Chapter 23

“They must have traits similar to mine, then… but they are focused on covering longer distances instead of moving faster like me in closer distances. That also means that they are part of the same clan.”

After hearing that, the group went quiet. Running away was no longer plausible. The existence of a clan of bandits was probably kept hidden from the population's ears since that would cause panic… but it wasn't far-fetched… Irlan knew that they were relatively common in the past.

“Cover the horses with some pieces of cloth, and we will keep moving even at night. Those pieces of cloth should protect them a bit from arrows or other projectiles. The enemies should be a bit tired as well, so we will make things harder for them.”

At the same time that she passed her orders, Heirina lit two torches and then put them one on the front and another one on the back of the carriage as they kept moving. The horses were losing a bit of speed, but they could keep going for a couple of hours.

“They are here, and I can see their silhouettes approaching…”

Aleph could see the silhouettes of the enemies approaching from the sides and the backs, so everyone grabbed their weapons. It looked like the fact that they didn’t decide to camp made the bandits put their plan into motion… that made sense. According to Heirina’s map, they were twenty kilometers away from their destination, and the enemies would have difficulty realizing the distance they had crossed at night… they knew that too and decided to attack.

“I can’t see any of them… how many of them are there?”

“Ten from each direction.”

While Heirina was holding the reins of the carriage, she couldn’t help but bite her lips. That number was pretty high. Waiting for each one of them to kill almost ten of those guys was very unlikely. Before long, she was able to see their silhouettes, and they were moving at sixty kilometers per hour with no trouble… even though they chased them for the entirety of the day.

Before long, Aleph saw that they had come with weapons as well… not bows since they couldn’t stop and aim them fast enough, but with throwing spears. Heirina saw that too and soon made the horses move faster, but she suddenly heard a nasty sound before they could gain speed. 

When she turned to the side, she saw one of the enemies falling on the ground and his comrades slowing down… in the next moment, she heard the same sound coming from the opposite direction, and soon she saw another enemy falling on the ground.

“What sound was that?”

“The sound of someone’s skull being smashed.”

Aleph had his iron balls in his hands again… Heirina blinked several times when she realized that he had thrown those thirty meters away, hit the enemies' heads, and killed them instantly. Still, she didn’t have time to think about that for long since the other bandits began to throw their spears. 

Irlan and Kaitrine quickly left the carriage while it was moving and approached the horses. While the animals were grunting, they blocked the spears with their own weapons. Thanks to their traits, they pulled it off.

“Can you grab them for me instead of throwing them on the ground?”

Kaitrine looked at Aleph, showing an expression as if she was about to ask: are you serious?

“Just use your iron balls, and that should be enough!”

“Phrasing.”

Heirina would have rolled her eyes if the situation weren’t drastic… moreover, she could see the enemies grabbing more weapons from their backs while others were grabbing the ones on the path that they had fallen.

“They aren’t fighters! They won’t get close to us because they don’t have the skills to fight us fair and square, even with their numbers! Just block their attacks while Aleph decreases their numbers!”

“You are putting a lot of faith in me when now they are totally wary of me here.”

The enemies were looking at Aleph, and it looked like he was their next target…

While Aleph was looking for the best target to hit with his next iron ball, he saw several of them throwing their spears at him… their coordination was amazing, if anything. Still, their attacks left at least one of them open to counter-attack, and an iron ball flew right into the head of the poor bastard.

In the next moment, the spears rained down at the top of the carriage. Still, Aleph blocked several of them with his wooden spear… unfortunately, three of them hit his arms and right left, and soon he felt the blood flowing from the wounds.

“... You guys might regret this…”

Aleph grabbed one of the spears, mimicked their throwing technique, and hit the bandits. The first projectile flew in a straight line and impaled the first target. The second pierced the leg of the next target, and the sound of the enemy's pain echoed in the area.

“Aleph! More in coming!”

Aleph was so busy with the enemies on the back that only Irlan’s warning made him wake up for that attack. The enemies on the sides threw their spears at him, so soon, he found himself surrounded by them. He wanted to spin two spears in front of him to block all of them. Still, a single moment of thinking made him realize that it was impossible for him to pull that off… so Aleph blocked the few of them that were about to hit the top of the carriage with the iron balls and avoided the others… Still, the other two of them hit him… and one pierced his right leg.

“Shit…”

Aleph was used to the pain of training, but the pain of his flesh being pierced by a spear was still something that he didn’t get used to. There was no way that he could get used to that… Still, at least he made sure that the carriage wasn’t hit and Edea remained safe. She was their client, after all.

“I don’t have time to aim to kill… Scaring them should be enough.”

In the end, Aleph had several spears around him, so he threw them toward the enemies without the same precision and finesse as before… they spun in the air and hit the enemies' bodies, but not with their tips… some of them actually were impaled… but that had been a very small number. 

In the end, thanks to the wounds that they suffered, the bandits felt less compelled to engage and decided to step back… but not before one of them had his back slammed by an iron ball. Without hesitation, Irlan and Kaitrine jumped from the carriage and went to grab that poor idiot. Before long, they returned and hopped on while carrying the unconscious bandit. Heirina nodded when that happened.

“Good job… we should keep going just in case. Do you know how many of them died?”

“Around ten… ugh.”

Aleph suddenly pulled the spear that had pierced his leg… it only pierced around five centimeters. Still, it had been enough to reach the muscle… just when he had his crazy idea, thanks to that battle. Kaitrine looked at Aleph, but she couldn’t see his wounds well. Thanks to the darkness of the night, the smell showed that they weren’t light.

“... Are you all right? The smell of blood is spreading quite fast.”

“I will be soon enough,”

Kaitrine didn’t seem convinced, but while she knew Aleph was stubborn, she knew he wasn’t insane enough to hide deadly wounds. In any case, he still asked for some water to clean his wounds since it wouldn’t be surprising for bandits to use poison or other nasty things.

Although he wasn’t aware of that, it seemed that they had some bandages with them… they probably got them when they delivered the prisoner. Regardless, Kaitrine passed them to Aleph, but he only used them to cover the wound in his leg. Around the same time, they began to slow down since the horses were starting to move with their heads down and breathing roughly. Heirina was checking the map at the same time and soon made her choice.

“There is a village five kilometers south of here. It is the closest to Edea’s hometown. We can head there and spend the night.”

“Are you sure, Captain?”

“After this conflict, they won’t risk another battle that can turn into a large-scale skirmish. Attacking us in broad daylight will also be a good no-no for them. We should obtain some extra escorts as soon as we show this guy here.”

“... Maybe you shouldn’t.”

Everyone turned around when they heard Edea. The interior of the carriage wasn’t that bright, but she looked a bit tense as she was looking at the captured bandit… almost as if she had seen that guy before.

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