The next day, we continued down the highway in high spirits. Since we were learning about escorting from the ‘Crimson Sword’ party, we decided to depart early from our campsite.

By midday, the other people who had camped with us had overtaken us, leaving no other figures traveling along the road.

As for us, we ran alongside the carriage on either side. Normally, one would ride a horse to keep watch on the surroundings, but as long as we could keep pace with the carriage, running wasn't a problem.

“Make sure you don’t run out of stamina and end up unable to move if we get attacked,”

Alyssa called out teasingly from atop her horse, but there was no way we would mess up like that.

“We’ll be fine.”

Back when we first encountered a pack of Great Dragons in the Demon Forest, we had to run at full speed through the forest for over half a day. Compared to that, keeping a steady jogging pace for over twenty-four hours was no issue.

“Hm?”

I had extended my presence detection range forward and sensed multiple presences a few kilometers ahead.

“Stop the carriage!”

Raising my voice, I called for everyone to halt.

“What’s wrong?”

Once everyone had completely stopped and gathered around the central carriage, Alyssa asked me.

“I sensed what seems to be an ambush ahead.”

“Hmm.”

Alyssa and Mel focused their gazes forward, concentrating.

“…I don’t sense anything at all.”

After a while, they gave up and turned back to face me.

“How far ahead are they? I couldn’t sense a thing.”

“About five kilometers. There are three or four people in each of four locations, making a total of fourteen.”

“…That setup is definitely an ambush. The commercial capital is close, and at this time of day, no one would be coming from there in this direction.”

“Oh my, but jumping to conclusions isn’t good either, you know?”

“Still, that formation is pretty telling.”

The three of them debated the presences up ahead intensely.

Since I had already demonstrated my ability to sense presences from a distance the previous day when I detected animals off the roadside, no one seemed to doubt my claim.

“I tried to keep the auction goods as hidden as possible, but I wonder if something leaked…”

Fleur furrowed her brows, but information had a way of getting out when it wanted to.

“Ah, right, this is auction season… That makes an ambush all the more likely.”

Alyssa muttered as she looked at the merchant emblem on the carriage. The Rashiyu Merchant Association was one of the six major merchant guilds representing the commercial state. And the auction was held in the commercial capital. Even though we were keeping a low profile with only one carriage, if someone thought we were transporting rare items that didn’t take up much space, it made sense that they’d come after us.

“Shall we just force our way through while deploying a Force Field?”

“Huh?”

“…Force Field?”

It was an advanced magic spell that created a defensive barrier against both physical and magical attacks.

“Oh my, that’s advanced magic, isn’t it? I can use it, but it only lasts about a minute, and I can’t spread it wide enough to cover everyone.”

“That won’t be a problem. I can cover everyone, and it will last over thirty minutes.”

“Even if advanced magic comes our way, it’ll block it. And we can move while maintaining the field, so no worries.”

Rio spoke as if it were nothing, and I followed up.

“Huh? No way, that’s impossible.”

“Wait, moving while maintaining it…? I don’t get it…”

“…Well, if you two say it’s fine, then let’s go with that.”

“““Eh?”””

The ‘Crimson Sword’ members were clearly bewildered, but when Fleur interjected, they turned their attention to her.

“I trust their strength. I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

“Want to test it out first?”

The three of them exchanged glances at my suggestion.

“Yeah, no matter what the guild says about them being skilled, I’ll believe it when I see it.”

“Alright. Whenever you're ready.”

With those words, Rio stepped back slightly and extended her left hand forward, deploying the Force Field.

“…Go ahead.”

The three of them didn’t move, so I prompted them.

“Huh?”

“What about the incantation?”

Frelis, usually so airy, looked particularly shocked as she asked. Oh, right, normally you’d need an incantation. I hadn’t spoken a command word either, so maybe they hadn’t realized the spell was already active. When I used Earth Magic to make a stove at the campsite, they hadn’t noticed my lack of chanting then either.

“The Force Field is already up.”

“What!?”

With a voice full of disbelief, Alyssa extended her hand forward and moved toward the invisible barrier. Upon contact, she clenched her fist and struck it forcefully.

“Tch!? …It’s solid.”

“Let me try… Hah!”

Mel readied the shield on her back and slammed it against the Force Field with a spirited cry. But Rio’s Force Field didn’t budge an inch.

“Oh my.”

Frelis simply let out an exasperated sigh and didn’t seem keen on testing it herself. Perhaps she didn’t want to waste magic power.

“Wah-woo!”

Watching us, Nir suddenly stood up, then lunged at Rio with a powerful swing of his front paw.

With a loud crack, something shattered, but visually, nothing appeared different.

“Ahaha, I guess Nir’s attack is too much even for that.”

While Rio laughed and fluffed Nir’s neck, Alyssa stared at Nir with a serious expression.

“…Didn’t think he could break it so easily.”

“That familiar is incredible…”

“Oh my.”

Each member of ‘Crimson Sword’ reacted differently, but they seemed to have accepted the Force Field’s durability. As a result, we decided to push through while maintaining the field.

However, just charging in wasn’t much of a strategy. The plan was for ‘Crimson Sword’ to secure the area around the carriage, Rio to maintain the Force Field from within, and for Nir and me to close in from behind, trapping the enemy.