with such formidable fighters.

Barbarian men often accepted dying in battle, but not this chieftain.

This chieftain wanted to marry a beautiful elf bride, live happily, and die peacefully.

He wanted to have many children resembling himself and his elf wife.

So he was diligently pillaging this village to raise funds.

To be able to take an elf bride.

And in this situation, an elf appeared of her own accord.

The chieftain grinned widely as he looked Ariel over.

Though still young, she wasn't bad. Cute, even. She would surely grow into a beauty.

Ariel's lustrous silver hair and ruby-like red eyes had a strange, captivating quality.

Even her seemingly bored, expressionless face struck the chieftain as charming.

"Seize that elf!"

The chieftain raised his axe and shouted to his subordinates,

"But capture her unharmed! I will behead anyone who injures her!"

He could not allow harm to come to his cute bride.

"But the wolf can be killed!"

"But chief, that elf used magic?"

One of the subordinates said.

"It won't be easy to capture a mage unharmed..."

"Charge! If we all rush together, it will work! Show the pride of the barbarians!"

The pride of the barbarians.

It was like a magic phrase.

Just saying that would make the subordinates let out a "Waaah!" war cry and bravely face any enemy.

"Waaah!"

Like now.

*

The barbarian men all rushed at Ariel and Ghost together.

No matter how valiant a warrior, they would be tense in this situation.

When several burly figures charge at once, anyone would feel intimidated.

Ariel was no exception. She looked around with a stern expression.

The men rushing at her with "Waaah!" cries.

It was noisy and overwhelming.

The men began swinging their weapons, striking Ariel's shield repeatedly.

Bang! Bang!

Of course, not a scratch appeared on the shield.

Ariel's mana was being consumed, but it was imperceptible.

The amount of mana consumed was like a single drop evaporating from the ocean.

"Tch, it's solid!"

"This is crazy strong!"

Though the shield didn't budge, the barbarian men didn't give up.

Their faces flushed red, dripping with sweat, they desperately struck Ariel's shield.

As if believing that if they kept going, they could eventually break the shield.

Ariel extended her hand to cast Magic Missile.

The noise of striking the shield was loud, but more importantly, they had attacked Ghost.

She could not overlook that.

But at that moment,

Bzzzzt!

A blue current swept through the area.

The men striking the shield were instantly electrocuted, their bodies convulsing before collapsing.

Smoke rose from their bodies.

"How dare..."

A chilling voice rang out.

"Who dares lay a hand on her body, you lowly beings."

Rakia approached with eyes wide open.

*

"Wh-What is this...?"

The chieftain looked around in shock.

Half of his dozen or so subordinates were instantly killed.

While trying to capture the elf by striking her shield, they were struck by some blue current and died on the spot.

"Ch-Chief...!"

Only about five subordinates remained alive.

They rushed over to the chief with faces like they might wet themselves.

"..."

The chief looked at the elf.

No, precisely at the blonde girl approaching the elf.

The blonde girl seemed extremely enraged.

With a ferocious expression, she stepped on the subordinates' corpses as she approached Ariel.

"Miss Ariel, are you alright?"

But her voice was infinitely gentle and soft when addressing Ariel.

"I'm sorry. I dozed off for a moment. I'll take care of these vermin."

Whoosh!

Pillars of fire rose over the subordinates' corpses.

It seemed she was cremating the bodies.

'I let my guard down...'

That's what the chief thought.

The mage wasn't the elf, but this blonde girl.

If he had known beforehand, he would have been properly cautious.

The blonde girl appeared to be quite powerful with magic.

But that didn't mean he couldn't handle her.

Mages traded powerful spells for a clear weakness.

Namely, if they run out of mana, they are powerless.

After using powerful magic, they immediately become drained and helpless.

He had witnessed this many times in past wars against the empire.

This girl was likely no exception.

She had already killed half his men with a burst of magic, even summoning pillars of fire. She must have expended a good deal of mana.

'Heh, foolish girl. Perhaps due to her young age.'

It seemed she recklessly expended magic in her rage, which worked in the chief's favor.

If he captured this girl as a second bride, it would be perfect.

This girl was also beautiful to the chief's tastes.

"...Don't be afraid."

The chief spoke to his subordinates in a calm voice.

"That blonde girl seems to be a mage, and she likely expended a lot of mana with that magic just now. So if we attack now, we can win."

"B-But chief. I-I don't want to die..."

"M-Me neither... What if she can still use magic? Then we're done for..."

The subordinates didn't move, paralyzed by fear.

The chief frowned and shouted.

"Go now!"

In the end, he had to say those words again.

"Go and show the pride of the barbarians!!"

"..."