Soon after the sun had set and the moon had taken its place in the sky, a large carriage with metal bars could be seen traversing through a snowy fir forest, saying that it was tightly guarded would probably be an exageration but it was still guarded enough to be able to warrant the surprise of any commoner in the area.
Inside the carriage, multiple people sat all with their hands and feet cuffed or so it should be but the guards had been lax and had forgotten to properly check if that was the case, the prisoners, all having been found guilty of crimes with wildly varying severity levels.
One skinny man had been caught stealing from a merchant, a woman found guilty of slander against the holy order of Montagnepoudreuse, a few men that had been caught poaching monsters inside the world dungeon without any affiliation to any organisation that granted such a right and lastly a man that had been arrested after being caught robbing a bank but for this last man, there was still hope, he could still denounce his comrades who had managed to escape and with some luck avoid any harsh punishment which would be the same as the skinny man would get, the hands cut off for stealing.
He could try and escape, getting past the lackluster guards wouldn't be complicated for him but he had the unfortunate circumstance of having been well cuffed and this cuffs had the effect of weakening the wearer, he wouldn't have been able to get past the bars anyway.
The man's name was Mobn, he was a tall man standing at a proud one meter and eighty-five in height and was well built, it was pretty much a requirement in his job to be strong, as he was technically an adventurer part of the clan called Infamy, as the name suggested, they weren't considered the saintest of the clans among the guild, they were seen as the worst actually, home to bandits and criminals alike and led by a woman he wished to never meet ever again.
The bank heist had been her idea or rather a 'suggestion' of her, pretty much all members had no choice but to listen to her, whether it was through pure fear or because they couldn't afford to leave the clan, after all, who would accept a former member of Infamy?
This was why Mobn was going to leave the country at the first occasion he had, which probably wouldn't be for now as he doubted he would avoid all punishments, the holy order wasn't known for his sympathy towards criminal after all.
A swift sound pierced the air and soon after, the soon of flesh being pierced was heard and a guard fell to the ground.
Quckly after that, bolt came smashing the few lanterns on the carriage and then shot down the torch bearers, leaving the moonlight as the only light source.
Mobn didn't feel good about all of this, not at all, he had a horrible feeling, the other prisoners seemed rather expectant however.
In only a few minutes, no sound apart from the prisoners was heard, after slashing and hacking rang out, nothing had happened for a bit, until steps in the snow were heard coming toward the cage.
"Hey man! Let us out, I'll-" pleaded the skinny man to have his skull split apart by a machete, sending the other prisonners into a frenzy, futilely attempting to escape the cage and all ending up dead, Mobn made sure to not get close to the bars but even of he had he woulnd't have died as the assailant had a better idea.
After a little bit of messing with the lock, which seemed like an eternity to the positively frightened Mobn someone climbed up into the cage, stepping into the already freezing blood and looked down upon him.
Mobn looked up at the person and realised that it was somehow even worse than who he had thought it was.
'What is he doing here?!' he frantically thought as he tried to come up with something to say.
"H-Hey, Vlas, what brings you here?" he asked to the man, a 'friend' of his.
"I don't know, why don't you tell me?" asked the man, whose full name was Vlasfimia.
The man standing in front of Mobn was another member of Infamy, one of the worst, right at the top with their leader, the man was almost exclusively dressed in black, dark leather gloves, long dark coat, leather boots, dark pants, everything was black, not even a bit if the man's skin was visible, the only thing that contrasted with it was his grey, stone like mask which had no holes at all, it was fully flat, the rest of his head was also covered in a dark cloth.
In his hands, two machete dripping with blood.
"I-I have no idea why you would come here" said Mobn, it was a lie, he knew why he was here, Vlas was not one to help an ally or to help anyone without benefits, what he went out of his way to do, Mobn had witnessed multiple things he wished he could have not seen.
"Listen here you dipshit, I don't have all night, I don't need you to tell me nor do I need concrete proof to know that you are fucking snitch" spoke Vlasfimia in an eerily calm tone, for most of it at least.
"Infamy is quite useful to me, so I can't risk you fucking it all up, get it?" he continued as he took a step forward.
"WAIT, WAIT, WAIT!!! I SWEAR I WON'T SAY ANYTHING" cried out Mobn.
"Mobn, Mobn, Mobn, you should know by now that guys like you pleading for their life does not excite me, don't get me wrong it's quite entertaining but not today, no, today I want to make some cuisine" said Vlasfimia before kicking Mobn in the jaw, knocking him out immediately.
As the unconscious Mobn was carried away in the night, Vlasfimia looked back at the carriage.
"What a shame, a good carriage, equipement and meat all lost" he spoke out loud in regret before disappearing into the night.