by Funa
Yet Mavis’s special “Godspeed Blade” could kill a man in the blink of an eye. Used seriously, one slash would slice an opponent’s body through the middle, so she had only to strike the soldiers in the gut with the side of her blade. It was a lucky thing that she possessed a sword that wouldn’t break, even if used recklessly.
Mile dealt with her opponent quickly and then, with a little time on her hands, took care of one of Bart’s beside her. After that, thinking it would be rude to steal from anyone else’s plate, she moved to intercept incoming arrows. That is, until it occurred to her to aid the Flaming Wolves.
It wasn’t hard for each of the members of Dragonbreath to handle three soldiers, especially since all of them were unable to fight at full strength. Even the Flaming Wolves—including Chuck, who’d taken a blow—were fairly evenly matched against their pairs of soldiers.
By the time the archers and lancers entered the field with their swords, Bart and the two fighters from the Crimson Vow already had their hands free. They took turns, taking down one after another.
In the end only five men remained to surrender, and the commander and his captains were not among that group. They hadn’t run away. They were probably either groaning on the ground somewhere or, if their luck was particularly bad, among the corpses.
“Fargus! Loose one of the horses and take a message. Go to the guildhall in Amroth and then the local lord. Tell them to send escorted wagons and soldiers straight away! Got it? To the guild first, don’t forget!”
Bart made sure to emphasize the final order.
If the local lord knew about their enemies, there was a chance he’d try to hide it from the capital for some political reason. It was best to have insurance.
“After that, pen a letter with a summary of today’s events and send it to the capital. Write six more of the same, addressing three each to the guild and the palace, and send them all by different routes. And tell no one. Understood?”
Fargus nodded, heading straight for the horses. He was trustworthy and quick—the ideal candidate for the job.
Though the animals were really workhorses, they were trained to carry a person for a short time. They had no saddles but, even so, on horseback Fargus would be able to reach town faster than on foot. There was starlight overhead, and as long as he proceeded along the main highway, he shouldn’t have any trouble making it to Amroth by the morning.
“That was surprisingly prudent. You really don’t seem like the sort of person to take a job like this,” quipped Mile.
“I’m an oxymoron,” Bart replied tartly. “Now, let’s go collect the prisoners and the corpses.”
“…All right.”
Thankfully, while some of their party had been injured, none of the hunters had died.
Soon enough all the injuries—including Chuck’s right arm and a few other more minor wounds—were healed with the help of Pauline and Mile’s magic.
The Flaming Wolves were stunned to see how Chuck’s arm healed without so much as a bruise. Dragonbreath, however, having been present at the graduation exam to see the situation with the broken limb, were not as surprised. Either way, while seeing such wonders might normally cause their eyes to pop from their sockets in shock, by now they were too exhausted to be surprised.
The Crimson Vow had held back against the enemy, and the only soldier who perished from a direct magical attack was the one pierced by Jeanie’s ice javelin. Beyond that, there were a number of soldiers who’d sustained serious burns. The worst of them had been the victims of Pauline’s scalding attacks, so now, having their gear removed and wounds treated by the same girl was all the more heart-stopping.
Five more enemies had died from non-magical attacks. Between Dragonbreath and the Flaming Wolves, the latter were less capable of restraint, meaning there was more blood on their hands. Truly, it couldn’t be helped. The ones who remained alive were the lucky ones. There was nothing more to it.
Mile and Pauline gave emergency first aid to those who’d lost blood from cuts or stab wounds, as well as those who might have sustained internal damage. Those who’d only suffered broken bones and other simple wounds were left as they were.
Their aim was only to keep the soldiers from dying, not to do anything that would raise the danger of a counterattack. Understanding that, the prisoners didn’t complain or even make moves to remove the gravel from their shoes.
Even those who were injured were in no position to complain, as they might die without Mile and Pauline’s attentions or, at the very least, suffer long-term effects. Really, they ought to be thanking their healers.
In fact, there were a number of soldiers who did thank them. They had attacked the merchants not out of hatred but out of sworn duty, and knew that they were the ones in the wrong. Really, the fact that they’d only lost six men was something of a miracle.
Their enemies had held back, and the soldiers were well aware of that.
The guards collected the dead bodies, and prisoners were rounded up and restrained. Now, it was time for questioning. Once they dragged them to the authorities and turned them over, they’d lose their opportunity. It was best to collect as much information as they could right away. There were no guarantees that justice would be served without irregularities—like all the men somehow escaping from the hands of the local lord or mysteriously killing themselves before they could go to trial.
Mile quietly lowered her protective barrier, allowing the merchants to emerge and move the unconscious bandits. Though they weren’t supposed to awaken until morning, there was always a chance, and the hunters would all rest easier with their foes in sight.
And so the long night began.
Chapter 18:
Interrogation
The captured soldiers were bound and the mages gagged and blindfolded, then knocked out with Mile’s magic. While this greatly reduced the pool of candidates for interrogation, safety was of the foremost importance.
At the outset, the enemy soldiers continued pretending to be bandits, but that meant they wouldn’t be judged as prisoners of war. Their fates would then be torture and hanging, or else forced labor in the hellish prison of the mines. There would be no chance of negotiating a return to their home country, and if their identities were discovered, their families and friends would hear only that they were criminals, engaged in banditry in another land.
It wasn’t hard to guess who was behind the operation. There was coinage of the Albarn Empire in their purses, and their armor was stamped by a famous manufacturer from that country.
On Earth, no one planning this sort of infiltration would ever carry such things, but this was a primitive world. Either way, such evidence was circumstantial, and even on Earth a criminal could claim that such items had been planted to set them up.
Still, Bart concluded it was unlikely any other country had schemed to place blame upon the Empire.
“Now then,” Bart began. “Who should I negotiate with?”
After a long pause, one man volunteered.
“…Me.”
It was the platoon commander. He’d sustained serious wounds, but survived thanks to Mile’s magic. She had used her powers to stabilize him, and while his ribs and right arm were still broken and blood still leaked from a laceration that would take a while to heal, he had recovered enough to talk.
“All right. First, would you really like for us to treat you like bandits? You’ll be handled as the most treacherous criminals, forced to live out the rest of your days as a slave in the mines, with none of the glory or honor of a soldier.”
“H-how cruel!”
“Hmm? What’s that you say? ‘Yes sir, we are bandits’?”
“Gnh…”
The commander was lost for words, his face pained. Pauline tossed him a lifeline.
“I have an idea! If they won’t cooperate, we should tell their home country that the ‘bandits’ participating in the illegal trade blockage confessed everything and received fifty gold each as a reward from ou
r government! That way, everyone will know how brave you were. I’m sure your families will be proud.”
“Wh-wha…?”
The commander was speechless.
If that sort of rumor got around, their own government would treat them as traitors. Who knew how their families, friends, and acquaintances would see them after that?
“But if you really do tell us everything, we’ll say, ‘They never told us anything, even under torture. They may have been our enemies, but they were honorable people.’ And then, we’ll send some personal items to be handed to your families. After that, perhaps you can become informants for our country about matters concerning the Albarn Empire, enlist in our military, or become hunters and go off to another land… you could even arrange to secretly reunite with your families elsewhere. The possibilities are endless!”
“What… are you…?”
Bart nodded. “That’s a good idea. Then we can say they were soldiers from the Empire. I mean, you and I know they’re just bandits and don’t have any families to face the harsh consequences. But this would give our country a good reason to pick a fight with the Albarnians. Yes, it really would be great if we say they squealed in exchange for their own safety and a hefty reward… man, it sure is a good thing you aren’t actually soldiers of the Empire with families who live there!”
“Wh-wha…?”
Pauline and Bart talked casually, Pauline speaking as though the men might actually be soldiers of the Empire while Bart feigned ignorance, arguing they were dealing with plain old bandits. While their proposals didn’t mesh, it was clear what they were actually saying. The commander was pale as a sheet, and the other captives murmured amongst themselves.
“Anyway, we don’t really need this many prisoners, right? We can just keep those who want to cooperate and dispose of the rest. Then when we get the information, we can pin it on all of them and say they spilled the beans before fleeing to another country…” At Pauline’s words, the silence returned among the enemies and her allies.
“Y-yes, that’s true. Perhaps if we just reduce the numbers a bit…” Naturally, there was a bit of hesitation to Bart’s words.
“W-wait, this isn’t how you treat prisoners of w—”
“Prisoners? But I thought you were bandits! Besides, it wasn’t as though you actually surrendered. Even your last five men didn’t call for truce, but just begged for mercy. Well, at the very least, we won’t kill those five. Unlike you, we honor our promises.”
“……”
The enemy commander was silent when a voice rose from the soldiers.
“No! I refuse! I didn’t become a soldier just so that I could be killed as a bandit! This assignment is in opposition of our national policies! All of you know this! I don’t mind putting my life on the line to fight for my home and country. That’s why I became a soldier. But I haven’t toiled all this time just to break treaties, murder foreign civilians, and be executed as a bandit! If we go through with this, our wives and children will be ostracized as the families of traitors—perhaps even killed! Is this what our own country has sentenced us to?!”
“…………”
Surprisingly, the commander did not chastise the man. Instead, he and the rest of the soldiers all hung their heads, silent. Then…
“I refuse, too.”
“Me too.”
“The Empire betrayed us. We no longer have any duty to act on its behalf.”
The merchant party was stunned at how smoothly this was proceeding.
Please, don’t let Pauline ever turn against us… Mile thought, looking to one side and then the other. Judging from their faces, Reina and Mavis were thinking the same thing.
After several of the soldiers voiced their feelings, there was no reason for the rest of them to keep up the front. The truth was going to come out one way or another, and those who did not cooperate would take the brunt of the dishonor, risking hanging or a life in the mines.
“I’ll talk!”
“Me too!”
“Me as well!”
One after another the soldiers turned, until even the commander joined in.
In the end, everyone except the unconscious mages agreed to confess, and it was decided that only the six who’d perished would be reported as traitors. It might be hard for their families to hear, but they were in fact, “soldiers who would not turn on their country, who followed the Empire’s orders until the very end.”
The questioning continued until very late at night. The soldiers told of their current mission, the political and economic situation in Albarn, and even guessed at the reasons they’d been asked to take such a reckless action. Finally, they named merchants the Empire had sponsored to bring them food and other such items.
They would need to repeat all this when they got to the capital, but it was possible they might be silenced along the way, and it was worth getting a full confession immediately.
According to the commander, there were no more traitors in Amroth, but they didn’t know if he was telling the truth. Even if he was, there was always the possibility the commander hadn’t been informed of other units.
After some time, the mages returned to consciousness. Their earplugs were removed, and the commander told them everything that had been discussed up until that point. After that, they nodded in agreement.
Since the hunters couldn’t exactly take away the mages’ weapons, they would have to remain blindfolded and gagged for a time. Nothing could be done to prevent them from casting silently, but at least the power of any such spell would be drastically decreased, and with their eyes covered, it was unlikely they’d be able to choose an appropriate magic.
The prisoners were monitored to make sure that they didn’t attempt to cut their own ropes, and if any of them made a sudden move they’d be cut down in an instant. Their gags were only removed to allow them to drink water, and even then only for a few seconds under careful supervision.
After the interrogation, it was time for dinner.
The prisoners received none. Human beings could live without food for up to several days. And how could merchants, only a day away from their destination, be expected to offer food to a group of prisoners twice their number? Especially when they were at least a day behind schedule.
It did cross the minds of some in the party that there was probably more than enough food within Mile’s storage space. However, freeing the soldiers’ hands would give them the chance to launch a counterattack. On top of that, once the soldiers were handed over, they’d probably be questioned countless times, and the hunters weren’t keen to share too much about Mile’s abilities.
And so the merchants and their associates were the only ones to eat. The soldiers had had only a light lunch and no dinner, and all their stomachs were rumbling.
Mile pretended to carry supplies from the wagon, while in reality she pulled meats, fruits, and vegetables from her loot box to prepare for the meal. Reina lit the fire, Mavis did the slicing, and Pauline prepared hot drinks.
As always, the four of them were extremely handy.
***
Very late that night the hunters were napping, arranged to protect the six wagons still parked against the cliff.
The merchants slept in the second wagon, while the prisoners and bandits were bound hand and foot under the watchful eye of their guards. They weren’t given even a single blanket, mostly because there were none available. Sufficiently fatigued, human beings can sleep under any conditions. Just going a night or two without sleep wouldn’t kill them, either.
They had captured every member of both groups—the targeted bandits and the “bonus” bandits—so the chances of being attacked during the night seemed low. But, with all that had occurred, the hunters weren’t stupid enough to sleep without leaving someone on watch. Anyone foolish enough to do so would most certainly die, and the gene pool would be the better for it. All the same, capturing the bandits had given them a sense of relief and the mood was light.
To improve their night vision and protect themselves from being spotted, the watchmen could not light a bonfire. Unfortunately this made fatigue more likely—particularly for watchmen who’d just been in a life-threatening battle.
The highway was to one side of the wagons and, beyond that, a rocky plain.
Anyone coming off of the highway would be easy to spot. However, there was still the possibility of enemies hiding in the shadows, approaching without their notice.
And now, exactly six such figures crept close.
Among the group was an individual who appeared to be their leader. At his signal, they stopped and readied their bows. So as not to stand out against the night, each arrow was painted pitch black. Was this a dye? Or were they coated with some sort of poison?
The leader raised his hand. The moment it dropped, half a dozen arrows flew at the watchmen in front of the carts.
Cling! Cling! Cling cling cling!
“Wha?!”
Thoroughly stunned, the leader raised his voice. This was a big mistake. But it was understandable. All the arrows they’d fired at the watchmen had bounced back in mid-air.
That was not the only surprising thing.
Flaaaaash!
“Waaaaaaaaaah!!!!”
An unthinkably bright flash of light outlined their forms, nearly blinding them. It disappeared again in an instant, but afterward the men could see only darkness. Their night vision was gone.
It was a sign of their good training that, after the unexpected scream, they tried wordlessly to regain their stances. But it was clear there was no point in lowering their voices at this point. Their existence had already been made known, and they wouldn’t be sure-footed again until their eyes re-adjusted to the darkness. Under the absolute dark of a clouded sky—without city lights or even stars—eyes exposed to such a bright light would take several minutes to recover.