"Allow me to share first." Helene took the initiative to be the first to share her view. Anything that she shared had to be taken seriously since the two people she approached were heavily injured.
Hespar simply nodded at her request. There's no point making things too rigid out here. After all, they're no longer on the academy premises.
"One of the two I've attended was the owner of this merchant's convoy. During treatment, I was informed that the cause of this was because one of the guards was slacking when clearing the goblins sneaking nearby."
"Perhaps this was the cause why their convoy was overwhelmed when they relaxed. This convoy's total number of people was supposed to be five non-combatants and five combatants. But from what I've seen... Only three guards and four civilians survived the attack." Selene finished what she wanted to say.
Her view was right on the money. The answer she got was the same as what was reported by Terry, Alex, and Sean.
"Victor, Rory... Anything from your side?" Hespar asked. He knew that out of the three remaining guards, the two attended a guard each. As for the third guard, he was the one talking to Hespar earlier as they approached the convoy.
"The two guards were slightly injured. We've applied some recovery salves on them, so they should be recovering now. Both of them are likely able to walk after a night of sleep." Victor spoke on behalf of himself and Rory.
"As for the monsters, we've killed three Blood Slimes and two Forest Goblins," Rory added. It seems that the 27 kills they needed were down to 22. As long this trend continues, getting the number of kills they need shouldn't be a problem.
"Good. Anything else can I expect from the others?" Hespar's attention arrived on Ashley and Paul. The two also shared their opinion and view, and quickly enough, everyone agreed to make this place a service station for now and see how it would go.
With Ashley around to arrange how their camp would be positioned, Hespar had Terry, Alex, and Sean stay to help the support team. Meanwhile, he went out to hunt with Victor and Rory.
Foraging for goods wasn't their priority, but monsters.
Hespar had no idea that his Aura was manifesting itself the more he concentrated on being a leader. Still, nothing tops the output speed than during a battle.
"Victor, support Rory! I'll take over that Forest Goblin from you!" Hespar said. He already made his move before finishing the sentence. The sword quickly pierced through the goblin's throat in less than a breather after Victor turned his attention to Rory.
"Yargh!" swinging his slightly heavy sword at the Forest Goblins that kept Rory busy, Victor forced the monsters back. This allowed Rory to take advantage of the situation and catch a breath before attacking again.
Although this was the first time they fought together as a team, their synchronization was no weaker than a party that had fought together for years. Even the trio themselves were puzzled by how this could happen to them.
Since no one amongst them could utilize Aura in battle, the possibility of being supported by it doesn't come into mind.
Hespar could only assume that they're just compatible with one another. But when the two tried to take the lead, the result was disastrous. Victor almost caught Hespar in his attack, attempting to do what Hespar did earlier.
A few more battles later, the trio agrees that Hespar had to be the one to lead the fight to obtain the positioning benefits. It just doesn't feel as synchronized as it was at first unless Hespar was the person giving out the order.
A few hours later, the trio returned with some valuable parts taken off the monsters. Components like the nucleus of Blood Slime and Forest Goblin's heart are invaluable in medicine and alchemy.
Of course, as invaluable as they are, one has to have the necessary skill to process them to be practical. Or else these loots would be nothing but a pile of collected scrap.
"We're just waiting for you to start our dinner," Paul said. It seemed that he had been busy preparing the food enough for sixteen people for the whole afternoon. While preparing the food, he also didn't forget to allocate some of the meat and forest goods gathered earlier for tomorrow.
"We've checked our surroundings. It should be safe for us to rest here for the night. There's also a water source nearby, and the three of us had collected a few bottles of clean water to drink."
"If there's nothing, let's have dinner and get to rest. Terry, I'll be bothering you and Alex to take the first shift tonight. Sean and Victor will take the second, while Rory and I will be on the third until sunrise." Hespar said and received the bowl of soup from Paul's hand.
"As for the people from the merchant's convoy, feel free to help if you see fit. We're fine if everyone needs additional rest before heading to the Lavos Village tomorrow," Hespar added before blowing some air at the bowl.
The level of maturity he gave the adults exceeded the other fifteen years old here. Some even felt that they were talking to a 100-men squad leader candidate.
As there's nothing much for them to argue, everyone nodded in agreement to Hespar's suggestion and went to rest when it was getting darker.
There was occasional noise coming from the nearby forest, but nothing came up and surprised Alex and Terry. Ashley and Selene also wake up in between to give the boys a short break they deserve, further taking away the worries from the adult guards.
"This group of trainees is so disciplined. Do you think they're all like this, or we're just lucky to stumble across the top candidates of their class?" asked one of the guards.
"I'm sure that not all of them are like this. Don't forget that I graduated from my village's academy three years ago. Even the top trainee from my village is not as good as that leader." another guard chipped into the conversation.
"How do you know if they're comparable or not? I heard that you're positioned in the bottom half of your class, right?" the first guard laughed. But he dared not to overdo it, afraid that his wound would open again from laughing too loud.
While these people minded their own business, Hespar had a private discussion with the merchant who owned this convoy.
"I owe you and that little lass my life." the merchant started their conversation with thanks. If Hespar and his group didn't approach the convoy in the morning, he would likely lose his life due to the excessive bleeding from a knife wound.
"Still, I'm curious about why all of you are outside here. Don't you know the wilderness is dangerous at night?" the merchant added. He might not be a fighter, but he had his own share of experience in the wild as a traveling merchant.
"We're out here to complete our final exam. While we're mentioning this, I do have a small request. Would you be kind enough to deliver the proof of my team's subjugation back to our academy when you entered the Lavos Village?" Hespar politely asked.
The additional section on the mission card stated that they're expected to kill three monsters per member, which is twenty-seven in total. Since they had collected fourteen monster's parts today, it's natural to ask if the convoy could deliver the goods back on their behalf.
Furthermore, Hespar also needed the merchant's business stamp as proof he's assisted and provided help to this convoy. He would need a minimum of three for their group to be considered to pass the first task.
As for how the points were given out, it would be according to how the convoy leader communicates with the teacher handling the records.
"Of course! This is nothing but a small matter. I can see that you're planning to use this location to build a small service station too. Perhaps, you might be interested in the products I'm transporting?" the merchant agreed immediately to Hespar's request.
At the same time, he seemed to be looking around his carriage for certain goods.
"There it is." the merchant tapped on the chest beside the one Hespar sits. He's hinting at Hespar to open the box based on his gesture.
"Here you go, sir." Hespar did as he was told. After removing the tightly closed lid, Hespar had his hand on one of the six packages stuffed inside. The weight of the wrapped package is quite dense, considering its mass of about a loaf of bread.
"No. You can have it. This prototype monster deterrence powder is produced by processing a kind of insect monster found in the Fennis Empire. I was lucky to get my hand on a few boxes, but perhaps this item is why this carriage survived the attack." said the merchant.
"This item is too expensive to be given to us, sir. Furthermore, we're just here for a few days, so I doubt we had a use for..." a disturbing noise came as Hespar refused to accept the monster deterrence powder as a gift.
"Help! Anyone! It's a monster attack!" the noise was coming from afar, along with the noise from the horse. There's also the sound of something dragging on the ground.
All of these hinted to Hespar that the noise doesn't come from their camp but outside. And as guessed, another convoy is on its way over, with shadows of Forest Wolves chasing from behind.
"Get ready for battle!" Hespar shouted. His voice was clear and precise, and it sounded like Hespar was speaking right beside them.