deep in the woods along a highway In what was originally the habitat of monsters, there were now about 30 military horses hiding their manipulators.
　Horse‐riding cavalry generally do not prefer to go into the woods or forests.
　Given the horse's speed, it's only natural that the trees are very disturbing.
　But as if such common sense had nothing to do with them, the bloodstained blades of the mercenaries had created their own hideout in the forest.
　Naturally, as long as you live in a place like that, you have a good plan to deal with monsters.
　By the magic item's effect of keeping a monster of less than a certain strength away from a merchant who attacked it while working as a thief.
　This magic item probably enabled us to carry out the act of attacking merchants on the frontier.
　The frontier, however, is a frontier. There were times when monsters with magical powers attacked me, and sometimes weak monsters like goblins wandered in as if to ignore them.
　But the bloody blade is characterized by its emphasis on the mobility of the cavalry, and is also known as a skilled mercenary corps.
　As a result, most of the monsters that attacked were killed, and the meat of the high-ranking monsters was in the mercenaries' stomachs. The material was used to fund the activities of the mercenaries.
　Even a mercenary party is not unscathed. Several people have died, and many have been injured in their own way.
　More than that, however, robbing on the frontier could have earned money and goods.

"Because... d*mn it,"

　A man angrily eats up the dried meat in the largest tent around him.
　Leading a bloody blade, Everogi recalls a scene he saw earlier, pouring dry meat in his mouth.
　I was drawing back, as usual, to attack the merchant carriages. a gryphon that came down as if it had been timed
　The moment he saw it, Everogi was signaling his withdrawal.
　The judgment was purely out of fear, not out of calm calculations of war potential, and not out of sheer fear.
　In the spring war against the Vestian Empire, we were going from a little errand to the headquarters of the royalists who employed us.
　I saw a huge tornado of flames, albeit a long way from the battlefield.
　I didn't know what I was looking at at first.
　Magically created? I thought so, but I was terrified to find out that the tornado of fire, like a natural disaster, was created by humans... but in subsequent information gathering, the tornado of fire that Everogi saw was created by only one adventurer.
　...yes, I was terrified.
　I lead a bloody blade with a reputation for strength.
　After all, the war ended without a bloody blade, and all that remained was a small sum of money.
　who, knowing it to be a grudge, had come to this frontier to mislead his fears, and made money attacking merchants."

"Because he came back again,"

　the figure of a glyphon past one's mind
　It goes without thinking who it is.
　He's an adventurer who terrorized himself and became known as crimson after the war.
　and he bit off the dried meat again with vexation, and as if to suppress his own fear."

"I got a call from Serabia".

　Drink the dried meat out of your mouth into the voices of your men outside the tent.

"And what is the situation?"

　have a dry one's voice dry I'd rather drink water than drink. Don't take a glass or two, but a glass.
　Everogi's thoughtful questions are readily answered by his subordinates.

"By the color of the string, the game is still alive. There's no threat. Resume the attack. That's all."
"... whoo..."

　Everogi breathes a deep sigh of relief at what his men say.
　I had heard from other scouts that Gryphon had left the merchant force. But I couldn't feel at ease until it was firmly established that crimson was not there.
　think, however…

(There is a rumor that crimson is half a hobby of attacking thieves.) Is he going to miss us all? Well, since he has a hideout in this forest, it will be difficult to find this place through reconnaissance from above. Then don't you think you'll be waiting for us all the more?)

　Despite his fear of Ray, Everogi was nevertheless reading exactly what he was trying to Ray.
　They must still be swaying between greed and fear where they can't decide immediately whether to stop the attack.

(Now that crimson has come into existence, shouldn't you work too hard here? Then we'd better leave this matter without him as our last job and just disappear from the frontier. The rest is just in case...)

　Think about the future in your head, and slowly speak after a few minutes.

"Well, I'm going to attack the merchant force," The cab can't move, can't it?"
"From a distance, it seems that they are doing repairs."
"...OK. You guys are starting to miss the city, aren't you? I'm going to step down from here with this job."
"All right. "Well, it's time for the woman I caught at the time of the attack to reach her limit, and it's a great help."

　They snort at what their subordinates say, throwing all the remaining dried meat into their mouths and pouring it into their mouths.
　Leaving the tent with his favorite weapon, the long sword, Everogi sees the corpse of a goblin in the corner of his vision.
　I'm using magic items, but for some reason I've started to have strange attacks since yesterday.
　No, it was more correct to describe it as a slip-in than an attack.
　Being a veteran mercenary, there was nothing particularly confusing about the entry of several goblins.
　There were more people who were targeted by bows or killed for fun.

(Is this goblin probably some kind of sign? The magic item's effect is subtle, and I wonder if it's a good reason to get away from it anyway.)

　One of the qualities of leading a mercenary corps is to have a keen sense of intuition around here.
　In fact, the goblins who fled here were attacked by adventurers yesterday.
　And it had been decided that the hunt for the remnants of the runaway goblins would begin tomorrow.
　His keen sense of intuition, however, seemed to have had to cloud in the face of Ray, an irregular opponent.





"Head, the carriage is parked ahead,"

　Everogi nods softly when his men say he is about to leave the forest, and stops the cavalry on the spot, looking at three horse-drawn carts parked by the side of the highway at a distance.
　Eberogi opens his mouth, understanding that his subordinates look mystified when he stops working, although he would normally stick around like this.

"I'll guess first. Starting with you... well, even you. Head for the merchant party."

　They order about 10 cavalrymen, but the ones who are ordered expressing dissatisfaction with why they are the only ones who have to go first.

"Wait a minute, my head," Why are we the only ones...
"Don't you want me to obey you?"

　wield a long sword with a bang
　They probably judged it dangerous to talk back at the way it looked like that. Those who have been designated, though reluctant, will shut up.

"... Listen, it's a great achievement for you to attack first." When I divide the contents of that carriage, I'll give you my preference. Well, if you don't like it, I don't care. There are many others who want to do it."get one's share in preference As soon as he hears it, he who complains quickly changes his mind.

"All right, my head. Don't forget that promise?"
"Oh, I'll watch you here, so I'll do my best."
"Leave it to me, bastards!"

　As soon as he screamed out of the forest, the other bandits scream and follow him.

(Well, what happens? If my expectation is wrong, I just have to run away.)

　Eberogi watched the proceedings, accompanied by cavalry and infantry, glaring into the sun falling from above.





　Watching his surroundings with his eyes closed, Ray notices the footsteps of about ten horsemen approaching him, while hearing merchants constantly complaining that it might have been better to move on.

"Are you here? No, but... there are very few people."

　The first thief to attack this merchant force was about thirty cavalrymen.
　But now I'm heading towards him for about ten horsemen. There are few, no matter how you look at it.

"Did anyone run ahead of the game that hung before you? That's fine, but it would be troublesome if it was a piece thrown away to see my reaction."

　Ray's use of this merchant force as a trap is based entirely on the safety of the merchant force. In other words, if about ten cavalrymen come for any purpose, there is no option not to defend themselves.
　And Ray's defense means he needs to use his own power.
　All of them are merchants, and since they came to the frontier to do business, they may know a little about combat, but the robbers... and the cavalry... can't do anything about it.

"Well, they're thinking twice, too," At the very least sacrifice, to the utmost... No, not so much. It's ten out of thirty. Is it enough to reduce the strength of the bandits?"

　mutter convincingly to the door of the carriage door.
　By that time, merchants must have noticed the bandits approaching them. I heard Ray pounding at the door of a lurking carriage.

"Here we are! The thief! You're going to do something about it!"
"I know, there's nothing wrong with it said.

　He retorted, and went out of the carriage.
　The distance between the robbers and the carriage had shrunk to about 50 meters.

"Well, will you put up with this kind of achievement?"

　muttered Ray from the mistling.
　It's the kind of spear that Ray always uses to throw spears, like a missing ear.
　One of the merchants who saw the spear screams involuntarily.

"Oh, are you serious about fighting?"

　But Ray brandishes his spear without apparently paying any attention to the merchant's words...throws it!
　The spear, released from Ray's hand, travels as fast as it can through the air itself and hits the head of the leading man leading the bandits, crushing them.
　the brain pulp, blood, flesh, bones, and fluid spreading around
　A man diagonally behind the man who was leading the way suddenly wiped something with his hand that stuck to his face and found an eyeball there.

"Oh, wow, wow!

　He shrieks and waves his hand to brush away his eyeballs, but he can't do so, perhaps because he's in a hurry.
　The robbers around them also turn to the horse, which continues to run straight with the headless man on board, unable to understand what had happened.
　an instant
　The sound of cutting through the air is heard again, and the spear goes through the body of the thief together with the leather armour, and then through the leather armour into the chest of the thief behind it.
　Fortunately the spear's tip was about to break, the released spear broke when it pierced the body of the second person and fell from his body.
　It is not until the bandits hear the sound of spears falling to the ground that they make a move.
　The move, however, is nothing but embarrassing.
　They were confused because those who were supposed to lead them were killed first.
　If it were a little more decent, someone might have been in charge. But the consequences of what happened so unexpectedly were the bandits now.
　While trying to see what happened, a spear or two released by Ray smashes or penetrates the thieves.
　When one of the robbers sees it, he tries to open his mouth... the next moment his head is smashed by a flying spear.
　A headless corpse fell from the horse's back to the ground, and the impact left the horse nowhere.
　It seems that at this point, the robbers decided that if things went on as they were, they would be wiped out without meaning. He tries to escape in a hurry... but the next moment something flying from the sky blocks the bandit's survival from escaping.

"Gurling!"

　Under the pressure of Seto's Skills King, the horse can't move an inch.
　At the same time the robbers were stuck.
　Moreover, someone approaches from behind.
　I can't move, but I don't have to check. There was supposed to be a monster who smashed and killed the thieves with a spear throw.
　What's the matter with this? I should have just attacked the stuck business force.
　One of the robbers thought about it in a corner of his head and looked toward the forest where they had come out, as if they were seeking help, but there was no one there to be seen.