During their two-day journey, bridesmaid Neva's and Han's situation became a matter of entertainment within the caravan. Especially the angry reactions of the bridesmaid Neva and the shy behavior of Han were enough reason for the head steward to tease them.
- Neva.
- Yes, Master.
- Yours stopped the carriage. If you want, go and hug. You have been apart for a long time, you must have missed each other.
- Master… I told you not to. You're still messing around with me.
- Hahahha… Okay. Okay. We have already taken a break. Let's go down and get on with our business. (Turning to the two servants) You go and prepare something to eat. Everyone is hungry.
- Yes, Master.
…
The horse carriages stopped in a row on a flat area for their last break before entering the forest area. This forest was the last forest area before the capital city.
Han was helping the drivers. When the carriages stopped, he immediately got out of the carriage and started taking care of the horses to calm them down.
Now that he was better, he couldn't just sit around. He had taken the initiative to help the drivers and take care of the horses. No one objected to this situation and this task was left to Han.
When Han moved to untie the horses tied to the carriage, the voice of the head guard was heard.
- Do not untie the horses. We won't be here for long.
This was the head guard's fourth journey to the capital. He had only served as a guard on the first two journeys, but on their journey five years ago, he had led the caravan as the head guard.
He had become the guard chief as a result of his seventeen years of work. In his first year as chief, they were ambushed in this forest. Fortunately, they saved one of the carriages, but six of his nine men died in that ambush.
Although such a defeat on his first journey as chief caused the guard chief to have a psychological breakdown, Turgay Heriston supported him and saved him from this darkness by saying that he had done his best and that they had survived thanks to him.
Now, as he looked towards the forest, he was thinking about the possibilities. He called Eren to him so that the same thing wouldn't happen to him again and sent him to the forest to scout.
- Eren, take the fastest horse and go on an exploration in the forest. You have one hour. If you see anything, don't interfere and come back immediately.
Eren took the fastest horse and rode towards the forest. The rest of them scattered around the camp and left no openings. While the servants were preparing to cook, Han went to collect dry branches to light a fire.
...
About an hour later...
A messenger came running to the thieves' base hidden deep in the forest. At that moment, the gang leader was watching the training of the new children who had joined the team while eating a large boiled deer leg he had taken in his hand.
These are the children of the poorest families in the capital. They joined this group of thieves to provide for their families and, if possible, to live a better life. But they couldn't join the robbery right away. They had to go through training for a certain period of time.
Especially after the great defeat five years ago, the gang leader separated all the new members from the group and gave them separate training. From now on, no one would go into the field without training.
Five years ago, his entire gang had almost been wiped out. Only two people had survived the ambush. Unfortunately, the gang leader was the one who had prepared this ambush. He was almost destroyed in his own prepared ambush. The caravan bearing the twin sword emblem. He would stay away from them no matter what.
The guards of trade caravans were expert warriors. Even the weakest had the strength of an elite warrior. The strength of his own men was as much as a normal soldier. In such a situation, engaging in a face-to-face battle with them meant certain annihilation.
He hadn't realized it before, but now he understood what was missing in a team.. Archers… They were the team that was considered indispensable in a caravan raid. Entering silently and killing the driver is a very troublesome and time-consuming task. Instead, a precise arrow would suffice.
That's why the gang leader made sure that the people he selected among his members received archery training. They would hit as many as they could from a distance and then kill those whose fighting power had diminished. If they failed, they could escape the ambush area with at most one or two casualties.
While the gang leader was thinking about these, the messenger ran and entered the training area and came to the gang leader and spoke breathlessly.
- Chief. The caravan arrived and they stopped at the place you said. So I came running to give the news.
- (No matter who they were, everyone, without exception, was taking a break in that flat area before entering the forest. This had nothing to do with the gang leader's lucky guess.) Which company?
- Company??
- Didn't they have a flag they were carrying, an emblem carved into the carriage?
- Of course there was. There were some of them on the carriages. It's a flower emblem.
- (He was glad that there was no twin sword emblem.) Flowers? Soap makers, that is. Ahhh let me spit on our luck. They have nothing but soap...
(He turned his gaze to the training area.) Anyway, it's better than those frogs who collect grass. Our luck isn't that bad. They are very weak. We can handle them...
Okay. How many people? Give me the details.
- There were eleven guards, four horse-drawn carriage drivers, four women, and a very well-dressed man and a woman.
- A man and a woman? They must be managers of trading company. (He added after thinking for a moment.) How many carriages, how many horses are there?
- Three carriages and a total of (he held his fingers one by one as if counting.) seventeen horses.
- Good... Very good... At least we can take the horses and women. Okay, now go call those eating bums and get everyone together in the courtyard.
- Horses? Chief! There is no one among us who knows how to ride a horse. Why are we taking horses? Even if we learn to ride a horse, how will we riding the horse in this forest?
- (The gang leader began to think that he had made a mistake in keeping this fool with him.) What are you talking about riding? We will take the horses for food. Should we leave almost a month's worth of food there?
(Seeing his subordinate's thoughtful expression, he added.) I hope you won't ask what we should do with women.
- (The messenger, who was suddenly surprised, bowed his head and said it with shame.) I know what we will do with the women. I wasn't going to ask about that.
- Good. Now fuck off and gather the guys right now.
While the messenger run away, the gang leader went to his room, made the necessary preparations for the battle, and then came to the crowd gathered in the courtyard. Everyone was prepared for the ambush. Fourteen archers and eighteen melee fighters. Without needing to say anything, they left the base and headed towards the place where they would ambush…
…
After eat, the horse carriages lined up on the caravan road. The head guard was very uneasy. This forest was making him nervous. They had four hours of forest road and two hours of flat capital road ahead of them. If there were no problems, they would reach the capital before night, but… If everything went well…
The hide of the four-eyed bear, known for its strength and toughness, was laid on all the horses. It covered the horse's entire body from neck to tail. Horses were safe as long as they were not shot in the feet and heads.
Everyone in the caravan also had a four-eyed bear's skin under their clothes. Turgay Heriston spared no expense and had each of his employees make these clothes. The only person in this caravan who did not have a bearskin outfit was Han.
Their speed would slow down considerably due to the weight of the bearskin, but that was not very important. What was important was ensuring security.
In any attack, the lead carriage would always be targeted. If the carriage in front was stopped, the movement area of the carriages behind would be reduced. It would be easier to attack the carriage in front since it could not move due to the sudden chaos. Therefore, the people in the carriage in front were more likely to die.
Before setting off, the provisions carriage passed to the front of the caravan. In the middle was the servants' carriage. At the very back, they put Turgay Heriston and his daughter's carriage so that he could turn back and escape immediately in case of any danger. Eren and a few guards accompanied this carriage.
When the head guard saw everyone getting on the carriages and horses, he looked towards the forest one last time. Before getting on the horse himself, he called out to Han to get into the front carriage. He had no idea what this child was like, but if someone in the caravan was going to die, this child should definitely be the first to die.
Under the gaze of the guard chief, while Han was passing to the carriage in front, he also got on his horse and rode slowly to the front of the caravan. According to Eren's report, there was no sign of an ambush ahead of them. But this was a forest, you never know what could happen. Being careless meant death.
…
The gang leader and his team arrived at the ambush area. A narrow and straight caravan road covered with dense trees on both sides. Since the front and back were visible, the guards were more careless on this road. Since there was a clear field of vision, they felt safe as if the surroundings were safe.
Thanks to the dense trees, their chances of being seen were quite low. Also, since horses could not pass through the dense trees, the chance of being chased by horses was almost zero. When the front carriage suddenly stopped, the ones behind would have difficulty turning back. The only direction to go on this road was forward.
The gang leader divided his men into two and took their places opposite each other, straddling the road. He instructed some archers to climb trees. He placed the others in the spots he deemed appropriate. When he had made all the arrangements, he went to the middle of the road and stopped and made a final check.
It was not possible to see his men who were hidden unless great care was taken. For just a moment, he worried about the archers who were about to shoot arrows at each other. If anyone died from an arrow shot from the other side of the road, it was completely his bad luck.
The gang leader stopped thinking and left the road, satisfied with the ambush he had prepared. He went to his men and hid, and together they waited for the caravan…