With the most immediate—and most actionable—course of action set, Sanae felt it best to actually
call upon one of the merchants the group was so apt to inquire for information on the state of the world rather than simply speak about it. With every topic of note in hand (or, at the very least, the intent to ask about them), the green-haired girl poked her head into the nearest caravan occupant (one
not occupied with driving a carriage, obviously) and asked if anyone was free to answer a few questions that the group had.
To her surprise, though, it was the merchant that she had first asked about taking them here that had answered her call. The man seemed to still be somewhat reticent with regards to the group as a whole, but given how Syldon had managed to convince him...
Maybe there was some merit to seeing if he answered at all?
Having made his way to the back of the wagon he was seated within, the older man regarded the group with silence as they relayed to him, in no meaningful order, their questions.
"Mmm... Well, the Raven Heralds have been pushing more towards the east as of late, so I'm not sure why they would attack a frontier town," he would begin to say, "but hell if I know what the king of Eiderheim's plans are. I guess I should be stocking up on some more arms if they're preparing an offensive south, though... Well, regardless, the information's greatly appreciated."
The question as to the commonality of their strengths and abilities, however, did cause the man to pause and reflect for a little bit.
"Mmm... Well, I didn't really see you all go at it, but with how thoroughly I hear you all went at beating my hired help into the ground, you might be... Fairly rare as far as talent goes? Of course, I've heard tall tales of adventurers and heroes all my life, and the stuff the bards sing about is pretty outlandish even at the best of times... But maybe I just haven't been lucky enough to see them."
Regardless of his feelings on the matter, the merchant at least seemed to be willing to humor the otherworlders' other questions, provided they had any more he could meaningfully answer.
The next days came and went more or less without incident. Traveling along the dirt roads by foot was, to some, agonizingly slow—Sanae chief among them, given how she had been used to both mechanical vehicles
and flight as regular forms of transportation until now—but with no apparent dangers ambushing them day
or night, the young woman had no real reason to complain.
Well, no, maybe the meals could have been better; she was already beginning to miss the ever-essential staples of rice and eggs, and having to make due with rations meant for long-distance travel did her semi-modern palate no favors.
Though she was prepared for yet another day of mild boredom on the road, the abrupt halt of the caravan caused the young woman—who, at this point, had been riding on the back of one of the wooden carriages—to poke her head out to see what was wrong. Being near the rear as she was, though, finding out the
cause of their sudden halt would mean poking around to see what the issue was.
More than ready for a bit of stimulation now, the shrine maiden quickly leaped out of the carriage and, after flying to the front where it seems the mercenaries had congregated, glanced around to see
why they were suddenly on-edge and ready for combat.
"Uh... Mr. Hest?" she asked as she glanced around. "...Is there an enemy nearby?"
"Yes, actually, though not one I've seen before," the older man said as he gestured lightly with his chin towards a nearby hill. "Some strange creatures that look like... I don't know, purple slimes with yellow eyes? Seem to be moving towards the area. There's a town a bit further ahead, but I'm not sure if we'd make it there in time to reinforce or would be walking into a deathtrap..."
There was a brief pause as he looked at the young woman floating in the air before promptly smacking himself on the head with his free hand.
"I'm an idiot. Hey, young miss, would you mind taking a look to see how bad the situation is?"
Before he could even turn to see if Sanae was willing to accommodate his requests, though, Syldon watched the young girl zip by over the hill to see what it was keeping the group from moving.
The situation was... Not particularly far off from what the man had described, as far as Sanae could tell. The place seemed like it would have been a quaint little hamlet, had it not been for the oncoming mass of monsters moving towards the town. The description he had given her wasn't particularly inaccurate; they did indeed look like
slimes with a pair of glowing yellow eyes, though it seemed that the man had failed to mention that they also didn't seem to be particularly
intact, either.
Oddly enough, though, there already seemed to be combat breaking out around the hamlet, as the monsters seemed to be facing off against a
massive, living tree brimming with spectral energy and a
blue-haired girl wielding a pair of scissors.
They seemed to be doing well enough at fending off the horde for the moment, but from the air it was clear that the number of enemies bearing down upon them could very easily wash over the town regardless of their efforts.
Now with a
slightly better view of the situation, Sanae quickly apprised both the mercenaries—and her other companions beside—of the situation at hand.
"Mmm... Well, that's rather concerning. With numbers like that, I'm not sure if we'd survive getting attacked head-on. Maybe we should retreat and find another way around..."
"Eh? But there are people down there—"
"Look, I know we brought you along because you and your friends were strong, but we're here to protect our clients, not play the hero," Syldon cut Sanae off with a stern look on his face. "You're welcome to act as you want, so long as you're not endangering the rest of us."
As he spoke, a few of the creatures seemed to be moving
around the hills and towards the group—a fact which did the group absolutely no favors.
"All right, you guys! Don't panic and start moving the caravan around! There aren't enough of them coming at us right now, so get those things turned around while we stall! If things get too rough, abandon the goods! Better to live at a loss than die greedy!"
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