Bound and Broken: An Isekai Adventure Dark Fantasy (Melas Book 1) V.A. Lewis (feel good books to read .TXT) 📖

"It’s simple: I will right my wrongs," I declared.

"...how does that prove anything?" Karna asked me, disbelieving.

"It takes real strength to admit one was wrong," I said. "And taking it a step further and correcting your mistake? That’s what I will do."

"What are you even talking about?"

I clarified. "You said it yourself, didn’t you? I shouldn’t get to sit around in camp while you go out and steal things that are meant for me. So I’ll go with you on your mission."

The Goblin blinked a few times, then bared his teeth at me. "Are you sure? You do realize that I’m going out tonight? You can’t delay this until later, and give the excuse that the Commander won’t let you. We leave now." He emphasized the last words.

"Sure." I shrugged.

"What?" Karna stared at me blankly.

"I mean, that’s pretty much what I expected. You did say you went out almost every night, after all. Unless, of course, you don’t want me to come with you?" I cocked an eyebrow.

"I— no. Go ahead. But I won’t babysit you like the Commander does. Do you understand that?"

"Of course," I said, grinning. "You won’t have to, because I can take care of myself."

I was not a kid, after all. Even if I was physically a kid, I was an adult mentally, and that meant I took responsibility for my own actions. And maybe if I showed off more of my magic to the Goblin, he would stop berating me.

Probably not going to happen, but it’s worth a shot.

Chapter 31: Iron-y Golems

The forest was covered by a thick darkness that came with the night and a light mist glowed in the dim moonlight, revealing only the nebulous outline of trees all around me.

But hooded figures stalked through the shadows. Quietly. Nimbly. They stepped around the shrubbery, avoiding its fallen branches as they went. There were only three of them, but they had a mission.

Well, actually, there were four of them if you included me. But I was nothing like them; they were like ninjas, while I was like a massive cannon being blasted into the night!

However, I followed them, and I tried to be as stealthy as I could.

But more than being silent, they were also fast; Karna led the way, moving so far ahead of me I could only see the vague shape of his figure ahead of me. The second Goblin stalked close behind him, however the third lagged behind a bit to wait for me.

I did not know his name, but I was immensely grateful for what he was doing. Thanks to him, I was not going to get lost. Honestly, I would not be surprised if Karna was purposefully trying to leave me behind so I was stranded; I could not ignore the possibility that he was planning on killing me out here in the middle of nowhere.

I felt for my pockets, but there was nothing in it. I did not have a weapon; there was no sword, dagger, or knife hanging from my sides. I was not given any time to grab anything to protect myself with so I could only rely on magic to fight.

To be honest, it wouldn’t have made much difference if I had a sword or a shield since I did not know how to use those effectively; the only weapon I could’ve used was a gun, and we did not have those. It was far too expensive to supply a large armament of mana tool weaponry, especially considering magic could do most of what those did for free.

That only meant that these Goblins were dangerous even when unarmed, and that was not a good thought for me to have considering my woes.

They got further and further away from me. The gap widened as I allowed them to get away, slowing down out of fear. I felt my heart jump when I saw the figures in the distance stop. Only a single thought crossed my mind, Am I going to die here?

Then I spotted the shape beyond the three Goblins— the dim light illuminating the empty night.

We’ve arrived.

I nearly sighed in relief. I quickly regained my composure, and stepped beside the Goblins.

I looked in the distance, and saw the buildings spread out before me. It was not like Bys or Boleria; this city was far smaller and less grand. Its barely ten foot tall walls were made mostly out of wood, and its buildings were not particularly remarkable either.

Is this really it? I thought to myself. Before leaving, Karna told me we were stealing from a relatively well known Alchemist in the region; I honestly expected someone like that to live in a bigger city.

I turned to the Goblin to ask the question, but before I could open my mouth he raised a hand to silence me. "Stay quiet," Karna whispered. "We’ll observe for a bit, then sneak in when the guards switch."

I nodded. Right, he still doesn’t like me.

I did not want to annoy him, so I did not speak after he explicitly told me not to. After all, I was doing this so he would not hate me… or at least, so he would stop being a jerk towards me. So I lay in the grass next to the Goblins, and watched with them.

It was dark, and I could not see so clearly; the Goblins however, could see without an issue thanks to their night vision. Their eyes trained on the guards like hawks staring down at their next prey.

I only saw the briefest of movements, shadows taking the place of one another, torchlight coming and going. Then after some time, more figures came and others left.

We watched this happen three times. In the fourth cycle, Karna gave us the signal. We ran out of the thicket, straight