Chapter 82: The Worst Trap

Chapter 82: The Worst Trap

After eliminating the nearby traps that had been set, the two of them were quite sleepy, so they informed the other three that they would discuss details tomorrow and dedicated the remaining time to sleep.

A few hours later, when Tatsuro woke up, it was already eleven o'clock. As expected, they had overslept. After waking up Ai, getting ready, and going outside, the other three were already waiting for them.

If their relationship had been more casual, they might have complained about being late, but it seemed like they could not wake them up because the two who had woken up in the middle of the night had been doing something, and they didn't seem to have been of any help.

After roasting some meat and eating together, they informed the others that someone had set traps yesterday.

"Could it be the work of thieves, after all?" (Salva)

"It seems unlikely that it's anything else." (Tatsuro)

"Ugh, those cowardly bastards setting traps!" (Salva)

"Well, calm down. We know the location of the traps." (Ai)

Ai calmed down the agitated Salva, and finally, they set off. Unlike yesterday, the journey was bright, so they wanted to go faster, but they had to advance while eliminating traps, so it was impossible.

Moving at about 20 kilometres per hour, they relied on Cardina to pinpoint their location. Tatsuro used earth magic to crush the traps in the ground, rendering them powerless as they advanced.

Ai held Tatsuro's hand beside him, so he hardly consumed any magical power, but he was becoming mentally exhausted from the repetitive work.

During one of their breaks, Cardina was the first to notice something placed in the middle of a three-way intersection around noon.

Upon investigation, it turned out to be three lifeless humanoid figures. As soon as they understood what it was, Tatsuro made a bitter face and stopped the carriage within view.

"What's wrong?" (Ai)

"There are three bodies placed in the middle of the road. Furthermore, if you approach those bodies, numerous traps will be triggered." (Tatsuro)

"" (Ai)

Unable to find the right words to say, Ai held her breath. Tatsuro, deeming this a reasonable response, stroked Ai's head and tried to go outside alone. However, Ai grabbed his arm and shook her head.

"I'm coming too. Tatsuro, I do not want to leave you alone when you're going through something difficult. I might not be able to do much, but at least I can be there by your side." (Ai)

"I see. Then come with me." (Tatsuro)Gẹtt the latest novels at n.o/(v)/e/l/bin(.)com

"Okay." (Ai)

With that, the two of them disembarked from the carriage. The three above hurriedly descended and approached them.

"Wait. Those bodies over there are probably probably our comrades," (Catherine)

"You had other comrades?" Tatsuro reacted with a mix of surprise and acceptance upon hearing the words "Catherine's comrades."

At the same time, he couldn't make a calm judgment when confronted with the sight of their comrades' bodies, which were rigged with traps that could kill anyone who approached.

As he thought about who might have set up those traps, anger welled up against the thieves who seemed to care nothing for human lives and feelings.

"Those are traps, right?" (Jema)

"Yeah, from this distance, we should be able to discern if it's a trap or not using Dispel Magic, right?" Tatsuro responded to Jemma's question and then looked at Catherine, the Dispel Magic user.

However, it seemed Catherine could not bear to use Dispel Magic to gather information about their comrades' bodies, and she couldn't use it. Seeing the pained expression on her face, both of them understood, and they turned to Salva, who had a disgruntled look on his face, to confirm what they were going to do next.

"I plan to disable the traps over there and then proceed to cremate the bodies. Is that okay?" (Tatsuro)

"Yeah. Please. But, big bro, can I stay close and watch?" (Salva)

Usually, Salva responded, but this time, it was his sister, Jemma. Regretting that he should not have brought Salva with them, Tatsuro asked Jeanne to set off.

Before long, even though they had no appetite, they stopped on the side of the road to have lunch because they did not know when an emergency might occur. The three above seemed to be in no condition to eat, so they declined the offer. Tatsuro and Ai were currently grilling meat for two.

Having seen a real splatter scene, Tatsuro and Ai did not particularly want to eat meat, but they had no choice, so they endured and ate it. Strangely, forcing themselves to eat once seemed to boost their mood and restore their energy.

Considering whether they should also make the three people on the rhinoceros beetle eat by force, they consulted with Ai and decided against it. They felt that it would be different for them, who had seen the bodies of people they did not know and people they were close to.

With their energy restored, Tatsuro and Ai refrained from coddling themselves and instead provided magical energy to Jeanne and Cardina before setting off again.

"We're running later than I thought." (Tatsuro)

"Is that so?" (Ai)

Tatsuro sighed as he checked their current location on the map, crushing the scattered traps as if recalling something.

"Yeah, the main reason we're running late is because we've been slowing down to crush the traps." (Tatsuro)

"We can't afford to leave them. If we don't deal with them, that merchant from before might get caught, and it's not something we can ignore, especially when we've decided to take the three people to the town." (Ai)

While they could fly if it were just the two of them, they had committed to take the three people to the town, and they could not ignore the potential harm to people unrelated to their situation.

"I hope some weak monsters would come so we could earn SP." (Tatsuro)

"But we haven't heard anything from that front." (Ai)

"Oh, I haven't used the SP I earned from the moles the other day." (Tatsuro)

"Are you going to get [Dark Magic] again?" (Ai)

"I've relied on [Light Magic] and [Life Magic] quite a bit, and it's appealing to be able to fix things quickly in unforeseen situations like today Yeah, I think I'll go for [Dark Magic]." (Tatsuro)

"Rather than thinking about getting injured, it's more like us to prevent getting injured." (Ai)

Tatsuro, holding Ai, raised his Dark Magic to Level 7 from his current SP (40) using 34 SP.

After upgrading dark magic, he considered raising Cardina and Jeanne to higher levels. However, there was a possibility of the three above observing them if they did that. Even though he had already demonstrated the four-element walls in front of Salva and was currently using earth magic to destroy traps, he felt there was no need to worry; he still felt that magic-based life forms might be considered peculiar.

Time passed, and the sun started to set, casting a reddish glow on the rhinoceros beetle. They were supposed to have entered Lyadas by this time according to their original plan, so Tatsuro wondered how things had gone wrong. He designated a location about a hundred meters off the road and had the carriage park there.

"We've parked quite far off the road." (Ai)

"Yeah, it's Dark Day tonight. It is also the New Moon Day. It's perfect for a nighttime ambush, don't you think?" (Tatsuro)

"Dark magic allows us to hide, so it's perfect" (Ai)

"We can hide and pass through unnoticed, and if it comes to combat, we can easily subdue them with Cardina's dispel magic and my dark magic. So, I thought maintaining some distance would be a good idea." (Tatsuro)

"Being close to the road would make it easy to spot us, even with just a bit of light. You're right; it might be difficult to find us at this distance unless they use detection or light magic to illuminate the area." (Ai)

With this in mind, the two of them set about preparing for their nighttime ordeal. By that time, except for Salva, the two had calmed down, and they asked to join in for the meal. Salva, who had a sturdy physique and had already eaten breakfast, could skip two meals without any problem. They all shared a meal together.

Tatsuro and Ai then told the two about the likelihood of an attack tonight and recommended that they sleep on top of the carriage. They were considering a possible forced breakthrough with the rhinoceros beetle if necessary, so it would be more convenient for the three to already be on board. The two agreed and returned to the top of the rhinoceros beetle.

"Well, let's see what tonight brings." (Tatsuro)

"We'd like it to be peaceful, but" (Ai)

Tatsuro and Ai, who didn't believe for a moment that those treacherous thieves had finished with just those traps, left the vigilance to Cardina and took a brief nap in preparation for the night ahead.