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“Village chief! It’s bad, those guys are back again!”

The door was roughly thrown open, and a panicked villager burst in. He seemed to have been injured in the earlier explosion, as blood was flowing from his head as well.

“Damn it, why now of all times…!”
“You can’t move yet! Your wound…”
“Oh, you’re the village chief? No wonder your house is big.”
“Is this the time for that?! Anyway, we need to escape, but we can’t move the injured…”

Momo was flustered and in a hurry, but there was probably nowhere to run. If the village was covered by log fences, that meant the entrances and exits were limited. It was safe to assume that the escape routes were sealed off; it would be extremely difficult for the villagers, who couldn’t use magic, to escape.

“But it’s strange. How many days ago did the bandits last come?”
“Three days ago. They took almost all our food and money!”
“Then they wouldn’t have any reason to target this village anymore…”

They appeared a month ago and attacked multiple times. They must have already taken all the resources from the village. And considering they would be planning to disappear before the call for help came with the weakening of the snow, there was no merit in destroying the village now.

If there’s any reason, it’s probably…

“To all villagers!! We are deeply troubled!!”
“Whoa, startled me! What’s with this voice!?”
“They’re using wind magecraft to amplify their voice. It’s grating.”

I instinctively frowned at the booming voice near my ears. It seemed to be for intimidation, but the crude construction of the spell and the poorly adjusted volume only irritated my nerves.

“We had a contract to protect this village in exchange for a few supplies! But you all betrayed us!!”
“What do you mean ‘a few supplies,’ spouting nonsense…!”
“The methods of villains never change, no matter the era.”

From the village chief’s anger, it seemed the bodyguard contract was just a makeshift measure. Most likely, they forced their way through with something close to extortion. But what did the betrayal mean?

“We found footprints of someone visiting this village and chains used to kill wizards!!”
“…Momo, what did you do with those chains that bound me?”
“They were bulky, so I threw them away!”
“You idiot!”
“W-Why!?”

I couldn’t help but curse straight out. It all made sense now. The bandits’ target was us.

“That chain is cursed to obstruct the flow of magical power just by touching it. They must be on edge just thinking about it.”
“But wait, didn’t you use magic, Laika?”
“It’s not magic, it’s magecraft. It only inhibits, so as long as your skill surpasses it, you can still perform minor magecraft.”

But a fallen wizard would be rendered completely powerless even by a single scrap of it. With footprints from outside the village and their own enemies’ tools, it would appear to the bandits as if the villagers had called for outside help.

But if that were truly the case, they wouldn’t have been foolish enough to throw away such an important restraint outside the village. Perhaps their minds weren’t that sharp.

“However, we are merciful!! If you obediently hand over the traitor, we shall overlook this incident!!”
“Don’t you find it strange that they’re saying that themselves…? Well, whatever. Momo, just stay quiet in the corner.”

I had planned to leave this village before getting tangled up in any trouble, but I couldn’t just ignore this. And there was no guarantee that the villagers wouldn’t hand us over. So, it was better to cut off the problem before it got worse.

“Well, just stay and babysit the village chief for a bit. it’ll be over soon. Wait… are you even listening, Momo?”
“…That girl with the pink hair? She just rushed out of here at full speed.”
“What?!”

――――――――…………
――――……
――…

“Let me repeat!! We offer our mercy to all of you—”
“Wait a damn minute!!”
“Huh?! What the hell are you?!”

I burst out in front of the man shouting amidst the center of the devastated village. He looked nothing like a wizard (Laika) I was familiar with.

With stubble, muscles bulging beneath his coat, and a hat adorned with horns, he looked more like a bandit than a wizard.

“You’re not someone we see around here. I don’t think I’d forget anyone in such a flashy getup… Did you come from outside?”
“Yes, and I only threw away the chain because it was a hindrance! The villagers had nothing to do with it!!”

The bandit pointed to the chain he was holding with thick leather gloves. He seemed reluctant to touch it, as if it were a poisonous snake. To me, it was just a simple chain that could easily be broken, but to him, it seemed like a dangerous weapon.

“Stop the nonsense, missy. Even I can tell this is a rare piece meant for killing wizards. Who knows how many gold coins it could fetch on the market.”

“Then I’ll give it to you, so please don’t cause any trouble for this village, and return what you’ve stolen.”
“Don’t say such ungrateful things. What we took was a rightful reward. Isn’t that right?”

The bandit drew the sword hanging from his belt and thrust it in front of me. Even though I wasn’t touching it, I could feel the heat radiating from the sword, enough to scorch me in this cold.

Magic… no, this person, like Laika, could use magecraft.

“More importantly, there’s something I don’t understand. I can’t fathom why you’d throw away such a treasure. You’re still hiding something, aren’t you?”
“Huh? Am I still hiding something?”
“I’m the one who wants to know—”
“You’re wasting your time. That fool over there doesn’t have the brain capacity for secrets.”

With a dry sound, the sword, which had been menacingly close to my face, was sent flying far away, landing with a thud in the snow. It sizzled as it hit the ground, emitting white smoke. The thought of what would have happened if it had touched me sent shivers down my spine. Once again, I was saved by this person.

“Damn… who the heck are you!?”
“I’m Laika Galactica. Well, you don’t have to remember it, we’ll part ways soon anyway.”
“Laika!!”

Gasping for breath, she appeared behind me, the person who was the first wizard I ever met and my savior. Perhaps borrowed from the villagers, she snugly wore winter gear, and her hair, which used to reach the ground, was now cut to waist length.

“You idiot, you shouldn’t just recklessly jump out. I haven’t received my reward from you yet.”
“I’m sorry, but I couldn’t ignore it!”
“Hey, kid! Are you a wizard too!?”
“Shut up. So what if I am? If you’re going to surrender and apologize, now’s the time.”