"I have,have n-no m-money-y"
She stammered out trembling in fear. She ducked her head wiping her tears frantically.
Jikad was practically holding his breath at that time waiting to see the bandit's reaction.
"BWAHAHAHAHA!" Their leader suddenly burst out laughing breaking the silence. The other bandits also followed suit and soon enough the entire street echoed with the sound of laughter.
It was not the joyous laughter that people shared at the event of happy celebrations. It was a laughter that barely contained its malicious intent,like a pack of hyenas eyeing a dying deer.
"No money huh?Why didn't you say so sweetheart" He cooed.
"Why are you just standing there like an idiot? Help that young lady alight from the cart." He flicked his hand signaling for the bandit .
"If there's any more of you with no money feel free to step outside too. Let's save up time shall we?"
Jikad glanced at Garam with a look that seemed to ask"should we get down too?"
Instead of answering him,Garam glanced at the bandit's leader and pondered something for a moment before standing up.
He tilted his head signalling Jikad that they should get off.Garam was his usual calm and composed self so Jikad wondered if he had come up with some sort of plan to get them out of that predicament. Nevertheless he followed Garam's lead and carefully alighted from the cart. The frightened lady also climbed down her legs trembling in fear.
The other passengers shifted uncomfortably but none of them dared to speak up. Jikad looked for any possible escape route but the bandits had the entire place sorrounded. And even if they did somehow manage to slip away, given the ridiculous outnumbered ratio,they'd be captured in no time. And Jikad didn't want to imagine what would happen to them if they were caught trying to escape.
The street was remote and isolated so no one would come to their aid. And unlike the templar knights,the bunch didn't look like it would hesitate to butcher down anyone who tried to act up.Jikad glanced at the huge daggers the bandits were holding as he stood closer to Garam. The lady stood next to him anxiously drawing in shaky breaths.
'Garam definitely has a plan right?'
Jikad thought hopefully as he glaced at Garam who seemed to be staring straight at the bandit leader. Garam's face did not betray any emotion so Jikad could not tell what he was thinking. The bandit leader leisurely strolled towards them.
"Well well, we've got ourselves quite the little group of beggars" His huge sword was casually resting on his shoulder but his lips had a teasing smile.
(*Shocked in rich billionaire's son*)Jikad had to stop himself from frowning at the word 'beggars'. The bandit leader could not be more off the mark by referring to Jikad as one. Although he had no money at the moment,Jikad could not help but fell offended. He would have spoken up if the scenario was different that is.
"Are these the only ones?" The question was directed at the bandit collecting money in the cart.
"Yes boss" The bandit climbed off the cart his leather bag clinking with coins. The passengers left on the cart looked even more haggard than they had before.I suppose one would after being robbed of their livelihood.
"Send em' off" With a few thunks on the back of the cart its wheels creaked as they set off in a rolling motion.
Jikad felt his heart sink to his stomach. They were being left behind in this dark dingy street.It was clear that their chance of surviving had now slimmed even further. The creaking sound of the cart slowly driving away echoed through the silent street.
"Now back to our special little group" The leader said turning back his attention to the three.
The towering man placed his hand on his waist and proceeded to scan all three of them from head to toe. His gaze made Jikad feel like he was an animal in a market who was being assessed of his worth by a customer. He didn't like it.
The bandit paused after his eyes had lingered on them for a while.
He shook his head disapprovingly "tsk tsk!
"Criminals like you make my blood boil."His deep voice rumbled,"Worthless scum whose only goal is to leech off of honest hard-working citizens."
Jikad eyebrows raised in confusion .Even the scared woman stopped crying for a moment to stare incredulously at the bandit.
'Huh??'
"Shame on you." The leader added his tone dripping with disappointment.
Jikad thought he was hallucinating.He glaced around at the other bandits sorrounding them to see if they were also hearing what nonsense their leader was spewing. To his surprise, the were all giving him and his fellow 'beggars' disappointed glares. It was as if they were the ones who had been robbed and not the other way round.
'What the hell?' Jikad was beyond confused at the scene unfolding Infront of him. 'Honest hard-working citizens my ass!'
The bandit's eyes flashed warningly as he mounted his huge sword on the ground and folded his arms.
"What do you have to say fro yourselves?" He sounded like a strict parent punishing a disobedient child. Jikad had heard of gaslighting but this was on another level. The shamelessness to demand an apology after stopping them in the middle of their journey and threatening them with their weapons was mind-blowing.
Jikad could feel his irritation growing by the minute. He would have loved so much to flip him off but one look at his eyes he decided not to.
"I-I'm sorry" the lady said even though she wasn't exactly sure what she was apologizing for entirely.
"Sorry" Garam curtly bowed his head.
'Garam you too?'
Jikad could now feel everyone's eyes on him after a moment of silence. And especially the heavy gaze of the bandit leader.
"Erm-..I'm sorry(?)" He finally uttered after lacking another resort.He awkwardly shifted his weight from one leg to another.
"Ha! You think your pathetic attempts at apologizing are going to cut it after all you've done?!" The bandit leader thundered.
'What the hell is he even talking about? We have not done anything you psycho!' Jikad was now convinced that everyone in this godforsaken story was actually a nutjob.First it was the angry bald man who would whop his ass and bark at his face drenching it in saliva. Then it was the crazy lieutenant that tried to cut off his head the moment he saw him. Followed by the priest who banded him as mentally disabled,and now it was this lunatic who clearly suffered from bipolar disorder.
What bothered Jikad the most was how freaking tall all of these psychopaths were.'What the hell is wrong with this place!"
"Uwaah! Please forgive me!" The lady suddenly dropped to her knees with a thud wailing.She must have injured them with how loud the thud was.The bandit's lips curled into a wicked smile as he leaned on his mounted sword.He seemed to be enjoying every bit of this scenario. The other bandits also had arrogant smirks on their faces and Jikad could also hear some of them chuckling.
Next to the woman was Jikad so automatically all eyes turned to him including the bandit leader's.'If only I had my original body's He thought to himself, though it's not known what exactly would change if he did have it.'i know I'd thought of this before but are there really no human rights in this place? Fuck.'
He also slowly got on his knees since he wasn't suicidal enough to try and oppose.
"Please forgive me "
"Quit repeating what the hag is saying." Someone hollered from the back making the other bandits to erupt in reprimands.
"Yeah! Come up with your own words"
"Be more original jackass"
"And speak up we can't hear you from the back!"
"why don't you look remorseful?"
"Is this a joke to you?"
"Boss lets kill him if he doesn't mean it next time."
"Fuck that! lets kill him right now his face is pissing me off."
"Hahaha! Look he's about to cry like a little bitch!"
"He definitely looks like one too hahaha!"
Jikad clenched his fists as he felt his throat tighten. They were practically bullying him at that point. He usually wouldn't let what other people said get to him but this place seemed to want to break him with each passing second. Their insults were childish but each of them felt like a punch to the gut.
With a curt flip of the leader wrist everyone silenced. He could tell that they were waiting for him to speak up again.
"Please forgive m-me." His voice broke and he painful bit on his lip to stop himself from bursting into tears. Kneeling there,in that dirty street sorrounded by thugs that made him apologize for something he didn't even know.
Shing!
Jikad flinched as he saw the large sword pointed at him. The leader's eyebrows were furrowed in irritation.
"Hey" He snapped" You keep repeating the same shit are those the only word you know?"
"I-I ,I deeply apologize" Jikad's vision was becoming blurry with tears and his throat was becoming painful tight.He had bowed his head so low it almost touched the ground.
"Hmmm" the sword was retracted and mounted on the ground again."What are you apologizing for?"
"H-huh?" Jikad felt his hot tears streaming down his face. The leader raised an eyebrow and his face seemed to ask' you want me to repeat myself?'
But Jikad also had no idea what he was apologizing for.
"Aah-I, umh- I,I'm sorry" Jikad stated his eyes breeming with tears again. He saw the leader's eyes darken making him to panic even more."I d-don't know." Jikad added genuinely. A tense silence followed.
"Pffft!" The bandit let out an amused chuckle followed by the mocking sniggers from the other bandits.
"Playing dumb now are we?" He questioned with a smirk.
Jikad's stomach churned. With the amount of stress he was constantly under it would not be surprising if he developed stomach ulcers.
"Are you going to pretend that you three thugs didn't just deny us of our honest livelihood?" He placed a hand over his chest imitating an offended expression.
"And yet you're here trying to play innocent after roaming on our street and refusing to paying your passage fees.For shame!" He shook his head.
Jikad didn't even know this was their street untill a few moments ago.He racked his brain for a proper apology but his mind was blank. And the endless tears streaming down his face weren't helping the situation.
"We,we didn't mean to-"
"The damage has already been done." He cut Jikad off leaning on his sword again."You're already on our street no?"
It was true. Jikad was actually kneeling on it and his knees had began to ache.
"Now you have to atone" He added maliciously.
"I'm sorry" Jikad choked on his words. At this point he didn't know what else to say. He knew that these bandits were just toying with them.No matter how many times he apologized it would have no effect on the outcome. They were just tormenting him to humor themselves. Their fate was entirely in these thug's hands.
"That's more like it." The bandits seemed pleased with his grovelling and moved on to the next person.
Jikad was taking deep breaths to calm himself that he had barely registered the intense silence that had reigned in that street. Garam should have already done his part in the grovelling show. Jikad glanced to his side and had to double take.
Standing rooted to the ground was Garam without a hint of remorse. Even the other bandits were taken aback. Jikad always knew that Garam was a little strange but surely even he could read the room right?
Jikad was so shocked that even his tears stopped coming out.
'Does he have a death wish?'