Someday Will I Be The Greatest Alchemist?

Chapter 437: The beginning of the foolish attack

On a well maintained road stretching from Wedgefort to Valor ran a carriage drawn by a Dragon Horse clad in adamantite armor.

Inside it, we were fully equipped and on standby. Yes, we know because we have grasp on the assailants’ movements in advance because of the Spirits.

On Tsubaki’s back, Kaede who should have been there, wasn’t.

In the carriage that moved at a speed unlikely of Tsubaki, Akane talked to me..

「Being guided even to the point of knowing when and where the attack would be, not bad Takumi.」

「We know it, but it’s a relief that their side can’t hear the voice of the Spirits.」

Our carriage was heading towards the halfway point between Wedgefort and Valor.

At that halfway point, there was a place where many huge boulders on either side which was a prime location for an ambush. Actually, those boulders were purposely placed there.

At the Wedgefort – Valor road, there were many trading caravans that carried loads of products from the Sanctuary. And as typical of this world, it was only a matter of time before the likes of thieves start to appear.

That being the case, I had a discussion with Margrave Volton, King Valkyra, King Lomaria, and King Yggurle about purposefully making a location that would make it easy to do ambushes, so they wouldn’t have to monitor the Wedgefort-Valor road and instead, focus on that one area.

Moreover, I had asked Dryas to prepare a grove for an ambush to cut off the retreat of carriages loaded with products.

A short distance from the boulders along the road, there was a base where patrolling soldiers were stationed. Naturally, a Concealment Barrier magic device was installed there, and only those equipped with a provided magic item would be able to perceive it.

In today’s operation as well, they are on standby to block the any escapees so that we don’t miss any of the foolish attackers.

All in all, it was a relief that while the attackers included many Elves, because they were unable to hear the voice of the Spirits, our plan didn’t leak.

「So, are the enemies already in place?」

「Yup, they’re lying in ambush by the boulders and in the grove. Right, Sophia?」

「Yes, it seems like an operation to cut off our retreat and surround us.」

According to the report from the Spirits, the enemies’ strength was quite substantial, and the gathering of members of Dark Guilds from Yggurle Kingom, Triaria Kingdom, and Samandour Kingdom, as well as the boss of the 『Moonlight Owl』 who organized them.

「EVen so, more than 200 men have gathered.」

「It’s not just the dark guilds either, there’s some mercenaries mixed in from Samandour too.」

「Maria-san, you’re really composed.」

「I’m not being negligent, but this is better than the depths of the Forest of Death.」

As Maria had said, 200 people had gathered to kill me and capture Sophia, Maria, Laeva, Akane, and Lulu-chan[1]. It goes without saying that Sophia was desired by Earl Hordia. The two stupid Samandourian nobles might want to sell Maria, Akane, and the rest of the girls as slaves. The Spirits said that among them, Laeva would be bound to a slave contract and be forced to produce and develop magic devices.

Because of this, Sophia said that we should be vigilant of the Moonlight Owl.

「Takumi-sama, I believe we had better be vigilant of the Moonlight Owl.」

「……that drug from before, right?」

「Yes, I believe they will use the dangerous drug that would not only will there be an explosive increase in physical strength, but also eliminates the feeling of pain and fear.」

I was attacked in Volton. It was still fresh in my mind how our girl group were enraged and destroyed all of the bases of the 『Moonlight Owl』 within Valkyra Kingdom. At that time, they used the dangerous drug to drastically improve the assailants’ physical abilities and remove their fear and pain.

「It’s okay, Sophia. Sure, it is amazing of an attack that ignores physical abilities and damage, but they weren’t very skiled in martial arts. Rather, it’s a minus that they lost reasoning.」

「……indeed. It would be better to consider them as monsters rather than humans.」

Yes, if we think of them as monsters, we have fought a lot of dragons and higher species of ogres, I don’t think we need to be that cautious.

「Guys, watch out for poison.」

「「「Yes！」」」

They’ll probably use paralysis poison, but it’s almost certain that they would use poison.

Before long, my Enemy Search skill, which was the next widest scope after Kaede, caught a great number of people lying in ambush.

I nodded to Sophia and the rest, getting ready to jump out of the carriage at any moment.

Finally, the moment we approached the rocky area, the sound of explosive magic came from the front and arrows rained down incessantly.

***

Footnotes:1. Author seems to have completely forgotten that Marnie exists…