Jade eyes that glowed faintly in the darkness stared at me… while the other frightened kidnapped children gathered around the female Elf.

“Diruretoruze giaru zuikutosu.” (… You are scaring the children.)

I could generally guess what she is trying to say, and she could understand me through telepathy, but… It’s still hard to communicate because I can’t understand what she’s saying. Since I don’t know Elvish or their written language, it’s impossible to communicate through writing either.

“Uon, guruguaaann!” [Alright, let’s just leave it for now!]

Aside from the bindings on her limbs, she was fitted with a demon-sealing collar that was connected to a sorcerer who had committed a crime, so she posed no threat if we moved around with her and the other captives. Besides, my Commander during my mercenary days often said that a swift retreat was essential after a raid.

Having decided that I would leave it for now, I turned to one of the slavers we captured and pointed my Curved Sword at one of them.

“Hiuh!”

“Gugaoru voruou garuau.” [Who was guarding this carriage?]

“Oh, it’s me and him, plus one of those guys you cut down.”

In other words, there are two horse-drawn carriages we can use… Since we need to transport the kidnapped victims and the captured slavers, we’ll have to discard the one packed with luggage.

Anyway, the covered carriage could normally carry around five people, but it can board until 6 people if we were to force the horses.

In contrast, if you exclude the two coach drivers from the merchant’s men, there would be four of them, and for the rescue side, there are 7 which are composed of the captured children, the Werecat mother and child, the village girl, and the mysterious Elf.

(Now, so that I could make sure that these coachmen don’t run away with their master, I think it would be best to have these hooligans ride with Blazer and me in one carriage and have the children ride on the other one…)

After thinking for a while, I decided to have the Werecat mother and ride with the mysterious Elf instead.

“Lilia, come here.”

“Okay, mama!”

“Tsk…”

The Werecat mother, Esther, stopped moving and winced in pain as she carried her daughter while transferring to the other carriage… the wound on her right shoulder must be sore.

“Kuua.” [Lancer.]

“Wonn, gurua.” (On it, Boss.)

In response to my call, the Spear-wielding Kobold jumps into the carriage and presses the tip of her white paw on the Werecat woman’s right shoulder.

“Kyuaruo, kuruaon.” (Ease her worries, Healing Light.)

“Ah…”

The warm, white light that came out of Lancer’s palm lighted up the inside of the carriage for a moment then disappeared.

“T-thank you, Ms. Kobold.”

Esther adjusted her hold on her daughter and hugged her child tightly against her bosom to prevent her from seeing the casualties outside and hopped onto the carriage beside the one they were on.

It might be a bit cramped, since there were four children including Lilia, the mysterious Elf, Esther, plus me who would be joining them later.

“Guu gaoruan… Wauuh!” [Now, all that’s left is loading them on the carriage, huh… Ax!]

“Wauoann.” (Heave-ho!)

“Sh-shit!”

Ax throws the fat merchant and four of his men who have been lightly treated for injuries into the empty wagon, leaving the Merchant’s two coachmen who would be driving the carriages.

“Garuo waoon.” (You’re coming with us too, okay?)

“D-don’t t-touch me! M-my body is tingling all o-over!!”

The hired escort whose entire body became numb after being poisoned earlier writhes in agony as he was carried by Ax, but… a lone Fox girl watched the scene, waiting for an opportune moment.

Bzzt

“O-ouch, y-you…!!!”

“Kyu–n ♪” (Kya~~♪)

“Guuh, kuoruaan, guaou.” (Geez, stop it, Dagger.)

Slightly dismayed, Ax pushed the group of illegal slavers further into the wagon and asked Blazer to get in with them. 

“… Gugaruo.” (…This is just a precaution.)

As Blazer said so, he warned them again by attaching and tightening our prisoner’s restraints which we borrowed from the Slaver’s possessions even when their limbs were already tied with hemp rope… As always, this guy takes no risks.

And so, excluding me and Blazer, my other three companions were to keep strict watch of our surroundings and walk alongside the carriages.

(… I guess that settles it. As for water, we can get it from the river flowing alongside our path, and if it’s food, then there’s probably some game we can hunt by the water. As for the horses… it’s a bit time-consuming, but I guess we could let them graze for a bit.)

Besides, once we meet up with Wallace and the others, we can all fit into the carriages, and it would only take two days to get back to Selkram and we also have a bit of food stored in there.

After briefly gathering my thoughts, I checked the horses that were tied to a tree not far from here and turned to look at one of the men in merchant’s clothes who was sitting on the ground.

“Gauoorua, gauruofu… woaoru voruuoaoon.” [Bring the horses here and connect them to the carriages… But if you try to run, then I can’t guarantee your safety.]

“I-I got it!”

To make my point, I took my arrow and loaded it up, and slightly pointed it at the guy.

“Hiii! I-I already said I won’t run!”

And with that, the merchant guy approached the horses… and attached half of them to the carriage that Blazer boarded first.

Following that, I had my sister unbind the other guy with her dagger, and made him sit on the driver’s seat.

“Waoan, guaruowan.” [Blazer, keep an eye on them.]

“Wafu, wooann, gurua.” (Yeah, leave it to me, Leader.)

As Blazer positioned himself behind the man who held the reins, he held his long, black Sword in a way that he can readily pull it out at any moment. Meanwhile, the merchantman attached a second horse to the carriage, and the covered carriage that the long, skinny Kobold rode in was finally ready to go.

As the horses were being connected to the second carriage, I instructed Esther to temporarily hold the reins.

“U-um, I, I haven’t handled horses before!” 

“Guoaooon, garuoafa kuruuo woaooouu!” [If they start to move, just pull on their reins using the force of your upper body and lean backward!]

That’s how the horses are disciplined to stop.

While the Werecat mother became flustered and made a “hawawawah” sound, the horses are connected, and the rest of the preparations on the carriage is finished.

At that point, I also boarded the carriage and urged the merchant to sit on the driver’s seat and take over from her after connecting the horses to the carriage.

“Kuua, guaou, gurugaou gaaarugau woruooon.” [Lancer, Dagger, let the rest of the tied horses go.]

“Gauah, woruaan.” (Alright, let’s get this over with quickly.)

“Kuu, waofuaaan, kuan.” (Then I’m going for a bit, big brother.)

Finally, after releasing the remaining horses and leaving the scene, we will be meeting with Wallace and the others in the morning and returning together to the Royal Capital… Also, I’d like to at least check the identity of the White Elf who stared at me from time to time during the whole trip.