Bandit Ambush

For the next few hours Mateo focused on trying to spot any traps that the bandits had laid out for his companions. After a few minutes of straining his eyes he was able to spot small holes in the ground. While they looked small and shallow, they were still a fatal danger when riding on horseback.

The rest of the time was spent trying to pinpoint the location of all of the holes that had been dug. The squad had also come up with plans on how to counter ambush the bandits. Now they were only waiting for their classmates to make their appearance.

Finally, they heard the sound of horses galloping. They observed the bandits while the group of students became visible for all to see. Mateo held up his hand for all to see and silently counted down from five.

The moment all of his fingers were lowered, he raised his bow and released an Arrow Shower Basic Weapon Art into the air. However, instead of firing off towards the bandits, the arrows rained down upon the land in front of the students.

The mana arrow that was fired flashed upon reaching its destination in the air. The next moment a multitude of arrows rained upon the land. Mateo showed off his control as a Knight Captain by having each individual arrow strike the ground where a hole was, marking the traps for his classmates.

At the same time Arthur sliced the air with his sword, the spell Air Cutter was cast using his sword as a medium. Much like Sword Energy Wave, the blade of air traveled through the sky; however, this particular spell was harder to see and much faster than the Weapon Art.

The target of the spell had been the rope that bound logs that the bandits had prepared to drop upon the hero parties. With the logs prematurely dropped and the holes exposed, much of the bandits’ preparation had been undone.

The next move was made by Cyrus. Cyrus’s methods were pretty much under the same category as Duncan. However, the two had focused upon two different aspects of this specialization. While Duncan was more about sneak attacks and explosive attack power, Cyrus excelled more at infiltration and stealth.

During the hours of waiting, he had already sneaked into the bandit fortification and returned. He pulled something from his pocket and squeezed it. The next moment multiple explosions went off amidst the bandits. The objects that exploded were barrels that Mateo had noticed earlier.

There had been several of the barrels with archers surrounding them. These barrels had been full of arrows. These archers were only at the knight level or below, and unlike him they had to rely on physical arrows.

The explosion had been the signal that also alerted the students still on horseback the location of the bandits. They charged foward on their horses, avoiding the holes that Matoe had marked. The person in the lead wasn’t any of the party leaders but Cristen from party 1. Of all the classmates, her specialization focused upon cavalry combat.

Her true might would only show itself while she was mounted, because her Weapon Arts were only usable when she did so. While the Bandits were disoriented by the sudden explosion, they were overrun by Cristen. The other classmates had instead jumped off their horses and initiated their attack.

At the same time the strike squad also attacked the bandits from their flank, with only Mateo hanging back and giving supportive fire with his bow. Unsurprisingly, the bandits quickly surrendered. The disadvantageous position and crippling their archers had pretty much already given the students victory right from the beginning.

Even though the battle had not lasted long, many of the bandits had fallen, with only a little more than twenty surviving. While the bombs that Cyrus had planted might have only killed a few bandits that had been the closest to the barrels, they had been left in a way that was easy for Mateo to snipe.

Now the students were left with a new conundrum, what should they do with the captured bandits? The mission was one that focused much upon stealth. They couldn’t drag these bandits along with them nor could they drag them off to the city. Even releasing them could have word spread of a group with superior might.

While some were uncomfortable, they knew that these times called for drastic measures. However, while the students felt uncomfortable with the idea, they had long been taught that war required sacrifices. Whether in people or in morals.

The bandits that had previously dropped their weapons started to get worried when the priests of the group gathered around them and gave prayers. Before they could stand up, multiple spells were fired off by mages with a grim but determined gaze.

For the next few minutes the students looted the bodies before burying them while having also destroyed all traces of the fight. Unfortunately, the bandits had not been carrying much with them. While they suspected there was a bandit hideout nearby with their ill gotten spoils, they just didn’t have the time or liberty to search for it.

However, they made sure to memorize this location for the trip back. They also found a common emblem that the bandits carried on them, a red snake that was wrapped around a black sword.

During the looting several of the students with tracking training tried to find any traces that the bandits might have left that would lead back to their base, but it would appear they had been meticulous when it came to their hideout’s safety.

Once the matter was handled they once again headed out. After a few more days of travel, the group was only a week away from Defy. They decided it was time to start splitting off and heading towards their own destinations. They initially split into two groups, one going more east and the other west. As their journey continued they split off even more until Mateo’s party was now all by themselves.

The rest of the journey had been uneventful with no sign of monsters, demons, or even bandits. The party was now an hour away from their first village. While they were getting close to the village Mateo was about to make the decision to wait until nightfall to visit; however, as he observed the village in the distance he was surprised to spot movement.

Were there survivors? Or had the demons returned? Could it be that the Knights were investigating the village?

Mateo abondoned the idea of waiting for the cover of darkness and instead led his party slowly toward the village while keeping watch on its occupants. As he got closer he was finally able to identify the suspicious individuals. All of his guesses had been wrong. They were humans, and it seemed their objective was to loot the ruined village.

The party couldn’t let this continue with the chances of any type of demon traces being destroyed by these idiots. Mateo was about to step forward to stop them, but paused when he noticed all of them were armed. He instead had the most intimidating of the party, Kyle, make his presence known.

“Friends, would you please halt your actions? If you leave now we won’t report you to the Knights.”

The only response he got in return was the sound of weapons being drawn. Kyle and the rest looked to Mateo for instructions. While they were committing a crime, they were probably still civilians. Harming them could pose an issue.

“Go for non-lethal.”

That was all he had to say before everyone attacked the dozen or so looters. Just as he had instructed, none of them had died. The group then searched the captured looters in case any of them had stashed anything related to the demons. While Mateo searched his first looter he learned that his previous worries of the consequences of killing the looters were unwarranted.

Besides some keepsakes that most likely belonged to the villagers, he happened upon an emblem, an emblem of a red snake and black sword. Instead of relief, Mateo instead frowned at the sight.

The bandit group would appear to be larger in scale than he had anticipated. Not only that, it seemed that they would interfere with their mission. Mateo wasn’t worried about their mission being a failure, but that they would not encounter the demons.

The bandits posed no threat to the students, not even a little bit. Even if the ambush had been successful it would have been useless against the students. The only reason they took precautions was because they knew nothing of what they had been capable of.

Mateo couldn’t help but worry that this quest would not help him in the pursuit of his own personal mission.