CH 30

It was the day of their departure for King’s Landing.

“What’s the matter, Tauro-kun? Aren’t you going to wear the suit you had made at the tailor’s?”

Leo, the branch chief who was seeing him off, said teasingly.

“Did you make a dress, Tauro-kun? Come on, you should have told me. I wanted to see it.”

Nei was curious.

It’s formal wear for noblemen, not something you can wear on the road.

The day before, Tauro had tried on the finished garment, but it was suffocating, gaudy, and made him feel like he was being dressed.

“Well, boys, I’ll be counting on you to guard the merchant corps and protect Tauro-kun.”

Leo, the branch manager, reminded the C-rank team “Five Arrows”, the D-rank team “Red Flash”, and the solo C-rank adventurer.

The trade association hired five guards from the Five Arrows, four from the Red Flash, and Tauro’s personal guard, a solo female adventurer named Meena.

The trading party consisted of three horse-drawn carriages.

Most of the cargo contained Reversi, but there is also mithril ore from Saisi, a commodity that now accounts for most of Saisi’s earnings.

“The trip to King’s Landing is scheduled for one week, so let’s go.”

Paul took the lead and the trading party set off.

Nei waved and Tauro waved back as he got further and further away.

*

The first trip went well.

After all, following the road was a big part of it.

There were many people coming and going along the road, so it was safe. There were rest stops in between and soldiers were stationed there.

In Tauro’s opinion, it was a standard fantasy and he imagined that the merchant troops would be attacked during the journey, but he didn’t seem to have to worry about that.

Meena, Tauro’s escort, told him that once you get off the road, the security gets worse.

So there is a lot of danger for merchants who go from village to village on their own.

Meena seemed to have been doing escort work for such merchants so she was familiar with the area.

Although she was only 19 years old, she was a solo adventurer and also a rank C-. 

Meena was an adventurers’ standardly equipped woman with long red-hair in a pony tail, blue eyes, a tall one-handed sword, a shield and a bow and arrow. 

This is the first time he had talked to Meena for a long period, although he was familiar with her because she often visited Daz, the martial arts instructor.

“The man coming from the front is suspicious.”

Tauro muttered quietly to Meena.

He was staring at them, looking at each of them as they passed by and also at the carriage load.

“He’s been staring. Could be some kind of bandit with an appraisal.”

“Could be reconnaissance, I suppose. I’m sure it’s risky for them to attack on the road, so they’re probably trying to figure out if it’s worth it. I’ve heard that Paul has the Appraisal Inhibition (Weak) skill, so I don’t think they’ve spotted the mithril, but…”

“What do you think they saw in this merchant corps?”

“Hmm… On the outside, there are three wagons with a lot of cargo. It takes a lot of people to attack a group of seventeen people and I’m not sure they’d want to take that risk on the highway.”

*

The half-day at the resting spot passed uneventfully.

Apparently, it might have been deemed too risky to attack this merchant corp.

While they were resting, they heard a lot of noise out front.

It seemed that bandits had attacked another merchant company on the road ahead.

It seemed that one of the attacked merchants had run alone to the resting place where Tauro and the others were, asking for help.

The soldiers stationed there saddled their horses and galloped in formation to the scene.

I hope they can make it in time…

“ They may not make it in time. The bandits wouldn’t have attacked if they didn’t think the odds were in their favor.”

Maybe Meena had an idea of what Tauro was thinking, but she told him calmly and realistically.

“So It’s not that easy.”

Reality isn’t always favorable and Tauro’s wish was asking too much.

The next morning, Tauro learned that all the merchants had been wiped out and the bandits had escaped.