Chanak yawned and unsteadily got to his feet. At least he'd be getting another four or so hours of sleep. I wondered which of them was going to get the privilege of sleeping through the entire night. Since there were only five of them, and each watch lasted two hours, only four bandits needed to be on watch throughout the point. One of them would be allowed to sleep through the night undisturbed.

If I was in an uncharitable mood, I'd have thought it was Baldric. After all, his aspirations of being a robber-baron and his playacting as the boss would lend credence to the idea that his underlings would draw straws for watch shifts while he slept blissfully. If I was being uncharitable, that is. The smart play, however, would be to let Balthazar sleep the night away while Baldric took a shift. They were trying to acclimate an escaped Summon to life on Excelsia and to life as a bandit. Giving him a full night's rest would help with that process, whereas having an irritable, sleep deprived amateur along would only be a hindrance.

So it was surprising to hear two sets of footsteps making their way towards my side of the carriage. Baldric appeared first, red and yellow silks looking a fair bit worse than they had when he had been attempting to rob me. Well, rob Aastor. I didn't really own anything in the carriage, and if I was right about the way things were in Excelsia, I probably couldn't own a lot of things in general.

He was followed by a dark haired, pale faced man with watery gray eyes. His skin looked clammy, even though there wasn't any water around. Maybe it was from sweat, or adrenaline? That had to be Balthazar, since he still looked uncertain and apprehensive around Baldric, rather than looking annoyed at Baldric's incessant talking and japes. He was dressed in a long black robe, loosely tied at his waist, with a high collar. It hid a lot of his neck, but his face was more or less easy to see.

Conversations at Midnight was beginning to take a bit of a mental toll. I wasn't sure exactly how the System was calculating mana for me, especially since I didn't see a mana bar or anything of the kind when I was browsing the menus earlier. Mana wasn't normally part of the Stats screen, or at least it hadn't been in the previous version. There were two possibilities that came to mind. The first one, the easy one, was that the update to Isekai Hero had moved the Mana stat to some arcane part of the interface and I'd have to hunt for it when I had a moment alone.

The second possibility, and the one that scared me a lot more, was that Isekai Hero had done away with Mana as a whole. My fighting style had relied pretty heavily on being a Holy Warrior, a class that casted magical spells as a complement to physical combat. I wasn't sure how much battle I'd see as a Butler, but I wasn't happy about no longer having my well-polished style of fighting to fall back on.

Baldric barely sat down before he started making conversation. God. If it wasn't imperative to convince him to join in with Aastor, I would likely have pretended to be asleep until he shifted his attentions.

"I trust you find your lodgings comfortable, Sir?"

Ugh. Butler-mode on, I guess. Well, it was probably a good idea to keep practicing with it. Choking on my own words was an unpleasant sensation, and I didn't want to accidentally get interrupted while I was trying to talk to Aastor.

"More than comfortable, I assure you. Your kindness is…boundless."

"Well, my guests shall receive all the hospitality I have to offer. See, Balthazar? Civility, Hospitality and Respect. Banditry isn't all stabbing people or robbing them."

Balthazar just meekly nodded his head. Something was off about him, but I couldn't quite put a finger on it. Perhaps it would come to me later?

"He's not the most…talkative of our group." Baldric looked at me and smiled. "But he makes up for it with his honor and ferocity."

Ah, a bluff. It wasn't going to work, but I guess Baldric was trying not to let me take advantage of the newbie.

"I'm sure Sir has had plenty of opportunity to appraise said honor and ferocity since yesterday."

"Ah."

"Lady Ellem informed me of Sir Balthazar's recent…arrival."

"Well, it doesn't take very long to assess someone if you're as experienced as I am!" He puffed himself up a little bit. "My eye for skill and talent is the finest in the land."

Baldric was more of a blowhard than a buccaneer, but I couldn't fault him for trying to protect the terrified looking man. I'd do the same for Kel, even though I'd only had her for about 10 hours. The difference was that I was magically bonded to Kel, and Baldric was apparently doing this out of the decency of his heart.

Perhaps there were more layers to Baldric than I had expected after all. For the first time, I wondered how much of Baldric the Buccaneer was an act, and how much of it was a real reflection on his personality.

"Sir Baldric?"

"Aye?"

"Would you perhaps be interested in a business proposition?"

His eyes narrowed. Clearly, he expected a trap. Before answering me, he looked over at Balthazar and spoke to him. His tone was suddenly urgent. Not unkind, but urgent.

"Balthazar? Remember what I told you about a two person watch?"

A nod. Balthazar really needed to speak, or he'd be a poor lookout if he was ever trusted with the job independently. I wasn't sure how much of it was shell-shock from the Summon and how much of it was from the events that had likely followed. Chanak had led something of a life before coming to work for Baldric, and Ellem had been a Craftsperson on her own world. I wasn't sure what Balthazar's story was, but if he'd only been Summoned yesterday and had already managed to escape…that had to have been harrowing no matter what.

“Okay, I want you to forget that. We’re going to split up for a little bit. But only a little bit.” He patted the man on his shoulder. Balthazar, for his part, looked appropriately stricken. “The area is isolated, and I’ve already scouted it out. Unless something truly Calamitous happens- Heavens, don’t look so afraid! It won’t, you’re under the protection of Baldric the Buccaneer! Go take a walk, scout the perimeter, and report back.”

Baldric clapped the man on the back one more time, before sending him off.

“Ah, my most humble apologies. Of course you did not wish to discuss a business proposition in front of your employees.”

“Indeed. It would be most…unbecoming to discuss business matters before young Balthazar. Especially if the business happens to be unsavory in nature.”

Oh? Unsavory business was on the table? I wasn’t sure how good Baldric would really be at anything gruesome, but it was helpful to know that it was an option. Still, that would come later, since for the moment, I needed to convince Baldric that he and his little gang would be better off joining Aastor than robbing us.

Somewhere along the night, I had begun to lose sight of the fact that my Quest was Protecting the Carriage and preventing Aastor from being woken up. I wasn’t quite sure when that was, but these bandits weren’t exactly bad people. More like people who’d been driven to highway robbery because of circumstances they couldn’t really control on any level. It wasn’t their fault that Excelsia was essentially a state that functioned on exploiting labor and treating Summons like chattel, or that they’d been grabbed from their worlds with no explanation and told to accept their new circumstances.

Moreover, on some level, I felt like I was actually doing a very good job of helping Aastor with his overarching goal. Protecting the carriage and letting the old man have his nap were obviously let important instructions than helping him figure out a way to keep Laura alive. Or, if not keep her alive, at least somehow disrupt the Excelsian practice of Summoning helpless Chosen Ones from another world and sending them to their deaths. And as in every Isekai, it was unlikely that Aastor and I could do that on our own. We needed people like…well, we needed people like Ellem and Chanak. Sensible, perceptive, and talented in specific areas.

And…well, people with no other options. Helpless people whom we could help and take advantage of.

Which makes me sound like a monster. But it’s true. Baldric’s gang was one step away from scavengers. They weren’t likely to turn down stable income, or stable lodgings and food. They were going to be more willing to take on legally gray tasks, and less likely to be under scrutiny than any established business would be.

Of course, I had no idea how long Aastor had been preparing for his crusade against Excelsia. He may well have had all the preparations he needed already. But surely more help couldn’t hurt, right? He either had a well-funded, well-oiled machine, and a couple spare parts wouldn’t go amiss; Or he had no plan and no operation, and it would be necessary to recruit more able bodies than just me.

“Nothing quite so…awful, Sir.”

“Well, I hesitate to make assumptions about your proposition without even hearing it. But I’d be hard-pressed to believe that someone wants to hire Baldric the Buccaneer for legitimate work.”

“Ah, well. I wouldn’t quite classify it as legitimate work. But less on the dark side of the law, and closer to what we could call a twilight zone.”

“I’m intrigued.”

Step 1: Appeal to his ego. Baldric’s ego was too large to be completely an act, and hopefully negotiating with a happier, more ego drunk Baldric would be easier than negotiating with one who was suspicious of my motives.

“To be blunt sir, a man of your stature should not be made to camp out on the dirt.”

“Hah! Well, you must be mistaken. I simply haven’t yet had an opportunity to obtain lodgings that suit someone of my level.”

“Well, perhaps my Employer and I could speed up that process?”

“Got a lot of spare castles lying about, have you?”

Step 2: Show him the value. Baldric was a robber. He wanted to know what he would gain out of this deal. The answer: Protection from the law and stability were a must, of course. But most important for Baldric was status.

“I personally am but a humble Butler. But my Employer does happen to be a fairly well known Magus.”

“How well known, exactly? I am somewhat familiar with names of the Hierarchy of the Magi and their relative positions. So, who exactly is your Magus? Don’t tell me you have Archmagus Grigori himself in there!”

“I apologize, but nobody quite so grand. However, perhaps you have heard of the Archmagus Emeritus Aastor?”

I took a look at Baldric’s face as I pronounced Aastor’s full title, taking my time with every word. Of course, I hadn’t even said “Aastor” before Baldric’s eyebrows flickered upwards and his mouth opened.

I had him.

Step 3: Reel him in. Before he could say anything else, I needed to strike home.

“Perhaps being under retainer with my Employer would resolve some of your outstanding legal issues? I am given to understand from Lady Ellem and Sir Chanak that there are…quite a few.”

“Well. Well, I’ll be the backside of a horse. God. Damn.” He looked equal parts impressed and terrified. I guess I would be too if I tried to rob an ancient and powerful wizard. It probably wasn’t an ideal situation. Ellem had barely known who Aastor was, and Chanak hadn’t believed me. Baldric, having been around for four months, clearly knew him by reputation and didn’t think I was lying.

“Certainly, I cannot make any promises on behalf of my Employer. But I could arrange for a suitable first meeting. And I could vouch for your team.”

He was thinking about it. I was close. Conversations at Midnight was filling me with some kind of Charisma induced euphoria, and I could tell that I nearly had Baldric. And if I had Baldric, I probably had Balthazar, who seemed to have all the autonomy of a lost lamb.

It was a pity then that just as Baldric was going to reply, I heard a squawk from behind the carriage, in the direction where Chanak and Ellem were sleeping and where Balthazar had been sent to scout.

“HELP! HELP HELP HELP!”

I barely had time to figure out that it was probably Balthazar’s voice before my vision was clouded with dust and dirt as the world imploded. I could barely make out Baldric shouting next to me.

“CALAMITY! CALAMITY!”

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WARNING:

PvE Combat Detected. Entity is above your current Combat ability.

TIP: You should only fight creatures on your level! In Isekai Hero, Death is almost always permanent!

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