Chapter 471 – The Convoy Under Attack

Chapter 471 – The Convoy Under Attack

The convoy slowly departed from the trade road and began heading toward the Colorado Mountain Range.

Inside the lead magic carriage, the atmosphere of scholarly dedication was running high.

In the carriages behind, the mages’ hearts were pounding with anxiety.

The sky was about to grow dark!

Yet the lead carriage showed no intention of making camp—it was heading straight for the Colorado Mountain Range.

The further they went in that direction, the more dangerous it became! Surely camping overnight by the trade road was better than spending the night at the foot of the Colorado Mountain Range?

Goebel had already been scarred by Mo Lan’s schemes, and now he couldn’t help but overthink things.

“She’s not planning to get us all killed in the Colorado Mountain Range and then inherit our belongings, is she!”

He might not have much money left, but his magic carriage was still worth a fortune!

Unable to quell his unease, Goebel sent his guard captain on horseback to inquire at the lead carriage.

“Master, Her Excellency says we’re pressed for time. While there’s still some light, we should push on a bit further. Once we pass through the forest ahead, there’s a meadow with a small stream—we’ll make camp there tonight,” the guard captain reported.

“The forest ahead?” Goebel pulled out a map to check.

The map in his hands was newly purchased in Green Forest Town. While it wasn’t particularly detailed, he could see that the forest ahead wasn’t quite at the foot of the Colorado Mountain Range.

Between them lay precisely that meadow.

Looking at it this way, it seemed that the fraud of a mage had actually given serious, responsible thought to the itinerary and made proper arrangements.

Goebel felt slightly more at ease.

Mainly, he was already riding the tiger and couldn’t dismount—uneasy or not, there was nothing he could do about it.

Fortunately, the arrangement seemed sound enough for now.

As the carriages entered the forest, they occasionally encountered some wild animals or low-level magical beasts, but none posed a real problem. Mo Lan and her companions didn’t even need to intervene—the valiant guards handled everything.

Goebel relaxed further. This forest was quite safe, with no formidable magical beasts to speak of.

This continued until the carriages emerged from the forest and arrived at the meadow Mo Lan had mentioned.

However, the meadow looked somewhat odd—patches of overturned soil dotted the ground, and the wild grass wasn’t particularly lush.

But the soil was clearly quite fertile.

“Master, the horses are showing signs of being spooked!” the guard captain called out. All around them, mounds of earth were pushing up through the grass as something burrowed toward them from underground. “Enemy attack!”

Goebel looked out the window at the unknown creatures closing in from all sides, his heart leaping into his throat.

It was over! He didn’t know what they were, but there appeared to be a massive swarm of them from the forest!

He gripped his staff and braced himself, but didn’t dare step out of the carriage.

The carriage was far sturdier than his flesh and blood.

The Beginner mages and mage apprentices in the other two carriages immediately had their guards close ranks around their vehicles while they prepared their magic.

Tiny golden needles, flimsy water bullets… better than nothing, but they had absolutely no effect on the approaching unknown creatures.

Just then, a black-robed figure appeared atop the lead magic carriage.

She held a staff inlaid with a wood elemental gemstone and began casting her magic.

The surrounding wood elemental force quickly converged toward her.

The enormous poisonous thorn vine—the same one Goebel had caught a glimpse of at the Administrative Center—materialized before the carriage.

The vines plunged deep into the earth, uprooting every single one of the rapidly approaching creatures and impaling them on their thorns, missing not a single one.

Only then could Goebel see what they were: “Ironclad beetles!”

Eighteen ironclad beetles—ten Beginner-level and eight Intermediate-level. Each one was the size of a calf, with shells as hard as iron. Ordinary Elemental Magic couldn’t harm them at all; only the head was a weak point—striking there was the only way to kill them.

They were extremely troublesome pack-dwelling magical beasts.

All Goebel felt now was lingering fear.

Thank goodness—thank goodness he had hired Her Excellency the mage.

Otherwise… they would have been devoured by this swarm of ironclad beetles before even reaching the Colorado Mountain Range.

Mo Lan piled the paralyzed ironclad beetles together, then killed them one by one with other magic before turning to the convoy behind her. “All clear—make camp!”

The guards gazed at her with eyes full of reverence. “Yes, ma’am!”

Good heavens! The magical beasts hadn’t even reached them before the mage had charged ahead to deal with the threat.

They were… completely unscathed!

Now this was what a powerful and noble mage should be!

As for those hiding in the carriages behind them… best not to mention them! This had always been a job where they wagered their lives, and they’d been mentally prepared for that—their pay had already been sent home to their families.

But… a mage like this, they hadn’t been prepared for.

They’d completely forgotten to consult their masters before instinctively beginning to unload the luggage.

Their masters hadn’t noticed the guards’ unusual behavior either—they themselves were just as stunned.

Now there was only one thought in their minds: “So this is what an Advanced mage is like?”

It wasn’t that they didn’t want to display their might when the magical beasts came—dispatching them all with a single spell!

It was just that preparing magic took time! And the effectiveness of their spells wasn’t even in the same league.

Mo Lan couldn’t care less about their shock or envy. This had always been the spot she’d planned to show off her skills, and it also happened to be where she’d acquire tonight’s dinner ingredients.

They had originally flown from the Colorado Mountain Range side to the outskirts of Green Forest Town, and now they were simply taking the overland route back.

On the way there, she had scouted the magical beast activity along their planned return route in advance, specifically to make the return trip easier.

Before setting out today, she had used the Pathseeking Spell to re-divine the positions and conditions of magical beasts along today’s route, the Fortune-Telling Spell to divine today’s luck, and the Clairvoyance Spell to briefly foresee the day’s combat scenarios.

One could say she had a thorough grasp of every location and time they might encounter magical beast attacks along today’s route, as well as the final outcomes.

That was why she’d been able to focus so intently on studying her Alchemy blueprints earlier, without worrying one bit about the convoy’s safety.

All of this had originally been preparation she’d made in advance for traveling to Lance City in the role of a mage. They had always planned to stay in character the entire way to Lance City, getting accustomed to their roles ahead of time.

Now there were simply a few extra spectators, that was all.

Though it was actually a good thing—with spectators, their identities became all the more convincing.

And there were even several mages among them!

All potential members for the Dawn Society!

The only inconvenience was that these ironclad beetles were now difficult to deal with.

Her persona was that of a frugal, waste-not mage—how could she let magical materials go unused?

But Spatial Magic items weren’t something a self-taught mage like her could plausibly own.

And the magic carriage couldn’t fit this many ironclad beetles either.

Mo Lan’s gaze lingered on the guards’ horses and the mages’ carriages for a moment, and an idea struck her:

“Does anyone want the ironclad beetle shells?

These are premium materials for making armor—light yet strong in defense, with a degree of resistance to Elemental Magic. We’re about to enter the Colorado Mountain Range, and even without a blacksmith right now, you can strap them onto horses, carriages, or your own bodies. In a critical moment, they could save your life!

Low-level shells: 50 gold coins each. High-level shells: 100 gold coins each. Supplies are limited—first come, first served!”