I Became A Married Man in Another World
Chapter 60
060 Attack of the Bandits
Winter was fast approaching. On the branches passing by, sharp winter buds had grown quite large.
The merchant caravan’s journey was said to be well past the halfway point. Gradually, carriages began to peel away as they reached their respective destinations.
Yesterday, one group had left the procession, stating they were near their target city.
He heard that several more carriages would be leaving within the next few days.
Perhaps because of this, the atmosphere had grown somewhat unsettled. Since the gaps left by the departed carriages hadn’t been fully closed, the distance between the remaining merchant groups widened. The procession moved slowly, forming a loose chain.
Juhwan had learned after joining that smaller merchant companies would coordinate their escort duties with neighboring groups or those they were acquainted with.
Considering the intervals for night watches and the number of guards required, doing so was said to be quite advantageous.
It significantly reduced the cost and effort of protection, so unless it was a large-scale operation like the Miller Merchant Company, most of the caravan moved in pairs or trios.
Even with some carriages gone, the overall length of the procession didn’t change much.
As night fell once again, the long line of carriages halted on a slight incline.
It was the same routine as the days before. They lit campfires and prepared dinner here and there.
Unlike the Miller Merchant Company, some of the guards for other merchant carriages had to provide their own meals. Those people ate dried meat or the hard bread they had brought along.
Even within the same caravan, treatment varied wildly; what they ate and what they were paid were all different. Just as Red Sword had said, Juhwan was on the very lucky side.
In this world without electricity and with little entertainment, people began their activities just before sunrise and went to bed early once night fell.
It was much the same for the people in the caravan; most prepared for sleep after eating.
While some adventurers carried tents, others traveled with nothing but a single blanket rolled up on their backs. Those people took up spots in front of the campfires and wrapped themselves in their blankets like sleeping bags.
Dorothy had fallen asleep early inside the carriage. Lij was sitting by the campfire, chatting quietly with the women of Red Sword.
Over the past few days, Lij had become quite close with the Red Sword party.
Lij was naturally gentle and compliant. Juhwan had worried about whether she would get along with the somewhat rough-looking members of Red Sword, but surprisingly, their personalities seemed to mesh well. Occasionally, Lij and the Red Sword party would whisper and laugh together as if sharing secrets.
When the women were together, Juhwan tried to stay away as much as possible. He did so fearing his presence might make the atmosphere awkward, and it seemed he had made the right choice.
The usual quiet of the night was shattered by the thunderous sound of galloping hooves.
The sound of hooves striking the earth echoed from somewhere, followed by a burst of screams from the front of the procession. Because the line was so long, he couldn’t see clearly.
“Ambush! It’s a bandit raid!”
The shout drifted from the distance. Soon after, others began to pick up the cry and yell it out across the camp.
The women of Red Sword immediately gripped their swords and stood up. The escorts spread out around the carriages, guarding all directions.
Gordon, the escort leader, and the servants checked the horses hitched to the carriages, while a few others ran toward the back to check the wagons.
Leonard, the owner, pulled a bow and a quiver from his carriage. Juhwan hadn’t thought him an ordinary merchant, but seeing him use a bow was unexpected. He had assumed that if Leonard were to use a weapon, it would be a sword.
Juhwan also reached for the bow and arrows in his carriage. He could use fire, but if the enemies were far away, the bow would be better. Even if he didn’t hit anything, it would help keep the bandits from closing in.
Lij went inside the carriage. After telling her to lock the door from the inside, Juhwan climbed onto the roof of the carriage.
However, no one attacked from this side. Screams only erupted from far ahead.
Frustrating moments passed without knowing the exact situation.
It seemed the escorts at the front had held off the bandits. After a period of fighting sounds, the noise of hooves faded into the distance and things grew quiet.
Gordon, the escort leader, ran toward the front of the procession. A servant followed behind him.
It seemed most of the Miller Merchant Company servants participating in the escort knew how to use weapons. The servant running with Gordon held a sword in his hand.
A short while later, Gordon returned.
“The bandits have fled. They say there were between twenty and twenty-five of them. Their numbers are small, but it seems they have a Magician. A wind Magician, most likely. I’m told the force behind their weapon swings was incredibly strong.”
“Might be a high-ranking Magician then. This has become a headache. Who was hit?”
As Leonard spoke in a low voice, Gordon spoke again.
“The merchant group selling spices was hit. They said some of the goods in the carriage were taken. Casualties include two of the merchant’s servants and five escorts. Two are seriously injured, and the rest have minor wounds.”
The darkness beyond was silent. There was no sign of anyone attacking again yet.
Leonard nodded and stared silently into the empty air.
Gordon spoke again.
“They’re asking for a healing Magician at the front. What should we do?”
As Juhwan jumped down from the carriage to go, Leonard raised a hand to stop him.
“Wait until we’re certain it’s safe. Not now.”
If he waited, the seriously injured would die. Juhwan hesitated for a moment. With Juhwan’s skill, the treatment would be quick. The time Gordon spent going back and forth would have been enough. But if the bandits attacked here during the short time he was away….
Juhwan was unable to move from the spot.
A human life is obviously important. Is there any life that isn’t precious? However, everyone has lives that are more precious to them. To Juhwan, Lij and Dorothy were more precious than anyone else in the world.
But even as several hours passed, the bandits did not attack again.
The night watch was originally two people. But after the raid, everyone remained on guard.
Juhwan headed toward the place where the victims were. Jessie from Red Sword accompanied him.
One of the two seriously injured men was already dead. His waist had been nearly severed. Even if Juhwan had come earlier, he likely couldn’t have saved him.
The other man had a shoulder injury. A blade had been driven in so deep that the bone was exposed. He had lost so much blood that he was half-unconscious. Even when Juhwan peeled back his eyelids, his pupils didn’t move.
When Juhwan tried to treat him, the merchant owner stopped him.
“Forget that man. He’s already gone. Please look at the other wounded.”
“I can’t say for certain, but he might live.”
At Juhwan’s words, the merchant owner let out a small breath.
“Even so, we cannot afford the treatment. Your healing magic is paid for according to the severity. For a critical injury like that, we’d have to pay several times what a quick treatment costs. We cannot spend that much money on an escort. If they die during the escort, we pay a small additional sum, but that’s cheaper….”
“….”
Juhwan couldn’t guarantee he could save the man either. But it might be possible. With his mana, he could probably close the man’s wounds without using much effort.
He didn’t think that every person must be saved or that human life is inherently sublime. He had no intention of being an angel or pretending to be one. But Juhwan wasn’t so wicked that he could just watch a person die before his eyes. Besides, it cost him nothing. He only had to reach out his hand.
Just as Juhwan was about to pour mana into the man without a word, Jessie of Red Sword grabbed his wrist.
“You can’t, Juhwan.”
“….”
“If you treat the wounded for free, what happens to the other healing Magicians?”
“….”
“There are healing Magicians not only in the Adventurer’s Guild but also in the temples. The Guild’s prices are set by taking into account their levels, treatment costs, and your abilities. If you treat the wounded for free, the order among healing Magicians will fall into chaos. The Guild will be criticized as well.”
Jessie spoke in a low voice, avoiding Juhwan’s gaze.
“All adventurers know what happens in these situations.”
“Is the role of a mentor actually to teach things like this?”
“….”
Jessie said nothing.
Juhwan looked at the dying man for a moment and then closed his eyes.
‘Right. This was how this world worked.’
He already knew from what he had experienced in the Goblin village. There was a reason people became so selfish. He could see it just by recalling the situation when he first arrived here.
He had been blinded by a moment of happiness, and his heart had grown soft. He had mistaken this world for being warm and humane.
Juhwan opened his eyes and looked at the merchant owner.
“Where are the wounded I am to treat?”
“Over there.”
The merchant owner led Juhwan to a clearing on the other side of the carriage.
The wounds of the injured were neither too shallow nor too deep. The merchant owner wanted only enough treatment to close the wounds.
Every treatment had a set price tag. No one wanted treatment at a price they couldn’t pay.
It was the same for the merchant owner and the adventurers.
Only now did Juhwan learn that the cost of healing magic was split half-and-half between the merchant owner and the adventurer.
Juhwan provided treatment slightly better than what the merchant owner requested and returned to the Miller Merchant Company.
Before he knew it, the sky was brightening.
Jessie had once mentioned that an adventurer’s body is their only asset. He realized that fact was true in many different ways.
The carriages began to move, and the procession slowly advanced.
Juhwan approached Karin, the leader of Red Sword, who was walking silently.
As Karin looked at him, asking with her eyes what was wrong, he spoke quietly.
“When the bandits attacked earlier, I saw your movements. You’re imitating the movements of men, aren’t you?”
“…Yes.”
Unlike her usual combative self, Karin nodded honestly.
To an outsider, the actions of the Red Sword party members looked ridiculous. They would get angry and charge at anyone, yet they were laughably weak.
They were a joke to everyone.
But that was their means of survival. They had no choice but to live that way.
Until now, there might have been help from various people behind their backs without them knowing. No, there definitely was. He felt that they wouldn’t have been able to survive even this far otherwise.
But that alone wasn’t enough. To survive, they had to be able to stand on their own strength. Otherwise, they would lose their lives in vain somewhere, just like that man who died earlier.
“A frog and a snake must fight in completely different ways. If a frog imitates a snake, it can never win.”
“Karin, a frog shouldn’t try to beat a snake in a fair fight.”
“….”
“I’ve felt something since meeting you all. You don’t actually try to kill your opponents, do you?”
“…No.”
“If you have no intention of killing, then don’t even challenge them. It only makes you look pathetic. But if you do get angry and attack someone, forget about pride or appearances. Even if you die, attack with the mindset of taking them down with you.”
The only thing Juhwan could offer was a small piece of advice. The important part was something they had to realize for themselves.
“Swords are too heavy for your arms. A spear or an awl would be better. If a person is stabbed in the eye, even if they don’t die, they’re crippled. If they’re too tall, aim for the vitals between a man’s legs. Or the nose, the throat—anywhere they can’t recover from, anywhere that ensures they can’t counterattack. That’s how you must fight. Don’t try to beat men with a man’s sword.”
Karin looked at Juhwan with a slightly surprised face.
“Don’t try to win. Try to kill.”
Having said that, Juhwan left Karin’s side.
While traveling during the day, several escorts took turns lying in the wagons to try and sleep.
*
That night, another carriage was attacked. It was the same bandits.
Unlike last time, the bandits attacked from multiple directions rather than just one spot. Five people at the front carriages, ten at the rear, attacking three or four spots in that manner.
Unlike the previous day, arrows flew toward the campfires this time.
They came from a distance that arrows shouldn’t normally reach. It became certain that there was a wind Magician. They had no choice but to put out the campfires.
As casualties occurred, the howling of wolves grew closer than ever before.
The wolves had gathered, drawn by the scent of blood.
The night passed without anyone getting any sleep.
When day broke, they searched for traces of the bandits, but the bastards were nowhere nearby.
The escorts couldn’t leave the carriages. Because of that, they couldn’t track the bandits far.
The fatigue of those being attacked is higher than that of those attacking. As the escorts’ exhaustion mounted, the situation became increasingly difficult.
Several merchant groups left the procession. They likely judged that staying with the caravan made them targets.
There was no attack the following night. But no one knew when they might strike. No one could sleep properly.
Juhwan realized this was similar to hunting techniques. When a hunter chooses their prey, they track it relentlessly, driving it so it cannot rest. They wait until the prey is exhausted before catching it.
He didn’t know if the opponent was a hunter or something else, but at the very least, they weren’t just ordinary bandits.
Juhwan sat by the carriage, wrapped in his blanket, and closed his eyes. If the enemy came, he would know anyway. Until then, he had to let his body rest as much as possible.
If he fell into the enemy’s trap, he wouldn’t be able to fight when it really mattered. Despite his fatigue, his mind felt wide awake. Even so, he had to sleep. Juhwan closed his eyes and forced himself to seek rest.
