“Brat! You… get down on your knees!!”
But at this moment, the Old Man’s trembling voice sounded out once again!
“Father… they…”
“Kneel!!”
The Old Man stood up and directly slapped his son across the face!
Pa!!
The young man gritted his teeth, clenching his fists… but as he looked at his father, whose body was shaking and whose breath was rapid right in front of him,
he finally—thud—knelt down to the ground.
“Heh… pathetic.”
“What the hell are you scared of, just an old man?”
“Why don’t you kill this old man, and I guarantee you won’t die! How about it?”
“Hahahaha.”
Another round of rowdy laughter erupted all around.
“Ah… ah hehe, hey, the boy doesn’t know any better, doesn’t know any better… Sirs, please don’t stoop to his level…”
The instant the Old Man turned around, he forced a smile back onto his face.
“Don’t you dare try to change the subject with me!”
The man kicked the Old Man again, sending him stumbling back several steps.
The young man behind clenched his fists tighter, wanting to get up again, but his father turned and glared at him…
And in the end, he still didn’t get up.
“Hehehe… uh… lick! That’s right… just lick.”
The Old Man’s smile was uglier than crying, and he could only shuffle over to his daughter-in-law, wanting to say something, but… he had no idea what to say…
If there were a way, even if this group of beasts hacked him to death, as long as they spared the others… Old Dum would gladly accept it.
But… his old life clearly wasn’t worth that much. If everyone was to survive, then…
“Kadeli… you…”
“Father, I know… I… will go…” The woman hung her head, her expression unreadable to all.
She did not blame the Old Man before her, nor her husband…
The one who always stood in front, shouldered everything, had always been this thin, stubborn, and even a bit stingy father-in-law.
If she could save everyone…
Maybe… this was truly the best choice…
Kadeli pressed her lips together, holding back tears… grabbing her skirt, she just stood up…
And amidst the jeers of the beasts, took a slow step forward.
Da da da…
But at that moment, a new burst of hoofbeats sounded from behind.
This made everyone instinctively look towards the bend in the road.
There, at the turn, was a carriage twice the size of an ordinary one, each corner trimmed with gold, but without excessive ornamentation.
Pulled by two strong, magnificent horses…
It steadily made its way toward them.
Beside it, a young girl in plain clothes was running along with the carriage.
“Hmm?”
On the driver’s seat, Amisa, shrouded in a brown cloak, narrowed her eyes slightly.
Is this… a highway robbery?
She didn’t act immediately, merely turned back and opened the window to the inside of the carriage.
“Lady, there are bandits blocking the road ahead.”
“Hmm?” Ileya, who was holding a banana in her hand, raised an eyebrow, reached out, and opened the window to look outside…
The crowd was still about three hundred meters away from the blockaded carriages ahead.
The others clearly saw what was going on too…
Seven or eight Bandits held various weapons, and those they had taken hostage—nearly ten who looked like commoners—were all obediently kneeling on the ground.
Reliel, sitting nearby, instinctively reached for her sword hilt, while Holly, running outside… clasped her hands in the air!
Whoosh! The Holy Sword instantly appeared in her hands.
After nearly a week of training… now at last was the time for real battle… would she see the results?
“Hey!!”
But just as everyone was readying themselves, the Lady, still peeling her banana, shouted out toward the front.
“Who are you people!!”
The questioned Bandits and the Old Man’s group of commoners were all bewildered.
“W-we’re just passing Bandits!”
One of the Bandits blurted out instinctively.
Pa!
“Tch, you idiot… Who introduces themselves as Bandits?!”
The burly Bandit leader slapped his underling on the head, then looked ahead at the approaching carriage with a hesitant face.
Wouldn’t it sound better to call themselves Mercenaries?
And just now… he had seen with his own eyes… the girl running beside the carriage conjure a longsword from thin air…
Could this… really be a skill that humans could master?
Could they be legendary Transcendents?
The Bandit leader himself was a Sub-Bronze Rank knight; in some small mercenary groups, he could serve as a captain or the like… so he had seen a little of the world.
He knew what kind of existence a Transcendent was.
Inside the carriage, Ileya only curled her lips…
“Tch! I’m the Lady of the Bateos Marquis!”
She pointed the peeled banana straight ahead.
“Don’t block the road! All of you, get lost!!”
Bateos Marquis? Isn’t that the Uncrowned King of East County?
And his daughter is… the Bloodblossom Demon??
Hiss…
The Bandit leader froze, then, without another word, dashed off towards the woods!
“Go, go, go! The Bloodblossom Demon!”
“Huh? R-really?”
“Hey! Boss! Wait for me!”
Whoosh… The Bandits who had just been so fierce scattered in an instant!
“Tch…” Ileya curled her lips, took a bite of her banana, sat back inside under the stunned gazes of everyone, and then whispered,
“Hey… we’re traveling low-profile this time, try not to expose our identities~ understand?”
“Huh?… Oh.”
The Lady lectured the group as she finished the banana and tossed the peel out the window!
“Ouch!”
Thud!
Still dazed from what just happened, Holly rubbed her backside and got up from the ground.
Who has so little public decency… actually tossing a banana peel here…
At this point, those who hadn’t fled at the front were still bewildered.
Is it… over?
“Father… are we… saved?” The man with red eyes just now stood up in a daze, looking at the Old Man, whose body still trembled.
“Uh… seems… I think so…”
The Old Man nodded instinctively, then quickly ordered his son, daughter-in-law, and apprentices to drive their own carriage to the side and not disturb that esteemed person on her way.
“Then… what should we do next?”
As the group questioned him, watching the carriage roll past them…
The Old Man looked around, then gritted his teeth!
“F-follow! Move both carriages behind that esteemed one! Those Bandits surely won’t dare to come back!”
Though doing this might be somewhat presumptuous towards that esteemed one.
But it was the best, and only, method right now…
If those Bandits circled back, after losing face in front of these commoners, they’d surely slaughter every last one of them…
“Quickly!”
“But Master… the money on the ground—”
“Forget it! Hurry and pack up! Move, move, move!”
“Yes!!”
And so…
On this road, the convoy that had originally been two carriages became three.
And Holly, running outside, certainly noticed.
Though it wasn’t some grand chivalrous act… the Lady had indeed saved these innocent commoners.
And she allowed them to follow behind her own carriage without the slightest objection.
At that moment, the girl’s mind replayed Ileya’s brazen appearance from before, as well as the “Trial” set for her sake…
She spoke such hurtful words, acted so coldly, yet always managed to help others…
How could that be mere coincidence?
Her lips… curled up in spite of herself.
She really does have the gentleness befitting a Lady…
Hiss~ ouch…
That fall just now… really hurts…