Chapter 444 - Noble Guardians

In the meantime, Laura was traveling to various towns and villages. She was dealing with the bandit groups and destroying their outposts. The bandits she targeted were the most famous groups in the entire Glerian Kingdom.

The Royal Family had set a hefty bounty on their heads and promised extravagant prizes if they were apprehended. Thus, Laura would kill all the low-ranked members in these bandit groups and capture the higher-ranking bandits.

Laura would take them to the nearest bounty center and claim the prize while handing over these prisoners to the respective authorities in the cities. These authorities would then decide just how they should deal with these bandits.

Typically, these authorities would execute them in front of the public in order to gain widespread support. The majority of these bandits had perpetrated heinous crimes against the residents of the cities in concern. These residents would go to any length to see these criminals punished for their atrocities.

As a result, many governors, town lords, and mayors were extremely thankful to Laura and her squad, who risked their own lives to apprehend these outlaws and demolish their outposts.

The public was naturally quite delighted to know that these criminals were being punished. The Mayors, town lords, and the governors, naturally took complete credit. They would make a public appearance and give long speeches of how they loathed the bandits and were taking strict actions to ensure that their citizens won't be harmed.

The people were also quite delighted to know that their lords were dealing with these bandits. They initially thought that the lords organized an independent force to deal with these bandits.

But slowly, they realized that this wasn't the case. In reality, there was a group roaming around and dealing with the bandits. The rumors in the taverns began. Many people began to talk about this mysterious group that was dealing with the bandits.

Currently, a group of drunkards were talking about this issue. One of them began, "I heard that this mysterious group dealt with the bandits near the Gillamoor Town. After that, they traveled to the Stathford town and destroyed the bandits' outpost there. They captured most of the bandits and led them to our Bellmare Town."

"Eh? But didn't our Town Lord say that he sent a force to destroy the outpost and capture these bandits? Does this mysterious group belong to him?" Another drunkard from the group spoke out and gulped down a mouthful of ale in his mug.

An old man scoffed at those words and spoke, "Hmph! It's obvious that he is lying. I come from Ruthorham City and heard of this group long before they even entered this area and destroyed that bandit outpost. Do you know of the Grey Razor Band?"

A middle-aged man, who was apparently the youngest one in the group answered his question, "The Grey Razor Band that has two warriors of the 4 Star Rank. I heard that they change their location every day and it's extremely challenging for anyone to catch up to them."

The old man nodded his head in satisfaction. He gulped down his beer and then continued, "That's right. They are an annoying bunch who commit all sorts of atrocities. When I first heard of this mysterious group, it was when they had killed a local outlaw and claimed a bounty for his head."

"Apparently, that outlaw had just violated 3 women and was on the run. This mysterious group found him and turned its head to the authorities. Naturally, I didn't pay them much attention. After all, that criminal was only a 3 Star Warrior."

"However, a couple of days later, I heard that of a reputed bandit group's destruction. In the next couple of days, nearly 4 bandit groups were purged from that area. At this point, I became very curious about this mysterious group."

"The local government did what they know best. They lied. They announced to the public that they had used their personal funds to create their force and purge the bandits who were troubling the local citizens."

"Didn't someone from this organization come up and assert that the government was lying?" The middle-aged guy inquired of the old man at this point. That was an excellent question from this gentleman.

The other members of this group were interested as well. They looked at the old man with curious gazes. The old man seemed annoyed at being interrupted and glared at that middle-aged man, "Maybe the government threatened them or struck a secret deal with them! Also, who in their right mind would actively try to go against the administration! Just use your damn brain!"

The middle-aged man was instantly embarrassed upon being chided like that. But he found logic in those words. The other members also felt that the old man's words made sense. One of them asked the old man, "So, what happened next? How is it related to the Grey Razor Band?"

"I was getting to that," spoke the old man as he took another sip of his beer. He then cleared his throat and continued, "A few days later, the Grey Razor Band took down a merchant caravan in the area and captured all the individuals of that caravan."

"Do you know what happened? Three days later, we received word that someone had arrived and handed over the heads of the Grey Razor Band's commanders! All of the hostages and captives abducted by the Grey Razor Band soon returned to their respective towns and cities."

All the individuals in this group were startled to hear that statement. One of them exclaimed with shock, "What?! Doesn't that mean that the mysterious group found and destroyed the Grey Razor Band within three days?!"

The old man nodded, and he spoke, "That's correct. I am sure of this because my brother-in-law had been among the captives, and he saw the entire thing. He mentioned that all the members of this group were mostly women. And all of them held bows. The one leading them was a gorgeous blonde woman who captivated him instantly. She possessed the ability to control wood."

The entire group was dumbfounded as the old man finished telling the tale of this mysterious group. One of them wondered out loud, "Just who could they be? And why don't they reveal their identity?"

The old man spoke, "Who knows what will happen. Perhaps they are being persecuted elsewhere in the Kingdom, making it impossible for them to divulge their identities here. Whatever the situation may be, they have a wonderful heart and are fighting for a noble cause. I plan to support them however I can."

"You are right, old man. But how can we help them? We don't even know their names or how to contact them? And we don't even know what they are seeking." One of the people in this old man's generation inquired curiously.

A tick mark appeared on the old man's head, and he shout, "You idiot! They are fighting for a noble cause. Do you think they would accept any assistance from us?! No. They would reject any aid from us to prevent us from being involved in the dangerous battles!"

The old man continued speaking with greater zeal and fervor, "What we can do is make the public aware of their selfless act! We can't just let the higher authorities lay false claims on their noble and heroic deeds!"

A middle-aged man sitting next to the old man placed his hand on the old man's shoulder and spoke authoritatively, "Calm down, old man. Don't get so excited. We understand how passionate and delighted you are with this mysterious group, and we do share your sentiments."

This man had organized this group meeting, so his words held great prestige. Even the old man stopped speaking after he spoke. This middle-aged man noticed that the old man had calmed down and looked at the other members of the group before speaking, "As writers, what we can do is write articles and publish them in newspapers and reveal the truth to the public."

"But what should we call them? We don't even know their names," One of the members of this group asked. The entire group remained silent for a couple of minutes. This was truly a troublesome matter.

At this moment, the youngest writer among them spoke out, "…Since they are fighting for a noble cause and protecting citizens. How about we call them Noble Guardians?"

When the group members first heard these words, they were all taken aback, but they liked the moniker. The old man even spoke, "What a great name! Yes, we can definitely use that!"

At this moment, another man wondered with a hesitant and worried look on his face, "Wouldn't the higher authorities of the towns and cities be angered if we reveal the truth to the public and start giving credit to this mysterious group? They could even come after us and force us to take back our statements."

"Hmph! Let them come!" The old man spoke angrily. However, his words only made all the members worried. They all instinctively looked in their leader's direction.

The leader smiled when he noticed their gazes and spoke with a calm smile, "Leave them to me. I will talk to my friends and ensure that the authorities don't take action against you."

Those words finally relieved them.. This group soon began its task of revealing the truth to the public. In just a month, all the citizens of the Glerian Kingdom became aware of the 'Noble Guardians' and their legends!