Chapter 21 Bandit Hunting

"There it is."

Cresting over the top of a small hill, Alexander finally caught sight of the city where he was born and raised.

Malm sat up against a large mountain that was part of the same range as the one Tharildron's castle sat atop of. An eight-meter-tall wall made of sturdy stone encircled the entire settlement, and at the center, a sizeable estate lorded over the entire city.

Even from this far away, Alexander could see a few carts and carriages entering and exiting through the main gates.

"It looks like things haven't gotten any better." Alexander mumbled, his expression somber.

He could remember when he was much younger that the traffic coming and going from Malm was at least ten times greater. Things had been better back then, in more ways than one.

'It's small, but I suppose that could be considered a proper city.' Tharildron commented.

Alexander could hear hesitancy in the shadow dragon's tone. As if it was on the fence about whether it truly could define Alexander's home as a city by its own standards.

"I understand that it's not that impressive. But about thirty thousand people live here. You won't find anywhere larger within two hundred kilometers. For this region, Malm is the only place that can be considered a city."

While Alexander had some bad memories, especially over the last two years, this was still where he grew up. He was fond of the place and did not want Tharildron to badmouth it.

Thankfully, the shadow dragon seemed to have some tact and refrained from making any other remarks about the city.

Instead, he shifted the conversation towards Alexander's immediate goal.

'We haven't encountered any thieves up to this point, but I assume you have at least an inkling about where they might reside.'

"Yeah. They stay off the main road since it is still often patrolled. Plus, if they attacked here with any frequency, it would provoke a strong response. Even an incompetent statesman like my father understands that the city would quickly fall in disarray if everyone was too scared to leave or approach. Malm's main industry is mining and refining metals. Without peddlers to export ore and ingots, and import food, the city would not last long."

After explaining a bit about his home to Tharildron, Alexander continued down the paved highway for a few more kilometers, before turning off onto one of the larger dirt roads heading away from the city.

If he continued in this direction, it would eventually bring him to a decently sized fishing town that sat upon a large lake.

It was around thirty kilometers away from Malm, and easily the most trafficked road in the area other than the main highway.

Of course, this meant that this was one of the most dangerous routes in the vicinity. Merchants going between the two communities passed through daily. The cargo coming from Malm was often especially valuable. Refined metals were always in high demand, and bandits were keen to pilfer as much as they could. Unlike food which would quickly perish, most metals were tough and stayed in a pristine state for a long time without any real care.

'Though, you are clearly not a peddler. Anyone with a decent eye can see that you are a cripple with hardly anything on your person. It is possible that any outlaw skulking around will simply ignore you and wait for fatter prey.'

Alexander grimaced at Tharildron's harsh words, but he had no retort. From all appearances, he did not look particularly wealthy.

Still, he did have some items of worth. His sword might appear attractive to a bandit that wanted a better weapon and thought he was an easy mark due to missing part of his left leg.

It was also possible that an especially attentive thief might notice the golden ring adorning his right hand.

"Well, if no one takes the bait before we reach the next town, I'll have to go about this the hard way and go looking for them."

It would be difficult to scour the area for bandits, as they were surprisingly good at keeping hidden and running away at the first sign of trouble. Any that were not, typically did not last long.

As fortune would have it though, Alexander had no need to resort to this method.

When he was walking through a small bend in the road, an arrow came flying towards him.

"Whoa!" Alexander exclaimed as the projectile passed right in front of him.

This entire time he had been enhancing his physical abilities with his orichalcum ring, and still he had only just been able to react in time to the arrow that was aimed at his throat.

At once, Alexander knew he was not dealing with any two-bit thug. Anyone capable of firing an arrow with such accuracy from a far enough distance away to be completely out of sight was undoubtedly highly skilled.

"But I know where you are now." Alexander muttered as he turned in the direction the arrow had come from.

The moment he did, another projectile came flying towards him at high speed.

This time. it was aimed towards his center of mass to make it more difficult to avoid. Obviously, the archer had decided to go for a more likely hit than an instant kill.

Nevertheless, the arrows were not moving so fast that Alexander could not deal with them.

In one fluid motion, he drew his sword and cut the projectile out of the air.

"Here they come."

From out of the nearby brush, two men wielding machetes leapt out at Alexander.

Both of them had their faces covered, and the way they moved was not that of typical thieves.

The two bandits moved in a coordinated fashion and pincered their prey.

They also did not rush in immediately, waiting for their archer to take another shot before initiating their attack.

Naturally, Alexander could not simply ignore the projectile coming for him and was forced to block it with his sword.

At that moment, the two other assailants rushed in and swung at the same time. One was aiming for Alexander's neck while the other struck towards his stomach.

Their attacks were well timed, and any average person would undoubtedly find at least one of the fatal strikes reaching them.

Yet, thanks to his recent acquisition of several powerful items, Alexander was now far from ordinary.

As a bit of panic set in, he felt his magic power growing out of control. Usually this would cause whatever magic tool he was using to break, but that was not the case with his orichalcum ring.

It could take everything he had, so instead of continuing to restrict his power, he poured every bit of it he could into the item.

Overwhelming strength quickly followed, and his opponent's attacks seemed to slow to a crawl.

With unbelievable physical ability, Alexander ducked out of the way of the machete closing in on his neck and at the same time sliced through the one coming for his stomach.

He caught both of the bandits off guard thanks to this sudden display, and with a couple of quick hits, he incapacitated both of them before they could react.