Chapter 60: – Battle Time (2/2)

Mining town is as the name says: a town with a main livelihood of mining.

It was located on the mountain side, we had to pass through the forest.

And that raised the chances of encountering monsters.

In other words: from that point on, it was the real thing.

When we entered the forest’s main road, we braced ourselves, for the air has changed.

But the monsters that came out were just the monsters we hunted around the town from Level II quests. Furthermore, not in a big pack; at best, it was just 4 to 5 at once–not a big deal.

As if having too much energy to spare, Symil’s Level III group jumped out and killed everything with great speed.

Thanks to that, we didn’t get any action.

I got to take it easy, but when it was time to make a camp, Symil sarcastically said “Really, this is why I said Level II won’t be much of a help at all.” Even if you lost against this Level II in a flash, is his memory that bad?

…Well, it was better than him picking a fight again, I guess.

As for the night watch, the duty was divided between my group and Symil’s.

First was my group, then the latter half was Symil’s group.

My group divided further into two groups to do night watch.

First was Snow’s and Chrisse’s group, then mine and Xiah’s group.

For the night watch, Xiah’s presense-sensing magic was exceptionally useful, and I was mostly just holding her back.

Incidentally, the drops from defeated monsters belonged to the adventurer in this case. Meaning, they were bonuses outside of the quest.

Because we were riding a wagon, transporting the drops was also easy.

The bonuses and the quest reward together made for quite a modest sum of money.

The trouble happened in the afternoon of the second day after entering the forest road.

We had only a little more to go until we got to a place that was good for a campsite, and the forward wagon stopped.

Our wagon couldn’t help but stop, too.

“I hear voices from the front wagon, sounds like a quarrel.”

The member with the best ear, Snow, told us of the forward wagon’s situation.

I became cautious at the mention of a quarrel.

”… Snow and I will go out front to confirm. Chrisse and Xiah, watch out all around and be ready to move at anytime.”

Having confirmed everyone’s replies, Snow and I grabbed our AK47s and ran to the front.

Looking back at the wagon, I saw Chrisse sitting on top of the canopy, holding her M700P in her hands.

That would be her watching out for her surroundings and to cover us when needed.

Me and Snow immediately arrived at the scene of problem.

There was a middle-aged man sitting against a tree trunk surrounded by Symil’s group and Gomugo the client.

It was not a person recklessly challenged and then repelled by our caravan.

His appearance looked like a merchant like Gomugo–full of injuries on his body, and lots of bloodstains on his clothes.

Gomugo handed him water and he drank it frantically.

Symil noticed Snow and I and frowned, but “work is work,” he started explaining.

“He’s a survivor of the monsters’ attacks at the open ground beyond this point at where we decided to camp. I was about to ask for details.”

Seemed like just the right time.

I asked Snow, and she cured the man’s injuries with magic.

The man stopped drinking and gave thanks to Snow.

The middle-aged man drank up all the water and caught his breath, and he then talks about what happened at the open ground beyond this point while trembling.

He was also a merchant. He and his fellow merchants pooled money together to hire escorts to leave Vesta.

While they were preparing to make camp at the open ground, they were attacked by a company of approximately 50 Orges.

Furthermore, as it seemed that they didn’t want to let anyone escape, they surrounded the merchants sneakily and attacked all at once.

And by some good luck, he slipped through the encirclement and narrowly escaped from death.

“O- orges, and 50, you say!?”

Symil’s group was shocked.

An Orge is a high-grade variety that is stronger than an orc. Height averages at 3 meters, muscle strength also 1-2 times more. It’s the strongest monster around the area.

But since the intelligence didn’t differ from an orc, it was impossible for them to move in groups strategically.

The attacked man said that he thought it was nightmare that he saw, too.

It was that unnatural.

After we finished hearing the story, Snow pointed out:

“I think the wanted twin magicians are involved here. It’s the same modus operandi that I heard, there’s no mistake, I think.”

Twin magicians—an identical pair of twin magicians who were peculiar for using fear to bind monsters to submission and organizing them to attack. They were highly skilled as magicians, and when the two attacked together their, magic power resonated and could temporarily launch an A-minus-level attack.

They were infamous magicians who had bounties on their heads.

If so, then it was a Level IV-class adventurer’s job.

As Symil’s group probably knew the twin magicians, they became restless and trembled even more.

“F- fifty orges controlled by those twin magicians! It’s at the level where you have to return to the highway and dispatch Dragon-Kingdom knight’s order as soon as possible, isn’t it?”

“But maybe there still are survivors. I think we should first scout and see the situation.”

Symil became irritated at my suggestion and glared at me.

“As if there are any survivors!”

“But if you leave like this, people who leave from the mining town like this man will be attacked again, you know.”

“So what! Isn’t getting ourselves to safety the first priority here? We don’t know when will we get attacked, so we have to get out of here right now!”

“I’m saying that since we have to get a grip of what the current situation is, it’s also for the sake of getting ourselves to safety.”

My opinion and Symil’s were the complete opposite.

Naturally, our lines of sight turned to the employer Gomugo.

He averted his eyes and wiped the sweat that was streaming down from his forehead.

“I’m just a layman about adventurer quests. I think I’ll let you professionals decide here.”

He left all the decision-making to us.

I sighed and gave a compromising proposal.

“Then first my group will take the role of scouting. If we still haven’t come back after 3 hours, then you can go back to the highway. If there is problem, we will give smoke signals; at that time, please retreat immediately.”

“….if you wanna do that, then go ahead; be my guest.”

Symil’s group also wanted information for their survival.

If we took the dangerous scouting duty, then it would probably be just what he wanted anyway.

The employer, Gomugo, also agreed with this decision.

After getting their permission, Snow and I immediately got back to our wagon.

I gave explanations to Chrisse and Xiah while moving, giving instructions to remove the horned horses from the wagon and put the saddle on.

Both of them started preparing without asking for the reason.

After removing the horned horses from the wagon, Xiah put the rein and saddle she brought just in case on them.

We had also already bought magic-prevention collars, as Xiah suggested.

I attached two collars to the belt.

I took the removed pouch and fixed it to an easy-to-handle position with the ALICE clip.

After we were done preparing the horses, Snow rode one horse with Chrisse on the back.

Xiah and I rode the other one, as I sat on the back.

Snow and Xiah were experienced in horse-riding, so I let them ride.

Me and Chrisse clung to their backs.

While we let the horses run with great haste, I explained the situation to Chrisse and Xiah.

In addition—that our objective this time is only scouting.

We decided that if there were survivors, we would aid them.

If we felt it was dangerous, we would still prioritize ourselves and retreat–even if there were survivors, for example.

At first, Snow and Chrisse were reluctant, but I wanted to prioritize their safety over anyone else’s.

I expressed that feeling, convincing them not to be reckless.

Even if we said we wanted to save people, there’s no meaning if were to die in doing so. The enemies were Level IV class. No matter how cautious we were, we wouldn’t overdo it.

And we kept galloping for about 30 minutes, and in a little, we arrived at the targeted open ground.

“This is terrible…”

I got off the horned horse and looked around.

The open ground we intended to camp on was about the size of a school ground.

5, no, 6 wagons were destroyed like they met a tornado. Wheels and axles were broken, wagons were on their sides, and the canopies were full of holes.

But the mystery here was that there was not even one corpse.

The cargo on the wagons as well were almost gone.

Xiah held her AK47 in one hand, carefully observing the traces and footprints that were on the ground.

“…..Looks like the horned horse and human corpses were taken, as well as the cargo. I think the chance that the twin magicians were involved is high, as madam Snow predicted.”

“I could understand if it’s cargo, but even human and horned horse’s corpses?”

“It’s food for the ogres. Ogres are unintelligent so terror and reward — in this case it’s food, if they are given food then they will obey. It’s the method the twin magicians usually use.”

I understand what Xiah was saying.

In other words, “carrot and stick,” huh.

They took the merchant’s cargo for themselves and gave corpses for orges and monsters. Efficiency shitheads.

“They just attacked their prey, so we can probably pass through this main road safely. But if it’s just now, then there are still a lot of their traces left, so it wouldn’t be hard to find their hideout … What do we do, young master?”

Xiah spoke in a manner like there was something she wanted to say.

Not just Xiah, but Snow and Chrisse also had a strong light in their eyes.

Of course, I can’t stand this wickedness before my eyes either.

The enemies were 50 ogres and 2 magicians. To be honest, they were strong enemies.

But if it was us, then we could probably do it. If it seemed dangerous, then we would fight from afar, shower them with bullets with the AK and decrease their numbers while retreating.

I turned around to face the girls.

“Okay then let’s find their hideout and strike them.”

They were all fired up at this decision.

Eyes burning with anger, I declared.

“–Alright! It’s battle time”