“Don’t you have to sleep, little lady?”
She should be sleeping right now, but the girl, Hikari, just exited the wagon alone.
Now that I think about it, it’s the first time I’ve seen her do something without Sora.
“I need to talk about something.”
She says as she silently walks over here while swiftly looking over her surroundings.
“It’s about master.”
“Sora?”
“Yes. Master might not be able to take down bandits.”
I tilt my head when I hear that.
When the feudal lord first told me someone would be joining us on this hunt, I asked who it was, and I was told it would be a traveling merchant.
I wanted to complain, but the feudal lord is a fastidious man, who won’t listen to anyone once he’s made up his mind about something. And so, I stayed quiet and followed orders.
And when I actually met this person, I worried even more.
Then there was the trouble with Hikari, who kept insisting she wanted to come along. But judging by the way she carries herself, I actually think she could fill the role of Sora’s guard, so I allowed her to join us.
Despite her appearance, she doesn’t move like a normal kid.
Apparently Sete misunderstood me, but this duty isn’t kind enough that I would let those soft emotions drive me into bringing her to a dangerous place.
We go after bandits from time to time, but I feel like this is different.
One of the reasons why I feel that way, is that despite the lack of any reports of any real damage, the feudal lord ordered us to put together this team and carry out this mission very quickly.
Although the chivalric order not receiving detailed information doesn’t necessarily mean it didn’t reach the feudal lord’s ears.
Still, I wouldn’t feel right letting a weak merchant put himself in danger by fighting with us, so along the way, I decided to test his skills.
I offered the excuse of wanting to shake the cobwebs, and said we should do mock battles while we took a break, but…
The more I saw him fight, the more impressed I was by his sword skills. He’s a good enough fighter. Sete and the other newbies were completely outmatched, and even I lost when I let my guard down.
Apparently he’s been exploring a dungeon.
A merchant? Really? Is what I thought, but I was even more surprised after fighting Hikari, and saw that she’s even stronger than I thought.
I’m not worried about Sora fighting anymore, and I think of him as a member of this team.
And yet, here is Hikari saying he can’t take down bandits.
“Why do you feel that way?”
“…Because of who the opponents are…”
She doesn’t talk a lot, so it’s a little hard to understand what she’s trying to say.
“Because they’re people?”
“Yes. I don’t think master can kill people.”
“People…”
I’m about to ask a question, but I stop.
She says he can’t kill people. And thinking about what that actually means… Yes, that will probably be dangerous.
“He’s never fought a deadly battle against someone else?”
“…Probably.”
It happens with newbie knights too.
Hesitation leads to danger, and if you’re unlucky, death. Some knights have also quit over that.
Killing people is simple, but not easy.
Even adventurers that kill monsters as a part of their daily lives can feel reluctant to kill a person.
Depending on the gap between the two opponents’ power, it might be possible to capture someone alive, avoiding that issue, but we’ve been told there are a lot of bandits here.
That’s why most of the knights here are used to killing.
“So Sora has no experience killing people?”
“… He does, but…”
Her answer isn’t clear.
But he’s a merchant, so I guess he wouldn’t take the initiative to fight someone. He even says this is his first time fighting bandits.
“I understand. Thank you. But from what we’ve heard of their numbers, we probably won’t have the leeway to help.”
“Yes. I’ll protect master.”
I feel strong resolve in her eyes.
“But what about you? Are you all right?”
Hikari’s expression changes for just a moment when she hears that.
No, it’s more like her expression was lost. Like her emotions disappeared, and only dark eyes were facing me. It makes me gulp without thinking.
“Yes. It’s all right.”
Those words stay in my ears.
She eventually goes back to the wagon, as I start sweating from my whole body.
I open my hands, that I started clenching without realizing it, and are also sweaty.
Alarm bells ring inside my head, warning me of danger.
I think she’s around my daughter’s age, and this girl overpowered me. I feel fear, like a sharp blade was just thrust at my neck.
Sora said she’s a survivor of a village that was destroyed, that he took under his custody. That’s what he said when Sete asked why he’s traveling with her as a special slave.
Does Sora not know everything about Hikari? But they went to the dungeon together, so he must have seen her fight.
Maybe he knows she can fight, but what’s hiding inside her… Yes, he might not know that danger.
I loosen my body, that was completely stiff due to the tension, and let out a big sigh.
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Wow the knight are really going through it, has the mc killed anyone before besides the fake saint in the holy city
Thanks for the treat.
That girl got some demons in her.. metamorphically speaking…