Moransiu lightly smiled, no longer paying attention to the two young men, while outside the carriage, the sky gradually darkened.
Late at night, just as Moransiu was immersed in a bumpy dream, the carriage suddenly came to a stop. Then, there were shouts from outside the carriage, accompanied by the flickering light of torches.
"Oh no, it's bandits," the carriage driver, who had been resting inside the carriage, immediately woke up and whispered to everyone.
Upon hearing the word "bandits," everyone trembled in shock. The likelihood of encountering bandits on the official road was generally low, especially for a dilapidated carriage like theirs. But this time, it seemed their luck was particularly bad.
Moransiu's expression tightened as he gripped his hunting knife. In the bundle behind him were over a hundred gold coins, intended for Moransiu's tuition fees, which absolutely could not be allowed to fall into the hands of bandits.
"Father, what should we do?" Moransiu remained calm, his young face serene. To him, bandits were just people, not more fearsome than the beasts in the mountains. If he wasn't afraid of beasts, he certainly wouldn't fear bandits.
But Moransiu didn't know that bandits were a hundred times more dangerous than beasts. Beasts had limited intelligence, but bandits possessed the ferocity of beasts along with considerable cunning.
"Let's not move rashly, let's wait and see," Moransiu's father whispered to him, restraining his hand.
"Damn it..." the young man with small eyes muttered anxiously, cursing under his breath.
"What should we do?" the young man with a small beard asked in a low voice, his eyes fixed on the bundle behind the young man with small eyes.
"Let's wait and see," the small-eyed young man muttered, swallowing hard.
"Get off the carriage, all of you!" came the shouts from outside.
"Sir, we're just carriage drivers. There's no wealthy master on this carriage. Please spare us," pleaded the driver.
"Haha, spare me the nonsense. Listen up, all of you on the carriage. I'll count to three, and if anyone hasn't gotten off, I'll start killing," the bandit leader laughed heartily.
"Get off!" Moransiu's father whispered to him, motioning for him to follow as he stood up and moved towards the carriage door.
Moransiu followed behind his father and quickly disembarked from the carriage. The two young men followed suit, followed by the woman with two children. Lastly, the elderly man, who was seriously ill, steadied himself against the carriage frame, seemingly on the verge of collapse at any moment.
Moransiu walked over and helped him. The old man glanced at Moransiu but didn't say anything. After everyone got off the carriage, they stood near the carriage.
They were surrounded by more than ten bandits, each holding torches and iron knives, looking fierce and menacing.
"Haha, quite a few people," one of the bandits remarked.
"Listen up, I'm the most ruthless bandit around here. However, we only want money, not lives. As long as you obediently hand over your money, you can leave on foot. But let me make it clear, if anyone is unwilling to hand over their money, there will only be one outcome. I'll twist your head off and take your money," the bandit leader, a middle-aged man with a large beard, declared with a smirk.
"Now, all of you, hand over your money, starting with you," the bandit leader pointed at Moransiu's father, who was at the forefront of the group.
At that moment, the two carriage drivers hid in a corner, surreptitiously watching Moransiu's father. Moransiu glanced towards the corner where the two drivers were hiding, and they quickly averted their gaze.
"My father mentioned that I was going to the Magic Academy in the afternoon, and then we're robbed at night. Is this just a coincidence?" Moransiu pondered for a moment, and then he had an answer in his heart. These two carriage drivers must have a problem, they must be colluding with the bandits.
"These drivers knew I was going to the Magic Academy to study, so there must be a lot of money on me. That's why they led the bandits here. The outside world is indeed treacherous, my father spent his whole life dealing with beasts in the mountains, but his guard against people is lacking," Moransiu's eyes flickered as he couldn't come up with a good idea for a moment.
He could release fireball spells and ice spike spells, and he could also release the lowest-level defensive magic, Water Shield. However, there were more than ten people on the other side, and Moransiu had never used magic to kill anyone before, so he wasn't confident.
"Damn it, damn it, why did the bandits come to rob us?" the young man with small eyes kept repeating these three words behind Moransiu, his hands constantly rubbing together. And the small-bearded man's eyes never left that bundle, as if there was some treasure inside.
"Sir, we have no money. We are just hunters from the mountains, wanting to enter the city for a look around. Where would we have any money? Even if we had a few silver coins, you wouldn't care. Sir, please let us go?" Moransiu's father pleaded with a smile.
"Hmph, spare me the nonsense. One word, money or your life?" the bandit leader impatiently shouted, waving his large knife.
Moransiu's father quickly took a step back. If he hadn't stepped back in time, he would have been injured by that knife. Anger welled up in Moransiu's eyes. These bandits were despicable. Father almost got hurt.
"Sir, we really have no money. If you don't believe me, search us," Moransiu's father pleaded again, his voice low and submissive.
"Hmm?" The bandit leader looked suspiciously at Moransiu's father.
"You two, come out," the bandit leader changed his target to the two young men.
The small-bearded man and the small-eyed man trembled as they slowly moved out, their expressions as if they were about to cry. The small-eyed man had lost his initial ferocity long ago, his legs seemed to give way at any moment.
"You quickly hand over the money," the bandit leader waved his big knife and shouted.
"Sir... sir! We really don't have any money. If we... if we had money, who would ride in this broken carriage?" The small-bearded man had a sudden realization and intermittently said.
"Hmph, damn it, I don't believe you don't have any money." The bandit leader seemed impatient and shouted.
"Boys, search them," the bandit leader ordered several bandits around him.
Those bandits quickly stepped forward and searched everyone thoroughly. The small-bearded man's bundle was pulled over. The hunting knife and a few silver coins of Moransiu's father were also found. At this time, Moransiu noticed that his father's bundle was not on him. Moransiu knew that his father must have put the bundle on the carriage.
"Ah... what
are you going to do..." The woman screamed as eight hands groped her, and Moransiu carefully looked at this woman. She was not bad-looking. Based on his experience in the mountains for so many years, this woman should be considered good-looking.
"Cough... cough..." The old man coughed violently for a few times.
When the bandits finished searching the woman and were about to search the old man, the old man began to cough violently.
"I have a contagious disease, I'm dying." Although the old man's voice was not loud, it sounded exceptionally harsh to everyone's ears.
Several bandits unconsciously slowed down their movements and turned to look at the leader.
"Damn it, bad luck." The bandit leader gestured for them to back off, then looked at the things they found, only a few dozen silver coins.
"Damn it, the two brats said there was a fat sheep on the carriage. If there isn't, I'll show you how I deal with you." The leader looked at the hiding place of the two carriage drivers and thought to himself.
Finally, the leader took the packages from the two young men and was about to open them. The two young men were extremely anxious, forgetting all the danger around them. The small-bearded man took a brisk step forward and tried to grab the package back.
Unfortunately, his body was too weak. With a kick from the bandit leader, he was kicked back, hit the carriage heavily, and fell down heavily, unable to get up for a long time.