In the midnight, a carriage was going towards the north at an astonishing speed. In the faint illumination of moonlight, the driver could barely control the horse from getting off course and the path was becoming even more difficult to cross with uneven land making the carriage shake all the time.

Unable to hold it in anymore, a girl peeked out her head and said to the old driver in an annoyed tone.

"Can't you drive more properly. All this shaking is killing my back."

Unswayed by the girl's voice, the old man replied, "Of course, I understand what you're trying to say, but the young man inside said that he needs to get to the northernmost town as soon as possible. That's why I am going at full speed without halting."

"But..." Before she could say something, the carriage shook again, making her bite her tongue.

"FUCK!!!"

She cursed and immediately covered the bloody tongue with her hand as she took back her head. Fortunately for her, the tongue wasn't sliced in half and she just got away with a small cut. Slowly moving her eyes, her gaze fell upon a man wearing shaggy clothes with ripped off black Cape.

He looked like a beggar who was all beat up by some hooligans to extort some money of him. The only things that were noticeable were two daggers which were sheathed in his waist and the mask he was wearing. The mask looked like a fine piece of art making her more suspicious of the identity of the person before her.

"Um...Sir, Can you please ask the driver to slow down a bit. It's too painful here." Lara humbly asked.

"NO!" Without hesitation, the man replied instantly. "I need to get to the northernmost city as soon as possible."

"But Sir, don't you think it's too hard yourself. Isn't it killing your ass and back? If it's too hurtful, you can ask the driver to slow down." Lara asked again.

"No!"

After getting another straight rejection, she was on her last nerve. She wanted to punch the man so hard that she would only be satisfied after breaking some teeth. But she calmed herself again. In her short life, she had realised that the attire wasn't the only thing that said about a person. In this age, even a person in beggar's clothes could turn out to be a king.

She then again tried to convince him, when a hand tug her cloth from the side. Moving her head, she found the face of her sister looking at her with a face as if saying not to get involved with the strangers anymore. Lara calmed herself down. She knew what her sister meant.

If the person was really a wolf in a sheep's clothing then it would be very hard for the three sisters. Too much pestering could offend the man, and if he turned out to be some noble, it would be the end of the road for them. 

Lara was born in a poor family alongside her elder and younger sister. Because of being poor, she had had a miserable life. Being looked down by people, being discriminated upon and what was worse was that her elder sister started working as a prostitute just to get some bread on the table so that she and her younger sister wouldn't have to spend nights in hunger. Living was always difficult for the poor and to survive they had to resort to any means.

Ever since she was a child, she had a dream of becoming an actress. Even though so much had happened, her dream of performing in plays with many people watching her starring hadn't wavered a bit. And when she met her master, the dream what she thought was so far away, was mentioned to be within her reach. Because of the words of her master, she was filled with hope.

She finally had a chance to earn money pursuing her own dream. She could finally live a humble life with her sisters, nobody would look down on her, and what was best was that her elder sister didn't have to sell her body anymore. She could bring the food on the table by herself so that nobody has to sacrifice for the family any longer. She was finally going to start a new and fulfilled life in the Howling Town with her sisters which she had desired for years.

But the guy's behaviour was just pissing her off. He wasn't the only one riding the carriage, there were Lara and her sisters as well. Just because he wasn't hurting didn't mean that the three sisters were enjoying the ride. Lara's face was red with anger as she looked at the man in front of her.

Maybe he noticed her gaze or maybe on his own accord, but the man who didn't speak for the whole journey except for rejecting Lara finally spoke.

"How much time until we reach Fleming Town?" He asked the old driver, "I need to get off there." 

Listening to him, the carriage was filled with silence as the old man slowly stopped the horse on its track.

"Why did you stop?" The man asked in confusion as three girls stared at him with a swollen face.

Did I say something wrong? The question arose in his mind.

The old driver slowly sliding the curtain looked at the man and apologized, "Youngman, if you're trying to get to the Fleming Town, sorry, but I can't take you there."

The man was shocked when heard the old driver. He immediately asked in confusion, "Why?"

"Well... because Youngman, we already went past that town eight hours ago." The driver replied.

"What? How?" The man gasped in surprise.

Seeing the response coming from the man, the old veteran furrowed his brows. Instead of replying, he asked the man.

"Is that suppose to mean that you haven't travelled to Fleming Town even once in your lifetime?"

The man nodded in affirmation which made the driver and the girls stare at him with shock. He didn't know where he was going and because of him, they had to suffer from pain all this time? Lara's anger was now on another level.

"Then why didn't you say when we already crossed past the town? Why did you keep quiet?" The man was confused even more. He had specifically asked the old driver to remind him after they reached the northernmost town and he found it strange that the old man didn't tell him.

"What? Don't try to push the blame on this old man. You told me to take you to the northernmost town, so I was taking you there. If you had just said that you needed to get off on Fleming Town, it would have been easier." The driver solemnly said.

"What do you mean? Isn't Fleming Town the northernmost town of Firebird Kingdom?" The man asked.

"Are you retarded?" Lara finally snapped. It seemed that her suffering all that time for no reason was the trigger of it. "Everyone knows that the northernmost part of the kingdom is Howling Town."

"What? Howling Town? When?" The man was beyond confused from the sudden flash of news.

"Don't act like you didn't know. Even the beggars of the country know about it." Lara shouted as the old driver gestured her to calm herself with his old hands. The man wasn't someone they could afford to offend.

Seeing the gesture of the old man and her sisters looking down not looking at the man in his eyes, she finally realised that she had done something wrong. 

But I didn't do anything wrong. The words echoed in her heart before she calmed her nerve and slowly asked. "You really didn't know?"

"I didn't." He replied, "Back when I knew about it, Howling Town was the enemy's territory. The kingdom couldn't capture it with normal soldiers."

"Well, if it was a few weeks ago, the town still would have been enemy's territory, but right now it is already conquered by the Firebird Kingdom. About two weeks ago, the new king ordered the Royal soldiers to conquer the Howling Town." The old man explained.

"The king dispatched Royal soldiers to conquer the Howling Town instead of thinking about his own security? The Town isn't even that great, so what was his objective?  What did he hope to achieve by conquering one small town." As he thought about it, a sudden thought flashed in his mind.

I see. So, that's his objective. Then, I should hurry up as well.

"Thank you for telling me this." The man said as he looked at the old driver. "Then you can take me to Howling Town as well. I was ordered to go to the northernmost town so if the Howling Town is the new northernmost town then so be it. I will go there. And this time, you don't need to hurry."

The old man just smiled and took his head out of the curtain. But before he could move the carriage again, a tip of the dagger was just a millimetre away from his throat as the threat was whispered in his ears.

"Move and your head will be flying in the air."

There were two reasons why the old man wasn't slowing down the carriage when Lara had asked him. One was the order from the man and another was the event right before him. I guess stopping in the middle of nowhere at nighttime was bad after all. But he had to stop after listening to the young man's question.

In the night, there were many things that one needed to be cautious of. And the bandits were one of them. It was common for the carriages to be attacked by a bunch of bandits at nighttime.

"How much money do you have?" The bandit whispered.

"Just a few thousand Oaks."

"Only a few thousands? Then what's in the carriage?"

"P-passengers."

"Oh?" The bandit raised his brows and keeping the old driver at bay, he unveiled the curtain.

There were three girls and a man who looked all beat up. The sight of three girls excited him as the existence of the guy was a nuisance. So, he thought of getting rid of the man first.

Giving a cold look to the passengers, he said, "Get out unless you want to die!"

The girls had to think for some time before they realized what was happening to them. It was a raid from a bandit. But there was nothing to fear, right? If the masked man wasn't someone they could offend as the old driver had hinted, he must have something to protect himself or must be a little bit strong unless the daggers sheathed in his waist were just for show.

But what followed after deeply shocked them. The first to get out of the carriage was the same beggar like man who they thought to be a little bit strong. His face wasn't showing but from his body's shaking anyone could tell that he was shaking.

So he was a wimp after all? The daggers were just for show? The worst-case scenario was before her. Lara had thought that if he was strong then he could easily defeat the bandit and could save the girls in the process but that didn't seem to be the case anymore. The man which they weren't supposed to offend and feared for the whole trip turned out to be a weak coward.

The girls could gang up and attack one bandit but if it turned out that he could use magic, they were all as good as dead. Lara didn't know how to get out of the situation anymore.

"Please don't kill me, big brother. I beg you to spare my life." The man begged the bandit with his hands joined.

"Heh," A smirk formed in bandits lips when he looked at the man shaking in fear. But he was still cautious of the man because he had noticed two daggers in his waist. There was also the mask but he wasn't interested in things like that. What he wanted was something valuable.

"I will spare your life if you give me all of your money and those daggers in your waist." The bandit claimed.

The man immediately handed over the daggers to the bandit, "I only have daggers I stole from a noble a year ago. I don't have any money on me."

"Oh, you stole the daggers? So, you're a thief?"

"Yes."

"If you're a thief then would you like to join our group of bandits? We need a thief like you to steal something without others noticing." The bandit said looking at the man.

"You mean it? So you will spare my life?" The man asked.

"Yes, I will spare your lives. After all, you will be joining us."

Of course, the bandit didn't mean it. He was still suspicious of the man's identity. If the man turned out to be strong and he couldn't handle him then he was done for. So, the only choice he had was to surprise attack the man.

The bandit then took out the whistle from his pocket and blew it. After a few seconds, they could hear the sound of footsteps from the bushes as four people emerged in front of them. All of them were equipped with bows and arrows.

"Can you guys take this masked man to our leader? I think he is a good thief and can help us a lot of ways." The man said looking at the people. But he wasn't asking them to do that. He gestured them to kill him on the way using his hands.

"Of course, leave it to us, brother." One of four people said as he took the hand of the masked man leading him inside the forest.

With the masked man gone, the bandit had little to fear of others. He immediately glanced at the girls who were shivering and licked his lips.

"Tonight's going to be fun for both of us." The bandit said in a small voice.

***

Inside the forest, the squad of four bandits were leading the masked man.

"Big brother, how long will it take for us to get to the leader." The masked man asked.

"About half an hour." One of the bandits said solemnly as laughed inside his heart.

Don't worry, we'll be leading you. Not to our leader but to your death that is.

"So, does it mean that there are only five big brothers here including the big brother who stopped the carriage?" 

"Yes, Why do you ask?"

"I see," The masked man said in a cold voice, "So, I don't have to do very much then."

"What do you-"

***

In the middle of the road, the bandit ordered the girls to get naked. The girls were hesitant. Especially the younger sibling named Marie. Lara was hesitant as well. Seeing them still not undressing after the order, the bandit was losing his patience.

In the midst of all this, the old man was hesitant to move even though there wasn't a  before his neck anymore. He wanted to help the helpless girls but he was scared of dying as well.

The eldest girl among the siblings purposed, " I am willing to sleep with you so can you please spare my sisters?"

"Shut up and strip," The bandit shouted.

All the siblings slowly took their shivering hands to their clothes when the voice of the man echoed from behind the bandit.

"Is this what you're planning to do? I thought bandits only loved money."

It was the masked man. Lara was relieved. It didn't matter if the man was weak anymore. If the man could just distract the bandit, she could run away with her sisters.

"You..." The bandit turned back facing the masked man who appeared to be undamaged.

"Where are the others? Didn't they take you to the leader?"

"Well, they said they had something to tell you. That's why they sent me to tell you this."

"Oh, what?" The bandit grabbed the dagger so tightly that the hilt of the dagger was pressed inward.

"Why don't you ask them after you meet them." The man said.

The bandit immediately slashed his dagger toward the man, but he easily dodged the full blow from the bandit and easily taking his own daggers back from the bandit's waist. Unsheathing one of the daggers, he easily beheaded the bandit. Blood was splattered all over his face but the dagger still remained as it was without any bloodstains.

The dagger was transparent blue in design and was uniquely crafted. Under the veil of moonlight, the dagger seemed truly beautiful.

Lara found the dagger truly beautiful. She couldn't put her finger on it but she felt as if the dagger was a life form on its own when it cut through the bandit's neck. But she was more worried about something else. She had misjudged the man. She thought the man was weak but now her thoughts weren't the same.

This man is dangerous, she thought.

Without glancing at the girls or paying any kind to their mental health, he looked at the old driver who wasn't as surprised by his behaviour and said,

"Fleming Town or Howling Town, it doesn't matter. Just take me to the northernmost town."