From Londoner To Lord

Hudan snorted. "I'll never call them ready for battle until they can fight equally against me! And without a doubt, they will break at the first cavalry charge of a knight against them."

"I have plans for the future in case it does come to that," Kivamus interrupted, "But let's leave that for later."

The guard captain nodded. "Thankfully these bandits aren't going to be anything like that. Anyway, I've tried my best to train them in the limited time we've had since recruiting them, so hopefully, they should still be able to hold their own in a one-on-one battle. But I don't want to take any chances here, so I'll be leaving all our new guards here in the manor, where they will have the advantage of home ground in case the bandits manage to reach here, although I'll try my best to prevent that. And I'll still take Tesyb - who's one of the new recruits - with me, since he's already a good fighter."

For a moment, Kivamus thought of joining the guards as well, since he had been getting regular sword training from Hudan as well, but he knew that he had no real experience in fighting, and even if he did go with them, he would be a liability at best, since some of the guards would try to protect him instead of putting an end to the bandits.

And now that he knew what kind of medicine they had available in this world, he just couldn't find the courage in him to volunteer for this, knowing that even if he got through the coming battle alive with just a few cuts to show for it, he still might not survive long enough - since even a infection through a small wound could easily kill people here. So he didn't mention it at all. He wasn't sure whether that decision was cowardly or he was just being cautious. But this way, at least the few remaining leaves in the losuvil vine they had found, could be used for the other guards in case any of them got injured, which others wouldn't allow to happen if he was injured as well.

After a moment, Hudan continued, "Including Calubo and me, I'm taking a total of fourteen guards with me. That should be enough for us to take on the nine bandits without too much difficulty. That will leave thirteen guards here to defend the manor - since I have alerted all the off-duty guards as well - although most of them are the new recruits. Apart from them, we do have two women guards with us now, but without any crossbows, Isomi and Savomi wouldn't be of any help to us in a sword fight. So I'll leave them here in the manor, so they can stand guard outside the door of the servants hall to protect the other maids, just in case the bandits manage to breach the manor gates."

At Duvas' worried expression, the guard captain added, "Don't worry about it, Sir Duvas. It's not likely to happen. I'll make sure of it."

"I know you will," the old majordomo said with a forced smile. "May the goddess help you succeed and rid our world of those lowlifes."

"Go on then," Kivamus added as well. "Good hunting!" Explore more adventures at empire

Others looked confused at that unfamiliar phrase, but Kivamus just grinned, knowing they would get the meaning.

After a moment, Hudan gave a confident smile, and nodded. And with that, the guard captain exited the manor hall with Calubo in tow.

Feroy stood up as well. "I'll also go and organize our remaining guards to defend the manor."

"That reminds me," Duvas asked, "what do we tell the villagers who are still outside? The feast is nearly over now, but there are still a few dozen people outside keeping an eye on their children."

"I think it'd be a good idea to end the feast now and send the villagers to their homes," Feroy suggested, "since all of them have already eaten at least once and it's not safe for them to stay there anymore. Those people, and especially the children, would easily become the targets of bandits and it would make it difficult for us to defend the gates. Not to mention, the wooden tables and carts outside would give a good hiding place to bandits, and our archers wouldn't be able to target them easily."

Duvas nodded. "Do it then."

"No, wait!" Kivamus interrupted. "You'll have to give them a reason to send them back suddenly, and if you tell them that there is a bandit attack, it would easily cause panic amongst the crowd. And that could lead to a stampede which could mean many people including children might die."

"Then what do you suggest, milord?" Feroy asked with a frown. "I don't want our archers to try to shoot bandits if they get mixed in that crowd."

Kivamus thought for a moment, and said, "I think there is a better idea than just telling them to leave. You should go there and calmly inform one of the maids to tell the villagers that there is no more food now, so they have to take back the carts and food buckets inside. If the maids ask for a reason, you can tell them that there is an imminent threat of a bandit raid - but let them know that they shouldn't say anything about it to the villagers. And to act normally until they are inside the gates."

Feroy gave a slow nod. "That would work."

Duvas asked, "Isn't this a good time to bring back those villagers who are good with a machete? They could help us in defending the manor."

"It would be too difficult now," Feroy answered. "Going door to door to bring those villagers back here could also cause panic amongst them. Also, I think it's a good idea to just leave them in the village, since that way there would be at least some people there who have some basic training, in case the bandits do reach there."

"That's true enough," Kivamus said with a nod. "So, let's leave them where they are, to defend their homes. But we still have a lot of machetes and axes here, so you can give them to our servants within the manor and tell them to be ready to support the guards. It's better than leaving them undefended and the machetes unutilized."

As Feroy started to object, Kivamus added, "I know that they aren't trained swordsmen. But if nothing else, you should tell them to stand near the manor walls in every direction and be ready to shout or blow a horn immediately if they see someone climbing the walls."

Feroy nodded. "Of course, and I'll also give them the machetes, just in case." And then he exited the hall as well.

"Let's hope that the goddess takes care of us and the village," Duvas prayed while looking upwards.

Kivamus and Gorsazo gave silent nods as well.

*******

~ Calubo ~n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

~ Somewhere in the forests surrounding Tiranat ~

Calubo was leading the guards of the manor towards the place where the bandits had been hiding earlier. He didn't know if they would still be there, but he had to try to find them, otherwise the guards might start to doubt his whole story. Although he was still grateful that at least they had trusted him enough to give a sword in his hands.

Earlier, when he had met the new baron - and he was glad to see that there really was a new baron in the village - he was surprised to see that he looked so young, and nearly the same age as him. Although his unusual silver colored hair made him stand out easily, but he didn't behave anything like the nobles were supposed to. It was a good thing though, since it seemed like the baron really cared for the villagers instead of just considering them a tool to earn more money for him.

He had also seen Nurobo when going there, and they had both been glad to see that the other was okay, but he had still not gotten a chance to talk to him. He really wanted to know everything that had happened in the village since he had left, but he would have to wait to ask that until the bandits had been dealt with - assuming he survived the coming battle, of course. But he had faith in the Goddess. He knew she would help him survive this night, and one day he would be able to see Hyola again.

For now, he kept leading the guards - including the huge man who was the guard captain - towards the northwest of the village, hoping he could find the bandits' hiding place even in this darkness. For a while, he stumbled around, looking for that particular grove of trees where the bandits were sleeping, but everything looked the same in the dark. After some time, he started to hear a few guards whispering about him, talking about whether he was lying or if he was taking them into an ambush. He was going to retort back, but he took a deep breath to calm himself and decided that instead of wasting more time in bickering - which could easily be heard by the bandits - he should keep trying to find their hideout.

He kept leading others, looking carefully at each fedarus tree he saw, and searching for the one with a low branch, where he was sitting with other bandits, but he still couldn't find anything. He was starting to become disappointed, when he turned his head to the left and saw that branch.

"There!" He whispered to the other guards. "That's where I was sitting with two other bandits who were on watch duty."

Immediately, the rest of the guards became alert, and at Hudan's gesture, they started to spread around, and began walking even more slowly with their swords ready in their hands.

As they came closer to that tree, he didn't see any bandits there - which wasn't really unexpected though. Then he slowly started to circle around the really broad tree along with the others, and in the faint light of the full moon which was still hiding behind the clouds, he saw a leg sticking out on one side of the tree. He pointed silently towards it, and the rest of the guards came closer and saw the dead body of the fatso lying there.

"So you weren't lying after all..." one of the guards muttered.

"Of course I wasn't!" Calubo finally snapped back with his confidence high again - now that he had proven his story. "This isn't something to joke about."

"Be quiet!" Hudan admonished them. "The rest of them might still be nearby."

"It doesn't seem like that though," a guard muttered, "or they would have already tried to attack us."

Then Hudan bent down closer to the body - likely to confirm that the man was dead - and suddenly they heard the whistling sound of an arrow passing right next to them.