The World Is Mine For The Taking-Chapter 1168 - 178 - The Bandit Ambush (4)

"Tsk. And this has to happen when most of the magic knights aren’t here to report back to the castle. What timing..." Asada-san muttered, clicking her tongue in irritation.

Her voice was tight, strained. It was not panicked, but it was far from calm as well. The kind of tone that came from someone who understood exactly how bad the situation was, even if they refused to say it out loud.

She wasn’t wrong.

Miss Shredica, along with a number of the magic knights, had returned to the castle earlier to formally report on our progress. It was routine, necessary even. She was expected to return by morning, and because of that, none of us had felt the need to worry. The village had guards. It had defenses. It wasn’t completely helpless.

Or at least, that was what we believed.

What none of us anticipated—what no one had prepared for—was that someone would exploit that brief window of vulnerability. That they would strike precisely when the village’s strongest line of defense was temporarily absent.

It wasn’t just unfortunate.

It was calculated.

Was this planned?

The more I thought about it, the harder it was to believe otherwise. The timing was too perfect. Too clean. Too deliberate to be coincidence. Whoever did this wasn’t acting on impulse—they were waiting. Watching. Measuring their moment.

"Sensei," Asada-san said, snapping me out of my thoughts, "do you think you can use your healing ability on some of the injured villagers?"

She gestured vaguely toward the edge of the square, where several figures were being helped along by others. Some were limping. Some were barely conscious. A few were covered in soot and blood, their expressions vacant, like their minds hadn’t caught up with what their bodies had already endured.

"I managed to save some of them," she continued, her tone steady but firm, "but they’re badly injured."

"R-Right," I said quickly, nodding. Then, before I could stop myself, the words slipped out. "But... what about you?"

She paused, only for a moment.

"I’m going back," she said simply. "There are more people out there."

My breath caught. "W-What?"

The tremor in my voice betrayed me. I didn’t even try to hide it. The image of her disappearing into the chaos, alone, armed with nothing but determination and a sword, made my chest tighten. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

"You don’t have to worry, sensei," she said, turning back to me. Her expression was calm—too calm, almost. "I think I can handle myself pretty well now."

There was no arrogance in her voice. No reckless bravado. Just quiet confidence.

And strangely enough, when she said that, something inside me eased.

I didn’t know why. I should have still been worried. Anyone with a shred of common sense would have been. But for some reason, I wasn’t. Not like before.

Maybe it was because of everything that had happened over the past few months.

Asada-san had changed. She had grown—more than I realized until now.

She was the one I had worried about the most when we were first transported to this world. Back then, she was still fragile in ways she tried to hide. Carrying wounds that hadn’t healed, even if she smiled like they had.

Ichinose-kun.

He had been close to her. Closer than most people realized. When he died in that car accident, it shattered something. It shattered all of us, in different ways.

I had been hurt too. I remembered crying when I heard the news. I remembered the hollow feeling in my chest, the disbelief, the anger, the sadness all mixing together until it was hard to breathe.

But even then, I knew—what she felt must have been far worse.

Losing someone like that didn’t just hurt. It left scars.

That was why, seeing her now—standing straight, eyes sharp, sword steady in her grip—I felt something close to relief.

She had survived that pain.

She had moved forward.

And so, all I could do was watch as she turned away from me and ran back toward the flames, her figure shrinking as she disappeared into the chaos, steel flashing briefly in the firelight.

***

James’s POV

The village burned beautifully.

Flames climbed hungrily up wooden walls, licking rooftops and devouring everything in their path. Smoke rose into the sky in thick, choking columns, painting the night in shades of red and black.

From where I stood, far enough to remain untouched, I watched it all with a satisfied smile.

"Fufufu... what a sight," Claire said beside me, her voice almost dreamy. "I never thought I’d see a village burning right before my eyes. It’s truly something special."

Her eyes reflected the firelight as she watched, utterly captivated by the destruction unfolding below. There was no hesitation in her expression. No trace of sympathy. Only glee.

Then she turned her head and looked at me.

"So," she said, tilting her head slightly, "what’s the end game here? This is your plan?"

She didn’t sound disappointed. If anything, she sounded curious. But I could tell—she had expected more. Something bigger. Something bloodier.

I understood that expectation.

But I had no intention of pushing things that far.

I didn’t want to cause unnecessary casualties on the heroes’ side. That was precisely why I orchestrated things this way. The damage would be enough to force them to act, to struggle, to grow—but not enough to break them.

I doubted any of the heroes would actually die from this. Still, caution had its place. Better safe than sorry.

"This is a test," I said calmly. "A test for the heroes—to see how much they’ve improved."

I kept my eyes on the burning village as I spoke.

"It would be a waste if they couldn’t deal with something like this. That’s why we allowed the Kingdom of Milham to summon them in the first place."

Everything was proceeding exactly as planned.

This attack wasn’t meant to destroy—it was meant to measure.

To see whether they were developing the way I intended.

Because if they weren’t, then everything up to this point would have been meaningless.

A literal waste.

They needed to become stronger. All of them. One hero alone probably wouldn’t be enough to defeat the unstoppable being I intended for them to face in the future.

That was why I would allow them to struggle.

That was why I would let them grow.

"Now then," I said, turning away, "let’s go."

Claire blinked. "Huh? You’re not going to stay and watch?"

"I don’t know why," I replied honestly, "but I have a feeling something unpredictable will show up here."

I frowned slightly. "I’d rather not face him this early."

He would come.

I didn’t know how. I didn’t know why. But the certainty settled deep in my gut.

And because of that, retreating now was the smartest move.

A tactical retreat.