The task of escorting the Lord’s Son wasn’t much of a problem.
The Knights didn’t interfere much with our actions; they mostly just observed, so we moved comfortably according to the schedule.
After all, the marching speed of mercenaries and soldiers, myself included, had its limits, unlike those riding in the Carriage.
‘Hey! Of course, I’m an exception.’
I could have walked much longer, but I matched pace with the others.
Perhaps because we kept a slow pace and accompanied the carriage, there were monster ambushes.
This was already the fourth Goblin ambush.
Excluding the first day, we could expect a Goblin ambush at least once a day.
‘Ugh, these annoying Goblin bastards. How long are we going to keep walking like this?’
The first time there were ten Goblins, the second time twenty, the third thirty, and just now forty.
Thanks to the increase in Magic Stones, each of our income was more than sufficient.
In fact, it was more than expected to the point of concern.
We had already divided and taken one Magic Stone each.
Their sizes were similar enough that no one quarreled over them.
The Knights and soldiers didn’t interfere when we shared the Goblin loot.
So far, they had maintained their usual observant stance.
However, there were times when they became extremely nervous—specifically during meal times.
As always, we prepared the meal together with the soldiers, Knights, and the Lord’s Son.
The first request and the second were the same: all we ate was thin soup and hard bread.
Neither I nor the mercenaries had any problem with that.
The ten soldiers who came with us were the same.
But the only one who made a fuss was one Knight.
He was never satisfied with the simple food we prepared and threw a fit demanding some kind of fancy meal.
But since the food we brought was only enough for a few days and in small portions, nothing suited the Knight’s taste, and we had to venture out to hunt for food every meal time.
‘Ah, what a pain.’
Every time, we mercenaries felt the annoyance of having to find meat to put in the soup.
But it was difficult to secure large quantities.
At best, we could catch a small mountain deer or a pack animal, but it wouldn’t last long if an adult male ate it alone.
Surprisingly, the meat we managed to get did not go straight into the Knight’s mouth.
“Sir Rave. The meal is ready.”
“Yes, James.”
As always, the Lord’s Son was served first.
Then he ate whatever was left.
When I first saw Rave, the Lord’s Son, I was a bit suspicious.
‘Isn’t that a girl? Why is he so delicate?’
He looked too delicate and refined to be a man, with such a fragile body as if he’d never held a sword in his life.
Because of that, he ate very little, and all the leftovers went straight into James’s stomach.
Aside from meal times, everything seemed remarkably peaceful.
The next day, as usual, there was a monster ambush.
Twenty Goblins this time.
But something was off about the Goblins.
They were already injured, and somehow looked like they were being chased.
Facing injured Goblins was a very easy task.
“Is it a one-shot kill?”
“Lucky us.”
Unlike the mercenaries who joked around, I felt uneasy first.
And my unease soon turned into a bad situation.
“That’s far enough.”
Someone suddenly appeared and blocked our way.
“Who are you?”
James drew his sword and shouted.
The opponent was clearly an enemy.
Not only the heavy armor but also the cloak covering the face and the fact that he was on horseback made him look very suspicious.
The problem was that there wasn’t just one enemy before us.
Rustle, rustle.
Clang, clang.
Two more men appeared beside the one who stood alone, and behind them, others holding swords approached.
“Damn.”
A curse escaped James’s lips.
The enemies were too powerful.
Three Knights and fifty elite soldiers.
There was no chance we could win with our current strength.
All the mercenaries, myself included, tensed up.
We hoped James could resolve this with words.
The odds of winning a fight now were far too low.
“No need for words. Die.”
But my hope was quickly crushed.
The Knight who had just sentenced us galloped toward James.
“You’re my opponent. Let’s see if you have the skills that name commands.”
“No mediocre skills will do.”
The Knight and James clashed in an instant.
The duel between Knights targeting each other’s necks naturally drew our attention.
“Hah, this isn’t the time to be staring at others.”
One of the Knights on horseback sneered.
Whether that was a signal or not, the fifty elite soldiers drew their swords simultaneously.
Ssshh, clang, clink.
They all took their stances and pointed their swords at us mercenaries and soldiers, ready to charge at any moment.
“Damn it.”
“Is fighting the only answer?”
“Damn. I had a bad feeling ever since the big reward was announced.”
The mercenaries quickly drew their weapons.
The soldiers did the same.
We hastily took positions to surround the carriage.
“Kill them all!”
At the Knight’s command, the elite soldiers charged forward.
Their movements were fast and precise, their formation solid.
I hurriedly responded.
“Magic Missile!”
Magic Missiles formed in my hand.
It took only about one to two seconds to create them.
Because I only needed to say the skill name clearly for them to be made.
I fired the first Magic Missile at the nearest enemy soldier.
Bang!
The force piercing through the Goblin was just as effective on the armored human.
The armor of the soldier struck by my Magic Missile crumpled, and the missile penetrated deep into his body, blood gushing from the wound.
Seeing a soldier go down from just one Magic Missile, I didn’t stop and continued casting magic.
“Magic Missile, Fire Bolt, Magic Missile!”
I shouted my only two offensive spells without rest.
Each spell formed was immediately launched at the oncoming enemies.
Bang! Bang! Crackle, crackle!
The Magic Missiles pounded the enemies, causing severe injuries, while the Fire Bolts burned the charging soldiers.
The smell of burning flesh and blood filled the air.
It made me feel uneasy.
This was only the second time I’d killed a human.
I hadn’t intended to kill first, but because the enemy was trying to kill me, I attacked to survive.
‘This kind of world, really…’
I felt a strange new emotion about this world.
As the wounded, burning soldier collapsed, two reacting Knights came into view.
“Was there a Mage?”
“Now’s not the time.”
The two turned their horses toward me.
Until now, they had been focused on the fight between James and the other Knight.
The duel between capable Knights could be decided by a single mistake, so we watched closely, ready to intervene at any moment.
They believed that over fifty subordinates could easily overwhelm us.
But since only the subordinates were dying, the two finally moved in.
Thud, thud, thud, thud.
Hearing the fast approach of the horses, I hurriedly fired a Magic Missile at them.
Whoosh, bang!
The Magic Missile struck the armor without fail.
Contrary to my expectation that the struck Knight would fall to the ground, he kept charging at me.
“That cheap magic won’t pierce this armor. This armor even protects against Three-Circle Magic.”
I inwardly cursed at the friendly explanation.
According to him, my magic wouldn’t be enough to kill either of them.
The two Knights rapidly closed the distance.
“Die, Mage!”
The first Knight swung his sword.
Swish.
His blade sliced right through the spot where I had been standing.
I dodged the first attack well, but couldn’t avoid the second Knight’s strike.
I reluctantly hurried to pull out a sword and shield from my Inventory and blocked the Knight’s blow alternately.
Bang!
The combined force of the charging horse and Knight’s strength didn’t break my defense, but I was thrown back a good distance, feeling weightless in midair.
“Ugh…”
Grunting from the heavy blow, I desperately searched for a way to survive.
“Is that all you’ve got?”
At that moment, an idea struck me.
To try it, I threw the shield I was holding and stretched my hand forward.
“Die!”
A Knight had already closed the distance.
I shouted at him.
“Light!”
I shut my eyes tightly and sharply increased the amount of mana flowing into Light Magic.
Skill acquired: Mana Control.
After a few trial and error attempts, this skill finally activated properly.
Flash!
Light Magic erupted on the spot, instantly blasting a powerful light in all directions.
“Hiiiiing biiip!”
Crack
The Knight and his horse rushing toward me crashed to the ground.
The horse remained down, groaning.
The Knight, likely stunned by the impact of falling, trembled and couldn’t move.
“Hah!”
I raised my sword to stop his shaking movements.
“Clack…”
Next, I turned my head toward the other Knight.
Unlike the one struck by the Light Magic and fallen to the ground, this Knight was standing and swinging his sword.
He couldn’t see properly, yet he swung his sword as if protecting himself.
“Guh…”
And foolishly, a soldier got caught by his blind sword.
In this situation, I shouldn’t have approached, but rather attacked from a distance or waited for him to tire.
But I couldn’t afford to wait.
A scream came from a short distance away.
There, I saw James with a sword embedded in his heart and one of the enemy Knights missing an arm.
The fight was clearly over.
The Knight’s gaze was now fixed on me.
“Die!”
I couldn’t afford to wait for my strength to fail; I had to subdue the Knight in front of me as quickly as possible.
“Light!”
Again, I chose Light Magic.
Like before, I kept pouring mana into the spell.
But this time was different.
Maintaining the Light Magic, the light grew stronger and the heat started rising.
I threw the Light Magic straight at the Knight who was blindly swinging his sword.
Swish!
The Light Magic shot quickly toward the Knight’s helmet, sticking to his closed eyes.
Sizzle!
The sound of metal burning accompanied the Knight’s scream.
Crack
I hesitated at his scream.
“The more light gathers, the hotter it gets.”
The magic I conjured, recalling knowledge learned at school, was effective.
The Knight dropped his sword from the burning pain, clutching his face and trying to remove his helmet.
But before he could take it off, he died.
A mercenary watching nearby seized the opportunity and cut the Knight’s neck.