Chapter 20 - Battle Against Bandits

As Rohan advanced towards the bandits still fighting against the caravan's mercenaries, the enemy warrior, presumably the leader, stepped forward with a broad smile.

"Look at that, a little guy who likes to play the hero." He yelled over the noises of the thundering battle with a gib grin on his face. "You're all alone man. Do you think you can be the difference by yourself? What a lovely pig."

But Rohan didn't answer. A good part of the bandits were still in combat, it was necessary that to strike quickly.

He rushed towards the bandits leader and struck with his sword, forcing the enemy warrior on the defensive. A storm of blows descended on him as the bandit tried to parry each of the blows with his weapon. 

But the power of the blows was phenomenal and the face of the leader went white. A warrior ! And one more powerful than him. Maybe rank 2 or even 3.

He didn't have time to think that he felt a gash appear on his cheek. He hastily backs away, his face shocked. Who was this person?

He glanced quickly behind him. The bandits continued to fight against the mercenaries. Victory was close at hand, but the warrior before him was a significant variable.

He motioned to two of the bandits behind him.

"You two! With me, we take this guy apart!"

The two bandits, shocked for a moment by their powerful leader's request, rushed toward Rohan. Each of them was taking the left and the right while their chief was taking the front.

Rohan's heartbeat was speeding up. He had expected it, but seeing three armed bandits rushing towards him dreaded him a bit.

He fixed his gaze on the attackers, and concentrated as best he could. Time seemed to slow down as he saw their every move. The movement of the legs, the shock of the heel on the ground, the armed arms swaying, the hair bouncing under their movements, the mouths open to their battlecries, the eyes fixed on him, and the weapons approaching dangerously.

The world seemed to be covered with a gray veil as Rohan remained there, observing this scene, as the only noise he could hear was his heart beating in his head.

Suddenly time sped up. Rohan attacked to his right with lightning speed and sliced ​​off the bandits wrist. He used Charge and propelled himself to appear to his left and dodge the bandit leader's hit, before striking his weapon diagonally. The man on his left tried to parry the attack with his own weapon, but the blow was too powerful. A bone in his hand shattered by the shock, and Rohan's blade pierced his jaw, slicing his face and his tongue in two.

Rohan regained his balance, and used the Strengthened Blow to chop horizontally towards the bandit leader. This one tried to deflect the blow, but he didn't even have time to use his own skill as the two swords met. He was thrown back as the power of the blow numbed each of his muscles. He couldn't breath more than one time when the young man was already in front of him and attacked again and again. 

He was starting to tire himself, his muscles were starting to lose strength. Gashes appeared on his armor, and slashes appeared on his skin. It wasn't long before the enemy blade landed on his throat.

The clamor of the fighting suddenly stopped. The cries of pain from the one with his severed hand and the bubbles of blood squirting from the throat of the other had attracted the attention of combatants on both sides.

But the sight of the badly battered warrior who dropped his weapon to the ground in front of the young man's bloodied sword left them all dumbfounded.

After a short time where everyone didn't really know what to do, the bandits came back to their spirit, and suddenly they decided to flee. After all, there were only a dozen of them. There were still a handful of mercenaries left, this monster had just neutralized five of them, and among them was their leader, a rank 1 Beginner Warrior. Of course they will not think to fight anymore !

The battle was thus over, and sighs of relief could be heard from the seven mercenaries still alive. All of them were quite badly messed up.

Several hours later, the bodies were piled up inside the forest, the wounded bandits were tied up and would be handed over to the authorities in the next town.

Meanwhile, Rohan was nearby, talking to a merchant. He was a bit wrapped up, brown hair at ear height stuck to his face from the sweat. He was a young man with red cheeks. The clothes he wore were colored yellow, orange and red. It might not be the most expensive fabric, but the intention to present it that way was evident. It was of course the "fat bacon" that the leader of the bandits was talking about earlier.

"Thank you again for your help, Warrior Rohan! Without you what would have happened would be much more terrible."

"It's my pleasure mister Delia, I was just passing by, but, why did these bandits attacked your caravan?"

"Hmm? What do you mean, it was only lowland bandits who wanted my goods of course! This is not the first time that such a situation has occurred! In fact, some months ago, when I was in a nearby kingdom..."

Hearing what Delia was telling him, he couldn't help but roll his eyes in his head. Did he take him for a fool? A group of twenty bandits in this lost forest was already substantial, but above all a warrior among them? Even if he had a family of 80 people to feed on his own, he would have no difficulty in being able to do so. All wealthy families wanted to hire a warrior as their personal guard, and the pay was of course excellent.

So, there was hardly any chance that this group was a real bandit group, and someone must have hired them specially to attack this merchant trailer.

But that wasn't really Rohan's problem, so he didn't give a damn about it.

They continued talking for a moment, and Rohan took the opportunity to ask what he had: where was he?

So he realized that he had already been in the territory of the kingdom of Daksida for quite a few kilometers! In a way, he was now safe.

"Ha you know, Warrior Rohan, traveling on the road is never easy! I remember a while ago ...."

The merchant continued to talk for a long time, of the towns they had visited so far, the people they met, the dangers avoided and the gossip gleaned left and right. He was talking so much that Rohan believed at one point that he was going to throw his glove at his face.

Unfortunately this reminded him of the duel he had with Mileim.

"... And so in Balford Cemetery, I heard that a woman had been seen bringing the dead back alive! Do you realize? If so ..."

What had become of this Mileim anyway? Was he dead during the battle? Had he managed to flee and save his life?

"... So, what do you say about it warrior Rohan? Do you agree?"

"Hey? Sorry what?"

"I asked if you were okay to come with us to the next city! Having a warrior by our side will greatly improve our morale and protection!"

"Yeah, sure. It will help me greatly actually!"

"I can even help you out if you need something." Delia bowed his head toward his savior. "After all, you saved our lives today, and I can't thank you enough for that."

"That's fine mister Delia, you were just lucky that I was here. But actually, I think I need your help."

"Oh? Tell me! No matter what you ask me, I'll do my best!" His smile grew bigger as he bulged his chest.

"Right now, that's not a huge demand that I have. If possible I'll just like a place to live and make money for a few years. Do you think you can help me?"

Delia rubbed his chin as he thought about what he could do. He was certainly a merchant, but he was always considered to be too honest of a person to be a good merchant, at least that was what his father had told him. But he was by far one of the smartest. This is why he is seriously considering this man's request. Such a powerful warrior should have no trouble finding what he asked for.

Only one reason occurred to him, and that was that this man wanted nothing too official, and wanted to hide himself as much as possible.

Delia immediately thought of a man. This one owed him a favor, from several years ago. He would have a place for the Warrior Rohan to live, and he would give him a job to work. It seemed like the best idea!

"Warrior Rohan, don't worry, I have the solution for you! As soon as we get to Blanche, I'll introduce you to someone. If you're not against a little work here and there, then you will have a place to live and a salary without any problem! " Delia turned to face Rohan, slapping his closed fist on his chest. "I swear it to you in my merchant honor, that's definitely a good deal!"

Rohan was thinking in his head that a merchant honor would probably not be worth anything, but he refrained from commenting.

"Great, I trust you mister Delia."

A few more hours passed before the caravan resumed its journey. The injured were treated to the best of their ability while the dead were left behind in the forest, where the beasts will leave nothing but bones. 

Only the equipment had been kept, and if one of the mercenaries ever knew the family of one of his former comrades, then he would take care of bringing back this sad news.. For others, however, their existence will be forgotten in this place, and their families will always be waiting for them, in vain.