Chapter 69: C69 – Bandits

The caravan was quick to leave through the massive gates of the city, departing towards its destination. After Dirk and Ava went through introductions with their three new acquaintances, the ride was spent in silence. 

Because Dirk's mood was worsened by the mention of bandits, he surely wasn't going to talk to anybody. Jax also seemed antisocial, so he merely closed his eyes and relaxed against the walls of the wagon. Ava also wasn't that interested in talking and since Dean never spoke up again, nobody decided to be the one to break the silence. 

Over the next several hours, Dean would occasionally speak with Hannah, the two laughing about various topics. Jax would also laugh with them sometimes. Like that, Dirk and Ava just stuck to themselves, the two sticking right at each other's sides. Whenever Ava wanted to rest, she would lean against Dirk. Such actions had become mostly normal for them, only, their audience seemed to find it cute. This embarrassed Ava a bit, but she felt no need to change what she was doing. It wasn't like Dirk was going to do anything either. 

This lasted until the end of the first day. When nightfall came around, Dirk thought they were going to continue moving. However, it seemed like the merchant decided otherwise. The caravan stopped when the sun set. 

"Alright, set up camp for the night. We continue at sunrise!"

A man who worked for the merchant announced to everyone. With that, several people piled out of the 6 wagons in the caravan, taking out bags and beginning to pitch tents. 

The trio who served as guards also got out to set up camp. Dirk was confused though. He spoke before Dean walked off. 

"Hey, why have we stopped?"

"Normal caravans usually don't, but this one does due to the chances of monster attacks. If we establish a presence, there's less of a chance we'll get attacked by any stray monsters. Also, if we get attacked while moving, there's a chance the goods will be hurt. To circumvent this, merchants like to have everyone set up camp so the attacks will be directed at us first, not the merchandise. It both increases and decreases risk."

"I see..."

Dirk sighed at the explanation. He didn't plan on questioning things though. After he and Ava hopped out, they quickly set up their tent. 

Before going to sleep, everyone ate some food. However, the food that everyone ate almost entirely consisted of dry foods. This was due to the smell and an attempt to keep anything from attracting monsters. Nobody, not even the head merchant, went about cooking food. There were also no fires. 

With that, everyone eventually went to sleep. By design, all the tents were centered around the three guards so as to ensure a quick response in the event of an attack. But nobody actually expected any attacks, so they all went to sleep with a sound mind. 

Dirk and Ava cuddled together in their single tent. Them having only one tent earned several knowing grins, but both of them ignored that. Now, within their isolated little tent, Ava unreservedly sapped at Dirk's body heat. The only thing Dirk did was occasionally spit out Ava's hair that drifted between his lips. 

The campsite was silent and peaceful. Unfortunately, Dirk's fears were fated to come true. After 4 hours when the dead of night had already set in, there were some light crunches on the ground. At first, this didn't alarm anybody. But when steps became heavy and the sounds of movement approached the campsite, there was one person who snapped. 

Dirk's eyes shot open. He lifted his head, and his ears became sharp. Sure enough, his suspicions were confirmed. 

[Alert! Human movement detected! Unknowns: 4.]

'Shit.'

Dirk cursed. Without waking her up, Dirk carefully moved Ava off of him. He then popped to his feet, a knife appearing in his hands. 

In his vision, the AI displayed an estimated location calculation for the sounds of the steps. Dirk's vision seemed to pierce through the tent while the ground showed blotches of light indicating where the sounds were coming from. There were 4 of these blotches, each indicating 4 people. 

And one person was coming right for Dirk's tent. It seemed like these people wanted to figure out who was who before attacking. They were definitely looking for the head merchant. Either way, Dirk heard one of these people approach the front of his tent. He crouched. 

Because tents in this world had no zippers, there was only a single flap that could be opened without restriction. Dirk's tent flap was slowly pulled open, a man revealing his face. He was completely covered in black, and in his hands was a saber. 

Right when this man pulled open the flap though, he felt his arm be gripped by an extreme strength. He couldn't even make a noise as he was silently tackled to the floor, a hand covering his mouth. 

Meanwhile, Dirk used his body to cushion the fall of this person. He held the man on his chest while locking out the arm holding the saber. Only, seeing the weapon, Dirk had his fears confirmed. These people obviously weren't here with gifts to give. 

Feeling a surge of anger come over him, Dirk put the knife up to the man's throat. As this man's strength was lesser than Dirk's he couldn't even struggle. He froze when the blade was pressed against his neck. 

Only, getting to this point, Dirk stopped. For some reason, he didn't want to kill the man. When he thought about going straight for the kill, he felt reluctant. He didn't want to do what he did in his past life, simply ending lives because that was seemingly the best or only option. Now, he had a choice. He wanted to make the choice of whether or not to let this man live. 

Unfortunately, others wouldn't allow him to make that choice. In the corner of Dirk's eye, he could see another bandit approach. This bandit quickly spotted Dirk who held down another bandit, and he took large strides over. 

"Let him go!"

The other bandit spoke in a low but forceful voice, pointing out with his own sword. Seeing this, Dirk gritted his teeth. Before the other bandit could get close, Dirk's hand moved, and blood went flying. 

*Shing!*

"You!"

The other bandit was shocked as his friend gurgled on his blood, unable to even cry for help. After that, Dirk jumped to his feet. 

"I'll kill you! Attack!"

Suddenly, the bandit bellowed, not caring about being silent anymore. With that as the signal, Dirk heard rustling in the nearby forest. At the same time, the caravan crew was alerted. The three guards jumped out of their tents, already armored and armed. 

"Hah!"

Without suspense, the bandit in front of Dirk rushed forward. Seeing this, Dirk snarled before grabbing his knife by the blade and throwing it. 

"Ack!"

The knife sailed, piercing into the bandit's chest. Right after, Dirk took a powerful step forward, appearing in front of him. In his hand was now an axe brought out from his ring. 

*Splat!*

This time, Dirk gave no more chances. His axe directly chopped into the bandit's collar bone, almost severing his head from his body. The bandit fell to his knees as Dirk removed his knife from his body. Then, he fell forward. 

At this time, everyone had woken up and jumped out of their tents. Ava included. Upon looking outside, she saw Dirk standing there with two bodies next to him. She was shocked as fear welled up within her. She quickly realized what was happening. 

"Put on your armor and wait here."

Dirk spoke to her before dropping her armor and weapon on the floor. Without waiting for her response, he then shot off toward another bandit. In only a few seconds, Ava saw him swiftly kill another with a knife to the throat. It wasn't long before he shot into the forest while the three guards handled those bandits within the campsite. 

Ava gritted her teeth before grabbing her armor and quickly putting it on. Then, with her axe, she waited next to the tent, not going out to fight. As she promised before, she would let Dirk handle this stuff. This was the time to hold true to that, only, she hated that it was happening again. 

With loud screams and gory sounds, the night was rapidly filled with bloodshed. However, the three guards didn't disappoint. They quickly dispatched all enemies. While one of the merchant's people was injured, they at least prevented anyone from losing their lives. These bandits weren't that strong. 

"All enemies killed."

"Good. Is everyone alright? Gather up here!"

The guards shouted, and everyone huddled in the center of the campsite. Ava also came walking over as lights were lit up around the place. She looked both sad and angry as she hugged her axe. 

Dean counted everyone before spotting Ava. When he didn't see Dirk though, he frowned. 

"Ava, where's Dirk."

"I..."

"I'm right here."

Before Ava responded, there was a voice from the darkness. Dean looked over and saw Dirk. At first he sighed in relief. But when Dirk's figure was lit up, he was shocked. 

Dirk was currently covered with large streaks and blotches of blood. They dyed his clothes and even his face red. In his hand was an axe and knife that both dripped blood as well. 

"I killed three enemies in the forest. One was an archer."

"...Oh."

Dean couldn't even respond as he looked at Dirk's horrifying figure. Despite how scary Dirk looked though, Ava quickly walked over to him. In her hands was a handkerchief that she dampened with water. She didn't say anything as she wiped his face and neck of blood. 

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"Are you hurt?"

"No."

"Good... Let me clean your clothes tonight before we go back to sleep. Give me your shirt."

"...Alright."

Dirk didn't refuse as he took off his blood soaked shirt. As Ava took it, Dean spoke up.

"Dirk?"

"Yes?"

"...Thank you."

"Mm."

Dirk nodded simply before walking away with Ava. Dean could only sigh before turning back to the group, sending them back to their tents. 

While everyone else went back to sleep, Ava used her water magic to wash Dirk's bloodied clothes. Dirk also washed up a bit and changed, and when Ava laid out the clothes to dry, both of them climbed back into their tent. Only after Ava checked his body for wounds though did they go to sleep.

As this wasn't the first time something like this had happened, Ava wasn't as shocked. But she still hated watching Dirk go out and kill people. She wanted to go out and fight with him, but as Dirk had iterated before, she shouldn't deal with such things. She wanted to ignore this, but when she thought about actually killing a person, she felt weak. In the end, she knew she wasn't ready, and so she left it to Dirk. She felt like she wasn't sticking to her promise though, instead being a coward. It made her want to cry, but for Dirk, she held back. 

Like that, the rest of the night passed smoothly. This time though, the guards took shifts to keep watch. On this trip, they would no longer be careless.

........

The next day, everyone woke up bright and early. None of them were in a good mood though. They all looked groggy as if they hadn't gotten any sleep. There was definitely some truth to that assumption. 

Without eating, everyone quickly packed and boarded the wagons. As the sun peaked over the horizon, the caravan was already moving through the forest road. 

Now, Dirk and Ava were fully geared even as they rode in the wagon. And unlike the first day, none of the three guards were merrily chuckling at Dirk and Ava. They were silent, only occasionally glancing at Dirk and remembering his nightmarish appearance from the night before. 

Despite everyone's downtrodden and pessimistic moods though, the day went by uneventfully. When nightfall came, another campsite was made. With the assurance of the guards who kept watch, everyone got decent sleep. And sure enough, there weren't any more attacks. 

With that, the third day came around. By sundown, they would reach the town. Everyone thought that this home stretch would be uneventful as well. Unfortunately, fate proved otherwise. 

Around noon when the sun was high in the sky, Dirk was glancing out at the forests around the wagon. When bored, he would numb his mind by watching the scenery go by. However, as he did so, his AI flashed and highlighted certain areas of the forest. Dirk's vision suddenly sharpened as the AI processed some oddities. 

Then, there was suddenly a red flash. A figure was highlighted. It was a person who popped out from behind a tree. He held a bow and was pulling back an arrow. The target was Dirk's wagon, perhaps even him. 

"Get down!"

Turning, Dirk suddenly grabbed Ava next to him and dipped to the floor of the wagon, his body on top of hers. The next second, an arrow sailed right over where their bodies were, sticking into one of the walls. 

Unfortunately, this wasn't an ordinary arrow. A couple seconds after it landed, a fire blazed. 

*Boom!*

A small explosion blew apart the wall of the wagon. Dirk felt a burst of fire wash over him for a bit before dissipating. Thankfully, it wasn't a high level fire, and his body and armor could easily handle it. As for Ava underneath him, she was safe. 

"Ahh!!"

However, Dirk and Ava weren't the only ones in the wagon. When the fire blazed, it washed over the three guards. Two of them were only anima trainers, and Jax was the only one who could summon countermeasures with his earth magic in time. 

Dean and Hannah were burned, their hair and face being scorched. As the fire only lasted a second though, it was nothing serious. After recovering, Dean shook off the pain and jumped out of the wagon that already stopped. He looked at the forest where several figures appeared. 

"Jax!"

"I got it!"

Dean shouted, and Jax came running. A magic circle appeared on his hands, and a thick rock wall was quickly created. After that, Dean pulled a bow out of his pocket ring, taking aim at one of the figures that was charging the caravan. 

*Fling!*

An arrow was loosed. It flew at unnatural speeds before sticking one of the bandits. The bandit fell to the floor as his lung was pierced by the arrow. 

Only, there were several others to take his place. They charged with roars and screamed. The entire caravan was shocked as 18 bandits came charging at them. Even Dean was cursing. 

"What is this hellish luck?! Alright, looks like we're earning our pay today! Fight!"

"Got it!"

Jax and Hannah nodded before moving into action. Jax cast magic from behind the wall, razor sharp rock arrows appearing above his head. Hannah also summoned a shield from her ring, charging forward with a sword in hand. She quickly clashed with two bandits, cutting one down in a few moves. 

However, there were too many bandits. They all charged the caravan, threatening to kill the other workers and destroy the wagons. Seeing this, Dirk sighed. He looked at Ava, who looked back at him as if pleading with him not to go.

"...Stay here. I'll be back."

Saying that, Dirk jumped out of the wagon. He then disappeared amidst the chaos. 

*Shing!*

A bandit moved between the wagons, searching for people to kill. Suddenly though, a knife came from nowhere and sliced his neck open. Blood sprayed as the body fell. 

"No! We'll give you money, just leave us be!"

Three other bandits broke open the door of one of the wagons containing workers. The workers pleaded, but to their cries, the bandits merely raised their weapons with evil cackles. Before they could slice down though, they felt sharp burning in their backs. 

"Aghh!!"

One of the bandits screamed as his leg was chopped in half. Another directly collapsed to the ground as an axe buried itself in his back. The last one barely turned around before a knife was plunged into his chest, directly piercing his lung. 

The workers inside the wagon were horrified to stillness as the three bodies collapsed. They then saw Dirk who ended the death cries of the man who had his leg chopped off. Dirk didn't spare them a glance as he dashed off in another direction. 

The area was filled with screams as people were mercilessly killed. Some more bandits emerged from the forest, including a leader who wielded surprising strength. This leader along with many of his minions were taken care of by the three guards though. Hannah killed 5 with her sword and shield while Jax killed 6 with his rock arrows. As for Dean, he killed 4 along with the leader. This totalled 15 bandits that died at their hands in front of the wagons. 

But there were many that slipped by. After taking care of the bandits at front, the three rushed to the other wagons to kill any that snuck past. But surprisingly, they found none. At least, none that were alive. 

As they ran around, they found nothing but bodies. Most were killed cleanly, but some were obviously ended brutally. Counting, there were 11 bandit bodies amidst the wagons. 

"...Where's Dirk?"

Thinking, Dean asked around. There was only one person who could do this, and that was Dirk who had shown his ability for killing. He looked around, even asking Ava. But nobody had an answer. 

Meanwhile, Dirk was actually in the forest. After killing everyone and making sure the battle was over, he went and grabbed a bandit who he kept alive. Dragging this bandit into the forest on the opposite side of the caravan, Dirk was prepared to do a little interrogation. He looked at the bandit who shivered under his apathetic gaze, knife in hand. Despite the blank gaze though, his heart was bristling with rage. 

 

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