kscans

Chapter 75 - Bandit Extermination

It had been about six hours since they left the post town of Han that morning, and just as the sun began to dip, Yuri sensed the presence of an ambush.

"Kudol-san... there are about eight people gathered up ahead. They aren’t on the side of the road, but hiding in the woods a little way off, so I think it might be an ambush by bandits or something similar."

"What... what’s the distance?"

"Roughly, I’d say a little less than a kilometer."

"One... I, I see... Understood. We’ll handle it, so you stay out of it, Yuri."

Kudol seemed surprised by the one-kilometer figure, but Yuri had sensed their presence even earlier. However, just because they were in the woods didn’t rule out the possibility of them being honest hunters, so he had hesitated to report it. Another reason for his hesitation was the lack of any apparent lookouts, which one would expect from a bandit ambush. But since they showed no signs of moving away from the road as he continued to monitor them, and he could sense them trying to hide their presence, whether successfully or not, he decided to alert Kudol.

Upon receiving Yuri’s report, Kudol immediately warned his comrades and instructed Yuri not to come outside. Even though he had seen Yuri hunt Greed Wolves with ease, in Kudol’s eyes, Yuri was still a child. He was actually twelve, a year away from being able to register with the Adventurer's Guild, but his youthful face made him look about ten. Staining his hands with the murder of bandits was out of the question, and even letting him witness it was not good for his education. It was Kudol’s way of showing consideration.

The carriage continued on for a while before suddenly stopping, and from outside came the sounds of rough shouts and screams. Dona, Old Man Audel, and Adon tensed up slightly, but Yuri himself was watching the situation unfold with a calmness that surprised even him. Thanks to his extraordinarily high levels in Investigation and Perception, he could grasp the scene outside as if it were in the palm of his hand, even from within the carriage. He saw everything. The scout, Fray, slitting a bandit’s throat with his dagger. The archer, Dalia, piercing a bandit’s chest with an arrow. The tank, Orban, crushing a bandit with his shield. The magician, Katra, slicing a bandit's throat with wind magic. Kudol’s sword cutting down a man who seemed to be the leader in a diagonal slash... and... one who escaped, perhaps intending to take a hostage, reaching for the carriage door.

"Hey! Don’t move! Stay quiet and I’ll spare your... guh!"

The bandit with ferocious eyes who had barged into the carriage had his life cut short before he could finish his threat. Yuri, having circled behind him without a sound using Stealth, had thrust the horizontally-held blade of his knife between the man’s ribs, piercing his heart in a single blow.

It was a clean assassination, a technique unbecoming of a twelve-year-old child.

In truth, the Rural Life Guide skill included Anti-Monster Tactics, which detailed how to fight humanoid monsters... and, of course, the techniques of person-to-person combat. Since some monsters were sensitive to the flow of magic, honing one’s non-magical combat skills was essential for survival. Yuri, whose creed was to value his life above all, had learned these techniques without question... and this time, he had used them without hesitation. The Yuri from his life in Japan, Isarai Yuuri, would have shown intense revulsion at the act of killing another person. However, for the "Yuri" who had been reincarnated into this world and knew its harshness firsthand, there was no reason to show mercy to anything, be it monster or man, that threatened his safety.

A major factor in this was that Yuri had already experienced combat with humanoid monsters. When he had first entered the forest, he had fought and annihilated a small group of reptilian, dwarf-like monsters, which Appraisal identified as Leptogoblins, apparently different from Lizardmen. Contrary to his hope that negotiation might be possible with humanoids, they had shrieked "gya gya" and attacked him with stone spears and axes the moment they saw him, as was their usual way. This allowed Yuri to engage in the task of extermination without emotion... moreover, he had thoroughly dismantled them, collecting their magic stones, materials, and even meat.

To reveal a bit of the backstory here, Yuri’s lack of aversion to killing was related to the rejuvenation process performed by the god. It didn’t just make his body younger, it also had the effect of adjusting his mentality to prevent any hindrances to his new life. This was a lesson learned from a past failure where a person "summoned" from Yuri’s former world couldn’t live long, killed due to an aversion to killing. Adjusting the mentality of reincarnators to fit the new world had become a standard procedure for the gods when reincarnating people. In any case...

Dona timidly called out to Yuri, who was looking down at the corpse of the man he had killed without a hint of emotion.

"...Yuri-kun... um..."

"Yuri! Sorry, are you all right!?"

Kudol and the others, having let Yuri be forced to kill someone due to their own failure, burst in, not even trying to hide their pained expressions.

Hearing their worried voices, Yuri looked up as if snapping back to reality.

"Ah, sorry for making you worry. I don’t feel sick or anything like that. It’s just..."

""Just?""

"Well... it just feels strange to hunt prey and not dismantle it."

...Perhaps this was a problem after all.

Was this a side effect of surviving by hunting in such a harsh environment? Everyone present stared silently at Yuri, who had just said something outrageous with a placid expression. The city of Laurenzen, where they were headed, was one of the kingdom’s foremost commercial hubs, and as such, it had its fair share of ruffians and petty criminals...

Everyone there could almost see a vision of Yuri fighting back against some thugs who accosted him, and then eagerly beginning to dismantle them... or perhaps saying, "It’s fine as long as no one finds out, right?" as he stored the corpses in his magic bag.

This would not do. They had to teach him, thoroughly and properly, about social order, taboos, and original sin in a civilized nation...

As this resolve formed in their minds, Yuri’s voice reached their ears, shaking that very resolve.

"Kudol-san, what part of a bandit serves as proof of subjugation? Should I bring the head?"