Where is this place? What am I doing here? Why am I here? What happened to me? To be lost in the world, How could this happen to me? The Life and Death of The Last Water Nymph Chapter 4: The Black Plume Bandits By Shinieris

Chapter 4 – The Black Plume Bandits

I’m riding on a horse!
A real horse!
Not a wooden pony!
It’s a horse!

Of course I had never ridden a horse before.
I was just a commoner.
In Broomwich, the only ones who could afford their own horses were Lord Talbot and his household.
So of course, I was very excited!

“Is this your first time riding a horse?”
Shwarze who sat behind me asked.
I nodded.
“You know, if you’re going to come with us, you need a name. We can’t just keep referring to you as ‘you’, ‘her’ or ‘she’.”
Garulan spoke.
“You’re right. I think we should name her. Now what would be a good name?”
“How about Riverie?”
“Sounds sad, so no.”
“How about Veronica?”
“Sounds like a stuck up noblewoman. No.”
“Chastity!”
“I knew a girl named Chastity once. She was a whore.”
Garulan looked at Shwarze and frowned.
“No, she really was a whore. She lived in a brothel and was paid to take men up to her room.”
“Well then, why don’t you name her yourself?”

Shwarze thought about it. After awhile, he cried out.
“Nyrae!”
Garulan appeared alarmed.
“Where did you hear that name from?”
Garulan asked.

“Heard it somewhere, a long time ago. Don’t quite remember where. Anyway, it sounds nice. Don’t you agree, Nyrae?”
Shwarze grabbed the back of my head with his strong left hand, turned my face to the right and nodded my head at Garulan.
Did he just force me to accept the name ‘Nyrae’?
And how could Garulan not notice that he was doing this to my head?

“We’re being watched!”
Garulan suddenly warned.
“Should we make a break for it?”
Shwarze asked.
“I don’t know. It’s possible there are traps up ahead.”
“So… fight?”
“Most advisable. I’ll raise a defensive barrier. Spirits of Wind, make the air around us hard as a rock. Wind Barrier!”

No sooner that he finished his spell, dozens of arrows flew out from the bushes on either side of the road.
Seeing as there was no damage, scores of men came out brandishing scimitars and short swords.

“Bandits!”
Shwarze warned as he pulled his longsword from his sheath.
“Spirits of fire, bring death and devastation to my enemies. Fireball!”
Garulan chanted and from his palm a large fireball appeared and launched itself at the center of the approaching bandits on the right side of the road, blasting them apart through an explosion of flames.
“My god who is Herlain. My will is my sword. My soul slashes the air. Aerial Slash!”
Shwarze raised his sword, spreading his aura to cover the blade. Then he swung the sword horizontally, throwing the aura of the blade towards the enemy. It sliced them cleanly in the middle.

It was over in less than a minute.
Shwarze bragged about finishing his side first.
Garulan mumbled about his side being scattered.
They both jumped down the horses gathering the bodies.
Needless to say, they looted the bodies too.

They got 13 Black Feathers.
6 short shords.
2 long swords.
5 scimitars.
11 short bows.
6 daggers.
6 iron helmets
3 leather helmets.
Many pairs of leather shoes.
Many torn and damaged leather armour.
2 gold coins.
12 silver coins.
37 copper coins.

By the time they were done, the bandits’ corpses were wearing nothing more than rags.
Garulan summoned the spirits of earth to open a deep hole several feet from the road.
Shwarze skillfully kicked the corpses into the hole.
There were other people too.

They came when they saw Shwarze and Garulan defeat the bandits.
They looked like locals and thanked Shwarze and Garulan profusely for helping to keep the road safe.
Shwarze gave them some silver coins as thanks for helping them bury the bandits.
They then offered to help carry the loot on their wagons since they were going the same way.
Both Shwarze and Garulan accepted the offer.

Soon after, we left the scene of the crime and went off east.
With three wagons of the locals following closely behind us.
It seemed like Shwarze and Garulan became the caravan’s unofficial guards without anyone noticing.