"A dojo?"
Diether was confused about this new word but Reiji started to explain it to him in detail… It wasn't hard for the young man to understand this since he found it familiar.
"Oh! So it was similar to Martial Arts Training Hall!"
"Hmmm… Training Hall? I never heard you mention this before…"
"Ah… Yes. I was previously sickly so I didn't bother about it. After you trained me… I forgot about it already… However, when a noble's child turned eight, they will be nurtured to become a real noble in society. I'm also subjected to this, but my poor physique made me unable to enter the Training Hall at an early age…"
"I see… So that was why those young students have good combat sense…"
Reiji was referring to the previous sparring matches between the Hunters and Arcanists at the Farahn Village's square. He thought that Alexander was special because of his family background. However, it seems that all nobles have some privileges he wasn't aware of.
It was too bad that Diether was just a noble in name at this time due to their father's absence.
"I'm not sure what kind of training they're practicing but I heard from my sister that it was just an average martial technique to retain a healthy body and to accommodate the Spiritual Energy effectively…"
"A healthy body? That's interesting… It might be something really good if it helps in your energy control… Anyway, we have to visit a tailor shop in the town since I doubt that the village has a good one who can handle the fabric…"
"Yes, Master…"
Luckily, the carriages were already waiting outside the Academy to pick up the participants in the auction. It seems that they were informed about the time it will end so they could earn some more money at the return trip from those who don't have their own transportation.
As Diether and Reiji arrived in the town. They suddenly heard a commotion behind them.
Clang! Clang!
Sounds of fighting were heard. Shouts and cries were followed as people got injured during the battle. It was a good thing that the coachman controlled the frightened horses as they avoided an accident.
"What happened?"
Diether immediately tried to understand the situation. However, before the coachman could answer, Reiji already gave his findings.
"It seems that the man who bought the fairy was in trouble…"
The young man immediately made sense of the commotion. Many of the bidders were truly interested in this last item of the auction.
Sometimes, if things were unable to be resolved easily, they would unhesitatingly remove their mask and show their true faces. It was something that has happened to him before.
However, he was confused that this actually happened very close to Rosen Town! Although the town wasn't big compared to the others near the capital, the town mayor in this place especially tightened the security in consideration to the nearby Royal Academy branch…
Diether quickly gazed over the battle that was happening and noticed that the hooded man was surprisingly in advantage even though he was fighting ten people while protecting the silver cage that was wrapped in a cloth. The cage was holding the old fairy and Diether was a bit afraid that it would really die at this rate.
"Just put down the cage and leave… We won't pursue you!"
"Hmph! Just take it if you can…"
The hooded man answered. Based on his voice and his physique, they guessed that the man was only in his twenties. He wasn't using any visible magic weapons or Arcana and was good in barehanded combat. His only equipment was the tough glove that was helping him from being cut by the knives and blades by the robbers.
The robbers were aware that the guards would be coming at any minute now so they had to hurry… They didn't want their operation to be conducted in the vicinity of the town as well but the man rode his highly trained horse and managed to outrun them… If their leader didn't manage to delay him a bit, he would've successfully entered the protection of the town guards.
"Ah! Let's get out of here! They're the Fog Mountain Bandits!"
"Hurry… Enter the town quickly!"
The others who were entering the town managed to identify the bandits. This alarmed the others and wished to enter the place immediately.
"Why would they be here?!"
The Fog Mountain Bandits weren't normally leaving their place of operations. They would always use their terrain advantage at the people crossing the Fog Mountain to rob and escape from their pursuers. They would never conduct an operation that would easily expose them…
"Don't worry about them… Just carry your things and enter the town…"
Soon, two full-armored guards noticed the commotion but didn't immediately interfere in the battle. First, there were 10 bandits equipped with sharp weapons and six of them were also on their horses.
Even if they arrived at the scene, they wouldn't be able to apprehend the ten. Although they were confident in their skills, they wouldn't gamble.
They know that they won't easily lose but they might be injured in the process. Secondly, it wasn't worth saving a single man with an unknown identity. The man might even be a bandit himself and chose to remove his ties with the group but was now being chased back.
It wasn't normal for these bandits to appear here unless they were truly desperate.
Since that was the case, they decided to mobilize a small part of the town guards and ordered them to surround all possible escape routes.
They weren't in a hurry to rescue the hooded man at all.
"We're getting nowhere here… You should give up… The guards are already here…" The hooded man said while breathing heavily. He was also getting exhausted after fighting the bandits.
He underestimated their toughness!
'They actually know Shell Protection… They're not normal bandits… Tsk...'
The man grumbled as he glanced at the guards that were surrounding the bandits' escape route. It seems that they were hoping that he'll hold them for a bit longer… He could only shake his head after realizing this.
"Ha! They wouldn't do a thing unless they know the situation clearly…"
The leader then glanced at his groups and gave an order...
"Boys, there's no choice… Don't hold back anymore… Even if we killed the fairy, it doesn't matter now…"
The bandits' eyes glinted as they heard this. They were trying to deal a critical blow or just separate the man from the cage to avoid killing the fairy. It was a difficult task since the man was also an expert. However, now that the orders were changed, they no longer cared whether the fairy would remain alive or not… They would just unleash their full strength to this arrogant man!
Diether saw everything that was happening but only watched it briefly as their carriage quickly entered the town. He can only cheer for the guards to capture the bandits…
Anyway, his priority was to hire a tailor that would make those Hakama and Keikogi for him.