"Keep in formation!!"
"Healer!! Healer!! We need a healer on this side!"
"They are attacking on this side! Help!! We need help over here!!"
"Deal with it yourselves!! We can't send people over every time you get attacked!!"

Don't be selfish over there!! You already have mercenary escorts defending your wagon!! Tch, this is why third generation young masters are annoying.

I thought chatterbox was wimpy but compared to this guy, he is much more brave and admirable. At the very least, chatterbox put in effort to fix his flaws and faced his fears.

"Brill!! Look out!"

*Catch*

"I know, I know, sorry about that. I wasn't paying attention."
"Then stop looking at others and start looking at the enemy!"
"Ease off me a bit, I'm new to this kind of thing."
"In this situation, if I ease off a bit then people might die. Now focus!!"

We are almost outside the dragon's road. The only problem is that one of the big bandit group finally made a move. It seems that this particular bandit group is based near the entrance. They are the weakest large bandit group but their specialty is information, according to the merchant I'm defending. They said weak but that is only on the level of the large bandit groups. They have the numbers, they know our formation, our strengths and our weakest link.

They are pouring out from everywhere and the worst thing is that all they do is harass us non-stop. They don't fully attack and they don't even use real weapons. The most they do is use magic, pelt our wagons with rocks or set up roadblocks. It's like we are inside a giant steel trap and they are waiting for us to calm down as they go for the kill.

It's a good thing that our little school caravan got bigger as we made our way out of this place. The only problem is that the large majority of it are merchant groups we rescued on the way. Some of them still have their mercenary escorts while some do not, because of this, those who can fight are delegated to help those that can't.

Me and victor are also sent out to protect a merchant wagon that lost its guards but there is only so much a professional mercenary and a professional blacksmith can do in this situation. Thankfully, they moved the weaker group at the centre. Since victor has experience in situations like these, our little duo can't be called weak, so the wagon we are designated in is somewhere in between but I can't complain much considering how those at the edge take the brunt of the attack.

Every single one of the newly graduated non-battle course students are assigned a wagon to defend, even chatterbox is somewhere out there defending a wagon. Of course most of them are in the inner core of the caravan since they don't have much fighting experience. The teachers are also helping in defending the caravan. They are in a triangle shaped formation at the outer layer of the caravan, there is barely anyone on their wagons since they alone can take care of their own defence. The army students are divided into five teams with each team having a combat healer for support.

The teachers are doing this because they are technically government employees and the strength in numbers thing but this is also for the clear conscience of the army students. There are some battles that they can't win, civilians they can't rescue, or difficult choices that would plague their minds but those kinds of failures are best experienced honestly. The teachers are strong and the situation should still be within their grasps so artificially making scenarios like that won't make them improve and would most likely traumatize them.

"Incoming wave!! Flood!!"
"Those proficient in Earth magic and have mana to spare, follow me!"

Oh great! This attack again!! They usually stick to the low cost annoying attacks but sometimes these large scale attacks happen. I think this is when they test if we are soft enough to eat. They tried this about three times now. The first time they pelted us with fist sized rocks, next they tried to blow us away with a very strong wind, and the third time, they encircled us with flame walls. The elements so far have been in line with what is normal in this continent.

I never expected them to use water magic that cost a lot of mana in this continent. Judging from the scale of this flood, they either have a thousand people using intermediate water magic at once or a handful of masters using master level water magic.

"Are we stacking a layer of wall?"
"That would waste too much mana, and look at this amount of water. It would hit like a three-horned diamond beast stampeding towards us. Make a scattered trench network and at the same time scatter some pillar leaning into the wave. This should slow down and soften the wave. All that is left is to make a small wall to keep the caravan relatively dry and direct the water away from the road."
"You heard her! Get moving!! We are dividing the magic users into two groups. Those who are making the obstructions and the one who will make the wall to protect us. Angle the wall to catch the end of the wave on the road we are taking. We don't need to worry about the road behind us getting wet, just keep the one we will use from getting money. Keep the pillar relatively thick on a 45 degree angle towards the wave and scatter the trench in between them. Hurry up, the wave will reach us any minute now."

[Earth Wall] x5
[Trench] x10
[Earth pillar] x10

The enemy's overly cautious approach is lucky for us. The wave is menacing but the fact that it has to travel a far distance should kill some of its momentum. The attack still came from a small hill but it's not that steep so we can safely defend against this wave. The problem is that the enemies have run away by now so we can only react to them passively.

"Incoming enemy attack!!"
"What!?!? Tch, this is a two pronged attack. We are done with the wave attack and we don't have to worry about any attacks from this direction anymore, everyone assemble on the opposite side to meet the enemy. It's about time we counterattack!"

Are they finally going on the offensive? It looks like we finally have somewhere to vent our frustrations.

"Brill, we are also needed at the front."
"Eh? Did you forget that I'm not a real combatant? I'm only good at being sturdy and defending myself."

It is true that I'm not a combatant, in this life, and I'm only good at defending, since that is what I was trained in. I prefer to distance myself from combat since I am supposed to be a blacksmith in this life.

"Is everyone assembled? The enemy is almost here so I will make this quick. Fighters up front to intercept the enemy. Helpers will stay with the caravan to defend against projectiles and strays that slip through. If you understand then let's go!"

Yes!! I'm staying here at the caravan. I'm not scared to battle it out with the bandits but my best fighting style is with a short sword and a shield. Besides the fact that I don't have any suitable sword, even if I do have one, it won't be that effective against armoured foes.

"I'll be going on ahead, brill. Hold the fort while we are away!"
"You're going with the assault team, victor?"
"Of course, I'm also a fighter!"
"That's true but you aren't hired for this mission and you are here as a student, not a mercenary escort!"
"That's true but I am still part of the academy. I can't sit still and let others fight for my safety!"
"If you go out then they would have no choice but to mind you. You have to remember that their mission is so to protect the caravan, the students included. Even if they know that you can handle yourself, they would still unconsciously move to protect you in case anything happened. Just as they are reminded by the teachers that their role is a caravan escort, you need to remember your role as a student to be protected."

Don't go there and join the fray. I can't explain it but I feel something suspicious about this whole thing. This whole scenario is giving me the same feeling when the knights were chasing me through the woods, or the time when someone helped me only to end up in a dungeon.

"Hnnggghhh! *Sigh* I guess you are right. This must be why head teacher Sophie knocked me out before. Very well, if I can't join them then I must at least do my best in defending the caravan."
"Great! Now stay here and manage the defending force. As the one with the most experience, you are the best person for the job!"
"Ah, brill you cunning bastard! Don't tell me that whole speech earlier was because you didn't want to be in charge of this mess!"
"I'm not sure about that. *Grin*"

Well part of it is because of the bad feeling I have and the other part is because I don't want to manage the defending force. I don't have that ability nor do I want to develop it in a life or death situation.

Victor can have fun organizing the defending team, I'll try to observe the situation so I can find out where this bad feeling is coming from.

The army students and the mercenary escort, that could still fight, are intercepting the bandits on the left side of the caravan while the wave is on the right.

The wave is slowly calming down with all the trenches and pillars. From the look of things, the water should only be a metre deep when it reaches the earth wall. The strength won't be enough to even crack or shake the wall. Things should be fine on that end.

The bandits have numbers but in terms of fighting ability, they don't stand a chance against our army students. The mercenary escorts for the various merchants are reliable too. As expected, there are some of them that are stronger than the army students.

However, my premonition of bad luck isn't from this side either. The fight is smoothly going in our favour. The danger doesn't seem to be here either. I wonder if the bandits have some kind of secret weapon?

Their equipment is pretty standard with maces, club, crossbow, hammers, and all kinds of blunt weapons. They don't seem to carry anything special like a secret weapon. Their numbers are going down, they have this shock of horror as they die, yet they don't pull out any special weapon to reverse the situation.

Everything is going as it should.

Wait, the bandits seem strange. They don't have the unity of a group of people that spent countless life and death encounters with each other. There are also a group of bandits at the back that only watches the whole fight. They seem to be forcing the bandits in front to keep fighting.

They aren't don't seem to be doing anything but wait. Are they buying time until the other force arrives? The problem now is where that third attack will come from. I just hope they don't have a catapult or something.

Hmm? They keep looking over at our side. Is it really a catapult? I hope not but even if it is, the teachers should be able to defend against it.

There aren't anything or anyone from the road where we came from, the road ahead seems to be clear too.

It can't be, from the wave?

*Run* *Run* *Run*

"Brill, where are you going?"
"I need to check something out."

Please don't be a catapult, please don't be a catapult.

"Enemy attack!! There are bandits appearing underwater!!"
"Tch, they diverted our attention on both sides. Everyone retreat, back to your usual positions."

Thank goodness it isn't a catapult!! Actually, the enemy is on our rear without anyone to fight them. This is bad for the army students. The teachers will act but this should be a considerable demerit. They left one side undefended and vulnerable.

[Earth Wall] [Earth Wall]

"Teacher! Please, just one more chance. We can do better this time."
"Don't worry about it, The situation is special right now. Your points are near half right now. We need to hurry up and deliver the news, so from now on we will take charge."
"....ugh..."
"Your answer!!"
"Yes, sir!!"
"Good, now everyone get back in formation. We won't be stopping until we reach the first town on the road. After that, the merchants can take care of themselves. Those with the academy, we will go on a non-stop trip back. We will only be stopping to rest, so do your business at that time."

*Gallop* *Gallop*

"What are you doing dawdling around for! Keep up or be left behind!!"

The teachers are finally taking charge. It looks like the travel back home will be smooth from now on. Also, even if they say left behind, I see that the alchemist teacher making the mounts of the other merchants eat some kind of potion. I assume it was to help them keep up. If they can't follow us with all that incentive then I would doubt if they are a spy the bandits sent to slow us down.