23 Chapter 23: Bandit Coalition

|3rd POV|

Three people are patrolling around the desert. They are members of the Red Horn Party. This is their fifth day of patrolling the area, and so far, they have not encountered anything unusual. They encounter monsters every now and then, but the number does not exceed expectations, so they are relaxed while doing their patrol.

"Hmmm, this will be another peaceful day, huh?"

Bara says as he looks around the desert, but he does not see any strange movement. He looks at Rhia, the mage, and says.

"Does your spell catch anything?"

"Nothing out of the ordinary in a six-hundred-meter radius. There are two sandworms sleeping beneath the sand a hundred meters away to the north, but other than that? Nothing."

He nods and looks at the man who just arrived on top of a massive stone formation and shouts.

"Bora! How is it?! Do you see anything?!"

Bora's eyes shine green for a second, and he looks around the area for a few seconds. When he sees nothing, he shakes his head and shouts.

"There is nothing, boss!"

Bara nods his head and says.

"We will rest here! Come down, Bora! Rhia, create a protective barrier and make sure to keep your scanning spells on."

Rhia nods her head and says.

"Got it, boss."

While Rhia is busy preparing her spell, Bara and Bora prepare their tent for their rest. The Red Horn party makes this area their resting place for their current job. It is perfect for resting because the stone formation creates a large shadow for them to hide from the sun.

After they are done making a tent, Rhia sits next to Bara and says.

"Boss! Did you bring any booze?!"

"What?! No! We are on the job. Also, it is in the middle of the day!"

"Bah! I can drink alcohol without getting drunk."

"I know. However, after knowing you for a long time, I know that you will not stop drinking when you get yourself alcohol."

"Chee~ Fine! I will only eat the food then. At least the food is delicious."

Bara and Bora nod their heads, agreeing with that statement. The past five days have been pleasant for the Red Horn party. They have comfortable beds to sleep in, good food, and discounts on any beer they drink.

This is the first time they have had a pleasant day working with a noble. Usually, the nobles who hire them will think they are servants who can be ordered around. Sadly, they cannot do anything about it because if you dare to disobey them when they order you to do some menial task, you can be imprisoned. You can reject them or even get mad when they demand something impossible, like sleeping with them. However, you cannot reject their order when they ask you to carry their belongings for the entire mission.

The only reason why many adventurers still accept missions directly coming from a noble is because the reward is usually bigger than your regular mission.

While they are eating their food, Rhia stops and frowns as she feels something passing through her spell.

"Rhia? What is it? Monster?"

Bara looks at her in alarm when he sees her expression.

"Twenty… Fifty… They are here. The bandits are here. They are six hundred meters from here."

"Where? Northeast?"

"Yes. Northeast, marching slowly."

Bara nods and says.

"Pack up! We will quickly return and report back. They will rest here and send a scout to see the village. There is nowhere else they can hide and take a rest other than this place."

They quickly pack up the tent and their food, leaving nothing behind, and run back to Sol Leon.

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"I see. This is worrying."

Bara, the leader of the Red Horn Party, stood in front of me, panting, as they just arrived from running through the desert to inform me that the bandits were here and most likely attacking us tomorrow or tonight.

I release a sigh and look at Captain Jargu.

"Jargu, take your men and make sure they are prepared. They are most likely attacking through the incomplete wall. When some of the scouts arrive, don't kill them. Let them think that they are unnoticed. We need the element of surprise, and the scout needs to know that we are unprepared to face them."

Jargu nods his head and says.

"Yes, my lord! I shall inform the others about your order."

"Thank you."

I look at Bara and say.

"Tell your party to prepare, but I need you guys to prepare a trap this time. One of you is a master trapper, right?"

"That is easy enough. We can create a magic trap that can be activated from a distance."

"That's great! Take as many materials you want and create as many of them as possible before the sun goes down."

"Yes, my lord."

I nod and look at Hela.

"Hela, order your golems to hide themselves behind the wall. Make them look like a stone material to build the wall. They can make themselves crumble into pieces, right?"

"That's right. They can turn into boulder pieces. That is the unique power of Stone Golem. They can become whole once again after a few seconds."

"That's great! Hide them behind the wall. Make it look like they are nothing but a stone material for the wall. We will make them the guardians in the hold on our wall."

"Roger that!"

After saying that, I can see her clasp her hands together, and all the golems start moving toward the wall. Good.

I look at Cassandra and Sebastian and say.

"Take as much food as you need to the underground shelter. Tell the people who cannot fight to prepare to go to the shelter so they can go to the shelter when the bell rings. After that, take out the arrows from the hidden storage. You can use my blessing if the arrows cut short."

I already store a few cards in the hidden vault underneath the mansion. It is something that Cassandra and Sebastian can use in case of emergency. Most of the cards contain materials like stone, wood and iron. However, there are a few magic spells that activate when they tear the card apart.

"Yes, my lord."

"Yes, young master! You can leave it to us!"

I nod and take a deep breath.

"Today, we will fight against the people who think they can take what they want with force. They are nothing but monsters. They did not have the heart that made them humans! They are nothing but rabid animals that need to be put down. And who needs to put them down!?"

I slam my hand on the table and shout.

"We are! We, as humans, shall be the ones to put them down! It is our duty! Let's show these animals what we are made of!"