*Boooom!!!*

"Damage report!"
"The mounts in the lead wagon are injured and the wagon's body is damaged badly."
"Get the healers there, patch up the wagon and make sure it holds out. Maintain speed and stick to defending."

The bandits have been ramping up the attack. It's been at least a day since they first ambushed us but they are still keeping this up.

You are bandits! I'm sure you know that death is waiting around the corner ever since you picked this occupation. I'm sure you killed a few odd people from your life of banditry.

"Leader! When do we fight back? This is getting annoying! Those bandits are getting carried away because we aren't fighting back!"
"Even if we slowly fight them off, they will retreat and hunt us down in the future. We need a way to take out 70-80% of their overall strength, or at the very least, take out their higher ups."

That is a good plan but those 'higher ups' usually escape no matter what the situation is. In a life of banditry, the ones who become leaders are those who survive longer than anyone else.

"Endure until we lure them in, and we will attack them all if we have a chance. If they see that the average bandits can't hurt us, they will send in the strong ones to attack, and once those fail, they will surely come themselves."
"We will have to survive long enough for that to happen though, leader."
"That is why endure, no matter what. Repelling them will only give us another lifelong enemy. The same could be said if they run away but both of them aren't in our control. We can only wait for an opportunity. We have a client we need to protect! We can't hunt them down, so endure until we reach the capital region. Once we see the patrolling army, we leave a force to defend the client and cargo while the rest contain the bandits. We won't let them escape!"
"Yes sir!"

Me and the cargo would be relatively safe once we see the patrolling army but won't the bandits get more violent and aggressive if they are cornered like that?

"Sir! We are almost at the capital region. Are you alright?"
"I'm still fine. Don't mind me and just continue with whatever you planned. You know your duties."
"We will safely deliver you and your cargo to your destination. We have an initial plan laid out now. As long as we find a patrolling army, we can finish the enemy bandits from following us. It might be a bit dangerous when we corner them but it's a risk we have to take if we want them from following us all the way to your destination."
"Do what you need to do."

I never even thought about that. If they survive and continue giving us chase then they would ultimately find out where I'm going to live. The mercenary group might turn out alright but if it comes to the point where they can't exact revenge on them, they will turn to the next best thing.

They will rob me of everything as a consolation prize. I have a lot of money but having to repurchase everything is going to be a pain. I will keep a lot of the necessary things hidden in my storage but I still need to show some of them out. This will in turn make me need to buy them again and put on a show.

That will be annoying, and I don't think I'm strong enough to wipe them all out.

"Incoming!! Right side of the cargo! Cavalry charge!"
"Reduce the speed of the convoy! I need archers to aim at their mounts! Magicians conserve mana! Everyone else, prepare for impact! Don't let them penetrate within our ranks and don't get separated!"

*Tack* *Tack* *Tack* *Tack* *Tack* *Bang!!!*

"The charge is done! Increase the speed again! I'll go over with a team to shove them away from us! Watch the surroundings and inform me if something else happens!"

Eh? Will you personally go help them? I understand that I still have my guards, who probably took over managing my carriage but if you leave this central area, you might not react fast enough to any unexpected changes. To be fair, your team might have other smart people who can take over directing the lower grunts.

Things are still relatively calm despite those suicidal cavalry charges. The bandits are still keeping up with us, that much is now obvious since we left the rocky area. We are now in the plains. You can't hide anywhere from here, unless you are a mole hiding underground. There are plenty of them here which makes this place unsuitable to stop for a long time.

Other than that group of cavalry they commited to charge, the rest of them are still keeping at least a basketball court's distance away from us.

They should know what we are planning to do. The supposed leader, who was noisy until a while ago shouting about her dead husband, has been looking kind of troubled for some time now. She must know that they would be in danger as time goes on.

If I were them, I would rush to cut off our path and focus an attack somewhere in the middle of our convoy. They would lose a lot of the vanguards but this will divide our forces and ultimately force a tough decision on the mercenary leader.

Save the separated half and incur plenty more damages, or leave them behind to escape to safety. The bandits aren't here for the loot. They are out for blood.

Either decision would be bad though, since the convoy would incur a lot of damages if we clash that way. There is also that possibility that the bandits would attack again after taking care of the other half of the convoy. They would be damaged and left far behind but in the off chance they have a good amount of fighters still willing to lay it down, the other half of the convoy would have to face them with reduced numbers.

*Bang!!*

That is my plan if I were in their shoes but if they really decide to do something like that. I can guarantee that they won't chase us again. I know something else that they don't, which is the bombs I installed inside the cargo. After the battle, they would want to check out the loot before continuing the chase. When that happens, they will all be blown up and be too injured to care about going after us.

I can probably lie my way through and say that I mixed the cargo with decoys, some have the needed cargo while some are just empty fillers, but they all have bombs that explode when you open them. This will remove the annoying process of me trying to repurchase some 'lost materials'.

"Leader! They are encircling, forming a clamp behind us!"
"Tsk, I'm almost done here! Tell the magicians and archers to attack those on our sides! Ignore the one behind us but focus defenders behind to protect the mounts!"

I wonder how far we are from the capital region now. It seems that we are close if I were to judge it from how the bandits are acting. They look like they decided on a strategy and about to go all in.

"Sir, please hold on to something. The bandits are finally planning to charge us with everything they have. We are in the capital region now. As long as we persist long enough, someone would bound to notice the commotion."
"If things get too problematic, you can abandon the two wagons on the back of the convoy. The are filled with ore that I planned to use as practice material. There are also bombs inside them that would detonate upon opening it."
"Ah? Huh? Bom---- What!?"
"It's a security measure against thieving hands. I said during our initial discussion that I will install something in case some of your subordinates have sticky fingers. You replied that such a thing isn't necessary since you have a very professional team that won't do something that juvenile but if it helps me have a peace of mind then install it anyway, so I did."
"Eh? Ah, true, but a bomb?"
"You have confidence in your team, right? If so, stop worrying about my cargo and think about what you can do with the opportunity I presented you."
".....I understand, I will fully make use of this. As we couldn't defend your cargo, I will add an appropriate discount from the final price."

Saying this much should be alright. He already knows that I made countermeasures against opportunistic bastards but I can understand why he is so shocked. He might be thinking of the possibility that someone got so curious that they decided to peak during one of our rest stops, only to end up exploding the wagon and them. There is also the possibility that the explosion would trigger the bombs on the other wagons blowing all of us to pieces. My carriage has the possibility to survive though, and me since I did fully train my body to withstand a lot of damage, not to mention my daily brush with bombs thanks to a certain alchemist.

"We will discard the last wagon as an obstruction for the bandits behind us! Those protecting it are to move up and join the second to last wagon! The driver is the last one to leave the wagon and will take the mount as his ride! Set it on fire before leaving it behind to the enemy!"

Hmm? The leader won't use up the two wagons at the same time? Is he testing the strength of the explosives? To be fair, I didn't tell him what kind of bomb I installed there.

Setting the wagon on fire as they leave it behind is a good touch though. That would give us an image of a desperate group that decided to ditch the cargo to escape from them. A little tease to boost their ego, so they follow us until far within the capital region.

It would also paint the abandoned wagon as a physical obstruction, instead of having something like a bomb or any kind of surprises inside it. People tend to focus on the obvious after all. There is also the fact that it would eliminate the need to have someone open the cargo to set off the bomb.

"Crash!* *Boom!!!*

"Arghhh!!!"
"Nooooo!!"
"Ugh!"

That should be the wagon tumbling out of control as it set off the bomb. I can't really see since the back is blocked by wagons and mercenaries protecting me but I think the tumbling wagon shook the cargo open which set off the bombs instead of the fire igniting it.

"You sneaky, cowardly, pieces of shit!!! If I get my hands on you, I will tear you limb from limb and make you experience the worst day of your life!!"

She seems mad and ready to bite our heads off. Too bad that won't happen since these ears of mine hear a thundering clomping of huge, heavy mounts rushing towards our location.

We made so much noise to the point that an explosion took place. It's no wonder that they would come and see what happened.

"The army! I see the army approaching!"
"The army? Good! Our time to retaliate is near! I'll lead our clients' carriage to the front! Everyone, prepare to intercept the bandits!!"

I wonder how this will go. I can't estimate how much they have but I hope it's enough to decimate these bandits.