Slave Hunters

A week since departing Labyrinth City, nothing particularly noteworthy happened.

Along the way, they stopped at a small village to deliver goods that had been requested, and in turn replenished their food supplies.

Monsters attacked several times, but before Rudolph even needed to step in, Matsukaze turned them into experience points with his hooves.

… His combat prowess was so impressive it was questionable whether he was really a horse, yet Serge's Identify confirmed his species was unmistakably horse.

"I don't think there are enough events."

Serge suddenly spoke up. Standing on the driver's seat was a bit dangerous.

"Events?"

Gig asked in response. He was just as bored on this journey. The attacking monsters were too weak. Most of them fled from Rudolph's presence anyway.

As if suffering from something, Serge spoke in a serious tone.

"Yeah. Like, for instance, saving a noble's carriage from an attack and becoming friends with a princess. That kind of event."

Aah… Carlos chuckled wryly as he brought his horse alongside Serge.

"There were stories like that, weren't there. And then she's dealing with some problem, and the pattern is that the traveling knight who solves it ends up marrying the princess."

"Exactly! We're traveling through such remote areas, so events like that should be happening."

In reality, things like that didn't happen. There were hardly any noble territories around here, just independent settlements. And if any nobles were traveling by carriage, they would definitely have escorts.

But to Carlos who said that, Serge presented an example that couldn't be refuted.

"There's a princess right here with only a single escort. That's the kind of exception I'm looking for."

It would be troublesome if there were too many reckless royals like Ria running around.

"If you have so much free time, you should be training your magic. You went to great lengths to acquire that new Skill."

Ria said, sounding exasperated. While they couldn't train swordsmanship while riding, he could practice magic inside the wagon.

The new Skill Serge had acquired was called Magical Power Cost Reduction. He had obtained it by using his magical power to its limit every day. As the Skill level increased, it would allow him to use magic with less magical power. It was a Skill magicians coveted. In fact, Lulu was envious.

Magic was certainly interesting. Especially now that he had obtained the grimoire, Serge's status as a magician was visibly improving day by day.

However, just training endlessly was tedious. In this regard, even though he had a previous life, his mind was probably being influenced by his ten-year-old body.

Perhaps he had been childish to begin with.

"Magic, huh… Yeah, let me try combining principle magic and space-time magic…"

Something seemed to have struck a chord, as Serge began muttering to himself.

Now that he'd finally quieted down, the group continued on horseback under the pleasant sunlight.

"Mm, mm, mm… alright."

A thin magical power spread out from Serge, who was sitting next to her on the driver's seat.

"Ah…"

Maal, who had been training her spirit magic, let out a sound. Her concentration had been disrupted.

But Serge was also concentrating his mind, trying to confirm his magic's effectiveness.

Ria could somewhat understand what kind of magic it was. Making his magical power as thin as possible and extending it as far as possible, he was trying to sense the reflections coming back. It was a fairly advanced magic that combined Magical Power Detection and Spatial Grasp.

"Huh?"

Serge, who had his eyes closed, suddenly snapped them open wide.

"Ah～, there's an army beyond the forest and mountains ahead of us."

She was impressed that he could see that far, but the army was the problem.

"An army? How many people? Can you tell what weapons they have?"

Ria confirmed. This area shouldn't be any nation's territory, but there might be tribal armies.

"Twenty cavalry, a hundred infantry… pulling four carriages with prisoners… no, slaves? It looks like they're escorting them…"

"Cordovan slave hunters!"

Maal suddenly shouted. Along with her own hateful memories, she identified what they were.

"Cordova… that place really isn't a decent country."

Ria groaned with an expression like she was enduring a headache. Cordova was a human supremacist military nation, continuously annexing nearby tribes and nations. While it was a law-abiding country, enslaving people from outside their borders wasn't forbidden.

"What should we do?"

Carlos asked with a difficult expression. Normally, they were opponents better left alone.

But as someone who knew Ria, he didn't think such a simple conclusion would be reached.

"Ria-chan…"

Gazing into Maal's round, pleading eyes, Ria's judgment swayed heavily toward emotion.

"First, reconnaissance. I'll go on ahead for a bit."

Ria steeled herself and spurred Matsukaze into a gallop.

"I was thinking of massacring them all, but for now I only did reconnaissance."

Ria said something dangerous while wearing a smile. Only her eyes weren't smiling.

The army that had been taking a short break at a watering hole was definitely on a slave hunt. Crammed inside wooden-framed cages were at least fifty humans and beastkin.

"So I'm going to rescue them. Who's coming with me?"

Maal quickly raised her hand, followed by Serge and Gig. The two older members also raised their hands, albeit reluctantly.

"Is that alright?"

Ria was actually surprised, but Lulu and Carlos exchanged glances and smiled wryly.

"If we can't stop you, it's safer to stay by your side."

Hearing that, Ria finally relaxed her serious expression.

Since the army was advancing toward them, they held a discussion on specifically how to deal with them.

"Now then, there's a problem."

Ria raised one finger. There were multiple problems, but she thought this was the most important one.

"Among us, has anyone killed a person?"

Yes, that was it.

They would be fighting an army. And this wasn't inside the Immortal Labyrinth. Honestly, level-wise, it was hard to imagine they would take any damage, but it wouldn't be convenient enough to neutralize them without any deaths either.

"A few, during bandit exterminations on the frontier."

Being a soldier, Carlos had experience. No one else did. Even Ria had only killed people on the premise that they would revive in Labyrinth City.

"Serge, are you okay?"

She specifically called out to him because she thought the common sense from his previous life in Japan would make killing people especially taboo for him.

"Well, I'll be shooting magic from a distance. Until I get used to it, anyway. I'll aim at the knights as much as possible rather than the soldiers."

Ten years since reincarnation. He had somehow gotten accustomed to this world where human life was cheap.

After that, they planned the assault.

Their objective was specifically to secure the slaves. And even if they freed them carelessly, it would be difficult for them to return to their original villages. There would be the labor of escorting them there.

"Horses and food are absolutely necessary."

Carlos and Ria drew up the strategy. Serge also joined in.

"We should attack at night. If possible, I want to aim for friendly fire."

"I want to take out the cavalry as much as possible. There's probably a main force somewhere."

They had confirmed that only the bare minimum of fodder and food had been prepared.

"I'll take out the strong-looking ones in the first strike."

With Serge's magic, a single blow could kill. He had confirmed with Identify magic that their highest level was around thirty. They wouldn't be able to withstand it at all.

The sun set, and the light of the campfires became visible in the darkness of night.

Ria and the others stood on the hill overlooking the army's encampment.

It was still a little while until midnight. The army had sentries posted, but they didn't seem particularly vigilant. There were reasonably strong demons in this area, yet they were careless. They were probably relying on their numbers.

"Alright, shall we go?"

Magic was cast on the warriors. Leaving the carriage and horses behind, Rudolph was left to guard them. Having already circled around, Maal was standing by near the slaves.

They slowly descended the hill. Magic had also been cast so the sounds of their metal armor wouldn't be heard.

At the count of ten, Serge and Lulu unleashed Exploding Fireball spells.

The fireballs detonated on the tents and the sentry lights.

It was a one-sided slaughter.

The cavalry trying to escape on horseback were sliced apart from behind by Serge's space-time magic. Lulu detonated fireballs on groups trying to organize and move together.

Ria's group rushed in and took down the knights attempting to take command. They planned to leave one alive, but it wasn't convenient enough for them to keep count.

The smell of blood and entrails. And the smell of burning flesh. Smoke billowed up, amplifying the chaos.

"Savages!"

The enemy shouted. Probably upon recognizing Gig's appearance. The soldier who shouted was turned into a lump of meat by Gig's warhammer.

Carlos moved while checking his surroundings so he wouldn't be flanked. Since Gig was moving impulsively, he provided support.

Ria appeared to move as she pleased, but she was actually selecting her opponents. Some she knocked out with strikes, while the rest she cut down without crossing blades even once.

Ria was surprised at how strangely calm she was.

There was no battle-induced elation. She found it strange that she was killing people so mechanically.

Why did she feel no guilt? She was used to killing through Goblins and Orcs, but was it right to treat humans the same way?

She suddenly realized it.

People who treated humans as slaves didn't need to be treated as humans either.

If this were a proper battlefield, she would still have feelings of guilt and would need to heighten her spirits to drown them out.

Even thinking that the soldiers before her had lives of their own, that they might have families, her katana didn't slow.

She could have cut through their armor, but she aimed for vital points like the neck with single strikes as much as possible. She had no hobby of making people suffer.

Without proper equipment, the infantry fled. At their backs, Ria mercilessly fired arrows of flame.

The enemy had already lost their will to fight and were focused only on how to escape. They had decided to let the infantry go. Even if they escaped around here, without food or equipment, there was a high chance they would die from demon attacks. There was no point in taking prisoners.

Less than an hour after starting the assault, the battle was concluded.

They put an end to enemies who were suffering from wounds that had failed to kill them. They tied up two knights they had knocked unconscious and isolated them.

If any soldiers happened to be lucky enough to have only fainted, they were left alone. Their objective wasn't annihilation.

Serge, who had come down from the hill, vomited upon seeing this devastation.

Lulu was also pressing her hand to her mouth, but somehow endured.

Carlos endured it with a stern expression, as expected. Perhaps due to his race, Gig didn't seem particularly bothered.

"Now then, things are going to be troublesome from here."

Ria muttered. Having no casualties on their side was as planned. But the problem was from here on.

While looking at the slaves loaded on the carriages, Ria let out a deep sigh.