## Chapter 739 – Paladin Kim Kat

The fact that dungeons meant money was something my women also thought, so they started preparing for the trip the very next day.

We bought everything we needed and several sets of dungeon clothes. After buying everything, it ended up being a uniform look with stretchy leather pants and a jacket, similar to what Cloudie usually wears.

Throwing a brigandine-style coat over it, or a robe that comes down to the hips, and cinching the waist with a belt completes the dungeon exploration outfit. The robe also had a hood. And of course, boots are the way to go for footwear.

We also stocked up on several cloaks.

I bought a new backpack, and as for potions, Risha could make them, but it’s more convenient to order chicken than to make it yourself at home, right? I bought a lot with the mindset of investing everything since dungeons are a source of money.

It might be a tough journey, but my women weren’t ordinary. They were veterans who could make even the most formidable monsters and serial killers piss their pants and run away.

Risha, despite her homebody witch vibe, had considerable strength and stamina. Ari was also above average, probably due to her race.

After gathering everything we needed and loading it onto the carriage, three days had passed. The preparations were complete. Now, let’s get going.

I have everything I need, whether it’s a map of that area or a guidebook.

“Let’s go, you fucking bastards.”

—Krrr.
—Grrr.

Illyong and Ilyong, who didn’t have much to do besides pull the carriage, seemed overjoyed at the prospect of doing something productive for once, and they started lumbering forward, breathing happily.

However, I still couldn’t tell which one was the real Illyong and which was Ilyong.

Now, it’s useless to put name tags on them or dye them to tell them apart. Even if I put a name tag on them, would that make it the real Illyong? Maybe it was actually Ilyong, and I put the tag on the wrong one?

What if I put the wrong name tag on and lose the chance to correct it forever? What if this bastard isn’t Illyong, or if this one isn’t Ilyong…

—Doubt breeds demons.

Only suspicion arises.

Rather than suspecting Illyong and Ilyong, who are like my friends, I chose the path of suffering myself.

“Yeah…”

I just need to get hurt…

“You guys don’t need to worry about anything…”

I’m starting to feel gloomy even before we leave.

“Is everyone on board?!”

Anyway, I shouted loudly, and —creak. With the sound of a window opening, Winia’s voice was heard.

“Blackie, let’s go!”
“Yes!”

And so, I drove the carriage.

—Krr.
—Grrrr.

Illyong and Ilyong skillfully headed towards the main gate of the house, and as soon as I passed through the gate, I got off briefly to lock it and then climbed back onto the driver’s seat.

Now, let’s head towards that border area.

* * *

It was going to take quite a while to get to the border area.

It was located quite far from the capital in the first place.

The kingdom is very vast.

Still, the road to get there was reasonably well-paved, so there were no problems.

We moved while passing through the cities and towns that were densely packed near the capital. There was always a road connecting the cities, and using that road allowed us to move quickly without any particular incidents.

If I were alone, I could have just run day and night, but Illyong and Ilyong, who were pulling the carriage, had to rest at night.

Anyway, we managed to get close to the border area soon, adjusting well by stopping the carriage in cities or towns on some days, and sleeping in the forest on others.

Looking at the map, it’s certain.

“These bastards are really good at using their strength.”

—Krrr.
—Grrrrr.

Ordinary horses or cockatrice subspecies wouldn’t be able to come this fast. These fucking bastards have stamina that’s on a different level from those weak mounts.

Seeing them move so diligently makes my chest swell with pride, and I feel like patting their heads.

How great would it be if I had a car?

Why doesn’t the Magic Tower make magic cars? Seeing that they have golems that can move on their own, isn’t it common sense that they can make cars too?

Or maybe they just don’t have the idea? So, does Kim Kat, who came from modern Earth, have to provide the idea and get a patent? I don’t know, damn it. It would be so convenient if I just had a car.

“Damn.”

Anyway, the time was a leisurely afternoon.

While coming here, I often encountered other carriages or travelers, and everyone seemed to be heading to the dungeon hoping for a quick fortune.

Still, maybe because my carriage is so big, there weren’t any conflicts.

That’s a fortunate story, but it’s only natural that thugs would flock in when people gather like this. No, beyond natural, it’s 100% guaranteed to happen.

Because those kinds of guys make up the majority of people.

Guys who used to be bandits or members of robber gangs gather to make a killing, surround the carriage, and rob and kill everyone.

They’re aiming for a quick fortune in a slightly different sense.

In fact, if they come with the numbers of a platoon, they’re quite powerful. Besides that, targeting and robbing small groups of travelers also happens routinely.

As many people come, there are plenty of people who will become customers of the robbers. Even if nearby nobles or powerful people crack down, it doesn’t stop, and a new guy just fills the spot. Above all, everyone is so focused on the dungeon, would they crack down professionally? They’ll just kill a few people and be done with it.

And would robbers even care about crackdowns? The guys who firmly believe that they’ll never die are exactly those robbers.

I just hope they don’t come out and bother me… It’s been sparsely populated since a while ago, and no other travelers are in sight, so I’m starting to think that this would be a great place to settle down and wait.

“…Shit.”

Had we moved for about two more hours?

“A bad feeling never lies.”

—…

While guarding the left and right sides of the road and driving the carriage, I noticed someone hiding behind the bushes and trees next to the road.

He’s trying to hide well in his own way, but he can’t fool my senses. If he can see me from this distance, I can see him too.

And since I can see him, he’s not a skilled person.

Anyway.

Is there any reason to hide in such a place and watch the road? An ordinary person would never do that. He’s probably the guy hiding there to scout for prey.

“Stop, you fucking bastards.”

—Grrr.
—Krr.

I immediately stopped the carriage and got down from the driver’s seat. I don’t know if the guy hiding is planning to observe my movements right now, but he was still still.

I immediately approached the window of the carriage, gently tapped on the window, and said softly.

“…Can you hear me? There’s someone in front, and he might be a robber, so get ready.”

After telling them that, I drew my sword and walked slowly.

I’m worried that Illyong and Ilyong might be surprised if a fight breaks out. They’re drakes that can eat most small monsters, but they’ll be in a lot of pain if robbers swarm them and stab them with spears and swords.

“Hey, you there. Stop. Wait right there.”
“…”

The guy doesn’t know that he’s been caught, or he’s just staying still behind the tree. He doesn’t react at all even when I talk to him.

What the hell is he thinking?

Let’s ask him first.

Just in case he’s not a robber.

That’s when it happened.

“It’s an ambush!!!”
“What, this bastard?”

—Swish!
—Swish!
—Swish!

As soon as he shouted loudly, swishing sounds started coming from over there. It seems like they were ambushing in the back, where they could completely hide their bodies.

A format where only the lookout is in front like this, and when he signals, they attack all at once.

“Surround them! It’s just one carriage!”
“Surround them, damn it!!”
“Keep the formation!”

Whether they’re professional robbers, the guys who came running while shouting loudly were trying to form a formation while holding their spears and swords forward. Counting them roughly, there are twenty of them.

A fairly large robber gang.

No, but even if there are more than ten of them, can’t they see my carriage? They have brains, too. They all know that they can’t easily win against guys who look like they have a lot of money.

What can I do?

Did they attack simply because only one carriage was traveling alone without any escort?

I asked them first.

“Hey, guys, damn it. Can’t you see my carriage is huge? Who do you think is inside? A mage? A knight? A noble? Are you confident you can beat those kinds of people?”
“Shut up! Kill him!”
“We’ll take care of this guy, so quickly surround the carriage!! He’s coming soon!!”

Who’s coming?

“The boss will take care of evryth—?!”
“How dare you tell an adult to shut up!! What kind of manners is that!”

I shoved my sword into the mouth of the guy who was shouting the loudest and beheaded the guy next to him.

“Uh, uh?!”
“Don’t space out, you idiots.”

As soon as two guys died in an instant, the robbers panicked greatly.

“U, uaaaaaack!!”
“Kill himmm!!!”

They bravely shouted and started running towards me.

“Their tenacity is commendable.”

But the length of their weapons is too short, and their speed is too slow to react to my movements… No, damn it. The difference in skill is too great to even analyze. I have to kill these kinds of guys with my current experience? Is this how a college student feels when they go back to elementary school?

—Swoosh!

As I lightly swung the sword filled with a sense of futility, the bodies of the robbers who were running towards me were sliced like sliced ham and collapsed into pieces.

“Giyaaaaaaack!!”
“Aaaaack!!”

Lightly, without needing to be nervous.

The guys who rushed at me couldn’t last even a second each and died.

“Huk! Boss! When is the boss coming!”
“He’s coming behind us, damn it!!!”
“H, hey! Just…!”

Who is the boss?

I was thinking that while slitting the throats of the kids, when —flinch! I felt an inhuman sensation for a moment and immediately checked the source.

—Whoosh!

“Fire Bolt!!!”

A fireball was flying towards me!

A mage!

—Swoosh!

I immediately created a sword aura and slashed at the fireball, and —crackle! The fireball that was flying was cut into pieces and extinguished.

It didn’t explode because I cut it with a sword aura!

“Which bastard!!!”

—Whoosh!
—Whoosh!

However, there wasn’t just one fireball flying.

Several fireballs flew in succession, and I identified the mage’s location while cutting down each one as I had just done.

I have to kill him first since he’s annoying.

—Flash!

But at that moment, something popped out from the direction where the fireballs were flying and rushed towards me.

“What’s this guy?”
“Kriyaaaaaaaap—!!!!”

He’s quite fast. But it wasn’t a speed that I couldn’t follow with my eyes, and looking at him, a man wearing brown clothes was running while raising his sword and shining his eyes. The loud shout was a bonus.

—A professional killer.

“This guy?”

Probably the leader of this robber gang.

Looking at his speed and attack timing, he’s a warrior-type enemy with a lot of skill and experience. He was attacking while aiming for my vitals, as if riding the wind.

A combined attack technique of a mage and a swordsman.

“Idiot.”

—Whoosh!

“Huk?!”

I simply swung Vিউgall horizontally, and with that, both of his wrists were cut off while still holding the sword, and they flew into the sky.

He has some skill, but there’s no way this kind of guy can do anything to me.

“You chose the wrong opponent, you moron.”
“Keuhak…!”

—Stab!

I immediately stabbed my sword into his abdomen after blowing away his hands.

“Keuk…!”

As I stabbed him, he vomited blood and knelt down.

Ah, is this one of those robber gangs formed by a wandering mage and a skilled swordsman? Certainly, with this much power, they could rob even a carriage that looks quite expensive.

If they ambush, the attack will definitely work.

And after robbing them roughly, they can just run away to another area.

But there’s no way that kind of trick will work on me.
They misjudged.

“B, boss…!”
“Hey! What should we do…!”
“R, run! We have to run, damn it!!”

At the same time, the robbers who were trying to surround the carriage shouted reflexively. The fact that I stabbed the boss’s stomach with a sword happened in an instant.

The boss died in a few seconds, so it’s understandable that they’re scared.

—Bang!

“Which fucking bastards are blocking the road?”
“Oh, sis.”

At that moment, Karin, armed, walked out as the door of the carriage opened. Looking at her closing the door as soon as she came out, it seemed like she had decided to come out alone as the representative.

“Heh. It’s been a long time, this kind of thing. I used to kill them all back in the day.”

As soon as she came out, she grasped the situation and took a stance.

“Sis. There’s a mage here, so please kill the robber bastards.”

—Flash!

Karin, without even answering, kicked off the ground in an instant.