The next day, Axel, wearing the simple clothes of a commoner—a tunic, fabric pants, and shoes—walked toward the town of Duncan in the Kingdom of Nafarius, taking a path that cut across grassland and bordered a forest. Although the sun was directly overhead, as an Ancient One, Axel was completely unaffected by the sunlight shining down on him. He walked casually, not feeling a thing, even humming to himself.
"Aaah, finally outside after two years in the dark," Axel hummed in his head, smiling.
He spotted a signpost directly ahead of him at a fork in the road, and he stopped to read the directions to Duncan. The sign indicated that straight ahead led to the mines at the foot of the mountains, to the right led to the capital of the Nafarius kingdom, and to the left led to the town of Duncan. Without hesitation, Axel took the path to the left.
"The academy isn't in the capital?" Bella asked.
"No, it's in the town of Duncan. Actually, it's not a royal academy that educates nobles for royal matters. It's an academy for hunters, founded by the hunter association," Axel answered.
"Oh, I see. Now I'm curious," Bella replied.
"Me too, I'm actually curious as well, but don't forget, our goal is only to gather information and fend off the angel attack there," Axel stated.
"I understand," Bella replied.
"If we come out, will we burn?" Sharon asked.
"I don't know, but you shouldn't," Hailey replied.
"I want to come out, but I'm scared, too," Avery added.
"Same here, even though I'm curious," Valerie added.
"Want to try coming out?" Axel asked in his head.
"No," Sharon, Hailey, Valerie, and Avery replied simultaneously.
As he walked casually, Axel suddenly heard the sound of commotion and shouting up ahead. Faintly, he also heard the clashing of weapons. Axel slightly quickened his pace because he wanted to know what was going on. As Axel walked further, the sound grew closer.
"What's up ahead?" Valerie asked.
"Don't know, let's just see," Axel replied casually while walking.
When Axel got close to the source of the noise, he saw from a distance that a horse-drawn carriage carrying passengers was surrounded by a gang of bandits, about fifteen of them. Axel walked closer, squinting. He saw a girl, about sixteen years old, with blonde hair, wearing common clothes, fighting the bandits alone, protecting the carriage with her sword.
"Hmm," Axel muttered while walking.
"Are you going to help her, Axel?" Hailey asked.
"Yeah, I should help. Poor girl is being swarmed by a gang of bandits," Axel replied.
Without further delay, Axel moved toward the carriage at lightning speed, like a shadow gliding swiftly.
***
The girl, fighting to protect the carriage, parried a bandit's sword, then kicked the bandit in the stomach, forcing him back. The girl was starting to breathe heavily, her eyes darting left and right to check her surroundings. The bandits surrounding her laughed and mocked her. They were deliberately advancing one by one and not swarming her, trying to wear the girl down. The girl's pretty face looked anxious.
She glanced at her surroundings and saw two men dressed as soldiers sprawled out nearby. Then she looked into the carriage, where a woman and two small girls could be seen inside.
"You're tougher than you look, even being so pretty. How about you just join us and become our toy, hehe," taunted a bandit with a vicious face, a scruffy beard, and a bandana, resting his sword on his shoulder and laughing.
"Shut up, leave us alone. There's nothing in this carriage. You're wasting your time trying to rob it," the girl snapped, panting.
"Alright, I'll take a turn now. If you lose, you become my pet, hehe," a tall, thin bandit who was slightly hunched over stepped forward, chuckling at the girl.
The girl immediately braced herself, taking her sword stance. She pulled her sword back and bent her knees, ready to attack and receive an attack, even though her heart was pounding. Her sharp, green eyes stared at the bandit in front of her, who looked completely dismissive of her and twirled his sword, which resembled a machete.
The bandit stepped forward to attack with a wide grin, the girl got ready, and without hesitation, she thrust her sword toward the bandit, but suddenly,
"Hup,"
Axel arrived between them and caught the girl's sword with two fingers, even though he was facing away from the girl, making her gasp in shock. Axel's other index finger stabbed the bandit's forehead, making the bandit's eyes roll up as he instantly died, though his vicious grin was still plastered on his face. The bandit's body fell. Immediately, all the remaining bandits became serious and wary.
"Who are you?" shouted one of the bandits.
"Me? Just passing through," Axel replied casually.
Axel removed his finger, then turned to face the girl and smiled at her. She was stunned, staring at him with wide eyes.
"Sorry, can I borrow your sword?" Axel asked.
"Y-yes, please," the girl stammered but gave him the sword.
"Attack!"
The entire gang of bandits immediately charged from all directions, attacking Axel, raising their various weapons like axes, maces, swords, and knives. "Shriing," Axel spun, slashing his sword swiftly. Then he returned the sword to the girl, smiling. The girl gasped because the blade was covered in fresh blood. The girl was even more stunned because she saw the gang of bandits who had been running forward to attack suddenly stop, their faces frozen.
Suddenly, "sreet," all the bodies of the bandits shifted and fell to the ground, along with severed arms or hands holding weapons, leaving only legs or upper torsos still standing on the ground. All the severed parts looked incredibly clean and neat, as if cut by an extremely sharp blade.
Seeing this, the girl immediately covered her mouth with her hand. The woman inside the carriage covered the eyes of her two little girls and turned away. Then the girl looked at Axel, who was smiling in front of her.
"Who… who are you?" the girl asked.
"Just passing through. Well then, excuse me," Axel replied, intending to continue his journey, and walked past the girl.
"Wait," the girl turned and grabbed Axel's wrist.
Axel turned to see the girl, who looked very pretty with her round, green eyes.
"Where are you going?" the girl asked.
"To Duncan town. Why?" Axel asked.
"Come with us," the girl replied.
"Hmm," Axel thought for a moment. Then he looked at the road, which still seemed long because the town wasn't visible at all. Then he looked back at the girl. "Can I ride the carriage?" Axel asked.
"I'm sure the driver will give you permission. Wait a minute," the girl said.
The girl left Axel and ran to the front. She seemed to talk to the driver up front, and soon after, she ran back to Axel.
"You can. Thank you for helping us from the bandits," the girl said cheerfully.
"No problem," Axel replied casually.
"What's your name? You look about my age," the girl said.
"Axel. I just turned 17," Axel replied casually. "Though I've actually looked 17 or 18 for the last two years," Axel mused in his head.
"My name is Marie Richtor. I also just turned 17. Nice to meet you, Axel," Marie said cheerfully, extending her hand.
"Nice to meet you," Axel replied, shaking Marie's hand and giving a faint smile. "Marie Richtor… the protagonist of the game Eclipse Twilight. This is interesting," Axel mused in his head.