Rebirth in a Ruined Nation! The Life of a New Strategist Starting From Now - Chapter 74

The Day of Disaster (4) – Eye Contact

“Wait! You should change your clothes, you’re dripping wet.”

It was only when Lapilia-sama said that I finally noticed I’d been walking around dripping wet.

It’s almost winter. Because of the adrenaline and panic, I didn’t realize it before but, after Lapilia-sama pointed it out, I suddenly felt cold.

“I’ll make arrangements for the horses, so please go back and change,” Wickharlt urged me, and I reluctantly returned to my room

Then, I hurriedly took off my wet clothes and I ended up sneezing.

The only clothes I had that was ready to wear was my uniform. Although we came here for a vacation, since we would be meeting with the people from the 3rd Division, I brought my uniform just in case.

I was fine with wearing anything so I quickly put on the uniform then I left the room. As I ran, I grabbed the dull glowing cylinder that was about to fall out of my clothes and shoved it into my pocket.

I ran to the stable with all my might. By the time I arrived, Wickharlt had already prepared Aro for departure while Lapilia-sama was already riding her horse.

“Sorry! Wait a bit!” I said to them, then I asked the stablekeeper for some hay and brought the hay with me.

“Why are you so slow? I’m leaving you behind!’”

Lapilia-sama said as she turned her horse’s head toward the exit, and I replied, “Do you even have an idea of ??where we have to go!?”

“The stablekeeper said he saw a group of men riding horses in that direction,” Wickharlt was the one who answered me.

“Have you told Zackhart-sama about this?”

“I’ve sent the stable keeper’s disciple to send a message to Zackhart-sama.”

As expected of Wickharlt. Then all that was left to do was for us to chase after that group.

“Aro, please!” In response to my signal, Arrow quickly accelerated.

***

It took us some time with our horses running with all their might before we arrived a fair distance away from Gedland Port and saw a dust cloud rising in the distance.

“That must be them…They have more people than I expected.”

Even without listening to Wickharlt’s words, I could see a group of about 30 horsemen. Their appearance suggested that they were not ordinary people.

“Look!”

In the place Lapilia-sama pointed at, in the middle of the group, a man was holding a large sack. The sack was about the same size as a young girl.

“I don’t have enough arrows to shoot them all. Besides, if there’s Rufa in the sack, then I’m afraid that the man might drop her if I shot him down so I’ll attack the people around him instead.”

Lapilia-sama drew her sword while Wickharlt readied his bow.

“Roa, you should return immediately and tell Zackhart-sama about this location! The two of us here will be enough to buy some time!”

Both Lapilia-sama and Wickharlt never thought of me as a fighting force from the beginning. And to be honest, I also didn’t think I could fight. Objectively speaking, if I participated in the fight with my skill, I would only drag them down.

That’s why I brought ‘this’ with me.

“I’ll leave the battle to you! Follow the direction of the wind.”

“Hah..?”

I held up the dull-colored tube and showed it to Lapilia-sama. She immediately understood my meaning.

Lapilia-sama turned her head without saying anything more and left.

Then, Wickharlt shot the first arrow. The arrow pierced the head of one of the men in the group, and that man fell from his horse.

At this point, the kidnapper noticed something was amiss, turned around, and started making noises. The man who was holding the shack was shouting something. He seemed to be the leader of the group.

When he saw that there were only two of us, 10 people from their group rushed toward us.

However, Wickharlt wouldn’t let them get close. He fired the arrows and accurately pierced their heads.

After three people were hit in a row, the other 7 people flinched and the man holding the sack seemed to be making a fuss again. I think he was shouting something along the lines of “If you don’t work, I won’t give you any share!”

I stepped a little distance away from Wickharlt and took out the hay from my pocket. I was worried that there was nothing around to burn, but luckily this area was plain. There was no shortage of dry grass here.

I took out the dull-colored tube, the pressure ignitor, and used the hay to create a spark, then blew the flame to make it bigger.

***

“USELESS! Your opponent is only 2 people, why can’t you handle them!?”

Kirius, the man holding the sack, yelled.

“Then just do it yourself!” One of the men retorted.

“I won’t give you any share then!” Kirius said and the man shut his mouth.

“But, to be able to accurately shoot someone in the head from that distance…” the other man, who had started to get nervous, said.

 “It’s just luck! There are 30 of us here! We can kill him easily if we attack him together!”

Ultimately, they were all people who followed Kirius because of money, so their movements were dull and their teamwork was lackluster.

A short time after, someone said, “Hey, did you smell something burning?”

“Smoke! There’s smoke coming from over there!” One of the men shouted.

Though I don’t know why there’s a fire in this kind of place, but good timing. That smoke, I can use it to escape. I’ll just leave these guys behind.

“Anyway, Just attack him together! Don’t move alone!”

This time, Kirius gave the exact opposite order as he slowly began to distance himself and went in the direction of the smoke.

Most of them were in a state of panic as the arrows continued to attack them accurately from beyond the smoke.

“They are all finished,” said Kirius who was trying to run away alone.

Suddenly, Kirius heard, “Where are you planning to run to?”

 The next moment, Kirius’s arm was cut off.