Prepare yourself, bandit platoon.

You are facing the four of us in this battle.

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Reader-san is so strict.

I’m just stating the obvious to spite thing up and that not really a SPOILER.

 

I said “Mile won’t do anything like solo 40 bandits”

to make you curious and ask in the comment like “So, what will Mile do? please tell us” or something like that.

=> So I can tease you with “Who knows, all I can say is. Mile is Hilarious unlike any girl you see before and Pauline is Ruthless”

 

It’s not like you don’t know Mile is Hilarious, Pauline is Ruthless, Rena and Maevis is so-so.

Anyway, sorry for the complaint.

Please enjoy the chapter. Don’t worry because what I said in the last chapter spoiler nothing. You will never expect this.

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Chapter 57: Battle

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ED: Bluegraine & Cyan & Lowe

 

“No, it’s only a prediction, I could be wrong too.
The opponent may be just normal bandits, but with things like this, you should still prepare for the worst.” (Bart)

 

A little-relieved air flowed in the words of Bart.

 

“So, what is the probability of it being the 「worst case situation」?”  (Brett)

 

Bart answered Brett’s question with a straight face.

 

“Well, about 80%” (Bart)

“…” (Everyone)

 

And Bart confirmed his intention to the merchants who still hadn’t said anything until now.

 

“As a client, what would you like to do?” (Bart)

“Well … Well, with three times the number of soldiers or more, they are not opponents we can fight against and win, right?” (merchant)

“How about we withdraw after confirming the identities of the opponent and the number of people.
We will inform the royal palace immediately after we reach the town?”  (Merchant)

“Well, the enemy will move before the army of our country moves, and the reason why they have killed all the merchants until now is to conceal their identity.
So, if we turn back here, the enemies will obviously realize they have been discovered.” (Bart)

 

And I’m worried about how far they will go to hide their identity.

Would they chase after us?

Even if we kill all the bandits we capture and run away with full speed, they will still catch up soon enough.

They may have prepared horses for pursuit.

 

“It might be a little better if we choose a place that’s advantageous to us.
What do you think about killing 3 or 4 people per person.”  (Bart)

“Well, there is no choice from the beginning!” (Merchant)

“That’s it.”  (Bart)

 

Just like that, Bart and merchant were laughing.

The other members of 『Dragon Breath』just shrugged their shoulders.

Perhaps, it was the usual thing with them.

The three members of 『Flame Wolf』 had a slightly pale appearance, but they kept calm, as they were hunters after all.

And 『Red Oath』 was too. 

 

“What, these people …” (Mile + Maevis + Pauline + Rena)

 

Mile was amazed at the nerves of Bart and merchant. And …

 

“What’s that? They aren’t bandits? I wasted a lot of time with discussions …” (Rena)

“No, no matter how you see it, that army is invading another country, not with a regular battle, it isn’t a military action.
They will be treated as spies or ordinary bandits so they can be killed as if they were bandits” (Maevis)

“If you capture the commander and can squeeze out information, you will get a lot of rewards ~” (Pauline)

“You are such …” (Rena) (あんたらねぇ)

 

Normally, we would have continued traveling for a while.

However, the merchants decided to camp here.

The highway went around the rocky mountain, with a rock wall that stood out on the right side, the rocky ground on the left side, and there was no grove and field.

Normally, it wouldn’t be considered a camping place.

Because if we went just a little further, past the rocky mountains, there were grasslands.

That place would be convenient for making camp, but not for battle action.

Since this was a rocky ground with no trees, we could use fire magic without hesitation.

Because we could fight with the wall of rock behind us, it was suitable for battle against a large number of enemies because they couldn’t surround us.

The enemy scout would, without doubt, notice us. Even if they were to think we acted weird, there was nothing they could do.

Because of the distance of only a few hundred meters, if they were to think that we had already noticed them, they wouldn’t keep waiting to ambush but instead, move to attack this place.

The merchant united the carriages into 3 rows and 2 columns, fitted perfectly to the rock wall to minimize the area which we needed to protect.

The captured bandits had both their arms and legs tied and would be knocked unconscious. 

With this, they would be inferior to the merchants and they could be killed as soon as the enemy began to approach.

It looked like Bart thinks, that in the worst case where we were going to die, we had to at least kill these bandits so they didn’t harm anyone else.

I did not think it would take very long to kill seven bandits who were unconscious and tied up. The elderly merchants wouldn’t hesitate to kill the bandits either.

The escort hunters finished fixating the horse-drawn carriages and tied the bandits up.

Right now, we were setting up a perfect interception pattern.

The others didn’t eat meals. Only an idiot would put food in their belly before a fight with a sword or a spear could not live long.

After that, we only awaited the enemy’s movement.

And about an hour later.

 

“… here they come”  (Vera)

 

Vera who was an archer with good eyes found the enemy approaching first.

Because we began preparing for the encounter quite early, the surroundings were still bright.

Because it was possible that some people would miss their blows if it got dark, it seemed better to attack while it was still bright.

They had overwhelming numbers after all.

Our camp was protected by a rock wall, but it also blocked our retreat.

The attackers didn’t need to divide their strength.

They collected all their available fighting power, and around 40 enemies surround our camp in a semi-circle.

As Bart expected, there were really 40 people.

 

“We are bandits! Discard your weapons and throw them down!”  (Commander)

 

From the way the leader of our enemies surrounding us was talking, it was clear that he planned to kill us while hiding their identities.

『We are bandits』Moreover, it was 『Discard your weapons and throw them away』 instead of 『Surrender』

 

“… Because it will be a battle anyway, what can I say?
Because I want to get even a bit of information, can I try something?” (Bart)

 

The merchants nodded to the words of Bart. 『Red Oath』 and 『Flame Wolf』 also nodded.

 

“That voice, aren’t you the commander?
What on earth are you doing in other countries?” (Bart)

“Huh…?” (Commander)

 

The commander was surprised and began to shake as Bart shouted loudly.

 

“I think I met you before in …”  (Bart)

“No… I’m not!
I’m just a bandit!
Don’t say stupid things.
Discard your weapons and throw them down!!”  (Commander)

“…What do you think?”  (Bart)

“Ahaha …” (Mile)

 

To Bart’s question, Mile could only show dry laughter.

 

“Well, I don’t think they will admit it, but with this, I can with 100% certainty determine that they are soldiers.
That also means that even if we surrender, they will kill us all.
Everyone, are you ready?” (Bart)

 

Everyone silently nodded.

 

“Alright, non-combatants, get on the second carriage as planned.
Escorts, move to your positions!”  (Bart)

 

Everyone went to their designated positions according to Bart’s instructions.

The merchant got onto the loading platform of the second carriage which had had its goods unloaded in advance.

This horse carriage had been placed between two other cars and fitted tightly to the rock wall, which was to give it a position in cover from arrows and magic attacks.

Mile was asked to guard this carriage as planned.

She asked the nanomachines to cast a spell on the captured bandits.

 

“Make all of these bandits lose consciousness until dawn” (Mile)

 

It was very appropriate to say that it was a magic spell, but the nanomachines seemed to understand what Mile wanted, and the bandits lost consciousness.

With this, we didn’t have to worry about the captured bandits anymore.

The plan was for Mile to stay here to protect the merchants but she was worried about her party and allies so she said to the merchants.

 

“Well, please wait here!”  (Mile)

 

She smiled as she said that to the merchants, and Mile got off the platform.

Before leaving the carriage, she muttered in a small voice.

 

“Lattice barrier, completely transparent version!”  (Mile)

 

Kin, a small sound of the barrier was made.

With this, nothing could harm the merchants anymore.

When Mile returned to the battlefield, the enemy began approaching with coordinated movements.

Although they were dressed like bandits their movements and equipment were strange.

They had weapons of good quality.

They were also wearing metal armor under bandit clothes.

Then, according to Bart’s instructions, Jeanne released attack magic from a distance.

As her magic power was weak, it was natural to wait until the enemies entered the effective range where the power and accuracy increased.

It was natural to try to reduce the enemy numbers a little with the first strike, but Bart’s aim was to check the enemy instead.

He concentrated on their movements.

 

“… Fire Bomb!”  (Jeanne)

 

The flaming explosive bullet that Jeanne cast towards the enemy leader disappeared before reaching him.

 

“Well, so they also have special units like magicians in this platoon”  (Bart)

 

Normally, in war, magicians were not included in an ordinary unit, magic was intensively operated by a unit composed of only magicians.

That would be more efficient.

Bart seemed to know details about the army.

Was it due to many years of experience as a hunter, or had he been in the army before?

 

“I will take care of about three or four enemies in the front.
You four magicians, how many do you think you can take ?” (Bart)

“The number of people means nothing” (Rena)

 

In response to the words of Bart, Rena cast the attack magic.

 

“… Fire Bomb!”  (Rena)

 

A Flaming Explosive bullet flew toward the enemies.

 

“Firebomb will be prevented again …”  (Jeanne)

 

Jeanne tried saying so to Rena because her firebomb had been prevented earlier.

The Flaming Explosive bullet released by Rena was blocked by enemy’s defense magic and it exploded when it hit.

The soldier who was hit was blown backward and the left and right soldiers involved in the explosion were rolling on the ground trying to put out the flame on their bodies.

It seemed that the power was reduced by the defensive magic and also by the metallic armor they wore underneath their bandit clothes.

The one who was hit became incapable of fighting, but he was still alive.

 

“Huh…”  (Jeanne)

“What?” (Rena)

 

Rena asked Jeanne who was shocked.

Certainly, Rena hadn’t demonstrated her attack magic in the graduation test, as she had been stopped before that.

Jeanne thought that Rena was only strong with defense magic as she had seen it in the graduation test.

Clearly, she seemed to think that Rena was a supportive magician who was good at defensive magic. 

But to think she had that much magic attack power. 

 

“… boiling water ball”  (Pauline)

 

Pauline started chanting after Rena and used water magic rather than wind.

A water ball twice as big as a softball flew somewhat slowly toward the enemy.

With that speed, there was plenty of time to cast defense magic, or the soldier himself could block, parry or avoid it.

To conserve magic power, the soldier chooses to avoid.

At the moment of avoidance, the water ball suddenly changed its course and hit the soldier’s neck.

 

“Gyā a ~a~a~a!”  (Soldier B)

 

It went through the armor from the neck and flowed inside his armor and clothing.

The tightly squeezed, high-pressure water ball had a high temperature exceeding one hundred degrees.

Even if you tried to shake it off, even if you rolled around, hot water soaked into your clothes and after directly touching your skin, the temperature did not go down easily.

The water moved deeper and faster and the burn became severe.

Standing next to that soldier, another soldier who had received a water ball, no, a hot water ball on his face was screaming.

And Mile was still waiting.

A few soldiers who had been in the back ran over to the soldiers wounded by Rena and Pauline’s magic.

 

“Okay, that!” (Mile’s thought)

 

Mile murmured a suitable spell, it was just a simple appearance so that it wouldn’t like a non-chant, she closes one eye like a wink with a prime expression.

 

“Bestow electricity upon these people who became foolish, uncovered eye!” (Mile)

 

An electric sound echoed, and all the enemy soldiers who had rushed to the injured soldiers fell down on the spot.

It was electric shock magic with low power output so people wouldn’t die.

And that was the birth of one of Mile’s Seven Death Blows that later would be called 『Angel’s blink Shot』.

Mile assumed it was the magicians who ran over to use healing magic on the injured soldiers, which was why she aimed at them.

Because magicians also seemed to be dressed like bandits, we could only tell them apart by the difference in behavior.

With this, the number of enemy magicians should have decreased considerably. If Mile’s idea was correct, that is.

Both healer magicians and injured soldiers received electric shocks and lost consciousness.

This was fortunate for the injured soldiers, especially for those who were rolling around in burning pain due to Pauline’s attack magic.

Mile also planned to cure them to a certain extent later.

 

“Wha …?” (FW’s members) (Original only have “na…” I guess It was “na(ni)…”)

 

The three members of 『Flame Wolf』 were in shock while looking at Mile who was still away from their enemies.

This was because the enemy movement had stopped all of sudden.

『Flame Wolf』 didn’t expect her to be a strong magician.

They knew that she was a strong swordsman though.
As expected, the members of 『Dragon Breath』 didn’t react like that.

Even though they were also surprised, they were still closely watching the enemy’s movement.

 

“It’s coming!” (Bart)

 

Bart said to the three distracted members of 『Flame Wolf』.

There were only six escorts and only one magician at best.

It should have been easy to kill all of them after they had surrendered and thrown away their weapons.

That’s what the scout had reported to the commander.

The commander had thought that it would be a simple job like what they had repeated over and over so far.

Now they were suffering a one-sided magic attack, and during that, nearly 20% of their strength had been lost.

Half the valuable magicians had already been defeated, and the enemy soldiers stopped moving for a moment, but then the commander immediately instructed and they resumed their approach.

It was not a slow approach as before, but an assault.

It was natural.

If you were to walk slowly you would be bombarded by attack magics one after another, so you only had to strike all at once with no time to intercept.

Several soldiers stopped at a distance without approaching.

They were the remaining magicians and rangers. 

It seemed that they had reached their effective range of attack.

Attackers with throwing spears needed to approach a little more.

During Mile’s mysterious magic attack, Rena, Pauline and Jeanne repeatedly cast attack magic one after another which were released towards the leading enemy swordsmen and spearmen.

 

Don! (SFX)

Hi ~yun!  (SFX)

Ba ~shu! (SFX)

 

Rena’s Firebomb was released again, this time it didn’t hit the enemy troops directly but the exploding flame burned several soldiers.

Pauline had released a second condensed version of the fireball, which she had shown in the graduation test.

There were two shots. One shot hit the right shoulder of an enemy soldier and the other shot hit the belly of a second soldier.

Although the abdomen was protected by armor, the shock of the impact, high temperature, and flame spread to the body, and the soldier rolled to the ground.

The magic used by Jeanne was ice spear.

Even if the magic was defended against, the ice that has already become substantive would not disappear, unlike flames that continue to burn with only magical power.

However, this time, the enemy magicians who had been reduced in number decided to allow some damage to their soldiers.

They seemed to give priority to attack rather than defense and did not use defensive magic.

The ice spear pierced an enemy soldier without problems.

And three people entered the next chant instantly.

Mile was watching the movement of the soldier who stopped closely.

 

Hi ~yun (SFX)

 

Arrows of enemy archers were fired all at once, and Mile used wind defense magic to change the direction of all the arrows.

 

“Wind, wind, wind!” (Mile)

 

What Mile used was wind magic and all the arrows shot by the enemy fell to the ground.

This was just wind magic that magicians normally used, so Mile didn’t have to worry about standing out.

Following the arrows, attack magic came flying this time. 

They used all kinds of magic to bombard the carriages.

They didn’t need to aim because the carriages were big targets, and no matter where it hit, a fireball would spread the fire to the whole carriage group.  

The number of magic attacks was massive with trajectory.

 

“Magic Shoot!” (Mile)

 

Mile’s spell at the same time perfectly intercepted all the incoming magic attacks.

All of them were hit by Mile’s instruction to the nanomachines.

The magic that Mile used was just simple magic balls so she didn’t have to worry about standing out. (except the part she perfectly hit all of the flying magic spells with it)

 

“That’s impossible” (Commander) (Sona bakana)

 

Looking at the hunter magicians’ overwhelming power, the platoon leader was stunned by the opponents’ combat capabilities that could easily crush his platoon.

However, they would soon enter a close fight.

Even if they were inferior with a long-range attack, with this difference in the number of people and the army of approaching soldiers with swords and spears, there was no way that the hunters could win against the soldiers.

The hunters also wouldn’t be able to use magic because their allies were mixed in.

Half of the soldiers should aim for the magicians and half should battle with the vanguard Hunters.

Magicians without magic would be easy to kill, after that the soldiers would back up those fighting the vanguard.

Although there had been a lot of damage during the approach, we could heal it with healing magic later.

The commander screamed with reassurance.

 

“Go!” (Commander)

“Well, before the enemies approach us, I need to do something …” (Mile’s thought)

 

Mile did not intend to annihilate the enemy by herself.

 

“If I do such a thing, the other escorts will not have anything left to do.
More importantly, I will stand out.
No matter how you see it, I’m just an average C rank hunter.
It isn’t good to get extra attention.
However, if they can get near us and begin close combat, the damage to our allies will become significant.
I can heal them if they’re only injured, but I won’t be able to help if they get instantly killed or something like that.
Therefore, I must think of a good way to lower the fighting power of the enemies.
Something not conspicuous, how to drop the enemy’s power …
Ah, that’s right!” (Mile’s thought)

 

And Mile chanted the devil’s spell.

 

“The soles of our enemies’ shoes shall be diagonally scraped, and spiky pebbles shall be inserted inside!” (Mile’s thought)

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The 1st place belongs to reader Susu. Even though he uses “like” not comment.