Chapter 4
Strong winds struck Izumi's face as the dirt bike sped across the deserted dirt road.
BRRRRMMMMM—
The engine of the KTM 450 SX-F roared loudly.
To other people, the sound might have been annoying.
But to Izumi...
It was music.
A small smile appeared on her face.
For some reason, the sound of an engine had always made her feel at peace.
As she rode the motorcycle, her thoughts unconsciously drifted back to the past.
Back to when she was still a teenager.
Back when she participated in a national motocross competition for the very first time.
More than two hundred contestants had joined that race.
Most of them had trained for years.
As for her?
Only four months.
Four months of mediocre practice.
Yet in the end...
She managed to reach sixth place.
Not the champion.
Not even the top three.
But still.
It was an achievement she never forgot.
"Haha..."
Izumi smiled faintly.
"The past really was fun, wasn't it?"
The motorcycle continued forward.
An hour passed without any problems.
Until eventually...
She arrived at a crossroads.
Two roads stretched out before her.
Izumi stopped her motorcycle.
"Hm..."
She tried to remember something.
If she recalled correctly...
One of the roads was the fastest route to the Royal Capital.
However, there was a problem.
That route was notorious for being dangerous.
Monsters and bandits frequently appeared there.
Izumi searched through Rumi's memories for an answer.
But found nothing.
"Aagh..."
"Whatever."
Without giving it much thought, she chose the road on the left.
And of course.
It was the wrong road.
A few minutes later.
Izumi suddenly held her stomach.
"Ugh..."
Her stomach felt nauseous.
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A little painful.
"Why all of a sudden?"
Fortunately, the pain didn't last long.
So she chose to ignore it.
Then...
A shout echoed from the distance.
"Please spare our lives!"
"I'll give you anything you want!"
"I beg you!"
Izumi frowned.
She turned off the motorcycle's engine.
Then slowly approached.
From behind a bush, she saw a group of men surrounding two people.
A merchant.
And a young boy who looked to be around ten years old.
Bandits.
It wasn't difficult to guess.
One of the bandits laughed loudly.
"Anything we want?"
"Hahaha!"
"I'm not sure you have anything we want."
Another bandit joined in the laughter.
"You're just a poor merchant."
"How could you possibly give us what we want?"
The merchant trembled.
"Then..."
"Then what do you want?"
"If you know we have nothing, why are you doing this?"
For a moment, the bandits looked at one another.
Then they burst into even louder laughter.
"HAHAHAHAHA!!"
"HAHAHAHAHAHA!!"
One of them pointed at the merchant.
"Your lives, of course."
The merchant's face immediately turned pale.
The bandit continued.
"We're going to use you as bait."
"Bait for a magic-type monster that's been wandering around this area."
"If we manage to kill it..."
"Just once..."
"We'll make a fortune."
Another bandit grinned.
"I can build my dream house."
"And I'm going to have fun with the women in the city."
The bandits laughed with satisfaction.
Meanwhile, the merchant could only kneel on the ground.
Begging.
Crying.
Pleading for mercy.
Especially for his son.
But the bandits didn't care.
In fact, they planned to use the boy as the first piece of bait.
So they could enjoy watching the father's suffering.
Unfortunately.
That plan never happened.
Because...
BANG!
One of the bandits collapsed without warning.
A hole appeared in the center of his forehead.
Dead instantly.
"Hah?"
The other bandits froze.
None of them understood what had just happened.
BANG!
The second bandit fell.
BANG!
The third followed.
Panic spread instantly.
"Run!"
"WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!"
The bandits immediately scattered in every direction.
Meanwhile, Izumi stepped out from behind the bushes.
"Hm."
But at that moment—
CRASH!
Someone appeared behind her.
A gigantic axe swung toward her head.
Izumi slightly tilted her body.
WHOOSH!
The axe missed.
The large man's eyes widened.
"!!"
"S-She dodged it?!"
Izumi casually glanced at him.
"I'm curious."
The man fell silent.
"I made sure there was nobody behind me earlier."
"So how did you suddenly appear out of nowhere?"
The large man raised his axe.
"A woman...?!"
His gaze became cautious.
"Who exactly are you?!"
"Are you a knight?!"
Izumi didn't answer.
Instead.
She looked up at the leaves on the trees above.
The man became even more irritated.
"Hey!"
"I'm talking to you!"
Still no answer.
The giant axe swung once more.
Yet Izumi easily avoided it.
Then avoided another.
And another.
And another.
Her movements were light.
As though her body had no weight at all.
Izumi herself began to notice something.
"Hm..."
This body felt strange.
Too light.
She jumped.
Her body immediately shot upward.
Easily reaching a tree branch nearly ten meters high.
"...."
Izumi's eyes widened slightly.
Were the humans of this world really this strong?
No.
Impossible.
Just a few hours ago, this body had nearly died from poison.
Then why now...
Did she feel capable of shattering rocks with her bare hands?
Suddenly, a memory surfaced.
Food.
The beef curry she had created earlier.
"Ah."
Izumi finally understood.
"So that's it."
"That food."
"That's what made my body this strong."
The large man looked at her as though she were insane.
"What are you talking about?"
Izumi ignored him.
Only now did she notice something else.
There was no recoil.
The revolver she used normally had quite a powerful kick.
Yet ever since earlier.
She had barely felt it.
"This girl's body doesn't even have any muscles."
"And yet her strength far surpasses that of a normal human."
Everything finally made sense.
The strengthening effect of the Outer God.
Not only the Creation Skill.
But also everything created by it.
"Hahaha..."
Izumi smiled.
"So this is what it's like."
The large man grew even angrier.
"You lunatic!"
"Get down here and fight me!"
BANG!
His head exploded instantly.
The large body collapsed from where it stood.
Thud.
Dead.
Izumi lowered her revolver.
"So noisy."
"The people in this world really have no manners."
"When someone is talking, you should listen first."
The remaining bandits immediately lost all will to fight.
They fled in complete panic.
Leaving behind their leader's corpse.
Izumi simply sighed.
"Ah, damn it."
"The rats got away."
"I'm too lazy to chase them."
She looked at the bandit leader's corpse.
"Hm."
"Maybe next time I should interrogate them before executing them."
The merchant and his son were still frozen.
They hadn't even realized that their lives had been saved.
A few moments later.
The merchant dropped to his knees.
"Thank you!"
"Thank you so much!"
Izumi merely nodded.
"Hm."
"I just happened to pass by."
The merchant quickly introduced himself.
His name was Tom.
Meanwhile, the boy's name was Darius.
Even though Izumi refused several times.
Tom stubbornly insisted on repaying the favor.
In the end.
Izumi gave up.
And decided to travel with them for a while.
Tom smiled in relief.
"I am truly grateful to you, Miss."
Izumi froze.
"Huh..."
Tom blinked.
"Eh?"
Darius blinked as well.
"Eh?"
Izumi blinked too.
"Eh..."
An awkward silence filled the air.
Then...
Izumi suddenly remembered an important fact.
A fact she had kept forgetting for the past several hours.
"..."
"..."
"..."
Inside her mind, Izumi muttered:
"Damn."
"I forgot that I'm a woman now."