At the same time….
“Heyah!”
Nolan kicked the Bandit right in the knee, and while the opponent was off balance, he swung his Longsword down without hesitation!
“Argh!”
With a shrill scream, the Bandit collapsed to the ground.
“Blue Crow! Loki!”
After dealing with the trouble before him, Nolan turned to the side.
Fortunately…there were enough guards on this side, and it seemed the Bandits had realized it too.
After leaving behind more than a dozen corpses, they decisively retreated.
“Nolan! I’m…cough cough, I’m fine!”
Loki held a Short Knife in his left hand and a rather ornate Hand Crossbow in his right.
There were three guards in light armor following him, so nothing unexpected had happened.
“Whew…Nothing here either.”
Blue Crow flicked the blood off his Longsword…but his eyes slowly shifted, as if he’d suddenly thought of something and started scanning the surroundings.
“Nolan, come here!”
“Hmm?”
Nolan had planned to take a short break before going to support the others, but since his friend called out, he could only hurry over to Blue Crow.
“What’s up?”
“Nolan…this is an opportunity!”
Blue Crow leaned close to the Viscount’s fifth son’s ear and whispered.
“That woman went somewhere far from our main camp, and she was probably attacked too…If we just organize a counterattack and drive these attackers toward her…”
This move was the classic “set a tiger against a wolf” strategy!
“Vonson? Do you…know what you’re saying? No matter what, we’re still comrades, and besides, she hasn’t deliberately made trouble for us, has she?”
Nolan looked at his friend in shock.
After all these years, he never thought Blue Crow could be so ruthless.
“Some people are trouble just by existing!! As long as she disappears, all this power will fall under our control!!”
Blue Crow’s voice unconsciously grew louder, letting the still-panting Loki catch a hint of what was going on.
“No! I won’t agree…I don’t want to see infighting in this mercenary group!”
Nolan firmly refused.
Having these people risk their lives was already pushing his limits; if he deliberately caused any of them to die…he wouldn’t be able to sleep at night.
“You…”
Blue Crow gritted his teeth, frustrated at his friend’s stubbornness…
“Fine, then let’s rescue everyone we can from the main camp and get out of here quickly!”
“What about Miss Jenny and the others…”
“Is that not good enough? Nolan! Are you a woman or what?!”
Blue Crow was really getting angry now.
At this moment, he finally understood—his friend in front of him was simply not cut out for big things.
“We’re not trying to harm her on purpose, just leaving her behind! With her around…you and I will never have absolute authority in the mercenary group! Understand!?”
“I’ve already taken a step back, Nolan…I think you should too. Instead of arguing here, let’s act quickly. That’s the only way to save more people!”
…Though he was still conflicted inside, facing his forceful friend and the ideas unconsciously planted in his mind…
Nolan finally nodded in agreement.
Soon after…
With Nolan and Blue Crow rallying everyone, nearly forty people quickly gathered here, swiftly clearing out and driving away the Bandits from the main camp.
At the same time, in Ireya’s camp.
Splash!
Icy water was dumped right onto the face of the orange-red-haired girl!
The shock instantly snapped her out of her unconsciousness!
“Eh?!”
Blinking in confusion, Erika felt a pounding headache, and her hands and feet…were tied up with cloth strips.
So…she had been captured!?
Her memories gradually returned—her slain companions, and…at some point, that black humanoid figure wrapped around her…
Transcendent…
That was Erika’s first thought!
The other party…was a Transcendent!
Damn it…
The intel never said there’d be a Transcendent in this mercenary group…
What a trap!
“Uh…Um…I can actually explain.”
“Explain?”
Ireya’s lips slowly curled into a smile, and she reached out with a long, thick baton towards the girl’s waist…
“Ahh-uh-uh-uh (trembling)——!!”
Erika’s body instantly went rigid!
She began to convulse uncontrollably!
“Ugh.”
All the noble youths who had been watching instinctively took a step back…
Veil’s body even twitched involuntarily…
This feeling, she knew best, and least wanted to experience again.
“Uh-uh-uh (trembling)……”
Szzzt…
When Ireya finally withdrew the Lightning Baton, Erika’s eyes had rolled back, and smoke was coming out of her mouth….
“Whew~ That’s much better…Amisa! Wake her up!”
“Yes, Lady.”
The maid somehow produced another basin of cold water and splashed it onto Erika’s face!
Splash!
“Eh?!”
The Wind Veiler snapped awake again, her gaze dazed and tinged with terror.
Huff!
Bang!
“Ugh…”
But before she could even process what had just happened, a sharp pain hit her abdomen!
Before she could even kneel down and retch, she was kicked straight to the ground!
Huff!
“Mm…mm!”
The next second, her face was stomped down hard by a black boot!
Above her, the girl’s slightly icy voice rang out….
“Speak…Why did you attack us~”
“I…We were after…the Rock Dragon Egg…intel…”
At this moment, the will to survive quickly crushed the Bandit’s pride—no matter what, she wanted to live.
She…wanted to survive.
“Oh?”
Ireya raised an eyebrow.
Though she’d guessed as much, having it confirmed was still a surprise.
So information about the Rock Dragon Egg wasn’t only known to those two.
Ireya ground her foot lightly into Erika’s face before finally moving it away.
But before Erika could breathe a sigh of relief, another vicious kick slammed into her stomach!
Whoosh—!
Bang!
“Ah! Cough cough…ugh… cough….”
The kick had Erika coughing non-stop, curling up like a boiled shrimp.
“You’d better spill everything you know right now , or else…”
Ireya crouched in front of Erika, yanking her bangs to lift her head, and pointed to the nearby carriage with her other hand.
“I’ll tie you to the back of the carriage and drag you all the way to the Thirteenth Mine…Got it?”
“Yes…got it! Absolutely got it! Your…your questions, I’ll answer everything I know!”
Erika felt her heart go a little cold with fear.
Seeing the terror in her eyes, Ireya gave her a gentle smile.
“You don’t have to be so scared~ After all, I’m not some kind of demon~ As long as you cooperate…I won’t…make things too hard for you~”
Hearing this, even her teammates didn’t believe it.
Of course, even if Erika didn’t believe it, she could only accept reality and answer Ireya’s questions honestly.
Because she had no other choice.
“We…actually aren’t all from the same organization…”
She stammered out her story, and at last, everyone understood why they’d been attacked.
This group wasn’t made up of professional Bandits, but was a temporary alliance of several mercenary groups.
For instance, this [Wind Veiler] Erika Reid belonged to the “Hunter Blade Mercenary Group.”
After buying information on the Rock Dragon Egg and the Blue Crow Mercenary Group from an intelligence broker…
The leaders of several mercenary groups sat down together to discuss, and decided to deal with these noble sons and daughters first….
After all…though these forces were scattered, together they were stronger than any single mercenary group!
If they were allowed to grow, there’d be no share of the Rock Dragon Egg left for them.
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