The Shadow Trails valley was wider than Rui expected, and also not as dark as the name suggested. It had been several hours since they entered the valley. For some reason Rui pictured a super narrow path perpetually bathed in darkness when he heard the name 'Shadow Trails'.
However, this was not a good thing, ultimately. The valley being very wide allowed for a much larger area over which the bandits could base and hide in. Especially since the valley was covered in a dense forest, yet the there was enough space for bandits to maneuver comfortably. Furthermore, the ground inclined upwards up both sides of the travelling convoy, giving the bandits huge stealth and surveillance advantage.
This was bad news, because ambushers already had the advantage of the element of surprise, even if the Martial Apprentices knew the attack was coming, not knowing when was a significant handicap. Because they were expending a lot of mental energy with their tense alertness over the span of half of a day.
Thankfully they had rejuvenation potions. Otherwise, they would be exhausted by the time the ambush actually commenced, fighting against fully prepared Martial Apprentices.
The only advantage their convoy had was the fact that they had eight Martial Apprentices.
('Well, whether that remains to be an advantage or not remains to be seen.') Rui thought to himself. It entirely depended on how many martial Apprentices the bandits had.
The best-case scenario was one Martial Apprentice, in which case Rui was absolutely relatively certain they would be able to annihilate all the bandits.
As the numbers grew, the harder it was evaluate as a greater number of variable and parameters all influencing the outcome of the conflict arose.
For example, the grade of the bandit Martial Apprentices, their Martial Art, the synergy between them and their opponents and the quality of teamwork on both sides.
As Rui grew absorbed into his analysis, his reverie was abruptly broken by Milliana.
"They're here." She whispered.
Rui's eyebrows knitted in confusion.
"Already?" He grew more tense and alert as he glanced through the unidirectional window. In the distance, he was able to detect many dozens of humans swarming from the forest onto the path ahead of them from a distance, triggering panic in the guard team of the convoy.
What shocked him was the fact that they weren't making much of an effort to act stealthily. They weren't even attacking under the cover of the forest, they were straightforwardly charging against the convoy from the opposite direction of their travel, out in the open.
He grew even more shocked as the leader of the charging bandits made a war cry.
"CHARGE! DON'T GIVE THEM TIME TO PREPARE!"
('Then why announce your presence to us from that far away?')
"They're here." Dalen got up with a fierce expression. "Let us complete our mission."
"Wait." Rui raised his hand, causing the others to frown. Protecting the carriage from bandits was literally their job, why was Rui holding them back.
This did not match the data he had been given.
The bandits were typically exploited the element of surprise to cleanly launch a full-on ambush on their hapless and very off-guard victims, using a numeric advantage as well as a Martial Apprentice advantage to crush their opponents swiftly.
Then why were these bandits doing exactly the opposite thing?
Rui couldn't detect the presence of any Martial Apprentice either.
"Something is... wrong." He said to the others, as he analyzed their current situation with the eyes of a hawk.
"Dude, we need to fight." Kane insisted. "This is what we're hired for, remember?"
"The mission bill specified that the actual target of protection were primarily the goods." Rui stated. "We're not obligated to protect the security team."
The others frowned at Rui's logic. They couldn't argue against it, but that didn't mean they liked it either.
"If they manage to break through, then Kane, you can go defend the carriage containing the goods." Rui said.
He sighed, shrugging. "Alright, if you insist, but you better explain why."
"Something is wrong."
* * * * * * * * * *
"Oho, they're going at it alright." Feiling chuckled as she watched the skirmish from afar.
"Hmph, this is pointless." Vale grunted, leaning against a tree some distance away. "What's the point of sending only a half our raid force from afar? That too without us?"
"Well." Han said, sitting atop a tree. "The boss came up with this." He said before glancing at the golden-haired man, who stood at the forefront of a cliff, eying the battle. "There must be something to it."
"Boss?" Feilin sighed. "You wanna explain why you sent half our raid-force in without the other half, and without us? Furthermore, what's the point of having them charge from the front?"
"Something..." He softly murmured.
"Hm?" Feilin tilted her head in confusion.
"...Something is wrong." His golden eyes sharpened as he scanned the battlefield.
"I dunno boss." Feilin glanced at the battlefield away at a distance. "It seems like a normal battle to me."
"That's because you're not looking close enough. Look closer at the security team, what do you see?"
"Uh, they're... doing exactly what they're supposed to do? Defending the inner section of the convoy from our men?" Feilin replied with an exasperated expression.
"Yes." He said. "Do you think they're doing a good job?"
She glanced back with knitted eyebrows. "Well, much better than security teams of the Lowminers normally do. Not a single one has abandoned the battle yet despite their numerical disadvantage." She said as she observed how all of them had a rock-solid confidence and composure. They were calm and composed, fought steadily and did not panic, they even dragged the battle on, fighting a little passively.
This was not the norm. When faced with significant disadvantages, morale and performance both usually plummeted unless the guards were veterans. Atleast a quarter of the security team retreating against orders and protocols was not unusual either, these personnel were not battle-hardened veterans, they were barely more qualified than unskilled labour. Feilin became more cognizant of this odd behaviour the more she observed.
"I guess the Lowminers have been training their security personnel better? They're doing a good job I'll give them that. It's almost like these men are fighting like they don't think they can lose."
At those words, the golden-haired man stirred. "Yes... Exactly. The question is; Why is that?"
Feilin shrugged, unsure of where he was going with this random tangent.
"Either they're brilliant veterans, all of them, or..." He continued. "They have strong reason to believe that they won't lose...." He paused, before continuing. "...Reasons like the presence of Martial Apprentices."
Feilin, Vale and Han's eyes shot wide open, as understanding dawned upon them. Now all of their boss' antics were starting come full circle.
"That's why you sent an ambush-force that was just twenty-percent larger than their security team." Feiling realized. "You wanted to gauge and test the convoy's general reaction to numerically disadvantaged ambushes."
He didn't respond, completely absorbed in the battle.
"But why not just ambush them instead of openly charging them, then?" Feilin asked with a hint of confusion. "Wouldn't it make more sense to push them further?"
"...An ambush triggers subconscious reflexive and primal fear and panic natural to all humans." He replied softly, never taking his eyes off the battle. "I wanted to test their conscious response after giving them time to evaluate their enemies, that is much more reflective of their sense of security."
Feilin finally understood the simplicity yet the brilliance of the boss' plan. If all the personnel of the convoy acted exactly how they expected them to, then there was little to be suspicious about. Then they themselves could just join with the remaining men of their bandit group and finish the job quickly.
But if there was something strange, they would be able to detect it beforehand.
It was a simple plan that cleanly allowed them to evaluate risk with very little cost.
She sighed inwardly, remembering why the four Martial Apprentices of their group had willingly bowed their head to him. His position was not unearned.
He ignored her, growing more and more engrossed in the battle.
"Something is wrong."
