Ambush on the Mountain Path
When morning came, I quickly packed our things. The laborers had split into two groups as well—some striking the tents and clearing the campsite, others preparing breakfast.
“Camping out really is rough.”
Even with a sleeping bag, sleeping on the bare ground was hard. And whenever I felt something crawling across my face in the middle of the night—ugh.
“Did you sleep well?”
“Ah, yes. Did you sleep well too, Young Master?”
“I did. Being on the early watch meant I got a solid stretch of sleep afterward.”
The middle watch and the one right before the last were the worst. The middle forced you to wake up after you’d finally drifted off, and the one just before dawn left you too restless to fall back asleep properly.
First watch was the easiest spot… Being a woman—and more importantly, a mage, a rare and valuable asset—I often got the comfortable shifts. First watch or last watch…
Neither the laborers nor the other adventurers ever complained. That was how special a mage was.
“Hopefully nothing happens today either.”
“Haha. That would make things easier, wouldn’t it?”
We ate the simple breakfast the laborers handed us, I set the alarm magic on the wagons, and the day’s escort duty began.
After several days of walking alongside the wagons, the monotony had become truly crushing.
At first the Young Master’s stories and the merchant’s interesting tales made the time fly, but once the conversation dried up and silence settled in, the hours dragged endlessly.
“The terrain’s getting dangerous.”
“Pardon?”
I had been walking in a daze when the Young Master said something that snapped me alert.
“Look carefully. There’s only one road, but the forest is thick on both sides, isn’t it?”
Ahead, the path climbed into the mountains. It wasn’t quite a gorge, but it was definitely a mountain trail.
“With woods on both flanks, people or monsters can hide easily.”
In other words, perfect for an ambush. That explained why the merchant had hired us as escorts even at a high price.
When the road had stretches this dangerous, good protection mattered… So that was why nothing had happened until now?
“I see. We’ll have to be careful.”
I had been moving without any real tension; now I needed to focus. Beside me, the merchant looked a little tense as well.
Regardless, the horses pulled the wagons up the mountain.
Ten minutes after we entered the mountain path, I felt something off.
“Doesn’t look like we’ll just pass through…”
“Yes. It seems that way.”
I hoped it would be monsters rather than people…
It wasn’t as if I had never killed anyone. Working as an adventurer, I had run into situations like that before. Even so, I could never get used to killing.
I debated whether to give a warning as we climbed. Then, just as we reached the mid-slope, the attack came.
“Here they are!”
The other laborers and adventurers had grasped the situation too; the alarm magic rang out.
“Heh heh. Bad luck for you lot.”
The ones blocking our path were people.
“Th-this is…”
The merchant’s face twisted with dismay. Well, as escorts, we would have to fight, wouldn’t we?
He darted into the cargo wagon and hid.
“P-please…!”
“What the—?”
The bandits looked baffled by the merchant’s behavior. Skipping any negotiation and diving straight into hiding had clearly surprised them too.
“I take it you have no intention of backing down?”
The Young Master stepped forward.
“You lot should be the ones thinking. Hand over thirty percent and we’ll let you through.”
Bandits began lining up around the man who looked like their leader. Roughly twenty of them…
I turned my head and checked the flanks and rear. Their numbers were larger than expected.
There seemed to be ambushers in the woods on both sides as well. Total force over forty? That felt like a bit much…
“Don’t worry about the front. I can handle it alone.”
The Young Master drew his sword and strode out with complete confidence. Behind us, the laborers pressed close to the wagons and waited.
“Then I’ll leave it to you.”
I gently closed my eyes and began casting Holy Magic in succession.
Blessing of Agility. Blessing of Strength. Blessing of Protection.
Holy Power poured from my body toward the Young Master, wrapping him in brilliant light. In that instant I saw the bandits stir uneasily.
“M-magic?!”
“Of course.”
He shot forward at high speed, and the bandits scrambled in confusion. From the start he seemed intent on going all out; mana already coated his blade. In the blink of an eye he cut one bandit down.
“You son of a—!”
The man who looked like the leader pulled something out and blew it.
Tweeeeeet!!
The whistle’s shrill cry echoed, and rustling sounds rose from the woods on both sides. I shouted at the top of my lungs.
“Watch out! Ambush!”
The adventurers and laborers were already bracing themselves as best they could.
“A-arrows!”
A cry came from behind.
I turned my head and saw arrows truly flying toward us. They were crude wooden shafts without proper heads, but still dangerous.
“Wind!”
I immediately cast wind magic and knocked the arrows aside. But I could only cover one direction.
“Aaagh!”
Someone screamed after being hit. The arrows seemed to be targeting the horses as well.
“Tch.”
I clicked my tongue. To widen my field of view I decided to get higher. Moving my body, I climbed onto a wagon roof, and the view opened up at once.
“Block them!”
I focused for a moment and prepared more magic. Arrows came flying again from both sides, but I wasn’t about to let them through.
I shaped wind magic with my left hand while casting more from the staff in my right.
Using two wind spells at once, I neutralized the incoming arrows.
“Now!”
I gripped the spear with both hands and offered a prayer.
It was a prayer for large-scale Holy Magic. Goddess, hear my prayer and protect these pitiful children.
“Shield of Protection!”
Powerful light burst outward from where I stood and enveloped the area around the wagons. It shone brilliantly, gathering around people and horses alike.
“Wh-what is this?”
“It’s defensive magic! Fight without worry!”
The moment I finished speaking, the people who had been cowering began to move. Laborers with weapons clashed with approaching bandits, while the adventurers took up their own roles. And my sister, who had been guarding the rear of the wagons…
She had already plunged into one of the forests and was thoroughly running wild.
Sis… will she be all right?
This wasn’t the time to worry about that.
I turned my body and looked toward the front. There the Young Master was cutting down bandits with terrifying force. Eight of them already lay on the ground bleeding, and the remaining ones tried to do something but couldn’t even graze his clothes against the overwhelming difference in skill.
“Attack magic…”
I thrust the gray spear in my right hand forward, aiming at a bandit who was drawing a crossbow.
Lightning magic was too far for the range.
Fire magic was dangerous with the surrounding forest.
Water magic was fine, but could it stop a crossbow bolt?
I wanted to use earth magic, but my feet weren’t touching the ground, so I couldn’t. Damn it… If my skill were higher I could create a rock in midair, but with my current ability it was impossible.
That left only one option.
“Wind Blade!”
The magic stone set in the spear glowed, and a green wave shot out at high speed. It left a gash on the arm of the bandit about to fire the crossbow. He dropped the weapon from the wound, and the Young Master closed in at once and took his head clean off.
Literally separated the head from the neck and sent it flying.
“Thank you!”
Even in the middle of combat he looked my way and offered thanks—that was surprising. Did he have that much room to spare?
Trusting the Young Master, I scanned the surroundings. The left forest had already been finished off by my sister; no more bandit attacks came from there. On the right, the ambushers who had been hiding were out and locked in fierce fighting. I would support from there.
The distance was short. I couldn’t risk harming allies, so something with modest power but enough restraining force…
“Water!”
A mass of water formed at the spear tip. I swung the spear, and the water arced through the air and slammed into a bandit’s body.
The impact of the water mass made him stagger. That should be enough support.
I checked for anyone else in danger.
“Over there!”
This time there were no allies nearby, so I used a powerful wind spell. The flying mass of wind exploded the moment it struck a bandit, releasing the compressed air.
The aftermath of the great gust made the surrounding bandits stagger or get blown away.
I didn’t know how much time had passed, but the heat of battle was gradually cooling. Without letting go of the tension, I stayed as vigilant as possible and continued aiding our side.
Knocking down flying arrows, helping with magic…
My sister, who had cleared the left forest first, was already supporting the opposite side. The Young Master, who had faced the largest number of bandits at the front, was nearly finished cleaning up.
“Incredible…”
So this was a Knight Class fight… There was a sharpness completely different from sparring. Once the remaining bandits were roughly dealt with, everyone sat down around the wagons to rest. The battle had been fairly long; they must all have been exhausted.
I would have liked to use a soothing breeze, but maybe I should hold off for now?
I hopped down from the wagon roof.
“Is everyone all right?”
The merchant leading the caravan had already come outside and was surveying the situation.
“It’s more or less cleaned up.”
Looking at the man who had single-handedly slaughtered twenty bandits, I couldn’t help feeling impressed.
“H-heh heh… As expected of a Knight Class.”
He gave an awkward laugh.
“Thank you for your hard work.”
The merchant approached the Young Master and kept bowing his head.
“That’s what an escort is for.”
I glossed over the scene and headed toward my sister.
“Sis, are you okay?”
“What about you, Yuli?”
“I’m fine, of course.”
“Yeah. I’m okay too.”
She beamed. But with blood splattered across her face and clothes, and more thickly coating her sword, she looked less pretty than… terrifying.
“Sheesh, look at this.”
I pulled a handkerchief from my pocket and wiped away the spatters.
“Try to be more careful.”
She accepted my touch without a word. After roughly cleaning the blood from her face, I checked the surroundings again.
Looking for the wounded, I found four people injured.
Two hit by arrows, two who had taken hits during the fighting. Three were laborers; one was an adventurer.
The adventurer’s wound was shallow enough that it didn’t seem to need special treatment, but the laborers’ injuries were another matter.
Especially serious were the two struck by arrows.
The others were trying to treat them somehow, but there was no immediate method.
“Ugh…”
Hearing their pained groans softened my heart.
“Will we have to leave them behind…?”
The merchant said, looking at them. Taking care of the wounded was certainly difficult. But the cold way he was ready to cut loose the laborers who had traveled with us didn’t sit well with me.
The laborers couldn’t even answer and averted their eyes with dark expressions. This was the reality of commoners at the very bottom.
The Young Master placed a hand on my shoulder.
“Surely you don’t intend to step in?”
“They’re pitiful, aren’t they?”
Those two probably had families too. Children waiting for them to come home someday. This was for the families waiting for them.
“Please move aside.”
“M-Mage…”
Looking at the wounds, they hadn’t even been able to pull the arrows out. Removing them would make the bleeding worse, so it couldn’t be helped.
To heal with Holy Magic, the arrows had to come out first.
I didn’t have medical knowledge either, so I moved carefully.
“This will hurt.”
I gently drew the arrows out, taking care not to break them.
Each time an arrow left the body, blood gushed out in thick pulses. The metallic stench made me feel queasy, but I held it down.
And once the arrows were free…
“Heal!”
I immediately applied the Holy Magic heal to the wound sites. Holy Power poured from my hands and began to be absorbed into the injuries; gradually the bleeding stopped.
“Ohh!”
The surrounding laborers crowded around me, letting out gasps of admiration. It was my first time using healing in actual combat, so I was nervous. Simply casting a recovery spell wasn’t the end.
Healing regenerated the wound, but it couldn’t restore lost blood, remove fragments left inside the body, or deal with poison or bacteria.
They would have to endure those on their own. Of course there were Holy Magics for those things too… but I couldn’t use them right now.
After about a minute of healing, the wounds were completely closed.
“Next person!”
This one’s was in the shoulder… Thankfully it hadn’t hit anything like a lung. Once again I carefully pulled the arrow and used heal, and the wound sealed quickly.
I offered to look at the person who had been cut by a blade as well, but he just laughed and said ointment would be enough. He seemed to have prioritized saving his fellow laborers.
“Aren’t you low on mana? I’m fine.”
Faced with his firm refusal, I had no choice but to step back.
Certainly… an ordinary mage would have run short of mana handling both combat and healing.
But I simply had Holy Power to spare…… Honestly, after finishing both the fighting and the healing, my Holy Power hadn’t even dropped by a third.