■ Cliché Development □
I opened my eyes at dawn.
The characteristic of a snowfield is that it becomes bright quickly when the sun rises because the white snow reflects sunlight.
Although I briefly ventilated last night, thanks to Dorothea, who acts like a human boiler, the temperature rose again soon, allowing me to sleep warmly despite the cold weather.
Turning my stiff body, I slowly crawled out of the tent.
It seemed I wasn’t the only one who woke up early, as a few people were already outside and moving around.
“Phew, it’s cold.”
I rubbed my hands together and exhaled a puff of white breath.
Since it was completely winter weather, even the wind felt sharp against my skin.
After properly tightening my clothing so no wind could get in, I looked for a place nearby suitable for meditation.
Not far from the base camp, I spotted a snow-covered fir tree.
Feeling like I was going for a light stroll, I walked to the fir tree and sat cross-legged using the snow as a cushion.
Ssssuuuhh—
Mana is more abundantly distributed in places where nature is well-preserved.
With each breath, mana flowed down through my prayers and seeped into the dormant virtual magic circuits from the night before.
The magic circuits gradually began to rotate and soon started spinning fiercely, producing wind mana.
Cooohhhhh—
This process of circulating the produced mana from head to toe is called “one full circulation.”
It’s a kind of warm-up exercise; there’s quite a difference between activating the magic circuits without preparation and preheating them first.
Since learning the breathing techniques of my master’s school of thought, this has become almost habitual.
It takes about 30 minutes for the mana flowing through my blood vessels to return to my head.
If my level improves, this time might shorten further, but for now, it’s just a distant story.
My master mentioned she had reached the 7th rank this time, so I plan to seek her advice once I visit Emerald Tower.
Rustle—
“Hmm?”
I suddenly opened my eyes upon hearing an unfamiliar sound.
Looking over, I saw the squinty-eyed man who had expressed his wish to join our party before yesterday’s departure doing something.
At first, I thought he was collecting firewood, but now I realized he was tying knots with some bushes.
It’s a trail marker often used by hunters to avoid getting lost in forests.
But why was he making these markers at this time and location?
His actions were as suspicious as his squinty eyes.
As my alertness rose, the squinty-eyed man, who had finished making the marker and was about to return to the base camp, noticed me sitting cross-legged under the tree and jumped in surprise.
“Yikes!”
Finding his reaction amusing, I asked with a blank expression,
“What is it?”
The squinty-eyed man, looking flustered, handed me the twigs he had dropped on the ground.
“I thought no one was here… I didn’t realize you were sitting there.”
“I was meditating quietly for a while.”
When I calmly replied, the squinty-eyed man let out an awkward laugh—“Ahaha!”—and bowed deeply at a right angle.
“I apologize for disturbing you! I’ll be going now!”
Saying that, he hurriedly ran back to the base camp, looking as if he had something to hide.
‘Well, we’re here, so things should work out somehow.’
Since my meditation was done, I decided to head back to the tent before it got too late.
When I returned to the tent, Barnett was putting on her armor.
“Did you sleep well?”
“Huh? Uh-huh.”
Barnett answered a beat late, still half-asleep.
I waved my hand casually and went inside where Dorothea was rolling around.
While rummaging through my backpack for simple toiletries, Dorothea, who had been scratching her stomach and drooling, suddenly sat up.
“…I’m hungry.”
“Are you an animal?”
I stared at her with a deadpan expression and placed the towel I was holding onto her head.
“Go wash your face first. We’ll eat after that.”
Dorothea didn’t get up immediately but fidgeted until I urged her again.
I already miss Eva, her adjutant.
If she hadn’t been promoted to commander of Hamburg Fortress, she would have been taking care of Dorothea instead of me.
As I was about to help Dorothea out of the tent, Barnett said from behind.
“Take your time coming back. I’ll tidy up the tent.”
“Alright, thanks.”
Since my workload decreased, there was no reason to refuse.
Once outside again to wash up, Dorothea, who was dressed in thin clothes as usual, shivered.
Even the Flame Witch couldn’t endure the freezing cold of midwinter without proper clothing.
Quickly slipping her arms into the coat I was carrying, Dorothea finally relaxed after tightly wrapping herself in it.
I headed towards the river near the base camp with Dorothea.
About thirty adventurers participated in this expedition.
Considering the fifty or so personnel from the caravan, excluding the elderly and infirm, there would be roughly sixty to seventy people capable of fighting.
Of course, it would be impossible for an ordinary bandit group to attack an expedition of this scale.
However, ‘ordinary’ numbers weren’t necessary.
Chack!
I was wrestling with the icy water at a distance from the base camp when dozens of arrows suddenly rained down from the sky toward the base camp, leaving me speechless.
They say suspicion kills, and sure enough, a bandit gang attacked at the crack of dawn.
It was undoubtedly brought in by that suspicious squinty-eyed guy.
“Kyaahhh!”
Unlike yesterday, the base camp wasn’t fully prepared, and those who had just woken up were bustling around trying to cook breakfast. In an instant, the camp turned into chaos.
A few men hit by blind arrows fell to the ground bleeding, followed by the thundering hoofbeats approaching.
Du-du-du-du-du-du!
Because of the freezing river water, Dorothea barely washed her face and dried it with a towel as she said,
“It seems the bandits have appeared.”
“Should we go help?”
“Well, Barnett’s there anyway. Let’s take our time.”
Dorothea said that while tying her long red hair with a hairband.
Today’s hairstyle is a ponytail.
She must have found it troublesome to braid her hair as usual since it was dry and frizzy from not washing properly.
“Ha! Kill the women and ravage the men!”
Were they hiding nearby? Before we knew it, bandits with colorful mohawk hairstyles rode their horses fearlessly into the camp.
We watched from not too far away as a bandit galloped toward Barnett’s tent.
Swish!
That happened in the blink of an eye.
The horse, which had been running smoothly, suddenly stumbled and fell.
Thrown off the horse due to its momentum, the bandit rolled to Barnett’s feet, who was dismantling the tent.
The wounded bandit tried to say something, but—
The blade of the longsword pierced his mouth a moment sooner.
Puuuk!
The bandit, who had been groaning in pain, died instantly with a single strike.
Barnett’s movements were extremely efficient.
She slaughtered people with maximum efficiency.
The term “master” itself refers to someone who has reached the pinnacle of a particular field.
Only a handful of aura users among many can reach this supreme level.
The position of Demon King’s royal guard captain isn’t something you get by chance.
“Aaaargh! Kill her!”
Seeing their comrade die instantly, the other bandits changed their target and charged at Barnett.
Generally, in combat, having higher ground is a crucial advantage.
There’s a difference in the force applied to weapons when attacking from below versus above.
One reason cavalry are nightmares for infantry.
But such disadvantages didn’t matter to someone of Barnett’s caliber.
After all, cutting someone down is the same regardless.
Ki-i-i-ing!
The sound of a sword ringing was heard.
The sword screamed under the immense mana pushed by Barnett.
Pulling out a long streak of blue-colored aura from the tip of her sword like a whip, Barnett swung it three times.
First Flash.
All the horses the bandits rode lost their legs.
Second Flash.
The wrists of the bandits holding weapons were severed.
Third Flash.
Their heads flew off their necks before they could even feel the pain.
Thud-thud!
The belated gushes of blood dyed the white snowfield red.
Unable to read her expression due to the helmet she wore, Barnett shook the blood off her sword and nonchalantly resumed dismantling the tent.
Her demeanor clearly showed that she cared nothing for what had just transpired.
As if she had accidentally stepped on an ant while walking.
