As I approached with my horse, the battle had already begun.
　A fierce battle is being fought.
　At first it seemed that the side of the troop merchants, who were few in number, were at a disadvantage, but surprisingly, they were fighting a good battle.
　There were sorcerers in the escort of the troop merchants, as well as magical swordsmen, it seems.

''I guess we didn't even need to cover this one.

　I thought for a moment, but while I was thinking that, one of the vanguard warriors had taken a decent hit from the bandit's axe and had fallen down.

　--It seems that backup is still necessary.

　I start chanting my usual magic, "Shock".
　The advantage of this magic is that it's easy to add or subtract.

　It's not that I'm not interested in this, but the fact that I'm not going to be able to get my hands on it.

　Even if the other party was a bandit, I didn't want to take their lives as well.
　The bandit who was raising his axe again was blown away by the magic of the 《Shock》.
　The bandit is blown up to a dozen or so meters away.

　Next, he casts a "barrier" spell on the guard who is about to have his spear thrust up against him.

　The bandit's spear bends limply.
　Seeing this scene, both the bandits and the troop merchants were surprised.
　The bandits said, "You, who are you? They will ask you if you have any questions.
　The guards of the troop merchants will make a similar main statement.

''...........''

　I was silent for a moment, because I was at a loss for an answer.
　However, I can't afford not to come forward.
　I'm sure the troopers would be confused if they didn't know whether I was a friend or foe.
　After careful consideration, I chose my words.

I'm just a sorcerer passing by. I'm helping you by righteousness. Of course, it's the merchants who will be assisting you.

　The merchant guards are relieved to hear that.
　The bandits shouted angrily, "d*mn.
　With those words, the battle resumes.
　Once again, the sound of swords being exchanged can be heard.

　I took down the bandits while holding back as much as I could, but halfway through, I noticed someone coming this way.

　A man who appears to be the captain of the guards comes up beside me, brushing away the enemy, and asks me with his eyes on the bandits, "I don't know who you are.

'I don't know who you are, but I'm grateful. I'll never forget this favor.

I hope that lifetime doesn't end here.

　As I say that, I cast a 《Granting Magic (Enchanted)》 on the captain of the guards.

''........What is this?''
It's just a granting spell.
This is granting magic?
'What?　Is this your first time seeing it?

''--No, we have sorcerers in our group. However, I don't believe that your granting magic is the same granting magic. It's as light as if a sword had been turned into a feather.

　'Besides,' the captain continues.

'I have a feeling that this sword could cut through a rock.

　As he said this, the captain set his sights on the most heavily armed of the bandits and slashed at the man.

　As he said before, he cut through the thick armor like paper.
　Seeing that figure, I let out an exclamation of admiration, "Ho.
　As I thought, the guards of this troop merchant seem to be quite a skilled group.

　At first I thought they were going to use the power of their granting magic to slaughter the bandits, but on the contrary, they began to go easy on them.

　They are fighting with the only thing they can do is to take away their fighting power while being careful not to be as deadly as possible.

　It's an imitation that an untrained person cannot do.
　When I saw that scene, I thought.
　There's no need to lend a hand any longer, he thought - and that's a good thing.
　More than half of the bandits were already unable to fight.
　In a few minutes, they would begin to flee.

　Wars are the same, but they don't kill each other until they are annihilated.
　The one whose will to fight was reduced would run away.
　That was the basis of combat.

　Sure enough, the man who seemed to be the head of the bandit group shouted loudly.

''You guys, we're retreating!

　I'm sure it's a matter of pride that he didn't use the word "escape" to describe the fact that he is a thief.　

　It's a good thing if you want to run away, but I even took the liberty of helping you.

　It was not a good idea to let the enemy general escape here.
　That's why I chanted the Binding spell.
　A yellow plant covered in magic power twines around the man's legs.

The first time I saw it, I knew I was going to have to do it.
It's the magic of bondage.

　I'd like to say that, but I'll leave that for another time.
　For now, we should focus on treating the injured.
　I'm going to start with the troopers' guards.

　It's not my place to do recovery magic, but I can do first aid for now.
　I'm going to be able to seal up the wound in the shoulder of the guard who just took a decent hit from the bandit's axe.
　He took a decent hit from the axe.
　Even the bones were crushed, but I wanted to just stop the bleeding for the time being.

　Next, I'm going to cast a spell on the bandits as well, just in case.
　Of course, while tied up with a rope.
　The guards who had been injured by my friends were accused of being hurt.
　I think it was a natural feeling.
　But, after all, it would be bad to wake up if they were to die like this.

　Besides, these guys must not have become bandits because they didn't like it.
　The majority of bandits were quoted as the end of their lives as peasants who had trouble eating.
　If this was the era, they may have inherited the farmland from their parents and are working, or they may have become craftsmen.

　At any rate, he would not have become a thief.
　It makes me feel sorry for him.
　This must be what Cephiro often calls "sweetness".

　With that in mind, I was tending to the bandits when someone approached me.

　At first I thought it was Sati coming over.
　It was because her voice sounded like mine.
　It was a faint girl's voice.

　But I soon realized that the voice wasn't Satie.
　Satie is absolutely obedient to my commands.
　If I order her to look east, she's the girl who will obey that order for five or ten years.

　She must be hiding in the grass right now.
　So there's no way she'd ever speak to me.
　I thought, and I turned around in the direction of the voice.

　There was a beautiful girl.
　A girl wearing a pure white dress.

　It was an elegant outfit, like a nobleman's daughter's daughter-in-law would wear, and not appropriate for the bloody battlefield.

　In fact, the hem of the skirt of her dress was smeared with mud.
　She hadn't been prepared for the open air.
　The bottom line is that she comes from a decent family.
　Just by looking at the clothes she's wearing, by looking at her appearance, I could imagine that.
　And if you look closely, the carriage nearby doesn't seem to belong to a troop merchant either.
　If it belonged to a troop merchant, it would be more reasonably built.
　The carriage was obviously a luxurious structure made for your ride.
　I looked at them and thought to myself.

(Perhaps I've helped someone unexpectedly.)

　And--.

　There are no nobles in Zenobia, the capital of this trade union.
　However, although there are no nobles, there is an existence that takes their place.
　That was the great merchants.
　Zenobia is governed by the consensus of the great merchants.
　If we were to put it in modern terms, it would be a political system called 'Republic'.

　What I'm trying to say is that she is the daughter of 'that' great merchant, isn't she?

　I guessed that from her appearance and language, and my guess was right on the money.
　On the contrary, more words came out of her mouth than I had imagined.

'I don't know who you are, but thank you very much for this addition.

　She bowed her head reverently and continued.

''--I am sorry to be late, but my name is Uriah Octave. I am the leader of this Zenobia. I am the daughter of Eltria Octave.

　I looked at the dainty girl and thought, "Maybe this dainty girl is a goddess of luck.

　Maybe she is a goddess who brings me good fortune, I thought.

　If it weren't for her words, I wouldn't have had the good fortune to come across such good fortune here.

　With that in mind, I bowed my head reverently in order to make the most of the good fortune I'd grabbed and returned the favor.

'How do you do, Miss Julia, I am a sorcerer from Ithmus, my name is Ryke.

'Are you from Ithmus?　You seem to have wonderful magic, are you a nobleman?

　Julia asks.
　I affirm.

　The reason I called myself from Ismus is because Rosalia and Zenobia are dog and monkeys, so the reason I didn't use my real name, Ike, is because I was wary of it, in case you're wondering.

　These days, the activities of the Immortal Brigade are reverberating throughout the continent.
　It would be too risky to say his real name.

　However, I realized after I said my name, I thought that the name Ryke was also ironic.

　It was a word that Basteo, the commander of the Third Legion, had used before when he insulted me.
　It's a fake name that came out on the spur of the moment, but anyway, now that I've called myself Ryke, I'll have to go by this name for a while.

　At least, I'll call myself Ryke until I meet with Octave, Zenobia's ally, through her.

　With that in mind, I decided to head to Zenobia as she suggested.