I stepped forward, protecting Hayes with my shield. As soon as I opened the carriage door and stepped outside, I saw about ten bandits positioned on the slope.
"A small fry group," I thought. There weren't many of them. These kinds of guys usually target small caravans or people traveling alone in a carriage without guards, like me. In other words, they're cowards.
"My lord!"
"Stay inside! If you come out, you'll die by my hand!"
"Ah! Yes!"
I turned Hayes back with a sharp word to suppress her instinct to be devoted. Ten people were manageable. According to my calculations, it was a number I could handle. Scanning with my mind's eye, I saw that the leader of the group had some decent stats and level.
[Tog – Lv. 8]
[Strength: 26]
[Stamina: 25]
[Magic: 0]
[Intelligence: 2]
[Agility: 9]
[Charm: 3]
[Physical Defense: 3]
[Magic Defense: 0]
[Special Traits: None]
[General Traits: Plunder, Lust]
[Possesses the artifact 'Moodydus's Old Staff.']
"He's even weaker than Chad, whom I faced in the underground mine. Wait a minute! But how does this guy have an artifact?" I was surprised by the information my mind's eye provided.
Moodydus's Old Staff looked like a shabby staff made from ancient wood. It was named after an old wizard, Moodydus. If the seal isn't released, it's just a wooden stick. But once mana is infused and circulated, the seal breaks, and the artifact's true power is revealed. However, it seemed Tog had no idea about this. The staff's color was still that of a sealed state, and he was waving it around like a toy.
"Besides trying to kill me, there's another reason to take him down. I can't just let an artifact pass by!"
"Need help? I could possess you for a bit or scare them with my appearance," Isabella offered.
"No need. I can handle it alone."
"Trying to act cool, huh?" Isabella tried to assist, but I coldly brushed her off. I didn't want to rely on help for something I could solve myself.
With a flash, I used the Haste spell to quickly dash forward, heading straight into the group along the hill.
"Shoot! Kill that guy!"
"Boss, isn't he a wizard?"
"Shut up and shoot! Just because he's a wizard doesn't mean he's invincible! He's probably just a novice wizard at best! It's not the first time we've killed a wizard!"
Ignorance breeds courage, and Tog was exactly that.
"Haaaah!"
Whether he recognized Haste or not, Tog charged at me with an axe in hand.
"Strength."
I used the 2nd class Strength spell to temporarily boost my strength. The reason was simple. Tog's attack aimed at me was none other than an axe throw.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
He put quite a bit of force into it, and the axe spun through the air with a loud noise.
"I can see it. I see it clearly."
The enhanced physical senses from Haste and the boosted strength from Strength created a synergy effect.
Thump!
Calmly, I caught the flying axe. I grabbed it right when the handle was facing me.
"Mm!"
Because of Tog's strength, I was slightly pushed back when I caught it. But I quickly regained my balance and threw the axe back at Tog.
"Huh?"
Even as I approached Tog with Haste, the distance between us had halved in just a second.
And then.
Thud!
The axe I threw lodged itself into Tog's shoulder. Blood spurted out, and the wound was severe enough to almost split his shoulder open.
"Eek!"
In the moment of Tog's panic, I grabbed him by the collar.
"You called me a novice wizard?"
"D-Damn it! We even caught and killed a blind fool of a 2nd class wizard not long ago!"
Even in that situation, Tog bragged about his past deeds instead of reflecting. I wasn't interested in hearing his long-winded stories. He tried to kill me, so he must pay the price.
"I was feeling empty without an artifact, so I'll just take yours."
Thud!
"Argh! My eyes!"
Without hesitation, I jabbed my fingers into Tog's eyes. Then, aiming my hands at his face, I cast the Magic Missile spell right in front of him. Magic Missile is usually used for harassment at a distance, but at this close range, it could deal significant damage, like when I broke Glagas's legs before.
Crack!
As expected, Tog's face made a cracking sound as he took the Magic Missile directly to the face.
"Ugh."
Tog collapsed forward, bleeding from his nose, mouth, and ears. He was dead. I quickly picked up Moodydus's Old Staff from beside his fallen body. To the naked eye, it looked like an ordinary staff. But using my mind's eye skill to check, a completely different set of artifact information appeared.
[Moodydus's Old Staff]
[Category Rank: 2-star]
[Option 1: Increases magic by 100]
[Option 2: Moodydus's Prayer – When all magic is depleted, you can use a prayer to fully restore magic. Usable once per day.]
"Great. A real stroke of luck!"
Magic 100 is a stat you can only reach by leveling up 20 times. Skipping that process and getting it through an artifact was a huge gain. The staff's rank was 2-star. In <Paradiso>, artifacts are ranked in 11 stages, from 1-star to 10-star, and then transcendent. A 2-star artifact isn't amazing, but it means the options are somewhat useful. Even a 1-star artifact has its uses because artifacts themselves are rare items.
Then a message appeared. It was a quest guide, a quest that activated automatically when conditions were met.
[Quest 'Bandit Extermination' has been activated. Do you accept?]
[Remaining Bandits 01 / 10]
[Upon quest completion, you will receive the title 'First Bandit Exterminator.' Charm will permanently increase by 10.]
"The quest came at just the right time. Charm is like the average favorability towards a lord, so it's good to increase it!"
Exterminating bandits and increasing charm. There was no reason to refuse such a two-for-one quest.
"Let's go!"
I charged towards the bandits without hesitation.
After that.
Exactly one minute passed. That was the time it took to deal with the nine bandits.
"Aaah!"
"Ugh!"
"Argh!"
The small bandit camp led by Tog was completely destroyed by me. As a bonus, my level increased to 5, and I permanently gained 10 charm stat points through the title. It was like killing two birds with one stone.
At the same time, a man was peeking out fearfully from a makeshift prison next to the latrine in Tog's camp.
"What is happening?"
Through the slightly open door, he saw Tog's gang being slaughtered by a man in plain clothes. Having picked up quite a bit about magic, he could roughly identify the spells the man was using. Haste, Magic Missile, Paralysis, and so on. Especially the Paralysis spell was a 4th class magic.
"How did a 4th class wizard end up here? Did he come to rescue me? That can't be..."
The man's heart, Arkenes, was pounding. He had been captured by Tog's gang, robbed of all his possessions, and was just waiting to die. He had come to the Krivia territory, hoping to trade for the popular Krivia magic stones, but was ambushed and lost everything.
He had a small caravan, but it had a decent escort. However, when the bandits appeared, the escort fled, breaking their contract! It was a mistake to contract with an unknown place just because it was cheap. As a result, Arkenes lost all his possessions to Tog and was left penniless. He had begged and pleaded to be kept alive, locked in a cell.
"What should I do if I survive? There's no hope or dream left."
He wanted to shout for help, but the future seemed bleak. The goods he lost had already been sold by Tog's gang for booze, meat, and women. There was no chance of getting them back. His first step as a merchant, which he had ambitiously started with five years of savings, was utterly crushed. The loss made him want to die hundreds of times a day.
"But still... let's live first. If I'm alive, I can do something."
Arkenes took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. He felt that if he shouted loudly enough, he might get help from the wizard outside. For now, living was the only thing he could think of.
And then.
"Help! Over here, please! Someone's trapped here!"
Arkenes shouted with all his might.
Hearing the cry for help from inside the camp, I found the key on Tog's body and opened the door.
Creak!
"Thank you! Thank you so much for saving me!"
A man with a haggard face rushed out and hugged me. I was surprised by the unexpected hug, but I was glad to have saved a life. Unfortunately, there wasn't anything useful to find in Tog's camp. I'd have to be satisfied with leveling up and completing the quest that increased my charm by 10. In fact, just obtaining the artifact, Moodydus's Staff, was a great satisfaction. If I had just passed by, I might never have gotten the artifact.
"I thought I was going to die! Thank you so much! Haaah."
The man who had hugged me slowly stepped back and bowed deeply. Seeing that he was alone in captivity, I figured he had a story. I was curious if he was a noble, a commoner, or perhaps a soldier, so I looked at his face.
And then, at that moment.
"Could it be Arkenes?"
The face in front of me was exactly like one of the characters I remembered.
Arkenes.
In the main story of <Paradiso>, he appears in the third year as the greatest merchant in the eastern part of the Nas continent. With excellent predictive abilities and trend analysis, he leads trends and monopolizes popular items. The eastern part of the Nas continent, a battlefield during the Holy Demon War, needed numerous strategic materials and weapons.
Arkenes made a fortune in that eastern region. As a result, he used his astronomical wealth to buy a kingdom. More precisely, he bribed people, incited a coup, and had himself crowned king.
The kingdom was notorious for the king's tyranny, so the regime change was easily achieved.
Up to this point, it was a rags-to-riches story of a merchant of common birth. However, he was eventually assassinated by a demon army's assassination squad. The ending was a sad one. Nonetheless, Arkenes was a notable figure with exceptional business acumen. But this point in time was 15 years before the thirty-five-year-old Arkenes appeared, so he should be exactly twenty now. That's why I didn't recognize Arkenes right away. He was much younger than the face I had in mind.
"If I can secure this promising merchant, it would be a great opportunity."
My heart raced. But since my guess could be wrong, I didn't forget to check his stats with my mind's eye.
[Arkenes – Lv. 10]
[Strength: 9]
[Stamina: 11]
[Magic: 0]
[Intelligence: 25]
[Agility: 3]
[Charm: 25]
[Physical Defense: 0]
[Magic Defense: 0]
[Special Traits: Trend Prediction S / Bargaining S / Keen Intuition A]
[General Traits: Despair, Death]
[*Warning: Due to loss, he is experiencing severe mood swings from despair and depression.]
"It's the Arkenes I know. Wow, was Arkenes near our territory at this time? What was the future greatest merchant of the east doing in the northern cold lands?"
All <Paradiso> players were curious about Arkenes's past. His background wasn't clearly revealed in the storyboards. So even after waking up in this life, I considered many promising merchants but left Arkenes out. I couldn't predict where he would be. Was the goddess of luck smiling at me? Another connection was being made with me.