Translator: SFBaka
Editor: Thor’s Stone
It’s been twenty-six days since we’ve set off from Gantz city. We should be able to reach another city we can stop over for a rest soon.
Whew. Finally. We’ve been running on foot non-stop for the large part of the day, so everyone’s showing hints of exhaustion already.
That’s right. We’ve been running on foot for the greater part of the day and haven’t boarded the carriages and wagons even once. As for why we’d do something like this, it’s for our training of course.
On the third day since departing from Gantz, Adjutant Dalshim came to me with the proposal of letting our men run on foot without getting on the wagons and horses as a form of training.
Since the frequency of monster encounters significantly decreases the further away we were from Gantz, and since I could always detect if something was wrong via scanning magic, I gave it the green light.
Since you could always jump into the wagons and carriages once you’ve hit your personal limit, it was the perfect form of training to determine everyone’s current ability, or so I was told.
I felt that making everybody run all at once would be a bit overdoing it, so I divided the group in two and made them run in turns. One group runs for an entire day and takes a rest the next day while the other group replaces them.
And of course, I couldn’t just laze around in our own carriage while the others ran, so I ran along with them instead. Well, I was getting a bit bored just sitting around the carriage anyway, so I didn’t really mind running with them.
Before long, we spotted city walls from a distance. It was a relatively small city, but since it was just a day away on horseback from the royal capital, it probably served as a specialized stopover station for merchants and travelers.
There were two guards manning their posts in front of the city gate. They held up their spears in a panic the moment they spotted our group.
“What!? What happened to you all!?”
One city guard called out to us with evident tension in his voice. Ah, I see. After seeing a group of people running toward the city on foot, they probably thought we were running away from something.
“We’re sorry for making such a commotion. We’re just running on foot for training.”
“So that’s it. Don’t surprise us like that. But what’s with your number though?”
“My name is Alan, the leader of Shining Star. We’re currently serving as escorts to Baron Volker Herring. The people behind me are my Clan members.”
“Shining Star!? You mean you’re the famous Bandit Hunters!?”
“Well, yes, I guess.”
I handed my guild emblem to the guard and had him verify it.
“Please excuse us for earlier! Just in case, could you allow us to check the baron’s coat of arms as well?”
Having anticipated the guard’s request, one of the baron’s attendants walked to the front while bringing the baron’s coat of arms.
“Here you go.”
The coats of arms were plates made of mithril with a size of about 15 centimeters or so. A noble family’s unique emblem was engraved on them. The baron’s personal coat of arms was an item of superb craftsmanship and was apparently made by the best artisan in the royal capital. The emblem depicted a pair of lily-like flowers.
The guard checked the coat of arms with great scrutiny.
I was impressed with the guards when the attendant first showed me the coat of arms, thinking that they’ve memorized all of the unique emblems of the different aristocratic houses. But it looks like that really wasn’t the case.
With a hearty laugh, the baron explained that while the guards probably remember the emblems of most of the high-ranking nobles, there was no way they would remember the emblems of low-ranking ones like him.
It seems they confirmed whether or not a coat of arms was real by checking if it had an official royal seal which was engraved on the corner of every genuine article.
“Thank you for your cooperation. Please go ahead and pass.”
If you are acknowledged as part of a noble’s entourage, you are able to pass through a city’s gates without any further inspections. Our group stopped at the spacious plaza that was located right after entering the city gate.
Within moments, a group of five boys from the city approached us. They acted as city guides who listened to a traveler’s requests and showed them around the city for a small fee. That’s why boys like them were usually found hanging out near a city’s main gate.
Katolle and the rest of the supply procurement team had the boys guide them in order to arrange our accommodations and scattered all over the city.
As one would expect, a group as large as ours can’t stay in just one inn, so it was necessary to divide ourselves into several smaller groups and stay in separate inns.
The rest of us decided to wait for the meantime, and our party chatted with Baron Volker. The baron seems to be from this area and cheerfully told us about the local specialties.
We’ve managed to get along well with Baron Volker during the trip. Even though the baron was a nobleman, his attitude and mannerisms were actually quite close to that of commoners, and he even told us how he managed to become a noble himself.
Apparently, the baron was formerly an A-rank adventurer and the leader of a ten-man party.
At one point, he and his party managed to encounter and save a carriage that was being attacked by a herd of twenty Orcs.
Of course, the carriage had a guard escort that was able to defeat 15 out of the 20 Orcs, but by the time Baron Volker encountered them, almost all of the escorts had been killed already.
He said they managed to rush to the carriage’s aid just in time, killed the Orcs who were in the middle of trying to pry it open, and rescued the passengers inside.
The owner of the carriage turned out to be a baron and his family and having been impressed by Lord Volker and his men’s bravery, the old baron promised him as much reward as he could manage.
The old baron’s family was actually a branch of a fairly influential high-ranking noble family, and he generously welcomed the former party leader into his fold.
Usually, one wouldn’t be able to get knighted by just defeating a measly five Orcs, but Lord Volker’s case was an exception.
After that, he was hired by the old baron and worked as one of his personal guards, and it was then that he got to know his partner, who was the baron’s eldest daughter, and eventually married her.
After asking him for details, he revealed that when the old baron’s family was attacked by the Orcs, Lord Volker’s wife was present among them, and she seemed to have fallen in love with Lord Volker when she witnessed him ‘gallantly’ defeating the Orcs.
By the way, the two attendants serving him were actually members of his former party when they were still adventurers. Perhaps due to that, there were times when they called Lord Volker without honorifics. And whenever they noticed that we were around, they hurriedly corrected themselves. It looks like their relationship was not simply of master and servants.
The supply procurement team finally returned and led us to the inns they booked. Our group was led to what seemed to be the most luxurious inn in the city. We didn’t really mind if we stayed in the most luxurious inn or not, but it can’t be helped since we were together with the baron this time.
Baron Volker also thought that he didn’t have to insist on staying at a luxury inn when he was first knighted, but he was persuaded by his employer, the old baron, that it was his duty as a noble to spend money in order to contribute to the city and its inhabitants.
He found his employer’s words strangely persuasive.
The inn was small, but it seems to be a clean and pleasant establishment. As expected of the city’s most luxurious inn. It looks like I can expect good things from the bath as well. There were no other guests present, so we ended up booking it completely. By the way, the rate was 600 Guineas per room.
The bath at the inn was wonderful and the food was delicious. And curiously, the inn also offered unlimited alcohol, which was actually quite rare. Everyone was really happy about it and ordered without reserve.
Furthermore, the mayor and other influential local merchants also brought us alcohol and local specialties as ‘refreshments’. This was apparently customary, and both the baron and I found it to be somewhat of a hassle.
It was fortunate that today’s visitors withdrew after giving their greetings. Maybe it’s because they noticed that all of the seats in the dining hall were full.
After enjoying the food and alcohol together, we decided to rest up early.
We were finally going to reach the royal capital by tomorrow.
Translator: SFBaka
Editor: Thor’s Stone
The next morning, we gathered in the plaza near the city gate and left at exactly 7 A.M.
After four hours since leaving the city, I got contacted by Iris.
『Captain, please take a look at this. This is an image taken about 5 kilometers away from your current position.』
An overhead image, which was taken from a drone’s perspective, was displayed on a virtual window. It seems that quite a number of people were hiding on both sides of the road. I zoomed at the image to get a better look.
(They’re–!? Are these guys bandits?)
『Judging from their attire and equipment, that’s most likely the case. There are a total of 152 people.』
(Hou, that’s quite the number. ……These guy’s targets are probably us huh?)
『There’s no doubt that’s the case. Other than that, there is no reason to gather such numbers to lay an ambush on the road. Perhaps several bandit groups have come together to match Shining Star’s numbers?』
(I see. I didn’t think these bandits would be able to cooperate like this. Ah, we’re nearing the royal capital, so maybe they gathered every bandit group prowling around the area.)
『What shall our response be? Should I have the drones dispose of them?』
(No, wait. We haven’t confirmed if they really are bandits or not anyway. I’ll consult with everyone first.)
The presumed bandits were probably aiming for our gold and the dragon magic stone. Just in case, we were carrying about a hundred million Guineas with us, and every merchant who participated was aware that the dragon magic stone wasn’t put up for auction.
The value of the dragon’s magic stone was immeasurable, so I can understand why they wanted to get their hands on it even if they were aware of the risks.
Although we managed to capture two bandit groups in the middle of our trip, I never thought that we would face such a large-scale ambush on the day we would be arriving at the royal capital.
I blew a finger whistle and stopped our formation. This whistle technique was taught to me by Walter, and it was pretty convenient.
As soon as I jumped off the carriage, the other party leaders followed suit and ran up to me. Cleria and the others also got off the carriage to find out what was going on.
The baron’s carriage halted ten meters behind our own, but they stood by without the baron alighting from within. It looks like the baron was staying true to his word about letting us handle all the details of the trip.
“Now then, we’re in a bit of trouble, everyone. I managed to detect a group of about a hundred and fifty people waiting in ambush for us approximately five kilometers away from our current position.”
“……Just who are they?”
“They’re probably bandits. They should have heard about us heading for the royal capital. This is just my personal speculation, but I think the bandits are aiming to rob us of our gold and the dragon’s magic stone we brought with us.”
“Bandits huh……”
“So what do you think we should do? At worst, we can return to the city and take a different route. We’ll still be able to reach the royal capital by today if we move now……”
“……Are you thinking we are not a match for those bandits, Alan-sama?”
“No, of course, I don’t think so. But wouldn’t it be inconvenient if we suffered injuries at a time like this? We can’t possibly come out unscathed against more than a hundred and fifty people.”
“……Alan-sama, We are certainly happy that you are looking out for our wellbeing even at a time like this.
However, our ultimate goals are establishing the country and unifying the continent.
If you think about it, there is no better opponent than them. We will be able to confirm the results of our daily training by going up against them.”
It’s certainly as Dalshim says. Considering our future plans, we should be able to handle just mere bandits. If we retreated in the face of bandits, we would take a hit to our morale as well.
The overall abilities of our Clan members are a far cry from those of the bandits. There were only a few bandits who are able to use magic. Their sword skills were also generally sloppy. What we need to be careful about are projectile weapons such as bows. But we should be able to manage them if we imperial soldiers focused on supporting the rest of the group.
“Very well. Let’s show them exactly why we have been given the moniker Bandit Hunters, Dalshim.”
“Yes. Thank you, Alan-sama.”
Because the bandits were still a good distance away, we decided to move until we were a kilometer from the bandit’s position. The bandits also deployed scouts 500 meters away from their position. One kilometer is the maximum distance we’d be able to close in on without them noticing.
We promptly stopped the convoy when we reached the 1-kilometer mark, and I got off to inform the baron about our plan.
“My Lord, our scouts have managed to detect bandits ahead. If it’s alright with you, shall we proceed to eliminate them?”
“We will leave everything to you, Alan-sama.”
“Understood. Please leave it to us.”
After advising the baron to stand by, we held simple a strategy meeting for the time being. I had everyone form a circle with me in the center.
“Alan-sama, if it’s alright with you, can you let us handle the bandits by ourselves this time around?”
They meant they wanted to go up against the bandits without me and my party members. I’m sure they were also worried about Cleria.
But in the first place, I wasn’t planning on letting Cleria and the others lock swords with the bandits anyway.
“No, let’s attack them together. However, since everyone wants to check out the fruits of your daily training, we from Shining Star’s main party will stay out of your way as much as possible. We’ll be providing magical support from the backline instead.”
“Yes. Thank you very much for your consideration. So, should we divide into two teams like usual?”
“No, let’s not do that this time. Let’s take the bandits on from with a frontal assault and rout them with magic attacks. The ones who can’t use magic should use bows instead. You don’t have to think about capturing the bandits alive this time.”
“Are you sure, Alan-sama?”
“Yeah, I don’t mind. Well, it would be better to bring them alive to the garrison instead of just their heads though. There are more rewards after all.”
“Fumu, that’s true.”
Laughter echoed out from the group. It looks like I managed to ease their tension.
“After scattering them with a magic and projectile barrage, I will raise a signal to pursue and finish them off. It would be better to organize a cavalry unit for that. They also brought about twenty horses with them. But maybe they’re worried about the horses making noise, so they hitched them a good distance away from their position. You can basically just ignore them. And I’m sorry about this, but I’ll have to hand the responsibility of guarding the baron to you guys, Satellite Team 8.”
If I wasn’t mistaken, it was Kenny’s party’s turn to bring up the rear this time.
“……Roger that.”
Kenny and his team nodded in frustration.
Under Dalshim’s lead, the group quickly organized themselves into a magic unit, bow unit, and a cavalry unit. It was quite easy for Dalshim to do so since he was very familiar with everyone’s backgrounds and abilities.
“Alan, are we really not going up later?”
“Yeah. Let’s leave it to Dalshim and the others this time. But isn’t your and Elna’s maximum magic range longer than everyone else, Ria? I, Selena, and Sharon will hit them with a spell volley first, so just snipe them afterward.”
“Roger.”
It looks like Cleria and Elna were both raring to go.
Before long, our attack formation was finally completed. The lead group was the magic unit which was centered on the former royal guards. The next group was the bow unit. I and my party members came after them, and the last group was the cavalry unit. The formation was evenly spread along the road.
“Well then, let’s begin. Wait until my magic signal to begin the assault. After launching a concentrated volley, you can fire at will. Don’t break formation until I give the pursuit signal. Alright. Move out!”
Come to think of it, this will be my first time hunting down bandits together with Selena and Sharon huh. And this will also be our first time conducting an operation with this many troops.
(Iris, please put up a real-time battlefield map for me. This isn’t a powered suit operation, but I find it easier to monitor the battle situation with that. I’ll be serving as the commander of course.)
『Preparing map.』
After a few moments, a battlefield map was displayed on a virtual window in front of me. Icons representing the enemy and ally troops were displayed on the map and differentiated via color. Selena and Sharon should be seeing the same thing as well.
It looks like the bandits have lots of bowmen in their ranks, just as I expected. Let’s start dealing with those guys then. It would be best if we didn’t land a direct hit right off the bat. It should be enough for the volley to impact right next to them.
(Nanom, mark the coordinates five meters in front of both bandit archer group’s positions.)
『Marking complete.』
A small red dot appeared near the icons representing the bandit archers. Even if the bandits unexpectedly change their positions, later on, the marked coordinates will be corrected automatically, so there should be no problem.
(Selena, Sharon. Use the Fire Grenade spell for the initial volley. A single Fire Grenade shot from each of you with the magic power equivalent to three Fire Balls should do the trick. You have magic stones ready, right?)
(I have ten Gray Hound magic stones on hand.)
(Same for me.)
(Yosh. Adjust the trajectory of your spells ten seconds after the first volley lands to a more concentrated barrage. Perform a quick simulation first.)
((Roger!))
(D-1, 2, and 3. Shoot down the spears and arrows shot by the bandits whenever possible.)
『『Roger.』』
Translator: SFBaka
Editor: Thor’s Stone
Iris called in the drones D-2 and D-3 to act as additional airborne escorts for us, and they hovered just above our position along with D-1.
Was I being a bit overprotective though? For the Clan members who wanted to confirm the fruits of their training, this move might make the result of this battle a bit unsatisfactory. But being the target of some dissatisfaction was better than incurring losses among our ranks.
The bandits should have noticed us already. Their loose formation started lining up on both sides of the road. And of course, the battlefield map was updated accordingly.
“One hundred and fifty meters more! Begin the attack once our initial magic volley hits. Don’t break formation until I give the pursuit signal!”
“”Roger!””
Once we came 80 meters from the bandit’s position, we began locking on to the impact coordinates we marked earlier.
(Begin targeting.)
Selena and Sharon targeted the red impact coordinates indicated on the battlefield map, and they turned yellow one after another. Since we coordinated using the same map, there was no risk of our targets overlapping.
((Targeting complete.))
Via the overhead footage, I confirmed that the bandit archers began to nock their bows and prepared to fire.
(Ten seconds to impact. Begin firing!)
I, Sharon, and Selena conjured Fire Grenades one meter above us and launched them diagonally upward.
“Oooh!”
“This is–”
“Five, four, three, two, one–”
After loud explosions, panicked screams echoed out from the bandit’s ranks. The bandit archer unit we initially targeted was almost completely incapacitated by our spells.
The rest of the bandits who weren’t affected by the magic bombardment began scattering and heading for the open road.
“Lead row, fire!”
Under Dalshim’s command, the magic unit began to fire their spells at the bandits. They launched various spells such as Fire Ball and Air Bullet. After launching their spells, those who stood out front would retreat to the back row to make way for their comrades and keep the barrage going.
War cries rang out from the bandit’s ranks one after another in response. It looks like we haven’t managed to break their morale just yet.
“Second row, third row, fire!”
Our archer unit began firing arrows at the bandits harassed by our magic unit’s spells as well. Cleria and Elna were still holding off as they watched the operation unfold.
The middle of the road was now filled with screaming bandits. The number of bandits jumping out onto the road began to lessen.
“Fourth row, fifth row, fire!”
The bandits were blown away by magic spells one after another and rolled on the ground due to the pain caused by their burns and other injuries.
It should be about time.
“Begin pursuit! Attack!”
“”Ou!””
Our tight formation broke up as we began going after the scattered bandits. The cavalry unit behind us kept their formation as they circled around to the woods to pincer the enemies.
A Light Arrow spell pierced the right shoulder of a bandit who had his arms raised and was attempting to cast magic himself. Cleria and Elna also began picking off the rest of the bandits who were still coming out onto the road.
Angry roars and sounds of swords clashing echoed out all over the place, but the difference in abilities was clear.
After exchanging two or three blows, our troops would put their opponents down by striking them with the back of their swords and knocking them out. It looks like everyone was still trying to capture them alive as much as possible after all.
After looking at the hopeless situation all around them, some of the bandits began dropping their weapons and surrendering. Some were kicked out onto the road and incapacitated by being hit with wooden swords. Our troops were showing some pretty great coordination.
And before long, it looks like it was finally game over.
“Let’s go secure the bandit’s horses, shall we?”
I called out to Cleria and the others who were scanning the situation on horseback.
The horses of the bandits were hidden behind a clump of bushes 500 meters away from the battle site. There were two men guarding them. It looks like they heard the sounds of battle but haven’t made their escape yet.
I called out to some of our cavalry troops who were passing by.
“The five of you, come with us. We’re gonna secure the bandit’s horses.”
“Roger that.”
The ten of us approached the forest where the bandit’s horses were hidden, but the two bandits who were keeping watch on them must have noticed us since they hurriedly attempted to mount some of the horses in a panic to escape. However, before they were able to make a run for it, Cleria and Selena shot Fire Arrows at them and pierced their right shoulders. They promptly fell off the horses while writhing in pain.
“Leave the bandits to us, Alan-sama.”
“Alright. We’ll be bringing the horses away then.”
The horses looked pretty good. They were probably some of the more valuable spoils from today’s battle. I and the girls returned with three horses in tow each, including our own, and found that the battle was already pretty much over, with the captured bandits gathered in the middle of the road.
It looks like there were many of them who had serious injuries as well, and they were strewn randomly all over the place.
“What’s our status, Dalshim?”
“No deaths but many were injured.”
“All injured troops, gather around me!”
About twenty or so of our troops came running. It looks like none of them have serious injuries.
“Any one of you have head injuries? ……How about broken bones? ……Cut open stomachs?”
Great. Thankfully, there really were none who suffered serious injuries. I had them relay their injuries to me before treating them one by one. Most of them only suffered bruises, minor puncture wounds, and cuts. I managed to finish the treatment session in about three minutes.
Now then, let’s handle the bandits next. Man, they sure are looking worse for wear. No one seems to have bitten the dust, but more than thirty of them have passed out completely while more than twenty were writhing in pain. The rest of them were sitting on the ground in a daze.
(Iris, how many of them did we manage to capture?)
『There are 147 people in total. Unfortunately, it seems five managed to escape.』
(I want to know the conditions of those seriously injured. Can you handle that for me?)
『I will at least be able to detect who among them have internal bleeding by having the three drones perform a three-dimensional scan, but……』
(Yosh. That’s fine. We really need to get a medical scanner soon. Let’s work on that once we have the time. It would be best if it were portable.)
『Roger that.』
Man. To think that I missed such an obvious thing.
Anyway, this was a good opportunity for Sharon and Selena to practice healing magic.
I had Iris begin diagnosing the conditions of them unconscious people first. Surprisingly, most of the unconscious ones simply just fainted.
It took about an hour for me, Sharon, and Selena to treat all of the injured bandits. We just healed them, but we still ended using up ten Gray Hound magic stones.
Of course, we limited ourselves to just administering first aid, but it looks like we managed to prevent anyone from losing their lives regardless.
Some of the bandits looked grateful for the treatment, but most of them showed a defiant and irritating attitude.
After the treatment, we conducted a simple interrogation and patted them down to retrieve some small change.
The total amount of money we were able to get from them was about 40,000 Guineas. And as for the bandits, they were composed of several bandit groups and local thugs active in the areas near the capital like we suspected. Most of the thugs didn’t even have any idea about who their target was. Well, it didn’t make a difference to us whether they were bandits or thugs anyway.
They said they arrived at this area earlier this morning and laid in ambush ever since. Those who planned this ambush seem to be well aware of who we are and our actions though. I have no idea whether or not the masterminds were among the ones we captured, but we didn’t have time to investigate thoroughly right now. I guess we’ll just have to leave it to the local garrison.
We found the bandit’s supplies nearby, but we decided not to bother with them since it was not worth the trouble to bring shabby food and stuff of little value with us anyway.
I went back to fetch the baron’s carriage and returned to the battle site with it following behind. After witnessing the scene, the baron hurriedly disembarked from his carriage.
“Alan-dono! Just what is this situation!?”
“It looks like quite a few bandit groups gathered together to attack us. Fortunately, we didn’t incur any losses on our end.”
“Eeh!? You fought with this many numbers and didn’t incur any losses……? Well, I guess that just goes to show the reputation of Shining Star is well deserved. Truly impressive.”
“Thank you for your praise.”
We also gathered the bandit’s weapons, and the ones with the potential to be sold off were all loaded to our wagons.
It took an additional hour for us to tie up all the bandits and thugs with ropes and secure the seriously injured ones inside our wagons.
It was a tedious affair, but everyone’s expressions were bright and brimming with glee. It looks like they were able to confirm the results of their daily training after all.
Soon, the preparations for our departure were complete.
“You did really well, everyone! It was a wonderful battle worthy of Shining Star. Now then, it’s quite late already. Let’s resume heading for the royal capital.”
“”Roger!””
Translator: SFBaka
Editor: Thor’s Stone
It’s been twenty-six days since we’ve set off from Gantz city. We should be able to reach another city we can stop over for a rest soon.
Whew. Finally. We’ve been running on foot non-stop for the large part of the day, so everyone’s showing hints of exhaustion already.
That’s right. We’ve been running on foot for the greater part of the day and haven’t boarded the carriages and wagons even once. As for why we’d do something like this, it’s for our training of course.
On the third day since departing from Gantz, Adjutant Dalshim came to me with the proposal of letting our men run on foot without getting on the wagons and horses as a form of training.
Since the frequency of monster encounters significantly decreases the further away we were from Gantz, and since I could always detect if something was wrong via scanning magic, I gave it the green light.
Since you could always jump into the wagons and carriages once you’ve hit your personal limit, it was the perfect form of training to determine everyone’s current ability, or so I was told.
I felt that making everybody run all at once would be a bit overdoing it, so I divided the group in two and made them run in turns. One group runs for an entire day and takes a rest the next day while the other group replaces them.
And of course, I couldn’t just laze around in our own carriage while the others ran, so I ran along with them instead. Well, I was getting a bit bored just sitting around the carriage anyway, so I didn’t really mind running with them.
Before long, we spotted city walls from a distance. It was a relatively small city, but since it was just a day away on horseback from the royal capital, it probably served as a specialized stopover station for merchants and travelers.
There were two guards manning their posts in front of the city gate. They held up their spears in a panic the moment they spotted our group.
“What!? What happened to you all!?”
One city guard called out to us with evident tension in his voice. Ah, I see. After seeing a group of people running toward the city on foot, they probably thought we were running away from something.
“We’re sorry for making such a commotion. We’re just running on foot for training.”
“So that’s it. Don’t surprise us like that. But what’s with your number though?”
“My name is Alan, the leader of Shining Star. We’re currently serving as escorts to Baron Volker Herring. The people behind me are my Clan members.”
“Shining Star!? You mean you’re the famous Bandit Hunters!?”
“Well, yes, I guess.”
I handed my guild emblem to the guard and had him verify it.
“Please excuse us for earlier! Just in case, could you allow us to check the baron’s coat of arms as well?”
Having anticipated the guard’s request, one of the baron’s attendants walked to the front while bringing the baron’s coat of arms.
“Here you go.”
The coats of arms were plates made of mithril with a size of about 15 centimeters or so. A noble family’s unique emblem was engraved on them. The baron’s personal coat of arms was an item of superb craftsmanship and was apparently made by the best artisan in the royal capital. The emblem depicted a pair of lily-like flowers.
The guard checked the coat of arms with great scrutiny.
I was impressed with the guards when the attendant first showed me the coat of arms, thinking that they’ve memorized all of the unique emblems of the different aristocratic houses. But it looks like that really wasn’t the case.
With a hearty laugh, the baron explained that while the guards probably remember the emblems of most of the high-ranking nobles, there was no way they would remember the emblems of low-ranking ones like him.
It seems they confirmed whether or not a coat of arms was real by checking if it had an official royal seal which was engraved on the corner of every genuine article.
“Thank you for your cooperation. Please go ahead and pass.”
If you are acknowledged as part of a noble’s entourage, you are able to pass through a city’s gates without any further inspections. Our group stopped at the spacious plaza that was located right after entering the city gate.
Within moments, a group of five boys from the city approached us. They acted as city guides who listened to a traveler’s requests and showed them around the city for a small fee. That’s why boys like them were usually found hanging out near a city’s main gate.
Katolle and the rest of the supply procurement team had the boys guide them in order to arrange our accommodations and scattered all over the city.
As one would expect, a group as large as ours can’t stay in just one inn, so it was necessary to divide ourselves into several smaller groups and stay in separate inns.
The rest of us decided to wait for the meantime, and our party chatted with Baron Volker. The baron seems to be from this area and cheerfully told us about the local specialties.
We’ve managed to get along well with Baron Volker during the trip. Even though the baron was a nobleman, his attitude and mannerisms were actually quite close to that of commoners, and he even told us how he managed to become a noble himself.
Apparently, the baron was formerly an A-rank adventurer and the leader of a ten-man party.
At one point, he and his party managed to encounter and save a carriage that was being attacked by a herd of twenty Orcs.
Of course, the carriage had a guard escort that was able to defeat 15 out of the 20 Orcs, but by the time Baron Volker encountered them, almost all of the escorts had been killed already.
He said they managed to rush to the carriage’s aid just in time, killed the Orcs who were in the middle of trying to pry it open, and rescued the passengers inside.
The owner of the carriage turned out to be a baron and his family and having been impressed by Lord Volker and his men’s bravery, the old baron promised him as much reward as he could manage.
The old baron’s family was actually a branch of a fairly influential high-ranking noble family, and he generously welcomed the former party leader into his fold.
Usually, one wouldn’t be able to get knighted by just defeating a measly five Orcs, but Lord Volker’s case was an exception.
After that, he was hired by the old baron and worked as one of his personal guards, and it was then that he got to know his partner, who was the baron’s eldest daughter, and eventually married her.
After asking him for details, he revealed that when the old baron’s family was attacked by the Orcs, Lord Volker’s wife was present among them, and she seemed to have fallen in love with Lord Volker when she witnessed him ‘gallantly’ defeating the Orcs.
By the way, the two attendants serving him were actually members of his former party when they were still adventurers. Perhaps due to that, there were times when they called Lord Volker without honorifics. And whenever they noticed that we were around, they hurriedly corrected themselves. It looks like their relationship was not simply of master and servants.
The supply procurement team finally returned and led us to the inns they booked. Our group was led to what seemed to be the most luxurious inn in the city. We didn’t really mind if we stayed in the most luxurious inn or not, but it can’t be helped since we were together with the baron this time.
Baron Volker also thought that he didn’t have to insist on staying at a luxury inn when he was first knighted, but he was persuaded by his employer, the old baron, that it was his duty as a noble to spend money in order to contribute to the city and its inhabitants.
He found his employer’s words strangely persuasive.
The inn was small, but it seems to be a clean and pleasant establishment. As expected of the city’s most luxurious inn. It looks like I can expect good things from the bath as well. There were no other guests present, so we ended up booking it completely. By the way, the rate was 600 Guineas per room.
The bath at the inn was wonderful and the food was delicious. And curiously, the inn also offered unlimited alcohol, which was actually quite rare. Everyone was really happy about it and ordered without reserve.
Furthermore, the mayor and other influential local merchants also brought us alcohol and local specialties as ‘refreshments’. This was apparently customary, and both the baron and I found it to be somewhat of a hassle.
It was fortunate that today’s visitors withdrew after giving their greetings. Maybe it’s because they noticed that all of the seats in the dining hall were full.
After enjoying the food and alcohol together, we decided to rest up early.
We were finally going to reach the royal capital by tomorrow.
Translator: SFBaka
Editor: Thor’s Stone
The next morning, we gathered in the plaza near the city gate and left at exactly 7 A.M.
After four hours since leaving the city, I got contacted by Iris.
『Captain, please take a look at this. This is an image taken about 5 kilometers away from your current position.』
An overhead image, which was taken from a drone’s perspective, was displayed on a virtual window. It seems that quite a number of people were hiding on both sides of the road. I zoomed at the image to get a better look.
(They’re–!? Are these guys bandits?)
『Judging from their attire and equipment, that’s most likely the case. There are a total of 152 people.』
(Hou, that’s quite the number. ……These guy’s targets are probably us huh?)
『There’s no doubt that’s the case. Other than that, there is no reason to gather such numbers to lay an ambush on the road. Perhaps several bandit groups have come together to match Shining Star’s numbers?』
(I see. I didn’t think these bandits would be able to cooperate like this. Ah, we’re nearing the royal capital, so maybe they gathered every bandit group prowling around the area.)
『What shall our response be? Should I have the drones dispose of them?』
(No, wait. We haven’t confirmed if they really are bandits or not anyway. I’ll consult with everyone first.)
The presumed bandits were probably aiming for our gold and the dragon magic stone. Just in case, we were carrying about a hundred million Guineas with us, and every merchant who participated was aware that the dragon magic stone wasn’t put up for auction.
The value of the dragon’s magic stone was immeasurable, so I can understand why they wanted to get their hands on it even if they were aware of the risks.
Although we managed to capture two bandit groups in the middle of our trip, I never thought that we would face such a large-scale ambush on the day we would be arriving at the royal capital.
I blew a finger whistle and stopped our formation. This whistle technique was taught to me by Walter, and it was pretty convenient.
As soon as I jumped off the carriage, the other party leaders followed suit and ran up to me. Cleria and the others also got off the carriage to find out what was going on.
The baron’s carriage halted ten meters behind our own, but they stood by without the baron alighting from within. It looks like the baron was staying true to his word about letting us handle all the details of the trip.
“Now then, we’re in a bit of trouble, everyone. I managed to detect a group of about a hundred and fifty people waiting in ambush for us approximately five kilometers away from our current position.”
“……Just who are they?”
“They’re probably bandits. They should have heard about us heading for the royal capital. This is just my personal speculation, but I think the bandits are aiming to rob us of our gold and the dragon’s magic stone we brought with us.”
“Bandits huh……”
“So what do you think we should do? At worst, we can return to the city and take a different route. We’ll still be able to reach the royal capital by today if we move now……”
“……Are you thinking we are not a match for those bandits, Alan-sama?”
“No, of course, I don’t think so. But wouldn’t it be inconvenient if we suffered injuries at a time like this? We can’t possibly come out unscathed against more than a hundred and fifty people.”
“……Alan-sama, We are certainly happy that you are looking out for our wellbeing even at a time like this.
However, our ultimate goals are establishing the country and unifying the continent.
If you think about it, there is no better opponent than them. We will be able to confirm the results of our daily training by going up against them.”
It’s certainly as Dalshim says. Considering our future plans, we should be able to handle just mere bandits. If we retreated in the face of bandits, we would take a hit to our morale as well.
The overall abilities of our Clan members are a far cry from those of the bandits. There were only a few bandits who are able to use magic. Their sword skills were also generally sloppy. What we need to be careful about are projectile weapons such as bows. But we should be able to manage them if we imperial soldiers focused on supporting the rest of the group.
“Very well. Let’s show them exactly why we have been given the moniker Bandit Hunters, Dalshim.”
“Yes. Thank you, Alan-sama.”
Because the bandits were still a good distance away, we decided to move until we were a kilometer from the bandit’s position. The bandits also deployed scouts 500 meters away from their position. One kilometer is the maximum distance we’d be able to close in on without them noticing.
We promptly stopped the convoy when we reached the 1-kilometer mark, and I got off to inform the baron about our plan.
“My Lord, our scouts have managed to detect bandits ahead. If it’s alright with you, shall we proceed to eliminate them?”
“We will leave everything to you, Alan-sama.”
“Understood. Please leave it to us.”
After advising the baron to stand by, we held simple a strategy meeting for the time being. I had everyone form a circle with me in the center.
“Alan-sama, if it’s alright with you, can you let us handle the bandits by ourselves this time around?”
They meant they wanted to go up against the bandits without me and my party members. I’m sure they were also worried about Cleria.
But in the first place, I wasn’t planning on letting Cleria and the others lock swords with the bandits anyway.
“No, let’s attack them together. However, since everyone wants to check out the fruits of your daily training, we from Shining Star’s main party will stay out of your way as much as possible. We’ll be providing magical support from the backline instead.”
“Yes. Thank you very much for your consideration. So, should we divide into two teams like usual?”
“No, let’s not do that this time. Let’s take the bandits on from with a frontal assault and rout them with magic attacks. The ones who can’t use magic should use bows instead. You don’t have to think about capturing the bandits alive this time.”
“Are you sure, Alan-sama?”
“Yeah, I don’t mind. Well, it would be better to bring them alive to the garrison instead of just their heads though. There are more rewards after all.”
“Fumu, that’s true.”
Laughter echoed out from the group. It looks like I managed to ease their tension.
“After scattering them with a magic and projectile barrage, I will raise a signal to pursue and finish them off. It would be better to organize a cavalry unit for that. They also brought about twenty horses with them. But maybe they’re worried about the horses making noise, so they hitched them a good distance away from their position. You can basically just ignore them. And I’m sorry about this, but I’ll have to hand the responsibility of guarding the baron to you guys, Satellite Team 8.”
If I wasn’t mistaken, it was Kenny’s party’s turn to bring up the rear this time.
“……Roger that.”
Kenny and his team nodded in frustration.
Under Dalshim’s lead, the group quickly organized themselves into a magic unit, bow unit, and a cavalry unit. It was quite easy for Dalshim to do so since he was very familiar with everyone’s backgrounds and abilities.
“Alan, are we really not going up later?”
“Yeah. Let’s leave it to Dalshim and the others this time. But isn’t your and Elna’s maximum magic range longer than everyone else, Ria? I, Selena, and Sharon will hit them with a spell volley first, so just snipe them afterward.”
“Roger.”
It looks like Cleria and Elna were both raring to go.
Before long, our attack formation was finally completed. The lead group was the magic unit which was centered on the former royal guards. The next group was the bow unit. I and my party members came after them, and the last group was the cavalry unit. The formation was evenly spread along the road.
“Well then, let’s begin. Wait until my magic signal to begin the assault. After launching a concentrated volley, you can fire at will. Don’t break formation until I give the pursuit signal. Alright. Move out!”
Come to think of it, this will be my first time hunting down bandits together with Selena and Sharon huh. And this will also be our first time conducting an operation with this many troops.
(Iris, please put up a real-time battlefield map for me. This isn’t a powered suit operation, but I find it easier to monitor the battle situation with that. I’ll be serving as the commander of course.)
『Preparing map.』
After a few moments, a battlefield map was displayed on a virtual window in front of me. Icons representing the enemy and ally troops were displayed on the map and differentiated via color. Selena and Sharon should be seeing the same thing as well.
It looks like the bandits have lots of bowmen in their ranks, just as I expected. Let’s start dealing with those guys then. It would be best if we didn’t land a direct hit right off the bat. It should be enough for the volley to impact right next to them.
(Nanom, mark the coordinates five meters in front of both bandit archer group’s positions.)
『Marking complete.』
A small red dot appeared near the icons representing the bandit archers. Even if the bandits unexpectedly change their positions, later on, the marked coordinates will be corrected automatically, so there should be no problem.
(Selena, Sharon. Use the Fire Grenade spell for the initial volley. A single Fire Grenade shot from each of you with the magic power equivalent to three Fire Balls should do the trick. You have magic stones ready, right?)
(I have ten Gray Hound magic stones on hand.)
(Same for me.)
(Yosh. Adjust the trajectory of your spells ten seconds after the first volley lands to a more concentrated barrage. Perform a quick simulation first.)
((Roger!))
(D-1, 2, and 3. Shoot down the spears and arrows shot by the bandits whenever possible.)
『『Roger.』』
Translator: SFBaka
Editor: Thor’s Stone
Iris called in the drones D-2 and D-3 to act as additional airborne escorts for us, and they hovered just above our position along with D-1.
Was I being a bit overprotective though? For the Clan members who wanted to confirm the fruits of their training, this move might make the result of this battle a bit unsatisfactory. But being the target of some dissatisfaction was better than incurring losses among our ranks.
The bandits should have noticed us already. Their loose formation started lining up on both sides of the road. And of course, the battlefield map was updated accordingly.
“One hundred and fifty meters more! Begin the attack once our initial magic volley hits. Don’t break formation until I give the pursuit signal!”
“”Roger!””
Once we came 80 meters from the bandit’s position, we began locking on to the impact coordinates we marked earlier.
(Begin targeting.)
Selena and Sharon targeted the red impact coordinates indicated on the battlefield map, and they turned yellow one after another. Since we coordinated using the same map, there was no risk of our targets overlapping.
((Targeting complete.))
Via the overhead footage, I confirmed that the bandit archers began to nock their bows and prepared to fire.
(Ten seconds to impact. Begin firing!)
I, Sharon, and Selena conjured Fire Grenades one meter above us and launched them diagonally upward.
“Oooh!”
“This is–”
“Five, four, three, two, one–”
After loud explosions, panicked screams echoed out from the bandit’s ranks. The bandit archer unit we initially targeted was almost completely incapacitated by our spells.
The rest of the bandits who weren’t affected by the magic bombardment began scattering and heading for the open road.
“Lead row, fire!”
Under Dalshim’s command, the magic unit began to fire their spells at the bandits. They launched various spells such as Fire Ball and Air Bullet. After launching their spells, those who stood out front would retreat to the back row to make way for their comrades and keep the barrage going.
War cries rang out from the bandit’s ranks one after another in response. It looks like we haven’t managed to break their morale just yet.
“Second row, third row, fire!”
Our archer unit began firing arrows at the bandits harassed by our magic unit’s spells as well. Cleria and Elna were still holding off as they watched the operation unfold.
The middle of the road was now filled with screaming bandits. The number of bandits jumping out onto the road began to lessen.
“Fourth row, fifth row, fire!”
The bandits were blown away by magic spells one after another and rolled on the ground due to the pain caused by their burns and other injuries.
It should be about time.
“Begin pursuit! Attack!”
“”Ou!””
Our tight formation broke up as we began going after the scattered bandits. The cavalry unit behind us kept their formation as they circled around to the woods to pincer the enemies.
A Light Arrow spell pierced the right shoulder of a bandit who had his arms raised and was attempting to cast magic himself. Cleria and Elna also began picking off the rest of the bandits who were still coming out onto the road.
Angry roars and sounds of swords clashing echoed out all over the place, but the difference in abilities was clear.
After exchanging two or three blows, our troops would put their opponents down by striking them with the back of their swords and knocking them out. It looks like everyone was still trying to capture them alive as much as possible after all.
After looking at the hopeless situation all around them, some of the bandits began dropping their weapons and surrendering. Some were kicked out onto the road and incapacitated by being hit with wooden swords. Our troops were showing some pretty great coordination.
And before long, it looks like it was finally game over.
“Let’s go secure the bandit’s horses, shall we?”
I called out to Cleria and the others who were scanning the situation on horseback.
The horses of the bandits were hidden behind a clump of bushes 500 meters away from the battle site. There were two men guarding them. It looks like they heard the sounds of battle but haven’t made their escape yet.
I called out to some of our cavalry troops who were passing by.
“The five of you, come with us. We’re gonna secure the bandit’s horses.”
“Roger that.”
The ten of us approached the forest where the bandit’s horses were hidden, but the two bandits who were keeping watch on them must have noticed us since they hurriedly attempted to mount some of the horses in a panic to escape. However, before they were able to make a run for it, Cleria and Selena shot Fire Arrows at them and pierced their right shoulders. They promptly fell off the horses while writhing in pain.
“Leave the bandits to us, Alan-sama.”
“Alright. We’ll be bringing the horses away then.”
The horses looked pretty good. They were probably some of the more valuable spoils from today’s battle. I and the girls returned with three horses in tow each, including our own, and found that the battle was already pretty much over, with the captured bandits gathered in the middle of the road.
It looks like there were many of them who had serious injuries as well, and they were strewn randomly all over the place.
“What’s our status, Dalshim?”
“No deaths but many were injured.”
“All injured troops, gather around me!”
About twenty or so of our troops came running. It looks like none of them have serious injuries.
“Any one of you have head injuries? ……How about broken bones? ……Cut open stomachs?”
Great. Thankfully, there really were none who suffered serious injuries. I had them relay their injuries to me before treating them one by one. Most of them only suffered bruises, minor puncture wounds, and cuts. I managed to finish the treatment session in about three minutes.
Now then, let’s handle the bandits next. Man, they sure are looking worse for wear. No one seems to have bitten the dust, but more than thirty of them have passed out completely while more than twenty were writhing in pain. The rest of them were sitting on the ground in a daze.
(Iris, how many of them did we manage to capture?)
『There are 147 people in total. Unfortunately, it seems five managed to escape.』
(I want to know the conditions of those seriously injured. Can you handle that for me?)
『I will at least be able to detect who among them have internal bleeding by having the three drones perform a three-dimensional scan, but……』
(Yosh. That’s fine. We really need to get a medical scanner soon. Let’s work on that once we have the time. It would be best if it were portable.)
『Roger that.』
Man. To think that I missed such an obvious thing.
Anyway, this was a good opportunity for Sharon and Selena to practice healing magic.
I had Iris begin diagnosing the conditions of them unconscious people first. Surprisingly, most of the unconscious ones simply just fainted.
It took about an hour for me, Sharon, and Selena to treat all of the injured bandits. We just healed them, but we still ended using up ten Gray Hound magic stones.
Of course, we limited ourselves to just administering first aid, but it looks like we managed to prevent anyone from losing their lives regardless.
Some of the bandits looked grateful for the treatment, but most of them showed a defiant and irritating attitude.
After the treatment, we conducted a simple interrogation and patted them down to retrieve some small change.
The total amount of money we were able to get from them was about 40,000 Guineas. And as for the bandits, they were composed of several bandit groups and local thugs active in the areas near the capital like we suspected. Most of the thugs didn’t even have any idea about who their target was. Well, it didn’t make a difference to us whether they were bandits or thugs anyway.
They said they arrived at this area earlier this morning and laid in ambush ever since. Those who planned this ambush seem to be well aware of who we are and our actions though. I have no idea whether or not the masterminds were among the ones we captured, but we didn’t have time to investigate thoroughly right now. I guess we’ll just have to leave it to the local garrison.
We found the bandit’s supplies nearby, but we decided not to bother with them since it was not worth the trouble to bring shabby food and stuff of little value with us anyway.
I went back to fetch the baron’s carriage and returned to the battle site with it following behind. After witnessing the scene, the baron hurriedly disembarked from his carriage.
“Alan-dono! Just what is this situation!?”
“It looks like quite a few bandit groups gathered together to attack us. Fortunately, we didn’t incur any losses on our end.”
“Eeh!? You fought with this many numbers and didn’t incur any losses……? Well, I guess that just goes to show the reputation of Shining Star is well deserved. Truly impressive.”
“Thank you for your praise.”
We also gathered the bandit’s weapons, and the ones with the potential to be sold off were all loaded to our wagons.
It took an additional hour for us to tie up all the bandits and thugs with ropes and secure the seriously injured ones inside our wagons.
It was a tedious affair, but everyone’s expressions were bright and brimming with glee. It looks like they were able to confirm the results of their daily training after all.
Soon, the preparations for our departure were complete.
“You did really well, everyone! It was a wonderful battle worthy of Shining Star. Now then, it’s quite late already. Let’s resume heading for the royal capital.”
“”Roger!””
