Chapter 26: The Group Warfare and The Bandits

The day of the bandit subjugation quest had come.

Other than me, there were other members gathered on the designated spot. They belonged to the following ranks: 2 from the E-rank, 2 from the D-rank, 1 from the C-rank, and 1 from the B-rank. A total of 6 people.

As for the specializations, I could guess that two were wizards, and the rest perhaps warriors.

Considering the type of subjugation, it seemed that the number of bandits consisted of about 30 to 50 people.

The number of people here was quite small compared to the enemy, but I heard before that an adventurer of the E-rank/D-rank or higher were decent among adventurers. Did I hear that at a tavern?

However, would it be okay with this low number of adventurers? I did not know the strength of the enemy, but I guess we had to do something regardless of whom we were.

Anyway, after we gathered, we sat down at the big round table on the 2nd floor and had a self-introduction along with the strategic plan to grasp our strengths. The branch manager seemed to leave the leading task to a particular adventurer. This adventurer looked like a wizard and said, “You can start with the introduction”.

「I am Richie, a D-rank one-handed swordsman. I specialize in short-range attacks. My sword is not long, but I have a shield. Nice to meet you.」

He spoke while showing his sword. I noticed that his sword had a blade length of about 40 cm. It looked quite short for this world.

His shield was a round shield, but it looked a little bigger and stronger than mine did.

Well, his shield may be stronger than mine, but I could now use a magical armor without a physical shield, which was a plus.

Anyway, the self-introduction was like that.

Maybe I could say part of my real role as a magic swordsman without saying too much strengths and weaknesses of my abilities.

I introduced myself according to the order of the seat at the table.

There was an E-rank two-handed swordsman and an E-rank one-handed swordsman…Their weapons were slightly larger than Richie’s sword, but their shields were smaller in comparison…It was finally my turn.

「I am Kaede, an E-rank magic swordsman. I can control magic such as fire, which is relatively fast. I can also cast fireballs in large numbers. Nice to meet you.」

I introduced myself and showed them my sword, shield and wand. Then, the man who seemed to be a wizard, who had not introduced himself yet, looked at me with appalling eyes. This man was quite tall and was dressed lightly. He also carried a huge staff that reached his height.

「Wait a minute. I’ve never heard of a magic swordsman before.」

「A magic swordsman is a swordsman who uses magic. I use both because I can use magic while attacking with a sword. I also repel attacks with a shield.」

「I feel like it is impossible to cast magic while swinging a sword, but have you been fighting like that? I can’t even use a wand while running…」

Was that so?

Perhaps, I gave excessively information at first. Or was it unlikely of someone from the E-rank to use both magic and a sword at the same time?

Could I eliminate the suspicions if I were from a higher rank?

I thought he was rude, but when I appraised him, I saw that he had a good MP. In addition, he had three attributes, fire, water, and wind, and there were other magical qualities. So a fairly good wizard seemed to be about this level.

If I thought about it, I could shoot 40 or 80 rock spears. If my accuracy was good, I could beat 80 people by myself.

Perhaps, it felt unrealistic to be from the E-rank because I performed more than a regular adventurer. My magic was by no means inferior to a warrior who had to kill an enemy, one by one, with the sword.

「Oh my, I haven’t introduced myself yet. I am Magis, a B-rank wizard. My magic speed is relatively fast, and the recasting time is over 2 seconds with a rock spear or fireball. I am the leader of this subjugation team.」

I remember being told that wizards of the B-rank who could wield wind and fire were essential to defeat the Metal Lizard. However, since it was hard to find a B-ranked wizard who could wield both magic properties, people often fought the Metal Lizard with a team of about 20 people.

Moreover, was the recast time the rate of fire? Normally, it was said to be 3 seconds, so his recasting time must be excellent.

After that, other people’s self-introduction continued. The other wizard seemed to be from the D-rank, and the rest were all warriors.

Their weapons were all large and small, but it seemed that they were only swords. I saw no spears. Nevertheless, I knew that spears were also usable weapons in this world since I saw them at the blacksmith store.

After the self-introduction, Magis-san stood up. I did not hear about the strategy yet, but was it time to leave?

「Now, we have finished introducing ourselves, but I still don’t understand how Kaede fights. Can you show us some of your fighting style at the training grounds?」

「Okay, I don’t mind it… 」

It seemed that he would decide the strategy after seeing me fight.

I did not want to stand out in vain, but it was a problem if something happened during the battle. It was important for a comrade to know what I was capable of, at least. This was necessary.

The training grounds were very close to the Guild. The spot was reasonably high and was covered with a sturdy wall, though not as strong as the outer wall of the town.

「For the time being, you can shoot two magic shots in a row while swinging your sword while moving or running. It is okay for you to use less magic. I don’t want your magic power to be jeopardized because of this.」

Based on his words, I activated my shotgun magic while swinging my sword. It consumed about 5 MP points and I fired it at 2 times per second, making it easy.

「Is this okay? 」

「Wha…What did you just do? …It seems that you invoked two shots in about half a second without slowing down at all…」

「Yes, that’s right. But it takes about 0.5 seconds to release the first magical bullet, so it’s actually 2 shots per second.」

Was it too fast after all? Well, I didn’t want to fake a fight, and I didn’t feel like hiding the rate.

「What about your defensive and magical powers? 」

「At the beginning of the battle, the defense magic deploys to my whole body, and depending on the situation, only my key points are protected. In addition, the parts where the defense is broken are replenished even if the attacks decrease. Since I can use healing magic, I can heal some injuries too. And I can use my magical power for about 10 minutes or 20 minutes by continuing this continuous shooting.」

「Huh…That’s amazing. It feels like an impossible magical power…Can you use attack magic while putting defensive magic on it? As a wizard myself, I feel like I’ve lost confidence, but there is no doubt that you are a force to be reckoned with. Can you take the front-line?」

Front-line? Standing in front of a team felt scary, but scary was inevitable. I decided to accept.

…Since I felt scared, I decided to thrust a lot of magic into my body armor, especially my face. I did not want headshots to kill me or make me crazy.

「Yes, I will go on the front-line.」

「Okay, I have decided on the strategy. Kaede will take care of the front-line…」

In the end, I took care of the front-line along with a C-rank warrior, followed by Magis-san, and then, the rest of the team.

The remaining two D-ranks and two E-ranks became a sub-party to do a pre-reconnaissance about the hideout. Magis-san decided they would stand about 100m away from the entrance.

As for the details of the strategy. First, the swordsman and I would take care of the bandits outside. At the same time, Magis-san would suddenly hit the bandits at the back, and then, the bandits inside would be lured outside by the sub-party with burning fire, etc. On this moment, all the members of the team will join Magis-san.

There was a high possibility that the attack would be carried out at an early stage. But, we were ready for a battle of endurance too.

By the way, there seemed to be no problem with smoke. People have used this mechanism to ambush enemies, so it shall pose no problem.

Considering the possibility of traps, I decided to take the lead while using defensive magic. And when it came to the battle, the other swordsman would catch up with me.

We arrived at the bandits’ hideout while we discussed this strategy.

Everyone was in place just as planned. It seemed that the enemies did not notice our presence at this stage.

When Magis-san signaled me, I generated four ordinary rock spears. I used the center of gravity and hit the faces of two guards. The spears hit them firmly, and the guards at the lookout collapsed on the ground without making too much noise.

It seemed everything was going well, and Magis-san hurriedly ran behind me while I moved quickly. He obviously ran fast to catch me up. Perhaps, he used magic to support himself. Magis-san arrived in no time, and I was the one to enter the cave first.

For the first time, I generated a large amount of rock spears that were slightly smaller than usual. If the bandits came out, they would receive my rock spears like a beehive. It did not matter if they had armor or not, as long as I defeated them with this amount and size.

It was important to have strong magic for situations like this. This enemy could have strong weapons that could inflict a lot of damage.

Just in case, I marked the bandits by using Information Manipulation Analysis and generated about 5 rock spears. They could have prisoners, and I did not want to hurt innocent people.

I felt that Magis-san had his eyes wide open, but now it began for real.

About 30 seconds after the first rush, the first bandits appeared. When I hit them with the rock spears that I had prepared, they all seemed to have died.

I immediately prepared the next rock spears and proceeded inside the cave. The two behind me seemed to be following up properly.

The cave had a zigzagging layout, but it was still a straight road without other paths. I did not see other people while I ran through the cave. I heard that these bandits were many, and I’ve just encountered a few, but…

There was a door. I could hear laughter from the inside. Was this the main place?

The people from my team seemed to follow me while holding their breaths. We decided to use magic to destroy the door in order to charge ahead. We waited for 10 seconds.

There may be ordinary people inside, but the policy was basically to annihilate them all. I could not afford to be careful, so I just appraised them quickly as a precaution.

I prepared 200 shots x 4 of rock spears, each of them had a diameter of about 15 cm and looked like big stakes. It made a total of 800 shots.

I felt like Magis-san opened his eyes wide behind me, but he didn’t say anything.

Ready to go. I fired 200 of the 800 rock spears at the door. I did not charge them completely at the same time. It had a slight time lag.

The door blew off with a roaring sound, and the rock spears flew inside.

I jumped inside and fired the rock spears at a wide angle, 200 on each side. The rock spears flew throughout the room. I released the remaining 200 rock spears in the forward-facing direction. My two teammates charged forward too.

The swordsman held his weapon and tried to attack, but the situation felt strange. It was quiet.

Both of them observed the surroundings. The corpses of about 30 bandits were scattered on the ground. The room was about the size of a high school classroom, but there was no sign of a living person. It seemed that I wiped them out.

It was a bit of a shock for the swordsman beside me, and it seemed that Magis-san was shocked too, but I decided to proceed as we planned. After subduing the bandits without much eventuality, I came to the place where I could see the fire.

The swordsman, Magis-san and I, joined the sub-party. We did not find innocent people.

What? Was this the end? I did not have the opportunity to fire the shotgun or invoke the magical armor to protect myself. Well, it was better this way. It ended smoothly.

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Kaede is way too strong ahah 😀 After this chapter, you will see the differences between the Novel and the Manga, which are noticeable.

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