Chapter 186

But they really turned out to be bandits. It became clear fairly quickly that the people were of this profession. Who else would hide with weapons in hand in roadside thickets? Alexander simply caught the bolt flying at him with his hand, while a protective spell deflected the arrow aimed at his horse. His guard received the same treatment — a bolt aimed at the warrior and an arrow at the horse. Only the poor mare hitched to the cart received only an arrow; the coachmen were apparently not considered a threat.

Jumping to the ground, the knight drew his sword. The guards beat him to it and had already rushed into the forest, each on their side of the road.

— Take them alive! — It wasn't necessary to shout so loudly, but old habits of giving orders as loudly as possible were hard to shake. — You two, guard the horses!

After giving the order, Alexander ran into the forest. The first ragged figure he encountered was dealt a straightforward blow to the head with his sword. Naturally, it was a flat strike. The unconscious bandit ceased to be of interest, but a new character appeared. A big, burly man with a huge axe wielded it easily and skillfully.

A dive under his arm and an electric jolt sent him to the realm of Morpheus as well. The remaining bandits were dealt with by the guards. Realizing that there were no more enemies on this side of the road, Alexander was about to cross over to the other side but was stopped by the shout of a guard announcing that he had also finished with his adversaries.

The brief skirmish hadn't even warmed the blood. The ridiculous and foolish attack was more irritating than anything. Soon, twelve bodies lay by the roadside. An unfamiliar young man hired them, informing that there would be a fantastically large sum of money with the knight. He even provided weapons, handing over three crossbows and promising that this would help deal with the mages caught off guard by the ambush. The main thing was to hit them.

— What are we going to do with these guys? — One of the guards scratched his head.

— We need to take them with us; Semyon will be happy with new donors.

— And how will we get them through the villages?

Alexander hadn't thought of that. Even if the cart were empty, it would be impossible to inconspicuously place twelve people in it. An unconventional solution was needed. Although why search for one when it's right on the surface?

— Drag them into the forest. Nikolai, you stay with them. When we get to the village, we'll send people to bring them in at night. And you can have a little drink from each of them.

The other vampires hissed with envy. The chosen guard would get almost a liter of human blood for his work. A stern look from Alexander silenced all further conversation before it even started. Quickly dragging the prisoners into the forest, they continued on, pretending that nothing had happened. Although considering the strength of the attackers, it was indeed as it seemed; any vampire would have dealt with them without trouble.

— Maybe I should go ahead and warn Oleg?

Alexander shook his head.

— No need. There's no rush. We've got all the information they had, and we won't get into the city before morning anyway.

— Scouts can easily get through walls.

— I still don't see the point in hurrying, — the triumvir closed his eyes, signaling that the discussion was over.

Finally, the still-sleeping village came into view. It was easy to notify the interested officials about what had happened. A displeased Oleg, irritated by the early wake-up call, angrily instructed the guards sent after the bandits. Sergey nervously walked to the side, glancing at the sky.

— So, this strange informant has shown up again. After the autumn raids, he disappeared. The merchants he recommended as buyers for stolen goods also haven't appeared. I thought he had gone to Kase.

— Sergey, your job is not to think. You need to operate on facts and provide those facts to us! — Leonid was clearly enraged, even though the incident wasn't within his responsibilities, but the realization that the intelligence was not reporting all the information they had really frustrated the commander.

I've got more interesting stuff on patreon

patreon.com/Chill76