I Reincarnated Into A Single-Celled Organism! - I Reincarnated into a Single-celled Organism! - Chapter 60

I pulled Mara from the tavern before the barkeep returned. We had already paid, so there was no reason to linger around. I already had a low opinion of a guy who would sell out someone who showed him kindness, so I had no desire to remain in this village a moment longer.

“What about supplies?” Mara asked, pointing down the street at the general store in the direction the barkeep had indicated earlier.

As I was hitching the horse up to the carriage, I gave her a side look. “You heard it yourself. There won’t be anything there, and what is there would be overpriced. If we waste any time checking, we might be caught by the returning mercenaries, and that would be inconvenient. It’s better to leave this town behind quickly.”

“The girl…” Mara still seemed to be worried about them, even though they were nowhere in sight.

“She’ll be fine. Part of the reason she left was to indicate to us to do the same,” I responded. “They likely have more people in their party. I suspect that these investigator parties don’t travel in groups so small, but enter cities in lower numbers to placate the local population.”

It was just a hunch, but her confidence came from more than just their paragon levels. She must have had backup just in case. It made sense to me given the dangers I had encountered that travelers were in groups similar to the knights who wiped out the farm, rather than the two investigators I encountered. However, they were just asking questions, and not assaulting a city, so it was only natural that they not create a panic by bringing in their entire force.

These guys were trying to find recently evolved paragons. If that paragon turned out to be an enemy and not a friend, they had to have some method of fighting them or at least escaping. In short, there was no reason to worry about them any further. I was more worried about ourselves. It wasn’t that I was scared of their numbers, but if I had to kill so many people, it would be noticed, and that would go against our aims.

After getting everything packed, we started heading west. The capital was about a month’s travel to the north, but that would be the direction that the investigators went as well as where the mercenaries were likely to meet them. It was best if we were as far away from them as possible. We could travel west for a bit and then turn north once we reached the next city and gained more supplies.

Once the village disappeared behind us, I started to feel better. I kept my senses on alert and continued to move quickly for several hours until Mara started to fatigue and the sun was beginning its descent. That’s when I became aware of a conflict in front of us. I continued to move forward slowly. I could sense a battle ahead.

“I hear something. Fighting?” Mara mentioned about five minutes later.

We were already close enough that I had a good idea of what was going on. I still wasn’t great at making out details at a distance, especially when it was strange locations and strange people. I had spent my time in a pond in one place, so although my senses could stretch quite a distance, they were limited to a consistent environment and familiar people. Compared to the chaotic scene of a battle, I just didn’t have experience.

“What are the chances?” I muttered.

Despite heading west instead of north, we ended up encountering Erika’s group anyway. It appeared like she had five more knights and another ten servants, making a grand total of eighteen. However, two of the knights were dead as well as half the servants. There was an army of about two hundred men surrounding their encampment, and the only reason they weren’t progressing was because there was some kind of forcefield around them that protected them from attack.

It emitted a lot of power, far more than the girl could use on her own, and must have been their secret weapon. It wouldn’t last forever though. I was already seeing signs that it wouldn’t last more than fifteen minutes. By my best guess, they had already been trapped for the last forty-five minutes as the mercenaries attacked them relentlessly with arrows, spears, and even spells.

“Why are you doing this?” A girl’s voice spread out, clearly amplified with magic to be heard. “We both work for Arcford.”

There was a moment of pause but then a harsh voice responded, similarly amplified. “You’re worth more to us than anything Lord Nikola can pay us. Besides, if we do a good job, he’ll surely overlook a couple of knights and some academy-trained twat.”

His men laughed and then renewed their attack. This wasn’t the bald guy from earlier, but another man with a bushy beard and black eyes. He looked rather imposing, and based on his mana level, I presumed he was the champion that ran this mercenary group.

“What do we do?” Mara whispered in my ear.

“We wait until their shield collapses. While the mercenaries and knights are killing each other, we’ll sneak around the edge.” I gestured.

“There was a clearing in front of us. There was no way the cart could be taken off-road, but there was a good three hundred yards. If we moved quickly while the mercenaries were distracted with the caravan, we could get passed them without being seen.”

“We’ll… let her die?” Mara asked.

Her voice didn’t hold pity. She had experienced too much to have much sympathy. In some ways, even she understood that the girl had stepped into this situation recklessly and overestimated her abilities, or at least the mercenary’s shamelessness. Our lives were more important than someone we met once. Well, Mara still looked on anxiously. She was young and foolhardy.

“She likely has some other means of escape,” I reassured her. “For emergencies.”

This was ultimately a lie, but I did see Mara calm down a bit. The pair of us remained watching the battle just out of sight from our hill. As I had predicted, the barrier came crashing down fifteen minutes later. The girl cried out as the flood of bandits came to meet not just the knights, but the servants who were also given weapons to defend themselves.

“Let’s go.”

We got into the cart and started moving quickly. The battle was noisy enough that the sound of our wheels wouldn’t be heard. Even the head of the mercenary group was busy battling one of the knights, so it was our best opportunity to get past. Even if they assumed we were coming this way, they would believe we were behind this group. So, once we made it passed them, we should be in the clear.

I had underestimated how well the knights held out. I had been basing it on the quality of the knights had seen take out the Tanner home versus the mercenaries in the bar. Based on the knight’s superior fighting prowess and equipment, I had expected them to hold out longer. However, some of the mercenaries appeared to be trained too, and the leader in general didn’t seem any weaker than their best knight. Adding to that their sheer numbers and the convoy were quickly overtaken.

The girl had surprisingly been the most effective of all of them. Erika was casting spells from behind, and every spell that landed either killed or knocked someone out. At least thirty mercenaries had been knocked out by her barrage of attacks. However, as the front line began to crumble and she witnessed her servants being killed one after another, it was clear she was beginning to panic. Her spells came slower, and with that, the mercenaries grew bolder.

“Erika!” The last standing knight cried out as the mercenary leader fought him. “Run!”

She had backed up to the carriage as two female servants in front of her were stripped of their weapons, and soon their clothing. They were pulled back into the pass of mercenaries, and most likely to some miserable fate.

At this point, we were only two-thirds of the way to the other side. Like this, we could still easily be seen. I was watching the battle out of the corner of my eye with much unease. Then, as if by fate or disbelief, the girl seemed to notice us. I had been hoping she’d do some glorious distraction to allow us to escape, sacrificing her life in the process. However, she did something way less than expected.

“Ah! Help! Help us!” She cried out, even going so far as to amplify her voice.

With the last of her party down, all of the men had been roaming around looking for spoils, but her sudden cry naturally drew their attention. Suddenly, the eyes of over a hundred mercenaries turned to the two of us. This is why humans were the worst.