Hard Carried by My Sword-Chapter 60

Chapter 60
After a simple dinner, the Storm Caravan quickly went to sleep, leaving only a few lookouts on watch. Unlike in forests or mountains, the desert had longer days. With no terrain to block the view, the sun rose earlier and set later.
If one wasted time chatting, their precious sleep would vanish before they knew it. The same applied to the mercenaries and adventurers.
Unlike the lightly dressed merchants, those in full armor suffered terribly under the daytime heat. Even without stepping out of the wagons, they were soaked in sweat, so it was only after sunset that they could wash up and get some rest.
Leon, at least, had an advantage. Thanks to his Sun-type Aura, he didn’t feel the heat, making his life a bit easier than the others.
Perhaps that gave him the luxury to notice things that others didn’t. In the middle of the night, Leon suddenly opened his eyes.
Mm... What is this feeling?
It wasn’t a natural awakening. There was a prickly, unsettling sensation crawling over his body—like something stuck between his teeth but spread across every nerve. His five senses and even his Aura Sense picked up nothing, but the discomfort lingered all the same.
Just as Leon tried to sit up from his bed, someone else had already opened their eyes, glowing in the dark. Seeing who it was, Leon whispered, “Karen?”
“
Shh
.”
She held a finger to her lips and blinked. Her teal-lit eyes burned with Aura. It was a technique to focus Aura in the eyes, something Leon hadn’t learned yet. For beginners, it merely sharpened night vision, but at Karen’s level, she could likely see right through the wagon’s canvas.
Karen silently scanned the surroundings, then whispered after gauging the situation, “There’s a lot of them. What do you want to do?”
Understanding what she meant, Leon asked back immediately, “Enemies?”
With her eyes still glowing, she nodded and continued, “There’s no killing intent, so I didn’t notice until they got close. They probably aren’t planning to fight.”
“But we had lookouts posted.”
“They burrowed under the sand. Unless you can detect micro-vibrations, you won’t notice.
Ah
, they’re moving toward the cargo now. Looks like they’re going to snatch it and run.”
There wasn’t much time to think. Karen kept her eyes on the bandits slithering through the sand, waiting for Leon’s decision. Leon’s mind kicked into high gear, running through the best response in this situation.
Should I yell and alert the others? No—with the enemy this close, we’re already at a disadvantage. I can’t expect people asleep and unarmed to get ready for battle that quickly.
The bandits’ main target was the cargo. They must’ve known they’d lose in a direct clash against the Storm Caravan’s escorts. That’s why they’d snuck in without a trace of bloodlust—to steal, not fight.
Leon could wake everyone and fight back, but the unpreparedness would likely lead to casualties.
“How many exactly?” Leon asked.
“Fourteen heading for the cargo. Twenty-two watching the other wagons. That’s all within my detection range.”
“Thirty-six... that many,
huh
.”
Leon extended his Aura Sense into the sand and finally felt traces of those who hadn’t completely masked their presence. Individually, they weren’t strong, but their numbers and mastery of desert tactics made them a serious threat. A premature strike might result in injury or death on their side.
“Karen,” Leon whispered after making his decision.
Hearing his decision, Karen grinned with a cold glint in her eyes. She’d been worried he might say something soft just because he was a “Hero,” but his response quickly dispelled that concern.
Kindness and foolishness weren’t the same. Knowing whom to protect came instinctively to everyone.
Karen leaped silently from the wagon roof and shot even higher into the air. She was twenty meters up in the blink of an eye.
From above, she instantly locked onto thirty-six signs of life. At the same time, the rings on her middle fingers glimmered several times to show off their spatial magic. Dozens of daggers spilled out of her subspace and transformed into teal lightning bolts in her hands.
Few in the world could rival her in dagger-throwing. Ten blades rained down with rapid
thwips
and struck faster than sound, ripping through the sand and skewering the limbs of the buried thieves.
Had she aimed to kill, they would’ve died without a groan. However, that wasn’t the point of this attack.
“
Aaaaargh
!?”
“
Gah! Ggrrk, ggurrrk
?!”
“My eyes!
Aagh
!”
The thieves writhed and screamed in pain from the non-fatal yet still grievous wounds.
Leon burst out right after, shouting at the top of his lungs, “We’re under attack! Thieves are targeting the wagons!”
Karen’s explosive assault threw the enemies into confusion, and in that hesitation, Leon’s shout roused the sleeping guards. He also raised his Holy Sword high, unleashing a burst of light.
There it is. I feel it now.
Perhaps it was because battle was inevitable now, but he could now sense the bloodlust and malice bleeding through the sand.
Leon aimed his sword in that direction. As the radiant blade pointed at them, the thieves realized they were now fully exposed and leaped out of hiding.
Gustav, now fully armored, took command of the situation.
“Move, now! Remember our priority! Protect the caravan leader and the main cargo first!”
His presence—born of immense size, strength, and experience—cut through the chaos. Even half-asleep, people obeyed his orders and formed a defensive perimeter.
Karen’s initial strike had already thinned their numbers. Now that the enemy was forced into a standoff, the outcome was all but decided.
One thief, likely their leader, snarled in rage, “Dammit, if it weren’t for that bitch...!”
If not for that barrage of daggers, they wouldn’t have been pushed this far. His snake-like eyes gleamed in the dark. Perhaps realizing the battle was lost, he raised one hand and gave a silent signal to his crew. He had no intention of saving the wounded.
Gustav recognized the signal instantly and charged like a gale, shouting, “They’re running! Don’t let a single one escape!”
However, the thieves’ retreat was faster than expected. Completely equipped for desert combat, they sprinted across the sand as if it were solid ground.
Heavy-armored mercenaries and adventurers who weren’t even B-rank couldn’t keep up. To make things worse, they scattered in five different directions, making it nearly impossible to pursue.
Even so, not all of them got away. Gustav’s hurled zweihander sliced two in half, and Hamel’s arrows pierced the skulls of four more.
Karen targeted the bandit boss even amidst the chaos, but he deflected her dagger with skill unbefitting a mere thief, and dove into the sand. He had to be at least B-rank—skilled enough to have a bounty on his head.
Meanwhile, Leon watched the fleeing bandits before lowering his sword, thinking,
If I’d used Merak, we could’ve killed at least ten more...
He stopped his hand, haunted by the image that would’ve followed. Had he unleashed Merak, those ten, probably more, would’ve been sliced in half, spewing blood and entrails like fountains.
That would’ve been a massacre.
It wasn’t a desperate battle against overwhelming odds, nor were they monsters who didn’t belong in this world. Leon wasn’t ready to cross that line.
El-Cid, who had stayed silent until now, chimed in, —That’s a natural dilemma. It’s okay to wrestle with it. There’s no definitive answer to that kind of question. You’re a Hero, not a human butcher. Whether you vow never to kill or smite evil in the name of justice, you have to find your own answer.
“Got it.”
Leon gave a wry smile as he sheathed his sword. El-Cid’s words hit home as someone who had walked that path already. Right and wrong weren’t absolute. There were no laws of physics to dictate who should be punished or forgiven.
Killing a thief without hesitation, subduing them without taking a life, trying to reform them through words and actions—all could come from a sense of justice, and deciding which was “more right” depended on the individual.
My values are still incomplete.
Where forgiveness ends, and where punishment begins—Leon was too inexperienced to decide that now. It was something he’d need to reflect on continuously, after meeting more people and experiencing more of the world.
So Leon set the question aside for now.
Just then, Arnold—having tied up the wounded bandits and settled the situation—called for him.
“Ah, thank you all for gathering.”
It wasn’t just Leon. Karen, Gustav, and the other key figures had been called together. The absence of C-rank mercenaries and adventurers suggested this was a message meant only for the higher ranks.
Arnold didn’t look happy, and the reason became clear at once when he announced, “Some of our cargo was stolen during the attack.”
“What...?”
“You’re kidding.”
Both Gustav and Leon were visibly shocked. Their response had been nearly flawless.
They’d won without a single death or serious injury. The bandits hadn’t even dared engage them head-on and had retreated instead. Yet, they’d still had time to make off with the goods?
Only Karen remained unfazed.
“That guy. The one who looked like the boss.” Wiping blood off her dagger, she looked to Leon and added, “There were thirty-seven attackers in total. Know what that means?”
“One didn’t show up in your detection?”
“Yeah. His stealth skills weren’t that impressive, so he probably used an artifact or something. Most likely, he was already smuggling goods out before the battle started.”
If he hadn’t brought his underlings, he might’ve succeeded without Karen or Leon ever noticing. His extra caution had ended up working against him.
At her words, Arnold sighed deeply and said, “He’s no ordinary thief. And of all things, one of the stolen items is extremely valuable... I’m sorry to ask, but I’d like to request a pursuit.”
“A pursuit,
huh
.” Gustav scratched his head. “It would’ve been a lot more doable if we were in a forest or the mountains, but a desert makes things tough. What do you think, Hamel?”
The ex-ranger Hamel replied, “If we’re going to chase, it has to be tonight. Desert tracks vanish in no time.”
With his sharp observational skills, he could track a target. However, deserts weren’t a familiar environment for a ranger trained for the mountains.
Even if they gave chase now, the odds of catching the target were less than half. That was, of course, if they didn’t have a certain person with them.
“I can track him,” Karen declared flatly. “I coated the dagger I threw at him with a trace scent. If he’d dodged it, we’d be out of luck—but he blocked it, so some must’ve stuck to his body or weapon.”
“
Oho
! In that case!” Arnold exclaimed in excitement.
“As long as we’re properly compensated, I’ll give it a go. What about you?” Karen asked Leon.
Leon thought for a moment, then nodded.
“I’ll come too. That okay?”
“Fine by me. Me and this ranger guy can track their boss. You already know how to move on sand, right?”
Leon had Rodrick’s Footwork at level 4. That was enough to walk and run across the sand as if it were solid ground, letting him move unhindered in any environment.
Thus, the pursuit team was assembled in seconds. An ex-ranger, an elite assassin, and a Hero. It felt more like a squad hunting a top-tier criminal than bandits.
“Mr. Arnold, how do we identify the cargo?” Hamel asked.
In response to Hamel’s question, Arnold handed over a small compass.
“
Ah
, take this.”
Its needle didn’t move, seemingly broken until Arnold explained, “The cargo is sealed with magic. It can’t be opened without a key I have. It looks identical to the other boxes, so without this compass, you’d never find it. Once you’re within ten meters, it’ll point directly to it.”
“Ten meters... Got it.”
Hamel tucked the compass into his coat and started moving. Karen and Leon followed close behind, sprinting out into the sand.
The loose sand that reached up to their thighs wasn’t firm enough for wagons to travel on. Yet the three dashed forward without hesitation, racing in the direction the bandits had disappeared.
There was always a chance of a second attack, so those remaining took up watch. No one could keep up with them, anyway.
Gustav slammed his greatsword into the ground and glared.
“Until they get back, don’t even blink!”
It was a race against time until sunrise. With an A-rank adventurer on the team, they wouldn’t lose. The only question was whether they could catch up to the bandits.
As Arnold paced anxiously from what was possibly one of the biggest misfortunes in his life, Gustav sharpened his senses, watching every direction.
Just one surprise attack had already been disgracing enough. Just like that, the Storm Caravan passed a sleepless night.