There are five wagons on a street.

You can't see their cargo because they're covered.
But to thieves, they looked like sitting ducks.

Each wagon was guarded by five guards, suggesting that the cargo was expensive.

Twenty-five guards would normally make a bandit shy away, but there were 53 of them.
They outnumbered us.
Moreover, they were fighting while protecting carriages and merchants.

The head of the bandits grinned at the report of the guards,
'Let's get to work, you bastards!
' he shouted.




The road came to a bend in the forest just before the Marquis' territory.
It's a good place to hide, and the curve makes it hard to see what's ahead.
And then, an arrow pierced the wagon, opening the curtain.

'Enemy attack!
A shout echoed from the first wagon.

Those who looked like adventurers were guarding the wagons were holding their swords and searching the area, while those who were holding bows and arrows were looking closely to see if they could see the enemy.

Arrows flew one after another, and in the direction of the flying arrows, the arrows of the guards flew.
There was a cry of pain, and men came at them with axes, shouting loudly, perhaps to cheer themselves up.

The guards swing their swords desperately, and one by one, they fall to the ground.
Bandits and guards alike were falling.

The head of the bandits decided that it would be best to finish the job quickly with all hands, so he started running, shouting loudly to frighten them.
Just as the difference in numbers was about to double, the hood at the back of the wagon was rolled up and new guards came out one after another.

'Hey! What?
In the event that you are not able to grasp what is going on, the head is waving his sword around without giving any instructions, but the increase of 10 guards at once brought confusion to the battle.

〜〜〜〜〜〜〜

'So we disguise ourselves as merchant troops, hide two by two in the wagons, place more guards, let them think we are carrying high value goods, and wait to be attacked?

'Yeah, if there's too many of them, they might not attack, right? If we make them think we're only half as many as they are, they'll attack. If we get out of the wagon right away, they might retreat, so we'll wait in the wagon until we're halfway there.
Most of the thieves are farmers or adventurers who can't afford to eat. They're probably not very skilled, so we'll just have to hold out and fight back when the enemy is almost out.

〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜

The number of bandits is gradually decreasing, and the two words that come to mind are retreat.
At that moment, I felt a strange chill and looked back,
The last thing Kasira saw was a wild man with a black head of hair, his mouth twisted as he swung a one-handed sword.
It was the last thing Kasira had ever seen.