Chapter 16

The plan was simple. The rowdy crowd they hired was to cause a distraction and he and his crew were going to take the girl. Goru Alan did hundreds of these jobs. For fifteen years, he was doing the Lord's dirty work. A bandit, a mercenary, a hitman... whatever the job needs, he was the guy. He was the House Guard captain, after all, the Lord's closest attendant. But damn, that crude armor he had to wear for this mission was making him itch all over. 

The girl must have been someone important. He was asked to get his most trusted men for the job. The Lord had his plans, there was no need to question the orders. Get the girl, remember to leave some witnesses. 'Bandits got the girl', this was the thing that needed to be known. What a great man his Lord was, doing everything he could to stand at the top. 

It was an easy job... he thought so. 

They charged at them with the advantage of their numbers. Twenty-five hired bandits should have been plenty enough. The man in the cage was not a threat, he was not even interested in the situation. Goru and his crew went right to the target and tried to surround her. Her speed was not in the plan. She was still bound by the hands but managed to knock one of his men out in the blink of an eye. His face was a mess from an unexpected knee attack, poor guy. Goru thought she was trying to reach the horses to escape with one of them. She was a prisoner here, after all, it was a smart decision. 

If she could manage to get on one, this job could get a lot harder. He needed to catch her before that. Thankfully she was not as smart as Goru thought. She went for the sword on the horse instead. What a stupid brat. Not that he was complaining, she was making his job easier after all. He chased her with his horse and reached her from the back to catch her by the hair while she was busy with the sword. 

That was the last time he could reach something with that hand. 

*** 

Who were these men? She first thought they were really bandits but, they quickly surrounded her with a discipline that is not expected from bandits. Elise reacted impulsively and attacked the weakest-looking one to break through. She didn't even know how did she tell he was the weakest. Maybe it was something in his stance or the unsure look on his face. One kick with the knee on his face and she was out of their grasp. 

She ran straight to her sword at the back of one of the officer's horses. Of course, they had to tie it up. She fought with the knot on its hand guard for a moment and that moment was enough for one of them to catch up to her. She had run here fast but the distance between them was not that much. 

When she finally managed to free the sword from its scabbard, the one who chased her was almost about to reach her. Elise attacked without thinking and the hand that was reaching her flew away. She immediately jumped to reach its upper body. The monster's neck was wide open, one strong slash would be enough but it could try to stop the attack with the thick shell on its shoulder. She needed to get rid of this one before the others swarmed around her. 

It didn't block, or dodge... or anything else. He was not a monster but a human, looking at his severed hand in shock. There was no thick shell, it was only a piece of armor on his shoulder. Elise hesitated and tried to stop her attack in the middle but she had already instinctively drawn Energy to perform the attack. It was too powerful for her to stop now but she did redirect it. The tip of her sword tore his helmet and slashed through his cheek and mouth. The man collapsed from his horse because of the heavy hit, trying to hold both his hand and cheek in pain. 

The reality struck her harder than she expected. She never killed a human before. Only some monsters when she was still an Adventurer and the flesh golems in the other realm. The man who was trying to catch her was lying before her, defenseless. She could kill him right now and there. But... should she? Or even, could she? 

She noticed she was still standing next to the horses. She froze in mid-battle, that could be a fatal mistake. But she was lucky. The others were keeping their distance, hesitating to come near after what happened to the first one. There were six of them, eight with the ones on the ground. She fought more flesh golems at the same time before, and these men were nowhere near as threatening as them. But they were not going to stay there forever. She needed to decide what to do fast. 

While she was assessing the situation she saw the Traveler in the back. He was still sitting in the cage legs crossed, watching without any expression on his face. Like he was waiting for the decision Elise was about to make. But what was the answer here; kill or not? What would the Traveler do in this situation? 

Yes, maybe this would help her. She remembered his words from the first time she saw him in the tavern. Killing when you have the power was easy, but choosing not to was the hard part. This was her master's mentality; Elise never saw her killing anything except the flesh golems. Was he waiting for her to reach this conclusion by herself? 

"Come on, don't stand like this, men." One of the 'bandits' gathered his courage. "She is just a little lady and we are outnumbering her. Let's avenge our captain." These words spread his courage, and they started to close the distance slowly. 

So, they knew who she was and the one in front of her was their leader. Good to know. Elise took an aggressive stance and charged right at them. As she thought, they were nowhere near the ones she used to fight. She didn't draw any Energy in case of any accidents, she knew she still lacked control. Her raw strength was plenty enough. Even though they were not mere bandits, the fight was finished in seconds. 

She avoided any fatal injuries and mostly rendered them unable to fight. They quickly realized they were not going to win and tried to retreat. She didn't need them so, let them escape. She already had the leader, he would know more than them. She looked behind her to check on him, the wound on his hand could kill him if not treated well. But he was not there. 

Elise panicked a little at first but after a quick look around, she found him. He was trying to reach his horse but couldn't make much progress. The riderless horse had already wandered off. She sheeted her sword and rushed after him. She approached from the side and landed a punch right at his helmet's unscathed side without he could even react. He collapsed to the ground face down and slid a little. There was a punch-sized dent on his helmet but she couldn't even feel proud of it. 

Her hand was stinging with pain. She tried to relax her hand with a quick shake but it was pointless. Was this something usual in unarmed combat? She needed to train more, there was still a long way for her to go. 

She took a quick look around to assess the situation. The bandits were retreating, the officers had driven them off. There were a few bodies on the ground, still moving in pain, that looked like bandits but the officers only had some injuries. That was a relief. 

She checked the man she knocked out. He was still alive thankfully. She held on to one of his armor pieces and started to drag him towards the Traveler's cage under the astonished looks of the Investigation Bureau officers.