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123 - - a mysterious archer

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　A group of people ride in a carriage to the maritime city of Bernese.

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　In the carriage are three heroes. Of course, these heroes are Toshizo Hijikata, the vice-chief of the Shinsengumi, Jeanne d'Arc, the saint of Orleans, and Kotaro Fuuma, the most powerful ninja of the Warring States period.

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　They are a magnificent group," said Eve, the maid, and she was right.

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　Toshizo was a swordsman who spread blood and wind at the end of the Edo period, Jeanne was a warrior maiden who saved France, and Kotaro was a ninja of the Hojo clan, the supreme ruler of the Kanto region. It was very fortunate for me to have three such men.

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　When I told him the truth, Toshizo laughed and said, "I'm sure,

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"No doubt. It's pathetic that he has three of us nincompoops under his command.

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　He continues. He is right, and I laugh too, but then he adds

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"It would be pitiful if the enemy attacked us now. The three of them would beat us to a pulp.

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　It was Eve who contradicted the joke.

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"This is a safe street. We won't be attacked by bandits.

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　She smiled, "We don't have anything of value in this wagon to begin with.

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　It was true that this carriage was crude. When I concluded that it must have been a very eccentric person who would have attacked it, only Kotaro, the wind demon, countered, "I doubt it.

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"Thieves don't only go after gold. They also want heads in exchange for gold.

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　I didn't need to ask what he meant. The horses pulling the chariot suddenly stopped and whinnied.

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　The spy-slime who had been driving the chariot shouts out.

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There are five, ten, maybe twenty of them!

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They're no longer a band of thieves but an army!

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　In fact, they are not bandits in need of food but trained mercenaries. They are strangely well organized.

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　First they shoot arrows at the horses to keep us from running away, and when the horses stop, they swing their axes down on their horses' heads.

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　This was the way of a man who knew the old saying, "If you want to shoot a general, start with the horse first.

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　Once they had taken away our mobility, they surrounded the wagon.

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　They fired arrow after arrow at the inside of the wagon. If it hadn't been for me inside the wagon, everything inside would have turned into hedgehogs.

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　But that did not happen. Even Eve, who has no martial arts training, was unharmed. That's because I reacted quickly and cast a Barrier spell. My iron barrier turned the tops of the wagons to steel.

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　The mercenaries seem surprised, but they do not relax their hold. Instead, they challenge me to a hand-to-hand combat, as if they have become more belligerent.

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"It looks like we can't negotiate with them. I'm going to cut down those horse killers.

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Let them know what happens if they kill an animal unintentionally.

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"Yes, sir."

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　Toshizo steps out of the carriage and draws his sword.

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　As soon as the sword is drawn from Toshizo's waist, he blows the head off a mercenary who is rushing toward the carriage.

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　A lot of blood smoke spews out, but should we praise him for not being afraid of them? I wonder who these mercenaries were hired by.

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　While I was carefully observing them, a man in the rear who looks like a mercenary captain shouted.

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"If you defeat the Demon Lord here, you will be rewarded enough to buy a house in Bernese! Get fired up, you bastards!"

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"Oh!

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　The mercenaries respond.

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"I see... these are the guys from back then..."

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　They must be the same group of mercenaries who attacked us at the castle of Sabnak before. Ryoma told me that the Bernese council had sent them to prevent me and Ryoma from joining up with them. This time I should assume that the council sent them to prevent my arrival in Bernese.

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　When I conclude this, Eve asks me.

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"Is Bernese an enemy of the master?"

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"I don't know, but it seems that at least the council doesn't like me.

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　Two mercenaries come at us with swords.

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　Jeanne catches one's sword with her holy sword, and Hijikata Toshizo catches the other's sword with his katana.

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　Kotaro Kazama moves like the wind, and strikes with a kunai. The next moment, blood spurts from the mercenaries' necks.

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　It is a merciless attack, but it is only natural, since they are trying to kill us.

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　Three of the enemies have already returned fire, but the morale of the mercenaries is still high. They attacked one after another.

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"The bounty on your husband's head must be very high," were Toshizo's words.

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　I pushed him away from the group, which was still in a loose state of mind.

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　I did not mean to blast him. I was trying to save his life. An arrow pierced the place where Toshizo had just been.

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　Toshizo paled, but he stroked his stubble and said.

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"Our enemy is so clever not to let me realize his killing intent," he said.

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　Toshizo looks for the one who shot the arrow, but he does not find him. But I had him in my sights, so I changed my gaze.

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　The person who had tried to kill Toshizo had already changed his place and was about to fire a second shot. He was drawing his bow from the top of the tree.

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　It was obvious that the second shot was aimed at Jeanne, so I cast a "barrier" spell on her. A barrier like a curtain was formed in front of Jeanne, and the arrow pierced through it.

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　The arrow flew into Jeanne's forehead as if it had been sucked in. If the barrier had not been put up, there would have been a big hole in Jeanne's forehead.

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　It seems that the enemy has a good bowman, we all agreed. Toshizo, Jeanne, and Kazama Kotaro had changed their positions.

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　They changed their tactics from attack-only to defending themselves. The strategy has changed to "Cherish your life".

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　But even so, the number of mercenaries looking for bounty was still small in the midst of the most powerful military force in the other world.

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　One after another, they were cut down.

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　Jeanne used her holy sword and hit-and-run to avoid killing as many of them as possible. Toshizo beheaded mercenaries without mercy. Kotaro disabled his enemies with minimal movement.

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　Each fighter's character comes out in his fighting style, which eventually comes to an end. A man who looked like a mercenary captain shouted for retreat.

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"These men are monsters. They are no match for us. Let's get out of here."

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　It was a belated but justified decision. However, we have a samurai with blood on his hands. Toshizo cuts down the retreating mercenaries and aims for the mercenary leader's head.

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"Leave the general's head!"

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　His spirit was so great that a few more seconds would have separated the mercenary captain's head from his torso. But it was not to be. The archer interfered. A number of arrows flew toward Toshizo's vital point. Toshizo repelled them with his sword, but he was stopped in his tracks. Meanwhile, the mercenaries managed to retreat.

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　Toshizo glared at them, but the bowman was already gone. They seem to have retreated together.

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"He is like the wind!

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　That's what I thought.

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"He's a poor bowman. After all, he never came to the front."

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　This is what Toshizo said.

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"He knows his own range perfectly. There are some great men in the mercenary corps.

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I agree. I hope we can capture him alive and put him in charge of the bowmen of Ashtaroth's army.

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　Kotaro concludes, and we clean up the mess.

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　We tend to the survivors left on the battlefield and let them help us clean up the corpses.

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　Even though I was a mercenary, it was not my intention to leave the corpses out in the open.

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　After politely burying the slain horse, I questioned the mercenaries to no avail, but could not find out anything other than that their employer was the council of the maritime city of Bernese.

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"Well, that's something the lowly ones don't know."

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　I conclude, and we head for Bernese. On foot.

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　We could use the horses left by the mercenaries, but it would be wiser to disguise ourselves as travelers and go in quietly.

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　It was not wise for the Demon Lord and his attendants to go in dressed as they were.

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