From Londoner To Lord

Chapter 326 - 321. Fear

Could it be someone from Torhan's group of bandits? Kivamus wondered with a shiver as Duvas glanced at the sky, seemingly praying to the Goddess.

He looked at the others. "What do you think?"

Feroy scratched his short beard. "Can't say anything from this... He could have easily seen me or the other guard coming back. No way to know for sure."

"But it still could be that bastard's men..." Hudan muttered. "It might be a scout sent ahead of the others..."

"You're right... And this happened right after we sent another hunting group out today... Shit!" Kivamus cursed again. "At least we didn't send another hunting group which we had been planning." He looked at the guard captain. "Can we call back the group we sent today, just in case we need them?"

"Too difficult, milord." Hudan replied. "These hunting groups take a new path on every trip to maximize their chances of catching some big game. They've been out for a few hours, so they could be anywhere by now. Searching for them would mean sending more men out, preferably alone in a few directions, and they still might not find them." He shook his head after a moment, "No, it's not a good idea. It'll be very risky if there really are bandits out there. The hunting parties are traveling in groups of four, so they should be safe - or at least could hold their own long enough to escape - but the bandits could take out these lone guards without trouble."

Kivamus exhaled a loud breath. "Leave it, then. I don't want to lower our strength even more just on a vague chance while risking the guards' lives. How many guards do we have in the village right now?"

"In total, apart from Feroy and me, we have 29 male guards including the new recruits, along with 12 female guards. Well, there's also Levalo, but his skills are not up to par yet. We also have the six older men who help keep a watch in the daytime, but they can't fight either, just like one of the guards who had lost his arm. Right now, we've already sent out three hunting groups, which means 10 guards are away, apart from the two village hunters who went with them. That means we have just 21 swordsmen including Feroy and me. 20 if you exclude Levalo."

"Dammit..." Kivamus exhaled a breath to calm himself. "If Torhan's group is really here in full force, we really don't have enough men to fight them in a frontal assault."

"As hard as it is to admit it, you're right," Feroy said. "From what I found from Joric, Torhan should still have above 20 men, even after those we killed. He would have to leave a few of them to keep an eye on his slaves, but on the other hand, he might have armed a few of those slaves who showed any promise in a swordfight. It's hard to know how many of those 54 slaves might be good for it, but he could have added half a dozen men to his group easily if he went this way."

"That's not the only risk..." Kivamus muttered. "If we are right about him being a bastard son of Baron Farodas, he may have gone to ask for help from Kirnos. So..."

"The baron won't easily agree to that," Duvas interrupted. "Giving Torhan access to his markets is one thing, since it makes both of them good money, but if he openly started arming a known bandit and slaver group, word would get out that Farodas has a bastard son out there. I don't think any noble likes to admit that. So unless the baron had no other choice, I don't think Kirnos' own guards would have come to help Torhan."

"You may be right..." Kivamus nodded. "Or at least, I hope you are. That still means Torhan could have brought somewhere from 18 to 25 men, depending on whether he decided to include slaves with his men."

Hudan sighed. "If those numbers are correct, we simply can't defeat them in a sword combat without losing more than half our men, and the outcome is still up in the air even then. The crossbow women can help out if the battle happens close to the watchtower, but if it doesn't, they would just be sitting idle."

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"No, not idle," Kivamus corrected him. "I really hope it doesn't come to that, but just in case if we've lost the battle, the crossbow women will be picking out the bandits one by one from the watchtowers if they come too close. We have two crossbows on each tower now, which means a much higher rate of fire than what Hyola managed alone during the Kirnos ambush. If the bandits surround the village, the crossbow women will be shooting quick volleys of 12 bolts again and again, and if the bandits attack from a single direction - those who remain alive after the battle - they will still be in range of at least two towers, which still means four bolts being shot together. With all the target practice the women are going through, trust me, the bandits won't be able to approach our walls without losing most of their men."

"At least not when there is enough light," Feroy muttered. "If it happens in the moonless nights..."

"You are right..." Hudan breathed. "That bastard chose the days near the new moon for a reason! This must be why he delayed the raid so long! Damn him!"

Kivamus shook his head. "No, It won't be easy for the bandits either, if there isn't enough light."

"Not if they start shooting arrows lit on fire..." Feroy said. "Our walls are still wooden, you know? Only mercenaries are known to do that... but I wouldn't put something like that out of Torhan's mind. The archers just have to tie something burning to the arrows. It will completely take away any kind of accuracy, but they can still hit our walls or even the watchtowers easily, which present a huge target."

"Dammit..." Kivamus cursed again, wishing they had something like concrete walls and weren't dependent on the enemy being benevolent enough to not just set their village on fire. "No, wait. They would still have to come close enough for that, and with the height advantage of a watchtower, wouldn't the women be able to pick them out with crossbows?"

"Hmm... I didn't consider the height advantage..." Hudan muttered. "It still won't be easy to see them in the dark, but if the bandits start setting their arrows on fire or come close enough to start throwing small branches lit on fire, the women can still target them. This can work!"

"No..." Feroy sighed. "There is another way, something I used to do when I was with that mercenary group. On a moonless night, all they have to do is to sneak in a few men carrying some flint and steel right next to the walls, before they set them on fire and run away. Our watchtower scouts might not be able to spot them until the walls are already burning."

"Damn it!" Hudan growled. "Damn that bastard Torhan!"

Kivamus took a deep breath, and tried to remove that image of his whole village burning from his mind. "Okay, let's stop thinking about that for now. That is still the worst case scenario, and our crossbow women might still be able to spot them. In fact, start putting more guards on the watchtowers during the night time. We have all six of them nearly ready, so having enough eyes could still prevent anyone from sneaking too close."

He was thinking about what else they could do when he noticed that a few other guards and servants had moved closer, listening to them surreptitiously. There was no point in telling them to go away, since the news about an imminent raid would have to be told to everyone anyway so they could prepare properly.

He looked at the others for a moment before he started giving orders. "Duvas, tell the villagers that everyone should return within the walls before it gets dark, since the gates won't be opened for anyone after that. Hudan, don't stop training the guards, but keep it light and make sure they aren't too tired in case they have to fight right after that. Feroy, I want you to take more precautions as well. Until we are sure that there are bandits out there, I don't want you to stop scouting, but from tonight you have to move in pairs. Until now, you and two other guards were scouting independently, but from tonight, take another man with you, and move in pairs only. For now, we only have guesses about whether there really are bandits out there, but I don't want you to take any unnecessary risk."

The majordomo left after saying that he needed to meet with the foremen of each group to tell them about the orders, while Feroy and the other scout went on to get some rest after eating something. Hudan was the last one standing next to him, apart from a few other guards and servants who were still standing nearby with worried looks.

However, as worried as Kivamus was feeling, he knew that he needed to project a confident facade here. He looked at all the guards standing nearby, noticing the growing crowd, and grinned.