Company

'Oh, Goddess, why me?' is all Anna could think, as she was guiding the horses towards Lyndell.

Due to a stroke of misfortune, she found herself escorting her once-mute young master to the crime-ridden north side of Lyndell. Adding to her troubles, she was entrusted with the task of handling the carriage belonging to the mistress of the Morrow family. Even in the unlikely event she survived the journey to the north side of Lyndell, the Morrow family's mistress would likely punish her severely.

Pulling Anna away from her thoughts was Kai's voice. "Stop here." He said.

"Sir?" Anna asked. "Lyndell is still a long ways away."

"I'm aware," Kai responded. "But I'm afraid we have company."

Confused, Anna looked around, not seeing anything out of the ordinary. She was about to write it off as her young master being delusional when suddenly she heard a voice.

"Hahaha, you have pretty good sense for a kid." A voice said from behind a tree. "To think someone of your age could sense us."

From behind a line of trees emerged seven men dressed in ragged clothing each carrying a dagger.

"Bandits." Anna gasped. 

"Don't worry, little lady," a particularly burly bandit replied, laughing. "We wouldn't dare kill you. We'll play with you after we deal with the kid." 

'This where it all ends.' Anna lamented as the burly bandit walked towards the carriage, licking his lips. 'I'm sorry, Michael. In the end, I failed you as a big sister.'

Suddenly, she heard a whistle, and Kai, who was just beside her a second ago, was somehow now behind the burly bandit. 

The burly bandit had only a moment to gasp in surprise before before Kai swiftly ripped his dagger from his hand and slit his throat with flawless precision, as if he were an experienced assassin.

"YOU BASTARD!" The other bandits yelled, running at Kai in a frenzied attempt to avenge their fallen comrade.

Kai just looked at them all coldly before letting out a light whistle, swiftly appearing behind the bandit at the back of the group. With the dagger he had taken previously, he plunged it into the bandit's neck before any of the others could even react.

Still dazed from the sudden turn of events, the bandits barely had time to react as Kai darted forward, swiftly closing in on the bandit nearest to him. With a fluid and precise motion, he plunged his dagger into the bandit's gut, then swiftly hurled the dagger at another, hitting squarely in the middle of the head. 

This snapped the final four bandits out of their daze. They circled around him, hoping to overwhelm him with a pincer attack and finally take him down.

Grabbing the dagger he impaled in one of the bandit's heads, Kai looked around calmly, appearing perfectly composed and relaxed amidst the chaos.

"Look at this fucker, thinking he's better then us." One of the bandits said. "Lets put this little shit in his place." 

Then all four bandits charged at Kai in unison, however, he didn't show the slightest hint of fear.

Ducking under the first attack, a dagger aimed at his neck, he swept his foot under his attacker's legs, causing him to lose balance.

Before the other bandits could impale him with their daggers, Kai lightly whistled, appearing behind the bandit he had just caused to fall, and swiftly stabbing him in the heart.

Then, without hesitation, he charged at the closest bandit to his left, dodging their attack with a quick sidestep to the right before swiftly severing his head.

Horrified, the last two bandits looked at the fallen bodies of their comrades. "Shit," one of them muttered. "He must be some noble; the kid is C rank at least."

"Fuck this, I'm outta here," the other bandit said, his voice tinged with fear.

Before the bandits could run away, however, Kai let out one final, blood chilling whistle, appearing behind them in an instant. With swift and precise movements, he dispatched each of them with one clean swipe of his dagger.

As Kai was wiping the blood off his newly acquired dagger he turned back to see Anna throwing up on the side of the road.

Anna watched in horror as Kai, soaked in blood, turned to face her with cold, calm eyes. Contrary to what one might expect from someone of Kai's age, there was no trace of remorse or emotion in the gaze of this child who had just taken the lives of seven people. 

"Now that's out of the way," Kai said plainly as he walked back to the carriage. "Set us back on course for Lindell. Oh, and Anna, it'd be best for you to get used to this bloodshed; this won't be our last confrontation."

"Y-yes, sir," Anna replied, her body still trembling.

'Maybe I shouldn't be worried about the mistress's carriage,' Anna thought as she climbed back onto the carriage, taking hold of the reins. 'I think the young master is far more dangerous.'

With that realization, she focused on guiding the horses back to Lyndell, her mind swirling with thoughts and her heart heavy with unease.