The carriage stopped. "We're there?" I mumbled.
But I didn't see much of anything in our near vicinity. So, the obvious answer was 'no'. So why did the carriage stop?
The actual answer 'bandits.'
About twenty or so. Half of them stood in the distance, hidden among the trees, with arrows drawn. The rest came towards us. One man leading. A robe on top, hair going everywhere. He looked similar to Alastur… wait- Alastur got up and slowly got out. He- he was a bandit!?
"Leave all your belongings and we might just let you li-" The leader stopped, as Alastur walked passed him without a word.
A second later, the man's head slid off his shoulder as a single smooth cut appeared out of nowhere.
No, it didn't appear out of nowhere. Alastur cut him. But I hadn't seen him move or draw his sword; in fact, it was still sheathed! I didn't see anything at all! He kept on walking, towards the other bandits who hadn't yet processed what just happened.
"Ru-run it's the Severer-" One of the archers yelled, stumbling while trying to run backwards.
The others instantly paled and turned tails. Alastur took his sword in one hand and sliced vertically, just a slice. None of the bandits were in range.
Yet… they were cleaved in half. Eighteen of them. Two managed to escape but he didn't bother running after them.
"What the fuck," I mumbled, unable to follow anything.
How? How the hell had he done it? This is the level of talent that exists? I did find it odd how despite me being perfectly normal, the priest had said I was below par. I really did think it was odd. But now I understood. Their 'normal' was clearly different from my 'normal'.
The driver and some of the passengers went over to gather the bodies and collect whatever valuables they had.
"So they're stealing from the bandits just like the bandits would have stolen from them," I said.
We were out in the middle of nowhere and the sun was more or less setting. Orange in the sky, some clouds. Birds going back home. And yes, there was nothing or no one for miles.
"You don't seem very scared," Alastur said.
I was. But my mind hadn't yet caught up to the whole thing. It just felt so… surreal. Bandits coming to rob us, and then dying so fast. So easily.
Surreal.
"Huh?" Den woke up. Wait, he'd been sleeping through all that?
"I've… seen things," I mumbled. But instantly told myself, that was just a nightmare.
A second later my hands shook but I hid it…. I couldn't focus anymore. The smell of blood was making me slightly nauseous.
"I see." He wiped his sword, and then put it away. It was big, it was clean, and it was way too shiny. I really would have loved to hold it once- "Want to hold it?"
You can read minds? No, he just saw it on my face. "Yes, please."
He stood very close, obstructing my vision. "Don't unsheathe it," he said, giving me the sword.
"WOAH!" I almost got crushed. Damn thing weighed like twenty-something kilos!
50 freaking pounds!
A sword~!
Fuck!
He immediately lifted the sword and just held it in front of me. "Th-thanks," I managed and enjoyed the engravings on the sheathe. He was probably trying to get me distracted while the adults were robbing the corpses. Quite the thoughtful guy; and it was working. "It's a beautiful sword," I said.
"It is," he agreed, and boarded the stagecoach. Just as before, he put the sword on his back and leaned on it.
The others also came back and a fire burned near the road. "Reeks," I said.
"That's how we deter others from going down this path," Den said. "But I suppose, hunger triumphs over fear." He yawned. "You okay?"
"I suppose… I'm fine Den."
We still had some journey left but the sun was more or less gone. I didn't see any more birds. The driver knew these roads, so he didn't bother lighting up a pyre.
I thought everyone onboard were passengers but that wasn't quite true. The driver was the owner and Alastur was a mercenary. Apparently, he was known as the Severer because of how clean his cuts were. All the collected money would go to the owner while Alustur would keep the equipment.
"What?" Alastur said, noticing me.
"Well, I find you interesting," I said.
"Interested in working as a mercenary?"
"Not really."
The term mercenary in this world was analogous to Adventurer. They both worked for the same guild. While Mercenaries only took on escort and monster slaying jobs, Adventurers also picked up collection or fetch quests. And yes, there was a guild and it did feel very fantasy like. I'd seen one back in the town we'd started at.
However, I was sick of the whole clawing your way up as an adventure trope. Besides, I didn't have any way to compete with these people anyway. Hence, I was not interested. Or rather I was forced not to be.
"Hmm… most kids I meet want to be strong Adventurers or Mercenaries when they grow up."
"Don't get me wrong, I want to be strong but… but I don't want to go on an adventure. I'd rather be home and live a peaceful life with my Mom," I said.
"Yet, you're on a journey now, on your way to school."
"Well," I chuckled. "We can't have what we want."
"Yet, we want what we can't have," he smiled. A faint smile. Yet… it was a smile regardless.
Yeah, everyone had their own shit to worry about. Life wasn't fair, and it wasn't the same for everyone. Some had money, some had good looks, some had lots of talent, some had nothing. But every single darn person had things they worried about, things they didn't like. And they wanted things they couldn't have. I suppose that didn't change no matter which world you were in.
But, honestly… I wanted some superpowers these days, so I could live peacefully….
"Yeah," I said, staring out the wilderness. Darkness. Stars glittering in the sky, hidden among the clouds.
A calm quiet night. Almost as though the earlier bloodbath wasn't even real.
It felt so damn surreal, yet, real.
A little late but, This really is a damn weird world.