Wortenia Senki (WN)

Translator: HASUTSUKI, Editor: Thorrium.

Day 90 after being summoned to the new world.

*Swuz*

An arrow shot from behind Ryouma grazed his left ear and pierced the coaching box.

“Ryouma-sama!”

“Silent! Just focus on controlling the horse, Sara!”

Ryouma shouted at Sara who saw blood dripping from his left ear and told her to concentrate on controlling the carriage.

For Ryouma who have never ridden a horse or driven a carriage, the way to escape was making Sara take control of the carriage.

Ryouma didn’t have time to worry about his body.

Arrows kept piercing the carriage, making it look like a hedgehog.

Originally Ryouma should have been in the passenger seat, enjoying himself under the carriages canopy, but right now, that was not the case.

Because the arrows that were shot one after another, pierced onto the coach, and especially the coach driver who was without any protection.

Ryouma who is unable to drive the carriage, focused on protecting Sara, and he did so by stripping the window planks, and using them to shield her, so she could concentrate controlling the carriage.

“Damn it! They still chasing after us!”

“Ryouma-sama. As expected, against this…”

Sora bitterly cut Sara’s words.

“Wallace that bastard… No, this is not the time for this. …Sara! Laura and the others should be laying low somewhere. Listen alright! Don’t miss the sign!”

“Yes!”

Ryouma while desperately striking back the arrows that came raining down on them, thought back to the time, when they were at the camping ground seven days ago.

***************==============

Seven day ago, inside the forest located northwest of the port town

Fulzad.

Under the pretense of a forced quest, Ryouma had become a bodyguard for a group of merchants heading toward one of the three Eastern countries, the Rozeria

Kingdom.

The Rozeria Kingdom exists in between the Zalda Kingdom which is referred to as the Iron Kingdom, and the ocean trade nation which Fulzad was part of, that was known as the Mist Kingdom.

The majority of the Rozeria kingdom’s territory was open fields, and the main industry were agricultural products and dairy products.

Because Ryouma and the others were being told that they would get extra rewards and some mercenaries would tag along, they decide to undertake the quest, although they thought it was suspicious from the beginning.

First there was the carriage with a canopy that was assigned to Ryouma, despite the fact that he should be just a security guard for some merchants.

Usually mercenaries or adventurers can’t get on the carriages.

Next despite being merchants a lot of the carriages were empty.

However, if they said that the goods had been sold out, it would usually make sense, but considering the route they had followed after leaving Fulzad, they should have been able to restock as many commodities as they would have wanted for future trading.

And when considering the efficiency of doing business like that, having an empty carriage would usually never happen.

Another thing that they felt were suspicious was the merchant Ryouma was assigned, and especially his appearance. His body was rather slim, and he had very rough hands.

Ryouma thought back to the one eyed commander Rolf, when he shook the merchants hand, and couldn’t help but tilting his head.

Currently, the mercenaries that had accepted the quest, guarding the merchants were having a discussion while surrounding the bonfire.

“I was worried a bit too… At least, I’ve never seen such merchants as these.“

The one who answered Ryouma’s worry was Lione, the leader of the mercenary group called Red Lion.

She was a tall woman at least 180cm tall, with tanned skin.

She had clear and defined muscles, and large breast which made sure to anyone who might be wondering, that she was indeed a woman.

Her red hair was hanging around the shoulders, and matched surprisingly well with her golden eyes.

Ryouma would guess her age to be around 30, as she had the charm of a mature woman. 𝐟𝙧ee𝔀e𝐛𝓃𝐨𝚟𝑒𝗹.c𝗼𝚖

“Me as well, despite having been a mercenary for a long time, and having done protection jobs for merchants for a long time, this is the first time I worked with anyone like them…”

He is the adjutant of Lione, a fellow mercenary with the name Bolts.

A man around in his mid-fifties, and whose major characteristic was that he had lost his left arm.

He seems to have lost his arm during battle, but by the time Ryouma meet him he didn’t seem to be bothered by it.

Because of what Bolts said, who had more experience being a mercenary then anyone else, everyone else got even more on edge, there were clearly something wrong the merchants.

“You… What do you think?”

Lione asked Ryouma.

“Honestly, I regret to undertake this quest…”

Lione and Bolts nodded their heads when they heard Ryouma declaration.

“I gave in due to the reward being good, but I wonder if it was a mistake…”

“But this is a quest from the guild. Aren’t you just being worried too much?”

Listening to Lione’s words, a mercenary who Ryouma didn’t know the name of, spoke.

“You stupid… I wasn’t able to become mercenary if I didn’t have a feel for danger, and knew how to handle crises!” 𝐟𝙧ℯ𝑒𝒘𝐞𝒃𝗻𝒐ѵ𝘦𝑙.com

“Wha! Even if it’s Lione-san, you don’t have to say it like that!”

Lione just shook her head towards the enraged man while smirk appeared on

Bolts’ mouth.

“You. Although you’re close to be B rank, that boy over there has clearly beaten you in terms of judgment.“

The line of sight of the other mercenaries immediately turns toward

Ryouma.

“In the first place, the reason why I gathered everyone here is because of the suggestion of the boy over there.“

“Hee! To be ordered around by such youngster like him, to think that Lione of the Red Lion, was a pushover! Oi!”

Ryouma was the youngest among them all here.

Although he is 16 years old, his face made people think he was at least in his late 20’s. And most of the people around him thought of him as a peer, even though they were around their 30’s to 40’s.

Naturally, the mercenary who had been disrespectful got beaten up by Lione personal.

“Haa!? With what mouth are you spouting that nonsense huh?!”

Such a calm tone of voice. However, Ryouma feels the voice of the person was like the calm before the storm.

And the surrounding mercenaries also felt it.

The other mercenaries quickly stopped making fun of Lione, immediately shutting their mouths.

“Well, I can understand you guys feeling. It’s not like everything is clear to me either, for now, let’s end it here.“

The air around them loosened after Bolts said such words.

Lione also does not seems to disagree either.

“Well for now, I guess this is bad…”

Bolts and Ryouma nodded their head together toward Lione’s words.

“It seems like only idiots have gathered…”

“But still, it can’t be helped for them to complain, what do you think, Bolts?

After all, we can’t do anything other than be prepared for the worst.“

Lione then turned her eyes toward Ryouma.

“Boy. What are you going to do?”

“Well, for now, there’s no other choice than continue doing what we are doing. Since we can’t discard the quest just because we are feeling suspicious.“

“I guess so… But still… Regarding there’s something behind this quest, what do you think?”

Ryouma responded to Lione’s words while deeply sighed.

“Well, for me, it feels like they are luring us into something… As if something is going on under the table, but I guess we can only wait and see if my suspicion is correct”