novelraw Chapter 41: Enemies Cross Paths Narrowly
Chapter 41: Enemies Cross Paths Narrowly
After leaving Ammonite Village, Kiriman felt a sense of loss.
Although country life was somewhat monotonous, having the beautiful elf Valessa for company along with fine wine and delicious food had been quite pleasant.
Unfortunately, the number of monsters in any given area was always limited. After his sweeping extermination campaign, the monster population around Ammonite Village had drastically decreased, with some even fleeing to other areas.
Counting the monsters hunted during this period and the ten digested Salamander Gang souls, his soul power had only recovered to just over nine hundred points. He was still dozens of points away from reaching the one-thousand-point soul power surplus line.
Kiriman wasn't in a hurry to upgrade his skills anyway, since he would soon arrive at Vizima city.
Once he entered this major city, several high-quality establishments and numerous attractive female technicians would be waiting for his patronage, which would definitely greatly accelerate his Soul Ascension progress.
If soul advancement required large amounts of soul power as nourishment, it would be better to be prepared.
Thinking this, Kiriman rode his tall horse—which he had named Eggplant—galloping along the road to Vizima.
Soon after setting out in the afternoon, he arrived near the towns on the outskirts of Vizima under the setting sun's glow as dusk approached.
This was his second time coming here.Last time he visited, he had not only secretly eliminated the old priest of the Eternal Fire, beheading him and dumping the body in the wilderness.
He had also incidentally destroyed an important Salamander Gang stronghold, acquiring valuable supplies worth over ten thousand Orens.
There was still a batch of weapons and equipment hidden at a secret location outside the town, waiting for him to choose the next buyer.
Originally, Kiriman thought this passing through would be a peaceful night, allowing him to enjoy the lively atmosphere of a country inn.
However, to his surprise, just as he rode past the crossroads leading to the country inn, he noticed something was wrong.
Unlike his previous visit when the outskirts village had some life, now not a single pedestrian could be seen. Most residents had their doors tightly shut, secretly observing the outside world through their windows as if hiding from some danger.
Though puzzled, Kiriman didn't pay too much attention.
He continued riding, planning to stay at that memorable country inn before sunset.
Suddenly, he heard a cacophony of noisy voices coming from ahead by the roadside.
There were shouts, sounds of fighting, crying, and several particularly arrogant voices trying to persuade others to surrender.
"Drop your weapons and hand over the child."
"Just give us that child and your money, and I'll let you go."
"Yeah, yeah! Don't even think about running."
"We outnumber you two to one, and at this hour, no guards will show up here."
"Hahaha, fatso Logan is right."
"Even if a few fearless guards did appear, what could they do? They're no match for us Salamander Gang anyway."
Salamander Gang?
They really were just a mob of incompetents. Before Kiriman even reached the scene, they'd already revealed their identity—absolutely asking for trouble. ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ꜰʀᴏᴍ novel•fire.net
Kiriman rode forward and soon saw from a distance two groups confronting each other.
One group was about fifteen bandits armed with weapons.
The other group consisted of a merchant caravan as the core, plus several civilians—ten people total, nine adults and one child in a civilian group.
However, perhaps the Salamander Gang's reputation was too intimidating for the outskirts villagers.
After hearing the bandits reveal their identity, a portly, extravagantly dressed merchant adorned with numerous jewels immediately shouted:
"Please don't attack us, gentlemen of the Salamander Gang."
"I am Daeglan Reuven, president of the Merchant Guild, under the guild's protection. If you harm me, the army will come to eliminate you."
"I'm willing to pay three hundred Orens as passage fee, and I won't let my guards fight you. Just let us and our goods go."
"As for those civilians, I have no relation with them. How you deal with them is your business."
Whether out of fear of the Salamander Gang or a merchant's self-preservation instinct, after the bandits revealed themselves, the captured obese merchant Reuven quickly chose to compromise without regard for the civilians' lives.
As the core of the civilian side, upon hearing their employer's command, the caravan guards surrounding the goods quickly ceased fighting and returned to the fat merchant's side, apparently unwilling to get involved.
Seeing this, the few childless civilians in the group lost morale. Whatever resistance they might have mustered earlier was extinguished by this harsh reality.
Their gazes turned toward the only young mother with a child, Caroline, filled with both shame and a hint of persuasion.
They seemed to be urging her to hand over the child to ensure everyone's safety.
However, not everyone in this group was a coward.
Seeing everyone's timid attitude, a medical student girl with short red hair, about eighteen or nineteen years old, stood protecting the only child while holding a short sword in one hand and a bottle of unknown medicine in the other.
Gritting her teeth, her pretty face flushed with anger, she glared at the fat merchant and scolded:
"Mr. Reuven, you're truly a coward."
"How can we adults hand over a child to kidnappers? Doesn't your conscience condemn you?"
After saying this, the girl turned to the little boy fighting back tears and his foster mother putting on a brave face, saying softly:
"Mrs. Caroline, Alvin."
"When I throw this bottle, both of you run toward the inn."
"There are mercenaries guarding there. If you can reach it, these bandits probably won't dare follow."
"Remember to run fast. If they catch you, it'll be truly dangerous."
The boy named Alvin was quite brave for a child, not crying despite the situation.
He nodded, looking worriedly at the medical student girl who had been protecting him, and said solemnly:
"Thank you, Shani sister. You need to be careful too."
Shani forced a somewhat strained smile but bravely faced her fear, telling the boy:
"Don't worry, Alvin."
"Your sister here fought in the Battle of Brenna last year. If I survived that major battle, why would I fear these bandits?"
Merchant Reuven ignored Shani's insults and continued loudly negotiating surrender terms with the Salamander Gang bandits.
Just as the medical student girl and little boy Alvin finished talking and prepared for a desperate fight,
a knight wearing dark brown dragon leather armor, riding a tall horse, handsome and burly but with a somewhat flippant voice, suddenly rode into the scene and said with a light laugh:
"Hey hey hey! Mr. Reuven over there, since you love using money to solve problems so much."
"How about this: you give me six hundred Orens, and I'll help you eliminate these bandits. What do you say?"
"Rather than trusting these bandits, trust me."
"I'm a witcher—guaranteed credibility."