Chapter 2-30 : Final Push Ⅲ

 

-The next day-

After having breakfast prepared by Filione-san, I left the town of South Strugg in the morning and returned to my village.

However, when I was about to reach the village, about ten men suddenly appeared from the bushes and stood in my way.

「Y-You, stop right there!」(bandit A)

They seemed to be bandits since they were holding weapons in their hands, so I decided to stop.

As I stopped running, for some reason, the bandits exhaled as if they were a little relieved.

「N-Nice, nice. Good girl.」(bandit A)

「Who are you people? I’m busy, so tell me what you want already.」(Sarasa)

「Huuhh!? Do you even understand what situation you are in!?」(bandit A)

「Gyahaha! So this cocky brat is our target, huh!?」(bandit B)

「Gehehehe! I never thought it would be an easy job!」(bandit C)

Yup. They are underestimating me because I’m a little girl. Well, I think that’s natural.

「Heeー Are you sure you want to attack an alchemist?」(Sarasa)

「An alchemist? So what!? All those nerds can do is make potions and weird tools!」(bandit A)

「Gyahaha! You people are the same as aristocrats who can’t do anything without escorts!」(bandit B)

I gave them a warning but they made fun of alchemists in return.

Their ignorance made me let out a big sigh.

「Haahh….. Why do most people think of alchemists that way? Really…」(Sarasa)

「Huh? What is she talking about?」(bandit A)

「Gyahaha! That kind of bluff doesn’t work against us!」(bandit B)

「Stop talking and give us all your money already! We will spare your life… Only your life… Muhehehe~」(bandit D)

「Oi, oi. Don’t tell me you like this kind of flat-chested girl. Gehehehe!」(bandit C)

「Flat… chested… you say…..? 『Force Bullet』!」(Sarasa)

「Ghー!!!」(bandit C)

Along with my shout, the bandit with a vulgar smile was blown away and fell to the ground. As he hit the ground he rolled about ten meters away on the ground and stopped moving. He was probably dead.

「「「……………..」」」(bandits)

The other bandits were shocked. They looked at their friend who was lying on the ground with their eyes and mouths open wide.

「Don’t you guys know? Some alchemists can use magic like that.」(Sarasa)

When I said that while smirking, the bandits came to their senses and held their weapons tightly.

「Kill that bitch! She won’t be able to use magic if we disturb her concentration!」(bandit A)

「Attacking me at once, huh? That’s not a bad idea, butーー『Force Bullet』!I can use magic while dodging. Too bad for you.」(Sarasa)

The difference in speed is obvious. I’m way faster than them.

If they are smart, they wouldn’t have stopped me after seeing how fast I was running earlier. Well, they wouldn’t be bandits if they were smart in the first place though.

I kept shooting force bullets while dodging their attacks, and after a few minutes, I was able to defeat half of them.

At that moment, the remaining bandits decided to give up. They threw away their weapons and kneeled before me.

「W-Wait! Please wait! L-Let’s make a deal!」(bandit A)

I stopped moving and looked down at them

「What deal?」(Sarasa)

「We were just hired by someone! Please let us go!」(bandit A)

「Huuh? That’s not how a deal works. What benefit do I get for letting you go?」(Sarasa)

「I-I will tell you who sent us! It was a merchant!」(bandit A)

「A merchant, huh? It doesn’t matter. I don’t think your testimony will be helpful for me to catch that merchant anyway.」(Sarasa)

If someone hired bad people to do bad things for them, they would normally prepare an escape plan so they didn’t get caught.

Also, there’s the possibility that the hired people would give false testimony, so you can’t trust any of them anyway.

「Th, Then, we will give you all our money, so please let us go!」(bandit A)

「Why do I have to let you go? I can just take away your money after I kill all of you.」(Sarasa)

「「「EEEEHHHH!?」」」(bandits)

The bandits screamed at once with scared faces.

I have no intention to let them go from the beginning. They have been robbing and killing people, but when they’re about to be killed themselves, they want to be let free? No, no, no. This world is not that kind, okay? Especially for bad people like them!

「Y-You can’t be serious, right…?」(bandit A)

「I’m sorry, but I was told to get rid of all the bandits I encountered on the way. If I don’t do it, you will attack other people.」(Sarasa)

Bandits are nothing but pests, especially for merchants. Not only do they rob you, they don’t hesitate to kill you.

For strong merchants, killing bandits while moving from town to town is like a part of their job.

When I was a child, I remember my dad said, “Stealing things that people earn after working so hard is unforgivable!”

I also remember that many of my dad’s merchant friends were killed by bandits.

In other words, getting rid of bandits helps people, and I will do it in the name of justice!

「Do you guys have any last words? No? Alright then. Good night~」(Sarasa)

「「「HIIIIIIYYYYYYー!!!」」」(bandits)

 

***

 

They said they would give me all their money, begging to let them go, but they only had five thousand reas.

「Hahh… What a sad bandit group…」(Sarasa)

I took trouble to bury their bodies but I don’t think five thousand reas was enough to pay for my effort.

Well, I didn’t bury them for money though. I buried them so that other people can pass this road without feeling sick from seeing corpses.

Not only did I collect their money, I also collected some of their weapons that still looked good. I will give them to Jizdo-san, the blacksmith, as a gift.

「Alright… It’s time to go.」(Sarasa)

After confirming that everything looks good, I started running again.

After running for a while, I saw a rather fat man standing near the entrance to the village

I have never met Yok Baal in person, but that man is most likely him. His appearance matched the description of Yok Baal I heard from Iris-san and Kate-san.

As soon as he saw me, that man approached me and called out to me with a somewhat confused face.

「Y-You…! Are you alright?」(Yok Baal)

「Me? I’m alright. What’s the matter?」(Sarasa)

「N-No… It’s just… M-My friend told me that he saw a group of bandits near this road, so… 」(Yok Baal)

「Aah, I see, I see. We don’t know each other, but thank you for your concern.」(Sarasa)

Seeing me completely unharmed, the man made a bitter face for a second, and then smiled again.

「D-Don’t worry about it. You are the alchemist in this village, right?」(Yok Baal)

「Yes, I’m Sarasa. I’ve heard that a merchant is staying in this village. Are you by any chance…」(Sarasa)

「Yes, I’m that merchant. I-I’m sorry for being late to introduce myself. My name is Yok Baal. Please call me Yok.」(Yok Baal)

「Okay. Yok-san, nice to meet you.」(Sarasa)

「Nice to meet you too… So… Were you attacked by those bandits…?」(Yok Baal)

「Yes, they attacked me, but we made a deal.」(Sarasa)

When I said that, Yok Baal looked more confused.

「E, Ehh…? Made a deal with bandits…? What kind of deal?」(Yok Baal)

「I told them to go away.」(Sarasa)

「That’s it? But I don’t think they would obediently do as you said…」(Yok Baal)

「Nope. They really went away… To the afterlife though.」(Sarasa)

When I smiled as I said that, Yok Baal’s expression was distorted for a second.

「E, Eh…? Did you… Ahh… I-I see… Then that means there will be no more bandits in this area, right? Ahh, w-what a relief… Th, Thank you.」(Yok Baal)

「No problem~」(Sarasa)

「I never knew you were so strong…」(Yok Baal)

「No one can tell from my appearance after all. Hahaha.」(Sarasa)

「A… Ahahahaha… You’re right…」(Yok Baal)

Why can he laugh like that? I knew you sent those bandits, you hypocrite!

I don’t think he is a clever person since he can’t hide his nervousness.

「…By the way, Sarasa-san… Are you currently in need of Ice Fang Bats’ fangs? Actually, I have a lot of them. I can sell them to you if you want.」(Yok Baal)

「Oh, really? I still have a few fangs in my storage, but I will buy some when I run out of them.」(Sarasa)

Yok Baal’s expression shined after I said that.

I have to say that he has a strong tenacity for not giving up after his plan to harm me with bandits failed.

I’m honestly glad that he is not giving up yet. After all, the plan that Leonora-san and I built would be wasted if he gave up now.

「Please let me know if you need the fangs. You can always buy them from me.」(Yok Baal)

「Yes, I will… Soon enough~」(Sarasa)

Khu khu khu. Let’s see how many more days he can stay in this village~

 

 

TL : I was surprised when Sarasa killed those bandits, but bandits seem to be treated as pests in this world, so what Sarasa killed were not humans but pests.

 

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25 Comments

  1. …I guess it’s all a matter of perspective?
    Her logics all made sense so… all good I guess?

    Thanks for the chapter…?

  2. Bandits or not, it was a little distirbing to see how cheerful she was after killing a dozen people. She’s got a bit of a sociopath streak in her…

    1. More like values that are brought up in a world without something called the Police. In the olden times, you can’t phone someone to complain and throw the criminals in jail, it’s kill or be killed so her mindset is normal for that world setting. They would have happily raped and killed her as well and probably even more so since they get to have sex, even if the victim is unwilling.

  3. I don’t know why the author decided to make Sarasa kill them. Well, it works, I guess, but I think it could have been better if she just beat them and reported them to the guards instead.
    To be honest, there were times when I wanted to manipulate the story so badly, but unfortunately, I’m just a translator.

    1. honestly i am glad she killed them. too many times in stories do they just let them go like they weren’t plundering murderers who killed innocent people with the WORST excuse possible “if i kill them i will be no better than them.” no you will not be killing an innocent you will be killing a guilty murderer who killed innocents and will continue to kill and steal if not put down. there is a BIG difference.
      its rather nice to see them get their just deserts instead of let off the hook. to put it into perspective you can’t use our world as a reference. you need to look at THIS world and THIS setting. remember where they are. they are in the uber boonies the feudal lord doesn’t give a damn about them aside from the taxes they give (remember the Hellfire Grizzly attack) so then what guards do you think could be contacted? what makes you think these plundering murderers would change just because they got beat by a girl? this girl won’t always be around and they could just go somewhere else and continue what they do best.
      they kill and steal for a living so its to be expected that they themselves will die as a consequence for that way of life.

      1. Killing is one thing, but she was positively jovial about looting their corpses. She was so casual about it that I wouldn’t be surprised if corpses are ingredients in those alchemy books and getting some is as easy as grabbing the nearest bandit.

        1. She’s medieval orphan street rat. One from decent-ish orphanage and with a good teacher and good education, so she learned to not treat ALL people like that, but… well, let just say her morality and modern morality are quite at odds with each other.

    2. Because bad people like bandits need to be executed/killed on the spot ASAP or they will kill even more innocent people. That’s why. Duh. It’s not sociopathy, it’s justice.

  4. I agree with her reasons and behavior in killing the bandits.

    Her father always taught her that bandits should be killed.
    Many of her fathers friends were killed by bandits.

    She is a merchant and like most merchants consider bandits as pests that will kill you(the merchant) first.

    Assuming that the feudal lord and guards care about a few bandits, it will take at least two days by carriage for them to arrive, and then a few more to look for the bandits.

    You can’t judge her behavior by our safe civilization standards.

    1. Even by our standards, is our civilization REALLY safe? We have reports of rape, murder, molestation, robbery, shootings, killings, etc. every other day. You REALLY call that safe? Not to mention that in OUR society, the law protects the criminal instead of the victim.

  5. I don’t have a problem with the fact that she killed the bandits, and I don’t think most people do, I just think there was a little bit of shock value in this chapter because of the way it, and the story as a whole, was written.

    This story is written in the typical Japanese Webnovel light-hearted easily-digested style, which tends to be rather jovial and carefree, almost. This chapter was written the same way, it’s just that the subject matter doesn’t connect with the way the characters or dialogue are written, so it comes off as jarring and uncomfortable. It’s like watching a realistic war documentary with Girls Generation playing or something, just strange and mismatched.

    If I were a writer, I don’t know if I’d keep the tone and end up with a chapter that gives off “uncanny valley” vibes like this, or if I’d change the tone of the whole chapter just for the subject matter and then return to the previous style for the next. Regardless, I do appreciate that this novel didn’t take the stereotypical approach and either let the bandits go or “redeemed” them and made them into proper characters later. It was odd seeing them killed after the comedic surrender bit, but after the dissonance wore off I don’t mind it too much.

  6. Seeing her casually killing bandits sure earns a surprise from me, but I can understand her reason.
    I mean, she’s has a grudge against them from her past, plus she’s an orphan and not a pampered Japanese protagonist who’s a hypocrite that lets murderers/human traffickers, possibly rapists, alive and roaming for their own satisfaction.

  7. Honestly, I was just more surprised by the power behind her initial spell than the fact that she followed through on killing them. I mean, if you’re a native to the world, killing bandits should be a no brainer, right? Especially with her background, I can’t really see her caring about them any more than she would a monster that rolled up.

  8. I love how this story has been almost entirely a slow, light-hearted slice of life with a cutesy protagonist and her life in a quaint village surrounded by nice people.

    ..and then she mercilessly exterminates a group of bandits without a second thought. Good stuff.

  9. Killing in cold blood is certainly unexpected from this mc, and not even with an air of grim necessity but she does it as cheerfully as killing bats.

    It’s a bit psychopathic but perhaps that’s not so surprising given the economically libertarian bent this author has displayed on other occasions.

  10. i’m very glad she killed them, for once anti societal criminals who steal,kill and sexually assault women and children got what they deserved, if sarasa let them live on moral high ground, then someone who could not defend them self could be brutally murdered and these bandit will kill and steal until they perish, FOR ONCE I FOUND AN AUTHOR HAVE A FUNCTIONING BRAIN… once again.. im very glad that author wrote the story this way

  11. Where I live, it’s either kill or be killed. If you had to choose one which would you choose? I’d choose to kill than be killed. Without hesitation.

  12. And no, this is not some fluff novel. It’s a novel about the growth of a novice alchemist and how she manages her store. Nothing in the description said fluff. If you want fluff, go read some fluff novel.

  13. Umm, translator-san, bandits are basically robbers and murderers. They’re treated as pests and not as people in any world, even in ours. The penalty for murder is death, remember?

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