NOVEL NEXT Chapter 89: Bandits!—Oh, no more bandits.
“What happened, Hadrian?” Marquis Terra demanded.
“Bandits have attacked some of the villages and towns! There seems to be at least one mage among them, they hit and run too fast for us. They’ve been raiding all the food storage…”
Marquis Terra’s face turned ghastly as his son listed what the bandits had done. The Terra fief wasn’t a combat fief, they were a trading fief!
“Erect earth fortifications around the towns and villages,” Marquis Terra commanded. “We’ll be back as soon as possible. Four days…no, three days.” They were over a week away by carriage, but if they took horses and changed between them, they’d be able to return faster.
“Understood, Father!”
Marquis Terra and Marchioness Terra dressed quickly.
While Marchioness Terra organised their servants to pack up necessary items and to mobilise the Terra guards, Marquis Terra headed over to Crown Prince Rian’s temporary suite.
The Royal Guard standing at the front knocked on Crown Prince Rian’s door.
Rian soon emerged wearing a loose sleeping robe. He gave a look of concern and invited Marquis Terra into his room. “Marquis Terra, is there a problem?”
“Yes, forgive me, but we need to return to the Terra fief immediately. We’ll be taking the horses, I hope that you can bring our carriage, luggage, and cargo with you to the Terra fief later.”
“Tell me the details.”
Marquis Terra gave a strained smile. “I’ve received word of bandit attacks. It would be too late by the time I return, but my presence should ward off any further attacks.”
“So you plan to go by horse to return as soon as possible.”
“Yes.”
Rian’s eyes curved. “You don’t need to. Earl Rosewood and I will take you and your entourage back to the Terra fief in a day. Provided you’re not afraid of flying.”
An hour later…
Marquis Terra was seated in his carriage. Outside were his guards and their horses and the dark countryside. That was normal enough.
What wasn’t normal was the fact that Earl Rosewood and Sedaverian Prince Rian were sitting on top of his carriage.
What wasn’t normal was the fact that the carriage, the guards, and the horses were all flying. They were a hundred metres above the ground, moving at speeds multiple times faster than possible on a horse. The thought of hitting the mountain range that separated Sedaveria and Angio in the middle of the night was terrifying.
Prince Rian had assured him that there was a disguise and attention-misdirection spell around the entourage. Marquis Terra didn’t understand how that would save them from crashing.
It must be even more horrifying for the guards outside.
The fear of suddenly falling from the sky made Marquis Terra forget about the situation for a while. It took some time for him to recover enough poise and gain enough bravery to look outside the window.
It was dark, and not much could be seen; it was also dark inside the carriage, as to prevent light that could reveal their position.
To be fair, Earl Rosewood and Prince Rian were very skilled, and the flight was very smooth.
They might even be able to reach the Terra fief before the bandits were notified. He might even be able to catch those bandits.
Thinking about what he would do upon returning was safer than thinking about his current mode of transport.
The Terra fief in Angio had been one of the few territories that didn’t face any famine over the last two years, despite many of the farmers being pulled into forced labour by King Augustus. This was because, during the first year, they had been able to trade glass and some natural metal resources with Earl Rosewood for abundant food; and during the second year, Earl Rosewood had visited and showed them how to increase their crop yield with fertiliser and pesticides, reduce the number of workers required with new ploughs, and improve the resultant crops by planting hardier varieties of staple crops that were suitable to their climate.
Marquis Terra was grateful to the young Earl. He also knew that Sedaveria had an ulterior motive, but he turned a blind eye to it. His fief was more important than the Angio court far away in the capital. And well, everyone knew that Marquis Terra only cared about trading and money and liked to collect useless things, and as long as he paid his taxes right, King Augustus turned a blind eye too.
But now, with bandit attacks…Who didn’t know that some of those bandits had ties with King Augustus?
What action had caused King Augustus’ ire? Was it something Marquis Terra did previously? Was it something he recently did?
Regardless, Marquis Terra’s heart felt cold. This bandit attack was a warning to him.
Dawn was just arriving, painting the sky with beautiful colours. But the villagers in the Terra fief were in no mood to appreciate the scenery. They were huddled in their homes, chest tight, holding whatever weapon they could find.
Bandits shouted and jeered outside, grabbing livestock and food. They would randomly destroy a house they “didn’t like the look of” and grabbed the people inside.
The farmers were able to knock out a few bandits.
But there were too many bandits, and these farmers weren’t fighting people.
A young family huddled close inside their house, eyes wide with fear as the bandits approached their home. Their house was relatively new, built for the couple’s marriage.
And the bandits didn’t like the look of it.
“You—you both hide, and I’ll run out and divert their attention,” the husband flustered.
“Don’t be stupid!” the wife replied. “You’ll be killed and we’ll be killed.”
“We’ll be killed anyway…”
The baby in the woman’s arms started to cry.
The man pushed the woman and child deeper into the small house and stepped forward, peeking out through the gaps in the wooden window shutters. It was brightening up—maybe the bandits would leave in the light?
What the man saw did not make sense.
The bright light wasn’t the morning sun. It was ropes of fire around the bandits!
Meanwhile, in another village, shocked villagers saw an ice wall form around the bandits, sharply separating them from the villagers
Meanwhile, in another village, the sound of galloping horses signalled the arrival of the Terra guards.
Meanwhile, in many other villages, relieved villagers saw huge earthen walls appear.
They were saved!
—Moments ago, Ren Xiyang used heat-sensing to find erratic movements of heat sources and the decay (death) of heat sources. He dropped off different groups of people, arranging them in different places: the Terra guards, Marquis Terra, Marchioness Terra, and Prince Rian. As for himself, he went to the locations that were most distantly located.
Ren Xiyang was sleepy and hungry and annoyed and he wanted to get everything cleaned up as soon as possible so he could get to sleep—he had just laid down in bed when Rian had called him up.
And so, that early morning, multiple confused bandits and multiple confused villagers saw fire appear out of nowhere and bandits floating up into the air without their permission.
Ren Xiyang didn’t bother to land, and not everyone looked up. Those that did were shocked. They saw a figure in shadow, floating in the sky with the light behind him, surrounded by other human bodies trapped in an invisible net. Those human bodies squirmed and shouted but they were stuck.
Little did he know that he was more scary than the bandits.
Ren Xiyang scanned the entire fief one more time and encountered Rian in the air with his own floating ‘shipment’ of bandits.
“Not bad,” Ren Xiyang said.
“You have caught more than me,” Rian confessed.
Together, they headed to where Marquis Terra was located.
Since Ren Xiyang had last dropped the others off, Marquis Terra, Marchioness Terra, and their guards had cleaned up their local area. They reconvened outside their largest town with a motley group of prisoner bandits, meeting up with the local garrison and with their children.
As Ren Xiyang and Rian approached, their numerous bandits cast dappled shadows on the ground like a morbid cloud.
The guards on the ground parted, making space for Ren Xiyang and Rian to land.
“Pardon our tardiness,” Rian said with a smile.
“Marquis Terra, what do you want us to do with them?” Ren Xiyang said.
The Terra family and guards: “….”
The bandits occasionally flailed their arms and legs and shouted noisily, but their torsos were firmly fixed in the air. From a certain perspective, it could even be comical, if it weren’t for the knowledge of how much magical power and control was needed to do such a thing.
Marquis Terra cleared his throat. “Put them down over there.”
As Ren Xiyang and Rian put down their load, guards quickly moved in to tie up the bandits. These bandits were all non-mages, so Marchioness Terra only made temporary earthen cages over them. Marquis Terra and the others had already subdued the two mage bandits.
After that business was done, Marquis Terra said, “Prince Rian, Earl Rosewood, thank you so much for your aid.” He bowed. “We are in your debt.”
“We can talk further on that matter at a more convenient time and location,” Rian said graciously.
Marquis Terra nodded. “Earl Rosewood and Prince Rian, let me introduce you to my children. This is Hadrian Terra, my eldest son. Julia Terra, my eldest daughter. Valeria Terra, my second daughter. Virgil Terra, my youngest son. Children, this is Earl Rosewood and Crown Prince Rian, from the Kingdom of Sedaveria.”
All these children were adult earth mages and all taller than Ren Xiyang. They exchanged greetings.
Hadrian gave a bow. “I’m very grateful for your swift arrival.”
“That wouldn’t have been possible without Earl Rosewood,” Rian said.
“Hm,” Ren Xiyang gave a yawn.
Marchioness Terra immediately said, “Pardon our lack of hospitality. I will take you to our home and let you sleep.”
They weren’t far from the Terra castle. They went by normal carriage.
The Terra household had already been preparing multiple suites for the arrival of the Sedaverian convoy. Though they hadn’t expected two members to arrive a week early, they were very quick in finalising the appropriate rooms. During the wait, Marchioness Terra invited Earl Rosewood and Prince Rian to have some food—it was technically breakfast time now.
Only Prince Rian talked with Marchioness Terra; Earl Rosewood’s expression was a bit bad from the lack of sleep.
Marchioness Terra didn’t keep them.
After a very long night, Ren Xiyang was finally able to lie down on a bed and sleep.
While their two Sedaverian guests rested, the Terra family couldn’t. After the prisoners were temporarily arranged, they returned to their residence to rest and eat, before having a meeting.
Earl Rosewood and Prince Rian had gathered many more bandits from many more different places than they had expected. Hadrian hadn’t realised just how many villages and towns had been targeted.
If it was a one-off bandit attack, then there wouldn’t be much to worry about. But multiple organised raids? This was the work of a big bandit group, and the biggest groups had ties with King Augustus.
The King was showing his displeasure with them.
But that didn’t stop Hadrian Terra from being disappointed with himself. While his parents were away, he was in charge. The bandits had chosen to attack at this time, meaning that he wasn’t seen as a threat in their eyes. And it was true. The villagers had been saved mostly by Sedaverian Prince Rian and Earl Rosewood.
“Father traded with Earl Rosewood before without trouble. Why now?” Valeria Terra grumbled.
“He knew that Father and Mother were away in Sedaveria,” Julia said cynically. “By the time they returned, the villages would be devastated and we’d have a famine in the next winter.”
Hadrian became even more depressed at Julia’s words.
“The court’s thoughts are unfathomable,” Marchioness Terra said.
“What about Prince Rian’s intention for helping us? What do we need to pay in return?” Virgil Terra asked.
“Who knows what Sedaveria’s secret plans are…” Valeria said.
“What if we’ve become a pawn between King Augustus and Sedaveria?” Hadrian asked, depressed.
“Did you notice? Those Sedaverians used non-verbal magic,” Virgil said.
“No, it’s direct magic manipulation,” Marchioness Terra corrected. “They showed us some of their abilities while we were at Sedaveria. They’re both very strong.”
There was a moment of quiet as silent questions appeared in their minds: They may be strong, but are they stronger than King Augustus? King Augustus, who liked killing mage nobles every year? King Augustus, who could kill their entire family?
“We need to deal with the immediate problems first,” Marchioness Terra said firmly, not letting her children turn gloomier.
“Your mother is right,” Marquis Terra said. He gave his children a meaningful look. “Who knows where these bandits come from.”
After all, the link between the bandits and the king was technically a secret.
“I will deal with the prisoners,” Marquis Terra said. “Hadrian, you come with me.”
“And I will provide help to the villages,” Marchioness Terra said. “Valeria and Virgil, you can help me. Julia, I need you to set up a patrol around the fief…”
Ren Xiyang woke up at noon. He didn’t need to open his eyes to know that Prince Rian was seated in the outer room of the suite.
Ren Xiyang: “…”
He got out of bed and freshened up before going out.
“Something urgent?” he asked.
“And good afternoon to you too, Earl Rosewood,” Rian said with a warm and sunny, well-rested smile. “Lunch will be prepared soon in the main dining hall. But for now…” Rian swept his hand towards the small snacks and drinks on the coffee table.
Ren Xiyang sat down heavily on the opposite sofa. He hadn’t slept nearly long enough.
Rian felt that grumpy Ren Xiyang was cute. He generously poured a cup of tea for his best earl.
“Marquis Terra is busy dealing with various matters and won’t have time to entertain us,” Rian said.
Ren Xiyang drank his tea.
“And we have a schedule to keep to ourselves, so we shall return first to Sedaveria and rejoin our convoy.”
“When?”
“After lunch.”
Ren Xiyang grunted in acknowledgement.
“Aren’t you curious about the bandits?”
Ren Xiyang shrugged. He was too sleepy to care.
Rian was amused. He graciously decided to fill the air with one-sided chatter until lunch was ready.
Marquis Terra: I’m in debt to you, Earl Rosewood.
Ren Xiyang: *thinking: I wonder if I can cash that in as a discount…*
Rian: *knows exactly what Ren Xiyang is thinking* Well—
Thank you to mero and fanfictionaddict13 for the [̲̅$̲̅(̲̅∞)̲̅$̲̅] ~!
Thanks for all the support, everyone! We’re almost up to chapter 90 which means almost up to chapter 100!!!