"Now then, shall we get started?"
"Is something the matter young Lord" The adventurer asked, putting down his cup as he held the hilt of his blade smartly.
Although as it stood, their story sounded believable and anyone would easily fall for their schemes, they left too many trails for me to follow.
"I'll only ask you this once, so listen closely. Who are you?" I stressed, looking directly at the adventurer. He was perplexed by my sudden line of questioning.
His grip on the hilt of his sword grew weary and he didn't bother to hide his kill intent.
"I don't quite understand why you're talking like this young Lord, I already told you tha-"
"That your carriage ran into an accident and you barely survived" I interrupted him, finishing his statement as I crossed both hands in disappointment.
"Mark!. I want you to search around the vicinity if there are any signs of a crash or accident"
"Yes, young Lord" Mark replied before dashing towards the woods.
Although it wasn't necessary in the slightest, since the chances of me being wrong were exceedingly low, I needed some form of justification for what I was about to do.
Mark came back after thirty minutes, panting as he reported no sightings in the vicinity.
I shook my head lightly, walking close to the adventurer and his party.
"I'll take it that you must've misheard me the first time but I'll ask again. Who are you?"
Our entire surrounding was submerged in silence, as the atmosphere around us dipped into tension.
There was no point in hiding their motives at this point, since I had already determined that they were bandits.
A chuckle crept out from the lips of the adventurer, as it soon blossomed into a full blown laughter.
It was odd that he could do that in a situation like this, knowing that it would leave him with no alibi.
"What was the giveaway?" He asked.
I paused, examining the explanations that sounded the least unbelievable before giving an answer.
"Ok so this is your explanation. You got hired by couple to escort them to Jugrin for a wedding, and after the! occasion, on your way back, you fell into an accident which destroyed you carriage but somehow made it alive in the process." I stopped and walked closely towards them, making sure the last part of my suspicion, sunk in.
"You then decide to not go back to the city which was closer, and which would inevitably guarantee your survival but rather, you decided to gamble with your safety by searching for other travelers camping in the middle of nowhere. Now tell me, does that sound like a believable story." I ended, shaking my head in disdain.
Even if they had claimed that they didn't know about how dangerous the route was, why come so far out to a continent entirely inhabited by dwarves for a wedding.
Jugrin didn't have any social interaction spots, neither were they versed with the cultures of humans but still, they somehow felt traveling over 50 miles away from home would make for a better ceremony????
With a newborn nonetheless??.
"Tanya told me about the recent bandit attacks going on in the Jugrin territory and how a particular band were intentionally targeting Bomon's merchandise and had succeeded in carting away with two shipments." I reported, staring at Bartov blankly, as he too was now shocked.
"And now, you all seem to be carrying weapons with Bomon's signature engravings" I concluded finally, pointing at the maid as she shifted to try to hide the dagger on her side.
"Just as described, down to the very last detail " the adventurer remarked, clapping both hands as he laughed.
Even though it was clear he was talking about me, the statement seemed to make my skin crawl in detest, rather than lighten my mood.
With a swift move, he unsheathed his sword, charging at me recklessly. I didn't move, quietly watching his sword reach my face, feeling the gust of wind his attack carried.
Mark stopped his attack before it grazed me, smacking his sword to the opposite direction which left the fighter defenseless, thereby creating an opening for me to retaliate.
While his hands were still in the air, I flung my sword immediately, taking off his entire right arm in one fell swoop.
Blood sprayed from the open wound, as he let of frenetic screams while grasping his severed arm.
The two ladies tried to retaliate but where easily put down by Bartov's Swift response, and Rosemary's sharp bondage magic.
The cries of the baby intensified as Natasha picked him up, trying desperately to soothe his mood.
I looked around, then towards the spot where the last member had sat, as my gaze met the vacant area which was there.
Mark and Bartov proceeded to tie the available members and as I almost started another train of questioning, my eyes met with a familiar symbol on the wrist of the maid.
"You, come with me, you're going to show me where you killed that baby's parents"
I moved towards her, tugging at her hair as I dragged her accross the forest. We stopped at a cliff about a mile from our camp, a wreck was below with two bodies laid in the dirt, hastily covered.
'Well I guess, the original family didn't care about their safety huh' I thought, dragging her to a nearby tree.
I cut her bindings loose, crouching closely towards her, till she could hear me audibly.
"If you answer my questions correctly, I'll let you go" I offered, awaiting her reprisal.
Without wasting any time, she proceeded to headbutt me as she ran towards the cliff.
I felt a numbness in my nose, slightly climbing to my head.
Blood trickled from the spot, reaching my mouth before I cast a healing spell to close it off.
The maid tripped over a tree branch as she ran, crashing on the ground in that instant.
I slowly crept behind her, snapping her knee as I caught up with her.
"Well, now you just lost your chance at survival" I pointed out, admist her wailing.
"The symbol on your wrist, what group does it belong to" I asked, pressing my foot against her wound.
"I-i...."
"Who!!?" I barked loudly, feeling the irritation in my voice grow.
"We're called the cult of the depraved" she replied with a little bit of confidence.
'A fairly obvious mid cult' I remarked in my mind.
The symbols I saw on her wrist were the same as the one in the mob hideout where I saved Sabrina.
The connection between them and our ambush was what I sought to get answers regarding.
"So, was it your cult that ordered for our ambush". I pried deeper as the conversation continued.
"No"
"Who then?" I yelled again, this time my fist raised in anger
"please.... It's....i don't know much, we...
we were just hired and payed upfront " she confessed, earning her the freedom to wallow without any more torture.
"So,??? who's your leader" I resumed my questioning.
"Its Mevis.... Mevis is our leader" She cried, holding her leg as she panted slowly.
My intuition was right, since the reaction from the adventurer wasn't very fitting of a leader.
"Ca-can... I go now" she enquired, preparing to run away.
I nodded at her, watching her limp hilariously accross the the bushes.
I returned back, watching as everyone cast a gloomy look at me, silently praying for good news.
I shook my head softly, revealing that nothing reassuring was found.
"What about t-"
"She got away" I responded, cutting off Rosemary, halfway through her sentence.
Natasha rushed over to me, gesturing for me to sit while she attended to my nose bleed.
"The baby?"
"I put him to rest, he seemed very tired". she responded dabbing at the wound carefully.
" Everyone great job, we should all get some rest and sort out the details tomorrow." I suggested, finally calling it a night.
Everyone went inside to rest as I sat outside my tent, pondering the series of events unfolding before my eyes.
*******
{The next morning}
"Wake up you two" I alerted, snapping my fingers in front of their faces.
"Mark. Untie them and take them to the carriage." I proposed, pointing towards our captives with my face turned away.
We continued our journey soon, after having breakfast and packing up the tents.
Mark rode with the bandits ahead of us, while Rosemary and Natasha rode with me.
I was beginning to feel uncomfortable about the recent targets against me. I couldn't wrap my head around how important I could be, to end up on every bandits wanted list.
'Or is my interactions with the Brithuel's too much' I thought, pressing my finger against my head.
With the way things were going, I definitely needed to get stronger, and the only efficient means of doing so, was learning how to control my eye.
"How were you able to tell that they were bandits?" Rosemary's sudden question jolted me back to reality.
I turned to stare at her, head cast down as she picked at her fingers slowly in agitation.
It was the first time I had done something remotely violent in front of her and even grant had the same expression too.
It wasn't easy transitioning someone in your mind from calm and collected, to calculating and deadly.
For her, Milo was a simplistic fouteen year old who got randomly selected by her boss because of his deduction trait.
Meaning this would definitely scar her representation of me forever.
"Just my intuition" i replied brazenly, watching her lift her head, jeering sarcastically as she spoke.
"Do you seriously expect me to believe that!" She shouted, riled up by my adamancy.
"Sometimes we chose to see the things we only wanted to see. Most humans behaved that way, but unlike everyone, I choose to see the intricate details that are disregarded. The loophole in every transaction with people, their emotions as they speak, the way to react to actions, everything "
I was taken aback by what I said, really paying attention to how much of a messed up mentality I possessed.
The inability to trust people no matter the case, just because interactions were viewed from a different light.
"You really are messed up you know that. Do you even know how to trust?" She asked, repeating the very same questions going through my mind.
Amongst all the chaos occuring, Natasha sat still, watching as we exchange words without interfering even once.
It was understandable that her reaction would be geared in that manner but still, it felt nice when someone didn't condemn you for your change.
Naturally, I couldn't care less about Rosemary's rant.
I was born as Jarod sin and lived an entire life of mediocrity, steering through hardship and scorn from so called friends and family all the time.
Now that I got transmigrated into the body of Milo von Brithuels, my only goal was to survive till my determined end, attaining everything I choose is befitting.
That was all that mattered and if people's view of me were to change along the way, then I couldn't care less.
"We're all alone in this world. The sooner you learn that, the more freeing living becomes" i concluded, turning towards the window as I shut my eyes to sleep.