Chương 46: Small World

With three of the four attackers dead and the fourth on his knees in front of Arica, Damion let out a long sigh of relief. If it had not been for the Magic System waking him, there is no doubt he would have been killed by these men.

"Why did the Falks Guild attack us," Damion demanded as he pointed his sword at the man.

"The one you killed, Troy, he was our party leader. He said you disrespected the guild yesterday. We was only going to teach you a lesson."

"Really?" Arica asked in disbelief.

"Is that what he told you?"

"Yeah, we wasn't coming to kill you. But you all murdered my whole team!"

"What is your name?" Damion asked the man calmly.

"Carl."

"Well, Carl. I'll leave it up to the Justiciar Order to determine who was doing what. But slashing through my tent while I slept, is hardly the work of someone only trying to teach strangers a lesson."

"Fine. Turn me over. I'll tell them."

"Yes. Tell them, how your party tracked two adventurers all day and night after they refused to let their ground car be stolen. And I'll be sure to tell them how, Troy was it, threatened us. I'm sure they'll be extremely interested in why the Falks Guild just attempted to murder one of the adventurers that stopped them from robbing a supply caravan." Arica looked at Damion for a moment with a hint of surprise in her eyes.

She knew Damion was only an F Rank knight, but somehow he had managed to kill a seasoned knight today and if what he said was true, he faced off against other members of the Falks Guild not long ago. For a young man that was only on his fourth mission, he seemed much more experienced than his record would lead one to believe. Ms. Teft's teachings was the only explanation that Arica could come to.

"Got any rope?" Damion asked Arica.

"Here," Arica said, taking a length of rope out from her personal spatial storage. When Carl realized what Arica had done he realized he was in serious trouble. If this young woman had a spatial artifact it meant she was either powerful, well-connected or both. And if what Damion said was true, that he had stopped the attack on the supply caravan, then his guild might have just gone from being punished to being forced to disband by the Justiciar.

As Damion tied Carl's hands and lashed him to the ground car he could not help but think how people had told him to make sure he had a length of rope in his kit. With a look at his tent, Damion realized his kit was in a sorry state. After Carl was tied up, Damion began to pack up camp. When he stuffed his ruined tent into his bag, he remembered that today should be the final day of the mission, so he should be able to afford a better tent soon, unless he spent all his money on better rations.

It was now becoming clear why adventurers did not get rich quick. Between affording good gear and replacing what he lost, Damion now had a greater appreciation for people like his father with a daily job and a steady paycheck. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

"What should we do with them?" Damion asked, indicating the three bodies on the ground.

"Well, I hate doing this, but since they are dead I can put them in my personal space." Arica then walked over to each body and as she touched each with a finger, the body vanished, stored in her personal storage space. With the bodies and her few personal items stored, Arica walked over to the ground car and climbed in. At the moment, Arica was having a conundrum. She wanted to ask Damion why he was not as tired as she was, but she also did not want to let Carl learn any more about Damion and her then necessary.

Damion already let slip that he had a previous run in with the Falks Guild. And while Carl did not seem to realize it and it was not clear if Troy's motive was to get back at Damion or if it was just to avenge himself for the perceived slight he had from yesterday, Arica was not sure. But she was sure, that now that the Falks Guild had two run ins with Damion, there were going to be more. Unless of course they killed Carl now and just reported to the Justiciar that they had killed all four attackers.

Arica had no issue with this. It would pretty well settle the matter, and their secrets would remain secret. However, she did not think Damion would be okay with murder. He was fine defending himself, but she did not think the young man was ruthless enough to kill someone for no reason other than they might betray him in the future. Which, she thought, was a good quality to have. Damion was glad the fight was over and that he had Carl as a prisoner. It kept Arica from asking him questions.

Throughout his fight with Troy, Damion had made use of Mana Absorption. Each time their swords crossed, Damion was able to steal a little of the man's strength and add it to his own. When they were not in contact with each other, Damion's spell was pulling mana from the surroundings into him to help him keep his blade fully charged with mana and to power his fire attacks. If it was not for his Mana Absorption skill, Damion had no doubt he would have lost to Troy.

The man had been all around more powerful than he was. Damion did not know what Troy's Rank had been, but he was sure it was at least D Rank, possibly higher. The rest of the day passed uneventfully. After finding the last plate and completing their measurements, Damion turned the ground car towards Saung and started driving. He was estimating the angle and the direction of the city, but he figured cutting through the open countryside was quicker than driving all the way back to the road and then on to Saung.

This way, he would either reach the road and follow it the rest of the way back or see the farms outside the city walls and then follow the road along the farms until he reached the city's gate. Either way he would be done with this mission a bit faster this way. When Saung was finally in sight, Damion felt a burden lift from his shoulders. A short time later, they were driving through the gate and waiting for a Justiciar to show up to take their prisoner.

A few people, mostly guards, seemed to recognize Carl, but other than looking on with curiosity, no one said or did anything. When a Justiciar knight showed up he took Carl into custody and escorted Damion and Arica into an interview room.

"Hello again Knight Wells," the Justiciar said to Damion. Damion had not recognized the man at first, but he quickly realized this was the same Justiciar that had interviewed him after the supply caravan attack.

"Small world I guess," Damion said before sitting down and laying out the events of the last few days for the Justiciar.