Chapter 189   - Bandits

Ray, Gary, and Jack were currently walking through the forest on their way to Kelberg. At first, Ray originally wanted to head to Roland academy. Not only were their rumours of the Divine being residing there but Gary also wanted to find out about what happened to his sister.

But the information Slyvia had given Ray seemed more urgent. If this mysterious man was to disappear with the Dragon hammer, then Ray might never get the chance to find him again.

The three of them were casually walking through the forest which would take them to the nearest town where they could spend the night.

Noir was now too big to ride and would only attract unwanted attention. The best option for them would be a carriage but at the moment Avrion was doing no trade with the nearby cities and town, and no one was willing to escort them.

News had spread that Avrion had been attacked, although they had successfully defended the city, a new unknown group had taken control. Sylvia and the others were currently negotiating with the other city officials. It was always tough for a new city to be involved with these things and get a fair deal.

In the end, it seemed like Avrion would have to send out their own knights on the pathways for protection, otherwise, the other cities refused to do trade with Avrion.

The deal was still in its final stages of negotiation so at the moment there was no one willing to go between the paths of Avrion and other cities.

As they were walking through, Jack started to sniff the air.

"Just ignore them for now," Ray said.

"Huh, ignore what, I don't understand," Gary replied.

Unknown to Gary the three of them were currently being followed. Inside the forest, a group of bandits had caught on to their trail.

"Hey, boss look at them." A scarfed man said.

A larger bald-headed man came over to see where the bandit was pointing.

"Well, will you look at that, what are a bunch of kids doing walking on their own through a place like this?"

The bandit leader started to inspect the kids even closer. He first noticed that Gary hardly had any decent equipment apart from the two swords he was carrying, Jack who was standing next to him also wasn't wearing much. In fact, all Jack had was his weapon. Jack never wore armour because of his strong body.

But as soon as the bandit saw Ray, he started to get excited. Ray was currently wearing top-level gear and the bandits wanted it for themselves. Just by looking at the three, the bandit leader suspected that Ray must have been a son of a rich Nobel and had hired Jack as a guard.

Out of the three of them there, the Bandit made a judgment that Jack was the only that could fight.

"Looks like we hit the jackpot today boys." The bandit leader gathered his men and slowly started to follow Ray and his group until they were in a good position for attack.

"Oh, I see now," Gary said as he saw one of the trees ruffle as he walked.

Gary then sighed, "Well shall we do it?"

Suddenly the three of them stopped.

"What's happening boss, do you think they found us?" A bandit asked.

"Impossible, no one has ever found us out before. It doesn't even look like they have any tags."

Then the three of them each held out their hand.

"Ready," Ray said.

"1,2,3, Shoot!"

At the same time, each of them reviled their hand. Gary and Ray chose scissors while Jack had chosen Rock.

"It looks like it's my turn," Jack said.

"They're wasting our time." The bandit leader said," Get them!"

Then from the forest and bushes, ten men appeared including the bandit leader and they had completely surrounded Ray and the others. Each of them had a piece of cloth covering their mouths so only their eyes were visible and they all had a mismatch of gear they had obtained from their other targets.

Jack then stood forward and drew his giant great sword. As he did though one of the bandits rushed in and tried to stab him with the dagger but the dagger immediately bounced straight off Jack's body.

"What the…" Before the bandit could finish his thought, Jack had already swung his sword and knocked the bandit back into the forest.

Jack then went and dealt with a group of four bandits with a single swing and punched and kicked the rest until all that was left was the bandit leader.

"How… you're just a bunch of kids." The bandit leader said, "Fine, if I'm going down I'm going to take one of you down with me."

The bandit leader had made an observation and judged that Jack had to be the strongest out of the three, while Ray looked the weakest. He leaped forward with his dagger in his hand, he had already chosen his target.

"Ouch wrong choice," Gary said.

Jack and Gary didn't move from their spot because they weren't worried for even a second. The man swung his dagger and Ray stepped to the side causing it to miss. Then Ray swung his fist and hooked the man in the face, the second Ray's fist made impact, the bandit's teeth had shattered.

The punch was also so powerful it caused the man's body to flip.

"That was like the fourth group today," Gary said.

"Yes, it is indeed a problem. When I can, I'll send Slyvia a message to send guards on this path, no wonder no one wants to do trade with us without the guarantee of protection."

The three continued on their path and fortunately for them, there were no more run-ins with bandits. They had finally arrived at the town of Gumblow a small-town Ray had been to once before.

It was the town where he had met Candy and Tuffy that one time he had snuck out of the city.

As Ray entered the town, he was wondering how the two kids were doing but he didn't have time to go find and check up on them, after all, there were two things they needed to do while in the town.

The first was to register as Adventures. They needed a way to make money while on the road as the money Slyvia gave them wouldn't last forever.

The second task though was more important to Ray and that was to create their own guild.

****

Special thanks to amasuckerforanimes, Fenrir2040, DarkShadow_DS, WriteraAddicted for the gifts they really help and It makes me work harder for you all.