Chapter 15:
Escort Mission
After three days’ rest, the Crimson Vow found themselves back at the guildhall, ready to take on another job.
During their break, they’d received message after message from the Abbot Company, begging them to sell the rock lizards. The girls turned them all down, protesting that they had only “inferior goods worth less than sixty percent of the market value.” When, after several of these exchanges, the courier finally told them that the merchant would buy the lizards for 15 half-gold, the girls responded that the guild had offered them 20. Finally, the owner himself paid them a visit.
“I’ll pay you 21 half-gold,” he pleaded.
“Unfortunately, we already sold them to the guild for 20. Even though we would have sold them to you for 15 at the start. I suppose it wasn’t meant to be…” Pauline replied.
The man gritted his teeth, returning back home empty-handed.
An average merchant would be able to buy rock lizards at 25 to 28 half-gold apiece. If they were divided up and sold piecemeal as a luxury good, they could sell for 40 or more. If they managed to buy the lizards at 15—an already discounted price from the market value of 20 half-gold—then they could turn a profit of 25 half-gold each, which was about 250,000 yen, in Japanese terms. If the merchant had known the girls didn’t have just three rock lizards, but many many more, he would have fallen even farther into despair.
But, he reaped what he’d sowed.
When the merchant learned that the guild was selling heaps of rock lizards every week, and stood in line to discover that his company alone was prohibited from buying them, his face was a sight to behold.
“All right, let’s find our next job,” said Reina.
Everyone nodded and began scanning the board.
After several minutes, Reina’s eyes paused on one of the postings.
“Hmm…”
“Is something wrong?” Mile asked Reina, who appeared deep in thought.
“The pay on this job seems a little too high for what they’re requesting. I wonder if there’s some extra condition…”
Escort request. 9 days’ round trip to Amroth, including 1 day’s rest. C-rank or higher, 12 units requested. Reward: 24 half-gold each. Bonus for B-rank or higher.
It was a job of eight days, one that might put their lives in danger, and it would earn them twenty-four half-gold a piece. That was three half-gold a day. Compared to the value of one’s life, it seemed rather low.
However, it was also unlikely that they would see combat daily. On the contrary, there was an overwhelmingly high chance that they might travel the entire distance without a single incident at all. If the road were so dangerous that you could be attacked every time you traveled on it, no sensible merchant would take that route.
But without an escort, the possibility of being assailed by bandits rose steeply. There was also a chance that, with only merchants and drivers, they would be injured by monsters that hunters could have kept at bay. Because of that possibility, it was a matter of course to hire an escort guard in proportion to the size of the merchant party.
However, normally the pay was lower: just two half-gold pieces a day.
“I wonder if we should look into this…” murmured Reina, already heading toward the reception counter. Mile followed hurriedly behind.
“Oh yes, that escort job…” said the receptionist, Laylia, scrunching her nose at Reina’s inquiry. “To tell you the truth, the road to Amroth is haunted…”
“By g-g-ghosts?!” Mile interjected from beside her.
Reina smacked her on the head.
“D-don’t be stupid! What is it actually haunted by?”
Reina looked a bit queasy.
Huh? Don’t tell me that Reina’s…
“A-actually, yes. Ghosts…”
“Eeeek!!”
“…are nowhere to be seen! Er, oh no, I’m so sorry!”
Laylia had meant it as a joke, but seeing that Reina and Pauline appeared genuinely frightened, she hurried to apologize.
“I-It’s bandits! Bandits! Apparently they’ve been appearing in greater numbers lately, coming in from another country. Because of that, it’s hard to recruit people without raising the reward, and the standard rate has gone up a bit. Also, because merchants have been avoiding the road and there are fewer wagons traveling on it, inevitably there are fewer guards on it as well. There’s a strong possibility that you will be attacked, and I would recommend you all leave this one alone. Even five times the reward wouldn’t be worth the danger.”
Taking Laylia’s information to heart, the girls moved away from the counter.
Bandits rarely appeared in large groups.
If they traveled in large numbers, attacking just a single wagon wouldn’t make them enough profit to share. Then they’d have no choice but to increase their attacks, launching more assaults, or attacking larger merchant bands. And if they did that, they were sure to encounter a great number of escorting hunters, meaning that their group would suffer many casualties.
If the bandits killed too many merchants, commerce would grind to a halt, and the crown (or the local lords) would be forced to take action and mount a large-scale opposition to root the bandits out.
Because of that, bandit groups tended to be small and well spread out.
Only those who skimped on their escorts, or had particularly bad luck, would suffer from occasional attacks. As long as a merchant was properly prepared, they normally passed unharried. Most bandits would overlook a more formidable target in favor of easy prey.
Even if you were attacked, while the guards might be killed in combat, those who didn’t take part in the fight—the merchants, the drivers, and any passengers—could generally give up their possessions and escape unharmed. After all, if you were likely to be killed even if you surrendered, you’d fight to the very last and set fire to your cargo in one final act of retaliation. The bandits’ casualties would increase, and their profit would amount to nothing.
For the escorting hunters, sparing any bandits that surrendered reduced casualties on both sides. As for the merchants, if they worked hard they could earn back the cost of a lost wagon, provided they escaped with their lives.
Therefore if the client consented, and the hunters in charge of an escort decided to surrender, then the hunters still received their proper pay, without penalties. While the escort might not have been a success, they had performed their duty to the best of their abilities.
But in this case, it seemed that the bandits—operating in large-scale groups and moving in from other countries—were migratory. Raiding without setting up a permanent base. This meant they killed everyone: merchants, drivers, and guards alike. It was likely they planned to make as much as they could, then move on to some other land before a suppression force could be organized. After all, it took time for the local governments, or even the crown, to mobilize.
“Let’s take the job.”
“Huh?”
“If we dress Mile up in something cute and have her sit up by the driver, I bet we can attract even more bandits.”
The other three were stunned at Reina’s proposal.
“B-but, that sounds dangerous…”
“Yes! And it’s not even worth the pay.”
“If we’re away for nine days, that’s a waste of our inn fees…”
At Pauline, Mavis, and Mile’s grumbling, Reina raised her voice, sounding angry.
“Did you all not agree to take on an escort job?! You said you would leave it to me.”
“We did, but we thought it would be a normal escort job. It wouldn’t be so bad to take on an escort request one day, and if we took one a little sooner then we’d get used to the process. Gain some experience fighting other people. But the possibility of getting attacked on this job is way higher than usual, the pay is too low to be worth it, and the bandits are traveling in huge groups. There’s no need for us to stick our necks out just for kicks. There are other escort requests. I don’t think we need to go leaping into such a big job.”
Mavis voiced her opposition, followed by Pauline.
“I-I agree.”
“What’s more,” Mavis continued, “I’m sure the day will come when we’ll have to kill someone. But when that time comes, we have to make our own decisions. How can we do that if we can’t say, ‘We made the judgment, and I know it was the right one. I have no regrets’?
“Are you even interested in the guard duty, Reina? Or do you want us to take this job just so we can kill bandits? You want to force us into our ‘first time killing a man’ rather than let it come around when it does. And on top of that…”
Pausing only to take a breath, Mavis continued.
“What on earth was that ‘dress Mile in cute clothes and put her up by the driver’ thing about? Fighting the bandits should be our last resort. We should use the power of intimidation to keep the bandits from attacking in the first place. And you’re suggesting that we ask to be attacked by showing that there are no guards around and a little girl present?
“Besides, what are you going to do if the wagons or cargo are lost or damaged? What if the client or the drivers are injured or killed? Why the hell do you want to do something that would purposely put everyone in danger? It’s the exact opposite of our goal. What about Mile, dressed like that, having to fight a swarm of bandits without any armor? Did you even think about that?”
Reina stood silently, hanging her head, as Mavis threw one last jab.
“Why are you being such a fool?”
Reina stood quietly for several more seconds, then turned on her heel and ran.
“Reina…”
In a corner of the guildhall, the three remaining members of the Crimson Vow stood still as statues.
Reina returned sometime before dinner.
A hunter’s body was her bread and butter, and she wouldn’t allow her own ego to cheat her out of a meal. Eating elsewhere would be a breach of loyalty toward the inn, and Reina was most definitely the type to worry over such details.
“……”
Reina ate her meal without talking. Finally, Mavis spoke up.
“Reina…”
“……”
Reina ignored her, and continued to eat.
“We took the job. We leave tomorrow morning, so try not to oversleep.”
Reina spat out her food.
“Gaaaaah!! Reina, that’s disgusting!”
“Aaaah, my food!!!”
Mile and Mavis squealed. Pauline had somehow managed to hold her plate far enough away to escape being sprayed.
“I thought you all said we couldn’t take that job!”
“ Wahaha ! It wasn’t true!”
As Reina glared at her, Mile quickly ducked behind Mavis.
“I was just raising a few concerns for you to consider—but I don’t recall ever saying we wouldn’t take the job. And then, you disappeared before we could talk about it, so the three of us thought it over and came to the conclusion that we may as well take it… what’s that look for?”
Reina glared as Mavis breezily waved off her earlier concerns.
“S-so you were just badmouthing me…? Then, what happened to all those objections of yours?!”
“Oh, it’s fine. We took everything into account and decided that the job was still within the realm of possibility for us.”
“What is with you guys?”
Reina grumbled and fussed, and someone tapped her on the shoulder from behind. She turned to see little Lenny, who grinned before shoving a water bucket and rag her way.
“Sorry…”
***
After Reina had rushed out of the guildhall, the other three were greatly troubled.
It was clear that she was obsessing over something. However, they couldn’t do whatever Reina wanted just to make her happy. That might put their party on an unthinkable path, and if Reina wouldn’t listen to their concerns then they weren’t truly friends, much less the Crimson Vow.
After thinking for a while, Mavis spoke.
“We should find out more about that request.”
She went back to Laylia, the clerk, and asked to meet with the client so that she could hear more about it for herself.
Luckily, the day was still young, and there was plenty of time.
“I see. So that’s how it is then. Are you sure you’re all right with this?”
“Huh? No, actually it would be a big help for us, as long as you’re sure it’s okay.”
“On the other hand, this place…”
“Huh?! But the budget…”
“If we fail then we won’t get anything, right?”
“Hrm, you’ve got me there…”
“Well, then. How about this?”
“What?! What is that?! Are you serious?”
“Yes, it’s fine.”
“In that case… we had planned to delay our departure until we gathered more guards, but now I suppose we can head out right away. Is that acceptable?”
“No problems here. We are the Crimson Vow, and we’re ready to leave at a moment’s notice.”
Later that morning, the three girls borrowed the guild meeting room to have a chat with the two men and talked until they reached an arrangement that satisfied both parties.
***
“I want to thank you most sincerely for taking on this request. I know that it does not come under the best of circumstances.”
Early the following morning, the merchant party made their introductions in the city square. There were six wagons in the caravan with one driver for each, and four merchants altogether.
The merchants seemed to be long-time companions, and the meet-and-greet was more for the benefit of the escorting hunters. There was no need for the guards to get too friendly with the merchants, but it was necessary for the hunters to get to know one another’s strengths and skills—for assigning and coordinating roles. Even if it only slightly increased their chances of making it safely through the next nine days, it was worth taking the time to do it before their departure.
“Some of you weren’t present when the request was accepted. You may have heard some of the details from your leaders, but allow me to give a brief overview.”
It seemed Reina wasn’t the only one yet to receive a direct explanation. Clearly there were other parties where only a few representatives had gone to negotiate.
“Amroth,” the merchant continued, “is four days away, making for an eight-day round trip. Upon arrival, we’ll be stopping for one day, during which you’ll be free to do as you like. Now, as you all may have noticed, the reward for this job is 50 percent higher than standard. The reason for this, as I’m sure you’ve already heard from your companions, is that this route has recently been plagued by a rather large-scale bandit operation.”
Here, the head of the merchant group paused to look over the group of hunters, but no one appeared to be surprised. They’d all heard about the situation from their leaders. The Crimson Vow had filled Reina in the previous night.
“That’s not all. A number of people are suffering because of the decrease in the number of merchants, thanks to the bandits. For their sake, our group is not carrying expensive luxury items, but absolute necessities, including critical medical supplies and specialty tools for craftsmen. In addition to transporting these goods, we have one more important goal. That is…”
The client looked over the group again.
“We aim to wipe out the bandits.”
That was the merchant group’s true aim, just as Mile and company had heard last night.
“It is going to take some time before either the national or regional governments are prepared to do anything about this. If we wait, business in Amroth will be completely cut off. We’ve mobilized this group with the assumption that we will come under attack. If nothing happens, we’ll proceed with our business as usual. However, if we do come under attack, we intend to fight to the end.
“Though we’ve yet to confirm the numbers, estimates say there are at least twenty bandits. I have faith that our group of twelve hunters—one B-rank and eleven C-ranks, including four magic users—will be more than enough to take these scoundrels down.
“This information wasn’t included in the job posting because we assumed that the bandits might very well have allies passing through the guildhall. Therefore, we requested that the details be given only at the clerk’s discretion, to hunters who approached them about the job. There were four other parties who inquired and were turned away, as well as one more that we had to decline when we judged they were lacking in power.
“We understand that, considering our true aim, the promised reward is relatively low. However, the requested goods promise a very low return, meaning that we couldn’t set aside more even if we wished to. For merchants, it is a point of pride not to engage in business that we know from the outset will put us in the red. We kindly beg your forgiveness.”
The client cast a glance at his fellow merchants, who nodded in agreement. Then he turned his attention back to the hunters.
“On the other hand, should a battle arise, there is no need for you to focus on protecting us. We will simply barricade ourselves inside the cargo wagons and ready our swords. It’s an advantageous position, so if any bandits try to lift the cargo from the wagon, we can probably take them. Besides, it’s more likely that they won’t be interested in stealing during a battle. They can see to that once all their opponents are gone.
“Therefore, you may keep all of your focus on annihilating our opponents. Even if we’re taken hostage, pay us no mind. If we surrender, I’m confident—based on what I’ve heard—that they will still kill us.
“That’s all for now. Does anyone have any questions?”
The guards gaped. The client’s request—to prioritize slaying the bandits over protecting the merchants—was completely unprecedented. Moreover, this was the first time that any of them had heard about this aspect of the job.
“Why would you go this far?”
The question came from one of the three parties that had accepted the job, a trio of young men in their late teens.
“Er, well, the reason is… if I may be so bold as to say, it’s just that, well… we’re merchants, and Amroth has always been a prosperous place for us…”
“That’s ridiculous! You’re all idiots!”
This was the fellow who appeared to be the leader of the third party, a group consisting of three men and two women somewhere in their late twenties or early thirties. He guffawed loudly, but the woman standing beside him cut in.
“Well then, what does that make you, the one who accepted this job?”
“Isn’t it obvious? A big fat idiot!”
The five members of the party laughed uproariously. It seemed like they were always this way.
The leader of the third party turned serious, looking to the rest of the hunters.
“Now then, how about we introduce ourselves? I’m Bart, the leader of Dragonbreath. I’m a swordsman, B-rank. Seems like I’m the only B-rank here. And since it appears that we’re also the biggest party here, I’d like it if you left the escort planning and battle tactics to me. Any objections?”
Heads shook, and seeing there were no dissenters, Bart continued.
“Our other members are Callum, the swordsman; Fargus, the lancer; Vera, the bow-and-short-sword wielder; and Jeanie, the magic user. Jeanie specializes in combat magic, but don’t expect too much from her in terms of healing.”
Next, the trio of young men introduced themselves.
“I’m Brett, the leader of the Flaming Wolves. Me and Chuck here are both swordsmen. Daryl’s our spear guy.”
“Er…”
A few of the others cut in. They couldn’t help it. No matter how you looked at it, their team balance was horrible.
Generally speaking, a reasonable size for an F to C-rank party was five to seven members. If you were B-rank or above, you might have even more on your roster. With only four people, you could really only take on low-level monsters, but so long as you were skilled, you would be fine. With eight or more you would have to split into two groups, or keep some members as reserves. That is, if they weren’t already near retirement and just sticking around to mentor younger hunters.
When it came to parties, it was dangerous to have too few members. But if you had too many, there wasn’t enough money to go around and it was easy to fall into interpersonal conflicts. If there was a fixed reward and you had a large group of people, then each individual’s share would go down.
And then there was the matter of balance, unrelated to the number of members.
Take two parties. In party A, you have a swordsman, a lancer, an archer, and a mage. In party B, you have a swordsman, a swordsman, a swordsman, and a swordsman. Which of these parties will do better as hunters? The answer should be clear.
Considered from this perspective, the balance of the Flaming Wolves was horrendous. More than that, they had only three members. It was thoroughly puzzling, no matter who you asked.
“We know. Our balance and our numbers are terrible. Up until just a few months ago, we had two girls with us too, an archer and a mage.”
“What happened to them?” Mile asked, innocently.
The others looked aghast, but it was too late.
“A party of four handsome guys came calling, and they ran off! The other day they came crawling back, all, ‘Let’s team up again!’ But we refused. We’re not interested in dragging pregnant women off to battle, and we have no intention of raising other men’s kids!”
“I… I see …”
A deep silence fell over the group, but Mavis broke it handily.
“W-we are the Crimson Vow. I am Mavis, a sword-wielder and our leader. These two are Reina and Pauline, our mages. And this is Mile, the magic swordswoman.”
“Magic swordswoman?” the Flaming Wolves asked in unison.
Apparently, while Dragonbreath had been present at the graduation exam, the Flaming Wolves had not. It was no surprise that the larger party weren’t shocked to see such young girls taking on an escort role.
As it happened, the client had also been watching the exam. If not, he probably would have hesitated, if not outright refused, to let the Crimson Vow take on this request, when only Mavis appeared to be of age.
“Yes,” Mile said. “I’m fairly good at magic, and also at using a sword. So don’t worry about stopping for water along the way!”
Seeing the haughty looks on the Flaming Wolves’ faces, Dragonbreath shared a wry smile.
“Reina does combat magic, and Pauline’s specialty is healing. She can also use a decent level of support and combat magic, so she’s kind of an all-purpose magician…”
“What? That’s amazing! We figured a bunch of little girls would be dead weight, but I guess you could be pretty useful,” said the Flaming Wolves’ lancer.
His leader gave him a nudge, but Mavis kept smiling. She knew how their party appeared to outsiders.
After exchanging a bit more information about magical specialties and the like, the group departed. From the outset, it was determined the guards would ride in the wagons with the merchants. This way, they could move quickly and save energy to fight if needed. Normally, you’d want the guards to be a bit more conspicuous to ward off danger, but that was hardly a concern in this case.
The first of the six wagons carried three members of Dragonbreath, while the remaining two sat in the second. The three Flaming Wolves sat in the rear wagon, and all four members of the Crimson Vow rode in the fourth.
They were positioned so that, if the caravan were attacked from the side, they could all respond together. Even if they were attacked from the front or back, there were still people who could react right away. In that event, those at the opposite end were instructed not to rush to assist. This wasn’t a matter of distance, but of strategy: it was a common bandit tactic to launch a second attack at one end while the fighting force was focused at the other.
It was possible that Bart had placed the Crimson Vow strategically too, positioning the young girls at the center where it was the safest. While he surely knew in his heart that the Flaming Wolves were probably the weakest link, his paternal instincts demanded that the Crimson Vow were protected.
The Flaming Wolves might be in their teens, but they were most certainly adults, and had not complained at their positioning.
On the first day out of the capital, they weren’t assailed by either bandits or monsters, and made it to the spot where they would camp without incident.
The merchants slept wrapped in blankets in the crooks of their wagons. While it was cramped, it was preferable to sleeping outside. The drivers slept on the ground, with one blanket beneath them and one on top. The same was true for the hunters. If it rained, they would sleep beneath the wagons, or under a tree.
As for Mile and the other girls…
“Hey, what the heck is that?”
“Huh? It’s just a normal tent and bedroll and blankets…”
“Where on earth were you keeping that?!”
The youths of the Flaming Wolves had questions. The cargo in the wagons was packed in tight with just enough room for the merchants to sleep. Everyone else had disembarked for the night. There was no room for the Crimson Vow to pack such bulky personal items.
After using the last of the light to complete their preparations for the evening, everyone sat down to dinner. The merchants provided meals for the journey, but they were all cheap fare: things that were easily preserved, light, and didn’t take up much space. Which is to say, there wasn’t much variety. Yes, it was their old pals: hardtack and jerky, with a side of dried vegetables dissolved into hot water as a “soup.” The portions were far from filling.
Still not too far from poverty, Mile and company would take whatever they could get. They accepted their hardtack and jerky, but handed it all over to Mile, who placed it inside her loot box. She stumbled away for a moment and returned with two jackalopes in each hand.
Mavis prepared the meat with a kitchen knife that Mile had produced from somewhere or other, while Reina grilled over a conjured bonfire. A delicious aroma filled the air…
“Would you all like some?”
At Mile’s invitation, the other hunters—who had been circling at a distance—rushed over.
(Mavis had switched from her short sword to a kitchen knife for cooking because, somehow, Mile had been able to sense a faint weeping coming from somewhere—asking why such a beautiful blade was being used for basic chores. The noise had made her uneasy.)
When the jackalope meat ran out, it seemed that not everyone had eaten their fill, so Mile pulled a portion of orc meat and some toasted rock lizard out of her loot box.
“What? St-storage magic?”
This time, both the Flaming Wolves and Dragonbreath expressed their amazement. At their initial meeting only Bart, the Dragonbreath leader, had heard about Mile’s storage magic. It was a rare skill, and she hadn’t shown it off at the graduation exam.
Out of pride, the merchants (who had provided the original meal) had not come for any of the rabbit. However, seeing what came next, they couldn’t help themselves. The whole merchant party, drivers included, approached.
“Storage magic sure is handy…”
Their jealousy was evident in their voices. An ability like that was every merchant’s dream.
“M-might we have some meat as well?” the merchants asked, and everyone chowed down together.
This time they used magic to round up the scent particles, explaining to the others that the smell wouldn’t attract any monsters and they could eat without a care.
Afterward, they provided hot showers to anyone who wanted one.
The two women from Dragonbreath, Vera and Jeanie, gladly accepted.
Finally, Bart uttered the words that so many others had said before:
“What useful girls you all are…”
When they gathered for breakfast the following morning, the merchants’ eyes nearly popped out of their heads.
“Wh-wh-what is going on here?”
Brett, the leader of the Flaming Wolves, was trembling violently. Several others were in the same state. Only the lead merchant and Bart, the leader of Dragonbreath, appeared relatively unshaken. They, at least, already understood. The shocking sight they all had seen was…
Mile and Reina wearing Eckland Academy uniforms, and Pauline wearing a gym outfit from the same school.
It was Reina’s bandit-fishing plan.
During her time at boarding school, Mile wore her uniforms day in and day out, so they had worn out quickly. Through numerous exchanges, she’d lost possession of one that fit properly, ending up with a uniform that was a little bit too big. This fit Reina perfectly. And, since the person who had proposed the plan was in no position to refuse, the reluctant Reina had been forced into wearing it.
Despite pretending to hate the uniform, Mavis noticed that Reina actually seemed thrilled with it.
Pauline was less than thrilled.
At school, the only times that Mile wasn’t wearing her uniform (i.e. when she was sleeping) was when she wore her gym clothes. They were stretchy, and even when the size was a little off, you could still wear them comfortably.
But when Pauline wore it…it was bulging. There, there, and especially there …
“Nooooo!”
Mavis, the only one to escape from Mile’s school uniform fashion show, thanked her lucky stars she was too big to fit in any of Mile’s outfits. Reina’s cheeks were a bit pink, while Pauline’s face was completely red. Mavis looked on, uncomfortable. Only Mile continued as usual.
After they’d eaten and packed up, the four girls of the Crimson Vow set up beside the drivers of the first four wagons, one on each seat as they set out again.
“Please watch over me!” said Mile, beaming.
The elderly driver of the first wagon smiled back and replied, “Oh, sure thing. And thank ye fer the meat last night!”
Mile chatted with the driver to pass time. He showed her how to drive the wagon, and she asked why someone of his age was still working as a driver.
“Well now, I already done well retired, but I heard they was lookin’ fer drivers to take some wagons to Amroth. I thought to myself, well if them folks are goin’ down a dangerous road, better it be us old timers who ain’t afraid to die. Seems like some of them other folks thought the same. Fer these six wagons, there’s four of us old vets like me.
“Plus, my little girl ’n her husband do business out in Amroth. If they stepped outta town to get supplies or what have ye and got attacked, they’d be in a heap of trouble. I ain’t got much longer here, so if I got a chance to die fer a cause then… the goddess sure knows how t’ grant an old man some peace in style. Bwa-ha-ha!”
“A-ah…”
Mile nodded at the old man’s words, thinking that he would not be dying on this road. Not if there was anything she could do to prevent it.
There were a number of reasons why this job posting had caused Mavis, Pauline, and Mile some concern. Of course there was the matter of Reina, but that alone wasn’t enough to change their minds.
Their first concern was that the reward was far too low for the requested work. In this case, it wasn’t because the merchants were crooked, but rather because travel to Amroth was so difficult that only the most necessary goods were requested. These items carried a slim profit margin, so the budget was very tight on the whole. And, no matter how much effort they might go to for valued customers, there was no way a merchant would make a deal that would lose them money. So the girls understood why the pay was so low. It was something else that made them question whether they should take the job.
It was the question of killing bandits.
On a normal escort job, going out intending to kill bandits—and especially going out of your way to attract them—was preposterous. However, if that was the intention, then the task could be viewed as extermination duty on top of guard duty, at 1.5 times the normal pay. If it was truly the clients’ desire to attract bandits, this was no issue.
Lastly, there was the matter of taking a job with the strong chance they’d be thrust into combat.
Of course, they could never know with 100 percent certainty that they would be attacked. It was possible the bandits had just finished attacking another caravan. Even bandits couldn’t possibly work every day. And there was a chance that the bandits might have already moved on to another country.
Really, this was a standard escort job with a heightened chance of being ambushed. What happened was completely up to fate. Still, Mile, Mavis, and Pauline had very different opinions on that point, so they tried not to discuss it too deeply.
Mavis was exempted from the “cute clothes plan” because, as an advance guard fighter, her gear took the longest to put on. In addition, she simply couldn’t wear Mile’s clothing. The magicians required little time to prepare their gear, so they all participated at Mile’s insistence—perhaps because she was embarrassed at the prospect of being the only one in school girl’s clothes.
As the progenitor of this plan, Reina had no right to object and, dogged by her companions, Pauline couldn’t escape either—even if it meant having to wear a tired old gym uniform. Mavis, concerned that the slightest comment might get her sucked into the maelstrom, did her best to remain uninvolved.
And so it was determined that Reina, Pauline, and Mile would wear Mile’s clothing from her academy days—along with their own boots, which were a bit awkward to change out of. Their footwear would be the only thing that might mark them as hunters.
They hadn’t worn these outfits on the first day because they were still close to the capital, where the chance of bandits appearing was low. But the number one reason was simply ego—if their acquaintances from the city saw them dressed like this, they would never live it down!
They practiced again and again until they were able to don their gear in a matter of moments. As long as they weren’t struck by a surprise ambush, they would be prepared to fight.
In any case, the magic users were never meant to be involved in close-range combat. Even their leather armor could not offer total protection against sword and spear. For them, gear was something of an afterthought.
Even as Mile chatted with the driver she secretly cast surveillance spells and, finally, a ping attracted her attention.
Hmm, looks like…orcs, perhaps? Six of them.
Mile leapt from the cab onto the tarp covering the wagon, giving a hand signal to the others behind.
The wagons following her came to a gentle halt. Then, Mile climbed back down to the cab and directed the driver to stop. She jumped down from the wagon and ran ahead.
There they are!
Mile hid behind a big tree and peeked around.
There were six orcs, just as she’d predicted. Perhaps they’d spotted the wagons from an elevated place and were lying in wait—or perhaps they’d simply stumbled upon them. Either way, if the wagons proceeded they would encounter the orcs. She had to fight them here.
There was no point in conveying this to the other hunters. With that in mind, Mile pulled the slingshot from her loot box and gripped it in her left hand, taking out an iron sphere about the size of a pachinko ball.
It’s funny to think that these bullets look so much like the balls you use in the game. Perhaps there’s some connection? Here, the stakes are somewhat higher…
Pondering this, Mile inserted the metal ball into the pouch of the slingshot. She didn’t use pebbles here, worried they might shatter and end up dispersed throughout the orc’s thick flesh. If someone were to crunch down on a rock in a piece of orc meat, it wouldn’t just be unpleasant. Since this world had no real dentists, you’d be out of luck if you cracked a tooth… unless maybe, it could be restored with healing magic? Or re-grown in place of the old one? Either way, Mile had no desire to find out. Worse, what if you chewed up a rock? Would you absorb the minerals?
Her thoughts grew stranger and stranger, so she decided to stop thinking.
As she wasn’t gathering small animals, she held her left hand out as far as she could and moderated her right hand, drawing the carbon nanotubes back to two-thirds of their maximum stretch.
Aim steady…
Whoosh!
…Bang!
Whoosh!
…Bang!
Whoosh!
…Bang!
The sounds of firing rang out three times each before Mile flew out of the shadows, brandishing her sword.
As the remaining orcs puzzled over how their companions were suddenly spewing blood from massive holes in their guts, two more orc heads were blown away and the three remaining orcs were driven into a frenzy.
In truth, when Mile saw the bullet fly into the first orc’s gut, she realized that she had mistakenly ruined the best of the meat—so she shifted her aim to the heads. Could she truly be so calm in the face of danger? Perhaps she just had food on the brain…
In any event, Mile flew toward the raging orcs and dashed between them, her sword swinging.
Slash!
Thud! Ka-thunk!
Behind her, the top halves of the three orcs separated from the bottoms and fell to the ground, oozing blood. Not a drop splashed onto Mile’s clothing.
“Y-you…”
Hearing a voice behind her, Mile turned to see Dragonbreath—their mouths half-open, staring in awe at Mile, who stood before the corpses of a half dozen orcs.
***
“Why would you go out there by yourself?!”
That evening, as they made camp, Mile got a stern lecture from Bart.
“If you spot orcs, you report them to me first! We were right behind you—with just a curtain in between us! Why wouldn’t you say something before you jumped out?!”
“I-I’m sorry…”
“I’m not looking for your apologies! Explain yourself!”
Humiliated, Mile had no choice but to tell the truth.
“Well, suppose, Mr. Bart, that you were in the middle of an escort job, and you were walking along at the front of the line, when suddenly you saw some young jackalopes in the middle of the road.”
“O-okay…”
Bart was a little perplexed as to why they were suddenly talking in hypotheticals, but he didn’t want to interrupt, so he listened.
“What would you do?”
“Well, I would just kick them out of the way, and… wait, don’t tell me—!”
“You wouldn’t bother making a fuss and calling everyone over, would you?”
“Are you trying to tell me that a horde of six orcs is the same to you as some baby jackalopes?! Honestly, how am I supposed to manage this young C-rank girl, just doing whatever—”
Someone patted Bart on the shoulder, cutting him off.
“I’m not sure you’re really getting your point across while you sit there chowing down on the orc chops that kid just hunted all by herself,” said Vera, one of his party members.
Reflexively, Bart looked down at the orc bone he was gripping in his left hand. He was already on his third, and his next portion was nearly done roasting.
“Forgive me.” Mile said. “I signaled to the wagons behind us, but I forgot about the people in the wagon I was riding in! I’ll be more careful in the future.”
The group had grown quiet, and Bart decided it was time to back down.
It wasn’t that he wanted to pick on the girl. He was simply concerned for Mile, and with the importance of maintaining a strong chain of command while coordinating three separate parties. Mile understood this perfectly, and her apology was sincere.
“As long as you understand that, we’re fine. Go ahead and eat. You’re the one who hunted these guys, after all.”
With Bart’s permission, Mile began to eat. But just as she did, the Dragonbreath second-in-command, the swordsman Callum, started on her.
“Oy, where’d you learn to swing a sword like that? How’d you cut three orcs clean in half?”
He hadn’t been drinking, but his eyes had a glazed look.
“I-I’m short, and I can’t reach their necks, so I just cut at their bodies—”
“That’s not what I’m asking! Quit acting like you don’t know!”
Mile fretted and Vera, the archer, came to her defense.
“Now, now. Don’t bother that girl. No one likes a pushy guy.”
Callum grumbled and pulled away, refusing to meet Vera’s eye.
“Phew. Thank you so much, Miss Vera!”
Relieved, Mile tried to extend her thanks.
“Whatever. It’s no big deal. I was wondering, anyway—when we got there, you were already jumping out with your sword and the first three orcs were already down. Those wounds didn’t look like they were caused by magic. What kind of crazy attack did you use?”
Uh-oh.
As Mile backed away, something soft smacked her in the back. She turned around, breaking into a cold sweat. Jeanie, the magic user, had clamped both her hands on Mile’s shoulders and was grinning widely.
“Was it magic? Was it some super cool magic?”
“Aaaaaaaahhh!”
It was going to be a little while before Mile could get her hands on that meat.
***
It’s a good thing I prepared my slingshot…
Hoping to escape from Vera and Jeanie’s interrogation, Mile produced her weapon and showed them it was not magic. Merely a simple, almost toy-like, tool. Yet, rather than diverting their interest, this—just like with Reina—made them inquisitive as to how something so simple could produce such power.
And, just like Reina, as soon as they learned they absolutely could not use it themselves, their interest swiftly flagged. As it turned out, Mile’s experience with Reina had come in handy. It seemed that this old dog could learn new tricks, after all.
It was considered taboo to inquire into another hunter’s background and experience, and Callum, Vera, and Jeanie’s intensive questioning was clearly against the rules. Enough that Mile, were she so inclined, could request a formal apology from Dragonbreath.
If she and her company were adult men, they probably would have—but then again, if they were adult men, the three hunters likely wouldn’t dare to push so hard. If you were generous, you could argue that they were just shooting the breeze with friends. If you were inclined to be harsh, you might say they were taking advantage of both Mile and the Crimson Vow.
Bart and Mavis should have intervened as the leaders of the two groups. However, Bart was interested in the conversation, and like the others, he saw the members of the Crimson Vow as little girls, not to be taken too seriously.
Mavis could not stomach being belittled by veteran C-rank hunters but, at the same time, she knew that the slingshot was merely a disguise. Mile’s way of using her wind magic without attracting notice. So, she kept quiet. If she truly wanted to earn the respect of the veterans, it would have been better to intervene, but this was a high hurdle for a new leader.
If the interrogators acted in a forceful or threatening manner, one of the Crimson Vow would have intervened. But Vera had already shut Callum down, and their questions had the air of “just a little chitchat between girls,” which made it difficult to step in—even if it was clear this was more than that…
After a few minutes of this, Mile escaped and finally got her hands on some orc meat.
“Time for some grub!”
“Hey, let me see that thing.”
It was Bart.
A look of despair crossed Mile’s face.
“Never mind,” Bart apologized. “You keep eating. I saw when you were showing Vera how to use it, so I think I get the idea…”
No longer able to muster the energy to protest, Mile handed over her slingshot.
Whoosh!
To Mile’s surprise, Bart pulled the strap back with slightly more strength than Mile used in her critter-hunting mode, cracking through a tree branch.
If you thought about it, this wasn’t all that mysterious. On Earth, even normal people used slingshots for hunting. And with nanotubes instead of rubber you could get a fair bit of power, even if you didn’t pull the strap back to its fullest. The difference was that all the others who’d tried didn’t have Bart’s physical strength.
Still, as an archer, Vera, should have had a fair bit of upper body strength. She should have at least been able to stretch the strap back part of the way…
It seemed that Bart was rather extraordinary. In the way that only a B-rank hunter could be.
Fascinated, he began gathering pebbles, but Mile ignored him and focused on her food. Then she attempted to slip back to her tent unnoticed…
“Mileeeey! If you don’t mind?”
“Sure, sure…”
The women of Dragonbreath called for a shower.
The next morning, Mile awoke to a strangely delicious smell.
She dressed herself and went to find Bart roasting meat over the campfire.
Behind him were birds, jackalopes, and foxes.
Whoa…
Apparently, he had been hunting since the crack of dawn.
A swordsman by trade, Bart was in high spirits. He’d quite enjoyed his first experience with long-range hunting.
“This thing is amazing! It makes it so easy to grab prey! If you had this—”
Noooo! Don’t finish that sentence!!!
Ignorant of Mile’s plea, Bart grinned and continued.
“—you wouldn’t even need bows or combat spells!”
Aaaaaand he said it.
Smack!
Feeling a hand on his shoulder, Bart turned to find the Dragonbreath’s archer Vera, and their mage Jeanie, glaring down at him.
“Oh.”
The two women dragged him away from the fire, and Mile heard jostling before Bart returned with the borrowed slingshot.
“…Here you go.”
His face appeared somewhat swollen.
It was now the third day since they departed from the capital. If nothing out of the ordinary occurred, they would arrive in Amroth by the evening of the following day.
Though they were a fair distance from the capital, they were still quite a way from Amroth. Today held the greatest likelihood of a bandit attack. With that in mind, the Crimson Vow once again took up their places beside the drivers.
The bandits were free to select the location for their assault. So it was only natural that it would happen somewhere they had the advantage due to terrain or fatigue on the part of the merchant party.
Evening, most likely. When we’re the most tired and just getting ready to settle in for the night… will they strike while we’re still moving? Or when we get to camp?
That was Mile’s thinking. In reality, it was late morning when they appeared.
Her surveillance magic revealed seven human figures in the distance.
That’s fewer than I thought. Are they just a diversion? Is the main party elsewhere?
Figuring that out was a task for their leader. Mile drew back the curtain and gave her report to Bart, who sat in the luggage compartment.
“There are seven people about 300 meters ahead. And they’re not moving.”
“How on earth do you know that?!” Bart looked slightly stunned, but recovered quickly. “Let’s stop for now and get ready. Then we’ll proceed and confirm the group up ahead, keeping an eye on the rear. If they’re bandits, we eliminate them. Even if a fight breaks out, the Flaming Wolves will lie in wait in their wagon. That way, if a separate group ambushes us they can fight them off, and if these guys get too close, they can defend the merchants.”
Of course, the merchants had told their escort not to worry over their protection, but no one could sit by and listen to that kind of talk. They had to defend their clients as much as the circumstances allowed.
Mile nodded at Bart’s instructions, then jumped on top of the tarp and flashed hand signals to the wagons behind. She couldn’t relay Bart’s instructions word for word, but she could get the main points with this simple sign sequence.
As the wagons came to a stop, Mile moved to the fourth wagon to change clothes.
If there’d been no time, the plan was for the men to look away as they changed—or simply don their leather gear on top of the uniforms. However, since they had a few moments, there was no need to change in front of the other hunters. That was by no means a service that Mile was eager to provide.
By the time Mile made it to the fourth wagon, Reina, who had been riding in the third, had already finished changing. Pauline had been in the fourth wagon from the start, and Mavis, who had no need to change, was still in the cab of the second wagon, waiting.
“I guess it’s time…” said Mile.
Reina and Pauline nodded silently.
When they were finished, all three headed toward the first wagon, collecting Mavis along the way. The members of Dragonbreath were already waiting on the ground in front.
The guards began advancing, with only the Flaming Wolves lurking behind in the final wagon—their hidden ace. They had received their orders from Dragonbreath while the girls were changing.
“All right, then. Let’s go!”
“Ah! Please wait a minute!” Mavis interrupted. “Could I persuade you all to let us take care of this part?”
“What?”
“At the moment, it seems like there are only seven bandits up ahead. And we’d like to try get some combat experience. Of course, we’d welcome an assist if it looks like we’re at a disadvantage or if more reinforcements appear… with just us going out at the start, the bandits may get careless. And then, perhaps, the rest of the bandits might be convinced to show themselves as well…”
Bart thought a moment, then agreed.
“Yes. Go on ahead. But if it looks like you’re in danger, we’re going to step in. And if reinforcements appear, then we can’t guarantee you backup. Do you understand?”
“Yes. And please forgive my rudeness. Let’s go!”
The other three nodded at Mavis’s direction. This was the moment they were waiting for.
It was time for the Crimson Vow to have their first real fight.
The six wagons trundled along at a far more leisurely pace than usual. And four young girls walked at the head of the procession.
The five members of Dragonbreath hid in the first and second wagons, ready to mobilize on Bart’s signal.
As they advanced, they came across a log rolled out to block the road. It made it impossible for a wagon to pass, and with such a narrow road, it would be hard to get around it. As the caravan came to a halt, the bandits showed themselves.
“Well, well. You all had better—wha?”
Seeing the Crimson Vow, the bandits froze in place.
“Y’all are hunters ? We thought you were some bratty little academy students. Damn. What the hell were those lookouts even spying for?”
The bandits must have been watching from somewhere along the road and selected these wagons as their targets. Normally, the presence of an escort acted as a deterrent, so hiding guards away was unheard of. The bandits simply assumed that their lookouts had made a mistake.
“Whatever. Seeing how young you are, I bet y’all just graduated to D-rank, huh? And there ain’t much you can do with so few. Better surrender now and save yer skins. If you just go ahead and hand over yer gear and yer weapons, along with whatever you get from those merchants, we’ll take that as payment and leave ya alone.”
The man appeared to be the one in charge, but it was clear from his face that the girls would be wise not to trust him.
“That’s what you say,” said Reina, glaring. “But the moment we hand over our weapons, you’ll just capture us and use us for your own amusement—or sell us off as slaves!”
The head bandit gave a thin smile.
“Oh? Well, in that case, we’ll just have to take you by force. Gonna end up the same either way.”
At their leader’s signal, the bandits surrounded the party.
Mavis and Mile readied their swords, while Reina and Pauline began casting their spells.
“Get ’em!”
Several bandits rushed at Reina and Pauline, hoping to stop their incantations, while two more moved on Mile and Mavis to make sure they wouldn’t intervene.
From the bandits’ viewpoint, it made far more sense to be wary of a spell, which had unknown power, compared to a couple of little girls with swords. It would take time for such inexperienced magic users to cast their spells. So long as the bandits moved quickly, they should be able to overwhelm the girls easily.
“Gah!!”
Pauline jabbed her staff into a bandit’s gut, while Reina smashed another in the chin.
“You idiots! If the back-line magicians are in the front, then—guh!!”
“Wh—?!”
The chief bandit took several steps back in a panic, looking at the two bandits who’d been meant to keep Mavis and Mile in check. They were lying on the ground in agony. That left only three bandits—including the chief—standing.
“H-bomb!”
Pauline, who had continued casting through the ruckus, fired her spell.
While it had a rather unsettling name, the spell was nothing more than water, striking with explosive force—nothing involving nuclear fusion.
Obviously Mile had been the one to name it.
She had in mind the kind of bomb she’d seen in comic strips: a round ball with a fuse that had been historically used back on Earth. If such a thing ever made an appearance here, Mile had decided she would call it a “medieval bomb.” Really, it was a particularly primitive thing, so she probably could have called it a “basic bomb” or better yet, just a “bomb.” And one that she’d devised for blowing away groups of kobolds could be called a “kobold bomb.”
In any event, Pauline’s “H-bomb” sent two more of the bandits flying, tossing them into a tree and to the ground respectively. The only bandit left now was the chief. Reina stared him down.
“Hellfi—”
“Stop it!!”
As Mile and Pauline screamed, Mavis jumped over to clamp a hand over Reina’s mouth.
It was that spell. The spell that her opponent in the graduation exam had used. The spell that, if not properly moderated, would burn any opponent to ash.
Judging the situation based on the state of his companions, the chief bandit dropped to the ground, bowing his head.
“Well. It looks like there’s been a mix-up.” Seeing the fight was over, Bart descended from the wagon. “There aren’t any reinforcements, and honestly, these don’t seem like the bandits we were after. They’re probably just a normal raiding party…”
“I guess so.” Mile and Pauline replied, but Reina and Mavis were still scuffling.
“I’m gonna destroy him! Let me destroy him!”
“Stop!!!”
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login