Chapter 81 – Journey to the Royal Capital 2 Part 3

Editor: Thor’s Stone

Iris called in the drones D-2 and D-3 to act as additional airborne escorts for us, and they hovered just above our position along with D-1.

Was I being a bit overprotective though? For the Clan members who wanted to confirm the fruits of their training, this move might make the result of this battle a bit unsatisfactory. But being the target of some dissatisfaction was better than incurring losses among our ranks.

The bandits should have noticed us already. Their loose formation started lining up on both sides of the road. And of course, the battlefield map was updated accordingly.

“One hundred and fifty meters more! Begin the attack once our initial magic volley hits. Don’t break formation until I give the pursuit signal!”

“”Roger!””

Once we came 80 meters from the bandit’s position, we began locking on to the impact coordinates we marked earlier.

(Begin targeting.)

Selena and Sharon targeted the red impact coordinates indicated on the battlefield map, and they turned yellow one after another. Since we coordinated using the same map, there was no risk of our targets overlapping.

((Targeting complete.))

Via the overhead footage, I confirmed that the bandit archers began to nock their bows and prepared to fire.

(Ten seconds to impact. Begin firing!)

I, Sharon, and Selena conjured Fire Grenades one meter above us and launched them diagonally upward.

“Oooh!”

“This is–”

“Five, four, three, two, one–”

After loud explosions, panicked screams echoed out from the bandit’s ranks. The bandit archer unit we initially targeted was almost completely incapacitated by our spells.

The rest of the bandits who weren’t affected by the magic bombardment began scattering and heading for the open road.

“Lead row, fire!”

Under Dalshim’s command, the magic unit began to fire their spells at the bandits. They launched various spells such as Fire Ball and Air Bullet. After launching their spells, those who stood out front would retreat to the back row to make way for their comrades and keep the barrage going.

War cries rang out from the bandit’s ranks one after another in response. It looks like we haven’t managed to break their morale just yet.

“Second row, third row, fire!”

Our archer unit began firing arrows at the bandits harassed by our magic unit’s spells as well. Cleria and Elna were still holding off as they watched the operation unfold.

The middle of the road was now filled with screaming bandits. The number of bandits jumping out onto the road began to lessen.

“Fourth row, fifth row, fire!”

The bandits were blown away by magic spells one after another and rolled on the ground due to the pain caused by their burns and other injuries.

It should be about time.

“Begin pursuit! Attack!”

“”Ou!””

Our tight formation broke up as we began going after the scattered bandits. The cavalry unit behind us kept their formation as they circled around to the woods to pincer the enemies.

A Light Arrow spell pierced the right shoulder of a bandit who had his arms raised and was attempting to cast magic himself. Cleria and Elna also began picking off the rest of the bandits who were still coming out onto the road.

Angry roars and sounds of swords clashing echoed out all over the place, but the difference in abilities was clear.

After exchanging two or three blows, our troops would put their opponents down by striking them with the back of their swords and knocking them out. It looks like everyone was still trying to capture them alive as much as possible after all.

After looking at the hopeless situation all around them, some of the bandits began dropping their weapons and surrendering. Some were kicked out onto the road and incapacitated by being hit with wooden swords. Our troops were showing some pretty great coordination.

And before long, it looks like it was finally game over.

“Let’s go secure the bandit’s horses, shall we?”

I called out to Cleria and the others who were scanning the situation on horseback.

The horses of the bandits were hidden behind a clump of bushes 500 meters away from the battle site. There were two men guarding them. It looks like they heard the sounds of battle but haven’t made their escape yet.

I called out to some of our cavalry troops who were passing by.

“The five of you, come with us. We’re gonna secure the bandit’s horses.”

“Roger that.”

The ten of us approached the forest where the bandit’s horses were hidden, but the two bandits who were keeping watch on them must have noticed us since they hurriedly attempted to mount some of the horses in a panic to escape. However, before they were able to make a run for it, Cleria and Selena shot Fire Arrows at them and pierced their right shoulders. They promptly fell off the horses while writhing in pain.

“Leave the bandits to us, Alan-sama.”

“Alright. We’ll be bringing the horses away then.”

The horses looked pretty good. They were probably some of the more valuable spoils from today’s battle. I and the girls returned with three horses in tow each, including our own, and found that the battle was already pretty much over, with the captured bandits gathered in the middle of the road.

It looks like there were many of them who had serious injuries as well, and they were strewn randomly all over the place.

“What’s our status, Dalshim?”

“No deaths but many were injured.”

“All injured troops, gather around me!”

About twenty or so of our troops came running. It looks like none of them have serious injuries.

“Any one of you have head injuries? ……How about broken bones? ……Cut open stomachs?”

Great. Thankfully, there really were none who suffered serious injuries. I had them relay their injuries to me before treating them one by one. Most of them only suffered bruises, minor puncture wounds, and cuts. I managed to finish the treatment session in about three minutes.

Now then, let’s handle the bandits next. Man, they sure are looking worse for wear. No one seems to have bitten the dust, but more than thirty of them have passed out completely while more than twenty were writhing in pain. The rest of them were sitting on the ground in a daze.

(Iris, how many of them did we manage to capture?)

『There are 147 people in total. Unfortunately, it seems five managed to escape.』

(I want to know the conditions of those seriously injured. Can you handle that for me?)

『I will at least be able to detect who among them have internal bleeding by having the three drones perform a three-dimensional scan, but……』

(Yosh. That’s fine. We really need to get a medical scanner soon. Let’s work on that once we have the time. It would be best if it were portable.)

『Roger that.』

Man. To think that I missed such an obvious thing.

Anyway, this was a good opportunity for Sharon and Selena to practice healing magic.

I had Iris begin diagnosing the conditions of them unconscious people first. Surprisingly, most of the unconscious ones simply just fainted.

It took about an hour for me, Sharon, and Selena to treat all of the injured bandits. We just healed them, but we still ended using up ten Gray Hound magic stones.

Of course, we limited ourselves to just administering first aid, but it looks like we managed to prevent anyone from losing their lives regardless.

Some of the bandits looked grateful for the treatment, but most of them showed a defiant and irritating attitude.

After the treatment, we conducted a simple interrogation and patted them down to retrieve some small change.

The total amount of money we were able to get from them was about 40,000 Guineas. And as for the bandits, they were composed of several bandit groups and local thugs active in the areas near the capital like we suspected. Most of the thugs didn’t even have any idea about who their target was. Well, it didn’t make a difference to us whether they were bandits or thugs anyway.

They said they arrived at this area earlier this morning and laid in ambush ever since. Those who planned this ambush seem to be well aware of who we are and our actions though. I have no idea whether or not the masterminds were among the ones we captured, but we didn’t have time to investigate thoroughly right now. I guess we’ll just have to leave it to the local garrison.

We found the bandit’s supplies nearby, but we decided not to bother with them since it was not worth the trouble to bring shabby food and stuff of little value with us anyway.

I went back to fetch the baron’s carriage and returned to the battle site with it following behind. After witnessing the scene, the baron hurriedly disembarked from his carriage.

“Alan-dono! Just what is this situation!?”

“It looks like quite a few bandit groups gathered together to attack us. Fortunately, we didn’t incur any losses on our end.”

“Eeh!? You fought with this many numbers and didn’t incur any losses……? Well, I guess that just goes to show the reputation of Shining Star is well deserved. Truly impressive.”

“Thank you for your praise.”

We also gathered the bandit’s weapons, and the ones with the potential to be sold off were all loaded to our wagons.

It took an additional hour for us to tie up all the bandits and thugs with ropes and secure the seriously injured ones inside our wagons.

It was a tedious affair, but everyone’s expressions were bright and brimming with glee. It looks like they were able to confirm the results of their daily training after all.

Soon, the preparations for our departure were complete.

“You did really well, everyone! It was a wonderful battle worthy of Shining Star. Now then, it’s quite late already. Let’s resume heading for the royal capital.”

“”Roger!””