On the nobleman's (whose name I still did not know) suggestion, we did not use the direct route. In place, we moved almost until the well, and from there, to the north in a straight line.

Probably we could have arrived stealthily, which at first I supposed was his idea, but...

"Stealth? No, we are cutting their escape route" So he said, and so in place of using the perfect advantage we could have obtained by arriving from behind and attacking before being noticed, he walked openly and with an even pace. Oh, and if that wasn't enough, he also took out another orb, one that turned out to be something akin to my 'Light' spell, to arrive with full illumination. Fuck, maybe we should have searched for a trumpet or something to make his arrival nobler?

Thankfully I managed to convince him to wait a minute before using the orb and making his grand entrance. Well, if my probably disrespectful statement of "You sir do whatever, but allow me to scout the situation at least" is considered convincing.

***

Crawling in humid, dew-covered grass is nothing nice, but I was too worried about other things to pay attention to the cold drops.

In fact, I was so worried about other things that the thought of what the hell I am doing never crossed my mind.

First, I noticed a light in the distance. Being white, I supposed that one of the parties had used something akin to the orb that the noble had just shown to me. After all, it could not be Azar maintaining a spell for so much time, could it be? No mana amount would be enough for that.

Afterward, I heard the sounds of battle. Mainly I could hear some metal crashing against metal and a few random exclamations.

The third was the smell, albeit I tried my best to ignore it...

And then, I saw Gris.

I do not know if she had remained behind to block the new reinforcements, identified by the fact that Gunthard was with them, but there was no one except the six, and Gris was single-handedly blocking the five.

My experience with combats and so came basically from books and games, so I could not say what was the situation in front of me like. I only saw that she seemingly wasn't wounded and that the five were having a hard time too close on her, surrounded by a whirlwind of sword strokes.

Stats-wise the enemies, except the average Gunthard, were not bad. Each of them had 13-15 combat-related ones, and the Killer, Robber, Slaver titles explained their occupation very well.

Equipment-wise, I could only see that they had no visible armor and were dressed in black clothes. For weapons, each of them was armed with a similarly looking short, not more than sixty or something centimeter blade, sword and seemed to know how to use them.

"They haven't been fighting for long, and so she is probably able to hold them back... But 5 on 1?" I lacked the experience to say if she could fight them, but it was clear that she could not win. No matter the case, she was just a few points over, and this wasn't a game.

But what can I do?

Join the fight? I probably would be killed by any of them.

While I was thinking, one of the men dodged a thrust and quickly slashed. Gris reacted instantly and sidestepped, but her sword was busy blocking another attack, and so she wasn't spared from a cut on her free, left arm.

"Shit! Just where is the god anger or whatever mode when you need it?!" I wanted to enter the same state like the one I was in when dealing with the bandits, but I could not do it on my wish. As for how it happened before... I could not probably wait until she was bound or killed or something.

"Think, think, think..." I closed my eyes and tried to formulate any plan of action in which neither I nor Gris die.

***

A moment later, I jumped on my feet and began making my way into the circle of light, one produced by an orb floating just three meters above Gris.

"Lindar?!" She was the first to notice me, and she exclaimed in surprise. From the look on her face, she did regret doing it right after, as two of the men she was fighting with turned their heads and also noticed me.

"Who is it?" One of them asked Gunthard, who in truth wasn't even taking part in the combat, simply standing there with his double ax in hand, but not approaching Gris, or probably her sword, at all.

"He is an overseer, not a fighter. Probably he was saved by two of the guards that ran away when this bitch began holding us here"

"No fighter, huh? Then don't stand around here doing nothing, go and deal with him!" The man angrily spat out and then returned to what he was doing along with the other three.

"Reuben and the boys, as well Azar are close by! Go north!" Gris did not look at me, trying to not distract herself from the deadly dance she was in, but she still spared a moment to advise me.

"Not so fast!" Gunthard, either because he was said to, or just 'cause he felt me be a simple objective - shouted and started to run towards me.

"Lindar, run!"

Haa, why did she have to say what I did want to do but could not? Now it looked like I was doing a stupid thing while ignoring a piece of totally reasonable advice. Oh... I was.

(How I would like to think it went)

With a brave expression on my face, I walked into the 'Light Orb' zone with steadfast steps. Gunthard, who was rushing at me panicked after seeing my confidence, and slightly slowed.

Still, he did not stop, fearing his paymasters more than me... What an error!

As the distance closed to just a couple meters, and he raised his double ax to attack me, I simply chanted 'Shaped Mana', intending to make crash him with a wall-like block.

For some reason, the spell did not work. But being ready for anything is a must, isn't it? So I simply dodged the blow, before attempting another spell.

Seeing that it also failed, I concluded that something was preventing me from spellcasting. A normal guy would probably freeze or hesitate, but I would not!

My 'Status Screen' was working perfectly, so if there was some kind of interference, it should not affect my other perk 'Inventory'.

I could probably call for any of the items inside, but as to not distract myself, I decided to simply call for one of the rocks stored in there from my survivor's days.

It appeared right where I wanted it, right on the path of Gunthard's foot - and made him trip.

He did not fall, using his ax pole as a clutch, but still shouted something. Something that I ignored, after all, why would I listen to a deadman's last words?

Albeit talented in everything, I was unsure of my skill to enter melee with him, and so decided to keep it short and deadly.

And somehow even karma-like, after all, what if not the fire for a traitor?

I loudly shouted the words 'Burn for your crimes' and summoning the molotov cocktail that I had prepared, and even lighted up beforehand as part of my plans, threw it at him.

The fucker screamed while the flames enveloped him, but my attention wasn't on his rolling, no... It was already turned to the four idiots that decided to attack my beautiful sidekick, Gris.

And they froze from my glare, allowing the panting beauty, one that had held strong against the four to take a breather...

___________________________________________________________________

(How it went in reality)

Forcing myself to take each step, I somehow entered the light while Gunthard was already rushing at me like a wild bull.

With no better ideas, I decided to use the same thing that my 'Fury' mode used, namely weaponizing 'Shaped Mana'.

Stakes and pointy things weren't exactly something that I would like to use, so I went for a simple wall - to make him crash. As 'Shaped Mana' required to be in contact with the caster, I had no other option but to force myself from escaping, and on the contrary, close the distance.

Two meters close, Gunthard raised his ax, probably to take me out with a single sweep.

"Shaped Mana" I muttered under my breath, trying to avoid him from hearing that I was about to use a spell... But nothing happened!!! I tried again, but the result was the same.

With the ax dangerously swinging, I jumped to the side, avoiding the attack. And tasting dirt, as my jump turned into a badly executed roll as I failed my landing.

"Flint" I again tried for a spell, but not even the slightest hint of a flame appeared in my hand.

Panicking, it took me two dodges more to understand that spells did not work... and that perks should do, as the status screen did activate when I tried to take a look at Gunthard.

Perks... Perks... Inventory! I grabbed at the idea and tried to summon something to help me. The sword being out of the question, I decided to go with something simpler, like a rock.

Regretfully for me, I messed up, and in place of summoning it in my hand, I did it on the ground a meter away (Summoning spell locations, as I discovered during my experiments are controlled by sight or thought. And my thoughts at this moment were too... messy?). Still, by some stroke of crazy luck, the stone served to trip Gunthard!

"What do I do now?!" Seeing that he did not fall, but at least was stopped for a few seconds, I screamed in my mind... And found nothing better than to try and scare him with fire. While creating the Molotov cocktails, I tried igniting one of the cloths before storing it into 'Inventory' (to confirm that flames don't go out inside). And now, I reached for it as my life savior.

The next part... well, I can only say that in place of aiming below his feet (to scare), I by some reason threw it directly at him.

"AHHHHH" The shout of pain that followed the 'Earth Blood' bottle crash was terrifying, as was the alight oil that splashed all over Gunthard and its surroundings.

And then... To not look at the horrifying thing that I had done, and to somehow ignore the smell of burning flesh, as well the crazed shouts of pain, I turned a frozen face towards Gris.

I do not know what to say or ask, just looked at her emptily. But from the next development, it seemed that her opponents mistook my glance for her as one meant for them.

Well, with such things going on, it was strange if now the four fuckers trying to kill Gris did not pay attention to me, didn't it?

And judging from their reaction, they were even more agitated than I expected them to be.

"A mage?!"

"Has the interference bracelet stopped working?!"

"I do not know, I am no mage!"

As for Gris, she used this chance to break away, up to my side. She was glistening with sweat and breathing raggedly. So probably, no definitively I was right on doing it. Yes, it, no thinking about how and what.

"Lindar, what did you do? I was keeping them here because Azar could not use magic with that bracelet present. So how did you..?" She half-whispered, making sure that they did not hear.

"It wasn't magic, just a small trick with lamp oil" I answered in the same manner.

"And you have more?"

"Four of them"

"Good, I doubt it will work after they catch the trick, but if you manage to take one or two out, I should be able to deal with the remaining ones"

"About that..."

"What?"

"Magic indeed does not work, and I only had one lighted up. So either we win time for me to do it manually, or they are just bottles of oil"

"Haa, well, I will try to win you some time. Just be quick" She exhaled heavily, but thankfully did not comment on my lack of preparation. Fuck, if I knew that magic could be blocked, I would have stored all of them while lighted!

"Before you do, let me try something" Inspired (blinded) by my previous awesomeness (stupidity), my mind formulated a genius-tier (absolutely idiotic) idea.

"You! Whoever you are, better turn around and run from here... Or I will kill you all, and being burned alive is not the worst I can offer"

It seemed that the three that had quarreled about the bracelet before believed me, but...

"He's bluffing. Whatever he used was nothing else than a trick" The fourth man, the only one that was cleanly shaven said.

And just these words were enough to make the three of them straighten. A commander?

The man did not say anything else and simply began walking towards us. Just to be followed by the other three.

"Seems that words did not work. I will try to gain some time. Be quick about your trick" Gris snappily said and began moving to meet the men, intending to shield me.

But she did not make more than two steps before I landed my hand on her shoulder and pulled her back.

"What are you doing?" She hissed angrily while turning her head to face me.

"You know what? Screw it, I will deal with them myself" I shook my head and simply stated to her.

Ignoring the words that followed, which were a mix of swearing and surprise ones that I would prefer to forget, I slowly placed myself in front of her.

"You fuckers, you wanted to kill us? Good, come and get killed yourselves then!" I did try to sound menacing, but with no way to hear myself from the side... Who knows how did it go?

"Kill them both!" The supposed commander guy shouted and the four men readied their weapons and picked up their pace.

"Goddess, allow me to just cast one spell. Just a simple Storage" I half muttered. Not in a sudden attack of piety or even to reinforce my decision. I did it for Gris to hear, after all, revealing the existence of my 'Inventory' would be very problematic... So why not feign a miracle in place of my skills? Not to mention that it would allow me to explain about Sepyre, which was my only task if I thought about all this from the Goddess's point.

___________________________________________________________________

Why did I go with such a thing? A question that still plagues me right now.

Was it the fact that I could not bear that a beautiful woman would protect me? Probably no, after all, why would I not stand behind such a nice-looking guardian?

Was it the fact that she was wounded, something that I discovered as she walked forward and I saw the blood drops slowly seeping from beneath the clothes and armor on her left side? Could be.

Or was it the fact that I simply wanted to appear cool and heroic? To my despair, this one appears to be the most probable reason.

___________________________________________________________________

As the fucking ton of wood and whatever was inside fell on the unsuspecting attackers, I forced myself to look.

I saw how they reacted to the sudden shadow, and how only one of them tried to move away in place of looking up at the sky as the other three.

Regretfully for all of them, gravity was a thing even in this world. And so, the wagon had nothing else to do but to fall right away.

*CRASH*

A cloth roofed wagon. Six meters long and almost half that wide. Simply appeared over the four men... And landed on them.

***

It will take me a long time to forget the screams of the two survivors, or the curses that they threw at me. And what did they expect? For everyone to allow themselves to be killed and them to go back unharmed?

Not that they sounded for long, as Gris launched herself forward with the grace and speed of a cougar. And a few seconds later, ones which I had closed my eyes for, I heard the groans and laments of the survivors. Survivors that were now dead.

She returned to my side just a moment later, heavily breathing and pale. But probably not so pale as me, who was trying to process the fact that I had directly or indirectly killed four people!

"That... These guys would have not left no one, be it you or me or anyone else alive. So don't judge yourself for it. You saved me, and I am grateful for it. No need to think about anything else" Seemingly I was indeed looking bad. As in place of any other words, Gris tried to calm me.

"We should probably check on the others" After a brief silence, and still closed eyes, I said in the calmest voice possible.

"Ah, yes" She somehow mechanically answered, forcing me to open my eyes and look at her.

I don't know much about wounds and anatomy, but from what I could guess - seeing that she was now visibly bleeding, her last effort was indeed a costly one.

"Before that, here" This made me snap out from my thoughts, and I took out one of the healing potions from my belt, and extended it to her.

"Thank you" She said with a somewhat forced smile, and without even looking at what I was giving her (or just understanding what it was?) she gulped the potion right away.

___________________________________________________________________

I do not know if I will be reading or at least skimming through my 'Record' created journal at some point in the future. But if I do, then I hope that the reason isn't the same one behind the thoughts that made me pale on this day.

I did not pale or close my eyes because I did not want to see what I had caused, no. Neither it was because I had just killed. I had simply tried to process the fact of taking four lives... And felt absolutely nothing.

No... it's worse, I felt like I had done something good!

___________________________________________________________________

Minutes flew by. Gris sheathed her sword and lowered herself onto the ground, waiting for the potion to work (and how the hell do they work, actually?). As for me, I simply tried to accept the fact that this was indeed a merited killing.

***

About ten minutes later, I heard her movement and opened my, again, closed eyes.

"Let's go after the others" She looked like new, and except for the damp hem of her shirt, it truly seemed that she had recovered.

I simply nodded and began mechanically following her. I would have loved to throw all these thoughts out of my mind, but regretfully, it seemed that it would not be possible for now.

"Gris! And Lindar? I decided to return as to help you, but it seems that everything is... solved?" Suddenly a voice sounded from outside the illuminated zone. A voice that I immediately recognized.

"Reuben? Are you guys okay? Gris told me that you were making distance while a few enemies went after you?" Turning towards the yet unseen merchant, just a bit to the right, I asked.

Gris followed with a couple of similar questions.

***

Half an hour later, we were sitting on the floor (there was a pelt serving as a carpet!) of Reuben's tent. 'We' would be Gris, Azar, Reuben, and me. The person that had asked us to gather had not arrived yet, but he was no one else than the nobleman, whose name, at last, I found out - Count Gian of Zeln.

Thanks to Azar, Gris and I found about what had transpired on Reuben's and company position, and to say the truth, it was far from a calm walk.

While Gris was with them, the battle was easy. She blocked several attackers, while the two guards protected Reuben and Azar. The former wasn't a fighter, but the latter was, and he was a mage - so there was no doubt of how the battle would end. And indeed, before Wilfried and Rolf's arrival, even with the 2nd wave of attackers, they had managed to kill one and wound another three without losses.

The situation turned worse when the 3rd wave of reinforcements arrived, one that had a bracelet that disturbed mana - thus eliminating the only advantage that the group had, namely Azar's magic. The two guards that had been there since the start were lightly wounded, and Gris decided that the only way for them to survive would be to get Azar back in the game. She had stayed behind, where I met her, to hold the new arrivals, while Reuben and company began opening distance.

They were followed by the remaining bandits (or assassins?), but as soon as they moved for half a kilometer (they said a third of a Primordial Step, so about that), Azar released a barrage of spells prepared for the moment... And killed seven people.

Here I probably should note that Azar explained a lot about why and how, but... I was too tired to listen, and so simply recall a few things.

First, the zone of the bracelet was hardly so big, but true spells (seemingly utility ones are not considered so) require chanting. Offensive ones also require a clean line of sight, as in general they are not controlled (so they are not usable in party-like combat?!).

And secondly, knowing all of this, Azar made Reuben and the four guards run for a fair time, enough for him to prepare three 'Wind Blades' and a single 'Hurricane', which were his best offensive spells.

From there, it went down in the most basic way. With no enemies behind them, Reuben's group decided to backtrack. Only to find that by some reason I was with Gris and that we appeared to have dealt with the enemies. They also had some questions, so I quickly updated them on my side of the night as well.

As for the 'battle' near Gris, I allowed her to explain. Better I would have done it myself, as for some reason, she went with the most heroic description of my actions. And it truly felt off to me.

Having exchanged our parts, there was nothing to do except to wait for the Count.

Speaking of whom...

Where the fuck did the guy go?

Wasn't he supposed to follow me and rescue everyone?

Why did he appear only after everything was dealt with?

Why the hell did he look tired even without taking part in any action?

And at last, why the holy tits he did not explain anything before shooing us away and asking us to gather here now?!