The bandit leader was a magic user.
Because of this, he didn't fight on the front lines but instead skillfully positioned his subordinates to spring the trap.
His target was a noble’s daughter. She was beautiful and supposedly gifted in magic. She was a prize he’d been commissioned to seize by a certain client.
As luck would have it, her golem-using cousin was traveling separately. It was the perfect opportunity.
He had planned to feign a frontal assault while positioning two veterans in the rear. His strategy was to exploit the moment of relief that would come after the frontal subordinates were defeated and snatch the girl away.
The subordinates in front were merely pawns. They were nothing more than desperate men he had turned into puppets through magic; he didn't care what happened to them.
However, that plan had been effortlessly shattered.
The only combat force he had left was a golem he had received from a mysterious man some time ago.
That golem, given to him free of charge, demonstrated incredible power in exchange for the caster's magical energy.
When he had tested it in the past, it had slaughtered an entire company in the blink of an eye while he remained completely unscathed.
Since then, this golem had become the bandit leader's final trump card.
＊ ＊ ＊
The remaining bandit appeared to be a magic user.
"In exchange for my magical power—Exchange for My Od."
A transparent orb in his hand, roughly the size of a baby’s head, began to glow.
"Summon. Follow. Attack."
As he raised the orb high above his head, a giant shadow emerged from behind the bandit.
"That’s... a golem!"
Adberg the butler cried out in shock. He had never expected a bandit to possess a golem.
"That golem!?" Jin shouted in surprise.
"Jin-kun, do you know what it is?"
Elsa asked the question while shielding Mine, having heard the shock in Jin’s voice.
"Yeah, I saw a similar golem once before in the Klein Kingdom. But that one is..."
This golem was twice as large as the ones they had encountered near Toka Village—the ones that had served as the prototypes for Gon and Gen.
Standing four meters tall, its surface shimmered with a dull silver-gray luster, and it exuded a sinister aura.
"Elsa, call those three back here!"
Sensing something ominous, Jin shouted to Elsa. Elsa also seemed to sense the gravity of the situation.
"Old man! Hermann! Otto! Back here, now!"
Otto was the name of the footman.
However, the three did not obey Elsa’s command. It seemed they intended to meet the golem head-on—at least Adberg the butler and Hermann the guard did.
"No! Humans can't win against that thing!" Jin yelled.
Reiko would have no trouble, but given what happened at Toka Village, there was no guarantee that another golem wouldn't appear elsewhere.
With the injured wet nurse, Mine, and Elsa protecting her, even Reiko couldn't defend two locations at once.
"It’s no use. Those two won't listen," Elsa said, sighing as the two failed to retreat.
"In that case, we have no choice but to go and help them."
"Eh?"
Thinking logically, Reiko had the highest offensive power. Furthermore, Jin possessed his specialized bracelet.
As for defense, Jin had his bracelet, Reiko had her pendant, and Elsa was wearing her Protect Ring.
No matter how he looked at it, Reiko was the one who should go to the rescue. That was Jin's conclusion.
"Elsa, hold Mine tight and say 'Barrier'."
"Okay. Barrier."
Elsa recited the keyword. A barrier spread out to surround them. Seeing this, Jin gave his order.
"Reiko, take them down as quickly as possible and get back here."
"Yes, if that is what you wish, Father."
Reiko took off in a sprint.
Jin looked around vigilantly. Since there was no telling if another attack might come, he stood between Elsa and the bandits, staring intently at their movements and staying on guard.
Elsa watched Jin’s back with a look of pure reliance.
＊ ＊ _＊
"Dammit!"
Hermann swung his sword, and while he managed to strike the golem, he couldn't leave a single scratch on its surface.
"No way... Is it made of adamantite?"
That dull silver-gray glow belonged to adamantite. If that was the case, there was no way his sword could cut it.
However, as Elsa’s guard, Hermann refused to retreat.
Meanwhile, Adberg intended to strike the enemy controlling the golem. But...
"What!?"
When he struck with his steel-cored staff, the impact made his hands go numb.
"Heh heh heh, did you think the caster would be defenseless?"
The magic user had cast a barrier around himself.
"This is... a troublesome opponent," Adberg muttered, frustration beginning to show on his face.
"However, their target is likely the young lady. If so, I must defeat him no matter what... Young lady!?"
Looking toward Elsa, the butler felt a spine-chilling terror.
Behind Elsa, a second golem of the same type was closing in.
"Young lady!? And Mine!?"
Mine lay there covered in blood, with Elsa holding her. The golem charged straight toward them.
"Tch, I knew there were two of them!" Jin shouted.
The golems that attacked at Toka Village had also come in a pair. His suspicion had been correct, but the attack had come from the opposite direction.
"The bandits from before came from behind, and the golem followed the same pattern!"
Jin had fallen slightly behind in his reaction. Right before his eyes, the golem lunged at Elsa and Mine.
"Heh heh heh, this is the end."
The bandit leader licked his lips as he looked at his seemingly defenseless prey, opening his mouth to give another command.
"Golem—"
But he couldn't finish. The bandit's world was suddenly turned upside down.
"...Ah?"
The bandit leader was tossed into the air and then slammed into the ground on his back.
Without even a groan, he lost consciousness.
"That was easy," Reiko muttered.
She had used brute force to pry open the barrier he had cast and then threw the bandit aside.
Next, she squared up against the first golem and delivered a single flash with Touka.
"Whoa!?"
Hermann, the guard, couldn't believe his eyes.
The golem that he couldn't scratch no matter how hard he tried had been sliced in two with a single blow.
Separated into top and bottom halves, the golem collapsed with a heavy metallic clang. Its magic circuits were severed, rendering it motionless forever.
"What about Father?"
Reiko turned her attention back to Jin.
The second golem's arm was closing in on Elsa and Mine.
"Kyaaa!"
"Young lady!"
Elsa and Mine clung to each other and screamed.
However, what Elsa saw was the golem's hand stopping dead in its tracks right in front of her.
"...?"
As Elsa looked on with a pale, bewildered face, Jin's voice rang out.
"Laser!"
It boasted dozens of times the power of the laser Jin could use on his own.
Once the thick beam of light passed through, there was nothing left but a golem lying on the ground, its lower body completely vaporized.
"Phew, I'm glad that worked. That ring protects against most attacks, you know."