Robbers, Killers
The black shadows danced in the dark.
The men dashed toward the bed in unison. Countless blackened blades were raised high…
“Flare Arrow!”
With the sound of my voice, countless flaming arrows appeared before the men’s eyes.
The men were stiff in place.
“Go!”
…It ended instantaneously.
And it was their fault for underestimating the powers of I, the great Lina Inverse: the soldier and sorceress. I have been the subject of many nighttime raids – I could never let my guard down.
Usually, if someone were to attack a person in her sleep, even if she was a much higher level opponent, he could defeat her easily. And if said attacker has a blade on his side, one can only imagine just how much at an advantage he is against a sleeping woman.
…But the whole game changes if she’s a sorceress.
As long as she has enough magic points to spare, she can easily mutter a counter spell powerful enough to deflect a night attack – even in her sleep.
The trick I used against the assassins just then was an example of this. I woke, sensing murderous intent on the other side of my door, then immediately began my spell chant.
But I was surprised that the men could move so swiftly… That means Elena in the room next door is in danger!
I sat up in bed, put on my cloak, swooped up my sword and belongings and ran out into the hallway. And right before me stood a man in a black cloak. And behind the door to Elena’s room, I could hear the sounds of swords clanking against each other.
“Take this and run!” I yelled at the assassin as I threw my still sheathed sword at him.
“…huh…?!” With a stunned voice, he absentmindedly caught the sword. And then…
In the next instant, my knee flew into the man’s solar plexus. As our little assassin friend fell unconscious, I retrieved my sword. If you’re going to get in the first move in a fight, it’s best to disorient him. Even if he knows I’m his enemy, if I speak to him like that he’s sure to catch whatever I throw him.
I rushed into Elena’s room. Thank goodness, she’s safe. I wasn’t sure how she’d managed to escape, but she was still in bed as the two men’s swords had tangled themselves around each other. It was a trick one normally didn’t see.
I think I’d like to get a look at this…
Is what I thought for a moment, but I didn’t have the time. After all, she was my client.
“Digvolt!” I sent lightning through my sword and sent it flying at the men. The two assassins fell to the ground with light scrapes – nothing close to mortal wounds.
“Thank you so much, Lina-chan!”
“Never mind that! Get your belongings! We need to leave this place!”
Both of the doors on our rooms had been locked. Unless one of the assassins was also a skilled thief, that would have to mean that one of the lodge’s staff had been a secret conspirator with them…
In either case, this lodge was no longer safe.
We ran out into the hall. Countless men in black cloaks were in the dining hall past the lobby. I would estimate there were tens of them.
“Close your eyes!” I yelled to Elena. Without waiting for her response, I began my spell.
“O, light!” I closed my eyes and released the incantation. The spell for “Lighting” can send a blast of light for a particular duration and strength. The shorter the duration, the more powerful. What I had released just then was a flash of light with a duration of zero in three consecutive blasts!
The assassins screamed.
A crushing flash of light burned their eyes.
Just as the light disappeared, we lost our vision and slipped out between the assassins all around us and out the door to the lodge. Perhaps they’d never thought we’d escape the building – there were no guards out front.
The dawn was nearing as we ran down the main road. After we made it to the seashore, we finally were able to catch our breaths.
The lighthouse fire went out and the sea line was dyed in red.
And dawn broke over Raurua, the harbor town.
“Look!” Elena’s voice brought me harshly back to reality as I was starting to lose myself in the beautiful sunrise.
I looked where she was pointing and gasped. In the middle of the town, arms of fire were rising to the sky.
They came from the lodge where we had stayed.
Acccccck!
Ah….ahhhhhhhhhh! Oo-oops, I probably shouldn’t have used my Flare Arrows… I need to cover myself!
“What horrible bastards!” I yelled. “How dare they set fire to the lodge after attacking us!”
Okaaaay! Now that means the bad guy in all of this mess was the “Dark Wolf” guys!
***
My job this time is to destroy the bandits of
“Dark Wolf.” It wasn’t exactly a glamorous gig, but I decided to take on the job, for two humanitarian reasons of my own.
My first reason: I love defeating bad guys without giving them a chance to beg for mercy.
My second reason: I couldn’t forgive “Dark Wolf” for giving themselves such a cliché name. Not even the former popular saga had such a silly name like that!
… Now that I see my reasons lined up like that, I guess I can’t say they’re exactly “humanitarian,” but I have no time to waste muddling over my reasons. I’ll never become a star that way!
Besides, I came to this town yesterday at noon to find their secret base that my employer, Elena, had told me about. I didn’t know exactly where in this town the base was so I asked around here and there… which probably explains why I was attacked by assassins in the night.
It seems like the bandits have more supporters hidden in this town than I’d expected.
Elena, a twenty-something girl with beautiful black hair, reminded me of my big sis back where I come from. The long sword hanging at her waist sort of ruined the image, but for all I knew, she might actually be a rather skilled fighter.
I am a little concerned as to why she requested I disband the bandits – I’m sure she has some sort of personal reason behind it – I’m just a little wary to ask. Everyone has a secret or two they’d rather not reveal. I’m sure she’ll tell me if she feels like it.
“But… I’d really like to get this matter settled as soon as possible…”
I swallowed the words that threatened to crawl up out of my mouth.
…How many more lodges will be burned to the ground? I can’t say that out loud.
The sun peeked up slightly from the horizon as a cold breeze flew by in the early morning.
It was then that I noticed something for the first time: I was acting all cool and saying these awesome lines… while wearing my cloak over my pajamas.
***
“Wellll, what a lovely day it is today,” I said in a forced loud voice as we walked through the main street of the town. Elena’s face, the epitome of serious, kept her eyes out at our surroundings, ready to spring at any minute.
We get back to the tedious task of asking about Dark Wolf’s hideout. When asked about Dark Wolf, people had to give me some sort of answer, even if they knew we were out to destroy them. And if I could tell I was interrogating someone who didn’t want to reveal information, I could beat it out of him.
We walked side by side through the bright streets: a sorceress wearing a long black cloak (and no pajamas underneath, in case you were wondering), and a nervous female soldier with a long sword at her hip. This was a rather unusual sight for the town. I was expecting some sort of suspicious reaction from the villagers… But instead…
“Heyyyy there, gals. You come here often?”
…We got a rather unexpected sort of reaction. Two tan-skinned young men suddenly called out to us. They might have thought we were tourists. While getting a date wasn’t on the day’s schedule, I decided to take advantage of the situation and get some information from them.
“Ohhhh, no, we’re here for the first time. And oh dearrrr, but we’re lost,” I said in a forced high-pitched voice, striking a ditzy cute girl pose.
“Well, we’d be glad to show you girls around.
Come on.”
“Ohhh, thank you! You big, strong men, you saved us. We just can’t find our way. We need to find where Dark Wolf is, pleeeease?”
Just as I said this… the scenery froze for an instant. The old man walking by us, the lady selling flowers on the corner, everything suddenly went deadly silent. Even the tan-skinned men’s faces turned an impressive bluish-white, as they stiffly turned their backs on us.
“Uh… I don’t know where that is…” one of them finally muttered in a strained voice.
“I don’t know nothin’, okaaaaay!!”
The men bolted away, saying nothing more. Everyone around us followed suit and shuffled anxiously away.
“Ahhhh, Lina, it looks like we scared everyone away.”
“Hmmm… Well, isn’t that a good thing?”
With this, I’m sure word will get back to Dark Wolf. Now all we need to do is wait. If we go to a place where other people aren’t around, I’m sure Dark Wolf will come to us.
Yes, very soon…
…the time to use my beloved attack spells will arrive!
…Though I got the feeling I might be wrong.
***
We ran along a white stoned road parallel to the blue sea. The luxurious houses lined up along the road were probably vacation homes of some important, rich people. There were no people on this road in the afternoon.
It was an ideal place for a lovely, romantic walk…. Or it would have been if we didn’t have to deal with our unromantic problem.
Yes, waiting for us at the end of the road were five men, cloaked in black.
“Word is you’re trying to find Dark Wolf’s stronghold,” one of the men said. He looked like the leader of the assassin group, though I couldn’t tell from his covered face.
“Yes, we are,” I answered with a pleasant smile.
“Could you please direct us there?”
“…Sorry,” the leader said as all five drew their swords.
“We do know where the stronghold is…. But we, the Zores Brothers, can only guide you to one place… To Hell.”
Now naturally, I could have just unleashed a simple Fireball spell and taken care of them in one fell swoop, but then I’d never find the bandit stronghold. To carry out my plan I had to go along with them.
“Attack!”
The men all charged towards us. Elena and I drew our swords. The assassins scrambled to form a circle around us. Elena and I stood in the center of the circle, back to back.
“Get a good look at this while you die, the Zores Brothers’ signature move, Rondo of Death!”
Their circle rotated clockwise, fast around us. We took a couple steps apart from each other, swords raised. Whenever we moved, the circle of running men would move with us.
The running men increased their speed. Since they all wore the same clothes, They ended up looking like a big blur of one man. It would be difficult to judge when one of them was going to slash out with his sword.
But, I knew a spell that suited this situation well. I began to chant quietly behind closed lips.
But then…
“Ngh!” One of the men shook and fell to the floor.
“What’s wrong?!”
“Brother! Stand up!”
The other four men rushed to him in a panic.
All we could do was stand blankly and stare.
“It’s no use… He’s gone…”
“No! How?!”
“…It was a heart attack.” Smack!
Elena and I were pushed heavily away.
“Hmmmm… Now that you mention it, he did have a weak heart…”
“He probably pushed himself too far with work.”
H…he had a heart condition? No assassin should have a heart condition!
“But he really did push himself too far.” Of course he did.
The four men shrugged their shoulders, stepped away from their fallen brother, and turned glaring eyes back at us.
“…How dare you kill our brother, little witches!”
“We didn’t do anything.”
“Impudent brats! We will avenge our brother – brace yourselves!”
…Regardless of who killed whom or who’s being impudent to whom, one thing was rather clear: trying to reason logically with idiots who automatically assume they’re the supreme authority on everything… is futile.
The now four brothers began to whirl around in their circle again. They showed no sign of letting up.
“Arrrrgh! Mega Brand!”
A ripple of dust danced over the ground where Elena and I stood, protecting us from the men’s grasp,
As this ripple of dust rose around us towards the sky.
No single man was spared.
“Yarrrrgheeeee!”
Unleashing this strange-sounding scream, the men were carried on this dirt whirlpool for a while until they all crashed to the ground.
I was trying to conserve my magic powers, so they hadn’t been killed, but they were sure to have lost a lot of their attack power.
…Well, that matter is closed now.
***
“Did you really think we’d just tell you everything?”
The men, tied up with rope, all grinned menacingly at us.
“You’ll have to tell us eventually. Or else…” Not even Elena’s threats worked.
Teasing grins on their faces, another man piped up, “Or else… what? Or else two cute girls are gonna torture us? …Fat chance. I know your type. You’re two champions of justice who came here to banish the bandits.”
“You could never torture anyone.” The four men laughed in unison.
“…Oh, I do believe we have a misunderstanding here,” I said, scratching my head. “I don’t know about my companion here, but I’m not one of those glorified ‘champions of justice’ you mentioned. I’m just an enemy of evil, that’s all.”
“Hmph. This silly girl thinks she can scare us by dressing up like a sorcerer and talking big.”
“Hmmm…” I decided to change tactics and use my name-power.
…I usually don’t like going with this tactic, unfortunately…
“Well, let me ask you this, then. Have you heard of Lina Inverse?”
The men looked surprised at the sudden change of topic, but one answered, “Yeah, just rumors, though. We hear she’s out to get bandits and she’s cold-blooded. I heard her family was killed by bandits. Also, she’s supposed to be kind of young… I… heard…”
The man’s voice trailed off, his eyes slowly clouding over with fear.
He’s probably realized who I am now… But why must rumors always have such lies to them? Last time I checked, my family wasn’t killed by bandits. Who would even come from such a lame family like that?! But, this misunderstanding is just too sweet not to take advantage of.
“…You do look like him… the one who killed my brother….” I said coldly. (Incidentally, I have no brother… But this had the affect I’d hoped for.) The four men all cried out at once.
“W… wait, does this mean you’re…”
“Lina, the dragon crossing Robber-Killer!”
“W-wait! We’ll talk! We’ll tell you everything you need to know, just please don’t use us for chimera food!”
“Please! Do with me what you will, just please spare my family! Leave my wife and daughter out of this!”
“I beg of you! You, lovely lady! Please, stop! Or else… or else…”
…. Sniff, sniff, ohhh, what a sweet display. I wonder what other fanciful rumors they’ve heard about me…. Well, maybe I’d rather not know. I’m a big, scary sorceress!
“There, now you should have cooperated like this in the first place.”
I didn’t feel really proud of that moment, but getting them to talk was what I’d wanted. So I decided to go with the big, scary sorceress façade.
“By the way… The Robber-Killer thing is fine and all, but where did this ‘dragon crossing’ thing come from?”
“B…” the man stuttered. “Because even the dragons think you stink…”
CRACKLE.
My elbow connected sharply with the top of the man’s head.
***
“I see...surely anyone would think this is an entrance.” Elena and I were looking up at a lofty white dignified appearance.
Lighthouse of the cape-
There is an inner wall inside of entrance door, and there are spiral stairs continuing between exterior walls to an observatory. And inside of this inner wall, which seems to be leading to the underground base of Dark Wolf.
The place is totally out of character with the image of a thieves base. Besides, it has the use of watchtower as you can look over the city at first glance.
“Well then-I let you vanish together with a lighthouse by the strong attack incantation, and leave all the gang members buried alive…”
“Don’t-“
I said it with more than half seriousness, but she answered it clearly in a quiet tone. This was while continuing to look up at the lighthouse as always.
“With their boss-I should bring it to an end by me-“
After all there is a reason. Oh, this is dreadful! I took a small breath. “Anyway-We’ve got no chance but to break in!”
***
The long passageway was dimly illuminated by densely packed luminous moss on the walls and ceiling. The cold, damp air gave off a smell like rusted iron. Throughout its surfaces, graffiti was thrown in like you'd find in the middle of a city. Somehow according to the brothers' story, and from the signs, this underground cave had been used as a vault. Above one remodeled section, it was like the tunnel had been especially dug out to connect it to the basement of the lighthouse. That's extremely troublesome. “Hm?”
Elena-san and I stopped, completely in synch.
“The air is...”
“Moving.”
As we said it, the two of us began inspecting the walls.
“There!” I cried. There were black streaks extending into one portion of the walls hidden by luminous moss. It was just big enough to be the size of a door. With a little more investigation, there was something like a camouflaged switch just a little ways away on the ground. Nothing original, but it helps move the story along faster. By operating the switch, the door slowly receded into the room. The two of us pressed against the walls on either side of the door, feeling for the faintest presence inside. I peered in. Within the small room there was a single door on the right wall.
“It doesn't seem like there are any people but...” I spoke as I stepped into the room. Elena-san continued after me. “We don't know what kind of traps there could be. Be careful coming in.” Just as I said that-- guooo...nnn...
There was a dull sound.
One section of the wall came out, and was slowly moving in my direction, but-- Originally the flying wall segment would have crushed any intruders. That's the kind of trap it was. But either it was made faulty or it had deteriorated with age, because you could walk through it without any impediment at all. However this time-- “Look out, Lina-chan!”
There was a trap. That is, it was to frighten Elena-san into attacking me.
“Dwaahh! You...!”
I stumbled a few steps trying to stop myself.
There, beneath my feet, a gaping hole appeared. “Oops.”
I watched Elena standing at the edge of the hole, not knowing what to do with her hands and therefore striking a cute pose, as I fell into the abyss.
“Oops' nothing! You stupid eggplaaant!!” My screams disappeared into the darkness.
“Hey. Sorry to keep you waiting!”
Going against all expectations, as if falling hadn't been a problem at all, I managed to return to the front lines. Just at that time, Elena was in the middle of repelling the slime that was being used as a watchdog.
“Lina-chan! You're safe?!”
“Of course!” I said with a grin and a wink.
Swords won't work against slimes, but maybe some kind of magic drug would. As soon as they touched the powder she had spread around, the seemingly countless slimes panicked and moved out of the way. It's working, it's working...
“That's amazing... What on earth is that powder?”
“Salt.” She said casually.
Blackout.
“This is a port town. I bought it because it was cheap and I just instinctively thought... What's wrong, Lina-chan?”
Listening to her speech, which completely undermines the idea of facing a slime, I crouched down and grabbed my head.
With great vigor. Those are the words we need right now. For the multitudes of average robbers, I'm the raiding, kicking, knocking down, destroying, slaughtering, and still going strong Lina Inverse! ...on the other hand, it's because I'm always doing things like that that there are so many extreme rumors sprouting up. I have some selfawareness. Then again, 'Never dwell on selfawareness' is my motto!
Setting that aside, the time to put Dark Wolf in check had come. Before us stood a large door and the tension was rising high.
“So it's this room, huh?” at my affirmation, Elena-san nodded silently.
“I'm opening it.”
“Before that, Lina-chan, there's one thing I want to make sure of. I'm going to defeat the boss.
I'm earnestly asking you not to interfere.”
“...I understand.”
Slowly, I pushed on the door.
And easier than I thought, it opened inward.
***
“So, you came...”
Just as I thought, it was just one man waiting inside a wide, tasteless room. He was tall and blond, which was a common association, but he recalled the image of a tiger, flexible in his ferocious demeanor. His naked scimitar was raised, giving off a silent light.
“We meet again, Teeth”
“...huh?” with that line from Elena-san, I immediately looked her way.
“So that was you... I thought I heard a woman sniffing around here...” The man known as Teeth smiled mysteriously.
um... If at all possible, I'd like it if we skipped the stories since there's only two of us...
“I wouldn't have said you were a good, obedient child back then but... I never thought you would kick back and become the head of a bandit gang.” I realized that the enraged Elena spoke words with sadness hidden within them.
“Why would you...”
“It's just how things turned out. I had no control over it. It started forming in my head when I was just a brat, a selfish life as some pretentious outlaw... Before I knew it, I had risen up to be the head of a bandit gang. Well, you really can't help that it turned out like this.”
...Well, this guy's sure had a taste of the world. But least this way I can read the whole composition: Two childhood friends, girl and boy. The boy takes a misguided path and is now a bandit boss. The girl doesn't know what to do and comes to the boy's side. And so, not being able to persuade him, you can draw your own conclusion.
“Won't you go back to being an honest man?”
“...it's impossible at this point.” Teeth gave a self-deprecating smile. Hearing his answer, Elenasan took a deep breath.
“Then there's no choice... but to end this.”
“Seems so...”
The two took off running at the same time, sparks flying from their swords.
***
Catching Teeth's overhead strike, Elena-san brandished her right leg. Teeth jumped out of the way to avoid being tripped.
He followed her with a lunge, but she repelled his scimitar. The long, drawn out attack and defense continued.
While taking care of the bandits, who occasionally came down here as if they suddenly remembered something, I watched over the fight between the two.
Their skills were practically equal, though neither of them were very sharp in their technique.
Hesitation was dulling their swords but neither of them seemed to realize that.
...Hm. But if it does go on like this there may be some hope.
They're probably equal in guts, however, when it comes to physical strength and stamina, Teeth surpassed her by far.
Each and every time their swords met, slowly but surely, the amount of speed and power behind Elena-san's sword decreased.
Even her movements to catch her opponent's blows were thick with a shade of fatigue. Before long, this fight will become an endless circle of defensive moves.
Beads of sweat are forming on her forehead She's starting to lose her footing.
Clang!
The sword flew far from her hand. At the same time, her feet slipped and she went scuttling to the floor.
A victor was decided. Teeth held his scimitar high- and there, his hand stopped.
Time passed as if it were falling within a small hourglass.
He must have realized his true feelings.
He couldn't kill her.
It was too much.
“Okay, okay, that's far enough.” I said clapping my hands.
Teeth-san glared at me but I knew he was breathing a sigh of relief.
“In the end, this is the result because even a bandit boss like you doesn't want to do it. Right?”
“...Ah...well, if I do it like this I can't really give her a noble death...”
He said with a wry smile. Elena-san stood up and watched in stupor.
“Then stop. Being the boss, that is.”
“Don't say that so lightly. Even if I said it all stops here, that doesn't mean my friends upstairs are going to come down here and say 'sure!
Understood!”
I beat my chest.
“It'll be alright. We'll do it somehow!”
“...how?”
Instead of answering, I cast a spell.
“Elmekia Lance!”
A lance of light tore through the air and pierced Teeth-san directly in the chest.
“Gwaah!”
He flew through the air, struck a wall, and stopped moving.
“Ahhh! What did you do to my Teeth?!”
Elena-san grabbed me by the back of the neck and shook me around.
“Cough... pain... hold... Ele...zan...hol...”
Just as I was able to shake free of her hands, I began coughing violently. Ah... that hurt.
But now she should have realized my true intentions.
I didn't want to get rid of him. “He's not dead, he's not dead.” I said.
“That spell was an Elmekia Lance. From the Astral Plane, it takes the opponents energy based on their own will to live and-- Wait, that's a bit too complicated. Basically, Teeth-san suffers a sudden onset of weakness temporarily, and then just passes out. Now, if someone were to give him constant supervision and care for him with all of their heart, he'd be fine within a month.”
I said to the girl who just stared like she didn't understand why I'd say that.
“Listen up. You came here in order to save your childhood friend who had been captured by the bandits. He was actually being controlled by the real boss behind the scenes, so you rescued him and I defeated the boss.
While he was passed out, we then refused to join the bandit gang because their angry boss didn't treat us to dinner.
Yeah, let's stick with that story. If Teeth-san comes to, we'll tell him to make sure no one contradicts anyone else.
And of course there will be people who don't believe you, but when those times come, just say 'I think that Lina Inverse just took pity on him as a bandit head' or something.”
“But if they can't find the boss' body and the guy I rescued happens to look just like him, no matter what anyone sees...”
To Elena-san's comment I just struck my chest. “What are you saying? Everything will be fine as long as we just create a situation where it wouldn't be strange for the boss' corpse to be missing. Easy, easy.”
***
“Suddenly, Dragon Slave!”
There was a giant explosion in the hillside. All of the trees were blown away and a giant hole opened up in the earth.
Naturally, this was done very carefully.
Dirt and sand surged forward, completely swallowing the base that had been built into the underground cave.
And thus the stronghold of the evil bandit gang Dark Wolf was wiped out.
“Well then, Elena-san,”
I said to the girl who stood while supporting Teeth-san's body.
“I have a message for Teeth-san if he isn't already completely aware of it. Tell him I said that if he makes stupid Elena-san worry again, I'll make it so there isn't even a hair left in his ashes.” “You say that, but it's strangely realistic...” she said with a bitter smile, and then her face turned serious again as she lowered her head.
“Lina-chan... Thank you. Really.”
“Huh?”
Her eyes were beginning to tear up.
...hearing this kind of formal appreciation feels kind of awkward.
“Oh, right, right. Take this.”
I quickly averted my eyes and handed over a small leather pouch from my breast pocket. Inside it was filled with gold coins.
“...uh...?” Elena-san's eyes grew round.
“Congratulations. To a new start for the both of you. Well, I kinda pulled your deferred commission fee from it though.”
To hide my embarrassment I spoke quickly, without stopping.
But... This is so... This is no good. Isn't this a complete loss for you?”
“It's fine, it's fine. Look at it this way, I'm already pretty well off. And no matter what you say, if you're going to be giving him constant care for the next month, you're going to need money and stuff. Now, can you give me a smile?”
She was silent and once again hung her head deeply.
Hm. Yeah, she's just shy.
***
Rumors of Dark Wolf's destruction spread in a flash. The details of those rumors I heard later, in a post town about ten days outside of Raurua.
The lords of the cities who had been afraid of the bandits until then, at that time started focusing on hunting down the remaining bandits. The buried hideout was dug up, and the bandits stockpile of treasures was “confiscated.”
Rumors of Dark Wolf's destruction spread in a flash. The details of those rumors I heard later, in a post town about ten days outside of Raurua.
The lords of the cities who had been afraid of the bandits until then, at that time started focusing on hunting down the remaining bandits. The buried hideout was dug up, and the bandits stockpile of treasures was “confiscated.”
Of course, the treasures that were found were only a portion of them and the really valuable things would be stashed away somewhere else, completely unaccounted for.
I talk like I'm waiting to see what turns up, but well, that's what great people do.
I didn't hear any rumors from those two.
If things got so serious to the point where the truth would leak out, there's no doubt people would talk about it. But there weren't any rumors like that...
I'm probably doing things too carefully.
...but Elena-san probably won't realize anything. Until we meet again, probably because those two have gotten into some pitfall, I wonder where I'll go and what I'll do...
From my single room at the inn, I let various thoughts turn over. All while I sorted through the treasures that I had stolen from Dark Wolf's secret treasure depository.
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