Diether's visit to the town was more fruitful than he expected it to be.
He now has his own weapon! The Novice Wooden Sword that he purchased was different from the throwing knives he bought for his hunting before. This sword would be used as a replacement while his master or the shinai does his ritual.
He wasn't sure why, but his master asked to be wrapped for a long time or to be left untouched but he treated it as a ritual that he must do in order to further awaken his strength.
Luckily, his master can now communicate with him even without being touched as long as they were at a certain distance.
'I wonder what those clothes are… Can it help me practice master's sword technique?'
He thought for a moment as he was looking forward to the day he'll pick them up. He just left the inn he was staying at and was now headed to the town square to hire a carriage to bring him back to the village.
"Too bad that the Academy was too strict… We couldn't meet your sister there…"
"Oh, right…"
Diether was reminded by his master. He forgot about this matter since he got too excited by his new sword.
"Anyway, you don't have to hurry in learning how to repair an Arcana… We can do it next time…"
Reiji was in a very good state that doesn't require to be repaired at this time. He was also planning to complete his Untouchable mission so he was expecting that during this time, his Durability wouldn't be decreasing.
'It's too bad that there's no skill like Self-Repair---'
Reiji's thought was interrupted as he noticed something…
"You're being followed…"
"Eh?"
"Don't look around…"
"Ah! Yes…"
Diether just continued walking as per his master's instruction and headed to his original destination. He quickly found a coachman looking for a passenger… His carriage could carry six people and they were short of one person before they would leave.
They would also be heading south so Diether decided to join them.
It wasn't just because it will be less expensive to travel with people but it might also help him from getting out of trouble. He felt that it was better to travel with companions when he knows that he was being followed by some unknown person or even a group.
'I hope that it's not something serious…' Diether prayed as he didn't want to be entangled in any trouble at all.
He has been thinking of possible reasons why he was being tailed and the most he could think of was due to the fabric he purchased in the auction or the fact that he visited the place where the hooded man was working at.
The old fairy that the man bought might be something that really brings bad luck…
"Master? Are we still being followed?"
Diether asked the shinai softly…
"Yes… There's a couple of them riding horses…"
'I have a bad feeling about this…'
Diether remembers something as he asked his fellow passenger.
"Do you know what happened to the bandits causing a scene yesterday?"
"Oh? Those guys? Two were put into prison, three of them died in the battle while the others had managed to escape…"
"Escaped?"
Diether nodded calmly but his mind was already considering whether he had to tell them about his stalkers.
The passengers and even the coachman himself doesn't seem to be a pushover… They all look warriors and capable of combat. Diether can see this even if they try to hide it.
He knows that if the two guys following him were asking for trouble, he was sure that the other passengers wouldn't get easily harmed and could even fight back.
The passengers were all carrying small blades to protect themselves when going out of the protection of the town. Although beast attacks wouldn't normally happen on the busy road, just possessing their weapons would help ease their minds.
But before Diether could explain, the passengers seem to have noticed it already…
"Mhmm… We have some people tailing us…"
"I think that they're just using the same road."
"Maybe, but they were carefully observing your carriage, old man."
"Hmph… They can try…"
The old man wasn't fazed by the presence of the two horse-riding guys tailing them…
Diether heaved a sigh of relief after hearing their conversation. They were indeed strong people…
After about 15 minutes of travel, when they were far away from town… The two guys tailing Diether had suddenly taken action. The passengers of the carriage who were already alert didn't miss their movements.
"Heeeiii!!"
The coachman stopped the carriage after getting a signal from the passengers.
Swooshh!
"Arrows! Be careful!"
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The arrows didn't come from the two guys behind their carriage so it means that they have an accomplice somewhere!
They don't know their numbers so they had to be careful when going out of the carriage.
They seem to be waiting for them to arrive on this slope where it was difficult to hide.
Luckily, the carriage was meant to sustain attacks from a mid-grade beast! It was an impressive and surely expensive build!
However, it seems that the arrows were only meant as a cover for the two so they can easily approach them
Bang! Bang!
The sound of their swords bashing the reinforced carriage was heard. It seems that they didn't expect that the carriage would be this high-quality.
Diether noticed that the passengers weren't worried so he similarly remained calmed…
"AArrggghh!"
"Urggh!"
They suddenly heard the two guys screaming in pain… Diether has realized that the coachman who was left outside had managed to protect the horses from arrows and even managed to deal with the stalkers…
'Who are these people?'
When he looked for a carriage a while ago, he already noticed that these guys weren't simple but it seems that he still underestimated them. He was only hoping that he could deter his stalkers by getting near them…
"Hmph!"
One of the passengers then opened the carriage and used his superb Spiritual Energy control as he dashed towards the tall grass where the arrows came from before.
Slash! Slash! Slash!
Diether only saw blood splurting in the same direction as the man had probably killed those who tried to ambush them…
The young man gulped at the swiftness of their actions. They all look like professionals!
They seem to have done this several times before which would mean they weren't someone to be trifled with…
"Did you get scared, kid?"
"You're safe now…"
They asked thoughtfully.
In their eyes, Diether was just a weak and feeble child. Although he has a valuable black wooden sword and a mysterious bamboo sword with him, it was nothing to them who had seen a lot of things and didn't think too much of it.
They could feel a feeble Spiritual Energy from him but they thought that it was normal since the kid was only about ten years old and was probably starting to practice the Energy.
"Uh… Yes… Thank you for your concern… seniors…"
Diether answered as he waited for his master whether he would ask him to be placed near the blood of those guys…
After noticing that his master wasn't giving instructions, he remained in his seat.
'It seems that the blood wasn't up to master's standard…'