Chapter 17 -
According to the words of the kids who escaped from the forest, the bandits not only showed up in town for the raid, but they also appeared in the forest and kidnapped the other children before running away.
Among the abducted kids was the daughter of the dwarf shopkeeper and the proprietress, Arim-chan. They all felt a sense of helplessness and frustration with the current situation.
"Let's return to the town first."
We needed to first transfer these children to a safe place, though I also felt some frustration, impatience, and an impulse to immediately rescue the abducted kids.
When we reached the town, Teto had finished capturing all the bandits and they were now all buried in the ground with only their heads exposed.
"Majou-sama~ I'm done on my end~"
After saying that, Teto waved her hand towards me. She had finished neutralizing all the bandits, without killing anyone.
The dwarven vigilante corps interrogated them so we finally came to know their origins.
The bandit group this time was similar to the «Yellow Fang Group» we had met in the Gard Beastkin Nation. In other words, they succumbed to banditry after losing their money due to the poor harvest.
Their goal behind the attack this time was to get their hands on some weapons made out of magic metal crafted by skilled craftsmen from this town that once flourished with the magic metal mines.
In short, they were lured in by the idea that they would be able to get a large sum of money if they sold those weapons.
"What about the losses?"
"A magic sword that was being kept in the town chief's house for safekeeping has been stolen and some of the children were also abducted."
"The bandit group here was just a decoy, huh?"
"This was their true goal-nanodesu!"
When Teto was neutralizing the bandits, she noticed a person mixed among them that was dressed just as shabbily as the rest though his weapon and demeanor told a different story so she skillfully captured him. I then interrogated him after breaking his spirit by pressuring him with my mana.
From the interrogation, I learned that they were members of the criminal organization who devised the plan to abduct people and thus sent the «Yellow Fang Group» into the Gard Beastkin Nation.
"So they're after the magic sword and the dwarven children."
Magic swords could amp up one's battle power so they sold for a hefty amount while demihumans like dwarven kids were popular as all-purpose slaves.
So they incited the poor farmers and made them attack the town as a diversion while they took advantage of the chaos to steal away the magic sword and kidnap the kids and then took them somewhere else, I guess.
"People of the vigilante corps, continue to monitor the bandits and guard the town, also take these potions and treat the injured with them."
"What're you going to do, Chise-chan, Teto-chan?"
The leader of the vigilante corps asked me. Of course, my goal was already decided.
"I'm going to chase after the bandits and bring back the children."
Normally speaking, chasing after the bandits after losing the initiative was difficult. And going by the testimony of the escaped children, the bandits were on the horses and the sun had already set too.
This was when most people would give up.
However,
"I'm sure Chise-chan can do it."
The vigilante corps has seen it.
They had seen us riding on a broom flying in the sky at a speed faster than a horse, and, unlike horses that needed to rest, we could tirelessly chase after them for the whole day and night.
"Arim, please save Arim."
The dwarven couple who had taken care of us and the parents of the kidnapped children appeared from the gaps of the vigilante corps and gathered around us.
"Fret not, I will absolutely bring them back. We're going, Teto!"
"Let's go-nanodesu!"
Teto and I soared once again into the sky while riding on the flying broom.
After a complete rotation, I stopped our flight high in the air.
"The children were taken to......"
I expanded my mana perception to cover a huge range while riding on the broom.
1km, 10km...... Still haven't found anything.
30km, 50km...... Huge amounts of information passed through my brain as I continuously increased my mana perception range. I tried to read through all of them with «Parallel Thinking» but the information was so numerous that it made my head hurt.
60km........... Got them!
"They're 67 km in the east, and are currently on the move while the kids seem to be in the carriage.!"
Their plan seemed to be to take the sea route and transport them to other nations on a boat.
I didn't see the bandits showing any signs of stopping for rest despite it already being dark.
"Alright, let's go!"
I covered the both of us with barrier magic to reduce the air resistance and flew the broom straight in their direction.
Green-colored mana was being emitted from the flying broom that had been infused with flight magic, making it seem like it had a green tail.
We whizzed through the sky that had no obstacles in a straight line with a speed surpassing 100 kmph towards the carriage I locked on with mana perception.
And soon,
"There they are. Teto!"
"Yes-naodesu! 一一«Earth Wall»-nanodesu!"
At my call, Teto jumped off the accelerating flying broom and then ran on the ground with the inertia from the fall intact. As soon as she touched the ground, a mud wall around 3m in size rose in front of the running carriage, blocking the path.
Next, I unhurriedly lowered the flying broom until it floated abreast to Teto as we stared at the bandits.
