Ch. 153

“But I’m doing the dishes, aren’t I? Isn’t that amazing? Me, doing something like that?”

“You’re not the one doing it—your spirit goes swoosh, and splish-splash! That water spirit or whatever just bam-bam-bam!”

“If it bothers you so much, go ahead and get a spirit to do your bam-bam cooking.”

“…Damn it, this really feels like I’m getting the short end of the stick.”

Even as he grumbled, Chad still ladled soup into my bowl. It had quite a generous helping of jerky.

“Thanks for the food.”

As I picked up some bread, a thought crossed my mind.

[Rai.]

[Yes, Master?]

Rai, still in his wolf form, was curled up right at my feet. He always was, and probably always would be—like a shadow.

[Serious question. What do you think my role is in this party?]

I wasn’t really the healer—I hadn’t done any healing yet. And I wasn’t the attacker either, since I never needed to fight.

The brains of the group was clearly Lox. As for cooking, I was more of a professional eater.

I could only read maps if they weren’t too complicated, and even then I’d sometimes get them wrong because I was directionally challenged.

Definitely not a mediator—I was always picking fights with Chad… Oh, maybe I was the face of the group?

[You don’t have one.]

[Wow, that was offensive. You?]

[Honestly, not having a role might be helping the most.]

[Are you insane?]

[The Master I know… seems to attract chaos no matter where she goes.]

Excuse me?! …Was what I wanted to yell, but I didn’t get the chance.

I hadn’t even tasted my soup yet when a menacing presence surged from the woods. Rai immediately stood up and barked ferociously in that direction.

[See? Even right now!]

Damn, hard to deny that one.

“Ash!”

“Geenie.”

We turned to each other at almost the same moment, but I was faster to shout, while Ash was faster to grab my elbow.

The moment I was yanked a step to the side, an arrow struck the exact spot where I’d been sitting.

Two more arrows immediately hit the table—one of them grazing Chad as it passed.

Watching someone almost die right before your eyes gave a strange feeling.

Come to think of it… I’d wondered why this table had so many holes. Turns out they were all ‘arrow’ holes. And those are bloodstains!

“Wait, this rest stop…!”

“It’s a trap!”

Whinny—!

Startled by the sudden ambush, the horses tied near the grass started rearing up in panic.

In the midst of the chaos, Ash and Chad had already drawn their swords and braced for the next wave of attack.

Everyone except Lox, who was useless in a fight, had quickly pinpointed the direction of hostility and were now watching it closely.

With their surprise attack failed, the enemy finally revealed themselves from the brush—a group of bandits clad in black.

Five… six… Twelve in total. Exactly three times our number. And judging by how they held their weapons, these weren’t amateurs. They knew how to kill.

“Slurp.”

Well, they’re them, and I’m me. I still need to eat. It won’t taste good cold.

“…You’re seriously eating right now?!”

“I mean, he put effort into it, so I figured I’d at least eat some.”

I already summoned Undine, so I was safe.

Oh, and I’ll protect Ash too. I’m eating right now, so the rest of you handle it, okay? I gestured for Chad to stop staring at me and focus on the bandits instead.

“Chad! Focus.”

“This woman is!”

“As long as we’re careful, it’s fine.”

Ash, thankfully, had a solid head on his shoulders.

Unlike Lox and Chad, who could only speculate, Ash had actually witnessed what I was capable of—and what I had done.

I sipped my soup and watched the bandits slowly close in.

When crossing a mountain, monsters weren’t the only threat. People were far scarier. Just like pirates ruled the sea, bandits ruled the mountains.

I could watch this calmly because, honestly, it didn’t feel threatening enough to bother stepping in.

Truthfully, Ash alone could kill all of them.

There was a wide enough gap in power between us and the bandits. Chad could do it too—if he didn’t have to worry about the horses or someone like Lox.

Objectively, this party was well above average in combat power, even if you excluded me.

“They look nasty…”

“What should we do?”

“Judging from that opening shot, they don’t hesitate to kill.”

If even one of us had died from that first arrow, the bandits would’ve had a much easier time negotiating.

Fortunately, we were all safe. Lox had wisely hidden behind Chad.

“Hide, Miss Geenie! This isn’t the time for soup!”

Lox was so weak he couldn’t even tell who was strong or not. That’s why he was frantically gesturing for me to hide under the table.

Being able to sense strength was a kind of instinct—one sharpened every time you stood at the edge of life and death.

“Everyone stay quiet. Let’s not provoke them.”

It happened when the bandits were within ten paces.

Ash whispered and lowered his sword, then stepped forward toward the bandits.

It was a sign he was open to negotiation.

That was the leader’s job… and also the position most likely to die first. Because these guys could just choose to kill us all and take everything.

If it were me, I’d skip the negotiation and kill all the bandits.

Ash was too much of a pacifist.

“This is our land. Intruders pay a price.”

The bandit leader’s gravelly voice made me snort.

What? You charge for the air too?

“If you want to pass safely, you’d better hand over everything. Otherwise, your bones stay on this mountain.”

“We don’t have much.”

“How much exactly?”

Every group had a leader, and this bald guy seemed to be theirs. He had more meat on his bones than the others.

He tapped the axe on his shoulder as he talked. He even had an axe tattoo on the side of his head. Guess he really liked axes.

“Axe Gang…”

“…Pfft.”

Lox tried to hold back a laugh and then glared at me like he wanted me dead.

Why was ‘he’ mad at ‘me’ for laughing?!

“This is all we can offer.”

Ash calmly handed over his money pouch. The bandit boss opened it, gauged the weight, and nodded in approval.

“Oh, I like this. Pretty heavy.”

“We don’t want to fight. Please let us pass.”

That bandit probably had no idea he was getting respectful words from a prince of the empire.

‘Did that boss guy just look at me?’

First time seeing someone eat soup during a shakedown?

Maybe he couldn’t stop staring because I didn’t have my hood up and my beauty was blinding. I mean, I ‘am’ pretty.

“You’re a decent guy. We know peace too.”

“That’s a relief. May we go, then?”

“Yeah, the money’s fine, but you’ll also have to leave some stuff behind.”

Ash’s pouch was always full, and he just handed it over. And yet this guy still wasn’t satisfied? His greed rivaled mine.

“And what might that be…?”

“First off, all your food! We’re hungry too, you know.”

“Sure. It’s yours.”

Ah! I’d better finish eating.

I started slurping down the soup fast before they took it away.

“And your horses.”

“Two of them.”

“No, I want all four.”

Taking all the horses—not just essential for travel, but expensive too—only scummy bandits did that.

I mean, all bandits were scum, but even among them, some had at least a bit of conscience. They’d only take half your stuff or leave you just enough food to reach your destination.

So these guys were the really nasty type.

“……Fine. Take them all. Just let us go.”

Why stop there? Want my liver and gallbladder too? I didn’t like Ash’s approach.

So what if a little blood got spilled? Why was he going out of his way to appease these bastards? Peace and getting screwed weren’t the same thing. I couldn’t understand it.

I tossed my empty plate on the table and shook my head in disapproval—but that was all.

Ash was the leader, and I was just Passing Traveler #1. Interfering felt like poor etiquette.

Lox was more shocked than I was about giving up the horses.

It was still four hours to the next city. Without horses, the weakest members—like him or me—would struggle most.

Well, I could just ride Rai. So this was, again, someone else’s problem.

“You can go… but leave the woman.”

“Do you mean… what I think you mean?”

I hadn’t expected to be mentioned while enjoying the show. So that earlier eye contact wasn’t a coincidence.

“Why play dumb? A pretty girl like that—keeping her around is basically offering her up to us.”

“……We’ve already given you everything else.”

“That’s separate. I respect your effort to protect her, but she’s the one I want. We’ll show her a better time…”

“Pffft!”

That loud laugh came from me. And Chad.

“Pwahaha! What the hell?!”

“Ahaha, I’m dying! Isn’t that hilarious, Chad?”

“For real! What pretty girl?! That bandit must be blind!”

First, I kicked Chad in the shin. Then I called Rai and walked out from behind the table.

“I was trying to be lazy and not get involved…”

[Looks like ‘they’re’ the ones wanting to bury their bones on this mountain! Bandits belong in the mountains!]

“How dare you target ‘me’? No can do. Step aside.”

These bastards didn’t even know to fear a Spirit Mage!

They dared to poke the bear—while she was eating soup!

I shoved Chad aside, ignored Lox trying to stop me, and marched straight toward the bandits. I brushed past Ash in fury—only to be yanked back firmly.

“Let go!”

“You can’t! Please don’t!”

I thrashed around in rage, but Ash was too strong. He knew exactly what I was capable of, and that made him all the more cautious.

“I’ll solve this ‘peacefully’! If I kill them all, that’s peaceful!”

“Do you even understand what ‘peace’ means?!”

“Peace means ‘we’ don’t get hurt!”

[Agreed!]

“So let go! I’ll kill them all!”

“Miss Geenie! Please… calm down!”

I struggled so much my wrist twisted weirdly, so Ash ended up grabbing me around the waist with both arms.

His strong arms wrapped tightly around my stomach, pinning my torso so even my shoulders couldn’t move. Ash had me locked in a full-body hold.

Man… what a warm pair of handcuffs.