Chapter 182: Leave The Thinking To Someone ElseThe first thing I did was create a large mass of water and dump it on Wilharrow.

    "Ack! That''s cold!" [Wilharrow]

    Luckily, all the vomit on him washed away easily. It was kind of funny since Wilharrow was left soaked to the bone. I then turned to Holdren who was still trying to shake off Wilharrow''s stomach contents.

    "You want a turn?" [Solace]

    Holdren nodded.

    "Okie dokie." [Solace]

    I casted a few |Liquid Cannons| and used |Convergence| to turn it into a body of water about the same size as Holdren. Considering this man was fat and around 8 feet tall, I think it was pretty big. After adjusting the ball and trying to maintain it, I approached Holdren.

    "Alright. I''ll be dropping it on you now-" [Solace]

    Before I could finish speaking, Holdren lunged at me. Turns out, he still wanted me dead.

    ("He baited me!") [Solace]

    I panicked and did the most natural thing to me. I chucked the massive ball of water at Holdren.

    "Argh!" [Holdren]

    Even with his soft body, the force behind the ball of water hit him pretty damn hard.

    "You have acquired |Liquid Blast|." [Spirit Guide]

    Holdren stumbled back and collapsed as the water overwhelmed him. Even after it all washed away, Holdren remained down.

    "You have gained |Experience|. |Experience| limit reached. You have gained a level." [Spirit Guide]

    ("Eh...") [Solace]

    So that killed Holdren. I was so surprised by that I had to check how he died with |Analyze|.

    _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

    Name: Holdren Cold

    Status: Deceased

    Cause of death: Blood loss

    _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

    ("Ah...") [Solace]

    That made so much sense. I had forgotten he''s been bleeding out for a while. Maybe the |Liquid Blast| pushed out a bit more blood and made it fatal.

    "...Did you kill him?" [Wilharrow]

    He gave me a concerned look.

    "Accidentally. I mean, he had it coming." [Solace]

    Wilharrow bit his lip in frustration.

    "C''mon, it was self defense. It was either him or me." [Solace]

    Wilharrow only nodded in silence.

    "...What about the other bandits? Did you spare them?" [Wilharrow]

    "Oh... yeah. I tried to hold back, but I don''t know how many survived." [Solace]

    Wilharrow didn''t even waste a second to check. He ran back into the bandit camp and started looking for survivors.

    ("He really cares about others, doesn''t he?") [Solace]

    I walked inside the camp to find Raon and Fina tending to Leon.

    "Hey. How''s she holding up?" [Solace]

    They didn''t even look at me to answer.

    "Leon''s a bit banged up, but a few potions will do the trick. Fina? Can you pass me some?" [Raon]

    Fina reached into a little homemade fanny pack that she always carried and took out a red vial.

    "Wait. Save the potion. I''ve got it." [Solace]

    I knelt down to Leon, who still rested against her large sword. Probably because she just heard my voice, Leon lifted her head weakly to meet my eyes. Sёarch* The n?vel_Fire.ηet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Alt...?" [Leon]

    "Yeppers. Tis'' I. Now hold still." [Solace]

    Raising a hand, I casted |Small Cure| on her. Her wounds began to close slowly, so I knew I was in it for the long run.

    "Fina! Do we have any potions?! There''s a survivor!" [Wilharrow]

    We heard Wilharrow shout behind us, his voice mixed with anxiety and relief. I also wish he didn''t say it like I was some sort of natural disaster.

    "On my way!" [Fina]

    As Fina left us, I chuckled.

    "Hey, guess saving the potions was the right choice." [Solace]

    It was also then I felt a tug on my sleeve.

    "Hm?" [Solace]

    I turned to see Elisse staring at me.

    ("Oh. I almost forgot about her.") [Solace]

    I know, I know. I''m not supposed to forget the hostage or whatever. Leave me alone. You think I could focus on that when I''ve got some 8 foot tall behemoth of a dude barreling at me? Anyways, Elisse looked like she wanted to say something to me.

    "...You really won!" [Elisse]

    A smug grin started to creep up my face.

    "I did, didn''t I? See? The hero never loses." [Solace]

    "Uh... What?" [Raon]

    I hushed at Raon who looked a bit confused.

    "Elisse, are you hurt anywhere? Do you need healing too?" [Solace]

    She peered behind her and lifted her arms to check herself before shaking her head.

    "Nope!" [Elisee]

    Seeing Elisse''s cheerful face gave me the urge to pat her head.

    "That''s good." [Solace]

    I still ended up patting her head.

    "Ehehe..." [Elisse]

    Though I was having a good moment over here, I was pretty curious about something.

    "By the way, Raon? Can I ask you something?" [Solace]

    "What is it?" [Raon]

    "What took you guys so long to help? I''m pretty sure you guys didn''t fight that large of a group." [Solace]

    "Ah... It was difficult keeping them all alive." [Raon]

    He pointed a thumb to a group of people tied together. They were rough up a bit, though not by much.

    "You guys really did it. No fatalities?" [Solace]

    "None whatsoever." [Raon]

    That was surprising. Maybe I had to step my game up in non-lethal skills.

    "So you guys took your sweet time tying people up while I was getting jumped?" [Solace]

    "What is... "getting jumped"?" [Raon]

    "It means getting attacked by a group of people." [Solace]

    "Oh." [Raon]

    He then placed a hand on his hips as he thought about it.

    "Well... you looked like you could handle it." [Raon]

    "You do realize I almost died, right?" [Solace]

    "...Did you now?" [Raon]

    I think he just gave me the equivalent of "That''s crazy".

    "Let''s talk about something else. I''ve recognized the armor on these bandits." [Raon]

    "Oh? What did you learn?" [Solace]

    "Turns out these people are deserters of the Ruitarian Empire. I questioned some of them about it." [Raon]

    "So not only did you tie them up while I was fighting for my life, you also found the time to interrogate them. Thanks a lot." [Solace]

    Raon gave me a strange look.

    "Are you going to keep doing this or can we move on?" [Raon]

    "We can move on." [Solace]

    "Great. Anyway, they''ve been killing anyone that''s seen them or anyone that interacts with them to keep people off their tail." [Raon]

    "Unlucky for them that we came around." [Solace]

    Raon nodded.

    "This is a very touchy political subject since this could be seen as an invasion of our country. I''ll have to talk to Wilharrow about what we should do." [Raon]

    "Mhm. You do that." [Solace]

    As Raon moved to where Wilharrow and Fina were, I was just sitting there healing Leon with a single thought in mind.

    ("...The hell is the Ruitarian Empire?") [Solace]