“My name is Leroy Lowery, and I’m the one who hired all of you to ensure my safety,” a middle-aged man with graying hair said as he gazed at the faces of the students of the academy.
“Although I have my own bodyguards, it never hurts to have extra Wizards and Witches accompanying my convoy. The roads are not as safe as they once were, and Merchants like me can only hope that we don’t get robbed on our journey. 𝑜𝓥𝑙xt.𝒸𝑶𝓂
“I have faith that, although all of you are still young, you have the ability to ensure my safety. Don’t worry. My bodyguards are capable of fighting bandits and mercenaries. What I am wary about are rogue Mages, and that is where you students will step in.”
Leroy glanced at the students of Brynhildr Academy and gave them a brief nod.
“We will be traveling with five carriages,” Leroy continued his explanation. “My daughter and I will be in the middle carriage. If possible, I want you to split your group so that we will have defenders in the front and the rear.
“The two other carriages will be carrying my wares. Since we are traveling by carriage, it will take us two weeks to reach Roselake City. I hope that during that time, all of you will do your job as is written in the commission that I presented in the academy. Do you have any questions?”
A minute of silence passed before Leroy nodded his head in understanding.
“Since you don’t have any questions, let us start our journey once you have decided which team will protect the front and rear of our formation. We leave in half an hour.”
Leroy then walked towards the middle carriage and boarded it.
The Merchant’s bodyguards then discussed with the students, and after a brief discussion, it was decided that the team forming a Quatro would be in the head carriages, while Ethan, Chloe, Nicole, and Lily would be guarding the rear carriage.
Half an hour later, the convoy left Limeburgh Town and traveled North East.
“This is your first escort mission, right?” Lily asked Ethan, who was watching the scenery through the carriage window.
“Yes,” Ethan replied as he glanced at the cutest First Year of the Academy, who was looking back at him with a mischievous smile on her face.
“It’s too bad that we weren’t able to talk properly last time,” Lily commented. “Although it is late, I want to apologize for the things that my Manor Mates did to you. I didn’t ask them to do that. I’m sorry.”
Ethan nodded his head in understanding. He had a feeling that Lily really didn’t have any connection to the people who had tried to ambush him in their meeting place.
If not for the fact that Koko made an appearance, he might have been beaten black and blue by Lily’s fans club.
“Since we are already on this topic, may I ask why you asked to meet me in private back then?” Ethan inquired.
Lily gave Chloe a sidelong glance before acting in a bashful way.
“The truth is, I wanted to confess to you back then,” Lily replied. “Ethan, will you be my boyfriend?”
Chloe, who was seated beside Ethan, calmly flipped the page of the book that she was reading. It was as if Lily’s attempt to make her jealous didn’t have any effect.
“You want me to be your boyfriend?” Ethan smiled. “Sorry, but I have no intention of being your boyfriend. I already have people I care for.”
“Oh? You said people?” Lily arched an eyebrow and grinned. “So you like more than one person?”
The cute girl was smiling as if getting rejected by Ethan wasn’t a big deal for her.
Clearly, she was just joking when she asked him to become her girlfriend. Ethan and Chloe knew this too, so they didn’t take her seriously.
However, the handsome teenager’s reply piqued Lily’s curiosity.
“Let’s say one of those people is Chloe,” Lily stated. “Then the other one can only be Luna, right?”
Ethan didn’t answer and simply returned to silently watching the scenery outside of the carriage. He had no intention of playing along with Lily, even if her guess was correct.
“Oh my~ he’s not answering,” Lily giggled. “Still, you are quite the player, Ethan. You prefer to hold two beauties by your side, instead of sticking to one like most people do.”
Nicole, who was sitting beside Lily, only smiled as she eyed Ethan and Chloe, who seemed to be dead set on ignoring Lily’s taunts.
“How far have the two of you gone?” Lily inquired. “Did Ethan secure First Base already?”
Chloe flipped the page of her book, while Ethan continued to watch the scenery outside of the carriage. No matter what questions Lily asked, the two never paid her any attention, let alone answer her.
Of course, Ethan had already secured First Base, not just once, but several times already. However, they didn’t need to say this out loud because it would only make Lily tease them nonstop.
After several minutes of silence, the cute girl stretched her arms and sighed.
“Che~ how booooring~” Lily shook her head before looking outside of the carriage window. “I just hope that this journey will not be as boring as these two lovebirds in front of me.”
An hour before sunset, the carriages stopped because Leroy ordered them to set camp for the night.
The students of the academy bought travel rations with them, which was one of the recommended items to be brought when completing long missions.
But Leroy had brought a cook on their journey, who was responsible for everyone’s meals. Although the dish the cook prepared was simple, it was enough for everyone to feel full.
When it was time to sleep, the Bodyguards and the students of the academy assigned several people to do the Night Watch, while others rested.
They would take turns every four hours, to ensure that everyone could get some decent sleep.
Fortunately, nothing happened, so the journey continued smoothly the next day.
This time, Ethan’s group was assigned to guard the front of the convoy, while the other students guarded the rear.
Just like the first day, nothing happened, but they didn’t let their guard down.
On the third day, they noticed a group of carriages traveling in the opposite direction.
The owner of the envoy of carriages was also a Merchant and was a good acquaintance of Leroy’s. Because of this, the latter warned them about the group of bandits that had attacked them four days ago.
“We managed to fend them off, but you guys should still be careful,” the Merchant said. “Those bandits have two wizards in their group. If not for the fact that we had four on our side, they might have managed to overwhelm us with their magic spells.”
“Don’t worry, I also have Wizards and Witches with me,” Leroy replied. “I’m sure that they are more than enough to handle a few rogue Mages.”
The Merchant eyed the students that were wearing the robes of the academy and shook his head.
“Although you have several Wizards and Witches, they are still too young,” the Merchant stated. “You should have hired Third or Fourth Years since they are more than capable of handling this kind of threat. You are still as stingy as ever, Leroy. One of these days, you will pay for this bad habit of yours.”
Leroy coughed lightly because his friend was right. Hiring Third and Fourth Years cost more, so he decided to just settle for First Years.
“It’s fine, my friend,” Leroy patted the other Merchant’s shoulder. “Although they are still young, I believe they have what it takes to deal with those bandits. It’s just two wizards right? We win in terms of quantity alone, so we will make short work of them.”
The Merchant snorted before shaking his head. “It’s your call. Just be careful. We managed to kill a few bandits, but you know the saying—if there’s one bandit, there’s more.”
After talking to Leroy for a few minutes, the two merchants went their separate ways.
However, now that they knew that there was danger up ahead, they decided to be more vigilant.
They also came up with a strategy just in case an ambush was waiting for them in the location where the Merchant was ambushed by the group of bandits, who had Wizards among their ranks.