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Translator: Kazumi
Editor: Kabur & Silavin
Based on the information brought back by the scouts, a plan was formulated.
However, the adventurers were basically assigned to stay as escorts of the merchants, while Kousuke and his group were to attack the monster swarm.
Incidentally, Gazeran was the one who decided on this plan, and Bart was opposed to it until the very end.
That may have been as expected.
It would become a surprise if Bart, who had no idea of his own abilities, would agree to such a reckless strategy.
When Gazeran told Kousuke about the plan, Kousuke was thinking about it as if he were a stranger when he saw Bart’s strong opposition to it.
Incidentally, Kousuke only thought “I knew it” when he heard about the plan.
To put it bluntly, he and his group would have crushed the enemy as soon as possible if not for the caravan.
In this situation however, he decided that it was better to follow a plan than to act on their own and have the caravan be attacked after separating from them.
Kousuke also thought about taking out the leader species first, but decided against it.
Considering how strong Kousuke’s group was, it would have been no trouble to do so.
They could easily stop the flood if they were to move seriously, but he thought that would be a bad idea.
It was for the same reason why Kousuke himself did not stand at the top of the nation created under him.
If they were to solely rely on Kousuke and his group for everything, they would not be able to stand when Kousuke’s group were not around.
He considered avoiding that result as much as possible.
However, Kousuke would only reconsider if a direct threat were to appear while he was around, as was the case this time.
They would not be waiting for the entire trading caravan to be wiped out.
Since Kousuke and his group understood the situation, it was decided for them to take action, and so their group would attack on their own.
That said, it would also be wrong to do everything on their own without the members of the merchant group knowing about it.
As a result, Kousuke and his group decided to move after everyone from the adventurers and the merchants confirmed the situation.
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The operation itself was simple.
Wait for the monsters to move and intercept them. That was all they had to do.
Of course, there were some details to be worked out, such as when Kousuke and the others would make their move, but the adventurers were to stay where they were and wait.
At the time of planning, some of the merchants suggested that it would be better to head north, but this was quickly dismissed.
The reason was simple: there was a possibility that they would be targeted from behind.
If that were to happen, it would be difficult for Kousuke and his group to defend a town without sacrifices.
Even if Kousuke and his group were to defeat the monsters, there would still be leaks no matter how many they suppressed.
The adventurers would be responsible for dealing with the leaked monsters.
There was some talk that if they approached the northern town, they might be able to meet up with reinforcements from the northern town, but that was rejected for the same reason as the previous point.
It would be nice if they could immediately join the battle, but it was never that easy.
After all, if the monsters attacked them before they could join, the approaching group could also end up getting ambushed.
That was already to be expected since Bart noticed and said that they were “lured in”.
As a result, it was decided Kousuke and his group would be in-charge of killing monsters, while the escorting adventurers mainly defended the trading party and kill any of the monsters that leaked out from the main attack.
Kousuke and his group would be stationed a short distance away from the trading party.
The area where the trading party was currently based was a plain.
In contrast, the area where the monsters were located was in a forest, and Kousuke and his team were located right on the border between the plain and the forest.
Basically, they were intending to intercept any monsters that came out of the forest.
They were also planning to use powerful magic, so if there were any other adventurers in the area, there was a possibility for them to get caught in the middle of the attacks launched at the monsters.
Furthermore, there was another reason.
“Are you going to wait for them here?”
Layla was following along with Kousuke and his group.
Bart was busy commanding the convoy.
However, Bart, who had not fully grasped Kousuke and his group’s capabilities, had decided to at least let Layla follow them as a chaperone.
She was a very capable person herself, so Kousuke’s group did not think that she would be a hindrance, but it was also true that the addition of one more person with them would not really make much of a difference.
In short, it was a clear intention to use this opportunity to witness how good Kousuke and the others were.
Both Bart and Layla were open about it, as if they had no intention of hiding it.
Kousuke was not concerned about this as well, as he had no intention of hiding his power this time.
“Well, yes. It’s hard to deal with a large number of monsters inside a forest. We’ll wait here until they go out of the plains to some extent.”
“I see.”
Layla nodded honestly, as if she had no particular intention of objecting.
Whether she was leaving it completely up to them or testing them was to be questioned.
A few hours after Kousuke and the others set up camp.
“… They’re here.”
The forest was quiet.
It was the calm before the storm.
This time, the reconnaissance revealed that there were around two hundred monsters.
As expected with the usual floods, several types of monsters have been identified.
It was clear that these monsters were rushing toward the trading caravan.
“Well then, please start, I leave the opening to the two of you.”
Kousuke called out to Collete and Peach, who were standing nearby.
“Okay.”
“Yes, yes.”
“Nana, as well.”
“Wafu.”
Kousuke spoke to Nana and stroked her neck, and she wagged her tail before walking towards the entrance of the forest.
Nana, by the way, was not in Divine Beast mode.
This was partly because it was too conspicuous, but also because the monsters might run away if Nana gets serious.
Even though they were led by a leader species, if Nana, who was definitely superior to the leader species, showed her ability, the monsters might break away from that leadership.
That would become a problem.
And Layla, who was following Kousuke and the others, aimed to join the battle… but before she could, she witnessed a scene that was impossible to comprehend.
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“Leader, here they come!”
A report was delivered to Bart confirming that a group of monsters had come out of the forest.
Upon receiving the report, Bart immediately ran to check it out.
Looking at the situation, he saw that a group of monsters had indeed come out of the forest.
“? What happened to them?”
He could see monsters coming out of the forest, but there was no sign of a battle starting.
“No way, did they run away…”
One of the adventurers who was standing by muttered to himself.
Bart was about to say that was not the case, but he remained silent as he had no material to argue with.
If that were the case, Layla, who had accompanied them, might have been disposed of.
Of course, Bart was aware of this, but his position did not allow him to leave.
While Bart was inwardly worried, the situation was changing.
Just as the number of monsters that had emerged from the forest was about to exceed 50, a booming explosion was heard.
Naturally, the explosion was visible despite being so far away.
The surrounding adventurers were stunned by the sight.
No matter how much magic or divine power one used, any normal mage or adventure could never have created an explosion on the same magnitude as the one they just witnessed.
Unless, of course, if they were at the very top-rank of adventurers.
And not only once, but two or three more explosions followed as the same number of monsters came out of the forest.
“… Are you kidding me?”
An adventurer next to him muttered.
They had never heard of anyone who could cause so many explosions in rapid succession.
Even the top people that were just mentioned had to leave some interval in order to release their next spell.
“I see…”
Bart grunted, sounding convinced.
He understood why Gazeran would leave it to them.
Regardless of how large the explosion could be, it would not be possible to defeat every monster coming out without missing some of them.
“A group of monsters from the forest area came out, the number is 20!!!”
The convoy immediately started their fight as well.
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