By the Grace of the Gods (LN) - Volume 6 - Chapter 21

Chapter 4 Episode 21: The Journey Home

A day passed. A lot happened during the trip, but everyone made it to the final day safely. Now we only had to return to Gimul. We prepared to set off in the morning, had a quick lunch before noon, then boarded the carriages for a rocky ride back.

“Day five already, huh?”

“That went by pretty quick.”

“I thought it’d feel longer.”

We were divided between the carriages in the same groups as when we came. That went for my group too, but they seemed to be more open with each other after the lessons. They needed Roche’s help to get talking on the first day, but now they naturally began a conversation about what they did yesterday.

“Don’t get too excited!”

“Yeah, we’re just heading home now, but the training’s not over yet.”

The teachers warned the students. I knew how they felt, but any time you were outside town, there was always the possibility of encountering monsters or bandits.

Once they were warned, the students began to carefully watch their surroundings. They were probably trying to do a good job, but it was easy to tell that they were new to this. They were so tense that they would tire themselves out. Roche and Lucy didn’t say anything, but they were awkwardly grinning too.

But a peaceful air blew through the carriage. We didn’t run into any monsters or bandits, so we made it to today’s campground safely. But we did find something unexpected there.

“Roche.”

“Yeah, looks like we’ll be sharing the place tonight.”

As we were unloading the carriages, we heard the sound of wheels from afar. A carriage with a large canopy was heading toward us. It slowed down as it drew closer, then stopped a short distance from us.

“Mind if we take this space here?” the coachman of the carriage asked Roche.

“Not a problem.”

The coachman left the carriage at the edge of the camp.

“Attention!” Roche shouted. “You all remember the rules for using campgrounds? We’re not the only ones here today. You can bug us, but don’t bug the other guests. If anyone’s forgotten the rules, come on over!”

Again the students were warned not to bother anyone else. Then the teachers nonchalantly kept an eye on the new carriage. Sometimes bandits would pretend to be using the campground only to attack travelers. Some simply used their greater numbers and strength to their advantage, some struck while the other visitors were asleep, some acted friendly and offered drugged food or drinks, but they used all kinds of approaches. As such, the safest way to use campgrounds was to interact with other groups as little as possible. That was a general rule, but it had its exceptions.

“Do you have a moment?” a skinny, well-dressed man asked after he left the carriage. Attending him was a man who seemed to be a bodyguard.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Did you come from that direction? If so, I’d like to ask what’s over there. What’s the terrain like and what monsters are there and such? How would we best keep safe?”

“The leader would know the most about that. I’ll show you where he is.”

“That helps, thanks.”

For travelers, knowing the state of the road was crucial to survival. Treading a dangerous path could cost you your life. Gathering information in town beforehand was the standard approach, but it was always possible that the situation could change on the road. Exchanging information with other travelers was more than worthwhile.

“Leader, these people want to know about the road ahead.”

“Got it.”

I left this to Roche, but he let me listen in for future reference. He didn’t seem to do anything that special, though. He just got straight to the point and told them what the road was like, nothing more. The conversation was over in less than ten minutes, then the two travelers went straight back to their carriage.

“Ryoma, what do you think about those two?” Roche whispered to me as they left.

“They didn’t seem all that suspicious, but it seemed like they knew how to fight. Not just the bodyguard, but the man who said he was a merchant too.” The bodyguard must have known how to fight, of course, but the self-proclaimed merchant’s hands had calluses that likely came from wielding a weapon. Despite that, the way he carried himself wasn’t all that refined. “I feel like he’s probably about as powerful as that bodyguard.”

In my experience, there were a lot of bandits that came across the same way. But this was a world where monsters and bandits could be encountered regularly, so rather than simply depending on a bodyguard, trying to learn to fight with a weapon on your own as a regular person wasn’t unusual. Of the merchants I knew, Pioro of the Saionji Trading Company had calluses from an oft-used weapon as well. I never went out of my way to ask him about that, but I suspected that he knew the basics of fighting with a dagger. Serge of the Morgan Trading Company didn’t seem like he could use a weapon, but I had seen him walking around with a magic item for self-defense. So the man’s calluses alone didn’t tell me that he was suspicious.

“Was there something sketchy about him?” I asked.

“No, I had the same thought you did. Nothing much suspicious about him. But considering the time of year it is, you know.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, it’s almost winter. From winter to spring, and especially around New Year’s, there’s a lot of socializing among the nobles. And in preparation, they procure food and drinks for parties, dresses and accessories, all kinds of things. And for some crops, harvest time is just before winter. It’s a profitable time for merchants, as well as the bandits who target them.”

“I see.”

Now that I thought about it, there were only a few months left until the end of the year. When I lived in the forest, I just knew it was cold from autumn to winter and it got warm again in spring, so I didn’t think much about New Year’s.

“Well, it can’t hurt to keep an eye on them. You were going to stand watch tonight, weren’t you, Ryoma?”

“Right.”

“Then you can handle that. And if they do happen to attack us, do you have any experience fighting bandits? Any reservations about killing another human being?”

“I’ll be fine. I killed a bandit named Melzen of the Red Lance for a bounty once.”

“Your skills do seem suited for that,” Roche said. He knew, but was asking just to be sure.

“Suited for what?”

“Fighting other humans. I don’t know if your school of fighting was focused on combat with people, or if your grandpa learned these skills because he was wary of the other villagers. Either way, the way you fought Howard reminded me of a mercenary or a soldier.”

“You could tell?”

“When you’ve been in this job as long as I have, you learn a few things. Adventurers have to fight all kinds of foes, but humans and monsters behave in different ways. You often see adventurers who specialize in fighting one or the other, so you learn how to tell them apart on sight. I figured you’d handle this job well anyway, but if you’ve done some bounty hunting before, you’ll be fine. We’re all depending on you if worst comes to worst.”

“I’ll do my best.”

“Now, as far as how you should fight if they actually attack...”

Fighting one person was different from fighting several, so at the end of our chat, Roche taught me a secret strategy.

Later that night, I prepared to fight back at any time and took my turn standing guard. Nothing happened during my turn, so I switched places with the next guard and went to sleep.

■ ■ ■

Morning arrived.

“Good morning, Howard.”

“Hey, morning.”

We considered the possibility that they would strike when we were deep asleep in the early morning, but they never did.

“So nothing happened in the end.”

“That’s usually how it goes. Always a pain when it’s hard to tell if they’re bandits or not. I wish they’d all just dress like obvious bandits, that’d make things simple.”

“I feel like if it looked that obvious, it would actually be kind of confusing.”

“You’ve got a point there,” Howard said with a chuckle. “Bandits are never that upfront. But sometimes they’ll attack you from behind, so stay on your toes. We’ll be leaving as soon as everyone’s ready, but watch to see how the students are doing if you have the time.”

“Understood.”

All I had left to do was place my luggage in my Item Box, so I finished that quickly and walked around to check on the students. Suddenly, Wist walked over from the watering hole.

“Good morning.”

“G-Good morning, Ryoma. On patrol?”

“Yeah, I’m already ready to leave anyway.”

“Wow, you’re fast.”

“Were you drawing water and doing laundry?” He was carrying a few canteens and a portable pot, so I had a hunch.

“Yeah. I was cleaning this up as well,” he said, turning around to show me the big shield on his back.

Wist was already big for his age, but the shield was still big enough that it made him look like a rhinoceros beetle. Even his limbs looked like they had insect-like exoskeletons because of the glossy protectors he wore. As I recalled, Beck wore armor made of a similar material. But he wasn’t as heavily armored as Wist, so it didn’t leave much of an impression.

“Your equipment has changed a lot since the last time I saw you.”

“Yeah. Jeff taught me all about how to use a shield while I was saving up money. The armor’s made from the tunnel ants you helped us with.” Looking at him in his full set of armor, he would seem pretty strong if you didn’t hear him talk.

“You decided to take a defensive role?”

“Yeah. I’ve got a short, one-handed spear under here, but I still have trouble bringing myself to attack in a fight. But I’ve at least got strength, so I can protect everyone else like this, maybe. A little bit.” He ought to have spoken with more confidence. But he at least seemed to be looking for a way to make himself useful.

“Let’s all do the best we can. Oh, would you be interested in taking a job with me again?”

“What?! Ryoma, I can’t keep up with you yet.”

“Well, I take some odd jobs that you could do just fine.” Jeff was working with them as a teacher too, so as long as they didn’t mind me, I figured I could do jobs with them. I was closer to their rank than Jeff too, and it would help me practice working with others. “Just keep it in mind if you ever feel like it.”

“O-Okay, thanks! I’ll tell everyone!”

I was a bit worried about what he meant by everyone as I watched Wist walk toward the tents.

“Oh, good morning!” I said to two male teachers who happened to pass by just then, but they ignored me. I was really starting to question my communication skills.