Absolutely Do Not Touch ELdmia Egga – Chapter 146

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Yuziro
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“Leadeeeer!!”

The bandit’s cry was always pleasant to hear.

“You’ll be joining him soon enough, no need to call so desperately!”

Honestly, it wasn’t pleasant at all.

It was so obnoxiously loud, it made me want to beat him to death.

As if dying quietly wasn’t enough, what did these bastards have to be so aggrieved and pathetic about?

Still, it confirmed that the one I’d cut down was the leader, which was satisfying.

Ten down, including the leader?

Despite channeling mana like I was scattering seeds, I felt fine.

At this rate, assuming I wasn’t surrounded, with Asirye’s support, I could win this without a problem.

“Eldmiaaa!”

“Yes! That’s me… Yekaterina?”

From the forest path we’d flown over, a familiar, massive woman with flowing blonde hair emerged.

What was she doing there?

“We’re here to help!”

Mana flowed into her as she spoke.

Looking closer, I saw not only Rellie, but Ginh and Gaendal running towards us as well.

Yekaterina, I couldn’t even tell when she’d started running, was already close, swinging her massive warhammer.

With a deafening roar, she literally pulverized two bandits.

As the surrounding officers gaped in shock at the horrifying sight, I, slightly calmer now, cut down another nearby bandit.

“Seeing friendly faces calms me down. This is a problem.”

It wasn’t a joke.

The rage that had filled me had instantly dissipated.

If it had been any other adventurers, I wouldn’t have cared, but seeing my ultimate dream team, my anger vanished.

“Damn it! He wasn’t alone! Retreat! Retre…”

He wasn’t wrong about not being alone, but there weren’t that many of us.

He seemed to have enough sense to give orders, so I quickly rushed him and ended him.

Surprise attacks and decapitations were always effective.

They had the potential to turn forty soldiers into forty scattered individuals.

And this time, it worked like a charm.

Well, now that there were fewer than thirty left, they were less than thirty scattered individuals.

“You really have a knack for surprising people, Eldmia!”

Gaendal, with the fastest movements among the three, cut through the enemy ranks, preventing them from completely surrounding me.

I couldn’t help but laugh at his exclamation.

“Who can deny it? What a coincidence!”

Comrades I could trust with my back.

It was amazing how much faith I had in them after just one request together.

Fighting alongside them felt different from fighting with Asirye or Cheryl.

It was unfamiliar, yet exhilarating.

More importantly, their decision to join me despite the obvious numerical disadvantage meant they were already dissatisfied with the mercenaries’ actions here.

Good people always lifted my spirits.

“We’ll talk later. They have the villagers held captive in the shrine. We need to be careful not to endanger them!”

“Excellent information!”

I knew exactly how to deal with such despicable tactics.

“Asirye!! Shoot anyone heading for the shrine! There are hostages!!”

While Gaendal stared at me, dumbfounded, Asirye, without a word, fired an arrow.

Only I could see the mana-infused arrow streak through the still-dark pre-dawn sky.

However, Gaendal, reacting to the sound, quickly glanced towards the shrine.

He witnessed the arrow strike the back of a bandit’s head as he ran towards the shrine, helmet discarded.

“He wasn’t alone, was he?”

“I brought backup for my stroll.”

Fortunately, none of them were fully armored in plate, so Asirye could handle those heading for the shrine.

I cut and kicked my way through the remaining enemies, joining Yekaterina and Ginh.

Covered in blood, but grinning, Yekaterina clapped me heartily on the back.

“Hahaha! We were just talking about you! Can you use magic or something?”

“Ugh. Can’t… breathe… ease… up!”

While I received a welcome so enthusiastic I wondered if I’d be dented if I’d been wearing plate armor, Ginh split a bandit’s skull with his axe and shouted.

“Rellie will finish her spell soon! Just hold out until then!”

“A spell in this chaos?”

“Haha! You’ll see! It’s limited, so we couldn’t use it when it was just us, but it’s perfect for this situation!”

I wasn’t sure what spell she was casting, but their confidence was reassuring.

I pulled back slightly, giving them space after my initial assault.

I turned to look at Rellie, and witnessed the most magical sight of my life in this world.

Mana surged around Rellie, her eyes glowing blue, connected to the swirling energy.

Even having seen mages duel at the Imperial Academy, this felt like real magic.

As the light in Rellie’s eyes intensified, the world around us brightened.

“Wh-what is that…?”

The fear in the bandits’ whispers was understandable.

If I’d suddenly seen a second sun appear mid-battle, I’d immediately target anyone who looked like a mage.

The difference was that the mage was on our side, and the bandits would have to get through me to reach her.

“A mage! A ma…”

How thoughtful of him to try and rally his men nearby.

I didn’t need to rest, so I charged towards him.

Despite their attempts to block, they were slow, clumsy, and ineffective.

The battle was already over in my mind.

My only thought was that the standards of strength inland were strangely skewed.

Like the demons I’d faced in the Empire, the disparity in skill was vast.

Were all the truly strong warriors deployed at the border, leaving only second-rate fighters behind?

Or were some first-rate fighters remaining, seeking to profit from this situation?

The answer was clear.

That damned wandering knight title.

Once I had that, I’d head straight for the border and experience the world firsthand.

Lost in thought, I cut down a few more bandits when Yekaterina’s booming voice warned me.

“Eldmia! Don’t engage them!”

The warning was strange.

Don’t engage? Was that all? Whatever it meant, it was a warning, so I disengaged.

As soon as I created some distance, Rellie’s mana-amplified voice echoed.

“Burn!”

Before I could even question her words, the two bandits I’d been facing burst into flames.

And then, one by one, every remaining mercenary began to burn.

“Aaaaagh!!”

“Noooo!!”

Holy shit.

Oh my god.

Holy fucking shit.

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Gwens, the deputy commander of the Hawk’s Talon mercenary group, had excellent instincts.

He hadn’t told anyone specifically, but his instincts were so sharp they were almost magical.

He’d relied on them his entire life, surviving countless dangerous situations.

The reason he’d remained with the rebel group, despite his instincts, was because he hadn’t considered it truly dangerous.

It seemed plausible, and even if it became dangerous, he was confident he could escape.

He now realized that had been arrogance, but Gwens still struggled to survive.

Suppressing the urge to vomit from the unprecedented sense of danger, he desperately searched for a way out.

As he watched a miniature sun appear above the ruins, he recalled a past battlefield.

He’d been born the son of a prostitute who followed the mercenary group.

By chance, he’d witnessed a battle involving a mage from afar.

A similar ball of fire had appeared in the sky then.

And people had started to burn.

Specifically, the soldiers on the mage’s opposing side.

The mercenaries on the other side had been unharmed, but the sight had been terrifying.

He now understood the principle behind that magic, which he hadn’t grasped then.

Gwens threw down his sword, ripped off his cloak, and frantically tried to remove his armor.

He didn’t know the specifics, but the magic targeted those sharing equipment recognized by the caster.

He had to remove everything the mercenaries shared.

He couldn’t warn the others.

If he did, that death incarnate swordsman would surely come for him.

Frantically discarding his equipment, he finally managed to remove his greaves just as a mana-infused voice echoed.

“Burn!”

A chill ran down his spine, and he instinctively closed his eyes.

But he survived.

His former comrades writhed in agony all around him, engulfed in flames, but he had survived.

Relieved, he tried to move, to escape, but froze.

“Our friend is quick-witted, isn’t he?”

His instincts, which had been screaming moments before, fell silent.

As if they were now pointless.

“I had a friend named Gadwery. Chatty Wery, I called him. Our conversations were very helpful. I don’t know about now, but back then, they helped me escape many dangerous situations.”

Unable to move, he slowly turned his head and eyes upwards to see the source of the voice.

“I wonder if our quick-witted friend shares Wery’s… inclinations?”

Death incarnate, having approached unnoticed, looked down at him with a terrifying smile.

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[Eldmia sure loves his team, alost as much as he loves murder]