On our way back, we traveled the same road, and without drawing attention, Kurone caught up with me.
"Krito, I don't know how to say this..." Kurone communicated telepathically, ensuring no one could eavesdrop on us.
"Do you think someone is following us?"
"Yes, but I can't pinpoint their location precisely."
"Can they hide their presence from your abilities?"
"Have you forgotten that I can attune to a person if they are open, but these people are doing everything to conceal their presence."
"Then it must be them. How long have they been trailing us?"
"Since the Baron's castle, only. They vanished when we entered the village."
"So either they decided not to bother us or they are preparing an ambush."
"Then I'll let the others prepare for an attack."
"That might cause some problems... Hilda doesn't trust me, so I can't convey my thoughts to her."
"Well, hopefully, it won't cause us too much trouble."
Not far from the main road, our path was blocked by a fallen tree. Not too original, but quite effective trap.
"Well, it seems the tree fell on its own," I commented, playing along with the situation. I dismounted my horse and approached the ancient trunk. "And it doesn't look like it rotted from the inside."
The others hurriedly followed me with caution.
"Sometimes trees fall naturally," Asura said calmly, coming up to me and grabbing her katana, ready for an attack.
"Come on, let me handle it myself," Hilda declared as she pulled an axe from the wagon and deftly jumped to the ground, preparing to strike.
"Go back to the wagon!" I tried to stop the girl, but unaware of our plans, she acted as she pleased.
"Oh, come on, I don't want to be just a servant forever. I'll show my strength right now by turning it into splinters," Hilda announced confidently.
"Tch, looks like I'll have to stop her," Ragni said, also dismounting and heading towards the determined Valkyrie.
"Yeah, just be careful," Vina said nonchalantly as she leaned against the edge of the wagon when it suddenly shook. "Hey, who's shaking the wagon?"
Hilda turned around and saw a small figure in tight black clothing, covering their whole body except for a narrow strip around the eyes.
"What the..." The stranger jabbed a thin needle into the merchant's hand, and she lost consciousness.
"Get out of here!" Ragni leaped into the air and pounced on the wagon. But the stranger swiftly grabbed whatever was at hand and, with a nimble jump, leaped into the forest: "He stole the girls' bow and spear!"
Silence fell in the woods.
"Ragni, grab our weapons and come back to us!" I ordered, and as soon as she reached our group, knives and arrows flew from all sides.
Rizel raised her staff, and an invisible wall repelled all the attacks. As the barrage ceased, the girl fell to her knees.
"Riz, are you okay?"
"This is more challenging than defending myself. I need time to recover my strength."
"Grain!"
"Ready!" The mage struck the ground with his fists, and two walls appeared on either side of the road. At that moment, a new volley of metal projectiles collided with the stone and scattered in different directions. Startled by the clang of metal, the horses bolted and ran away, leaving only the ones hitched to the wagon behind.
"Well, they certainly don't lack ammunition," judging by the number of salvos, there were at least twenty enemies here, but they needed time to prepare for a new attack.
"Hmm?" Rizel picked up one of the thrown projectiles and examined it in the light. "There's something here."
The necromancer licked the blade and tasted what covered it.
"It's poisoned," the girl grimaced from the bitterness, briefly sticking out her tongue and continued, "the poison won't kill you, but it will knock you out for a couple of hours."
"So, they weren't trying to kill us," I pondered.
"Then let's show them some leniency," Katrina smiled warmly at me. "Do you have any ideas on how to deal with them without unnecessary casualties?"
"Yes, Kurone, can you locate them?"
"I'm trying, but there are too many attack directions, and someone is still hiding from me quite well."
Following a series of metallic clangs from behind the walls, there was a faint hiss, followed by powerful explosions.
"They seem to have explosives too; our defense won't last long," I warned.
"Kurone, don't try to find those who aren't here," Asura assessed the location of the reflected daggers. "There are no more than five attackers."
"It's impossible; with so many throws..." I didn't get to finish my sentence.
"Trust me, there aren't that many of them. They're distracting us, making us think there are more of them than us. Out of all the throwing knives, only twenty were aimed at us. Five people could easily throw them, while the rest was done using traps."
"Well, if you say so," I closed my eyes and focused on the thoughts of the attackers. "Two on the left side of the road, at seven and ten o'clock, and two on the right at three and five. Wait, those in the center are sitting together on one tree. Judging by their height, they are all on the upper branches of the trees."
"Excellent. Ragni, Katrina, Leira, and Rizel, we need to bring them down with one strike. Levris, prepare a soft landing for our guests."
Kurone directed the girls to their targets, and as soon as the next wave of attacks subsided, Grain lowered the protection. Lightning and flashes of flame struck the bases of the tree trunks, and they began to fall onto the road. Figures in black clothing lost their foothold and landed on the ground, where they were met by Levris's sand traps. The first three figures were successfully caught, but the last two noticed their trapped comrades and, pushing off from a falling trunk, leaped onto neighboring trees.
"How did we get caught like this?" The smaller figure turned to the remaining comrade.
"Lady, we clearly underestimated them. Retreat; I'll hold them off."
"I won't leave without the others!"
"The most important thing is for you not to get caught. I'll try to free the rest; hurry away."
"Sorry for leaving all the tough stuff to you again."
The smaller black figure dashed away from the battlefield.
"That's their leader," Asura quickly approached the attackers, and the larger figure blocked her sword with his shorter blade. The second attacker quickly withdrew, and there was no time to waste. "Off the road!"
"I won't let you pass to the lady," the larger attacker had a deep male voice, and his blade resembled a smaller katana.
"I don't have time for this!" Asura leaped back and, with a katana swing, created an ice ramp in front of the opponent. Gaining speed, she jumped over the obstacle and dropped her cloak on the enemy to prevent him from stopping her.
"Asura-sama..." Seeing the girl hiding under the mantle, the man ceased his resistance and simply watched the retreating figures.
"I see you're acquainted," I cautiously approached the opponent and, making a sign of familiarity, offered him to surrender his weapons.
"Something like that. If she's with you, there's no point in further resistance," the fighter sat on the ground and planted his blade next to him.
"I'll follow Asura. Kurone, show me the way."
"Please, give them some time to figure everything out," with these words, the man let me go on the chase.
I ran as fast as I could, but still couldn't catch up with the chase. Luckily, they stopped about a mile and a half away, and I hid in the bushes at a small clearing to observe how events would unfold.
A petite figure in black clothing stood with her back to Asura. It seemed like they were about to talk, but there was a thirst for blood in the air.
"Yuki-chan, is that you?" Asura called out to the bandits.
"Shut up! You have no right to address me that way!" The person in black turned around and removed her mask. It was a tiny girl with two braids and eyes and hair of the same delicate blue color as Asura's.
"I came to help you," Asura tried to justify herself, but the girl looked at her with contempt.
"A fine way to help, bringing hired killers here, hired by the baron. Perhaps you'd like to plunge a blade into my heart yourself?"
"I didn't come for that. I want to help you."
"Enough of these excuses! If you want to fight, then fight!" The girl rushed into an attack, holding a short katana-like blade in one hand and reaching for a pouch on her belt with the other.
"Stop!" Asura didn't fully draw her katana and blocked the attack. "I don't want to fight."
The girl pushed off from the katana and, somersaulting backward, jumped into the air. Taking a knife from the pouch, she threw it at the swordswoman with lightning speed and charged towards her.
"I said I don't want to fight!" Asura evaded the attack and blocked the opponent's sword lunge.
The girl held her small blade in one hand and tried to strike the swordsman's face with her free hand. Asura dodged, but it was a deceptive move to deliver a real blow, kneeing the swordsman in the stomach. Asura bent over in pain, but it wasn't the end. The assailant backflipped, hitting the swordsman's face with her foot.
Asura sprawled on the ground, and drops of blood appeared at the corners of her lips from the impact. Despite this, she managed to stagger to her feet.
"What is this? You used to be much more agile, little sister," the girl in black just referred to Asura as her sister!
"I told you I only want to talk!" Despite her words, an aura of hatred emanated from the swordswoman.
"You've become so annoying!" The girl reached into her pouch and pulled out two gray spheres. "Stop wasting my time."
She ignited the small fuses on the spheres and threw them at her opponent. Judging by the hissing sound, these were the same bombs that destroyed Grain's barrier. I couldn't just stand there and watch.
"Asura, get out of here!" I rushed towards the girl, but she paid no attention to my words.
Pulling her blade back, Asura swiftly unsheathed it, and a powerful icy wave froze the bombs in mid-air.
"So that's how it is..." The girl in black hid her blade back in its sheath. "New abilities and new friends. You have nothing left to do here."
The girl's eyes flashed with a white glimmer, and she exhaled a large cloud of white mist. In the next moment, she disappeared.