135 A Predicted Ambush

"Empathising with someone, putting yourself into another shoes."

"It is such a rare thing people do these days."

"But being able to do so allows you to understand your enemy."

"To the point that you can predict their every move."

"But few still choose to humanise their enemies, those they call an ist or a phobe or whose political opinion is diametrically opposed to their own."

"As it is easier to hate and kill a dehumanised monster or those you consider a piece of subhuman trash."

"Than someone who you consider as human and sentient as yourself."

Reginald Coulan, creator and head of House Aurellion in Dynasties Online.

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"My lord, why are you so confident that we will be attacked in either Detarnor or the lands of the royal family? They are currently the safest places to travel in the kingdom and have been bandit-free for years."

Norfaelor asked, as out of Railius' 3 friends, he was the much more muscle-headed one and didn't understand where the young lord's confidence came from as they had entered Detarnor a few hours ago and encountered nothing suspicious on their journey so far.

"We will be attacked in those territories precisely because they are seen as the safest in the kingdom."

"Because they will think that we would not expect an attack there and will let our guard down more. Well, at least that is what our enemies will think, so they will dare to attack us there. After all, the chance of encountering a patrol along such a long border is low enough for the risk to be worth it, for a duke has far less authority than a king or crown prince does, who would take particular offence to banditry in their lands. Well, the Grand Duke's of the kingdom may be an exception, but the Duke of Detarnor is not a Grand Duke.

"Also, it may be too late to act once we reach the south of the kingdom, start training, and use the money we gained from trading our current batch of goods there to buff up our security a bit."

"To put it simply, right now, we are perceived to be at our weakest by the world, so only a fool would not take the chance to attack us."

Railius said confidently before asking a few questions to help Norfaelor understand their situation. He casually talked about being attacked as if it were the most natural occurrence in the world as Norfaelor looked at him in confusion.

But his confidence was not misplaced as his Pelican Guards is one of the greatest fighting forces in the southern continent; despite their current low numbers due to the lack of expansion, his house had been doing militarily over the past few years, being able to protect him from his enemies while he increased his combat skills.

But what would surprise others, both players and NPCs alike, was Railius' terrifying insight and predictive ability, which always seemed to account for all possibilities, starting with the worst. He was an expert in putting himself in someone's shoes and seeing things from their perspective, which allowed him to predict what his opponents would do and make sufficient preparations.

"Tell me, Norfaelor, if you were a large company trying to destroy a smaller competitor and couldn't buy it out or destroy it through competition, how would you do it?"

Railius asked after sighing slightly.

"Why can't they destroy us through competition?"

Norfaelor asked. He understood that because Quinten had suddenly disappeared from the world, the merchant group could not find him to buy out and influence the company's affairs, but he didn't understand why they could not be suppressed through competition.

"Because there are too many places to trade in the world as it can take days, even months, for goods to get from one place to another, and there is one advantage that we have that the Golden Goods Merchant Group doesn't have that makes it impossible for them to do so."

"Declan Hostod's contacts across the world that he built up by travelling as a merchant for decades. While his brother may have inherited his merchant group by getting its workers on his side and bribing some nobles, keeping Declan's contacts and the close relationships that he built up over the many years is a much harder thing to accomplish, especially after they found out what his brother the new master of the merchant group did to his brother."

Railius said. Before offering them the job, the young player had already analysed everything and realised the best and fastest way to have his company become established and turn a profit by using Declan's daughter and the old merchant's contacts.

"You don't think I just picked Declan's daughter to lead my company because I empathised with their unfortunate situation, did you?"

"No matter how much I sympathise with someone, I am not that nice of a person to save people for no practical reason when my resources are as tight as they currently are."

Railius said with an edge of icy ruthlessness in his voice, laughing slightly afterwards as a small scheming smile appeared on the calm player's face. Even though it was not a lie to say that his compassion was part of the reason he took them in, to say that it was the main reason would also be lying, as no matter how much the young noble sympathised with someone, he would never allow his sympathy to stop him from making rational decisions even if they end up being ruthless or tantamount to a war crime by modern standards.

As in DO, there is no such thing as the Geneva Convention or agreement on human rights. The only thing there are agreements between nobles to treat them well under the logic that you treat your enemy as you would want to be treated, for noble-born hostages are far more useful than dead nobles, which had the potential to build a feud between two noble houses.

This was why many players and dynasties wanted to become nobles. So that they would be more likely to be captured rather than killed, at least in wartime, that is. Unfortunately, the trade-off for this is entering the political arena, which can be just as dangerous as a battlefield.

Norfaelor bright sea-blue eyes shone with understanding as he began to realise why the Golden Goods Merchant Group always used force to stop Declan in the past, ambushing and destroying his supply lines and caravans so that no matter how many contacts he had without any merchandise, all his talent as a merchant and all his connections were useless.

"So, as you can see, Norfaelor, aside from ambushing us and destroying our goods, there is nothing they can do to stop our rise... And what better place to attack us than in a place we feel safe in?"

Railius finished as an arrow shot towards him like a shooting star. The young lord of Aurellion quickly grabbed his shield from his saddle to defend himself from the deadly projectile as the arrow embedded itself into the iron-studded wood, and sweat dripped down his forehead from the sudden attack that nearly cost him his life.

'Damn, that was close!'

Railius complained. If it were not for his high mental attributes, then he would not have reacted in time to defend himself from the arrow as others were shot towards the other members of the convoy.

"KILL THEM ALL!"

A man shouted as out of the woods on both sides of the road, mail-clad men charged out, some on horses while others on foot.

"Form a defensive perimeter to protect the carts!"

"Don't let them get through!"

The Pelican Guard veteran who accompanied them shouted as an arrow hit his shield, and he pulled a recruit out of the trajectory of another one, saving the man's life as the arrow would have pierced his throat, killing him within minutes, lowering their already depleted numbers.

While casualties in battle were inevitable, training up loyal men was hard, so saving as many as possible should be a priority.

"Oh, it seems they have begun."

Railius said casually to himself, but his eyes turned serious. Even though they had help nearby, Railius and his companions still had to hold out for a few minutes for them to arrive as an arrow flew past his body and into a cart behind him.

"Jordis, try to keep one alive. We will need him for evidence and to confirm who our ambushers are. The rest I leave to your discretion."

Railius said, drawing his sword and preparing to ride down a few of the 'bandits' that charged towards them. He knew full well that they were mercenaries and so were likely intermediate to adept in their skill level, one step higher than the bandits they were trying to impersonate.

As he looked briefly at Jordis, who nodded, he saw the ruthless and vicious look in his friend's eye, making Railius sigh. He knew that Jordis' discretion was likely to leave dozens of corpses strewn about the road and nearby wood.

Jordis and Norfaelor charged towards some of the approaching bandits, breaking off from the rest of the caravan guards, who dismounted and took up a half-circle formation in front of the caravan, preparing to deal with the mercenaries' infantry as Jordis and Norfaelor distracted and dealt with what few cavalry they had.

Jordis, with an ice-cold face, swung his steel halberd, cutting one of the disguised mercenaries in half. The halberd crushed through the man's mail armour and cut him in half as another blocked Norfaelor Morningstar, only for the impact and large half-elf's strength to send them flying off their horse, crashing to the ground with a pained groan as the man's spear was sent clattering to the ground.

Vegrief stayed with the one veteran and the Pelican Guard recruits who began to engage the mercenaries on foot, their training in Leon's dojo helping to allow them to survive and fight equally with their attackers who had slightly more practical experience. The older caravan guard, a veteran of the Pelican Protectors, had served House Aurellion for nearly 10 years and expertly took one man out after another, able to take on 2 or 3 mercenaries without much difficulty as his bloodied spear cut men down.

Having survived through the crucible that was House Aurellion's escape from Chavaria, taking on these mercenaries was a walk in the park compared to fighting 2 Chavarian imperial guards at once as he gracefully felled one man after another, the sword in his hand bathed in their blood having previously thrown his spear to protect one Pelican Guard recruit and his kicking one of the lifeless corpses laying at his feet into a mercenary about to finish another Pelican Guard recruit off knocking him over giving enough time for the recruit to grab his fallen sword and slit his attacker's throat while the mercenary was trying to get dead comrade off himself.

This veteran knew that his top priority was protecting these recruits, who would become the backbone of House Aurellion's elite soldiers in the future.

Two of the 'bandit' cavalry headed for Railius. Digging his heels into his horse, the young noble charged forward to meet them; just as they were about to clash, Railius activated his active skills; knowing that he could not keep them up for long, he waited until the last minute before activating them expecting time to slow as it did in the dojo. However, the two did not slow as much as he expected, being faster than the young disciples at Leon's dojo. The first man's spear was barely blocked by Railius' sword, which sparked slightly against the wooden spear shaft until Railius turned the blade sideways, the multi-metaled sword cutting the man in half as being a one-handed sword; it did not have the same stiff requirements that his ironwood bow did not to mention that the weapon his character has the highest skill with was currently the sword.

The second man was not as easy, though Railius tried to move his body sideways, but because of his low riding skill, he lost his balance briefly, leading to the steel spear grazing Railius' arm, cutting easily through the light mail and breaking the young noble's soft once unblemished skin, leaving a nasty bleeding gash.

[10 damage has been dealt to you.]

A system notification appeared in his feed, but the loss of this health was worth it as Railius managed to slit the man's neck, the blood gushing out of his freshly wounded neck as the now dead mercenary crashed to the ground and his blood formed a small red puddle beneath him.

'Fuck! It seems the higher my opponent's skill is ahead of mine, the less my active skills are effective, as they only slowed down slightly. If they were expert fighters, I doubt they would have slowed down at all!'

Railius complained to himself as he looked over the battlefield and began to learn the limitations of his seemingly powerful, active skills.

A flair had already been sent the moment they were attacked, letting the Pelican Guards and Protectors in hiding and close by know they needed help. As if on cue, a horn blasted, and from the woods behind the mercenaries who vastly outnumbered them, a familiar figure charged out a spear dexterously held in his hand. The arrows that had been whizzing through the air had long been stopped by the hidden bowmen being quickly killed by their new attackers, standing no chance against the Pelican Guard commander and his men.

Throughout the battle, Declan had been protecting his daughters, his youngest hiding under one of the carts while his eldest held a sword in her hand, showing no fear externally but internally, she was scared even though she had been taught basic self-defence from her some of her mother's old subordinates the training is only rudimentary, and she would do no better than a peasant levy forcefully conscripted in a time of great upheaval.

Over the last few days, the medicine had worked. Declan's illness was mostly cured, allowing him to take a more active role than before. Even though he was still weakened from months of lying in bed, he was more than capable of defending the ones he loved from danger, taking out two mercenaries thanks to his experience fighting bandits and groups like these that try to regularly take his cargo.

A fireball then shot towards Railius as fast as a bullet. The orangey fire came closer as Railius closed his eyes and prepared himself to be cooked alive. The timing of the fireball was too good and left no room for Railius to dodge it with his poor riding skill, another thing that he would have to work on over the next few months as he had enough of being semi-useless in combat.

However, instead of having his body embraced by the boiling flame, the flame dissipated, seeming to disappear as if it never existed. An invisible shield had appeared in front of the young lord of Aurellion, and looking over to his left, he saw Aldorus with his hand outstretched, his other holding his spear stabbed into a mercenary. The Pelican Guard Commander arrived just in time to save Railius from a fiery demise.

The man in his mid-forties, being 9-10 years younger than Leon, looked at Railius' assailant with anger as he cut down one of the Pelican Guard recruits. It was not the recruit's death that annoyed the usually calm man but how he nearly caused the extinction of House Aurellion with a wave of his hand by conjuring a fireball and sending it hurtling towards Railius.

Aldorus could only imagine what cruelties Leon would subject him to if Railius died under his watch.

Now able to calm himself because he was out of danger, Railius looked around the miniature battlefield. The mercenaries disguised as bandits were being slaughtered left and right by the Pelican Guards, who took only seconds to dispatch them with a first-class ticket to the underworld. Despite initially having an advantage in numbers, they were now both outnumbered and outclassed, surprised at the skill of their adversaries.

This mercenary group hired by Amos Hostod was told that the people protecting the caravan were amateurs who had undertaken their first mission. Even their own background checks into their enemies supported this theory, as only fools don't investigate their opponents' backgrounds.

And these mercenaries were not fools.

So, how did they end up in this situation where they were being slaughtered like sheep?

The skill of these new mercenary caravan guards was far higher than the disguised mercenaries had expected. Most new mercenaries are at the amateur rank at best, like the bandits they usually fight.

How could these people have combat skills, an entire skill rank higher than there own?

These unfortunate mercenaries did not know that they were taking on the elite soldiers of a fallen martial noble house, with only about five dozen or so being new. Even then, these new Pelican Guards' training was far better than the norm, allowing them to survive much more easily than the usual nervous soldier on his maiden battle.

Throughout the entire battle, thanks to the valour of these new Pelican Guard recruits and their strong teamwork, only three fell compared to the mercenaries, who were being slaughtered as if they were cattle by House Aurellion's reinforcements.

Amidst the chaos of the battle that was about to end, a shadowy figure stealthy ran its way through the battlefield, able to be unseen by most approaching Declan and his daughters.

Getting close to Declan, the cloaked man drew a dagger and went to attack him, approaching the old man from behind, aiming for his heart. The assassin had waited for the chaos of the battle to hit a peak before making his move, afraid that something unexpected might occur.

He made the right decision as only a minute after the attack started, reinforcements appeared to help the caravan, and if he had moved earlier, it is likely they would have caught him while he was completing his mission, but now he was in the clear because they were distracted by finishing off the mercenaries as the shadowy assassin aimed his sharp steel dagger at the heart of his target.