Deep within the forest, the Dragon creeped along, heavily wounded.
"To think it was that strong. I made it use up a good portion of energy, so it shouldn't be able to chase after them for awhile, but...it was truly an intense battle".
He hadn't been able to defeat it himself, but he had made sure to survive it and cause it enough damage to be delayed. To buy the kids some time at least.
That would prevent her from getting them. The one he detested more then any other.
And with that, he limped through the forest, taking a smaller form to avoid detection as he searched for a place to lay low and recover.
----------------------------------------
Monsters became more active at night. They knew this well enough from those who kept watch. Although they now lacked the shelter of the bus, once they had actually left it, and understood the danger, they decided to keep going forward towards the village. However, even if they had gotten closer, they still had a good deal of distance to cover.
The four who focused the most on defense were Ayumi, Yuika, Riku, and Junta. The rest were all more focused and transporting their supplies and keeping up the pace. Those four were the ones who happened to excel the most in combat, perhaps because they were all sports or martial arts based. Ayumi had martial arts, Yuika had kendo, Riku had soccer and other sports, and a bit of karate it turned out, and Junta had archery.
They were doing a sort of forced rushed march towards the village, as the sun was setting. There was no longer any trace of snow on the ground, and the weather had mostly returned to normal. It was still very windy, but as they were in the mountains, that might just be normal. Either way, they had to move as fast as they could, as monsters began to appear more frequently.
"Crap...two Orcs!"
Junta called out the high priority targets. There were two orcs charging at them. Neither of them was the larger varient they had faced, so Junta put two arrows into their eyes while they were charging, causing them to stop. They still attacked with a great deal of force, but Ayumi kept one occupied while Riku, Junta, and Yuika ganged up on the other one. The orcs still gave out a good deal of damage, and knocked Yuika into a tree. But she had stabbed through its heart in exchange.
As a result, the four of them ganged up on the remaining orc. Against all of them, a single Orc put up a fight, giving them scrapes and bruises. But it was defeated all the same.
It was still rather intense and stressful, but the others who were not as physically gifted as those four, couldn't afford to use up energy they might need for the forced march. And the moment the orcs were dead, and Riku creamated them, they immediately resumed without giving the combat team a break.
That was how determined...no, how desperate, they were to make progress before nightfall.
It was only right as the sun went away that the village came into sight. Monsters were coming out of the woodwork, so they gave up on endurance and broke into a sprint. As they did, those who guarded the perimeter of the village seemed to notice them, and came to help them out. This included the hunter that Kobayashi, Riku, and Mitsuki encountered before.
"You were able to all make it I see...we just got reports that knights sent to investigate reports of Orcs amassing in the woods never returned, and that there might be Orcs amassing in the woods, so honestly I was worried".
"Yeah...we just barely managed to escape them I think" Kobayashi said while panting.
"Oh, you actually encountered them? Congrats on surviving. Young boys like you are a prime target for Orcs after all".
"Why is it boys, anyways?"
Riku didn't specialize at using his head, and it seemed he forgot about the details they heard from Knight-san.
"Ah, well...because the strain and stress may eventually kill males the orcs capture for their females, but they tend to last longer then females. Since, a normal female will die giving birth to an Orc after all, its just not something the human body can handle, growing and giving birth to a monster".
It was actually slightly different details then Knight-san had said, so Kobayashi, although freaked out by what was said, found it interesting.
He also made a mental note to never, ever, at any moment, be captured by orcs. Because that was honestly terrifying.
"Still, you lot sure are all dressed the same, but you look rather young to be a military force".
It seemed their matching tracksuits looked like a military uniform, perhaps because of their quality or just because they all wore it and it was unfamiliar.
"Ah, well...the same group made them all. We dont actually know how they did it either".
It was true. No one possessed such knowledge in their group. In the first place, despite various indications from other isekai story, barely anyone remembered such technical details of farming or early technology. No one could construct a water pump, or knew the techniques of farming or cross breeding. Mitsuki apparently did remember something called crop rotation, but the name gave most of it away and it wasn't anything groundbreaking.
Also, Mitsuki confirmed while at the village they already knew about crop rotation, so it was entirely useless knowledge.
While on the topic, Kobayashi looked towards her.
"Actually, we also found those Knights...their remains that is, and took their tags to return. One of them was just barely alive, and he told us to cremate their remains so that way they wouldn't be torn apart into monster chow but instead have a proper send off. Anyways, is there anyone here we should give these too?"
"Not here...but perhaps you should head towards the city just to the north. That was where they came from, and they probably want news as soon as possible. I heard more knights should be mobilized soon and be on the way to subjugate the orcs before they get here, although to be safe, we are sending off the youngsters, especially the boys, to the city with some savings to keep them safe, in case the orcs get here first and we get overrun".
"You all are not fleeing?"
"Unlike the youngsters, who have a bunch of potential and will probably find plenty of apprenticeships in the city, or can become adventurers, the rest of us are probably too old to. If we went with them, they would end up having to support us and themselves, and we would lose our homes for sure. We are better off standing our ground here, and trying to give them a place to return to. We might just have enough supplies for ourself as well to last awhile. Besides, our destruction is not guaranteed".
This was certainly true.
"That said, if you lot were able to encounter orcs and survive, ya gotta be pretty strong. I was wondering if perhaps, we could hire you to escort the carriages and get them safety to the city?"
Kobayashi smiled and nodded at the request. It was something he expected, after all.
It was subtle, but it was pretty clear she was also trying to push them to go to the city as well. The fact she mentioned such details about what might happen if they encountered orcs again, mentioning about how they should bring them to the knights in the city as soon as possible, mentioning they had no real supplies they could spare, and now the escort request.
She had been carefully and subtly giving them reason after reason to leave the village as soon as possible, and go to the city. She was quite the good person.
And also, none of them really felt like they should stick around with Orcs right on their backs. Unlike the heroes of those fantasy novels, they were not so altruistic. They wanted to help sure, but they were prioritizing their own group rather then others.
That said, Kobayashi did want to help them out a little bit, so he decided to accept the escort request. After all, it would be better for them to have additional numbers as well, and carriages would make the trip to the city faster.
None of them had cheat like hero abilities anyways. Frankly, the woman in front of them felt stronger then all of them.
"...by any chance, are you just really strong?"
"Ahaha. May be retired, but I was once a B-Rank Adventurer. I nearly reached A-Rank too, but I got a bit old and decided to settle down, retire, and start a family after meeting my husband".
So yeah, she is way stronger then all of us. She is also way more experienced in fighting then us...I feel like she might justt beat us all up and force us into the carriage if she felt it was necessary.
Kobayashi wholeheartedly decided on the plan. And as such, they decided to stay in the village for the night. Next morning would be when they would set out, and after their rushed march, they decided to rest for the night. That said, the inn currently didn't have enough room for them to all have a separate room. Only four rooms were available, so...
Kobayashi, Mittsuki, and Riku took one room.
Yuika, Reika, and Ayumi would take anothr room.
Emiyo, Junta, and Endo took the third room.
And then Shiki and Tamayo took the last room.
Tamayo had been more interested in sleeping with the boys, but Shiki stopped her. Since Shiki was the only boy she probably wouldn't harass pointlessly with her Tamayoness, and because they were childhood friends, they ended up sharing a bed together.
Well, those two had done that a lot anyways, so Reika indicated it was normal. They had more or less been inseparable since they were toddlers.
In any case, it was the first time everyone had slept in a proper bed since coming here, which caused everyone to relax quite a bit and get some proper rest for a change. Their exaustion and stress, which had built up to this point, was finally reduced a little bit.
----------------------------------------
Moooom, I dont want to get up. Five more minutes....
Kobayashi felt someone trying to stir him, but he was enjoying his sleep and he put his hand out to stop them.
"Ten more minutes mom..."
"Koba, wake up!"
Suddenly, Riku pulled him out of the bed and into the floor.
"...what the...why is everyone shouting?"
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Riku shoved Kobayashi's underwear and tracksuit into his face.
"Just hurry up and get dressed! There is an emergency, we are under attack! I think the orcs are attacking the village!"
Hearing that, Kobayashi bolted awake while Riku made Mitsuki get up as well. Incidentally, all of their clothes were clean and nicely folded. They had been too tired to take a bath, but the nice manager of the inn let them leave their clothes outside and washed and dried them for them already. Perhaps he even used some sort of soap or conditioner, because it smelled like strawberries.
Once they were dressed, they ran out of the inn and met up with the others, who had also woken up.
"This is bad! Its a bandit raid!"
It appeared that it was not orcs, but bandits, that were attacking them.
As they remembered their previous bandit encounter, some wondered if the bus driver was behind this, trying to get them again. Everyone tensed up and went into combat mode, as three bandits came out from behind the inn. It seemed some had breached the perimeter already. Junta drew a few arrows and fired, while Yuika and Ayumi took the front lines. Riku kicked off the ground, grasping onto the second story of the inn and pulling himself up and up onto the roof. Out of his bag, he took out a smaller version of the soccerball. He tapped the area one would use to inflate it, and it suddenly grew to the size of a proper soccerball.
There are even more bandits here. Uhg...they are trying to kill adults, but wait...that one is trying to drag children away? This is a mass kidnapping!
"They are after the kids!" Riku called out, as he kicked the soccerball. It flew forward with amazing speed and power, and impacted the first bandit with such force that he went flying and could no longer harm the kid. Furthermore, the ball bounced off of him and rebounded into the other bandit trying to take the boy away, leaving the boy free and able to escape while the soccerball rebounded once again and returned to Riku.
Yuika and Ayumi meanwhile had defeated the bandits in front of them as well.
"These guys have numbers, but they are not that strong".
"I think the strong ones probably gathered by the front and are fighting the strong villagers".
"So these guys came in to sneak in from behind and kidnap children?"
"Guys, we accepted the escort quest, so lets start it a bit early. Besides, these bandits will come after us too right?"
Everyone nodded at what Kobayashi said. They didn't have the capacity or the stubborn headed generosity to be heroes, but that wouldn't mean they would ignore the attacks coming right at them or an active attack against innocents, not when they had power.
Had this been when they first arrived, they likely would have run away. Even with the mental strengthening effect they unknowningly recieved from the bus, which was actually a golem created by someone with dark intensions. But they had been forced to fight to survive several times now. Its not like they were not afraid. They were afraid, nervous, some hesitated to kill another person in their minds.
But this was survival. And human beings were a species with survival instincts. And after their experiences so far, in addition to the mental strengthening effect, they were starting to show this capacity.
They were afraid, but this world wasn't so nice as to give them a break just because of that. They had learned that much already.
Ayumi and Yuika were their vanguards. Tamayo and Shiki would provide mid-range support. Kobayashi decided to go all out, wrapping lightning around his feet while producing a lightning sword. Riku and Junta would take to the rooftops, and use the bow and soccerball as spotters and snipers. Emiyo would use his Earth Magic to try and separate and trap bandits. Endo declared he would help rescue the children, and Reika decided to go with him.
"I will go treat the wounded. Tell any wounded warrior you fight to meet me either by this inn, or by the front lines if I didn't get back yet".
"You sure Mitsu?"
"...I think perhaps aside from Emiyo, killing people is the most difficult for me. So I want to focus on healing".
"Alright. But stay safe. Junta, keep watch over him okay?"
"Yeah, I will snipe anyone who gets close to him that is an enemy".
"Thanks. Remember, no unnecessary risks. Lets all survive together".
And just like that, their group split up and headed off. Reika and Endo would stay near Emiyo, Yuika and Ayumi led the main group into battle as the vanguards, Riku and Junta would be overwatch, and Mitsuki would be providing support and healing.
Their formation was established and they went on the offense. The bandit group was large, at least forty people, while the village's defense force had only about twenty. That said, the hunter that led them was incredibly skilled, and just outright strong.
But even without cheat like abilities, they possessed some magic and physical enhancements. Because of that, they were about D-Rank adventurers in terms of strength at least. Ayumi and Yuika were more like C-Ranks as they possessed good battle skills, and Riku and Junta wavered the line.
"The bandits dont seem prepared for us..."
"So then that guy probably isn't behind this".
"If I had to guess, perhaps they are trying to take advantage of tthe incoming Orcs, and loot the place and let the Orcs take the blame?"
Kobayashi said that as the idea floated in his head for a moment. It was something he stated at random, but everyone felt like he had hit the nail on the head.
The bandits that came from behind had all scattered about and were attacking or trying to kidnap villagers when they saw them. Some tried to go around to flank the other side as well, but because they were not all ganged up, the group of them kept running into groups smaller then themselves.
As a result, they were dispatched rather easily. Compared to Orcs, where a single Orc once gave half their group a one sided thrashing before being defeated, and where they had to run from a group that was led by a more evolved Orc, the bandits were far easier to defeat. Orcs were apparently a D or C Rank threat at least from what they heard from the villagers. Some of them could even reach B-Rank threats.
At this, this made the group feel far weaker then they had realized. They had gained magic and improved physical abilities. Even their weakest members could jump up from the ground to a low tree branch easily with a single jump. Hearing that their group had such trouble with a D-Rank monster, even when outnumbering it, sort of came as a shock to them. However, noticing that, it was explained they likely didn't have enough experience fighting yet...and that the city up north had an Adventurer's Guild that held classes that helped to teach fighting.
They had no intention of staying in this world, and every intention of returning. However...
If it was easy, then there would probably be far more tales of it...well, perhaps all those isekai stories we read were actually true stories, but since thats probably unlikely...we only talked about it once or twice, but we may not be able to get home.
The topic tended to make Kobayashi feel sick with worry, but the combat caused the idea to get pushed out as they encountered another Bandit group. Ayumi and Yuika were the frontline vanguard, and would engage immediattely. Kobayashi, with his lightning sword and shoes, would remain back in case something tried to get past the lines and was not sniped by Junta or Riku. Shiki would use his camera to attack from range, and Tamayo would support while keeping her mythryl dagger ready.
While not engaged with his lightning sword, Kobayashi would use Storm Magic to launch attacks as well. It seemed to be his strongest attribute.
Against these five, the bandits continued to fall. If they gathered into a large force and all engaged them together, that would be one thing. However, they had spread out, which negated their strength in numbers for these battles. With this, the back of the village was secured, and they were unable to attack the village from all sides.
And with Mitsuki providing what healing techniques he had, using his medical supplies and knowledge as best he could, he was able to treat some people and get them back into the fight even, something the bandits lacked in ability.
Emiyo, Reika, and Endo were all dealing with their own groups, helping not only to isolate villagers from bandits and trapping them, but they also managed to make sure to repair some of the village's outer defenses, limiting the bandit's ways of attacking.
Even if they were lacking in experience, and not some amazing cheat like abilities, even if they struggled and had to overcome countless obstacles, there was one advantage they did have. There was eleven of them. The bandits had not made their plan expecting the village defense force to suddenly increase by about 50% more. And they had enough ability to have improved combat ability.
All of these factors combined was why they were winning. Soon, all the bandits they could find were defeated. Most ended up dying from Yuika's blade, while the others just got satisfied when they could no longer move. Ayumi had killed a few herself.
And Tamayo had occasionally killed anyone who tried to target Shiki.
Tamayo, Yuika, Ayumi...they seem to have made some sort of secret resolve. Probably with Endo too, and likely Junta as well. We all trust each other, but...they seem to want to take the burden of killing on themselves.
Although Kobayashi didn't want to hold back, even with mental strengthening and the fact they had killed before, he couldn't deny there was some reservation. Even though they could kill humanoid monsters when tthey attacked them, they also couldn't bring themselves to cook or eat their meat because they were humanoid.
Even now, I still need protection huh?
Kobayashi self depreciated himself, as he launched another attack. Not holding back, the bandits recieved terrible injuries...but then Yuika would always cut them down, especially those that looked like they could die from fatal wounds.
Kobayashi understood right then and there, even with mental strengthening, he had more room to grow and evolve. And that at some point, he would need to make a decision once he reached that crossroads.
Everyone seems to think of me as the leader...I need to start acting like it.
Although he could not snap his fingers and resolve all his issues, there was one thing he decided on.
"Yuika, leave some restrained" Kobayashi said, his voice seeming unusually authoritative. Hearing that, Yuika looked at him. "We need to question them about their motives. Even if what I said before is right, can we really be sure that is all their is? They should know the Knights Order is on the way...there is a chance there is more to it".
And I dont want you to kill more then you have to. And for those who you do...
"...as for the rest, especially the dangerous ones, feel free to kill them if you think its necessary for the safety of ourselves, or the village".
At those words, Yuika shot him a very serious glare.
"...Koba-chan".
"I have said what I said. Now lets get to work".
Now its my orders you are following, Yuika. Maybe I might not be killing them myself, but...you no longer only share that burden.
That was Kobayashi's kindness that he had tried to provide to her. However little it actually was.
----------------------------------------
By the time the bandit raid was resolved, a few people on the defense force had perished. Kobayashi's group had ended up saving a lot of lives, although they soon discovered the bandit attack on the front had contained far more people then they realized. In terms of overall numbers, their group had not done as much as they thought they did in the overall scale of things.
From those that they captured, the hunter Maura had taken them to some place isolated. Kobayashi had been curious, but after she gave them a wink and a minor warning that she "was doing something only adults should do" in there, they backed away. Normally, one might think she had other intentions, going in there with a man with such a statement, but that man was a bandit and tied up, and the way she smiled felt terrifying to Kobayashi.
Later on, he was brought for healing, as she noted that "he appeared to have more wounds then we previously realized", despite Mitsuki knowing fully well those injuries were not there originally. She noted that she couldn't continue "questioning" him until he was healed, which seemed to throw the bandit into a panic.
Kobayashi was quick to realize that in this case, "adult business" was not a sexual encounter, but some sort of torture. But the bandits had been praying on children, trying to capture them, and frankly he didn't have the strength or confidence to try and stop Maura.
In the end, apparently they actually were different bandit groups that banded together. Apparently, an associate of a merchant contacted them with a job, and offered quite a reward, with a bonus for every child they could capture and bring to them.
Hearing that, the face of that slave merchant came to mind. Riku and Mitsuki reflexively took up defensive positions around Kobayashi upon remembering the man also.
Maura did say she heard he often illegally enslaves people. Now that I think about it, why would he come to a village like this. It was said he did that to take shelter from the bad weather, but perhaps his real goal was to plan a raid for more "goods".
Kobayashi decided to ask Maura about him, and slavery in general, and in the process learned more about where they were.
This was the Kingdom of Chantry, and it was one of the larger kingdoms on the continent. Apparently, slavery was legal here, but also regulated. One could not just go around enslaving people at random, and even forcing them into slavery was apparently quite difficult. There were two types of legal slaves, Debt Slaves who had guarneteed rights still and only were slaves until they paid off their debts, and would even earn some money alongside thatt so they wouldn't be financially troubled and peniless even after exiting debt, and then tthere were criminal slaves. Rapists, murderers, people like that became those. It was a life sentence and excluding some incredibly rare exceptions, no one was ever released.
However, despite this, there were also illegal slaves. These slaves were illegally enslaved, and often made to work by corrupt nobles and criminal organizations in mines, brothels, or other such locations. Often, they were disguised as criminal slaves, given all sorts of false charges as well. And there were rumors that the slave merchant they had run into was someone who sometimes did things like that.
He showed an unusually strong interest in me...I wonder if he had them wait until they saw us again. Or perhaps, it was just coincidence?
Coincidence seemed more likely, however it wasn't that much of a coincidence when one thought about it. He waited some time until after he left so he wouldn't be suspected, and he had to take some time to gather them as well. Meanwhile, it would take them some time to return to the village. The odds that they would get there around the same time as the bandit attack were quite high as a result.
But Kobayashi also understood something else.
Our trip to the city just became a whole lot more dangerous.
None of them had witnessed the merchant himself, so they had no real evidence it was him. And as he and his guards were not among the bandits here, that meant that the mastermind was still out there, able to plot and attack them again.
Their escort request suddenly got a whole lot more dangerous now as a result. They were in for quite a journey.