Chapter 160: A high-ranking bandits

It was his people inside his domain who built the bamboo house. Then he took out from his domain. The soldiers could not help but gawk at the sudden appearance of it. One of the female soldiers lost to her curiosity and went to ask him. "C-Commander, who made it?" Although it was kind of rude to suddenly ask a superior with unnecessary things, the female soldier resolved herself and asked him. Demyul and his squad members also came to gossip. They were as curious as to the others as they were the most people who were spying on the commander while he was standing still without doing anything just recently. Yet, a bamboo house had suddenly appeared from out of nowhere. If it was only as big as their backpack, they would never wonder if it suddenly appeared, but it wasn't the case. After all, it was as big as a commoner's house!

Eman's hair slightly danced when a wind caressed it. He glanced at the female soldier. "It was made by me, Miss Kanna," he replied to her. The female soldier was his assistant and one of his squad members. The female soldier tilted her head, seemingly unconvinced by him. "Anyway, regroup all the captains after dinner. We needed to plan out our next move," Eman said then looked at the sky. It had started to get darker. The distance of Sunville Village from the main city wasn't as far as Sitona Town but still, it took a week of travel when using a carriage. 

"Yes sir! W-Wait commander, where are you going?" Soldier Kanna saluted but soon asked in haste when she noticed that he was about to go somewhere. It would be bad if something happened to him. His Majesty the emperor emphatically advised them to guard him. That's why Soldier Kanna couldn't lose sight of him. The emperor would be angry if something happened to this young commander. She didn't even want to think what kind of punishment she would get if something awful were to happen. "You don't need to follow me. I'm just going for a little walk," he said to prevent her from tagging along.

However, Soldier Kanna still followed him. Although this young commander was able to defeat the bandits a while ago, it didn't mean that he was capable enough to let him wander alone. This place was dangerous. Any kind of bad element might come to attack him while he was unaware. They could not risk losing a commander before they reached their destination.

Although it was the emperor himself who appointed him as the commander for this mission, it didn't mean that he was the strongest person among them. Also, if he was truly that capable, the emperor would never have sent them to guard him.

"Let's go!" Demyul and his squad went back to their tents. They heard the commander say that it was him who built the bamboo house, but they never saw him do the job. What kind of magic tricks did he use? That kind of house was impossible to finish in an instance no matter how good a person was.

Regardless, since he was one of the captains, he needed to get ready for the meeting later. There's no good mulling about the things he could not understand.

Alas, Eman gave up chasing away his assistant and let her tag along. Well, he wasn't lying when he said that he just wanted to survey the place.

Their current location was near the river. They chose this place as they could let their horses drink enough water.

On the northern side of the river, a forest could be seen. And on the other side of the forest, was a high mountain.

They stationed themselves in the middle of the forest and the river.

Eman and Soldier Kanna were passing by to some of the soldiers. Some of them were resting and some were doing some chores: Like sharpening their weapons, roasting some edible animals like frogs, lizards, rabbits, and etcetera. It was the life of a soldier after all.

Some were boiling water on the pot, the others were fending the horses. Those were the soldiers assigned to the job beforehand.

Most of them after seeing their commander, either saluted in respect or knitted their brows in wonder to where he was planning to go. Since most of them were looking at him like looking at a young man and not as a soldier, most of them care less if something to happen to him. If this commander would be killed while wandering around, they could just have to replace him with a more suitable one.

Nonetheless, they were most concerned about the mission.

The group soldiers were surrounding a fire where a bigger boiling pot was placed, cushioning on the stones in a triangular position.

"No matter how I think of it, it is truly a suicide mission," one of the soldiers said in a somber voice.

"Mhm! That is what I been thinking the whole time," one of them agreed.

"What if... if there is a high-ranking bandit among them," said the third person in a worried tone.

"Do you mean…" said the second soldier with slightly widened eyes. Then he continued in a low voice. "The Bandit Lord...?"

The first soldier and the second glanced at him. Both frowned and nodded. "Who else?" Replied the third soldier.

"High-ranking bandits are known for their ferocity. They are cold-blooded notorious killers and hard to deal with. They are not easy to kill and will never show mercy against their enemy. These high-ranking bandits they breakthrough through killing and surviving many battles. So, they are more than capable in any type of battle," explained the first soldier.

Both of them fell silent. "And we're going to deal with a monster like that...?"

"Pray for your luck that we won't encounter someone like that."

"....."

The group once again fell silent. This mission…

It would be a bleak mission. On top of that, their commander was a newbie. A solemn atmosphere was noticeable around them.