CHAPTER 68: MISHAP
Saturday, July 18 [4:30 p.m.].
Leslie was traveling as Aurora’s companion, taking charge of being the one who was next to her boss while she was driving.
She could see out the back window that the others were napping and resting in the back.
Since Leslie had slept through much of the night, she volunteered to fill in for Alice while she let the others rest.
They had now entered the old borders of Uganda and were heading for Kitgum.
They had a few minor mishaps, still, nothing major.
Now, this truck was in third place, and taking the lead was the adventurer’s truck, who took care of the beasts that appeared from time to time.
The engineer vehicles sometimes had to fix the road and remove fallen trees.
Even though it was late afternoon and the magical forest was more enchanting, the extravagant greenery of the forest was still too impressive.
The only thing of civilization that could be seen were the dirt roads amidst a sea of trees.
“Boss, the report has arrived,” Andrés notified in a serious tone.
Liam had earlier communicated that Andrés would take over the command center since he would rest, and Leslie couldn’t help but smile at the word boss.
She could tell he was mimicking Liam.
“Okay, send it to Leslie’s holographic watch. She’ll read it for me,” Aurora replied, driving, and when Leslie’s holographic watch glowed, she asked. “Can you?”
Leslie could see how Aurora’s eyes were on the road, she looked slightly tired.
Which was quite striking when Aurora’s appearance was that of a delicate young woman with a shock of black hair and eyes of the same color.
Her slightly tired appearance enhanced her appearance of a ‘weak’ young girl.
She didn’t appear to be a fighter... Even Nicole, with her shy appearance, had a more professional fighter’s appearance.
“Yes I can, but how about you get some rest?” Leslie asked and, seeing Aurora’s lips quiver, she quickly added. “I can also drive.”
Leslie said it with thoughtfulness and concern, but inside she was nervous that she would take her advice the wrong way.
It wasn’t that she thought badly of Aurora, on the contrary, she had been giving an overly strict appearance and if it wasn’t because it was too embarrassing, she would have called her ‘boss’ like Andrés.
She appeared to be a boss who wasn’t someone simple to bother or advise.
“I’m fine. Then I’ll take a break and come back in the evening. As for you driving, you can do that when you get some rest,” Aurora replied and with an amused smile, commented. “As for you. You don’t need to be so serious or tense. Since the trip out isn’t the complicated one, the trip back is.”
Leslie nodded.
She didn’t think her expression was that obvious, and it did not embarrass her to be caught, as she considered it normal to be tense when it was her first mission.
She was not a carefree person... No one in her group was, and each of them took the responsibility of their job.
Still, Leslie could understand what Aurora was referring to.
Despite the casual enemies that were popping up, the trip was going at the necessary speed and there weren’t that many problems, a situation that would change when they had over a thousand refugees in charge of the entire team.
Leslie shook her head and opened her holographic watch to read the report.
Aurora closed the window so those in the back wouldn’t wake up to the noise.
“The Lord of Mombasa seems to have received support from King Ronald of Madagascar, while for his part the ‘Somali Terror’ seems to have received weapons support from some Middle Eastern demons,” Leslie reported, as her expression changed in different ways.
Ronald Einhorn, a renowned SS rank who settled in Madagascar and became King of Madagascar, uniting the people of that land.
When one looked for information about him, one would only find the typical news from the networks and some magazines, most of it being ‘nice’ news.
Although he was known as a ‘tyrant’, the press accepted him and some countries recognized him, very different from the South American Emperor whose image as a tyrant was widespread.
A decent ruler who cares for his people... Those were the general words to describe him.
“The King of Madagascar does not care about the continent. Throughout his reign, he had no intention of conquering Africa, he just became king and runs a kingdom. But like any kingdom, he shows his influence by supporting rulers in wars he accepts. The ‘Lord of Mombasa’ somehow or other takes care of his people differently from the ‘Somali Terror’,” Aurora explained and seeing Leslie look at her, gave a smile and explained. “It is vital to know the influential people in Africa when you are in this job. Get to know their personalities and know who is an ally or an enemy.”
Leslie nodded strangely.
Even though she was working as a mercenary, she thought, knowing the personalities of those warlords were too much excessive... She thought it was outside of Aurora’s ‘work’ area.
“You can go on,” Aurora ordered, without explaining further.
“It seems that troops of General Kavuri, who are under the command of the ‘Somali Terror’, have arrived in Nakuru, starting conflicts with the army of the Lord of Mombasa. The militiamen under General Kavuri seem to be... Too... Extreme,” Leslie said, chopping off her words because of what she was reading.
She frowned, and after a moment, continued.
“Rape... Looting... Murder... Kidnapping.” Leslie read, each time changing expression more and more.
The world was at peace... That was a general belief in much of the land.
In the Middle East, the demons were divided and some were raising countries taking peaceful stances while others were killing each other, still, humanity was at ‘peace’... Leslie couldn’t believe that things like this were happening in this place.
If she hadn’t come here and gone to any other guild, it was likely that she would be cleaning dungeons or fighting monsters, believing in this ‘peace’.
“You don’t need to read any further,” Aurora interjected with a sigh, looked ahead, and commented. “You don’t need to worry about such things. Our mission is to escort refugees, not intervene in a war. There are times for every situation and you have to know it perfectly.”
Leslie could feel how Aurora’s words carried a hidden meaning behind that great heaviness in her tone.
“We’ll make a ten-minute stop. Change drivers and companions, don’t forget to rest for the night.” Aurora ordered over the comm channel.
******
[9:48 p.m.].
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Leslie drove, keeping her calm, even so, she felt a bit intimidated by the lush forest, whose darkness did not allow her to see more than a few meters.
It gave the impression that they were entering the jaws of a beast, waiting to devour them.
No matter how much the vehicles illuminated their surroundings, it was difficult to clear the darkness of the forest.
The only pleasant thing was the moon in the sky that provided a faint illumination in this ocean of darkness.
“Mmm... We are about to reach Mbale. If we travel at night, then we will reach Nakuru around 7 am. If there are no mishaps or other plans.” Akira muttered, using a map that her holographic watch projected.
Leslie, hearing those words, felt slightly anxious and glad.
The trip was quite tiring; she had to admit.
The truck was somewhat comfortable, and the road wasn’t too bad because of the engineer vehicles, however, traveling for hours on end was too physically and mentally exhausting.
Leslie admitted to herself that this job felt real... Real and exhausting.
As someone who had lived in luxury for most of her life, this assignment was making a tremendous difference to her previous reality.
It didn’t matter that she had previously taken part in dungeon crawls with the elite members of her father’s company, this mission was different... It was real.
Leslie was sure that some of her fellow academy members might wait for a creature to appear in a large city, much unlike her, who was traveling through the middle of the magical forest.
However, she had no regrets.
“Aurora and Alice are still asleep. I’m glad,” Akira muttered after looking out the window towards the back.
Leslie nodded in agreement.
She had rested and had taken the wheel when she woke up again, now she was driving.
It was nice since she was the only one who had driven this type of vehicle in their group.
Though Aurora let her someone more senior as a passenger, allowing her to get the job done more comfortably.
“Would you like some?” Akira asked, pulling out a bottle and set a sip on it so Leslie could take it easy.
“S...”
“Surprise attack!”
Leslie was about to respond when Liam’s voice suddenly rang out and from the woods, a black sphere approached at high speed.
Before Leslie could hit the brakes hard, the black sphere that looked like a spell hit the engineer’s vehicle, whose barriers were activated to reduce the impact.
A tremor in the armored vehicle was all it caused, even so, it was an armored vehicle that weighed tons and that fact let the danger show.
“Shit...” Akira cursed and seeing black arrows coming from the darkness where the sphere came from, she raised a thin layer of ice to cover the engineer vehicle that stopped.
Leslie regained her calm and stepped on the brakes, carefully considering not to collide with the engineer vehicle, but at the same time not to be so abrupt and hurt the passengers.
The vehicles had a distance between them and were set up so that braking would not be so complicated, which made it possible for everything to go smoothly.
“Report!” requested Aurora over the communication system.
“Rank A magical energy presence and dozens of other Rank C or B presences, approaching from the surrounding area. We seem to have entered a domain of a ‘Smilodon fatalis’!” Liam reported immediately as drones deployed from the sides of the engineer vehicle and other trucks.
Casting flares or light spells around them so that part of the forest came into view.
Leslie remembered what she knew of the magical beast known as ‘Smilodon Fatalis’.
Taking its name from an extinct species of feline because of its large canines reminiscent of that ancient species, this highly intelligent magical beast was an enemy at first sight.
It could use darkness magic and liked to dominate other magical beasts of lower intelligence by creating its own territories into which it would let no one enter.
Despite having intelligence comparable to humans, it was considered a magical beast that should be eliminated at the first sight, as that beast did not mind murdering humans.
“You know what to do. Go out and take care of your surroundings. Don’t go alone, the ‘Smilodon fatalis’ are agile and fast with high stealth capabilities and specialized in murder!” Aurora reported over the communication system.
Akira was the first out of the car rising on top of the engineer vehicle, prepared for defense and attack.
“They’re coming from the northeast! One hundred meters to assault!” Liam reported, displaying reports on the holographic clock.
Leslie immediately left the truck and when she got off, she used the ability of her combat armor to equip it smoothly.
She then drew her revolver and approached the back where Clémentine and the others, together with Aurora, Alice, and Vanessa, had alighted.
The adventurers descended, following the adventurer Vazquez as each prepared their weapons for attack.
High Priestess Xaali muttered a spell and then placing her hand on the ground deployed a massive barrier that covered all the vehicles.
While her paladins and combat knights deployed around the barrier, making sure it did not attack them from behind.
Beastly howls approached from the northeast where the darkness magic spell had come from, but Leslie could feel her armor warn her of a magical disturbance at her back.
When she turned around, she noticed dozens of magic arrows colliding with the magic barrier.
“Tch... Aeko and Leslie fire at that creature. Captain Sadiya, offer your support. High Priestess Xaali with her group defends the trucks, while Vazquez’s adventurer group and our group will take care of the major force,” Aurora quickly ordered as she suited up in her battle suit.
The teams started moving immediately; the adventurers split into groups to cover the northeast area, along with Akira and Clémentine’s group.
Aeko climbed onto the roof of the truck while Leslie followed.
The magical beasts that arrived from the northeast were the first to attack.
They were Lycaon, a large pack with over fifty members being the B-Rank and mostly C-Rank chiefs.
Leslie could notice how Clémentine and Nicole entered the fray as Érica, who was inside the barrier along with other mages from the adventuring group, supported her.
“Liam, can you give us a clue?” Aeko asked as Captain Sadiya’s soldiers scattered inside the barrier serving as eyes.
Only a few shooters climbed into the vehicles to use the height for support.
“Give me a second,” Liam said as some small drones began scanning their surroundings, preparing to prevent the attack.
“West!”
A quick report suddenly came in and all the shooters looked to the west.
Leslie had already pulled out her sniper rifle and fitted it with a ‘magic’ sight module that allowed her to pick up the magical energy of her prey.
With a quick movement, she aimed to the west and perceived how dozens of arrows came from, but she also distinguished the source that launched it and...
*BANG*
She fired without hesitation.
The piercing bullet pierced through the trees, traveling at an unprecedented speed, and hit the ground as the magical beast fled, disappearing with its darkness magic.
“Shit. That’s too fast,” Leslie muttered, feeling rather bitter about her shot.
Her reaction time was fast, only in this case, the beast’s reaction time was even faster.
“I’ll give them some support,” Cardinal Brousseau said, and after gathering her magical energy, a light covered the shooters.
Leslie could appreciate how her body reacted in a different yet unique way.
Her thoughts were quicker, her movements more agile and her senses more acute, generating the feeling that this time she could hit.
To believe that healing magic had only spells that healed and improved the body was nothing more than a joke.
With the right knowledge, they could produce physical reactions in the body that allowed to accelerate the regeneration of cells or generate both beneficial and adverse effect.
An S-Rank healing mage did not need spells to generate those effects, all she needed was magical energy.
Just like other mages of other ranks who controlled the ‘elements’.
“I’ll give a moment to attack. Everyone be ready!” Aeko said with a serious tone as she readied her bow and a barbed arrow that had a greenish color.
“Northeast seems to try to help their group!” Liam communicated.
Everyone moved at the same time, except Aeko, who was quicker this time.
With a twist, she drew her bowstring taut and, in a millisecond, fired her arrow without hesitation.
Leslie could see through her rifle scope how the magical beast tried to avoid that arrow, missing as the arrow moved through the air, hitting the creature’s leg and producing a set of vines that stopped it.
With even greater speed than before, Leslie aimed with her sniper rifle as she looked at the dark-furred feline trying to escape and, without any doubt, reinforced her weapon.
Not only did she use her ability to reinforce her rifle, but she drew on the magic energy nodes in her armor to give her shot more power and pulled the trigger.
*BANG*
Her shot overlapped with the shot of another equally fast sniper, and both bullets traveled in unison.
The force and velocity of Leslie’s bullet were greater, perhaps because of the quality of her weapon, but the other shooter was more experienced.
“GRAAH!”
Leslie’s shot pierced a leg of the black-furred feline, shredding some of its flesh in the process and causing it to lose its entire leg.
And while the pain and danger of death caused the feline to be able to break from the vines, it could not take any steps when the second shot hit it.
The bullet deflected its course in midair and pierced the beast’s magical barrier, striking its neck with precision.
Subsequent shots from the army soldiers put an end to the already fatally wounded magical beast.
The next moment, after seeing the beast dead, Leslie felt as before again, slightly slower and a bit more tired.
“Good job!” Aurora exclaimed as she approached with her group.
They had already finished off the Lycaon quickly.
They had Akira an S-Rank with a group of A-Rank and several B-Rank of the adventurer group.
Shao Ya cast a cleansing spell and then a spell that helped to catch her breath.
“Didn’t expect to encounter the domain of a ‘Smilodon fatalis’,” Santiago muttered, bringing the corpse of his enemy with him.
The ‘Smilodon fatalis’ was a rather big feline about two meters tall and three meters long, its body was slender and its skin black.
Its canines were quite large and had blackish lines.
If that feline had bitten them, even a fighter known for their powerful body would have a considerable wound, let alone the pain one might feel.
“Divide the spoils among those who caused the most damage,” Aurora said with a smile, and then, looking at the entire group, she stated. “I would like us to rest for a few hours before we leave. It would be best if we were all well-rested when we get to Nakuru.”
Liam had shared the information that Nakuru was already in a conflict zone with everyone.
Things could change at any time and having some rest time would be nice, as the chance of them being able to rest in Nakuru was too low.
All the details for the trip had to be prepared and done well.
Cardinal Brousseau, Captain Sadiya, and the adventurer Vazquez nodded in unison in agreement.
Tomorrow, they were likely to reach their destination.