"What about the other 4?" Alan asked. "Dead, hit by arrows," a guard said solemnly. Alan inquired again in a whisper, "How many arrows do you have?" The guards replied sadly, "These are the last ones, Master Alan."
Williams reassured them, "It's fine. I think you both took out their archers; otherwise, we would have been pinned to the ground here. Excellent work." he analyzed the situation.
Andrew, standing behind the boys and the guards, was stunned to see these two kids taking hold of the situation in such a calm and composed manner. He had his sword drawn and ready. Even though he was not an adventurer, he had received all the basic training for self-defense and attack in case of dire need.
"What do you think, Al? I think there are around 20 of them," Williams said calmly. Alan shook his head, replying, "There are more than 25, excluding the archers who were killed." Williams proposed a bet, "1 gold coin?" Alan smirked nodding in agreement, binding his bleeding left palm with a piece of cloth. "What?!" Andrew and the others were simply flabbergasted by their bet.
Rough-looking men started appearing in front of them, grinning hideously. They looked at the group in front of them and laughed out loud, seeing only three men, a lady, and two kids, with the two boys seemingly in their teens.
"Feeling relieved, are we?" The man standing in front of those others asked in a deep, booming voice. "It's so easy—sending a few cannon fodder to perish, then lay low for a few days, and you get to enjoy the loot. Ha ha ha..." The man's deep voice boomed and echoed in the forest night.
"Who are you, and what do you want? We don't have any goods with us; we are just travelers here. We can give you all our gold and jewelry. Please let us part our ways without any further bloodshed," Andrew tried to reason.
"Same old, same old... Everyone asks the same question. But they will all die by our hands in the end," the leader of the bandits chuckled. "I am Frank, the rogue adventurer."
Andrew's eyes widened in shock. "Are you the one who killed one of the peak S-Class adventurers and escaped ten years ago?"
"You are well-informed, I see," he grinned wickedly.
"Please, sir, let us go. We can offer you gold and jewelry. We promise not to tell anyone about this. Alan pleaded convincingly, stunning Williams momentarily before catching a glimpse of anger in his eyes. The others nodded in agreement.
"Ha ha... Your corpses will tell our story, boy. We want people to know of our actions. We'll be the top bandit group this region has ever seen. You are the third prey for us today," he gestured, and ten men stepped forward.
"You two, the archers, you seemed decent to take down four of my best archers in the dark. Join me and enjoy your life," Frank offered them. The guards looked disgusted and spat on the ground, ready to fight till their death. The boys glanced at each other, a small smile appearing at the corner of their mouths.
"Cut the three men, don't harm the women. I want her tonight. You all can enjoy her later. Capture the two girls unharmed. We can sell them to the brothel for a good price. Break the limbs of the two boys and throw them into the water," he said, looking at Elena, lust dripping from his eyes.
Panic spread among everyone. The odds of escaping this situation seemed almost nonexistent.
"Sir, please spare us. We have not harmed you, and we're offering all our valuables," Alan pleaded suddenly, halting Frank in the middle of his orders.
All the bandits laughed at this. "Kid, all your gold will be ours when we kill you anyway. Even the girls will be ours to enjoy."
Alan's blood boiled, and Williams seemed at a breaking point. "So, you do this to everyone, sir? Even the last two groups you met?" Alan spoke gritting his teeth.
"Smart kid, well, we do have a good harvest today. We already have 8 women and 4 kids to sell, excluding yours. But those are not as beautiful as these here. Even the little girl here makes me want to enjoy her tonight," he literally drooled, looking at Rose, who was visibly shaken, cowering behind Alan and holding the corner of his shirt.
Andrew and the guards grew extremely angry, hearing these words. They tightened their grip on their weapons and raised them in a defensive position.