Their chat was abruptly ended by a series of thuds against the side of the carriage quickly followed by yells of warnings by the men outside.
"Look out! More Bandits!"
Their convoy and been attacked multiple times during their journey but this time seemed to be another level judging from the number of arrows hitting the carriage. Kailen lept to his feet and stood near Celia, grabbing his saber from the nearby table. He slowly opened to curtain near the window to see the situation outside, what he saw was the trio of Dean, Guy and Ran all standing near with their backs against the carriage.
Further ahead there seemed to be a large group of around twenty bandits blocking the road while around ten slowly circled around them. Guy knocked on the door of the carriage to alert Celia before speaking with a nervous tone.
"M'lady, there are around thirty bandits... We will struggle to defend you against so many."
The maids inside the carriage were visibly shaken by Guy's words, Celia however calmly turned to look up at Kailen next to her.
"What do you think?"
"It should be okay if I gave them a hand."
Although thirty men would trouble him on his own, together with the trio he should be okay. From what he could judge the men outside seemed to be weak, it was only their numbers that gave them a chance. Celia seemed to expect his evaluation and gave him a nod.
"Then we will have to trouble you. Be careful."
"Then I will be off. Please stay inside and lock the door."
Kailen lept outside shutting the door behind him with a shud. The trio seemed taken back at the sight of him holding a sword, Dean smiled while patting him on the shoulder.
"You're a braver man than I thought."
The other two nodded approvingly, clearly not expecting much from him but appreciating that he was willing to help. Kailen shook his head their thoughts were clear to read, he observed the situation a little closer and noticed one man standing at the front of the main force.
The man stood tall in rough patchy clothing like the others but gave off an air of confidence that Kailen had yet to see on any of the bandits previously. He had a sword strapped to his waist, that seemed fairly expensive compared to the useless rusty weapons the others were using.
The man stepped forward with a big confident smile and spoke.
"Afternoon fellas, now you know the drill. Either we kill you all and take your stuff, or you leave and we take your stuff. It's up to you..."
All of the bandits seemed to cease making any noise while their leader spoke, which showed their level of respect for the man. It was silent for a few moments before Dean opened his mouth and spoke while gesturing toward the grand carriage.
"Don't you know who it is your attempting to rob? This is the daughter of the Daycart family! You realize you will not escape this."
Kailen audibly sighed as he heard Dean attempting to use Celia's name to persuade the bandits, obviously, Dean thought the situation looked bleak and aimed for any opportunity to escape this mess. The situation that Kailen predicted quickly unfolded, as the faces of the bandits noticeably changed.
"Hoh? Is that so? If she's the daughter of a noble family, then she's sure to be a beauty... huh lads?"
The bandit's expressions quickly became ruthless and perverted as they thought of the possible scenarios ahead. The leader quickly unsheathed his sword, while slowly approaching them.
"Listen here, you three shall stay near the carriage and stop anyone from entering."
Kailen quickly commanded the trio, his words awakening them from their despair. It wasn't surprising the trio quickly lost faith, such a large number of bandits was extremely uncommon in these parts.
"Huh? No. You stay behind us!"
Ran commanded with a frown, it seems that he was the only one that still had hope in the situation. The leader followed by the bandits were quickly approaching, Kailen turned to look at him in the eye while unsheathing his saber.
"Just do as I say..."
Kailen didn't wait for their response as he charged forward toward the man at the front, as he just noticed the bandits had a high level of respect for this man. Therefore, Kailen chose to quickly slay him to force the rest into a state of anger. Kailen trusted that the trio would be perfectly fine dealing with the bandits as long as they weren't all charging and attacking as one.
Kailen swung with a quick and precise slash across the midsection to which their leader promptly blocked, though the blow seemed to be beyond his expectations as his sword arm was flung wide with the force of the blow.
Kailen then slashed at his open torso with an upward diagonal slash aiming to slice him open. The man wasn't completely lacking skills as he took a half-step back and evaded a lethal blow, though his ragged clothing was split and a long shallow wound appeared across his body.
"Shit, he's good!"
Ran spoke with an excited grin breaking out on his face, he understood Kailen's plan after seeing his skill with the blade. By killing the leader and evoking a strong reaction from the rest, he hoped to alleviate some of their burdens.
"Boys, it's time we cleaned house!"
"Aye."
A few of the encircling bandits approached the carriage, Ran and the others quickly took action. With a massive powerful blow with his ax that split the man in half, the duo quickly followed suit to deal with an incoming attacker.
Kailen meanwhile had his hands full, as his first blow failed to kill the man instantly. He'd allowed the bandits the opportunity to support him, which he was currently dealing with. Two other bandits approached to support their leader, Kailen made quick work of them before stepping back into combat with the leader who had lost his air of confidence from before.