—Atop a massive tree in the forest northwest of Ket Nya.
From high up in the towering branches, I enchanted my spears with magic and hurled two of them in rapid succession.
The first spear streaked through the air and pierced the chest of a man with long black hair gathered at his crown. The second followed an instant later, boring through his skull and scattering brain matter across the dirt. With that, our victory over the bandits was decided.
"Incredible... They really did just wipe themselves out."
Chato, who had been tasked with keeping an eye on me, managed to choke out the words.
"..."
The others around us seemed equally stunned. Not a single person uttered a sound as they stared blankly down at the settlement, which was now littered with the corpses of the fallen bandits.
"How did you manage to land that last spear?"
Kiji stroked his chin, eyeing me with deep curiosity.
"I just used magic to lock onto the coordinates, extended the spear's throwing range, and let fly."
Using Clean Hit, an intermediate accuracy-correction spell, I had committed that precise location to memory. Then, after applying the non-elemental spell Weapon Performance Enhancement (Medium) to the spear, I bolstered my strength with Physical Enhancement (Medium) and hurled it with everything I had. If they wanted to make it out of that settlement alive, that path was their only way out. As long as they were guaranteed to pass through it, all we had to do was wait for the right moment and release the throw. It was as simple as that.
"Gil, maybe you were a hunter, just like that other guy."
Kiji voiced the exact possibility I had been turning over in my own mind, his tone thoughtful.
"A hunter, huh...? Maybe so."
Indeed, unless someone was a hunter, there was no reason they would know about something as dangerous as dream grass. Coming up with such a tactic and being able to cast multiple spells only made that background seem all the more likely.
Then again, I had lost my memories and somehow ended up in a place like this. Whatever chain of events led to that couldn't have been pretty.
"So, what do we do now?"
Chato asked me. It seemed I had managed to earn at least a baseline level of trust.
"We can't be sure they don't have another detachment out there. Wandering around carelessly is too dangerous. For now, let's fall back to the cave where the others took refuge."
That said, I had confirmed nearly thirty bandits entering the settlement earlier. Most bandit gangs rarely numbered over fifty. If so, that previous battle had likely wiped out more than half their forces. At this point, even if they tried to overwhelm us with brute force, defending against them would be well within our capabilities.
"Understood. Everyone, we're heading back to the cave!"
At Kiji's order, the others nodded, swiftly bounded down from the massive tree, and dashed across the forest floor.
I climbed down through the branches to the ground as well, then offered both my wrists to Kiji.
"...Sorry about this, Gil."
Looking apologetic, Kiji bound my wrists with rope.
"Nah, don't worry about it. Come on, let's get moving."
I shook my head and gestured forward with my chin.
"Right."
Kiji nodded, and we took off running toward the cave.