It was Shia who first noticed the commotion.
“Isn’t that someone being attacked ahead?”
As usual, Yue was pressed up against Hajime. Kaori tried to get between them, the aura of her dragon pressed up against Yue’s lightning aura. The result was that Hajime had to be careful driving and thus didn’t have his attention on what was in front of him.
As Shia said, there appeared to be a caravan ahead with two groups, one attacking the other. As their vehicle approached, Hajime’s “distance vision” allowed him to see two groups in the middle of a battle, one offending and the other defending. Shea’s usamimis picked up the roar of battle before Hajime could see them.
“They appear to be bandits. The bandits seem to outnumber the caravan guards over 40 to just 15. The difference in their combat potential is clear.” Hajime describes the situation to Yue and Kaori.
“… Nn, the guards are putting up a good fight,” Yue adds.
“They have a barrier spell surrounding the caravan, but it’s not going to hold out. The bandits are trying to break the wall with magic.”
“But their defense is holding for the moment.”
“Having a barrier cover the entire caravan stretches it pretty thin. It will not endure long. They’ve bought themselves some time, but it won’t hold.”
It appears like the caravan faced a surprise attack. Numerous people within the barrier were crouched down with injuries, or worse dead. They had managed to take out a few bandits, but the bandits were still proportionally more. They had managed to erect a barrier, but once it failed the people of the caravan would undoubtedly meet a gruesome end.
Hajime’s conversation was cut short as the barrier melted to nothingness. The bandits raised a shout and surged forward, breaking through the caravan’s remaining defenses with vicious grins on their faces. The escort squadron fought back desperately, but they were outgunned. One person after another fell to injuries from the bandits.
Kaori had a determined expression on her face, she turned to Hajime and requested he help rescue them in a tone that suggested she was agitated.
“Hajime-kun, please! Help them, if you can…”
Hajime didn’t respond, but accelerated his 4 wheeler instead. Since it was obvious the caravan would be wiped out if he didn’t help, he had already decided he wanted to know their story. He wanted to say that to Kaori, but didn’t.
The 4 wheeler chewed into the ground producing a “garri garri garri” sound as he accelerated with a vengeance, the car moving as if it was attached to a rocket engine.
“Hajime-kun, thank you…”
Kaori smiled happily as he began to take action. Hajime shrugged in response. Hajime was simply doing what he wanted to do. Yue tightened her seatbelt.
“Oh, that, Hajime-kun? Isn’t this a bit…”
The feeling seemed to be ruined as the four wheeler continued to accelerate moment by moment. Although she asked him to help, she knew how cars worked on earth, and the speed he was charging at them didn’t leave time to stop. Was he going to ram them with the 4 wheeler? Kaori could not help but think so.
With Kaori’s concerned look, Hajime responded.“Don’t they teach you to stomp the accelerator when you see a criminal in driving school?”
“Of course they wouldn’t teach that. Don’t twist the traffic laws to your discretion. Hey, Yue, don’t agree with him, stop nodding!”
While Kaori tsukkomi’d, Hajime ignored her, turning the vehicle towards a bandit sitting in the rear who appeared to be the leader. Hajime intended to kill the bandits by running them over without hesitation.
The bandit leader finally noticed the strange object approaching them leaving behind a cloud of dust. He issued instructions to nearby bandits, and they began to chant magic. To them, the 4 wheeler appeared to be some new kind of demon or monster. They would not have believed it was man-made, let alone operated by people.
Hajime poured magical power in to the 4 wheeler, operating one of its many functions. A blade of approximately 1 meter protruded from the sides and roof. The bandits fired flame bullets at the vehicle, but they bounced harmlessly off the 4 wheeler, so Hajime chose to ignore them and kept driving forward. Even though the flame bullets were striking the vehicle, its steadfast rush towards the bandits put sour expressions on their faces.