Chapter 92 - The End of the Bandits
It's the third day since we set out. From here on, it's the real thing. Until now, fifty Town Guards were together, so magic beasts didn't approach. From here, we'll be acting separately. Moreover, we'll also split into two groups: the ground team and the aerial team.
After seeing off forty-five Town Guards early in the morning, the remaining group gathered. There were five Town Guards for escort led by McBurn-san, and six from the Marcelo Company.
"Then, in case something happens, Jeanne will illuminate with Light, and we will raise a fire arrow. Is that acceptable?"
"Yes. Let's do that."
"Just in case, shall I leave a small bird with you? If something happens, tie a message to its leg and release it into the sky. I'll make sure it flies back here."
Robinson-san called over a small bird and entrusted it to me along with a small bag containing caterpillars. It hopped onto my palm and chirped "Chururi, chururi" frequently. Its back was brown mixed with light green, and its belly was white. It was a cute bird with an orange face and chest. It looked at me with its small, round black eyes while tilting its head left and right.
"Cute!"
When I gave it a caterpillar, it held it in its somewhat flat brown beak, looked straight up, and swallowed it in one breath. It hopped onto my right shoulder with a "Churuchuru."
"You really are liked by all sorts of things, aren't you?"
"Amazing. I'm jealous."
Beatrix and Bonnie, who had been treated with extreme caution and only barely managed to feed it a caterpillar, looked on in wonder.
"The reason Jeanne is easily liked by various creatures might be because she has that kind of aptitude."
Even Robinson-san said so.
"Then, could Jeanne possibly use Subordination?"
"I don't know about that far, but animals taking to her immediately is very similar to when I was a child. Although, in my case, I didn't particularly have to give them food."
Is it limited to those who are hungry? Come to think of it, the wolves also gathered because they were hungry.
"You entered the Madonna Ranking, but did you use some strange magic on the old men in town?"
"Why would I use that! What kind of magic is that anyway!"
"It's a joke, a joke. It's not just hungry animals that have taken to you."
I'm not happy about being hugged before eating breakfast.
The bird scout Robinson-san released returned.
"It's fine. Perhaps because many Town Guards were here until just now, there don't seem to be any magic beasts."
"Hmm," Paul-san nodded.
"McBurn. Could you tell me the Town Guard's future plans?"
"Fine. Everything has been going according to plan so far. That is to say, there are no changes. Today we advance until evening and rest until midnight. After that, we plan to advance to be in time for a dawn raid."
"I see. They chose a dawn attack."
He crossed his arms and thought for a while.
"What do you think, Marcelo? I think the aerial team should do a preliminary reconnaissance before the Town Guard attacks."
"What about the retreat path?"
"The aerial team during the day, and I'll leave it to Robinson after the sun goes down."
"Indeed, it's better to have human eyes see the progress of the battle."
Marcelo-san nodded with a smile.
"McBurn. How about it?"
"I'll leave it to you. I believe I know your skills well."
"Then it's settled. The aerial team will set off immediately. Bonnie, you climb up a tree."
"Yes. Understood—"
After that, for the sake of guarding the rear and confirming the retreat path, we made three round trips to the place where we stayed the previous night, and then decided to rest for a while. While we are sleeping, Beowulf and the others will protect us.
"Beowulf. I'm counting on you."
"Yeah. Get some good rest. If anything happens, I'll beat you awake, so it's fine."
She was laughing while saying something dangerous with a spear in hand.
"Hey, hey, Beatrix. Lately, hasn't Beowulf become rougher?"
"Well, Will is there. It seems they often go out drinking together."
I see. You have to choose your friends carefully.
We set off at midnight. Listening to the hooting of the owl Robinson-san called over, I dragged the half-awake mage to the bowl.
"Jeanne. I had time, so I made this—"
The dexterous Bonnie handed me a birdcage. It was made by combining tree branches with vines, and its level of completion was such that it could be sold if one felt like it.
"Thank you. Your handiwork is as good as ever."
"Ehehe, you're welcome—"
Seeing Chururi... who was named Chururi because it chirped "Chururi... chururi chururi," it was sleeping on my shoulder. I gently released its feet and had it grab onto a perch, then moved it to the cage along with the perch. I received a small bag of caterpillars from Robinson-san. We climbed into the bowl and set off.
"Beatrix. Jeanne, be careful."
"Good luck, you two—"
"Thank you. We're off."
"Well, I'll leave the rest to you."
When we rose above the trees, it was pitch black because there was no moon. By the middle of the night in November, to be honest, it's cold. My breath is white. I'm really glad I made the autumn Green Marble double as a coat.
"Do you know the direction?"
"Look at the stars, the stars."
I see. I can see the Star of the Class of 175 in the sky to the right.
"Are we advancing while looking at the North Star?"
"That's right. If it's always visible to the right, it's proof we're heading due west."
"Are we going to fly just like that?"
"No. We won't arrive in an hour one way, so we'll rest midway."
"The real thing starts after we rest, right?"
"That's right. Jeanne. You haven't forgotten the Camouflage scrolls, have you?"
"Yes. I have three."
In my storage bag, there are scrolls I got from Marcelo-san. There are three Camouflage, one Holy Lance, and one of Marcelo-san's Heal scrolls.
"Yeah. We'll scout from above before the Town Guard attacks. We'll take a little detour."
Saying that, he changed direction to the right and headed northwest.
"Beatrix. If there are monsters, just blast them for now."
"Is lightning okay?"
"That'll do nicely."
We advanced through the pitch-black darkness where only stars shone in the night sky.
We rested a little above the trees and waited for the eastern sky to turn white before climbing into the bowl.
"Hide my form!"
After chanting the keyword to disappear, we first headed north to check the situation. It seems we overshot the destination. It was to make sure there were no monsters. If we don't advance from the northwest, shadows will be cast around the enemies on the ground even if we are invisible. It's unlikely we'd be found, but just in case. The eastern sky turned reddish-purple, and the sun rose.
"I see it."
Looking in the direction Paul-san pointed, there was an open space in the forest. It was flat wasteland. As the sun rose, a large mountain hut—or rather, something like a small fort—became visible at the eastern end of the wasteland. A fence surrounded it. I could see people moving around.
"Are they starting already?"
"No, they should wait until it's completely light. Otherwise, they might escape, or so they said."
As we approached slowly, one person came running. He was staggering while looking back. It seemed he was being pursued.
"Was there an internal conflict?"
"If so, we have to catch him."
"Ah, he fell."
Two arrows were stuck in his back.
"Let's help him!"
"Yeah. Beatrix, finish your incantation."
"Lightning, right?"
By the time Beatrix finished her incantation, we reached the fallen person. We temporarily deactivated the Camouflage and the bowl.
"Are you okay?"
"Ah, ugh. W-Water..."
When I handed him a canteen and let him drink water, Paul-san handed him a cloth.
"Bite on this. I'm pulling out the arrows."
We laid him face down, cut his clothes with a knife, and looked at the wounds. They weren't that deep. It didn't seem life-threatening. My Heal should be enough to recover from this. Paul-san stepped on him with his right foot and, regardless of his groans, pulled out the arrows one by one. I recovered him with Heal and splashed water from the canteen on him.
"Sorry. You saved me."
He was probably in his thirties; he hadn't shaved his beard and his hair was messy. His clothes weren't that dirty, as if they had been washed.
"What on earth happened?"
"Our nest was attacked by orcs."
"!"
As a result of leading questions while pretending to be illegal immigrants, we found out what happened. The man was a deserter from Engrio and had apparently been lurking in the mountain hut ahead with his comrades. Last night, in the middle of the night, they were suddenly attacked by orcs.
"It was sudden. I just happened to be outside to relieve myself, but I was shot with arrows. Fortunately, it wasn't a deep wound. I pretended to be dead as I was, and took the chance to escape."
It's a wonder he survived. I've heard that orcs are particularly cruel.
"Are the orcs still in the mountain hut?"
"I think they are."
"How many were there?"
"It was dark so I'm not sure, but I think there were fifty."
I involuntarily exchanged looks with Beatrix. Even if it's a mountain hut, if there are fifty orcs in a defensive facility, forty-five Town Guards won't be a match for them. We have to let them know quickly.
"Is there no one else alive?"
"No good. There were ten others besides me, but they were all done in."
"Only men?"
"That's right. One woman was supposed to come, but they said her circumstances became bad."
'Supposed to come,' huh. They have a nerve saying that. They must have been planning to kidnap the lady from the brothel.
"I see. By the way, don't take this personally."
When Paul-san signaled with his eyes, Beatrix knocked him unconscious with lightning magic. We tied his hands and feet and gagged him.
"For now, let's hand him over to the Town Guard. Also, we have to let them know that orcs are there."
We put the prisoner in the bowl, cast Camouflage magic, and flew over the hut. Indeed, several orcs were wandering around. Confirmation was made. When we flew toward the east where the Town Guard should be, they had come quite close to the mountain hut. We hurriedly had Hans-san stop the march, handed over the prisoner, and explained the situation.
"More than fifty orcs?"
"That's the story. It's better to regroup with Marcelo here."
"True. Let's pull back for now."
"We'll take care of the rearguard."
"I can't let you guys do that."
"We're up in the sky, you know. We'll follow after scouting appropriately."
"Can you promise not to engage in combat?"
"You'll allow us to brush off the sparks that fall on us, right?" (T/N: Idiom meaning 'defend oneself'.)
"Don't fight actively. Withdraw before it comes to that."
"I know that."
After seeing off the Town Guard, the three of us consulted.
"Even if you say scouting, what should we do?"
"We just have to keep watch until the Town Guard has moved a certain distance away."
"What if the orcs move this way?"
"It's fine if we provoke them from the sky. If we're in a place where arrows can't reach, there's basically no need to worry."
That's certainly true.
"Also, we have to send the bird we borrowed from Robinson as a messenger."
When I looked at Chururi, it was awake. When our eyes met, it let out a "Churuchuru" chirp. I told it "Wait a moment," and tied a scrap of parchment with the business briefly written on it to its leg. After letting it eat about three caterpillars and releasing it into the sky, it made a circle while chirping and then flew off into the eastern sky.
"Alright, then shall we go scouting?"
"Yes!"