Sakuya Izayoi offered a brief nod of acknowledgment before returning to her position at the front of the vehicle, slightly raising her brows to observe the neighboring merchant group as they continued their grueling struggle.
The caravan's guard captain possessed excellent reflexes and a sharp, adaptive mind. The instant he had detected the unnatural, aggressive behavioral patterns of the Pincerbugs, he had ordered his two personal confidants to descend from the wagon beds and ready their heavy iron shields. When the frontline defenders eventually began to buckle under the raw weight of the swarm, these fresh reserves moved in seamlessly to reinforce the crumbling gaps.
The engagement dragged on for nearly half an hour. When the final Pincerbug was eventually brought down with a heavy, shivering slash, the captain collapsed directly onto the grass, completely drained of his remaining stamina. The surrounding guards were in a similar state of total exhaustion.
Regardless of the chosen tactic, every single strike inevitably collided with dense, bone-like material, which caused severe structural damage to the blades. Looking around the camp at that moment, it was virtually impossible to locate a single longsword or spear that remained fully intact.
Nevertheless, the general mood among the survivors was relatively light. The terrifying Pincerbug swarm that had threatened to overrun their perimeter had been completely neutralized. They had successfully defended the cargo and preserved their own lives. Although a significant portion of the security detachment had sustained deep cuts and bruises, the fact that no one had suffered a fatal injury was considered the greatest possible stroke of luck. Yet, the exhausted crowd simply lacked the physical energy required to celebrate their victory.
From their quiet vantage point by the carriage, Remilia and her companions finished their observation of the merchants' defense. The mistress remarked that the captain actually possessed a highly respectable level of operational skill. If he were to be integrated into a conventional military structure, managing a company-sized detachment would pose no challenge for him whatsoever. After all, a natural leader who combined tactical awareness, rapid reflexes, and calm composure while continuously fighting on the absolute front lines was a rare find indeed.
After another ten minutes or so had elapsed, the bruised guards managed to catch their breath and began the arduous process of clearing the campsite, only to freeze in utter astonishment.
A short distance away, the mysterious carriage remained parked exactly where it had been all evening. The two massive Camel-beasts hitched to the framework were still leisurely chewing on the nearby foliage, completely unbothered, as if the life-or-death struggle that had just unfolded nearby had absolutely nothing to do with them. It was as though the entire crisis had been a mere illusion, and no danger had ever loomed over the clearing tonight.
Just then, they observed the elegant chief maid stepping down from the runner. Her movements were unhurried as she began walking across the grass toward their perimeter.
The moment a lookout spotted her approach, he immediately alerted the captain. Although the officer harbored a distinct note of apprehension regarding this mysterious group, he did not hide behind his subordinates. Instead, he took the initiative to step outside the safety of the heavy transport wagons to meet her.
"Greetings, lady. May I inquire if there is any particular matter you require assistance with?"
Behind his back, the rest of the crew was meticulously gathering the scattered Pincerbug carcasses. A single adult specimen was roughly the size of a standard hunting hound, and piling nearly a hundred of them together created a literal hill of fractured chitin. Furthermore, these creatures possessed specialized poison glands that secreted a volatile venom capable of paralyzing a victim's central nervous system. If the area wasn't cleansed immediately, the rich scent would not only draw a massive wave of secondary predators to the clearing within the hour, but the evaporation of the venom from so many corpses would rapidly compromise the health of everyone in the caravan.
The captain's eyes flashed with a subtle touch of amazement as he looked upon Sakuya. Although the woman standing before him displayed no obvious racial characteristics, her skin was delicate and exceptionally fair. Even while standing in the middle of a blood-soaked wilderness camp, she projected a dignified poise that made her resemble a high-born young lady of some aristocratic house rather than a domestic servant.
He instinctively lowered his head a bit further. To be capable of employing a maid of this immense caliber, the individual residing within that carriage was indisputably a figure of immense consequence—perhaps an empire noble or someone of comparable status. A single casual word from an aristocrat of that level could instantly dictate his personal survival or dissolve his entire merchant group. Therefore, he reasoned that his best course of action was to remain entirely transparent and compliant.
Observing his obsequious demeanor, Sakuya offered a nearly imperceptible nod. Without offering a single word of explanation, she fluidly turned on her heel.
"Follow me."
She provided no context, nor did she slow her stride to accommodate him, marching directly back toward her vehicle. The captain swallowed hard, quickly gesturing for his trusted confidants to wait at the perimeter before following her alone into the darkness.
After advancing several dozen paces, Sakuya stopped near a dense cluster of bushes and pointed toward the shadows below.
"Those two individuals are located here."
Leaving the statement behind, she resumed her walk toward the carriage. The captain stood entirely bewildered, his mind a chaotic mess.
Those two individuals are here... which two people is she referring to?
Driven by curiosity, he stepped closer to the brush, and his eyes instantly turned a furious, bloodshot red. Lying spread-eagled on the damp earth were the very two traitors who had scattered the maddening powder into their camp to trigger the insect siege. At this moment, they were completely pinned to the ground, their hands and feet cleanly pierced by cold, polished silver dinner knives.
During the half-hour the caravan had spent battling the Pincerbugs, these two had entirely exhausted their lungs from screaming and were now lying motionless in the dirt like salted fish.
When the captain looked up, he saw the maid returning from the vehicle, carrying a familiar object in her hands. He recognized it immediately; that box was precisely the private cargo container the traitors had plundered from the racks.
"The container belongs to your caravan," Sakuya stated, her cool gaze locking onto his face. "The Young Miss has decreed that these stolen items, along with the perpetrators, may be returned to your custody. However, she expects your organization to demonstrate an appropriate level of sincerity in return."
The captain nodded repeatedly, his posture shifting into a fawning display. "Understood, completely understood! I shall have someone... no, I shall personally deliver our utmost sincerity to your position in just a few moments, milady."
Although he remained entirely ignorant as to which specific noble house the Young Miss belonged to, he maintained his deeply respectful demeanor. As for the fact that their carriage appeared remarkably ordinary and lacked the standard luxury of an aristocratic transport, his mind automatically synthesized a logical justification: those immense political figures routinely traveled in modest vehicles to ensure they wouldn't be targeted by high-tier highwaymen due to excessive displays of wealth.
Cradling the recovered wooden box tightly against his chest, the captain hurried back to his close associates, instructing them to detail a few men to drag the traitors back to the perimeter.
Upon hearing the news that the saboteurs hadn't managed to escape into the Wilds but were currently incapacitated nearby, the young guardsmen, who had been completely drained of energy, experienced a sudden surge of adrenaline. Several of them marched out onto the lawn together, but the moment they caught sight of the two figures pinned to the grass, they couldn't help but gasp.
The visual state of the traitors indicated that they were enduring an immense amount of physical agony. Blood was still slowly oozing from their pierced limbs. Crucially, the placement of the dinner knives was terrifyingly precise; the steel had been driven through their flesh in a manner that maximized the neural pain response without severing a single major artery. Consequently, despite being pinned to the damp earth for over thirty minutes, neither individual had succumbed to hypovolemic shock or passed away from blood loss. They were simply so overwhelmed by the continuous agony that their minds had turned entirely delirious, leaving them capable of nothing more than low, pathetic whimpering.
Given that these two saboteurs had nearly caused the deaths of the entire company, the guards naturally felt zero inclination to handle them with care. They hoisted the men up in a brutal, heavy-handed fashion, dragging them roughly across the dirt toward the transport wagons. Crucially, out of a distinct note of spite, the guards deliberately refrained from extracting the silver dinner knives from their limbs. As they were dragged across the uneven terrain, the embedded steel repeatedly shifted, cutting deeper into their flesh and causing the pair to erupt into a fresh chorus of agonized shrieks.
Back within the caravan's defensive ring, the manager was currently attempting to tally their structural losses. Although they had maintained a tight defensive alignment while resting and had restricted the bottleneck the moment the Pincerbugs were detected, a considerable amount of valuable merchandise had still been heavily damaged during the frantic struggle.
Furthermore, when factoring in the upcoming medical expenditures for the wounded personnel, the steep maintenance costs required to reforge their ruined weapons, and various other miscellaneous operational fees, the final financial deficit was shaping up to be an exceptionally heavy burden for the merchant group to absorb.