Chapter 138 - Leader of the party's competence

He sighed and did not give up, there were still two months, Aile knew that a lot could be accomplished in that time. He was just hoping that he could find the direction to seek help from.

Aile did not need to sleep every night, but there were a lot of benefits for him. He was more effective the day after which he slept, especially if the next couple of days would only allow for a light rest on the trip. As he closed his eyes, he drifted to slumber.

He woke up and saw that Leia and Zero had fallen asleep during meditation on the ground. He went and carried Leia to the mattress, planting a gentle kiss on her as he said his goodbye. Then he picked Zero and placed her next to Leia on the bed.

As the first light of the day appeared in the dark sky, he was by his mount. A few seconds later, Hazel arrived, and they talked for a bit. Hazel questioned him about the information on the burial ground. After reading the scroll given by Aurelius, the two of them made some conjecture about the possible location of things.

Ellie came soon after. Hazel had already worn a robe and distanced herself from Aile after noticing Ellie arrive. Then Ellie and Aile wore the robe and went towards Moon Merchant Union.

There Aile saw that the leader of this trip was Xue. She was, of course, wearing a face cover like everyone else. Aile made the people of Moon Merchant Union wear cloth masks all the time. This is because the key people that ran his business were few and wearing a mask would allow them to work for both unions without too much hassle. Aile used his sense of smell to identify them. He also found One, Two and surprisingly Violet. Aile did not know how she knew about this trade or how she joined this mission with them. He realized that Violet was here, and he could not prevent or did not have a good enough reason to stop her from going now. He would find out more from One and Two later.

Aile then thought of a way to kill some time on the trip. He explained to Ellie that there is another female that joined his group, and her responsibility was to make her feel at ease. Aile told her that she should disguise her voice and not say anything personal to keep her identity a secret. She nodded. Then he went to One, Two and Violet. After greeting them, he told Violet the same thing. Bringing Violet, who now had a disguised voice to Ellie and introduced them to each other with different names.

He then went to One and Two as Hazel also followed them. Aile then explained the source of entertainment to them, and they all betted how long it will take for Ellie and Violet to figure out each other's identity.

With the entertainment of seeing Ellie and Violet converse, the journey continued. The location of the burial ground was three days away, and the trading area was two days away. Hazel kept her presence low and was moving around Aile's mount. Noticing her behaviour, Aile called her to join him.

Their superior mounts did not have a problem carrying two people, and they would not get tired keeping up with the inferior ride of the traders. She took the reins from Aile and allowed him to wrap his hands around her waist. She had remembered Emily's warning and was going to take this opportunity to be alone with him. Hazel had already realized that there will be many people competing with her and he was not going to let this opportunity go to waste. Her mind was also occupied with the thoughts of her and Sara's fate when she was alone. So her time with Aile was just the right cure for her. She noticed Ellie and Violet's gaze and haughtily leaned into Aile, as her mount trailed behind them.

Soon it was lunchtime, hunting enough food for 50 people would be too time-consuming. Therefore, already made rations were prepared made from a combination of little bit meat and other dried goods. It turned into a porridge-like food with a bland taste. However, it was full of nutrition, allowing people to stay alert and full of energy throughout the trip.

Everyone took a bowl of it and dispersed to eat, as everyone had a face cover and eating it close to others brought too much inconvenience. Aile, One, Two, and Hazel gathered. Soon after Ellie and Violet appeared and joined them.

Hazel, Ellie and Violet were not happy with the food, and Hazel finally asked, "Can you find some meat and roast it for us, please." Ellie and Violet nodded. Seeing that they were all acting spoiled, he sighed. He could not just find and roast meat, as it would give the impression of superiority to the other people. It would also highlight one of the negatives of such a trip as the food was sub-par. It was unnoticeable when it was not compared to anything. However, if the smell of roasted meat wafted, then it would create an issue.

The caravan could not afford to feed everyone meat, and if they opted for hunting, it would be too time-consuming. Hence, Aile went to his bag and used the spatial ring. Aile took out, 2 out of the 10 meals, that he had brought from the kitchen this morning. He placed it in between them and told them to share it. Hazel, Ellie and Violet shared the meal and thanked him.

Soon the journey continued, and without much problem, it was getting dark. One arrived next to Aile and said, "Boss, should I deal with them?"

It had been 15 minutes that their group was being tailed. Aile shook his head and let Xue deal with them. After all, she was the leader of the group, and Aile would feel more at ease seeing how proficient she was at solving this problem.

It did not take long for Xue to gave a hand signal. The people and the mount spread apart, then the caravan and important stuff were left at the centre, and the guards surrounded it. They were on a defensive formation. Xue took out a bow and released a few arrows.

Shewa

Swish

Swish

The third arrow landed on one of the bandits that were targetting the caravan.

Ahhh

Then two group consisting of 3 people each, separated from the caravan. They went towards the front and back of the group to scout. They were going to make sure that they were not going to face a trap later. At times a smaller group of bandits were used as bait while a larger one sneaked from the back or front for a quick victory.

In the meantime, Xue and two people that were with her started to shoot arrows at the bandits.

The bandits started to rush towards the caravan after the first arrow. By the time they arrive close, 4 of the group of 22 were killed by Xue. As they reached the outer vicinity of the caravan, Xue gave an order, and several bolts of fire, water, lightning were aimed at their formation.

The bandits spread to dodge the slow-moving projectiles. As they were no longer in a uniform formation, Xue sent people to intercept them and keep them separated. Then she dealt with each group separately utilizing her numbers advantage. In a few minutes, 4 of them were severally injured, 10 were dead, and 8 of them had surrendered.

She checked their loot, killed the leader and took the 7 remaining as prisoners. She left the severely injured to die, after taking everything valuable that they owned.

On her side, 2 people were lightly injured. After the scouts brought the news that they were not followed anymore and not going towards a trap, she loosened the formation allowing people to travel with a peace of mind. However, she increased the scouts of the caravan from 4 to 8. This way, she would be notified of a possible attack sooner.

Seeing how efficiently she dealt with the bandits surprised not just Aile but Hazel, Ellie and Violet. One and Two had seen her in action before. Hence they were not too surprised. Ellie and Violet started to discuss her strategy and were getting along. Hazel was surprised and asked Aile if she can pull her from trading to become a captain of the adventurer's group. Aile, however, shook his head and told Hazel that she was just as good at trading and a large portion of the profits were due to her efforts.

Soon it was night time, and Ellie and Violet did not find each other's identity. They were both very good at keeping their disguises and voice. This also brought the first loser of the bet, One had betted that they will find each others identity by nightfall. He was now disappointed.