Chapter 6

The thieves laughed smugly, but their faces bore a ferocity akin to that of starving beasts.

The girl panicked, comparing the thief and Lambert.

There was no way they could win with such a numerical disadvantage.

Moreover, with Lambert’s heavy armor, it would be impossible to run and escape properly.

“L-Lord Knight, l-let’s surrender…”

To the girl, the thieves might have seemed like starving beasts, but to Lambert, they were at best like puppies.

“No need to worry.”

With that, he drew his sword and charged at the thieves, moving with a speed that belied his heavy armor.

The sound of his metal-clad footsteps was like that of an ogre, and the four men present felt as if the entire forest was trembling. It was hard to believe that the armor was just for show.

“Hey, I’ll circle around to the right and attack from behind! We’ll surround him and beat him to a pulp! You, drop the blowgun and draw your knife! If you stab him in the joints, he won’t stand a chance!”

The thief who was leading the group, wielding a scythe, gave orders to his companions. Initially, they thought that the anachronistic armor would make it impossible for him to move properly, and they planned to tackle him with brute force. However, seeing Lambert’s speed, they realized that this was not going to be possible.

But before the man could circle around, Lambert had already closed the distance to within striking range of his greatsword.

“Huh?”

The next thing they felt was an intense killing aura. The miasma that leaked from Lambert as he exerted himself enveloped the thieves, instilling them with fear. Before they could fully savor this fear, Lambert’s greatsword swung horizontally.

“Haaaah!”

The strike, accompanied by a battle cry, sent the head of the leading thief flying high into the air. With his next step, he delivered a second blow, slicing upward. The remaining two thieves were also cut in half by the overwhelming mass of Lambert’s greatsword. The three bodies were sent flying in different directions. From a distance, the girl could only see that Lambert had dispatched all three with a single strike.

“...Amazing.”

The girl, who had witnessed Lambert’s strength, even doubted whether this was a dream. His power seemed so overwhelming and unrealistic.

As Lambert sheathed his greatsword, the head of the first thief he had struck fell behind him, splitting open and spilling blood like a red fruit.

“They were quite weak, weren’t they? It’s rather unusual. They didn’t look like they were struggling for food. I hope this isn’t a bad omen…”

During the Eight Kingdoms Unification War, the Regius Kingdom had military units stationed throughout the country to defend against enemy attacks. Villagers, in response to conscription by the kingdom, were typically well-trained. Thieves needed a certain level of skill to rob armed villagers and evade the powerful kingdom’s army. During the war, the average person’s combat ability was much higher than it is now.

Unaware of this, Lambert found the thieves’ amateurish movements strange.

After seeing Lambert’s strength, the girl no longer hesitated to lead him to the village. She thought that even if he faced thirty opponents, he might still be able to handle them. Finally, she agreed to guide him, and Lambert followed her to the village.

During the journey, Lambert sensed the mana of a monster coming from ahead, but he didn’t mention it.

(This feeling... it’s probably just at the level of a goblin. There’s no need to be overly cautious.)

After a while, they encountered two bipedal wolf-like creatures. They were kobolds. Known for living in caves and gathering minerals, they are not particularly strong but are somewhat cunning, often using underhanded tactics to kill and eat other animals.

The two kobolds were sitting a short distance away, digging in the ground with their fingers, searching for insects to eat.

Lambert, upon seeing the kobolds, realized that the reason he hadn’t encountered any other animals besides ogres was due to the miasma he was emitting.

If he kept emitting miasma, it would repel monsters. He thought it might have some practical uses.

“A little detour, but it’s probably better to avoid them…”

The girl whispered to Lambert, but he ignored her and moved forward. Allowing monsters near the village could lead to future problems. Besides, he had something he wanted to test.

The two kobolds noticed Lambert, stood up, and bared their fangs, letting out a roar.

“Gwooo!”

Lambert stood his ground, deliberately emitting miasma and glaring at the kobolds. Sensing the miasma, the two kobolds lowered their tails and crouched on the ground. Seeing that Lambert was unresponsive, they rolled onto their backs, exposing their soft underbellies.

“Yip… yip!”

This was a pose of respect that kobolds took when facing a superior opponent. By exposing their vulnerable underbellies, they were showing that they had no intention of fighting and were placing their lives in the hands of the other.

“...They look a bit pitiful…”

The girl muttered softly.

(Although I’m not emitting the full miasma… for them to be this frightened. I see, this can be used in such a way.)

Lambert approached the two kobolds and, with his greatsword, decapitated them both.

“...”

The girl was speechless at the brutality. Lambert guessed that she was thinking that he didn’t need to kill them.

“...Kobolds sometimes set fires in villages and loot during the chaos. If they were to be tamed and used as livestock, it would be different, but otherwise, they must be killed. I could have let them go in another place, but the village is nearby.”

“Y-Yes… you’re right.”

The girl felt ashamed of her rashness. While it was true that monsters often harmed humans and should be killed on sight, she had been swayed by the kobolds’ pitiful cries and had let her guard down.