Chapter 57: Battle (1/2)
ED: Bluegraine
“No, it’s only a prediction, I might be wrong too.
The opponent may be just normal bandits, but with things like this, you should still prepare for the worst.”
A little relieved air flowed in the words of Bart.
“So, what is the probability of it being that 「worst situation」?” (Brett)
Bart answered with a straight face to the question of Brett.
“Well, about 80%” (Bart)
“…” (Everyone)
And Bart confirmed his intention to the merchants who still hadn’t said anything until now.
“As a client, what would you like to do?” (Bart)
“Well … Well, with number of soldiers 3 times or more, they are not opponents we can fight and win against, right?
How about we withdraw after confirming the identities of the opponent and the number of people. We will inform the royal palace immediately after we reach town?” (Merchant)
“Well, the enemy will move before the army of our country moves, and the reason why they have killed all the merchants until now is to conceal their identity.
So, if we turn back here, the enemies will obviously realize they have been discovered.
And I’m worried about how far they will go to hide their identity. Would they chase after us?
Even if we kill all the bandits we capture and run away with full speed, they will still catch up soon enough.
They may prepare horses for pursuit.
It might be a little better if we choose a place that’s advantageous to us.
What do you think about killing 3 or 4 people per person.” (Bart)
“Well, there is no choice from the beginning!” (Merchant)
“That’s it.” (Bart)
Just like that, Bart and merchant were laughing.
The other members of 『Dragon Breath』just shrugged their shoulders. Perhaps, it was the usual thing with them.
The three members of 『Flame Wolf』 had a slightly pale appearance, but they kept calm, as they were hunters after all. And 『Red Oath』 was too.
“What, these people …” (Mile + Maevis + Pauline + Rena)
Mile was amazed at the nerves of Bart and merchant. And …
“What’s that, they aren’t bandits? I wasted a lot of time for discussions …” (Rena)
“No, no matter how you see it, that army is invading another country, not with a regular battle, it isn’t a military action. They will be treated as spies or ordinary bandits, so they can be killed as if they were bandits” (Maevis)
“If you capture the commander and squeeze out information, you will get a lot of rewards ~” (Pauline)
“You are such …” (Rena) (あんたらねぇ)
Normally, we would have continued traveling for a while.
However, the merchant decided to camp here.
The highway went around the rocky mountain, with a rock wall that stood out on the right side, the rocky ground on the left side, and there was no grove and field.
Normally, it wouldn’t be considered a camping place.
Because if we went a little further, past the rocky mountains, there were grasslands. That place would be convenient for making camp, but not for battle action.
Since this was a rocky ground with no trees, we could use fire magic without hesitation.
Because we could fight with the wall of rock behind us, it was suitable for battle against a large number of enemies because they couldn’t surround us.
The enemy scout would without doubt notice us. Even if they were to think we acted weird, there was nothing they could do.
Because of the distance of only a few hundred meters, if they were to think that we had already noticed them, they wouldn’t keep waiting to ambush but instead move to attack this place.
The merchant united the carriages into 3 rows and 2 column, fitted perfectly to the rock wall to minimize the area which we needed to protect.
The captured bandits had both their arms and legs tied, and would be knocked unconcious.
With this, they would be inferior to the merchants and they could be killed as soon as the enemy began to approach.
Look like Bart thought, that in the worst case where we were going to die, we had to at least kill these bandits so they didn’t harm any other people.
I did not think it would take very long to kill seven bandits who were unconscious and tied up. The elderly merchants wouldn’t hesitate to kill the bandits either.
The escort hunters finished fixating the horse-drawn carriages, and tied the bandits up.
Right now, we were setting up a perfect interception pattern.
The others didn’t eat meals. An idiot who put food in their belly before a fight with a sword or a spear could not live long.
After that, we only awaited the enemy’s movement.
And about an hour later.
“… here they come” (Vera)
Vela who was an archer with good eyes found the enemy approaching first.
Because we began preparing for the encounter quite early, the surroundings were still bright.
Because it was possible that some people would miss their blows if it got dark, it seemed better to attack while it was still bright. They had overwhelming numbers after all.
Our camp was protect by a rock wall, but it also blocked our retreat. The attackers didn’t need to divide their strength.
They collected all their available fighting power, and around 40 enemies surround our camp in a semi-circle. As Bart expected, there were really 40 people.
“We are bandits! Discard your weapons and throw it down!” (Commander)
From the way the leader of our enemies surrounding us was talking, it was clear that he planned to kill us while hiding their identities. “We are bandits.” Moreover, it was “Discard your weapons and throw them away” instead of “Surrender”.
“… Because it will be a battle anyway, what can I say? Because I want to get even a bit of information, can I try something?” (Bart)
The merchants nodded to the words of Bart. 『Red Oath』 and 『Flame Wolf』 also nodded.
“That voice, aren’t you the commander ? What on earth are you doing in other countries?” (Bart)
“Huh…?” (Commander)
The commander was surprised and began to shake as Bart shouted loudly.
“I think I met you before in …” (Bart)
“No… I’m not! I’m just a bandit! Don’t say stupid things. Discard the weapon and throw it away quickly!” (Commander)
“…What do you think?” (Bart)
“Ahaha …” (Mile)
To Bart’s question, Mile could only show dry laughter.
“Well, I don’t think they will admit it, but with this I can with 100% certainty determine that they are soldiers.
That also means that even if we surrender, they kill us all. Everyone, are you ready?“ (Bart)
Everyone silently nodded.
“Alright, noncombatants, get on the second carriage as planned. Escorts, move to your position!” (Bart)
Everyone went to their designated positions according to Bart’s instructions.
The merchant got on the loading platform of the second carriage which had been unloaded from goods in advance.
This horse carriage had been placed between two others cars and fitted tightly to the rock wall, which was to give it a position in cover from arrows and magic attacks.
Mile would guard this carriage as planned. She asked the nanomachines to cast a spell on the captured bandits.
“Make all of these bandits lose consciousness until dawn” (Mile)
It was very appropriate to say that it was a magic spell, but the nanomachines seemed to understand what Mile wanted, and the bandits lost consciousness. With this, we didn’t have to worry about the captured bandits anymore. The plan was for Mile to stay here to protect the merchants but she was worried about her party and allies so she said to the merchants.
“Well, please wait here!” (Mile)
She smiled as she said that to the merchants, and Mile got off the platform. Before leaving the carriage, she muttered in a small voice.
“Grid force barrier, completely transparent version!” (Mile)
Kin, a small sound of the barrier was made. With this, nothing could harm the merchants anymore.
When Mile returned to the battlefield, the enemy began approaching in order with coordinated movements.
Although they were dressed like bandits their movements and equipment were strange. They had weapons of good quality. They were also wearing metal armor under bandit clothes.
Then, according to Bart’s instructions, Jeanne released attack magic from a distance. As her magic power was weak, it was natural to wait until the enemies entered the effective range where the power and accuracy increased. It was natural to try to reduce the enemy numbers a little with the first strike, but Bart’s aim was to check the enemy instead. He concentrated on their movements.
“… Fire Bomb!” (Jeanne)
The flaming explosive bullet that Jeanne cast towards the enemy leader disappeared before reaching him.
“Well, so they also have special units like magicians in this platoon” (Bart)