What is the definition of friend and enemy? There is no singular answer to that question.
Everyone has a different opinion and threshold on this topic.
For me, it was very simple.
A person who wouldn't betray me, as long as I didn't do anything extremely bad to them. ―That was my definition of a friend.
This meant that a person I consider a friend wouldn't betray me because of anyone else's actions, only mine.
In other words, they wouldn't betray me even if they were given a lot of money or something they treasured. They would only betray me in the case I did something irreversible and utterly unforgiving.
And everyone who wasn't a friend... well, they were an enemy.
People who were kind but had weaknesses that could be controlled. ―Enemy.
People who I spent years together with, but had too much greed. ―Enemy.
Complete strangers. ―Enemy.
A homeless kid. ―Enemy.
...Jagon and Angelica. ―Enemy.
In this world, there was not a single person I could consider a friend. Jagon and Angelica ― the people I had gotten closest to ― had a weakness in the case of their baby. If their baby was held at knifepoint, and to save the baby all they had to do was kill me, they'd do it. They would cry and lament, but they would do it. And that's all that matters to me.
I had a lot of enemies, but that didn't matter to me. As long as I wasn't betrayed, I'll be fine.
To find out whether people were an enemy or not, my personality was specifically suited to this definition.
I would ask if I needed to know more. I would probe to test their reaction. I would not care for their wellbeing or circumstances, and do what is needed to get the answer to the question "Enemy or friend?" The moment I found out what I needed, I just acted normally, since there was no reason to find out anything more.
Of course, it's not as though all enemies were bad. I could trust enemies in certain areas, I could laugh with them, and I could be happy with them.
It's just that I couldn't trust them fully, and I had to be wary of them just a little bit.
'Is that even a friend at that point? I mean, the definition is closer to love than friendship.'
I asked myself that often, but it's the only question regarding myself that I couldn't answer with certainty. I just shoved it into the back of my mind, trying not to think about it too much.
With that definition, Paul was an enemy. He was a good person, I could understand that, but I wouldn't be surprised if he stabbed me in the back if someone took his burden off him in exchange.
That has a low chance of happening, but it's not zero, so I have to worry about him every now and then.
But even though he was an enemy, the three days we spent getting to Kyoku weren't too bad. We chatted about this and that, the carriage was rarely quiet.
I was always awake at night and he at day, so we were always on alert against anything.
Finally, at sunset of the third day, we finally arrived at Kyoku.
But there was a problem.
"Please save mommy!"
Why was a girl pleading so hard while crying and hugging my leg?
***
We were nearing the village, but something was strange.
"Do you hear that?"
Paul asked from his seat.
"Yeah..."
I enhanced my ears to better identify the sound, and heard shouting from the village. And it wasn't just one person, a whole group was shouting. A mob, even.
The closer we got, the clearer the shouts became.
"We have to go! If we don't right now, they'll get away! I am not letting my wife become a slave!"
"They are bandits! Bandits! They have weapons, more experience and hostages! You'll all just die!"
"That's why we're telling you to come with us! If everyone comes together, we'll outnumber them severalfold!"
"It's too dangerous!"
I enhanced my eyesight and saw a man grab another by the collar.
"You bastard! I thought we were friends! Just because your wife didn't get kidnapped, you're being so cowardly! I didn't know you were so egotistical!"
The man who was grabbed shoved the other away.
"Well I'm sorry I'm not willing to sacrifice my life for other people's wives!"
It was pretty difficult to look at that kind of scene. I could feel my heart ache involuntarily.
'It is specifically because of things like this that I wanted to become Faun.'
When seeing too many things that hurt the heart, it would inevitably break. To protect my heart from breaking, I had to adopt a different mindset, but something like that required a lot of time and patience, which I didn't have. It is the reason why I am incapable of living in this world.
After some more time, we finally arrived at the village.
The massive mob of people were still shouting at each other, they didn't notice us at all.
Suddenly, an old woman approached us.
"I'm truly sorry for what you're currently seeing. I suggest you keep going, you won't find any customers here right now."
I immediately identified her as the village chief, or someone of similar authority. Nobody else would be that bold.
"Really? I feel like desperate people are the best customers though. Right, Paul?"
He wryly smiled. He knew I was right, but didn't want to admit it.
The old woman frowned. I continued talking.
"What happened here?"
She sighed.
"Some women were kidnapped by bandits yesterday. They will probably be sold off as slaves to some organization soon enough."
"I see..."
Calling for help is pretty much useless, it will arrive too late. So they can either retaliate with what they have or accept the circumstances.
"How many bandits are there?"
Her expression and demeanor changed.
"Probably about 15. Are you planning to help us?"
I smiled.
"Depends on what you have."
"Well, I guess we have to take all the manpower we can get."
I thought about it. She was underestimating me, and I was happy with that, but it also meant they wouldn't be willing to give me a lot.
Considering that this was a rural village, the spreading of information won't happen fast and reliably here. Was it worth it to say that I was trained by Jagon so that they would take me more seriously?
'No, I don't think it is.'
I wasn't strong enough to back up that claim, even though it was true. And I wasn't sure how influential Jagon was, so it was too risky.
Even so, I had to show off a bit so that I would earn at least something from here.
"How long ago exactly did the kidnapping happen?"
"Last night."
Makes sense. Attacking at night is the easiest.
Still, did that mean that the people have been shouting at each other throughout the whole day? How were their throats still intact?
"Well, what is the opinion around here? Who will attack, who won't?"
"The people who had their wives and mothers taken away will definitely fight, except for a couple. Of the others, maybe about one or two. Just see for yourself how many are battle-ready."
I nodded.
From the two mobs who were shouting at each other, I could guess the amount of people on each side.
The ones who wanted to fight numbered 40, while the other side had 25. Of course, probably a lot of the people who didn't want to fight were just in their homes.
'There are even women in the people who want to fight...'
They looked extremely determined.
I looked away from the mob, it hurt to look at so many relationships shattering. I could still hear them unfortunately.
"Our mother got taken away! Our mother! How could you not go?!"
"I'm not willing to give my life for her! You were spoiled by her because you were a girl, but I was never loved by her! Why would I ever risk my life for someone like that?!"
I frowned. I could've kept a poker face, but expressing what you thought out in the open made it easier to bear, even if it was just an expression and not words.
"Follow me."
The old woman started walking towards the two mobs. I followed.
All of them quieted down once she came close.
A man ― who seemed like the leader of the fighting group ― spoke first.
"Miss Molburi, we will attack this night. The more we wait, the worse it'll be."
"Make use of this young boy behind me. I'm not sure how useful he'll be, but he's willing to go."
The man only briefly glanced at me. He clearly didn't think much of me.
"Alright then."
He just nodded, before going back to trying to convince the others with shouts.
Miss Molburi started walking away, and I followed her out of curiousity.
"Why are you not trying to stop them?"
She looked at me with a resigned expression.
"Because I know just how far people are willing to go for their loved ones."
'I bet that sentence has a heavy backstory behind it.'
I didn't think much of it, more accurately, I couldn't afford to. This situation was thrust upon me way too suddenly for me to think about things like backstories.
Suddenly, a small girl ran up to Molburi.
"Grandma, will mommy be okay?"
Molburi smiled and ruffled the hair of the girl.
"Of course she'll be fine. Your daddy is going to save her."
Then she walked away. I looked at the girl who was left behind. She wasn't reassured by Molburi at all.
It irked me.
"Hey, why are you so sad? Your daddy will definitely save your mommy."
She looked at me with a tearful expression.
"But― but daddy is weak, and those bandits are strong and scary. He lost to them already, how will he win now?"
This kid had way too little trust in her parents. Or perhaps it was more like being too mature for her age?
I smiled reassuringly.
Then, I started mumbling.
"Feuerinfa, God of Fire, give me your aid. Create the fire to set everything alight, and descend it upon my enemies."
I held out my hand, and a ball of fire shot out that set a small patch of grass on fire.
"Then I'll save your mommy, how about that?"
She looked a bit surprised, which was my intention.
He did something incredible and unknown, he must surely be able to save my mom. ―Those must be her thoughts.
So, while crying, she hugged my leg.
"Please save mommy!"
***
The situation was unexpected, and things were happening too fast, but that was no problem for me.
Even though I had a dozens of unknown variables thrown at me, I quickly got through all of them one by one.
I understood the situation, understood the people around me, and understood what I should do.
The mob would attack at night, which meant I had to prepare in that small amount of time.
So, I carefully started sneeking to the place where the bandits were. The moment I noticed some people with my enhanced eyesight, I crawled up a tree and hid in the leaves.
I focused on the people I saw. They were clearly on the lookout. Fortunately, they didn't notice me.
There were three of them, all teenagers, one male two female. Once I put even more mana into my eyes, I managed to see the camp of the bandits far behind them.
The three bandits started talking, so I closed my eyes and enhanced my ears to focus better.
One of the female ones had an anxious voice.
"What are we supposed to do?! Like, do we attack now or not?! If we don't do something right now, the residents of the village will attack and people will lose their lives!"
The boy started calming her down.
"Let's not get worked up, alright? This is a mission which will allow us to level up, multiple times at that. We should calm down and act rationally."
The other girl had a calm voice.
"But she's right. We must act now, and we should not care about the mission that much if it'll cost lives."
"Do you have an idea then?"
The boy asked with slight hope.
"No. The situation is way too precarious. We are still a bit untrusted in this band, so if we do something as crazy as going to the village, we'll definitely be found out. And everything else isn't nearly as effective."
All of them sighed.
Just then, a voice resounded from somewhere.
"Yo, mind working with me?"
All of them got startled for a bit, before regaining their composure.
The calm girl was the one who recovered and understood the situation first.
'Lucky.' ―That was the thought of both the girl and Faun.
The calm girl started talking.
"Just so you understand our situation, we are adventurers who took the task of taking down this bandit group. We thought it would be easiest to do this with an inside job, so we joined the bandits. We have only been with them for two weeks, so they don't trust us too much yet."
I nodded. This was good, I got really lucky that there is someone on the inside.
'If I play my cards right, there might be zero casualties.'
―That was the confidence that having people on the inside gave me.
"Let's start with simple questions first. How many bandits are there, and how many strong ones?"
"Twenty bandits not including us. One so strong we could only beat him while fighting with the three of us, two who are about our strength, and the others are only slightly above normal adults."
So a Boss, his two Hands, and lackies.
'Let's find out how strong they are.'
"Use Body-Strengthening on your arm at the highest capacity and punch the ground."
The calm girl did as such. From how much mana she was able to use, and how far her arm got buried in the ground, I was able to estimate her strength.
'So the two Hands are about that level.'
I could take on one of those Hands. Two would be out of my league.
"What weapon does the Boss use?"
"A saber. The two other strong ones also use sabers."
It wasn't a weapon I was familiar with, but I was familiar with a normal sword (Jagon made me fight against hunters with swords), and a saber isn't too far off. It did have a bit weirder angles, but adapting shouldn't be impossible.
"Can any of you heal?"
"No. I am the vanguard, the other girl is a mage, and the boy helps out where help is needed."
So fighting against the Boss by myself is out of the question.
I thought about courses of actions that we could take.
'Tch, if only I had Yadvine poison. That would've made this so much easier.'
The Boss was strong, but I doubted he was as good against poisons as me.
'I really don't want to use Kumorsh's poison, but it might be necessary if I don't want anyone to die...'
I wouldn't care that much if some people died, but these three adventurers seemed like really good people who would care. As such, they might not agree to a plan that has a chance of casualties.
'Heh, excuses...'
I shook my head to get rid of that thought.
I started Thinking. Just what the hell could I do in this situation? With so little time to prepare and with a situation I was unfamiliar with, just what was the solution to this problem?
'―――'
"Hey, what are your names?"
"I'm Mitsuki, the boy is Souma, and the other girl is Leila."
"Those are some very... good... names. My name is Faun. Do you have any ideas on what we could do? For note: I'm about your strength."
There was no reason for me to think of a plan all alone. Let's see what kind of plan will be born from all of us.
***
"There are three adventurers in the bandit group?"
I nodded.
When I said all of us, I meant all of us. Me, the three adventurers, and even the residents of the village. It will be a plan thought of and executed by all of us.
"That gives us quite the advantage."
The man thought with a hand on his chin.
I was glad he trusted me and didn't ask for proof.
"We came up with a plan, but we want to hear your opinions before going through with it. So―"
***
I was proficient at lying to myself. I might realize that I'm lying to myself the second after, but the exact moment I am lying to myself, I truly do believe in it.
Perhaps that is why―
'I will just stab him in the neck. This won't 100% kill him. If there's a powerful healer nearby, or if he's strong enough, he won't die. So it's not like I'm killing him, I'm just stabbing him in the neck.'
With such thoughts, I stabbed one of the bandits on the lookout in the neck. He immediately died and didn't even have time to shout due to not noticing my approach.
Aside from the three adventurers, there were four bandits on the lookout. It made sense, the bandits were still wary of them, so they were still expecting betrayal. Even if all the three adventurers killed bandits at the same time, there would be one left who would warn the others.
In the first place, there was one big problem with bandits. Due to their way of life, they are exceptionally gifted at sensing killing intent. To the point that they will wake up from the simple thought of punching them.
As such, the moment anyone tries to sneak attack a bandit, that bandit will 100% be able to shout before being killed or captured. While that shout might not wake up the sleeping, it will definitely alert the other lookouts.
This was the problem with having four lookouts for the three adventurers. Even if they killed the three at the same time, they will shout before being killed and alert the one lookout that is left.
But―
"You are way above even professional assassins."
There was an unexpected variable. A person who doesn't have any killing intent.
Even if your perception of killing intent was a hundred times better than others, hundred times zero is still zero.
So it was very eas―
"Blergh."
'Ahhh, this is bad.'
It was not easy at all. I hated killing people, but it's not like I had confidence I could capture these bandits before they could shout, or that I could knock them out, so there was no choice.
Just because I killed before does not mean this was easier. In fact, it was harder.
'And it's only making it worse that I have to stab them in the neck.'
If I was strong enough to kill them immediately by targetting anything else, I also wouldn't have this big of a reaction.
'I'm still too weak.'
I couldn't help but chuckle.
'Welp, onto the next one.'
"Erdia, Goddess of Earth, you are the best."
I could feel the earth start welcoming my mana, and I used that to remove the grass beneath my feet. I couldn't afford to make any sounds.
***
I killed all the lookouts, but that was everyone I could kill. The bandits were sleeping in tents, which I couldn't get into without making sound. Bandits ― who were light sleepers ― would definitely wake up with the sound of me getting into the tent.
'Well, maybe not definitely, but it's still too much risk.'
Now, it was time for me to rest and for other people to take center stage.
"It's my turn, right?"
This man was the leader of the fighting force. Now that all the lookouts were dead, we could take the hostages back.
The hostages were kept in a (most likely) stolen carriage. All of them were tied up.
The reason this man was needed for this task, was because the hostages only knew his face, and not mine and the three adventurers'. They might panic and do something stupid if it wasn't someone they knew that saved them.
Nothing went wrong. We easily saved the hostages.
***
I focused on Leila who was walking around every tent in the camp. She wasn't doing it for no reason of course, she was making a Shape near each of the tents. The Shape of the beginner spell Fire.
Shapes were just the way your mana was structured. As such, you could have multiple Shapes alive at the same time. Of course, casting a lot of them at the same time is a completely different beast.
Leila couldn't activate all 16 Shapes at the same time, but she didn't need to. Activating them in quick succession will be good enough for us.
"I'm ready."
We all nodded. She took a deep breath.
Suddenly, the tents started catching on fire one by one.
Screams filled the forest. The final phase was starting.
***
We could've tried to lure out the bandits one by one so that I could kill them without problems, but that plan had a bit too many holes and a bit too much wishful thinking.
I was the kind of person who only went with plans that had at least a 97% success chance.
Our plan went through many revisions, and we decided to take advantage of one thing that would definitely work.
Panic.
When your tent catches on fire, whose first thought is the fact that there might be enemies right outside it? No one's.
You will rush to get out of your tent as fast as possible, but the moment you do, you will see three people ready to kill you right outside it.
Before your brain has the time to process the situation, you will already be dead.
Of course, there will always be exceptions.
"YOU BASTARDS!!"
The Boss was one of those exceptions. The three people standing outside his tent were the three adventurers. They managed to get in one pretty nasty hit, but the Boss managed to get out of the trap without being killed.
You could also guess the other two exceptions. Nobody else seemed to be an exception.
'Huh?'
No, there was one normal bandit who lost an arm but didn't die. He seemed like a smart guy, but he was weak and against a whole mob of people. He wouldn't live long.
I instead focused on the tent in front of me.
The moment I saw someone get out, I dumped oil on him with the bucket I had on hand.
"AAAAHH!!!"
It was one of the Hands. I doubt he could live through something like that, so I just retreated.
By the way, the Oil Bucket Strategy™ was what we used on both of the Hands and the Boss.
The Boss managed to dodge the oil, and the only wound he got was on his arm by Souma's short sword.
The moment I dealt with my tent, I saw the situation with the other Hand.
'They missed.'
His arm was coated in oil, but the rest of the body wasn't.
I immediately started running, but it was pretty hard to run inbetween burning tents, and there was so much smoke that breathing was difficult. I could still see most of the situation with my enhanced eyesight though.
The Hand started attacking and I got really worried, but the leader of the fighting force was easily dealing with him.
'Huh, he's strong.'
I guess that shoud've been obvious. He wouldn't be the leader of the fighting force if he wasn't strong.
I stopped and looked around.
On the bandit side, only the Boss and the Hand had yet to die. Everyone else was dead, including the smart normal bandit.
On our side, there wasn't even a single scratch.
The Boss was being taken care of. The three adventurers had very good teamwork with each other, and the Boss couldn't deal with that.
The Hand already had his second hand wounded to the point it was unresponsive.
We won. Easily. WIthout even a single scratch.
That's what planning gets you.
"I'll kill you!"
'Oh?'
I dodge the sword coming for my throat. I looked at the perpetrator, it was the smart bandit.
'Still not dead? Impressive.'
He didn't have an eye and an arm, and his body was covered in wounds and burns, but he was still standing and alive.
I tilted my head to the side.
'―――'
"You should've just run if you're still alive. Why die for no reason?"
"Shut up! You bastards! I'll kill all of you!"
I dodge some more strikes. With his wounds, he was no match for me even if I didn't use Body-Strengthening.
"They raised me! This was my home! You bastards, YOU KILLED ALL OF THEM!!!"
I nodded. We killed all of them, and it was no surprise that there was a person who treasured this bandit group to this level.
I smiled.
"Don't worry, it's just personal."
I inserted my dagger into the bandit's remaining hand.
"You were an enemy I wanted to get rid of. That's it."
I hit him hard in the head.
He fell on the ground, unconscious.