Ch.70Innocent NPCs Getting Dragged In. (4)

Life is always a real battle. That was a maxim he had always held close, even before becoming the leader of the bandits.

“Roll the boulders!!!”

Someone’s voice echoed through the mountains, followed by a thunderous sound reverberating through the forest as if lightning had struck from a clear sky.

Large boulders tumbled down the steep hillside, completely blocking the path of the passing caravan. The horses pulling the carriages whinnied in terror, and the coachman, startled by the sudden situation, tried to calm the horses while gripped with fear.

“Drop all your weapons and hand over your cargo and women!! Then, we’ll spare your lives!!”

The voice from the hillside was confident in their overwhelming advantage, and indeed, the carriages, blocked from both front and back, would be completely crushed by the next wave of boulders if they couldn’t clear the path.

In this clearly disadvantageous situation that even a child could understand, the guards and coachmen all turned pale with shock.

“B-bandits?!”

“Damn it!! Did those scum set up here while we were dealing with the demon attacks?!”

“Protect the middle carriage!!”

Yet no one was foolish enough to follow the bandits’ demands. Though the situation was desperate, they had guards, and even in an unfavorable battle, reinforcements would eventually arrive despite the casualties.

Seeing their resolve, the bandits immediately prepared to roll down the next boulder…

“Attack!!!”

“Eliminate the bandits!!!”

“Don’t let them roll any more boulders!!!”

“Wh-what?!!”

“Argghhh!!”

“Where did they come from?!!”

“Boss!! We’re being ambushed!! From behind!!!”

“Wh-what’s happening?!!”

How could this be? Only those mysterious attackers, the traitors in the merchant group, and themselves should have known about this ambush. Why was this happening?

The bandit leader, bewildered by the situation, widened his eyes and began frantically swinging his axe.

Even if they were being ambushed, those terrifying men they had made a deal with yesterday would attack the caravan from another direction. All they needed to do was hold out here. That was the plan, but…

“Idiots. Life is always a real battle.”

As his own maxim pierced his ears from an external source, his vision suddenly distorted.

“Guhak?!!”

The leader, the strongest among the bandits, collapsed with teeth flying as a gray-haired man knocked him down with a single punch. Seeing this, the surrounding bandits dropped their weapons and began to flee.

The caravan guards gave chase.

The strike force that had been organized to attack the ambushers from behind pursued them relentlessly, determined not to let them escape.

Meanwhile, the guards below had already climbed the hill to secure the boulders, preventing them from rolling down.

The ambush had completely failed. That’s how the situation appeared.

“Now, let’s move on to round two.”

However, after confirming that a white tiger woman was mixed among the strike force, the gray-haired man immediately returned to the caravan.

After all, the operation described by the blue-haired Mazo princess wasn’t over yet.

*

“Miss, we’ve perfectly thwarted the bandits’ ambush.”

“You hired excellent guards. Pay that golden adventurer from the mountains double—no, triple the usual compensation later.”

“Oh my, our master will be pleased to hear that.”

Ragni was with the real leader of the caravan—the merchant guild master’s daughter—hidden in the central carriage of the procession.

Last evening, Jack had suddenly mentioned assassins sent by the Empire.

He said that bandits and assassins seemed to be conspiring to ambush them in the mountains.

I wondered when he had scouted the mountains so thoroughly, but he said he did it while I was briefly relieving myself. Was that even possible in just about 10 minutes?

Jack definitely seems to be hiding many things.

“Having a strong master who’s also competent must make you quite proud. And thanks to your brilliant strategy, they didn’t notice our reduced number of guards, making our success easier.”

“Hehe. It’s nothing, just a simple deception.”

Yes, it was a simple deception. The female staff who normally handled meals rather than guard duty were given tied-up hair and helmets, then seated next to the coachmen.

Just put them in pants and give them swords, and they easily pass for adventurer guards.

Before reaching the hillside perfect for an ambush, all the real guards were positioned visibly on the hill side, while the rest were hidden in the carriage tents with thick branches draped with helmets.

If the enemy had thoroughly checked both front and rear, such a foolish strategy wouldn’t have worked, but we had Jack the mountain keeper.

In the mountains, it would be impossible to outmaneuver his surveillance without bringing another mountain keeper.

Throughout our journey, Jack identified exactly where and how far the enemy was monitoring us and kept me informed.

‘Besides, even if the men preparing on the other side knew about this, they probably wouldn’t tell the bandits.’

They’d likely see it as an opportunity that Jack hadn’t noticed them and had left me here.

“Well then, Vice Manager, please have the boulders cleared quickly. We need to arrive before lunch today.”

“Yes, Miss.”

“I’ll be taking my leave now.”

“Oh? Why not ride with me a bit longer? I enjoy conversing with you. Besides, I must properly thank you all for so perfectly thwarting the enemy’s ambush. The Philia Merchant Guild’s reputation would suffer otherwise.”

“The additional compensation is more than enough. Thank you for your consideration.”

‘I’m saying this because I don’t want you getting caught up in what’s coming next.’

According to Jack, assassins in league with the bandits were positioned throughout the mountains, and now would be the perfect time for a diversion.

With the strike force pursuing the bandits, the number of guards for this carriage is low.

And even if there were more, I have no desire to cause unnecessary bloodshed.

So Ragni declined the merchant’s daughter’s invitation and immediately exited the carriage, making her way through the guards.

Her gait appeared so ordinary, as if she were simply returning to her original post in the caravan, that no one stopped or protected her.

Therefore…

-Swish swish swish.

Only one person saw the daggers flying toward her.

*

“I told you to stay in the carriage as long as possible. Why did you come out?”

“I calculated the time until you’d return, but the enemy is in a hurry.”

Nearly ten daggers had silently flown toward her. If I hadn’t quickly embraced Ragni and dodged, they would have all pierced her neck and face. Yet she speaks of it nonchalantly.

Seriously, sometimes she’s as frightening as a game boss with that attitude.

“I’ll track the enemy, so Ragni, you should return to the carriage…”

“Take me with you.”

“Huh?”

I was about to put Ragni down as the presence of her would-be assassins began to fade, but she gripped my shoulder and wouldn’t let go.

I could force her off with strength, but her red eyes were unusually serious.

“The reason you brought only me from the beginning. You wanted to draw the assassins’ attention away from Ira and everyone else, right?”

“…Yeah, that’s right.”

How did she figure it out? I don’t need to ask.

Even if I had ordered the demon market manager to block everything, that woman wouldn’t work hard for our sake.

She’d probably just strengthen the inspection of all imperial citizens entering Aigram, preventing anyone with even the slightest flaw from entering.

If that happened, the enemy would attempt to force their way through, possibly endangering Ira and Ray who are nearby.

Ray or Gorra might not feel threatened by assassins, but fighting while protecting non-combatants like Ira or Ragni would certainly be dangerous. So I decided to draw the enemy’s attention to us first.

I deliberately didn’t tell Ragni about this, but as expected, she saw through everything.

“Are you disappointed?”

“No, not at all. For a decision you made, it’s remarkably clean. If you had told me at home, I would have suggested the same approach of drawing them out first.”

Seeing Ragni speak as if she truly doesn’t mind being used as bait makes me feel somewhat sad.

“However, since this is my business and you asked for my help right before executing the plan without telling me, you should grant me one wish too. I need to see those people myself.”

In other words, protect me while tracking and capturing them. Most would consider this quite unreasonable.

“Hah. Who’s the master and who’s the slave here?”

“I’m your female, and you’re my master.”

Ragni’s grip on my shoulder tightened, her words sounding both joking and serious. I can tell she’s deliberately trying to appear normal.

“Get on my back. And don’t let go of my neck, keep your head down.”

“Okay.”

After I let her down and turn my back, Ragni immediately wraps her arms around my neck and presses her body against me.

The pleasant sensation and fragrance of her body against my back makes me wish we were in different circumstances.

“I’m going to run at full speed. Close your eyes.”

“Okay.”

Hearing Ragni’s slightly subdued voice, I immediately dashed into the mountains.

*

“What was that just now? Some kind of monster?”

“Damn it. How could anyone dodge all of those? What is he? I couldn’t even see him appear.”

“The bandits weren’t much help. We’ll have to try again. Call in all the infiltration teams in Aigram and target them again when they finish their mission and head back.”

Would that even be possible? The princess didn’t know about the assassination attempt, yet they were thwarted like this. Now that she’s aware, killing her will be even more difficult.

They had seen the bandits’ trap as an opportunity to strike at a vulnerable moment, but they never expected to fail like this.

As assassins raised by the Imperial Chancellor, they understood the princess’s unusual intelligence.

They knew why high-ranking officials like the Emperor and Chancellor had feared her since childhood.

They were the ones who occasionally put slightly less than lethal doses of poison in her food or created situations that seemed like half-hearted assassination attempts.

They understood that all of these were ordered by the Emperor as threats to instill fear in her and make her find her humanity, but in reality, she had overcome all those assassination threats with her intellect alone and remained unchanged.

Now they had been ordered to physically eliminate her, but that gray-haired man beside her clearly provided the military strength she had previously lacked. That’s why they wanted to avoid a direct confrontation with the princess.

However, now that they had been discovered, their duty was to kill her even if it cost all their lives.

Failure would never be forgiv—

“Thinking too much while fleeing from a mountain keeper in the mountains? Go!!!”

The man’s vision suddenly distorted as he was lost in thought.