John
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The life of a merchant was not as simple as it seemed. Most people thought that only monsters and bandits were to be feared.
It was true that since the last Astrian war, the latter were more numerous than ever.
But the real difficulty of the job layed in the pace of life, especially here in the south of the continent. Sheltering the great forest of Meranja and the maritime marshes of Obera, villages were rare. So rare that I no longer counted the nights spent in my cart.
Fortunately, my two sons accompanied me, so that I was not alone during my travels.
The oldest, Ewen, had always dreamed of becoming an adventurer. At the age of sixteen, he left home to fulfill his dream in the capital.
Unfortunately, stagnating like many others at the lowest ranks of the guild, he decided to give up his job and come back to help me.
His two years spent working as an adventurer will not have been in vain, because he had now become my main bodyguard.
My second son, on the other hand, aspired to take over my trade routes, just as I did when I took them from my father. Although we were not the only ones, less than a dozen merchants linked Obera to Esteria, so the competition was weak.
One of the biggest advantages of connecting Obera to Esteria is transportation. Passing through the cities of June and Avrel, two of the largest cities in the southern regions of the continent, it was not uncommon for my cart to be used as transportation for other people.
Especially adventurers, both aspiring and accomplished, as Avrel was home to one of the largest adventurer's guilds on the continent, and was the adventurer's capital of the kingdom of Aeira.
In exchange for transportation, these adventurers usually offered their services as bodyguards. Some tried to monetize this service, but with the vast majority of adventurers offering it for free, it was rare that they found buyers.
Today, in addition to the three of us, we were able to welcome a future adventurer in our cart.
She was a young teenager, with perfectly straight, medium-length blond hair and soft blue eyes adorning a smooth, elegant face. It was rare to see such a physiognomy in this rural area.
Unlike most adventurers of her age, she already possessed fine armor and a perfectly polished weapon. Although she was not one yet, she had most likely already fought sometimes.
Time passed, and soon the sun was approaching the horizon. Unfortunately, we were still several leagues from the nearest town, and it was not safe to enter the forest at night.
We ate a niange, the equivalent of the chicken at Astria City. Its white meat could be easily preserved and was eatable even when cold. To accompany this, we ate fruits previously saved for this purpose. Of course, Lilliana's share was provided.
After this meal, we went to bed to wake up at dawn.
Thus passed the days.
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For many wanderers and merchants, traveling was a way of life. As a result, the excitement of discovering new landscapes diminished over time.
Although Lilliana had been wandering the northeastern lands for nearly five years, she still hadn't lost the excitement of the journey. This was mostly because the lands she had visited were barren and vegetation was scarce.
For her, this extremely wooded area was most refreshing. In addition, at this time of year, many trees were in bloom, and the forest displayed an infinity of colors.
In addition to this exceptional flora, many animals roamed the forest here and there. From the most common to the rarest, the ecosystem of the Meranja forest was one of the most important in the world. Many requests for harvesting and hunting were submitted to the adventurers by cooks or collectors, while many hunters tried to add new heads to their hunting roster.
However, there was more to this forest than just this dreamy setting. Indeed, many monsters roamed it and, although weak, it was not uncommon for monster attacks to be reported to local guilds.
The small group was now only a few leagues from Avrel, leaving them less than a day's journey. According to John, they would reach the city before nightfall.
The journey went perfectly well. There were no monster attacks and the chances of encountering them diminished as they approached the city.
However, when they were less than a league from the city, one of their horses was attacked.
From a thicket, an arrow was shot and hit the left side of the beast. The horse collapsed instantly, bringing the wagon to a screeching halt.
"Father, what's going on?"
Inside, the young adults were starting to worry.
"We are under attack!"
Slightly panicked, John entered the trailer and grabbed a mace.
"They are bandits! They shot Jena!"
Hearing this, Ewen took his sword in hand and followed his father. Before leaving the wagon, he looked back at his brother and Lilliana:
"You two stay here. Do not go out under any circumstances!"
Then he closed the door of the cart. Nevertheless, through one of the windows, Lilliana could see the fight: three hooded people had attacked the merchants. One of them was wielding a bow, while the other two were brandishing swords.
Without any warning, one of them, apparently a man, of great size and exuberant musculature, swung his sword at John.
The latter parried the blow with difficulty. The attacker followed up directly with a second, very fast attack, in the direction of the merchant's right flank.
John could not parry the attack, and he was not fast enough to dodge it. He then had to take the attack. Unfortunately, having very little defense, the sword cut him in the ribs.
The sword, which seemed to be of poor quality, did not penetrate the flesh, but a large part of John's ribs were broken.
Proud of his move, the masked man couldn't help but let out a cunning smile. But one of his acolytes made him come back to reality:
"Nieme, watch out!"
Indeed, while his father was fighting in one-on-one, Ewen had sneaked upon his enemy's side. With a deft move, he pierced his left shoulder, and with a quick cut to the right wrist, disarmed him. The severely wounded man fell to his knees and groaned in pain, his blood spilling onto the ground.
"Bastard!"
The second attacker, who was brandishing a sword, glared at the former adventurer. The latter, on the other hand, did not offer him the luxury of attention, his thoughts being turned to the state of his father.
"Father, are you hurt?"
"A few... Broken ribs... nothing too serious..."
With two years of working as an adventurer, Ewen was able to make a diagnosis based on his knowledge. He determined that with a few remedies and two weeks of rest, he would get better. If they had access to potions, his recovery would be four times faster, but unfortunately, people of their caste had little access to such devices because of a lack of money.
His younger brother, alerted by this accident, got out of the wagon and came running to his family members. Ewen thought of forcing him back into the trailer, but gave up:
"You watch our dad, I'll take care of these other two bastards."
Meanwhile, the two bandits were conferring. The archer, who appeared to be a woman, called out to his teammate:
"Leader, what do we do?"
Quite irritated, he replied:
"I ain't gonna leave my brother here to die. Let's kill this asshole, the guy with him, and get out of here with the cart."
The archer nodded slightly. Still, she couldn't help but have a bad feeling... So she took a few steps to the side, ensuring an escape route in case of trouble.
His leader, on the other hand, rushed towards his opponent with his sword in hand. Having noticed him, Ewen adopted a defensive posture. The swords clashed.
In hand-to-hand combat, neither of the two fighters would give way. Their strength was equal, and although Ewen was a little faster, he could not get the upper hand. Quickly, the breaths were accelerating, and the blows became less precise.
Strike after strike, one dodged, the other parried. The pain was beginning to be felt in their hands.
The archer was watching for the right moment to shoot, but the fighters were constantly exchanging their positions, so it was difficult for her to act in this fight.
Suddenly a small voice was heard. This voice came from the trailer.
"Tss- If this keeps up, he'll lose..."
The door of the cart opened again, and this time a young teenager came out, it was of course Lilliana.
"Hey, you!" She said, pointing at the bandits. She slowly walked towards Nieme, still agonizing on the ground, having long since lost consciousness.
"If you want a chance to save him, give up the weapons. Otherwise, I'll stick my sword down his throat and finish him off."
Slowly, she drew her sword and brought the point to Nieme's head. Not quite understanding the situation, the leader of the bandits called out to her:
"W-Wait!"
As for the archer, she wasted no time.
"Two against two... Well, I don't plan on dying today, and I don't feel like killing either. Leader, I don't like your way of doing things, I'm leaving. I'm keeping the bow though, its quality is not too bad. Good luck with the rest."
Thus, the archer went away, into the darkness of the dense forest. The leader of the bandits did not take well to this betrayal, and became angry again:
"Bitch! Don't leave me like this!"
But this did not matter to Lilliana. Bringing her sword closer to her victim, she asked again:
"So what are you doing? You may still have a chance to save him if you're lucky. But if you waste any more time, his blood loss will take its toll."
Hearing this, the bandit didn't think for a second and threw his weapon to the ground.
"All right, all right I give up. Let me take care of him and I'll leave in a minute."
Lilliana put her weapon away and returned to John. The bandit retrieved his brother and went back into the forest.
*Sigh*
"Hopefully, that little bluff made them go away, I don't want to kill people that much, even if they are bandits..."
Just after she finished her sentence, Ewen collapsed to the ground, tired.
*Aaahh*
"Thank you, Lilliana. You probably saved my life today. That man was stronger than he looked. Thankfully, no one but father was hurt and we are out of the hook."
"Alexis, you take care of the trailer, I'll help father sit inside and offer him first aid."
As for Lilliana, she immediately returned to her seat.
Soon, they were on their way again, the cart being driven by Alexis who had been trained by his father.
Despite this altercation, they were able to reach the town of Avrel before nightfall, and John invited Lilliana to join them for dinner, to thank her for helping them.