I've Inherited the Summoning Skill, So I'm Going to Try to Master It! - Episode 83: In Other Words, a Familiar Scene

Episode 83: In Other Words, a Familiar Scene 

Even with this unease, the carriage I was riding in proceeded smoothly. And we reached our first rest stop of the day. 

Huh? According to the schedule, we were supposed to take a break earlier. I felt a bit suspicious. I then stepped out of the carriage to get some fresh air. 

Nothing has happened so far. Was I just being overly cautious about triggering a flag? 

“What’s wrong, Rufus? You look a bit on edge.” 

“No, it’s nothing. But it seems like we’re in a bit of a hurry, don’t you think?” 

“Really? I don’t think—” 

Just then, the scout who went ahead to check the situation came rushing back. They looked alarmed. 

I know this pattern! This is when the flag gets triggered! And it’s a cliché one at that! 

“Reporting in! There’s a wagon being attacked by what appears to be monsters up ahead!” 

“So they’ve shown up at last! The peace of the Kingdom of Eladoria rests in our hands. Draw your swords! We must protect our citizens from these monsters!” 

At Brother Leonard’s rallying cry, the knights shouted back in unison, “Ooh!” 

Hold on a second—did he just say “at last”? That’s not good! There’s even a knight tilting his head in confusion over there. 

So that’s why Brother Leonard was in such a rush. He must’ve anticipated that the caravan ahead of us would be attacked by bandits. 

Or maybe not. It’s more likely that his Sword Saint Skill let him sense the bandits lying in wait up ahead. 

But what would’ve happened if he’d told the knights about it before we departed? 

Even if Brother Leonard could go, they probably would’ve delayed the journey to ensure my safety. And if that happened, who knows what would have become of the caravan ahead. 

If there were only injuries, that’d be the best-case scenario. But there could have been fatalities. Worse yet, they might have killed everyone to eliminate witnesses. 

That would explain why there were only rumors in the post town. 

Dead men tell no tales. 

This is bad. We need to hurry. 

“Brother Leonard, let’s head there quickly!” 

“Of course. But Rufus, you’re staying here.” 

“Why?!” 

“You’re slow on foot, and you don’t have a horse. How do you plan to keep up with us?” 

Ugh, he’s right. While I was grumbling to myself, Brother Leonard and the others rode off on their horses. A few knights were left behind to guard me. 

“Your Highness, there’s no need to worry. Sir Leonard will handle it just fine.” 

“I know, but… we might not have much time.” 

Every second counts. People’s lives are at stake. That includes the lives of the bandits. Brother Leonard would probably cut them down with a smile, which I don’t really like either. 

“Master, is it finally my turn?” 

“That’s it! I can ride on Lagios’ back!” 

I quickly climbed onto Lagios. It had already shrunk down to pony size. Before Balt, Ray, or the knights could stop me, Lagios dashed off. 

Like the wind, Lagios weaved through the trees. It caught up to Brother Leonard and his group in no time. 

“Hey, Rufus! What are you—” 

Zoom! 

We sped past them in an instant. 

As expected of Lagios. Way faster than even the finest warhorses! 

I could see the overturned wagon up ahead. A large bear-like creature was just about to strike down fleeing people. 

About to strike? Wait, no bear carries a sword! Those are definitely bandits! 

“In the name of Rufus Eladoria, I command you—manifest, Moguran!” 

“Director, you called?” 

“Moguran, bury all those guys wearing those filthy pelts! But don’t bury them completely!” 

“Leave it to me!” 

As soon as Moguran said that, a loud *boom* shook the ground. And a cloud of dust rose ahead. I trust you, Moguran—don’t let me down. 

I continued forward to the overturned wagon. 

“This is…” 

There, people who seemed to be bandits were buried in the ground with only their legs sticking out. It just like that famous scene from The Inugami Family.

Well, I did say not to bury them completely. But I was hoping for their heads to be left out… We’d better dig them out quickly, or this could get really bad. 

While I was thinking about all that, Brother Leonard and his group caught up. They were left speechless at the bizarre scene before them. 

I mean, *I* did this. But this wasn’t the kind of solution I was hoping for, okay? 

“Rufus?” 

Brother Leonard’s smile was dazzling. This is bad. 

“Brother, please hurry and dig them out! If you don’t, they’ll die! You were planning to get information from these people, right?” 

“Sigh. Treat the injured and capture the bandits! Don’t let a single one escape! Not that they could in this situation…………….. How did it come to this?” 

I want to ask that too. How did it end up like this? 

Maybe leaving things to everyone’s initiative is too risky. But at the very least, I deserve some credit for not using Lagios. 

If I’d asked Lagios, they would’ve been buried deep underground… and flattened from the pressure. In that case, digging them out would’ve been pointless. 

I wanted to help dig them out. But they told me it was too dangerous and refused. Fortunately, it seemed some of the knights could use Earth Magic, so they didn’t need my help. 

Since that was the case, I helped treat the injured instead. But there wasn’t much I could do here either. I don’t know much about medical treatment… It was better to leave this to the knights. 

Wait a second………… Am I completely useless right now?! 

As I was reeling from this realization, the carriage I had been riding in caught up. The knights assigned to guard me looked pale as ghosts. 

Um… sorry about that.