---

Mile chapter 58: Approach

[ED: Lowe, Cyan, Bluegraine]

 

“GU~A” (a lot of soldiers)

“THAT HURTTTTTTTTTTS!”   (a lot of soldiers) (痛てててててて！)

 

The soldiers raised their voices while screaming in pain, as the soles of their feet were stabbed by spiky pebbles.

Some had their ankle twisted, fell down and the enemy soldiers’ movement stopped temporarily.

 

“The soldiers, what happened to them?” (Bart)

 

Bart asked in doubt because enemy soldiers’ movements had stopped.

 

“I wonder what’s wrong … it was as if they had spiky pebbles in their shoes” (Vera)

 

Vera looked at enemy troops who were suddenly frantically walking. Her impression was very accurate.

Enemy soldiers were wearing military boots.

And military boots took time to change. You had to untie the shoelaces, take off the boots, remove the pebbles inside, put the boots back on, and tie the knot again.

Of course, they weren’t going to do such a thing slowly with the enemy in front of them. The soldiers restarted the assault again with patience and difficulty walking.

With a strange way of running, hop* hop*.

Not only had the shoe sole’s scraped and a pebble had gotten inside, but it also seemed that there were quite a few who had hurt their ankles.

 

“Alright, vanguards, it’s time to come out! Magicians and Vera will fall back and give fire support, be careful of friendly fire.” (Bart)

 

The soldiers were finally approaching. Leaving the mages and archers behind, the vanguards moved forward.

The three vanguards (T.N: I guess these guys are Flame Wolf) looked surprised at Mile who was also coming forward.

They thought that her main job(class) was a magician and she only had the sword for self-defense.

Mile didn’t say anything, she didn’t have time to waste.

The powerful attack magic was released at the vanguards before the clash.

On the bandit side, the hunters’ magic attacks were blocked by the enemy’s defensive magic so their effect was less than half.

On the hunter side, Mile had completely blocked all of the enemy’s attacks. (T.N: Mile choose her ally’s safety over standing out)

After that, the magicians could only use a precise, small-scale attack to support from the back.

And finally, the close combat between the vanguards had begun.

The three vanguards of 『Dragon Breath』 were strong.

Bart, the leader, was B rank, but the other two were nearly as strong as him. They were probably C-ranked who were close to promotion to B-ranked.

Every attack was precise because they had confidence in their power.

They didn’t forcibly pursue the enemy but steadily deterred enemies approaching them.

On the other hand, the three members of『Flame Wolf』seemed quite impatient.

It was reasonable, as they were only C rank hunters. Battling many soldier opponents was too overwhelming.

However, after fighting for a while, they noticed that they could win more easily than they thought, and they gradually got better.

That was because the movements of the enemy soldiers were bad.

There was no power in their attack or defense.

And in the rear, archer Vera gave them fire support with high accuracy.

They managed to deal with enemy attacks somehow, and gradually injured the soldiers little by little. 

Their battle with the soldiers who exceeded their own numbers was worthy of admiration.

In the magic group, Rena was in charge of far ranged magical warfare with the enemy magicians.

Pauline and Jeanne were in charge of attacking and supporting the vanguards.

Of the remaining three enemy magicians, two of them used defensive magic against Rena’s magic attacks and one used magic to attack the hunters’ vanguards.

Even with just a single shot from Rena, it would be over if they received a direct hit so they had no choice but to focus on defense.

Pauline and Jeanne were using magic to attack the enemy vanguards and defend against the enemy’s attack magic.

Pauline and Jeanne were more advantageous in that respect because they had two people.

Then, both Pauline and Jeanne changed their target to the enemy’s magicians together with Rena.

The enemy magicians hastily put up defensive magic, but even if the two of them tried their best, they could only defend against Rena’s magic attack. And this time, there was attack magic coming from three people.

The third magician just finished his attack so he could chant defense magic again.

 

Do~o n! (SFX)

 

Rena’s group attack magic landed on the enemy magicians.

 

“Oh, it seems Rena’s group did it!” (Mile)

 

Magic attacks from the enemies had ceased

Mile noticed the attack magic and support increased from the rear and she talked to Bart, who was fighting nearby.

Bart just smiled and nodded to Mile.

Then both of them ran towards the enemy.

In order not to kill the opponents, Mile swung her mysterious sword while making sure her cuts were shallow on the enemy leader’s armor to break his ribs.

Her sword could do the same to enemies wearing iron armor.

And Mile could afford to handle enemies carefully.

A couple of enemy archers shot arrows rapidly at Mile even though they were aware of the danger of friendly fire.

Mile lightly shook her left hand and cast a defensive spell.

Immediately after that, all the spearmen threw their spears at Mile.

 

“Magic Shield!” (Mile)

Ga~i~n, ga~i~n, ga~i~n, ga~i~n (SFX)

 

Every single one of the spears stopped as if they had hit a wall or something in mid-air and fell to the ground.

Then the archers shot arrows again after that …

 

“Fire arrows” (Bart)

 

Just as Bart said, those were fire arrows aimed at the carriages in the back instead of the hunters.

It would set a carriage aflame, spread to other carriages, and perhaps burn non-combatants hiding in the carriages.

Bart had shouted out loud in hopes that the magicians used magic to block those fire arrows. 

And he thought it was a hopeless situation as Mile didn’t seem to use defense magic to intercept the fire arrows.

The fire arrows reached the carriages’ area. However.

 

Kin kin kin kin (SFX)

 

All the fire arrows stopped in the air just before they hit the carriages and fell to the ground just like that.

 

“…” (Bart)

 

The same as all throwing spears aimed at Mile had done.

Mile didn’t seem to be using wind magic.

Bart had never heard of the magic that made a physical defense without wind or substance.

 

“I shouldn’t mind too much.” Bart thought.

 

It seemed that he had finally gotten used to the existence called 『Red Oath』. (T.N: Rest in peace, Bart’s common sense, born at chapter 51, died at chapter 57)

 

“… Ah, I’m going to the left side to support for a moment!” (Mile)

 

Whether she realized she was careless or if it was merely troublesome to explain, Mile offered to go support『Flame Wolf』

Bart didn’t pursue Mile either.

 

“Alright, just go!” (Bart) (よし、行け！)

 

As the number of enemies gradually decreased and the hunter side magicians kept one-sidedly attacking, this place wouldn’t have any more problems even if Mile were to go.

He was also concerned about 『Flame Wolf』 on the left and instantly issued permission.

Mile’s work had been remarkable beyond what Bart had expected, though right now he wasn’t concerned about it anymore.

They were still struggling when Mile reached the left side that 『Flame Wolf』 were fighting.

The swordsman Karam of 『Dragon Breath』 who was closest to 『Flame Wolf』 also fought on the left side to lighten the burden of 『Flame Wolf』 

They may be middle C Rank Hunters and the enemy soldiers were weakened by Mile, but to fight with so many at once was still a heavy burden on them.

The swordsman Chuck was injured and was distorting his face in pain.

He held his sword with only his right hand.

As they were trying to fight while covering Chucks, the other two seemed to be restricted in action and were therefore unable to fight properly.

At that time, an enemy soldier swung down his sword towards the left side of Chuck where he was injured.

 

“Oh no…” (Brett)

Gyin! (SFX)

 

Before the leader Brett’s scream ceased, Mile stepped in and used her mysterious sword to block the soldier’s attack.

 

Ja~! (SFX)

 

When Mile’s sword clashed with the soldier’s sword, Mile put more power in her feet and took a step in.

With that extraordinary momentum, the enemy soldier got pummeled and lost his balance.

Taking that opportunity, Chuck slashed the soldier with his sword.

Because he only used one hand and the soldier was protected by armor, his slash didn’t cut the soldier’s body but instead blew away the soldier.

 

“… Thank you, I was saved!” (Chuck) (すまん、助かった！)

 

Chuck thanked Mile and Brett by slightly lowering his head.

Mile lightly nodded and headed for the next enemy.

The number of enemies was already down to 20, and they had now lost all their magicians so they couldn’t use magic to defend, attack or heal.

They also knew that the bow didn’t work at all.

So all the archers changed their weapon to a sword, which was a reserve weapon, and engaged in melee battle. 

But the specialized swordsmen were knocked down one after another, and even if the archers joined with the swordsman they were not able to overturn the battle outcome.

They were taken down one after another.

And the magician group in the rear guard went around from the side and moved into the position to surround the enemy.

The number of enemy soldiers had decreased to no more than 10 people now, and there were not enough people to fight with the hunter vanguards and attack the magicians at the same time.

Even if they were to divide their soldiers, there was still a certain distance, and they would be attacked by magic before approaching.

The enemy commander completely missed his opportunity to escape.

In the first place, if he escaped by leaving a lot of subordinates who weren’t dead, but merely hurt, the details of the strategy would be exposed and it would be a serious problem.

Even though the soldiers were loyal, some of them might not be able to withstand torture and reveal everything. If he wanted to escape, he needed to close the mouths of his injured men, but he could not afford to do that.

And even if he escaped here, he would be persistently pursued.
After all, he had no choice but to kill all the hunters here by any means, then kill the merchants and close their mouths, rob the horse-drawn carriages and go back to his home country with the injured subordinates.

Or … kill all his subordinates and commit suicide to close all mouths?
However, it was a different story if his men could kill the hunters.

And in the first place, it might not be necessary to worry about such a thing.

For the dead (he and his men) there was no need to worry about anything.

 

“Although I think so desperately, I swing my sword desperately, but my shoes were tilted, my ankle can’t bend properly, and I can’t step on it properly.
There are some pointy pebbles in both shoes so it hurts and I can’t step straight on them.
Even though I know I should endure the pain as this is a life-threatening situation, I can’t put on pressure when I step on it.
I can’t concentrate on the battle.
It is a feeling that I can’t produce enough of my original power.
It is frustrating that my last fight is in such an unwilling state.
What’s stranger is that my subordinates are also in the same state as me.
Even though our magicians are inferior in magical warfare, we should be able to win, and not produce such incompetent result.
Why? How did this happen …” (Commander thought)

 

At the end, when even the rearguards joined in, there was not a big difference in fighting force.

Their rearguards had 3 magicians, 4 archers, and 4 javelin throwers. 3 magicians were already unable to fight.

The commander and the adjutants joined in with the vanguards, and a total of 18 people were doing their last stand against the hunter vanguards.

The enemy assigned three soldiers for each member of 『Dragon Breath』 who seemed to be the most powerful, two soldiers for 『Flame Wolf』’s three members, two for Maevis and one for Mile.

Maevis-san instantly defeated an enemy with her 『god speed』 slash.

It seemed like she split the enemy’s armor with her sword and hit the torso with the sword’s handle.

A sword that would not break even if she slashed a boulder or metal armor was really good.

Mile also instantly defeated her enemy, and because she was free after that, she went and defeated another soldier who was attacking Bart (T.N: Kill steal).

Then, she thought it was bad to take down too many soldiers so she switched to intercepting arrows and throwing spears.

Unlike 『Flame Wolf』, the members of 『Dragon Breath』were in good condition, so there wasn’t much difficulty in handling three soldiers who were weakened by Mile.

Even 『Flame Wolf』 member Chuck who was already injured still matched well with one soldier.

After that, the javelin throwers and the archers grasped their reserve weapon, a sword and rushed in, but at that time 『Red Oath』 and Bart were already free.

Not even vanguards could fight against 『Red Oath』and Bart, so they were defeated with ease.

And the enemy soldiers surrendered when there was only five left of them, with no commander in command.

Because there were no soldiers who ran away.

The commander had to be either rolling around, groaning, or be mixed in among those who were unfortunately dead.

 

“Fagas, please take a horse from a horse carriage.
You will be our messenger.
Go tell Amuros’ Hunter Guild and then the Lord’s house, that we already caught the bandit group.
Tell them to bring both carriages and security guards urgently” (Bart) (T.N: there are 30+ captured soldiers so they need the carriages to take them to the city)

 

Bart kept asking Fagas to inform more places. Because there was a small possibility that the lords or royal court knew these soldiers or they were planning something, we should take safety measures.

 

“And then write an overview of this case to the kingdom and write another six copies of it.
Send three to the guilds and three to the royal palaces, all unknown to the others and by different routes.
Just like that, did you understand?” (Bart)

 

Fagas nodded and immediately headed for the carriage.

It was an optimal personnel selection for this mission, as he was quick to understand and was credible.

Although the horses had been pulling horse carriages, they had also received training to be mounted by people.

Even if there was no saddle, he should be able to reach the town much more quickly than walking.

There was starlight when it got dark, there was no problem because he only went on the highway.

He would be able to get to the town in the evening.

 

“How cautious… I didn’t expect someone like you to take this job” (Mile) 

“I am a smart idiot” (Bart)  

 

As Bart replied to Mile, he gave another command.

 

“Well, let’s gather prisoners and dead bodies in one place” (Bart)  

“…Yes” (Mile)

 

Fortunately, there were no allies who died this time.

The injured hunters were treated by Pauline and Mile’s magic.

Chuck’s left arm and all the other injuries were completely recovered.

『Flame Wolf』 was stunned by seeing Chuck’s left arm completely cured on the spot without any scars.

The 『Dragon Breath』 members had already seen the mega heal in the graduation test, so they were not surprised as much.

As for the enemy, 『Red oath』 had reduced their numbers to a certain extent.

There was only one dead by the direct magic attack, which was a soldier who had been stabbed by Jeanne’s ice spear.

Others were seriously injured, many of which with burns.

Especially by Pauline’s boiling water attack, but they were still alive, and right now they were being cured by the healing magic of the attacker herself.

Outside of magic, Mile counted five dead in total.

There were many soldiers who had died while fighting against 『Flame Wolf』. 

Unlike『Dragon Breath 』, 『Flame Wolf』 members weren’t strong enough to capture enemies alive.

They were fighting for their life so it couldn’t be helped.

Those soldiers who survived were lucky. That’s it.

The soldiers had a lot of wounds and scratches from slashes or stabs.

Pauline and Mile performed emergency healing magic treatment.

And of course, they just healed the fatal wounds that might cause death.

The soldiers were still wounded enough so as to make sure that they couldn’t fight back.

And despite the complaints of the prisoners, the pebbles in their shoes were also intact.

Even those who had normal injuries might have died from blood loss or shock if Mile and Pauline hadn’t used healing magic.

They didn’t have the right to complain in the first place.

In fact, there were a few soldiers who were thankful.

Even though they were following orders while fighting the merchants, they knew that what they were doing was evil.

And if they had to say it, it was a miracle that only six people had died. 

The dead bodies were placed together and the prisoners were tied up and collected in one place.

Tonight, nobody was going to sleep until morning.

Everyone would join the hunters with the interrogation.

If we handed them over to the authorities tomorrow, we would have no opportunity anymore so we would get as much information as we could right now, just in case.

There was no guarantee that something like

“for some reason, all the prisoners who were handed over to the lords have escaped”

or “why, all of them committed suicide” wouldn’t happen.

Barriers were quietly released by Mile and the merchants came.

We also gathered the unconscious bandits, even though they would not wake up until morning.

But Mile couldn’t tell anyone about it, so Bart did this just in case.

It would be more secure if we kept the bandits where everyone could see…

A long night began like this.

---

---

This is the last chapter of 6 Mile chapters cliffhanger combo.

Next chapter will just simple interrogation.

Next 13 days will translate 13 Arge chapters cliff-hanger combo.

I will also use the remaining time of each day to translate Mile. But I guess the speed will be drop to 2-5 days per chapter.