It Came Out Looking Pretty Cool, Like Something Out of an Anime
Clang, clang, clang!
The bell rang out deafeningly in the middle of the night.
From somewhere in the distance, I could also hear people shouting, "The barbarians are attacking!"
In the darkness, I quietly waited for the moment to come.
Two days had passed since Chico told me about the bandits. Tonight was a new moon, making it darker outside than usual.
But if they were bandits, they would be used to this level of darkness.
That was why I figured they'd come around tonight. And I was dead on.
Outside, people kept shouting, "It's the barbarians!" and "Run!” They were voices I didn't recognize.
A little while ago, Father had ridden out with Sir Robert and forty-nine other men to drive off the barbarians.
Mother, the servants, and the families of the knights weren't in the mansion either.
The only ones here were me, and...
At that moment, I heard a clack.
It was pitch black, and I couldn't see anything, but I couldn't exactly light a lamp either.
A few minutes later, a scream erupted from beneath the stairs.
"Gyaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!!"
"WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Sounds like Boss is having fun.
Crash! Thud! Crack!
I saw flickering light from below.
I was on the second floor, at the top of the servants' staircase opposite the kitchen.
Figuring it was about time, I scattered crushed magic stones that had been enchanted with Light Magic.
The moment they struck the first-floor floorboards, they lit up.
I slid down the banister and landed on the first floor.
Just then, a chubby, bearded man burst out from the basement.
Our eyes met.
Then the man grinned triumphantly.
"So you're the lord's brat! H-heheheheheh. If I take you hostage, everything will work out perfectly!"
"You're the official named Boromioshi, right?"
"Call me Lord Boromioshi!"
He reached out a hand. The light stones at my feet reflected off it, making his palm glisten unpleasantly.
So greasy! Don't touch me!
Still, a charge like this was nothing. The knights trained me regularly, after all. I dodged easily.
While doing so, I hooked his leg. Boromioshi shot me a resentful glare, then suddenly turned pale.
"Yep. We finished up on our side."
"Ten of 'em barged into that tiny room. Ahh, it was cramped as hell, Young Master."
Boss and his apprentice appeared casually without carrying any lights at all.
Each had two men slung over their shoulders. They dropped the men where they stood.
The groans that followed proved they were still breathing.
"W-why...? How can you fight in a room that dark!?"
"Isn't it obvious if you look at them? They're dwarves. Compared to humans who are merely used to darkness, a race with natural night vision has the advantage."
Dwarves originally dug holes into cliffs and lived inside them.
Well, they were more caves than holes.
Sunlight never reached them, and even during the day they were pitch black.
For people whose normal lives were spent like that, darkness was second nature from birth.
Even in a basement with absolutely no lights, they could see every movement of the intruders perfectly.
"D-damn it! If that's how it is…!"
He spun around and started running with his heavy body.
"Like I'd let you escape… Alchemy!"
I gathered mana into my palm and pressed my hand against the floor.
The magic circle appeared beneath his feet.
The sudden light made him stop. I'd prepared this yesterday morning specifically for today. A stone floor.
I'd alchemized an additional stone layer over the original stone structure, so he hadn't noticed a thing.
"W-what is this light!?"
"Shatter!"
The floor beneath him exploded apart. Startled, he fell flat on his rear.
The flying stone fragments seemed to do more damage than I'd expected.
"Byaah!"
"And then... Reform."
The shattered stones beneath and around him glowed and began changing shape.
Hmm. Not quite enough stone material within the magic circle.
I should've made the stone layer thicker.
"Not enough? Here."
Boss smashed apart a floor stone with his hammer and tossed the pieces into the magic circle.
"Much appreciated. Now then… Complete!"
Zug! Zug!
Things resembling iron pipes rose from the floor.
Of course, they weren't iron. They were stone.
They surrounded Boromioshi in a ring, forming a stone prison.
Yep. That came out looking pretty cool, like something out of an anime.
"Wha…!? What the hell is this!? L-let me out! Hey! Let me out!"
"Eh? Why?"
"W-why...? Uhh... just let me out already! Otherwise I'll kill you!"
Pretty bold thing to say while locked inside a cage.
"If you don't let me out right now, you'll regret it!"
"Eh? Why?"
My second why? of the day.
"Because it's obvious! My men will be back any minute now! And there are people surrounding the mansion too…"
"Dermont-sama. We've dealt with the riffraff outside. Ah, looks like you finished things over here as well."
A knight arrived with impeccable timing to make his report.
"W-why are there knights here!? Weren't they all deployed!? I counted them properly!"
"But did you actually confirm they were knights?"
"Huh?"
Boromioshi blinked blankly.
"There are fifteen dwarf craftsmen here, you know," I told him.
Only two were here right now. The remaining thirteen were…
"Did those guys even manage to ride horses properly?"
"Who knows?"
Among the group chasing the self-proclaimed barbarians were thirteen dwarves.
In exchange, thirteen knights had remained hidden inside the houses, waiting.
"So what if there were dwarves!? The baron doesn't have night vision! There's no way he can beat bandits who are used to fighting at night!"
"Also, Chichiue is a user of Light Magic. Didn't you know?"
"Huh? L-Light Magic?"
I pointed at the floor.
Countless light stones were scattered everywhere. Father had created them.
Illuminating a dark night was effortless for him.
At that moment, a brilliant light rose outside the window.
It looked almost like the morning sun announcing dawn.
But of course, it was nowhere near that time yet.
"Looks like Chichiue and the others have cornered the self-proclaimed barbarians."
"Ah... ahh... that's impossible..."
"No, I'm glad you people were idiots."
Hearing that, Boromioshi hung his head.
"Bwahahaha! That's brutal, kid."
"Eh? Is it?"
When I tilted my head innocently, Boss and his apprentice burst out laughing again.
What do you think about this chapter?
