The two magic apprentices returned from peeing, relieved and relaxed.
But Andonara ran forward and kicked them to the ground while yelling, “You two idiots didn’t do the basic reconnaissance at all. What if there were enemies in the woods?”
The magic apprentices writhed and screamed, holding their heads. However, Andonara didn’t really kick them that heavily, and they were only trying to avoid further beating with such a trick.
Magic apprentices, as future Mages, were definitely clever.
One of them rolled and shouted, “Your Majesty, we were just peeing!”
“You think that’s an excuse?” Andonara exerted more strength when she was challenged. “Certain sordid enemies like to attack you when you’re peeing. If you’re attacked, you’ll have to fight the enemy while you’re holding your penis to pee. Do you think that would be fun?”
Everybody was lost for words.
If they were attacked when they were peeing, they would definitely be too anxious to finish peeing.
However, they did realize that Andonara had a point. What if there were enemies who set up an ambush for them?
After the kicking, Andonara said casually, “You have no experience in traveling at all, so you have to create a safe environment regardless of what it takes, particularly when you’re still weak.”
She pointed at the carriages and said, “Those carriages are actually the best tools for defense. If you place them in a semicircle, you will be able to resist attacks from at least one direction.”
Jerry immediately led the coachmen to reorganize the carriages into a semicircle.
“Ask a couple of them to scan the dense grasses with Hand of Magic. Be careful. While it’s unlikely that you’ll find an enemy, you may spot venomous snakes.”
Jerry then led the guys to drive away the little animals and clear the vermin.
“One of you will stay on alert at the edge, and the rest can have some food.”
Domingo, who had the best eyesight, left to watch the surroundings, and the rest of them had food.
Half an hour later, Jerry replaced Domingo.
Roland and Andonara had some food too. While eating gracefully, Andonara remarked with mixed feelings, “Things were much harder when I was a mercenary years ago. Nobody looked out for me. There was not sufficient food or vehicles either. I couldn’t always fight in my best state, not to mention that my teammates might turn out to be my enemy.”
Roland was of a mind to ask why teammates could become enemies, but when he looked at Andonara’s beautiful face, he understood a lot of things.
“That’s why you quit being a mercenary?”
“After I cut the arms of three teammates who wanted to touch me, and the genitals of another two, few mercenary groups dared to include me anymore.” Andonara smiled coldly. “I was even poisoned with aphrodisiacs once by teammates that I trusted. I would’ve suffered had it not been for my special body. Sometimes, humans are more treacherous than beasts.”
Roland really did not know that so much had happened to Andonara.
Soon, everybody was full, and the coachmen began to feed the horses.
At this point, galloping horses could be vaguely heard from far away.
Andonara was the first to react. She laid her hand on the hilt of her sword.
Roland was next. He dropped three magic spiders, which quickly passed through the line of carriages and crawled to the horses.
Several seconds later, Roland grew solemn and whispered to Andonara, “Be careful. I saw fourteen people. I met seven of them in the mercenary guild earlier.”
“Judging from the sound of the horseshoes, they’re in a hurry to somewhere and can’t be coming for us.” Andonara leaned her ear closer to Roland’s mouth and smiled. “But we still should be careful.”
Roland leaned back slightly and nodded.
They had been prepared while they talked. It was not until this moment that the magic apprentices heard the horses.
They had no reaction at all but simply glanced at the source of the sounds curiously.
Seeing that, Andonara scolded, “Be smart and don’t just wait there. Defend yourselves. What if they are enemies?”
Those horsemen could be enemies too?
After a brief shock, the magic apprentices immediately came back to themselves and summoned Hand of Magic.
Hand of Magic, as well as its derivative spells, was now a standard spell for the magic apprentices in the magic tower of Delpon.
It could be used to grab, dig, or even attack. Most importantly, its magic cost was low, and even the apprentices could use it for a long time.
Very soon, the horses drew near. From the road on the horizon, a cluster of dark spots were approaching quickly, followed by a trail of smoke.
When horses galloped, their speed could impose a heavy pressure, and now that a dozen of them were running together, they were even more intimidating, their hooves pounding the road.
When they were closer, it could be seen that the riders on them were all armed and donned with leather armor.
They looked aggressive.
The magic apprentices’ faces slightly changed.
Vivian even slowly retreated toward Roland.
She was a girl, after all.
Were they enemies, or were they just passersby?
The magic apprentices got more and more nervous.
Soon, the dozen riders came to the road right before them. Some of the riders looked at them, but none stopped. They seemed to be defending against something too. Then, they quickly passed through the area.
Watching the riders vanish into the smoke that their horses raised, everybody greatly relaxed, but not Roland and Andonara.
Roland asked them to take a brief rest, before he said, “Let’s continue.”
The team went back on the road.
The magic apprentices might’ve been silent and bored earlier, but they were slightly anxious now.
The riders just now were quite an excitement for them… What if those people had been enemies, and the chairman and Queen Andonara weren’t around? What should they do? What might’ve become of them?
They considered all those things.
For long-distance travelers, beasts, vermin and bandits were not the only problems; fickle weather could be a challenging enemy too.
After the carriages pressed on for two hours, an expected storm stopped the team in a wood.
Though the trees could block some of the rainwater, a lot of rainwater still dripped from the leaves.
Very soon, the canopies and the branches of those trees would be laden with water, and it would be raining as hard in the woods as it was outside of them.
So, Roland built a big pavilion with a rock floor using Mud to Stone.
He and Andonara sat in the pavilion to stay away from the storm. The coachmen also took shelter after putting grass cloaks on their horses.
However, the six magic apprentices were turned away.
Raising a luminous sphere in the dark wood, Roland looked at the apprentices, whose clothes were soaked, and said, “Now, you need to protect yourselves from the rain on your own. You can use the tools you prepared earlier, or you can just be creative.”
All six magic apprentices were rather stunned.
