## Chapter 21 – Escorting the Merchant Guild
As always, being on night watch was the shittiest thing in the world. To put it mildly, “night watch is like your mom died,” a simple and clear definition of how shitty it was.
If you felt that wasn’t a mild expression, you’re mistaken.
“Night watch, fuck, it’s goddamn awful.”
Look closely. Today is a scheduled night watch day. So, even if you lie down to sleep, you can’t properly sleep thinking, “Ah, fuck, night watch?” And just when you finally fall asleep, it’s time for night watch.
Forcing yourself to get up against unbelievable drowsiness, whipping your hazy mind, you endure for hours under the name of night watch. Then you tend to wake up again, but after your shift, even if you lie down to sleep again, you can’t fall asleep.
Time just keeps flowing. But you’re wide awake, so you can’t sleep even if you lie down. The pressure to sleep overwhelms your whole body. You can’t sleep even more. It’s purgatory itself. Somehow, you barely manage to fall asleep, but in an instant, the morning sun rises.
Doesn’t just hearing about it make you feel like shit is piling up?
I was half out of my mind right now.
“Keep it down.”
“Ah, yes.”
Crackling, the bonfire blazed. The night wind was cold. But being near the fire, I didn’t feel the cold at all, just a pleasant drowsiness. With nothing much to do, I gathered dry branches and threw them into the bonfire like feeding it.
It was quite enjoyable to see the flames surge every time I added wood.
The person on night watch with me was a bald man named Turk, an employee of the merchant guild, who was eerily taciturn.
The occasional words to keep it down were the only proof that he hadn’t forgotten how to speak. In other words, he was as silent as he was hairless.
I had to kill at least two hours, but it was just torture since the person on night watch with me didn’t talk. If you just sit still doing nothing, time tends to stop.
I tried to get through that static moment by patrolling here and there, gathering dry branches, but well… I wonder if 30 minutes had passed. I don’t know.
“Hey, mister.”
Unable to overcome the boredom, I spoke to Turk.
“Hey, mister.”
But he didn’t react at all, as if he were a rock.
There’s a limit to ignoring someone’s words. I felt the urge to pick up a branch and poke him in the cheek with it. Of course, I wouldn’t do it. Anyone who actually does that is crazy.
“Hey, mister. Time’s not passing, wanna play some joke-offs with me?”
Joke-offs were a kind of roast battle. Like dueling, you each throw out the jokes you know, and the person who runs out of jokes first loses. It’s perfect for when you’re bored. There’s no penalty for losing, so you can enjoy it without pressure.
“Didn’t I tell you to keep it down? Can’t you see everyone else is sleeping? I’m sure they’d love it if you made noise.”
“Don’t you know anything about Isvant?”
“…”
Turk said that with a dead serious look on his face, but I lightly ignored him and started the conversation. They say you can’t spit on a smiling face, so if I start talking like this, something will come of it.
“It’s a bit bigger than Krasheim. Is this your first time?”
Turk couldn’t resist my persistent questions and answered. With this, I was able to communicate with the bald mister, Turk. It would be good to ask him for some helpful information.
“Yeah, well. Is there anything there that adventurers can make a living off of?”
“Well… the best place to make a living as an adventurer is still Krasheim. Isn’t that town right next to the unexplored territory? Monsters are overflowing just outside the gates. If possible, that place would be better than Isvant.”
“Is that so? So, there aren’t any adventurers in Isvant?”
“There are, but the scale is bigger in Krasheim.”
Krasheim was the city I started from, and Isvant was my destination. From what I heard, if you want to make a living by catching monsters, Krasheim is better.
“But if you’re confident in your skills, Isvant might be better.”
“Is there something there?”
“There are still a few uncaptured dungeons near Isvant.”
“What? Dungeons? There are dungeons there?”
“I’ve never been there myself, so I don’t know much, but I’ve heard that adventurers, wizards, and the lord’s soldiers are flocking there.”
That’s roughly how the night watch time passed.
Turk was a very talkative man, but only to those he opened up to.
I succeeded in getting some useful tips from him. Anyway, dungeons… that’s a slightly intriguing story. When it comes to dungeons, I only have bad memories of getting beaten to a pulp in the Kobold Dungeon when I was a newbie, crying my eyes and nose out, but I can confidently say that I’m much stronger now than I was then.
If I have time, it might be good to go there once.
“Sleep well.”
“You too, mister.”
I woke up the next adventurer on duty, lay down, and closed my eyes. I thought I wouldn’t be able to sleep, but maybe because I warmed up near the bonfire, I fell asleep more easily than I thought.
“Wow, damn it. The sun’s already up.”
Had it only been three seconds since I lay down?
Morning came in an instant.
“Let’s go!”
I barely managed to get my tired body up. Pure sleep time was less than four hours. Am I really doing this to earn 10 coppers? I’m never doing long-distance missions like this again. Isn’t it common sense for people to sleep while they work?
With such terrible regrets, the journey continued.
I’m not lying, I’m feeling a sense of disillusionment with life right now. I’m so sleepy I could die.
If I live like this, there’s nothing left for me, so I don’t know why I should live.
I have no idea when I’ll be able to return to my home planet, Earth. The hope that I’d suddenly return since I suddenly came here was long gone.
I walked leisurely, stacking hatred for the world. I was so tired from not sleeping that negative emotions crept up on me.
I felt like I wouldn’t be satisfied unless I smashed something right away. Poor people tend to be a bit violent, and that’s exactly what I’m like right now.
It was break time, but when I closed my eyes for a moment, it was over in an instant. I was very angry that I wanted to sleep a little more. I was about to go crazy with anger.
Yes, that was the time.
Around noon, the incident occurred.
—Rumble!
It happened in an instant.
“Huh? Huh? Shit?”
Someone shouted in vain.
It looked like someone with little practical experience, or someone who lacked the immediate coping skills needed for improvisation. I felt like I was in a historically fucked situation, and I secretly picked up a pebble and hid it in my sleeve.
It’s an old habit. People are surprisingly weak creatures that can be taken down with a single stone.
“What are these guys?!”
Another adventurer shouted, drawing his sword.
Men with menacing faces and weapons suddenly surrounded the carriage. What else could armed men living in the mountains be? They were the famous bandits. It was unbelievable. I was so shocked by the unbelievable and fantastic sight of bandits suddenly appearing that I shouted.
“Damn it!! Mom-fucking bandits!!!!! We’re screwed!!!!”
I deliberately shouted loudly to inform the idiots who hadn’t grasped the situation yet. Even if they’re idiots, they’ll know they’re screwed when they hear the word “bandits.”
“Everyone shut up!!!”
Just as the surprised people were about to murmur, a bandit wearing a decent-looking iron breastplate shouted nervously. The noise stopped instantly at those words.
Is that guy the boss?
“What business do you have blocking our way?”
A middle-aged man in a green hat got off the carriage and hid behind the merchant guild’s soldiers. What business, you ask? Obviously, they’re blocking the way to rob your carriage.
“Don’t move!”
The bandit in the iron breastplate, who I’ll call the Boss Bandit for convenience. When the merchant guild people tried to move, the Boss Bandit shouted again. At those words, everyone on the merchant guild side looked at the middle-aged man in the green hat. He quietly gave the order to “stay still for now.”
The Boss Bandit seemed pleased that the noise had died down and opened his mouth with a bizarre smile.
“Heh heh heh, nice to meet you, friends.”
Looking at the atmosphere, it was no different from someone saying “Hello, friends?” in a carefree manner, but his voice was the unpleasant voice of a looter, overflowing with rotten greed.
Just hearing his voice made me feel like anger was rising.
I was already annoyed to death from being sleepy, and now these idiots are blocking my way, so how can I not be angry?
Anyone gets pissed when they suddenly experience something shitty. I was very pissed off.
But even while angry, I calmly looked around.
An unexpected development, bandits with swords suddenly appearing. It was an extreme situation where it wouldn’t be strange to get stabbed and fall down dead if I didn’t judge coldly and rationally. My body felt the threat to my life and sounded the highest alarm.
“My name is… never mind. I need you to listen to me for a moment.”
The number of bandits seemed similar to ours, and their armament didn’t seem particularly outstanding either. Above all, the only one wearing armor was the Boss Bandit. It seemed like they were just a group of poor adventurers who had decided to change their business from hunting monsters to hunting people.
Overall, they looked poor and miserable. Above all, they were all shorter than me. My height, which grew up with proper nutrition in modern Earth, was nearly 180cm.
I don’t know about the people in this world, but most of them were hobbits smaller than me. What’s important in battle? Physique.
In conclusion, I thought these guys might be surprisingly weak.
I’ve lived by fighting with robbers in back alleys.
Bandits wouldn’t be much different.
“Listen, I’m going to make you a good offer. Or should I call it an offer? Do you guys know the word ‘toll’? I want you to pay it. No, you have to pay it. Because this is our territory.”
“Toll? What are you talking about? Are you saying you own this road?”
When the Boss Bandit rattled off nonsense, the middle-aged man in the green hat asked as if curious. It was a sarcastic tone, but the Boss Bandit didn’t point it out. Instead, he responded with a smile.
“Is the friend in charge? Good. You don’t seem to know, so let me explain. Of course, this road is ours. Do you know the word ‘military occupation’? That’s it. So, you have to choose.”
“Choose what? Was there another choice?”
The merchant guild leader in the green hat narrowed his eyes and looked around.
It was a gesture as if he were assessing his and his opponent’s strength. The numbers were similar, perhaps slightly unfavorable. If there was an ambush? Defeat. At least that was my judgment. If we fought head-on here, we would suffer great damage.
“Either fight us here and die, losing all your possessions, or quietly pay the toll and leave happily.”
The Boss Bandit’s atmosphere, which had been talking with a smile, changed suddenly. Judging by his attitude, he wasn’t a novice at this kind of extortion. He was a professional killer and robber.
“Oh, of course, I’m not saying to take everything. How would merchants make a living if we took all their goods? I have that much mercy. So, just give me about half of what you have. If you give me just half, I’ll let you pass quietly. I’m telling you in advance, if we all attack, you’ll all die. So, I’m suggesting a deal. Understand? We don’t want to shed unnecessary blood either.”
He said that and crossed his arms, giving a satisfied smile as if he had made a very reasonable and very merciful offer. He even added a soliloquy as if affirming his declaration, saying, “Of course, of course.”
His attitude was so infuriating that I couldn’t maintain my reason any longer.
I was listening quietly, but I was so dumbfounded that I suddenly got angry. How can he be so brazen when he’s trying to take other people’s things for free? I’m investing all day to earn 10 coppers, and what? If I hand over half of my wealth, he’ll let me live?
“I’d like you to choose quickly… I’ll give you one minute. You don’t want to die, do you?”
“Heh heh heh.”
“Pay the toll quickly.”
The bandits were excited and chattering. I couldn’t stand the sight of them spitting while spewing nonsense with their yellow teeth, so I decided to make a decision to save the country. No, I couldn’t stand it any longer. I took out the pebble I had hidden in my sleeve. I always think that my full-power throw is equal to a 1st-circle wizard’s magic missile.
It’s just my imagination, but anyway.
Ready.
“Unstoppable!”
Fire!
“Impulse Dejaaaaat!!!!!”
In less than 2 seconds, I twisted my body greatly like a Major League Baseball player and threw the pebble with great force. The target, of course, was the Boss Bandit.
—Swoosh!
With a cheerful sound, the pebble drew a beautiful trajectory of a straight line and flew, cutting through the ground.
“Huh? What’s with that guy…”
—Crack!
The sound of something bursting rang out.
—Thud.
That was the end.
The unguarded Boss Bandit couldn’t avoid my stone throw and took the pebble straight to the face. Was it a facial fracture? He didn’t even scream, whether it was instant death or not, and collapsed. In other words, he “kicked the bucket.”
“Kiyaaaaaaa!”
A strange pleasure enveloped my whole body.
The bursting joy captivated my spirit.
“Strike!!!”
A cry of victory erupted. At those words, all eyes turned to me. The bandits looked at me with disbelief, the adventurers with an expression that seemed to ask, “What the hell is going on?”
I didn’t have anything to say, so I drew my sword.
“It’s not like you’ve never seen someone die before, what are you staring at? You damn idiots, fight already!!!!”
Lol mc is crazy