After reaching a consensus, Rei and the merchants immediately started to discuss what the plan was moving forward.
The timid merchant who lead the caravan……a merchant who called himself Tradia, started by asking Rei.
「So, you talked about luring the bandits out, but how are you going to do that?」
「That’s right, first……Set.」
「Guru~?」
While Rei had been discussing things with Tradia and the rest of the merchants, Set had been lying on the grass the entire time. Hearing Rei call his name, Set quietly lifted and turned his head towards him.
「We need to lure the bandits from earlier out, but if Set is around, they’ll be wary and won’t try anything. So, Set should leave the caravan and hide somewhere where they can’t find him. Then, if the bandits attack, Set will cut them off from behind.」
「Gururu~?」
Rei understood what Set wanted to ask, as he tilted his head, and gave a slight nod.
「Yes. If they’re on horses, I think they can escape even if you chase them. But if you can confuse them, that’s enough.」
Satisfied with Rei’s reply, Set laid his head back down and closed his eyes.
「So, we’ll just wait here for a bit.」
「Wait a minute. This is a bit sudden……」
「Didn’t I already tell you? It’s to lure the bandits in. We pretend that the carriage broke while you were escaping earlier and you stopped on the side of the highway to repair it.」
「……I understand.」
「Tradia!?」
While the other merchants were reluctant, Tradia accepted Rei’s idea.
「Calm down, everyone. Anyhow, even if we try to go to Abuelo without him, there’s a high chance we’ll be attacked by the bandits again. Since that’s the case, let’s just do as he says and get moving after eliminating the bandits. I think it’s better in the end if we do this.」
Not everyone seemed to agree with his statements.
In fact, some of the merchants had dissatisfied expressions on their faces.
However, since Tradia, the leader, had made his decision, the others didn’t voice any further dissatisfaction as they pulled the carriage to the side of the road, as instructed by Rei.
Seeing that, Rei went over to where Set was.
「Set, just as I said earlier, move away from here and keep an eye on the situation. Then, if the bandits attack……」
「Guru~!」
Understood, Set seemed to say with a cry as he stood up.
Rei stroked Set’s head as he rubbed his face against Rei before leaving.
Seeing Set off, who flew into the sky after a few steps, Rei turned to look back at the carriage that had stopped on the side of the road.
From the outside, it looked like tha carriage had run into some trouble that required repair.
(Now then, it would be nice if those bandits would send out a scout or someone to find us.)
Thinking like that, Rei entered the carriage just in case.
If there was someone among the bandits who recognised Rei, there would be no meaning in Set leaving the area.
Am I too self conscious? That was what Rei thought, but it was also true that he had attacked many bandits and the connections between different bandits couldn’t be taken lightly.
It was also possible that survivors from bandits groups Rei had eliminated were picked up by other bandit groups……
With that in mind, it was best not to show himself at all. That was his decision.
「I’m going to hide inside the carriage, so please pretend to repair the carriage for a while.」
「Understood. We’ll get to work right away.」
「……No, you don’t actually have to repair the carriage, you know?」
「It may not be necessary, but it’s true that we’ve pushed ourselves too hard this time, so there might be a problem with the carriages. We’ll take the opportunity to check it over.」
Saying that to Rei, Tradia crawled under the carriage.
Although he was the leader of a merchant caravan, Tradia’s strength was in taking the initiative to do things.
As he thought about that, Rei sat down on a chair inside the carriage and closed his eyes, allowing him to immediately sense any suspicious people approaching.
「Hey, can we really trust him?」
「Shhh, don’t be so load. Didn’t Tradia say it? That kid is an adventurer called Crimson. If that’s the case, he must be good at his job.」
「But……」
「I know what yyou mean. His appearance, right? But it’s true that he also a tamed demon. You’ve seen it with your own eyes.」
「Well, that’s certainly true.」
「If half the rumours……no, even if a quarter of them are true, he’ll be able to wipe out the bandits.」
「Hmmm……if you say so, I’ll believe you. However, if anything happens, get ready to escape immediately. We don’t have a lot of margin for error.」
Those voices could be heard some distance from the carriage.
The people speaking probably didn’t think they would be overheard. But, of course, Rei’s senses were a lot sharper than ordinary people and he could hear them talk as he focused on listening for any sign of bandits.
(If only we could follow after the bandits as they run away. ……No, we can’t. They’re such a well organised group, unlike any of the bandit groups I’ve seen so far. If anything, they’re more like the Prairie Wolves.)
As Rei thought to himself, the face of the tough looking man with a scarred face came to his mind.
Egg. He was the leader of the Prairie Wolves, which were now part of Daska’s intelligence force.
(Come to think of it, I didn’t see any of them in Gilm……were they also dispatched to Abuelo for this matter? As far as I could tell from earlier, the bandits are very well coordinated. If they’re just a mercenary group or some other group that became bandits, it will be simple to destroy them. The problem is if someone paid them to terrorise this area……hm?
Rei kept his senses out in the surroundings while thinking about Egg and the bandits when he suddenly heard sounds of something approaching them.
Rei thought for a moment that the bandits had returned, but the approaching sound wasn’t that of just horses, but also the sound of carriage wheels turning slowly, which made him relax.
The merchants who had been pretending to repair the carriage outside were nervous for a moment, but they soon calmed down.
「Good morning, what are you doing in a place like this?」
A good looking man in his 40s called out as he approached the merchants around the carriage.
「No, no, just some problems with the carriage. Fortunately, it’s easy to repair, so we’re fixing it now.」
「Hmm, I see. I’ve heard this area has been a bit of a mess lately……is it safe?」
「That seems to be the case. With this happening, I think it would have been better for us to hire an escort.」
「To pass through this area without an escort, I don’t know if you’re stubborn or something else……」
The man’s words, which were mixed with surprise and amazement, made the merchants smile bitterly.
If they had enough money, they could have hired an escort, but now they were in this painful situation because they wanted to save all the money they could.
The reason they hadn’t hired an escort was because they had thought they would be able to escape even if they were attacked by bandits.
「But, it doesn’t look like you have an escort either?」
「Hm? Ah, they’re inside the carriage.」
When the man lightly tapped the body of his carriage, a sharp eyed man, who seemed to be an adventurer, showed his face from the window.
「Hmm, he seems to be quite strong.」
「Well, of course. After all, they are an escort. ……Well, I’m sorry, but we have to get going now. I want to get to Abuelo as soon as possible.」
「Ah, we understand. Then, take care.」
「Will do, oh right. If you’re stuck in a place like this without an escort, you don’t know when bandits might attack, so I wish your repairs can be completed as soon as possible.」
With those words, the other carriage driver headed off.
Seeing him leave, the merchants scratched their heads.
They wondered if it was really safe for them to stay here.
After all, they had just been told that they could be attacked by bandits at any time.
Of course, they knew that it was what Rei, who was hiding inside the carriage, wanted. However, as a merchant, the strongly felt that it would be better to quickly move on and head for Abuelo.
While lost in their thoughts, the merchants watched the carriage move away with a complicated expression, as if they wanted bandits to come and not come at the same time.
「……What do you think?」
The person who asked was the driver who had just spoken to the merchants near the carriage where Rei had been hiding.
Their carriage had stopped far away enough that they could no longer be seen.
「They were only merchants. That’s why I said you worry too much.」
「Idiot, did you see it too? The one that just came down was definitely a Griffon. It’s not normally a monster you’d see in a place like this. In that case, it had to be Crimon, who ended the Spring War early. If the information that Gilm is his base is true……do you want to fight someone with a title? I don’t want to.」
「……I know. But, the Griffon wasn’t there, right? Then he must have left after helping them. He was probably just passing through or something.」
Hearing those words from his back, the driver nodded after thinking for a moment.
Since they couldn’t see the Griffon, it seems that he really was just passing by.
「Whether it was a coincidence or not, if someone with a title has shown up, it might be better to withdraw from this area.」
「Huh? Are you serious? We can make a lot of money here. Just a little more……」
「You know, the problem is ‘just a little more’. Just a little more……one more time, one last time……when you’re dazzled by the profits and lose sight of the time to withdraw, what are you going to do when an adventurer with a title shows up? Even if the income is good, the level of adventurers here are also high because it’s the frontier.」
「……Understood. I have no intention of going against you.」
Unlike the attitude he took in front of the merchants, the driver seemed to be in a higher position than the person behind him.
Needless to say, these two were part of the group that had tried to attack the merchants earlier.
Their true identity was that of a mercenary group called Bloody Blades.
No, to be precise, they were a mercenary and bandit group.
When there was mercenary work, they would fight in wars, and when there wasn’t any mercenary work, they would become bandits.
Unlike ordinary bandits, they were also active as mercenaries, so they had a lot of combat experience and were highly skilled.
In addition, they had 30 warhorses which costed a lot to maintain, but they were able to support due to the money they made.
In fact, the reason why their group had come to the frontier to work as bandits was because they didn’t have enough money.
They had 30 horsemen, 30 foot soldiers, and people who ran errands for them, in total, well over 70 people. Naturally, this required a certain level of money to maintain, but……the Spring War had ended early due to the Margrave Rowlocks’s forces overwhelming the Bestir Empire’s army.
As a result, the Bloody Blades had come away from the war with barely and work and only the minimum reward.
It was already difficult to maintain a mercenary group without money, not to mention a mercenary group with over 70 people.
Because of that, the Bloody Blades had come to this area rulled by Margrave Rowlocks for the purpose of earning funds for their activities, and above all, to exact revenge for their loss of work.
Their aim was successful and they managed to make huge amounts of money attacking trading companies and merchants carrying goods to and from the frontier.
In addition, they were able to obtain a decent number of rare items unique to the frontier, so for the Bloody Blades, they absolutely wanted to avoid someone capable of ending a war on their own.
That was why they quickly left when they saw a Griffon appear just as they were about to attack the merchant caravan.
However, the only people who could make that decision was the leader of the Bloody Blades and the executives, such as the man currently playing the role of a carriage driver.
「Hey, send a message to the boss. Crimson is gone, so now’s the time to attack.」
「Understood.」
Nodding at the carriage driver’s words, his subordinates wrapped several differently coloured strings around the legs of small birds tamed by the Bloody Blades before releasing them into the sky.
Comments