---

The time of the deepest silence had come.

Thunder and lightning surged, and ominous sounds and flashing lights raced across the desert. The tranquility was shattered by the earth-shaking noise, as figures hidden in the darkness emerged onto the desolate sands.

Buildings barely revealing their outlines amid the dust and flashes. Uninvited guests moved in, taking cover in the subtle shadows of the overlapping darkness.

As thunder rocked the ground and lightning illuminated the moment of anxiety, the noisy footsteps were drowned in the overwhelming light.

The desert’s silence concealed their existence, while echoes in the sky erased their traces in that fleeting moment.

Light and noise suddenly faded, plunging everything into a dreadful stillness.

“……”

The uninvited guests reached the building and exchanged silent signals.

Despite the night being so dark that even the moon barely shone, understanding each other’s intentions wasn’t difficult at all.

One uninvited guest, sneaking in under the cover of darkness, reached out and grabbed the doorknob.

A cool touch tickled his skin, and the sound of the knob turning resonated loudly, like the groan of a god.

The sound of the trigger moving forward hit his eardrums.

-Click!

Eyes wide open. A hand slipping from the doorknob.

A finger pointing faster than the uninvited guest’s movement.

̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶!!

A gunshot as intense as a dwarf’s hammering echoed through the desert night.

—

Episode 16 – The Six Million Dollar Man

—

The scream erupted immediately after the gunshot rang out.

“Graaaah!”

The sound of a body falling followed a beat too slow for the scream.

The scream of the uninvited guest tumbling onto the sandy ground showed no signs of ending, as if he had escaped immediate death.

“Graaah!!”

“What the hell?!”

“It hurts! It hurts, damn it!”

An incomprehensible eastern dialect reverberated from beyond the front door. A mixture of horrified voices and the wounded’s yells continued as long as a soprano’s slap.

After catching my breath and waiting, I heard hurried footsteps approaching. At the same time, the screams of the townspeople started to fade away, along with the sounds of clothes and flesh dragging on the ground.

Having taken quite a beating, the uninvited guests did not rush in, perhaps to regroup. It was a wise choice. Not provoking an armed person was etiquette in a town where law and order had completely broken down.

“……”

Still carrying the sling attached to my rifle around my neck, I took a drag of a cigarette. Though the drowsiness had long since faded, my body still craved nicotine.

As I watched the darkness for a while, puffing out smoke, fluent Mauritanian was clearly heard piercing through the silence.

“What… are you doing?!”

It was a familiar voice.

“That’s what I want to ask.”

I replied while puffing on the local cigarette I had purchased.

“Inviting guests at such an hour, without so much as a knock on the door where an outsider stays, is quite rude, don’t you think?”

I braced myself to be shot.

In response, a shout echoed back from outside.

“Ai Asud! I am the Vigilante Leader! We’ve met earlier, haven’t we? Let’s use our words. Words!”

It was the Vigilante Leader.

He emerged with both hands raised, wrapped in a sturdy stone wall reaching up to an adult male’s chest height.

“Talking is good.”

I looked at the Vigilante Leader stationed behind the stone wall. After rolling my eyes and scanning the area near the lodging, I exhaled the smoke and spoke.

“First, how about you lower your weapon, and then we can talk?”

At my words, the Vigilante Leader’s gaze shifted. The muffled roar of frustration briefly carried on the wind. The pikes that had jutted above the wall hurriedly disappeared from view.

Though it was too dark to see clearly, the pikes certainly had the shape of gun barrels. Bolt-action rifles, commonly seen illegal firearms on the Mauritania Continent.

“You’ve done this before, haven’t you?”

“What do you mean?”

“Robbery. You’re no amateur if you’re not blind. And what you mentioned earlier about armed robbers, that was your doing, wasn’t it?”

“What bullshit are you talking about?! I shot a gun!”

His voice, filled with anger, shattered the calm. It was an understandable reaction. An outsider who was greeted as a guest suddenly started shooting and now was being suspected of robbery.

But I had logical reasons for my suspicions.

The first thing that sprang to mind was the bags of money I had seen in the warehouse. A mountain of cash mixed with local banknotes and various foreign currencies.

“There’s no way farmers in the countryside could have that much money. Especially in cash. If they had earned that much from farming, the town wouldn’t be in such disarray. Unless they made it illegally, of course.”

Logically, there would be no reason for country farmers to store that much cash in the town warehouse. There was no reason for them to have that much foreign currency either.

This village, close to the border, was nothing but a shabby rural place. People struggled to make a living by selling crops from the fields in the city due to the lack of decent jobs.

The vast territory administered by the Al Bas Tribe. The tribe leader’s son, Farid, had informed me that armed robbers were active in the area. The warlord duo, who had traveled to find a doctor, had also said the same.

What I was curious about was why armed robbers were present in this dead-end village.

As I had gleaned from my last conversation with Farid, the nearest village was three hours away, and the city was five hours away.

If armed robbers were active, they would prey on dense population centers, not launch robberies near desolate borderlands, where monsters might also lurk. This story simply didn’t hold up under scrutiny.

Based on my experience, there were two possible truths in such scenarios.

First, an armed robbery gang was hiding in the border area to evade the warlord’s gaze.

Second, locals familiar with the terrain and armed, but with no future, were resorting to robbery.

People in war-torn areas typically either ally with the government army or warlords for rations or survive through robbery. Ordinary means of survival become impossible.

In my judgment, these villagers belonged to the latter group.

In other words, they were robbers.

“They belong neither to a warlord nor appear to cooperate with the government army.”

“……”

“Yet they have cash stored in a warehouse?”

There’s no need to complicate my thoughts. It is impossible to save that amount of money through farming. If it were possible, Afghan farmers wouldn’t be cultivating opium.

Thus, this implied that they made profits illegally; in the third world, any considerable underground business is generally linked to drugs, human trafficking, or smuggling. Or, they made a haul through robbery.

In short, these guys weren’t innocent civilians either.

“It seems you were adept at robbery but lacked the talent for money laundering. Judging by how you amassed that much cash and didn’t know how to utilize it properly.”

I comfortably gripped the handle of my rifle, the standard issue rifle of the Kien Empire that poured out six hundred rounds per minute.

I had spoken, yet the response came up dry.

“……”

Perhaps the truth was exposed, or they realized conversing would be difficult.

Whatever conclusion they reached, only one future remained.

I checked the line leading to the front door and prepared my rifle to enter the house.

—

The Vigilante Leader, hiding behind the stone wall, thought to himself. He had suspected the journalist had ordinary observation skills.

The Vigilante Leader gripped his ready rifle, issuing orders to his subordinates aloud.

“I had intended to handle this quietly, but plans went awry. Go capture that bastard immediately.”

With just one opponent, it didn’t matter that they had firearms.

It stands to reason that the gun was likely the one possessing by the Magician. A bodyguard wouldn’t be armed, but a journalist wouldn’t carry a gun around, would he? Thus, that meant there was only one armed person in that house.

“Will it really be okay?”

“What about the Magician?”

With clear uneasiness, his subordinates questioned him.

However, the Vigilante Leader nodded firmly with a resolute gaze.

“It will be fine.”

While Magicians and Shamans were incredibly dangerous, armed civilians could combine their strengths to hold their ground. This fact had been proved by the government army’s extermination campaign against rebel shamans over the past few years.

So, no matter how skilled a magician might be, they would find it hard to wield power before an armed individual. No matter how much they had trained, bullets could ultimately penetrate a person’s skull. In the end, a magician was just a person.

Mathematically considered, that’s how it was.

“We outnumber them at least ten to one. Let’s push forward.”

“What about the magician?”

“If things go south, just shoot her. Just keep your life intact.”

Once he came to that understanding, his subordinates stood, rifles in hand.

Taking advantage of the dark, the uninvited guests began approaching the building. The best construct in the village for guests.

Even if their lives were at stake, prioritizing the safety of guests was an age-old custom on the Mauritania Continent.

Due to the custom of valuing honor over life, it was deemed dishonorable to harm a guest. A loss of honor meant it would be much harder to be treated as a person again.

However, those who had lost their honor would discard long-held customs of their own accord, even without being told. Once honor had faltered, what difference would it make if it fell further?

This reality was something the Vigilante Leader deeply empathized with.

Moreover, it was a familiar fact to a foreigner who had only wandered into such hellish towns.

Tatadatada! Accompanied by a deafening gunfire, sparks flew from the window.

“Gun! It’s gunfire!”

“Take cover!”

The armed robbers approaching the lodging dove behind nearby rocks, trees, and fences. The swift ones escaped the gunfire, while those who weren’t so fortunate became one with the desert.

A man who barely found refuge shouted to his comrades.

“First floor! It’s on the first floor!”

“That bastard is on the first floor! Shoot!”

One of the men behind the stone wall pointed at the window to inform them of the enemy’s position.

Simultaneously, crack! A blinding flash of light illuminated the surroundings for a single moment.

The light was accompanied by earth-shattering noise. Then a beat too slow followed the gunfire.

-Bang!

The single gunshot reverberated through the yard. It was the moment a bullet found its way into the mouth of a man who had dared to expose himself.

For a brief moment, the Vigilante Leader’s eyes widened like lanterns upon witnessing the scene. Soon, his fiery voice thundered in his subordinates’ ears.

“Shit! What are you doing? Shoot already!”

As the whip-crack of his voice followed, numerous gun barrels suddenly began to sputter fire. When the trigger was pulled, brass shells flew into the desert, and dust clouds erupted from the brick wall.

I hunched down beneath the window, counting the countless bullets embedding themselves in the wall.

Such outdated scrap metal I had dismissed as a WWII relic seemed exceedingly threatening, much to my surprise. At least one positive detail was their inaccuracy.

While deciphering the incoherent shouts coming through the broken window, I gathered my gear and rushed to the second floor.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Climbing the stairs, bullets that had broken through the window warmly welcomed me. They were threatening, but the gunfire was far less concentrated compared to the window on the first floor.

“……”

I picked up a shattered mirror to observe the situation outside.

The armed robbers were firing randomly. There were far more bullets hitting the walls and going astray than bullets stuck in the window. This indicated they were not a trained armed group.

As meagerly armed as they were, the robbers’ skills were abysmally poor. Despite it being a night battle, they hadn’t brought any equipment to illuminate the area.

I didn’t expect any night vision gear or even a searchlight, but the absence of even a flashlight was evident.

Regardless, that worked in my favor.

“Ha….”

Having counted my supplies inwardly, I raised my body and pulled the trigger. Since it wasn’t a full-auto weapon, it was a single shot.

At the sound of gunfire, one person fell, and with another shot following, I created yet another corpse. Finding targets among the unprotected robbers, I opened fire quickly.

In a moonless desert, one would struggle to distinguish objects unless they were a Dark Elf. Yet, I had obtained night vision gear from a broker.

In the blink of an eye, I had racked up four or five bodies. Soon, fervent gunfire began to fly toward the window. I barely rolled to the side, evading the onslaught.

“Ugh…”

Amidst a dull thud, a sharp pain enveloped my shoulder. A knife-like sting jolted through me, and patting my face involuntarily, red stains appeared on my palm.

Had I been hit by shattered glass? I brushed off the dust, wood chips, and glass shards pouring down from above, then began catching my breath while leaning against the window frame.

At that moment, an enormous gunshot erupted from outside.

-Bang bang bang bang! Bang! Bang!

The sound of gunfire wasn’t the bolt-action rifle of the robbers nor the Kien Empire automatic rifle I carried.

Holding my breath and straining my ears, it sounded like a pistol. It was then that I deduced the source of the gunfire.

The neighboring building.

-Bang! Bang!

As bullets pierced the exterior walls of the adjacent structure, flames erupted from the windows. Someone was counterattacking from within.

Without further analysis, I could guess the identity of that person. After all, our neighboring building housed Farid and the Al Bas guides.

Individuals presumed to be from the Al Bas Tribe were firing at the robbers inside the building. It was the same weapon the warlord duo had carried.

As pistols roared to life, the bolt-action rifles followed suit. The warlords and armed robbers were engaged in a fierce exchange of gunfire, each trying to take the other’s breath away.

Considering this place was located within the territory of the Al Bas Tribe and further under the dominion of the Hassan Warlord, this was madness. Provoking a warlord was akin to challenging a drug cartel in Mexico.

However, even in Mexico, there are vigilantes resisting the cartels. And on the Mauritania Continent, there exist armed vigilantes resisting warlords.

As I observed the countless bullets showering through the desert night, I muttered as I pulled out a magazine.

“Those bastards are definitely pushing for something big today.”

That mutter was not merely idle talk.

Amidst thunder and lightning gripping the desert, the robbers trading shots with the warlords were unleashing an overwhelming volley of bullets, as though they planned to push the warlords out of their buildings.

The peak of the tower built with their resolute will was topped with an automatic rifle that asserted its presence even among the hail of bullets.

Tatadatada! Someone began firing an automatic rifle from behind the stone wall towards the warlord’s lodging. Through my night vision goggles, I observed three robbers firing indiscriminately.

I aimed my rifle at them and pulled the trigger.

Bang! Bang! Two shots rang out, and two corpses fell. I couldn’t take down the one hiding by the wall, but I had dealt with two. Still, it felt like a futile effort.

The armed robbers wielding bolt-action rifles swarmed over the corpses. Those who managed to strip the automatic rifle immediately turned and began firing at the window I was hiding behind.

-Bam bam bam bam! Bam bam bam!

“……”

Despite making a mess of the bedroom, I remained calm and assessed the situation.

Three armed robbers with automatic rifles. Considering that roughly 30 to 40 men were of age to enlist from this village, the assailants were approximately the size of a squad.

Although they weren’t regulars, it was unlikely that they handed out automatic rifles to just anyone. Someone skilled at shooting or of higher rank had taken one, possibly the Vigilante Leader from earlier.

“Everyone, inside!”

The Vigilante Leader’s voice roared from beyond the stone wall. My predictions were correct. He was the last one among the three armed with an automatic rifle whom I hadn’t shot.

Indeed, the Vigilante Leader, taking cover, ordered his men. Their local dialect made interpretation impossible, but I could easily guess their intent.

Upon his orders, a handful of robbers rushed toward the lodging. In order to take a shot at me, they would have to be brave enough to lean out from their cover.

Whether they were aware of that or not, bullets began flying in from the first and second-floor windows.

“……”

I kicked away loose bricks to create a space and held out the broken mirror to check below.

In the upside-down world, the robbers, clinging to the exterior walls, roughly kicked open the front door.

Crash! The thud of the door being kicked in revealed they had completely lost any semblance of the Standard Operating Procedures of a Special Forces unit or the experience of a battle-tested veteran. The robbers were relentlessly and violently barging into the building.

Having witnessed that, I started mentally counting. One second, two seconds, three seconds, and—

-KABOOM!!

An explosion shook the entire lodging. The sheer force of it sent dust flying from the front and windows, obscuring my view on the second floor.

“What the hell? What’s happening?!”

Hearing the perplexed questions from outside, I murmured weakly.

“…You should’ve checked the door before barging in.”

When I was treated to dinner, the Elder had mentioned that he caught fish from the river, so when I searched the nearby river, I found cut fishing nets, fishing lines, and trash scattered about. Armed with that fishing line, I returned to the lodging to set up a tripwire trap.

The tripwire trap made from fishing lines, tape, and grenades took five robbers to the afterlife. Although it was a haphazard creation, its power was evident when they hesitated, forgetting to fire.

I pulled the pin and confidently hurled a grenade out the window. The Kien Empire grenade soared through the night sky only to get caught on a branch, falling downwards weakly.

And then came the explosion.

“Graaah!”

“Ahhh!”

Several robbers, covered in dust and debris, began crawling on the ground in a daze. As a bolt of lightning descended, illuminating the scene, the town transformed into a grisly spectacle.

Crash, the thunder shook the sky, trailing off into the heavens behind it. Gunfire, resembling the hammering of a dwarf, followed in the footsteps of the thunder.

As I was pulling the trigger, I realized the chamber was empty and discarded the magazine.

The rifle slung around my shoulder swayed with my movement when a spy, with a pistol in hand, darted out of the building.

—

The sudden gunfight that started late at night continued until dawn.

“Stop them! Don’t let them come up!”

“Farid-sama!”

A tribesman, firing his pistol at the stairs, discovered the Tribal Chief’s son. The tribesman, propping Farid up, fired several shots outward before urgently shouting.

“You need to go! Get in the car and escape!”

“What about Asud?!”

“The bodyguard will be watching over him. The Magician! Farid-sama, you must leave first! We will take care of the journalist!”

As the tribesmen pulled Farid away, they left behind those still inside the building, firing wildly to prevent the robbers from advancing.

“The warlords are putting up strong resistance!”

“Push in from all sides!”

The Vigilante Leader issued instructions to his subordinates. With an automatic rifle at the ready, he pointed toward the warlord’s lodging, presenting his grounds.

“That journalist has a weapon and a Magician with him! The kids have already caught heat! First, take down the warlords!”

“There are too many of them!”

“The warlords are weaker than a magician capable of causing explosions! Besides, there’s nowhere left to run! Just take those bastards out before reinforcement arrives!”

It was a thoroughly reasonable rationale. Compared to a lodging containing a Magician and a rifle, the lodging of the warlords was a comparatively weak target.

If the warlords were left to their own devices, armed forces might stomp into the village. Given that the surroundings were desert, it would be nearly impossible for the unarmed journalist and the Magician’s bodyguard to escape. Thus, it was safer to tackle the warlords first.

Understanding the Vigilante Leader’s intent, his subordinates furiously began to press on the warlords.

Though they were referred to as warlords, their ammunition was limited, unlike that of trained combatants. The rapid-fire pistols that had spewed forth flames were now beginning to reveal their dwindling supplies.

Meanwhile, I slipped out through the unguarded back door, joining Camila. Having left her safe from the gunfire prior, she crouched behind a fence and waved at me upon seeing me.

“Over here. Here.”

“You didn’t get caught by the robbers, did you?”

“No, fortunately not.”

Camila seemed to be in good condition. She had avoided the gunfight and was adept in hiding from the robbers’ eyes.

Calming her, who was at a loss due to anxiety, I began observing the violent town where the gunfight was still occurring.

The warlords were putting up fierce resistance to protect Farid, but judging from the signs, it was clear they would crumble soon. Just because the warlords possessed guns didn’t mean they were carrying unlimited ammo.

Sure enough, the warlords were being overwhelmed by the robbers’ firepower.

The pistols that had formerly poured out bullets began cautiously expelling rounds, indicating their ammunition was running out.

Observing that scene with me, Camila began to speak, trying to maintain composure.

“…Shouldn’t we help?”

I shook my head firmly.

“Though we’ve reduced the number of robbers, many residents remain in the village.”

While the robbers numbered around 30 to 40, the residents were about 60. With 60 individuals, it was essentially the scale of two squads.

Even Special Forces would likely avoid conflict with two squads. They weren’t rampaging Rambo types, capable of crushing opponents.

Similarly, the role of an Information Officer is to protect our weaknesses and identify the enemy’s vulnerabilities, attacking their weaknesses in an organized manner, not sweeping away enemies like James Bond.

“This is why I said James Bond happens only on screens. What kind of chaos is happening at dawn….”

I quietly moved alongside Camila, carefully avoiding the town. Meanwhile, the sound of gunfire continued distilling from the village.

While I was stationed near the reed fields, a vehicle broke through the fence and escaped the village, roaring with a thunderous engine. It was the vehicle the warlords had used.

Once outside the village, the vehicle dove straight into the reed fields and sped westward. West was the direction toward the city on the map.

“Let’s go.”

I grabbed Camila’s hand, shouldering my gear. Despite the chilling desert wind, her hand remained warm.

“Where to?”

“We’re walking to the city to get evacuated.”

“Wait! What about the people?”

Camila pointed toward the village, where gunfire still echoed.

Casting a glance toward the distant turmoil, I shook my head as if resigned.

“Don’t worry about those people.”

“But Farid…”

“That person has likely already fled. In that vehicle.”

The mere fact that the warlords divided into two teams allowed for ample conjecture about what was unfolding.

One side escapes with Farid to safety while the other keeps the robbers occupied. This tactic resembled the actions of armed communist guerillas against the military’s pursuit, where the fleeing guerillas either returned north or faced death.

But while the fleeing guerillas could dodge the military, the one thing their escape had in store was danger.

The fate of the guerrillas was strikingly similar. The armed guerrillas, pursued by the elite combat units, were all gunned down.

And the warlords left in that village would meet a similar end.

I gripped my rifle and scanned the surroundings.

“If one team breaks through the encirclement with the target, another team will engage the pursuers. It’s a technique often employed by North Korean armed spies. The Kien Empire’s intelligence units do the same. My first medal was for capturing the Empire’s quasi-military operatives. I know their methods all too well; my grandfather used to catch spies.”

“……”

“Now’s the time for us to escape while those people can still hold on.”

Going to aid the warlords here would lead to disaster. If Jake or the Royal Intelligence Department’s operations team had come along, they would have fought back somehow, but right now I was acting alone, with Camila by my side.

And Leoni sent me here to secure Camila’s safety. So, I had to get her out of here.

For the success of the operation and for Camila’s safety.

“I’m sorry for those folks, but there’s no other choice.”

I reiterated my unwavering conviction in a firm voice. We had to go.

Perhaps she understood my feelings.

Camila, who had been hesitating, tightly grasped my hand and replied with difficulty.

“…Okay.”

“We’ll leave the vehicle in the village and proceed on foot.”

It was heartbreaking to lose the SUV Victor had given me, but I couldn’t risk our lives over just a car.

The gunfire that had once echoed in the village had long since faded. Somewhere over there, there might still be an SUV, but the intel I’d collected was in my head.

Taking only the necessary equipment and burying the rest underground, we began walking west, guided by my compass.

*

Walking through a desolate expanse without a single ray of moonlight was no easy task.

Excluding the metropolitan area, the territory was occupied by the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd group warlords. Although the Al Bas Tribe belonged to the Hassan Warlord, even if you transferred the vast territories managed by Al Bas onto a large map, it would easily fill a table.

We were crossing that wide desert.

With the moon hidden, it was impossible to distinguish the path with the naked eye, necessitating the use of night vision goggles. As I moved in the direction indicated by the compass, Camila carefully followed my footsteps.

The process of gradually moving towards the city while holding hands was a continuous stretch of dullness.

As thunder and lightning made their loud presence known from afar, sand carried by the wind brushed against our clothing. We continued to walk in silence, our steps steady and unbroken.

In the journey lasting just over five hours, the problems we faced were countless.

I’m not only talking about the scarcity of drinking water, with just one and a half 500ml plastic bottles left, or our bodies weary from fatigue.

It was baffling how many bugs were in this area; a multitude of creatures clung to us even during a mere 100m of movement: mosquitoes, flies, mayflies, and more. While South Korea experiences mosquito swarms in summer, the scale on the Mauritania Continent was far worse.

I pulled the local traditional headscarf up to cover my nose and quietly said,

“There are certainly a lot of mosquitoes. This is the perfect environment for malaria.”

“……”

Not that I expected a particular response, but the lack of one made me feel a certain way. Camila only kept her gaze down at the ground, moving forward silently.

Suddenly, memories of my past activities in Nigeria resurfaced. Back then, I had crossed the desert with my team while equipped with nighttime gear. Though it wasn’t the best of memories, it was a recollection I could somewhat call nostalgic.

The scenes from my memory weren’t vastly different from the present reality.

A barren land with overgrown reed fields—dirt dust stinging my eyes, and swarmed by mosquitoes, forcing me to layer my clothing. Thanks to that, while I managed not to get bitten, I collapsed from exhaustion immediately after arriving at a safe house.

There was a time when a senior couldn’t properly cover their skin and got severely bitten all over by mosquitoes. Everyone panicked, thinking they had contracted some illness, and once they learned it was just mosquito bites, they couldn’t help but laugh.

I opened the water bottle, taking a sip, then handed it back.

Camila received the bottle and took a quick gulp. Without even pausing to drink, she was downing water while walking when she suddenly stumbled, momentarily losing her balance.

“Ah!”

“Are you okay?”

I quickly caught Camila as she was about to fall.

Embarrassed by the moment, she simply kept nodding her head. Taking some time to calm my own startled heart, I scanned the surroundings slowly when Camila, rubbing her leg, suddenly began to speak.

“…It’s not my first time.”

“What do you mean?”

“The near-death experiences.”

Camila reminisced about her past in a calm tone.

It was when she was serving in Iraq with a medical volunteer organization. She began recounting how she and her colleagues were attacked by residents during a visit to a rural village.

“It was a robbery.”

“……”

Hearing that word, a possibility flickered through my mind.

In civil war areas, there were often cases of people looting humanitarian supplies from relief organizations. Guerrillas, warlords, terrorist groups, corrupt military—the instigators were numerous, but among them were ordinary citizens.

The reason the villagers turned into robbers was simple.

“I heard they hadn’t received relief supplies for several years. Every time the organization provided supplies and moved to another area, the warlords would come and steal them. To avoid losing their goods, they’d have to hide them, but once the news came that a relief group was nearby, the warlords showed up. They said they’d resort to looting to hide the supplies.”

I responded calmly.

“It’s a common occurrence, isn’t it? It happens in movies too. Like how warlords looted relief supplies in Somalia. There was a film about a helicopter crash. Can’t remember the title though.”

Normally, at that point, Camila would start excitedly discussing the film’s title and plot, but today felt different.

She sat crouched, staring into the distance.

“Those people… I later found out they were ultimately attacked by warlords and had casualties.”

“They managed to take the supplies, but the warlords took them by force.”

“……”

“If we had helped those villagers properly back then, isn’t it likely that they wouldn’t have had to die?”

I understood the meaning behind her words.

The villagers in Iraq who looted relief supplies and those in the Mauritania Continent engaging in armed robbery bore a striking similarity. Though the targets of their plunder were different, the ultimate goal was survival.

When it came to civilians’ questions, I found it hard to provide easy answers. I usually have no trouble speaking, but in moments like these, the words just wouldn’t come.

Surely, it was because I held some responsibility in it myself.

With a faint sigh, I opened my mouth.

“There’s no such thing as ‘if.’ That’s the way the world works.”

“…That’s quite realistic.”

Camila suddenly looked up at the night sky.

“Will my efforts really change the world?”

“Who knows? You never know who you might help or who might help you.”

“……”

“But you could certainly try. It’s better to attempt something than to do nothing at all, isn’t it?”

At my casual remark while turning to look at her, Camila smiled faintly and nodded.

“…That’s true.”

“We should get moving now that our break is over.”

We still had a long way ahead of us.

Having gathered my belongings, I pulled an energy bar from my pocket and handed it to Camila. We’d need all the nourishment we could to sustain ourselves for the long journey.

As we munched on the nut-studded chocolate bar while crossing the desert, I heard:

“…?”

“What’s wrong?”

“Hold on a second.”

Camila and I quickly hid in the reed field. I could hear a strange noise in the distance.

Focusing my ears attentively, I suddenly whipped my head around. Camila also looked at me in shock.

“…The sound of a vehicle.”

“Let’s hide.”

I led Camila to find a place to conceal ourselves. Just then, I heard water nearby and looked to find a small ditch snaking through. We crawled inside.

The engine sounds, which had previously been distant, began to grow closer. Six pairs of headlights were approaching along the path through the reeds, gradually slowing down as they neared.

I checked my compass. The vehicles were coming from the east, the direction we had been traveling.

…Damn it.

“It’s the pursuit team.”

My guess was spot on.

Three vehicles that had appeared from the village slowed down and came to a stop nearby. They were ancient pickup trucks, packed with armed men in the back.

“Get your guns ready.”

“Yes.”

I handed Camila a rifle while searching through my gear for another one. I pulled out a Kien Empire standard rifle with a collapsible stock, specially designed for aerial assaults by parachute units and special forces, utilizing space magic and airships for infiltration.

Two semi-automatic rifles aimed at the convoy. The opponents were armed, but we did not know their identities.

I quietly lowered my voice and spoke to Camila, “Illegal weapons are more common here than you might think. You probably saw a lot in Africa and the Middle East.”

“…I know.”

“They might shoot an innocent civilian by accident, so stay still until I signal.”

Camila nodded, signaling her understanding.

As the people in the truck began to disembark, it quickly surpassed ten, twelve, fifteen… sixteen… the numbers climbed rapidly, exceeding twenty before long. This was a full squad’s worth of forces.

I had a bad feeling about this.

“What are they talking about?”

“I can’t hear well from this distance…”

Camila concentrated on the voices of the handlers carried by the wind, frowning as she began to interpret bits and pieces of their conversation.

“…It seems they’re looking for someone. People are asking if this is really the right place… but one man is insisting strongly that it is.”

“What is he claiming?”

“He’s sure of it.”

“Is it someone you know?”

I hoped she would say no.

But the world delightfully betrayed my expectations.

Camila explained that she recognized the voice of the man insisting strongly. From the village.

As I observed the procession through night vision goggles, I confirmed the face she pointed out and cursed loudly.

“…Damn. That’s the vigilante leader, isn’t it?”

How the hell did those bastards know to chase us all the way here? Have they learned some special sorcery after a few robberies?

There weren’t any shamans in the village. Could they possibly possess a magical tool? Tools to track people are used in intelligence agencies and even the police. I had dealt with them often during my time in the counterintelligence department under Colonel Clevenz.

Regardless of whatever sorcery they used, one thing was certain now: the enemy had indeed arrived.

Looking closely, I noticed there were women mixed among the robbers; it seemed they had strengthened their combat force to continue the pursuit.

With the robbers noisily chattering away, I signaled to Camila.

We began to split apart and move sideways. To be precise, we moved into firing positions.

The most common method of ambushing a convoy is by attacking from the front and the rear. My CIA friends who served in Afghanistan also employed this tactic frequently.

Having reached our firing positions, we opened fire on the robbers without hesitation.

Brrrrt! The deafening sounds of gunfire shook the reeds as bullets rained down. Two armed men were thrown to the ground, their blood splattering on the headlights as they dropped in a cloud of dust.

The startled robbers began to get disoriented, but when someone shouted out, they quickly dashed for cover.

I took down the ones who hadn’t managed to conceal themselves yet. Just as the one-sided shootout came to a halt, I quickly reloaded from my chest rig.

That’s when it happened.

“…!”

A burst of bright light suddenly illuminated my night vision goggles.

As I raised my palm to shield my eyes, gunfire rang out. I felt a heavy jolt against my chest at that very moment.

“Ugh!”

Shot, I toppled over onto the reeds. Hearing my scream, Camila rushed over and supported me.

“Are you okay?!”

I groped around, feeling my chest. Luckily, my bulletproof vest had held up.

The Kien Empire’s body armor, capable of stopping bullets from the Abas army, was doing its job flawlessly.

But the enemies were still numerous. At least five times our number.

“……”

I flipped my night vision gear back on. However, despite it being night vision goggles, my view was shrouded in complete darkness.

As I struggled to see, I traced my hand over the night vision goggles, discovering a large dent in the lens. Did it get jammed on a rock when I fell?

Regardless, there was no denying that I had lost my most significant advantage in a nighttime battle. With my night gear rendered useless, I discarded it in the brush and gripped my rifle, rapidly firing at the enemies.

The enraged assailants began firing back at us. As bullets sliced through the air, Camila unleashed a barrage of flames.

-Whoosh!

The flames quickly engulfed the reed field.

“Let’s go!”

With Camila’s aid, I stood up and fired off my rifle.

Brrrrt! After firing for a while, I began to run, with Camila providing cover as she held her rifle. We alternated in providing suppressing fire as we escaped the combat zone.

I had long since lost any sense of direction. I didn’t even have the time to check my compass. The robbers were fiercely pursuing us in their vehicles.

Though I had lost my night vision, Camila’s flames illuminated the darkness. As I fired at the advancing vehicles, I muttered in disbelief.

“Wait, that’s my SUV.”

Amidst the chasing convoy was the old SUV—a vehicle Victor had given me.

“Dammit! Those bastards are in my car!”

“If you have time to worry about that, run!”

The firepower of our two rifles was tremendous.

In this modern era where the age of knights had passed and magic and science had converged, automatic weapons were the greatest force any ordinary person could wield without being able to use magic. With remarkable cost-effectiveness, automatic weapons became humanity’s greatest invention, used by government forces, rebels, terrorists, and even local thugs.

Even though regular forces were now keen on developing new weapons over magic, that didn’t imply magic had fallen behind.

When does magic shine amidst the storm of bullets?

The answer was the flames illuminating the desert night.

-In a bright flash!

In a conventional large-scale confrontation, the army wouldn’t be able to exhibit great power. Not even the most skilled combat magicians could withstand the firepower of artillery. It takes twenty years to train a magician, while just weeks are enough for training artillery crews.

Yet, in localized conflicts and low-intensity disputes, where squadrons engage in battles or fight guerrillas, magic boasts incredible power.

In small skirmishes, there are no means to confront a combat magician. Without artillery support, it’s not easy for regular riflemen to take on an experienced combat magician.

This was a lesson proven by the fact that reconnaissance units invariably included combat magicians among their ranks, confirmed by countless engagements between the special forces of the Abas and Kien Empire in no-man’s land.

For instance, when terrorists used black magic to take over a department store, the imperial special forces engaged in battle near the no-man’s land overwhelmed Abas’s special forces with magic. Ultimately, it was only after an artillery barrage from the Abas forces that they managed to escape.

In other words,

“There’s a magician! There’s a magician over there!”

“Fire! Run away!”

“Don’t group together, scatter!”

As long as Camila was with me, those robbers couldn’t win.

Theoretically.

While unleashing magic, Camila spoke in a bewildered tone.

“The reeds are too tall! I can’t see where the enemies are!”

Standing merely waist-height, the reeds could completely hide a person’s figure if they leaned slightly. Even though flames blazed in the darkness, the enemies were increasingly spreading out, likely aware of the presence of a magician.

There was no other choice. I had to set everything ablaze.

As I pulled the trigger, my body suddenly swayed to the side.

“Ugh…!”

I clenched my teeth at the pain in my arm. Illuminated by the flickering flames, I could see clear entry and exit wounds from a bullet.

It didn’t seem like bone or the artery was damaged. Binding a tourniquet, I fired at the shadowy figures flitting through the reeds and shouted at Camila.

“I’m hit in the arm! Reload for me!”

“Got it!”

Camila took the rifle and ammo, quickly reloading. In the meantime, I fired my sidearm.

As I retreated, I began discarding my gear. Bulletproof vest, chest rig, equipment…

When my rifle finally returned to me, I resumed firing, and as my ammo dwindled, I asked Camila to reload it for me. She was not only grabbing magazines from my rig but also pulling out her own spare.

After trading rifles a few times, I posed a question to Camila.

“How many bullets are left?”

“…This is the last one.”

Camila had taken the magazine from her rifle and inserted it into mine. Shadows obscured her expression, but she didn’t look very cheerful.

After using the last round, I tossed my rifle aside and took out my sidearm. As Camila blasted fire at the robbers, she pulled me back into the shallow ditch.

I leaned against the ditch, reflecting. It certainly seemed that Victor had sold me a proper item. The body armor claimed to stop rounds and had adequately protected me from older rounds, while the automatic rifle and grenade did their jobs splendidly. The same could be said for my night vision goggles.

“…….”

How many had I killed? By now, it would be reasonable for the robbers to throw in the towel and retreat.

While I had no business negotiating with the robbers, if given a chance, I’d wish to ask them to just head back to the village. Yet those bastards relentlessly pursued us.

Just as I fitted the last magazine into my sidearm and took a breather, a familiar voice pierced through the reeds.

“Give up!”

“The vigilante leader…?”

A hollow laugh escaped me. That bastard was still alive, huh?

The robbers hidden in the reeds shouted for us from a distance. Come out, and we’ll spare your lives. Time is on our side. To summarize, that was the gist of it.

Instinctively, I knew it was an ultimatum. Admitting to this disorderly fight was laughable. If we went out, we’d be dead anyway.

Camila looked at me with anxious eyes.

“…What should we do?”

“What do you mean what? We’re going all the way.”

I pulled a grenade from my pocket and threw it over the reeds. Boom! The explosion went off, and a cacophony of frantic screams echoed across the barren reed field. That was my answer.

As Camila stared at me in disbelief, she unleashed flames in a bout of frustration. While it wasn’t as fierce as the blue flames of the Duke burning a demon, it was enough to consume the surrounding reeds.

Amidst the blazing reed field, we prepared for our final stand, gazing up at the night sky from the brightly illuminated ditch.

Then suddenly, I felt a warm sensation on the back of my hand. Looking down, I saw Camila’s hand resting on top of mine.

I firmly grabbed that hand and clenched my sidearm.

“In the end, looks like I’m dying here. I never even got to date anyone!”

Camila shouted playfully.

Yet I could sense an underlying anxiety in her voice.

With one hand gripping the pistol and the other holding Camila’s hand, I surveyed the reed field. Beyond the surging flames, the silhouettes of robbers encircled the ditch, slowly closing in.

As I observed the scene, I couldn’t help but snicker.

“…….”

“…Why are you laughing?”

“Oh, it’s just.”

I spoke weakly as I lowered my pistol.

“Looks like it’s not my death anniversary after all.”

Following my gaze, Camila turned her head.

In the distance, down the path separated by reeds to the west, countless lights were racing toward us.

*

At first, it was just small glimmers. What appeared as tiny dots, smaller than fireflies, gradually grew larger and eventually divided into several more.

There were dozens of vehicles.

The rapidly approaching vehicles did not slow down. They crashed through the rising flames, roaring ahead without sounding their horns.

Instead, they unleashed a barrage of bullets.

-Tatata-tatatatat!

The mounted machine guns above the vehicles opened fire on the bandits. The bullets shredded through the reeds, finding and slaughtering the hidden robbers one by one.

As I witnessed this terrifying spectacle, I threw myself over Camila, pulling her down into the ditch.

“Get down!”

“Wugh!”

The vehicle showered the reeds with gunfire, coming to a stop over the charred remains of the field. Soldiers armed to the teeth leapt from the vehicles.

They unleashed merciless violence against the bandits crawling out of the reeds. In the blink of an eye, the bandits caught in the crossfire were left lifeless, sprawling on the ground.

Before long, they approached the ditch where we had hidden.

Camila and I raised our hands as bright lights flooded the area around us.

“……”

As my eyes, now acclimated to the darkness, began to see the people’s forms, I realized they were wielding automatic rifles. Their condition wasn’t great at first glance, but those shapes clearly indicated they bore Kien Empire’s automatic rifles.

When I noticed their weaponry, I took a quick glance at their clothing. They wore the camouflage uniforms now deemed obsolete from Patalia. The soldiers were dressed in woodland-like fatigues, complete with combat boots.

Uniforms. Combat boots. Automatic rifles.

Three words rapidly combined in my mind, arriving at a single conclusion.

I quickly tossed my pistol aside and raised my hands. Speaking in the common tongue of the Mauritania continent, I shouted out.

“Don’t shoot! I’m a foreign journalist!”

Forget the robbers; there was a much graver situation unfolding.

The individuals arriving at the scene were soldiers. In other words, they were government forces.

Surrounded by the government troops, I thought inwardly.

I’m in deep trouble.

 

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