"So where do we go now?" Bartrem asked.
Aldred summoned the astrolabe, but it did not lead him in any directions yet. "Is this normal?" He asked Stella.
Stella nodded. "You need to wait for the astrolabe to guide you."
"Since we're going to wait, why don't we visit Maverick's house?" Aldred suggested.
Maverick's eyes lit up. "That's a good idea. I will introduce you guys to my father. Besides, we can replenish our set of treasures to prepare for the next adventure."
"That decides it then. Xer Xai. Let us ride on your back."
Xer Xai bowed like a dog and extended her hand for them to use as stairs. One by one, they rose on top of the large creature.
Aldred was sitting on her head with his women. "Set off."
They went to the northwest. To be honest, the entire northwest section was almost carved fully by Chanterre. It was one of the powerful count families that had numerous Diamond Rank family members and subordinates.
It was also located right beside the capital, and the emperor trusted Chanterre to protect its border from outside threat. For a count family to have this task was a proof of their capabilities and loyalty to the nation.
One day, a group of merchant caravans was attacked by bandits.
"Shit, these thieves are too much!" The leader of the adventure group, tasked to protect the caravan, stared at the bandits who rode on horseback.
They were exchanging arrows at each other while the caravan tried to escape to the nearest city.
"Hold on for a while. Guilles city is nearby. We can ask for reinforcement by then."
The bandits smiled and then threw a bunch of rocks tied to a rope at their wheel. The rocks went inside the gap of the wheel, and the rope wrapped around it before preventing the wheel to move.
One carriage was taken and the bandits still wanted to take more.
"Shit!" the merchant leader said. "Adventurers, please don't let them steal more carriages. I will not make any profit if this happens."
The adventurer leader gritted his teeth. "I think you should think about staying alive instead of amassing gold coins."
The merchant leader clicked his tongue. "You are an adventurer. You live by the thrill and danger. You are no different than me, risking lives for the sake of money."
The adventurer glanced at the merchant and smiled. "Damn right you are. Fuck it! Turn this whole caravan around. Let me have some words with the bandits."
The carriages turned around to the shock of the bandits and they crashed against their horses. Most bandits dodged the crash, but the unfortunate ones were crushed under the feet of horses.
The leader leaped out and threw a rock at the bandit, hitting his face. The bandit fell to the ground and died.
More adventurers leaped out of the carriages, shooting rocks with slingshots. The leader charged forward with his sword and cut a horse in half along with its rider. He spun to the left, dodging an arrow, and knocked a small rock on the ground with his blade, shooting the rock at the archer's face.
His friends charged forward as well, fighting against the bandits in close combat.
Suddenly, the ground trembled, and something burst out of the ground, throwing rocks and dust into the air. Something large blocked the sun out of their sight, creating a silhouette of a gigantic creature.
Only when they had clear view of what it was did they properly react. Their eyes widened and all of them stopped fighting.
It was a creature the size of a mountain with no eyes. Its hideous mouth opened wide and roared, shaking them and made them all fall to the ground.
"Are these guys bandits?" Aldred asked. "You said Chanterre has a small bandit problem. Never expect I would meet one immediately."
"Well, this area is a little isolated, so bandits thrive in this place."
Everyone down below was shocked to see a group of people riding the beast.
Aldred and his friend were currently protected by a few layers of magic shield. This way, when they burrowed beneath the earth, the dust, dirt, and other hazards did not hit them.
The adventure leader hesitated. Although he would risk his life for money, he did not want to throw it away like trash. "My lord, judging by your conversation, I assume you are on the hunt for bandits."
The boy glanced down at him. "Not really. I am going somewhere, but since I detect a group of bandits, I will just remove them for you."
The bandits all dropped their weapons and kowtowed.
"Please have mercy, my lord!"
All of them gritted their teeth. None of them were stupid enough trying to run from such a beast. It was as huge as a small mountain. Running from it with a horse would be a joke.
Aldred cut off all of the bandits' head without hesitation. This action shocked the merchants and the adventurers. They did not expect this young lord to be so cruel.
Aldred turned them into undead.
"Tell me. What is your real purpose?" Aldred asked.
Maverick frowned. Why did Aldred ask that question?
"Master, our true purpose is to make Chanterre unsafe and disrupt its trade route."
Maverick widened his eyes. They had bandits problem since years ago, but he never thought these thieves would have that intention.
"Who order you to do that?"
"The bandit leader by the name of Stone Face Barkley."
"And where is this Barkley?"
...
Stone Face Barkley, as his name suggested, wore a stoic expression all the time. It was said that even in the face of death, he wouldn't flinch. Even when he was burned, stabbed, whipped, or even skinned, he wouldn't make a face.
Some say when Barkley injected his seeds inside his wife he did not moan, but instead, kept staring at his wife with stone-like expression.
His unique demeanor and calm attitude made him a great leader.
Like usual, Barkley was sitting by his tent, staring at the plain, waiting for his men to return and send their reports.
He was waiting for hooves hitting the ground, but instead, a gigantic creature burst out of the ground.
"What is that?!" His subordinates shouted.
They then widened their eyes after seeing the creature in its full form.
"We should run!"
"No wait! Look at our leader."
They all looked at him and noticed his stone-like expression.
"We should be fine. With our leader here, we can defeat anything."
"Is that your leader?" Aldred asked.
"Yes, master."
Aldred looked at the bandit leader and laughed. "Your face really looks like a stone. So you're known to never change expressions? Interesting."
He looked at the other bandits. "You guys want to make a bet. If I can change his expression, all of you must cut your own pp. But if I lose, I will let you all live."
The bandits were enraged, but after seeing the creature one more time, they decided to not say anything and agreed to the bet instead.
Aldred cleared his throat. "Stone Face Barkley what a lousy name."
Barkley stared at him. "Leave this place."
"Is that what your dad told you after seeing your face?"
His expression did not change. "This has nothing to do with you. Our battle is far larger than it seems."
"Before that, I got a little story to tell. One day, a man with his merry wife had two children. One was a boy, and the other was a girl. They led a happy life, but an accident happened and it killed his wife. Sad and depressed, the man went to alcohol to escape his reality. But alcohol changed him. More prone to anger, he took it out on his son. When his son died, the father got drunk and slept with his daughter. Nine months later, little Barkley popped out. Isn't that story funny?"
The bandits were confused. What kind of story was that? There was no way the story was true, but when they glanced at their leader, they saw his expression changed.
For the first time!
"How did you know?" Barkley wore a dark expression. His whole body was trembling in anger.
The bandits and everyone else were beyond shocked. Was the story true?
Aldred laughed. "It doesn't matter how I know."
"I will kill you!" The leader leaped into the air, raising his sword.
"Xer Xai, eat him."
The creature left no delay before she pounced forward and chomped on Barkley.
The bandits trembled in fear.
"You guys lost the bet." Aldred grinned. "Cut it off or die? Your choice."
They flinched. In their eyes, the boy was like a demon that offered them two terrible choices. Both were just as horrible as the others.
Meanwhile, Mira was looking at Aldred with a frown.
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