Volume 17 Chapter 6 Encounter
Two days had passed since their departure. As rumored, they discovered more Barbarians than usual, but since there were many people in the caravan, they were progressing smoothly without any attacks.
It was a little past noon. Al and Leda had been taking turns watching the surroundings while continuing their discussion about magic inside the carriage. Most of the time, Leda was the one asking Al questions.
This was because she had already learned how to use the 'Magic Power Control' spell, allowing her to change the brightness of the light created by the 'Light' spell. She wanted to know how to use options for other spells as well.
While she admired Al's way of using magic, she was also somewhat exasperated.
"But this really makes things easier. However, if you can't properly expand your field of vision, there might be blind spots."
Leda felt that Al's idea of placing a 'Floating Eye' spell on a stick attached to the top of the carriage was quite innovative.
However, she seemed to be worried about how Eric and Fitz would use it.
Eric had already mastered the 'Magic Power Control' spell, but he still struggled with the options.
"Hmm..."
Al couldn't think of a good solution either. While they were discussing this, they suddenly heard a shout from the front, and the carriage came to a sudden stop. Al alternated his gaze between the window and Leda's face.
It was Leda's turn to keep watch with the 'Floating Eye' spell, so Al hadn't been paying much attention to the surroundings.
They seemed to be passing near a village, and outside the window, he could see a few shabby houses made of stacked stone bricks.
"There are people gathered in the village square, and 2 children suddenly ran out in front of the caravan."
"Children? Did they get run over?"
"No, it's okay. The lead was Mr. Reginald, and he managed to stop. But it looks like the children are crying and asking Mr. Reginald for something."
Right in front of the carriage they were riding in was Guildmaster Levy's carriage. Al heard the sound of the door opening and closing. It seemed that Guildmaster Levy and the others had gotten out of the carriage.
"I'll go take a look. Lady Leda, please keep an eye on the surroundings."
Al hurriedly jumped out of the carriage. A little ahead, Guildmaster Levy and Orson were walking. Al quickly chased after the two.
"Guildmaster, I'm sorry. It seems that the parents of those children were attacked by Barbarians and are asking for help."
According to Reginald, a family working in a field not far from there had been attacked by Barbarians. The parents had fought back as best as they could and managed to let the children escape.
While the village's self-defense forces were discussing what to do in the village square, the caravan happened to pass by, and the children, noticing it, ran out in front of the caravan, desperate to get help for their parents.
Al saw 2 children sitting in front of the caravan, while some men, who seemed to be self-defense fighters, were apologizing for stopping the caravan and trying to comfort them.
The two kids were desperately begging Reginald for help, rubbing their heads against the ground. Their faces were a mess of tears and snot.
"Guildmaster Levy, can I go take a look?"
"Will you? If Al goes, we might catch up..."
Guildmaster Levy, looking thoughtful, nodded at Al's request. However, he secretly sent Al a sign with his left hand. Did he have some intention behind it? As Guildmaster Levy continued talking, Al quietly sent a 'Telepathy' message.
'What's wrong?'
'Sorry, but there's a chance this could be a staged act. I don't want to doubt it given the situation, but I've seen things like this for years. For example, there have been times when bandits took parents hostage. I want you to keep that possibility in mind.'
I see, Guildmaster Levy is being cautious. Barbarians, children... Al's mind filled with hatred for Barbarians from his own childhood experiences. His thoughts suddenly cooled.
'I understand. Thank you. I'll keep that in mind. For now, nothing has shown up on 'Detect Magic'.'
'Please. Of course, if you focus too much on this and end up not helping, it would be pointless, so just keep it in the back of your mind...'
His last words sounded sad. Al decided to inform Glee about the warning from Guildmaster Levy.
"Anyway, I'll head to where the attack happened. Can someone guide me..."
As Al said this, he used the 'Carrier' spell to create a floating chair. A young man from the self-defense group raised his hand.
"I'll go! I used to drink with their dad a lot."
He looked a couple of years older than Al, with black hair and about 180 centimeters (5'11") tall. He had a slightly worn sword at his waist. His name seemed to be Michael.
"Then, sit here."
Al told Michael to hold onto the armrests tightly so he wouldn't fall. Michael looked confused but sat down as instructed.
'Fly!'
Al gently lifted off the ground. The chair Michael was sitting on floated up too.
"Whoa!"
Michael quickly grabbed the armrests tightly again.
"I'm flying to where the attack happened. Which way?"
"Ah, that way!"
Michael pointed to the west road, still a bit flustered.
"Hold on tight!"
Al gradually increased his speed and started flying along the west road. The children shouted loudly, "Magician, Michael, please!" as they watched the two of them leave.
* * *
"The attack should be around that shed..."
Michael heard from the children that during a break from farming in the afternoon, their mother went to get some water from the shed and encountered Barbarians.
The children, who were with their father, were told to run and desperately ran to the village to seek help, while their father went to rescue their mother. At that time, the father said there were about ten goblins.
Al cautiously descended to the shed. There was no sign of goblins left.
Near the entrance of the shed, there were signs of a struggle, with what seemed to be red blood from humans and green blood from goblin-like Barbarians splattered on the walls and all around.
Additionally, there were still fresh drag marks on the ground. There were mixed footprints of goblins and humans, along with another type of footprint.
From the depth of the tracks, it seemed to belong to a creature weighing about twice as much as a human, walking on 2 legs, so it must be a Barbarian. The footprints had 4 toes, but the middle 2 were clearly larger and sharper, different from lizardmen.
"These footprints... could it be an orc? There were more than just goblins?"
Orcs are strong Barbarians with pig-like heads, about 3 meters (10ft) tall, known for their hefty bodies. They are said to prefer eating humans and to toy with young women, which is a well-known bad reputation.
However, orcs are said to live more in the north and west, so they are not commonly seen around here.
Al himself had never seen a request to hunt orcs at the adventurer guilds in the capital or the border city of Lester and Parker, and this was the first time he had actually seen their footprints.
But he remembered that when he was still small, there was a commotion when a small settlement was discovered near Channing village, and at that time, 2 squads of guards, about 24 people, were dispatched from the capital.
Michael's face stiffened at the mention of orcs. He might have heard of their bad reputation too. However, he shook his head vigorously as if to deny something.
"The fact that there are no bodies means there's still a chance both of them are alive."
That possibility wasn't impossible. It wasn't impossible, but... Al bit his lip. For now, given the situation, it was certain that Guildmaster Levy's concerns were unfounded.
However, things looked quite bad.
"I'm going to track these footprints. What will you do? Follow me? Go back to report?"
"I'll go."
Michael's face turned bright red with anger, and he nodded strongly at Al's words.
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