Decease

“Stop them! Let’s go!” shouted a bandit, about to brandish his sword, but he was quickly silenced by a strike to the face from me.

The rest of the bandits arriving stood no chance against us either. I met them with heavy blows at the slightest opening they showed, while Clay overwhelmed them with his swordsmanship.

“Forget about those two—take the girl hostage!” ordered another of the bandits.

Two of them rushed at Liz, who didn’t seem to be fighting since her sword remained sheathed. However, they couldn’t have been more mistaken.

Liz pulled a mana crystal from the pouch we had taken off one of the mages we fought earlier and pressed it against her chest, extending one arm toward the bandits. Moments later, her palm lit up, and from it shot a large sphere of mana that struck one of them directly, knocking him completely unconscious to the ground.

“How can a mage be this strong!?” cried the other bandit, but in his distraction Liz grabbed another crystal and repeated the attack, finishing them both off.

“I got you!” exclaimed another bandit, trying to catch Liz by surprise.

However, he was met with a hard punch to the stomach from me, leaving him completely breathless.

“Did you say something?” I asked mockingly.

Then, holding onto his body, I used my strength to hurl him into two of his comrades, who crashed against the wall from the force, ending up unconscious.

“You know… your strength never ceases to amaze me, Naoya,” said Liz, her face puzzled.

“Well, it’s no wonder even Sir Draum himself recommended him…” added Clay, who had just taken down another bandit.

Is my case really that strange?

Well, perks of being a summoned one, I guess.

***

We kept delving deeper into the cave, taking down every bandit we came across. Just as I imagined, the deeper we went, the more skilled they were. Luckily, our small, improvised group worked very well as long as we didn’t let our guard down.

“Die already!” shouted a bandit, lunging at me with his sword, but I managed to block it with my gauntlets.

Pushing his sword aside, I created an opening, which I took advantage of to strike him in the stomach again, just as I had done before, quickly grabbing him and readying to throw him.

“Hey, Liz!” I yelled. “This one’s yours!”

Liz seemed to understand my intention and quickly prepared a mana crystal, getting ready to cast her spell.

“Got it!” she shouted.

Once she was ready, I hurled the bandit into the air, which wasn’t hard thanks to my strength. Liz raised her arm and fired off one of her spells, hitting him midair. He then crashed down to the ground, completely knocked out.

“Nice shot,” I said, to which Liz responded with a smile and a thumbs-up. Despite the situation we were in, I was glad to see her a little calmer.

Clay just looked at us, somewhat bewildered and confused.

“…Are they supposed to be just a rookie adventurer and another of rank D?” he muttered to himself.

Liz must have taken the guild test with a sword, so it’s no surprise she couldn’t reach a higher rank. I’m sure she could raise it if she used magic instead.

We kept advancing, and it seemed we had reached the end, where a makeshift door caught our attention. Upon seeing it, we looked at each other and nodded.

We lined up behind the door, with Clay going in first, breaking it open. I quickly followed with Liz, ready for battle. However, there was no one inside.

The place was fairly spacious and full of crates, but what stood out the most, without a doubt, was the stone statue at the far end of the chamber. It was quite large and bore a massive yellow crystal in its chest.

“There!” said Clay, pointing toward a part of the room that seemed covered by a curtain.

Liz ran over and pulled it open without a second thought. Lui was there.

“Lui!” she cried, rushing to her sister’s aid. “Lui, it’s me! Please, tell me you’re okay!” Liz shouted, desperate over her sister’s unconscious state.

“Let me see,” I said, taking Lui’s wrist.

I placed my fingers beneath her wrist, searching for her pulse. Fortunately, I could feel something. She was alive.

“She’s fine. Just unconscious.”

At my words, Liz let out a relieved sigh, and tears began to stream from her eyes.

“Thank goodness… thank the heavens…” she whispered, hugging her sister tightly.

Meanwhile, Clay was investigating the room, especially the many crates scattered everywhere.

“These crates… they’re all full of money, jewels, or weapons. It’s safe to assume it’s all stolen.”

“Think I could keep one of them?” I asked with a mischievous grin. Then Clay unsheathed his sword and brought it close to me.

“If you so much as touch any of this, I’ll have no choice but to arrest you…” he replied menacingly.

“N-no! Wait!” I exclaimed nervously. “I was just joking!”

Clay fixed his gaze on me even harder, but then suddenly burst into laughter.

“Sorry, sorry!” he said between laughs. “I just wanted to mess with you!”

You’ve got to be kidding me!

His expression and tone had been so serious before that I thought I had actually offended him somehow.

Even so, he completely fooled me, so I ended up laughing too once the nerves and the scare wore off.

It seemed everything was over.

BANG!

Or so I thought.

After the sound of the gunshot, I felt something warm dripping onto my face. My eyes had been closed from laughing, so I didn’t realize what it was right away. When I opened them, I finally understood. It was blood—and Clay was no longer there.

“Clay!” Liz screamed from a distance.

Looking at her horrified face, I realized she wasn’t staring at me… but at my feet.

I turned my gaze, and what I saw left me utterly blank. Clay was lying on the ground with a hole in his temple.

“…Clay?” I whispered. It was all I could say before such a scene.

“Well, that’s one less!” shouted someone from afar, with a cheerful voice.

At the entrance stood a man with a rifle resting on his shoulder. He had long brown hair and wore a green trench coat.

“Damn…” the man cursed. “If I’d known that sick girl would cause us this much trouble…” he muttered, surely referring to Lui.

“Well, no matter! Once I kill the rest of you, I’ll get out of here,” he declared, as if his words were nothing serious. “I wonder if the New Order’s invitation still stands.”

In the presence of that man and his abnormal calm, Liz wore a horrified expression as she clutched Lui tightly. I, on the other hand, simply stood there. I hadn’t moved, and then I noticed how a pool of blood finally reached my boots… Clay’s blood.

I looked at him once more. His eyes were blank, lifeless, his body utterly still as the pool of blood spread wider and wider.

That was when I finally processed it. Clay was dead. He had been killed.

At that realization, I clenched my fists so tightly they even began to bleed.

“Liz… go,” I said. “Take Lui and warn the others.”

Liz was still paralyzed by the scene, but managed to gather enough strength to nod and stand, carrying Lui on her back.

“Hey, hey! You really think I’ll just let you leave? Sorry, but…” said the bandit, but while his attention was on Liz, I rushed at him and smashed his head against the wall.

“What the… hell!?” he exclaimed in shock.

“Go, Liz!” I shouted desperately.

She took the chance I gave her and bolted. As soon as she crossed the doorway and left the chamber, I hurled the bandit to the floor.

“So you want to play the hero, huh?” sneered the man. “Fine, fine! I’ll show you I’m not someone you mess with.”

“…”

I’m going to kill him. No matter what, I’m going to finish this bastard.