Wizard Of Cosmos

26 - Hanna

“Have a seat, Sir Initiate.”

Simon showed the seat to Jason.

“Hm….”

Jason sat on the couch, but his eyes were on the two older men behind the mayor. He felt the vibe of the Elites from them.

“Let’s get to the point. I am here about the bandits.”

“Ba… Bandits?”

Simon wiped the sweat off his forehead. He didn’t expect to hear something like this from a Wizard Initiate. 

‘Was he robbed?’

If so, he would be in deep trouble as the mayor.

‘Which idiotic bandit would rob a Wizard Initiate? Even if they did, why let the man walk alive? Wait! Did they kill him? Then this alien must be very angry after coming back to life.’

Simon wanted to strangle the stupid bandits. 

“Sir… We… We are ready to compensate.”

“Huh? For what?”

“You… Weren’t you robbed?”

‘Are you dumb?’

Jason simply stared at the mayor, failing to speak.

“Sigh.”

He took out the map after an awkward silence and placed it on the table.

“There are two bandits groups, here and here….”

He showed the X marks he put on the map. 

“Small groups. Acceptable for a small town. Then we have one here. A fortress; and I want to know why?”

Simon felt a cold sweat drenching him. He knew this question would come out someday, but not this soon. 

‘Why is this alien concerned about bandits?’

He couldn’t understand, but he had to give an answer. The identity of this alien made things difficult for him.

Jason realised even the two guards behind the mayor looked startled. 

“You don’t have an answer? Are you having a deal with them? Is that why you are hiding this?”

“No… No. It is nothing like that, Sir.”

“Then?”

Jason didn’t believe a mayor from a small town like this would have connections to such an organised group. If this man had any connection, it would be a small cut. Even that wasn’t possible.

“Why aren’t you taking any action?”

“Because… Because we can’t, sir.”

The man who answered him wasn’t the mayor, but one of his elite guards. 

“You can’t? Don’t tell me they are too strong.”

“They… They are very strong, sir.”

Mayor finally regained his composure.

“Give me the details.”

Jason wanted to know all the details. 

…

“So, are you saying they appeared out of nowhere and built the fortress before you were even ready?”

“Yes, sir. That is exactly what happened.”

“I see.”

Jason fell into thought.

According to the mayor, this was a small bandit group like the previous one. However, one day, another group came and defeated the original leader, taking over the group. This strange group was far stronger than the previous one and had six Elites in their ranks. 

With the previous defeated leader and his aid, the current group had a total of eight elites. 

‘That is already too much.’ 

The weirdest part about these bandits seemed to be their ambition. Instead of ransacking or robbing villagers, they had completely exterminated a couple of villages. This brutality escalated to a point where the former bandit leader even asked for help from the mayor in secrecy. However, he understood that this small town with two elites could do nothing.

As for the other two groups, one was simply a group of farmers who escaped and did little harm. The second group had contact with the stronger group, making it a risk to take action against them. 

“Are you really not going to ask for help? Don’t you really think the behaviour of these bandits is abnormal?”

“What can I do, Sir Initiate? I can’t ask for help as long as there are no Masters among the enemy.”

“Do you trust the former bandit leader? The one that contacted you?”

“Trust? I mean… I can see he is sincere about taking down the intruders. But….:”

“Hm… Do you still have a way to contact him?” 

“Ah… I do.”

“How fast can you send him a message?”

“A message? I can send it within a day, Sir.”

“Contact him and arrange a meeting. I want to meet him.”

The more he learned about the situation, the more Jason felt his intuition was correct. This third group of bandits were not simple bandits. 

“How many men can you send?”

“Men, Sir Initiate?”

“Soldiers!”

“Ah… With you? About… About fifty?”

“Get them ready.”

He got up, preparing to leave.

“I will do that, Sir. Are you leaving?”

“I am.”

He had nothing more to do here. 

“I will be in the town after dark. Let me know when you contact the man.”

“Yes. Sir, are you… Really going to do something about these bandits?”

“Yes.”

Jason started walking out of the room. He had to reach the forest again and look for a possible plan. It was almost impossible for him to take on six Elites. That was given that the former bandit leader might betray the current leader. 

“If your master….”

“Do you think my master would move against a mere group of bandits?”

Jason stopped for a second, looking over his shoulder.

“That….”

Simon looked down, knowing it was true. 

“My master won’t bother with something so small. I should make sure such things won’t trouble my master, shouldn’t I?”

“Ah….”

Simon didn’t answer back, but his mood brightened all of a sudden. 

He couldn’t ask for help from Alexandria or from envoy Boris. However, if a Wizard Initiated took the lead, things would be different. 

“Sir Initiate, mind if I ask your name?”

“I am Jason Hope.”

…

“Sigh. Here I am, trying to fight against bandits. These people have no idea there will be an alien invasion in ten more years. But they should know about aliens because of us.”

Jason returned to the small alley he rested in the morning in the dark. The town was a safe area for the players. There shouldn’t be any surprises waiting for him when he logged in again. 

He walked around the forest, hiding from the bandits as much as possible. The possibility of having eight Elites was enough to make him cautious. However, he roughly had an idea of what he should do. 

“He… Hello.”

“Huh?”

Jason saw the little girl from morning coming out again. She was no longer crying. 

‘This was the second time. How did she do that?’

Just like the morning, he failed to detect the girl’s presence. 

“Why are you still here? Did you buy anything to eat?”

He saw the girl shaking her head. 

“They… They don’t like me.”

She took a piece of clothing and showed all the money in it.

“Wait here.”

…

“Here.”

He sat on the ground, giving the little girl a meat bun he brought.

He took another and took a bite. The quality of the bun wasn’t very good, and he thought Amelia was a better cook. 

‘Hmm… I should cook.”

He learned to cook well during his last life. He made some simple dishes on Earth, but he didn’t have good ingredients in the first place. After all, the money was always tight. 

‘Hm?’

He long heard the footsteps of the approaching soldiers.

‘Why did I fail to find you?’

The girl was silently eating her bun.

“Eat more if you are hungry.”

He placed the paper bag with a few more buns on the ground. 

“Sir Initiate? My Lord invites you to the mansion!”

Jason realised one of the two guards who came to the alley was someone he met in the morning. 

The man looked surprised by him sitting on the ground. 

“Ah… Sir, that is the cursed child. Get out of here, you filth.”

The soldier jumped forward, scaring the little girl. She jumped away and tried to hide behind the craters. 

“Stop! What are you talking about?”

Jason dropped the bun and stood up in a second. His sword was already out.

“Sir. That girl is cursed. She says weird things, and her eyes are cursed.”

“Cursed?”

Jason looked at the girl, who was trying to defend herself with teary eyes. Her behaviour showed that treatment like this was quite common to her. She wasn’t asking for help or trying to fight back. It seemed as if she knew it was useless. 

‘What could a child like that even do? Curse? I know magic, but she has no magic at all.’

He looked at her for a couple of seconds.

“Get out of here.”

“Huh, Sir Initiate?”

The soldier looked surprised.

“Get out of here. Tell your lord to find me if he can do what I asked him to do.”

“But….”

“Leave!”

He didn’t let go of the hilt until the two men backed away. 

“Come on. Sit and eat.”

Jason found himself a place on the ground and picked up the dropped bun. 

As the girl approached him with a scared look, he wondered about these superstitions. Just like Earth which was full of science, this world full of magic didn’t lack superstitions. 

‘Her eyes are very rare, but I never heard of such a curse.’

“Are you… Not afraid of me?”

“Hm, should I be?”

The girl shook her head, wiping off several tears. It was the first time someone protected her. 

“Are you… Going to stay here?”

“I will stay here. But I might disappear at night and will come back in the morning.”

He finished the bun and gulped down some water. 

‘Hm… Pale green eyes. Hanna? Is this a joke? Bandit Queen, Hanna?”

Jason almost choked when he realised who this girl could be.