Chapter 107
Chapter 107
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 107
Chapter Title: Journey to Kepa
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We checked our equipment one last time before departure.
Karen's weapon was the short sword she'd used in her adventuring days. Stia had a thin, long estoc by contrast.
Aba's weapon was a standard sword that seemed like a blend of both of their weapons' traits.
Diana and I didn't need any special weapons since we were mages.
The Rowen family carriage that Aba had procured was overwhelmingly huge right from the start.
We were left speechless by the sheer size of the carriage, which was pulled by three sturdy warhorses.
"Since it's for an emergency mission, my father made it available specially.
These guys have seen action on the battlefield, so bandits jumping us won't be an issue. They don't flinch at blades."
Aba chattered away in an excited tone.
"Hmm, it's passable. This should be rideable."
Diana hopped on lightly ahead of us, slid into the innermost seat, propped her chin on her hand, and looked our way.
"What're you doing? Not coming?"
"...Does it look like she's the owner?"
"Hahaha..."
Aba let out an awkward laugh.
I followed Diana and sat beside her.
Karen took the spot next to me next, while Stia and Aba settled into the seats across from us.
"It's fine leaving the driving to just one coachman?"
"Yeah. He's a veteran. He'll get us to our destination safely."
Aba answered in a bright voice.
"Let's hash out a plan on the way."
"Good idea."
Stia jumped in to back my suggestion.
Sitting around doing nothing during the trip felt off,
And more than that, I wanted to talk things over ahead of time so there'd be no confusion once we got out of the carriage.
I didn't have any brilliant plans of my own.
But I knew who to turn to.
"Stia, what's the best way to handle this?"
"Like I said before, how about splitting it into three main stages?"
"Three stages?"
"Yeah. First, we investigate what's going on in the village."
No one could argue with that.
Everyone was probably thinking it was obvious.
"Then we gauge the enemy's scale.
By that, I mean figuring out where they are, how many there are total, their level of armament—everything we possibly can."
"And the final stage?"
"Once we've gauged their scale, we strike using whatever method seems most suitable on the spot."
Diana let out a scoff after hearing Stia through.
"We'd be at it till dawn like that. Find the enemy and hit 'em. That's all we need, right? We'll handle the fighting ourselves anyway.
No one's here who doesn't know how to fight, yeah?"
"If things were that urgent, maybe. But an investigation could easily take a few days."
"Ugh..."
Diana's face clouded over with irritation.
She didn't seem to like Stia's cautious approach.
I took hold of Diana's hand. She flinched and glanced my way.
"It's just a plan. We do the investigation right, and we do the fighting right. Easy, yeah?"
"...Well, sure."
Diana laced her fingers with mine affectionately for a bit, then suddenly pulled away like she'd just realized what she was doing.
"H-hey, how long you gonna keep holding it? Can't drop my guard around you."
"You were enjoying it too."
"..."
Diana feigned ignorance and stared out the window.
"Let's go with Stia's plan.
We investigate what happened in the village first, gauge the enemy's scale, then attack. Everyone cool with that?"
"Yeah!"
Karen answered in a bright voice.
"I'll give it my all!"
Aba brimmed with enthusiasm too.
Why had this guy—who hated even getting out of bed—volunteered for this mission?
No clue.
At least it wasn't like me, chasing after girls.
I was pretty sure I could pick up on that vibe better than anyone.
Aba was a good friend. Someone I could rely on.
"Decal."
"Yeah?"
Stia looked my way with a serious expression.
"If I tack on one hope to the plan, I'd like to stick around the village a few days even after it's wrapped up."
"Stick around the village? Why?"
Once it was done, what business would we have there?
"There's remnants of the red soulstone left. I want to make sure no extra damage crops up."
"Ah, check even the embers that look out?"
Stia blinked.
"Check even the embers that look out... That's a cool turn of phrase. Your vocabulary's seriously refined, Decal."
"..."
This was bad.
Stia was so earnest I nearly cracked up.
It was just some run-of-the-mill slogan.
Couldn't even remember where I'd picked it up. A public service announcement?
In a world without mass media, it might come off as original. And it was solid advice anyway.
The people here dealt with way less information than modern folks did on the daily.
Thanks to the goddess's proxy skill that bridged perception gaps through language, I'd almost forgotten I was from another world.
But stuff like this popped up now and then, and it felt kinda nice.
"Decal, what do you think...?"
"Sounds good."
Even hanging around leisurely afterward.
If anything, I was grateful Stia had come up with such a perfect excuse.
We couldn't exactly let our guard down for sex in the middle of a dangerous mission.
Back when Karen and I were in the black forest, sex hadn't been the direct cause, but it had landed us in hot water anyway.
With talk of red soulstones turning people into monsters if implanted in the body, hypnosis might not even work.
The best play was to neutralize the real threat first, then spend time together.
That way, we could head to the eight-colored shell castle with the girls, and the folks in Kepa wouldn't suffer any surprise fallout.
"With Stia's addition, let's make the plan four stages total."
"Thanks, Decal. I'm glad you're taking the lead."
"It'd have been a disaster if Diana had it, right?"
Stia flailed her hands in a panic.
"N-no, that's not what I—!"
"..."
Huh? By now she'd normally be aiming a kick at me.
But Diana wasn't reacting.
"Diana. No 'You two are ganging up to mess with me!? No party for you!'?"
"Pfft!"
Karen burst out laughing.
Aba and Stia clamped their mouths shut to hold it in, but it was no use.
My Diana impression had finally touched her reverse scale.
"W-what do you take me for?! You think I'm some woman who nitpicks everything anyone says!?"
"Figured you'd brush it off with 'That's a pointless waste of time!'"
Diana grabbed my sleeve.
"Quit the impression or I'll kill you!"
"Ahaha!"
Stia and Karen were laughing outright now.
"Guess you need some educating. Turning the lady of Vanguard into a punchline? This humiliation, this outrage...! You think I'll forget?"
She was talking big, but it didn't come off like she hated me anymore.
It just looked like cute pouting. And it was.
"Sorry. You were too cute to stop."
"You lot quit laughing too!"
Karen was wiping away tears from laughing so hard, while Stia was holding her breath till her face turned red.
Aba couldn't bring himself to guffaw in front of Diana and just sat there looking half-dead.
Once the laughter died down, Diana let out a sigh and spoke calmly.
"I just thought it made sense, that's all."
"What, that you can't handle being leader?"
"Not that!"
"Then, the check even the embers plan?"
"Yeah. Vice President Neris said it. The mission had multiple objectives.
Take out the bandit gang, confirm the red soulstone's source, confirm the soulstone's destruction."
Diana's words made it all snap back into focus.
Right, that was it.
Diana had been recalling the mission details while listening to us.
"Exterminating the bandits is a given. Melbritt got the report of major damage to the village and issued the order.
We can't leave a single one alive. Second up, the red soulstone source—uncover how the bandits got their hands on it, trace the roots as far as we can. Lower priority than the first."
Diana pressed on without missing a beat.
"But the third one's huge. Confirm the red soulstone's destruction.
That loops back to the first—it means at least one bandit was using a red soulstone.
Make sure the soulstone loses its power and gets destroyed. Handle it so no more red soulstone problems pop up."
"..."
"Got it? Which means I had zero reason to oppose Stia's final step."
"Diana, that's impressive."
I was honestly in awe.
"W-what?! Suddenly...! Reading the fine print carefully and grasping the issuer's intent is basic basics. And you call yourselves Melbritt hero candidates?"
Diana's face flushed red from the praise.
"Wolf-rank upper tier isn't just for show, huh..."
Aba chimed in.
Everyone seemed to feel the same.
That was why I could never hate Diana.
Conceited, rude noble lady.
Having lived a life where everyone knelt before her from the start, she had her selfish side, but she never shirked her duties as one of the privileged class.
In other words, she wasn't all talk.
She stayed true to her emotions like any girl her age and spoke her mind freely,
But once she matured and gained the insight to peer into others' lives, she'd no doubt grow into an amazing woman.
As long as she didn't run into some worthless pervert trash, get pumped full of creampies, and end up pregnant first, anyway.
Yeah.
The thought that I'd be the one dumping thick loads into this bright-future noble lady's womb made my erection refuse to quit.
"Cut the pointless chatter.
No use regretting now that you should've made me leader instead."
"That's not it."
"Ugh...! Every damn time!"
"But it's reassuring having you here."
"..."
Diana turned her gaze to the window, but her ears were red.
"Good if you get that."
I took Diana's hand.
Her white, pretty fingers twitched a little, then gripped mine tight like they'd found their place.
I felt even closer to Diana.
It was a beautiful sight, if you only looked at that.
Meanwhile, my other hand was busy kneading Karen's ass.
I subtly pinched at the side of her breast with my fingers so Stia and Aba across from us wouldn't notice.
"..."
It had to be annoying at this point, but whenever our eyes met, Karen gave me a pretty smile.
She even leaned her shoulder against mine like she could go all day.
Groping openly was great, but the thrill of maybe getting caught by people we knew was its own fun.
"We're almost there. I can see Kepa."
Stia said, her face tense.
I stopped the hand play and waited.
From here on, it was work. No half-assing it.
After getting out of the carriage, we silently took in the sight of Kepa first.
A village that had supposedly taken massive damage from the bandits...
Surprisingly, the village itself looked fine on the outside.
The people bustling on the streets appeared to be ordinary villagers.
But a closer look revealed the warning signs weren't entirely absent.
No guards at the entrance.
The wooden palisade meant for outer walls had damage marks in spots here and there.
"Let's head in."
I took the lead into the village.
The handful of villagers who spotted us came rushing over.
"Ahh! You've come!"
"Melbritt's hero candidates!"
"We've been waiting."
They must have been through rough times—tears welled up in their eyes the moment they saw us.
Strangely, there were hardly any young people around.
The men had probably died fighting, and the women... taken?
"What happened in the village?"
I asked, and an old woman stepped forward from the crowd.
"I'll explain."
The situation was pretty dire.
Just as Stia had predicted, the bandits hadn't tried to occupy the village outright,
But the village had already lost all function from their rampages.
There had been several raids with prior warnings up to that point, and each time the young men of the village had resisted and gotten killed.
The women had been carted off.
With no men left who could pick up arms and fight, the bandits had made their demands brazenly, apparently.
Hand over the village's young women, the booze, and the meat, and they'd let everyone live for the time being.
That night, the ones willing to accept the demands clashed with those who refused, leading to bloodshed in the village.
Some had even fled.
All that remained were people with no choice but to accept the bandits' demands.
The powerless elderly and children.
And the dwindling number of women...
It was unbelievable.
"So until we showed up, the village got no help at all?"
"Kingdom soldiers did come. But they couldn't hold out..."
The old woman trailed off, her voice choking up.
A few of the elders hiked up their clothes or rolled up their sleeves to bare their bodies.
"Those bastards whipped the rest of us just for calling the soldiers in for help..."
Sure enough, the elders' bodies were covered in brutal whip scars.
The untreated wounds were swollen to the point where it hurt just to look at them.
I pulled out the starlight shell.
"Let's start by treating the wounded."