1125: Transport Mission, Final Day

Fran’s boot camp, day five.

We’re scheduled to arrive at our destination at the front line today. The volunteers underwent no more strenuous jogging, making them the splitting image of a normal transport squad.

Well, Fran was still calling them “worse-than-goblins” and they continued following the weird rule of adding “curry” to the end of every sentence.

At the very least, no one in the squad had any malice or hostility though. Their attitude toward work was now much more serious.

Gone was the image of troublemakers who would cause commotion even before deploying, and they were replaced by slightly rough-faced soldiers. Everyone moved briskly, spoke clearly, and obeyed Fran’s orders absolutely.

No one performed selfish actions, and there were no more fights or trouble. Rather, they even encouraged and helped each other.

Honestly, it’s like they’ve all been reborn as different people. I doubt any of them will get thrown back into reeducation by Maleficent.

As for the matter of Fran’s rank though, it might be too early to say for sure.

It seems this long and eventful transport mission was not about to end without some additional trouble near the end.

（Master, something’s coming.）

『There’s a lot of them, and moreover…』

（Evil energy.）

『Yeah.』

A group approached us without any attempt to hide their hostility. Considering how they charged directly at our convoy, they were clearly targeting us.

At first I thought they might be Raydoss scouts, but apparently not. The entire group radiated an aura of evil.

They didn’t even seem like people, so I’m guessing they’re a horde of fiends. Not to mention the strength of the aura. They clearly weren’t small fry like goblins or kobolds.

『No way we can outrun them.』

（Nn. I’ll intercept.）

We’re up against a hostile force radiating evil energy in the middle of enemy territory, so we better get ready for battle. Fran instructed the soldiers to prepare themselves as well.

「Something’s coming. Protect the wagons!」

「「「Yes, Captain! Curry!」」」

They’re still saying it at a time like this… Well, whatever, I guess that’s a sign of their sincerity.

「Maleficent, Persona, help them if things get dangerous.」

「Well, I suppose it’s an emergency.」

「…」

As expected, he didn’t try to argue that this wasn’t a chore at such a critical moment. We should be able to handle whatever comes our way with their support.

Fran’s equivalent to Rank A, plus we got one Rank A and one Rank B adventurer.

Rather than continuing forward, we waited on a plain with few obstructions. The group in question revealed themselves after about ten minutes.

（Undead.）

『Yeah, and the center one is particularly strong.』

（Nn.）

We found ourselves facing off with a pack of about 20 undead. However, all of them were Genocide Ghouls, the highest rank of ghoul. The ghoul at the center of the pack radiated an overwhelming amount of evil energy.

Simply being in the presence of such evil energy was enough to drain the color from the soldiers’ faces.

I doubt they’re anything less than Threat Level B. Maybe they could even reach A if that evil energy is as powerful as I think it is.

Enough to collapse a small country. How can they simply show up out of nowhere like this?

The Black Skeleton Corps are the obvious culprits, but where did this evil energy come from? Did they develop some kind of technique for strengthening undead with evil energy?

Perhaps this pack was given the job of hunting down Rank A adventurers.

Fran shouted at the undead rushing at us.

「Stop right there! Come any closer and we’ll consider you enemies!」

Regardless of how pointless a warning would be, it’d be good to at least find out their objective. That’s why we decided to attempt a conversation, but then…

The undead suddenly paused in their tracks.

Eh? After all that hostility?

However, it seems our warning was not what made them stop.

『They’re trying to cast magic!』

「Commence long-range attack!」

「「「Curry!」」」

Thus, the fighting began without any chance to get info. An exchange of spells and arrows, along with a few thrown stones, flew between the two sides.

However, neither of us could decide the battle at this range. As expected from max rank ghouls, they were capable of potent death poison magic. Meanwhile, Fran’s restoration magic and Maleficent’s wide-range barriers prevented such spells from having much effect.

That said, the ghouls protected themselves with barriers of evil energy, so our attacks were equally ineffective. No matter how many of Fran or Persona’s spells hit them, the barrier reduced their power so much that regeneration was easy.

Despite a ranged exchange of several minutes, neither side took any losses.

Of course, the next step was melee combat.

The Genocide Ghouls weaved their way through our barrage and came rushing down on us, all 20 of them concentrated in a single spot.

『Fran, they’re after you!』

「Nn!」

Did they notice that she was the captain? Or perhaps they were smart enough to target the healer first?

However, it seems both of my guesses were wrong.

「GRAH! Girl, hand over the divine artifact!」

「Artifact?」

Huh, “divine artifact”? That’s his target?

「There it is! The divine artifact belongs in our hands!」

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