'Unexpected' was the first thing Umbrum thought when in front of the so-called Bandits' lair, truthfully, it was a village. It just that every individuals, every inhabitants was by no exception a bandit, plundering and stealing as a way to make life. It was something Umbrum never thought, in his mind, bandits would be in caves or a shabby camp that gives some military vibes. None of it.

It seemed to be a common village. Just perhaps their faces were rougher, their eyes colder... and they seemed to be eager to do something to both him and Drake. For example, robbing what they own. The carriage and the horses. After all, it is not everyday people cross in broad light a bandits' lair.

“Alright... Umbrum, you will do the talk.”

At this moment, he blanked out, no no no, that was an awful idea, him ? Talk ? Negotiate ? When he is such an awkward fellow that does not know any etiquette, manners or anything in the sort, he will be too pratical and blunt, they will immediately refuse to negotiate. However, when he saw those eyes, one that do not accept a “no” as a reply. Umbrum shook his head and sighed. What could he do ? Say “no” and receive consequences of his acts ? Of course not, it is easier to talk after all. All human should be more or less similar, so they can be reasoned with as long as you guess the “how”.

The carriage entered the village under the wary sight of the bandits who were ready to attack any time, strangely, they did not ambush them, but, they entered their base. Is there something they can do against dozens of dozens of bandits are surrounding them ? Of course not.

“Excuse me... we are searching your information broker for business.”

Momentarily, they flinched, it is as if something was off with what he said. He cleared his throat and was going to continue to talk however...

“How do you know ?” … someone interrupted him, a tanned man wearing a red bandana around his head, gritted teeth and scarred face, he seemed to be trying to intimidate Umbrum who... did not appear terrified or stunned by his interruption, he just looked at him, indifferent to his words or threatening tone.

“He is an information broker, right ? We need... information, so we want to see and talk to him about the price of what we wish to know. Is there something odd with that ? He sells information, we want to buy. Isn't that the principle of an information broker ? ”

What could they say ? For some reasons, they seemed to be overprotective toward the information broker as if he was someone essential to their group. But also… that people should not know that he exists. As for why, nobody really knows but that information broker is hiding his identity or even his existence which might be why the bandits were surprised.

“Where is h-”, quickly moving his head on the side, he felt an arrow piercing the air, passing near his cheek and lodging in the carriage. Another sigh escaped his mouth, he cleared his throat and continued to talk.

“First, let’s not spill the blood, this is counterproductive for… everyone, and… next time I will need to… eliminate you if you attack again, is that alright ? Of course it’s alright. If you die… nobody, nobody will care… I th… well, nothing will happen to me. As for you, if you kill me. Well… that is one lovely village.Like any village. It would be unfortunate… well, I do not know, I never… happened to see this kind of… mmm... what could be the word… show ? Event..?”, from time to time, it seemed as if Umbrum was talking to himself, searching what to say, in others word, thinking aloud. Tis way, it seemed that he did not the bandits in its eyes at all. As if they were only part of the background. Nothing more than a pebble since he was not even looking at them.

“You... so, you are threatening us ? That's perfect ! No need to have any excuse now ! Atta-”

An arrow interrupted him, cutting off the connection from his body to his brain. It seemed like Umbrum was keen on bow and arrows, and had the habit of aiming the eye to pierce the brain. Perhaps he could find a proper way to kill his enemies, however, in this gruel way, it was more intimidating than other since it shows that... he w as quite precise despite his appearance. Before they could realize what happened, another arrow was launched, and when they understood the situation, a third one was already on the string.

Since it seemed like the information broker did not want to come out, he will not have the choice but to come out, attracted by a ruckus. The previous silence now seemed unreal, everyone drew their weapons and shouted out of rage, a magical barrier appeared around the carriage to protect Umbrum and the horse.

At this moment, they condemned their fates. At least, until they run away which is unlikely considering their current stubborn and barbaric acts. Since when do you throw an sword, on top of that, if there was not the barrier, it would not even have touched the enemies, no, it would have killed one of its comrades. What a shame would that be, isn't it ?

What actually happened is that the barrier reflected the sword and someone was knocked out by the pommel from fell from some meters. Whether he will wake up or not is still a question.

Weapons were savagely thrown, they were literally killing each other, by accident that is. How do these bandits succeed at dominating this village with such... a weak mind... they did not realize that attacking was not worth the loss ? Or did they not have fear ? Now that he looked at them. There was something odd, their eyes. Yes, their eyes. Their eyes were red, just like beasts nevertheless they did not seem to be in frenzy or anything when they talked. Something's off.

A few minutes later, they stopped since... they finally noticed that it was useless. It was magic, they did not know how to break it, so, perhaps brute force might have worked but it did not. What could they do then ? They could only wait, for what ? For the strangers to starve. They can not move. They would just stare at them. Trying to pressure them into a corner.

What they did not imagine was that…

“Run.”

This word escaped Umbrum’s mouth as he readied his bow and aimed at one of the bandits. The barrier was still there, unmoving and impenetrable. Mana formed his arrow, he pulled the string… and released it. The arrow flew toward a bandit’s head, nevertheless, most were not worried, there was a barrier after all. Piercing the air and pushing it away, it was going to touch the barrier however at that moment, Umbrum’s hand shined as he snapped his finger.

The magic arrow disappeared during a split of a second and reappeared outside the barrier.

“...transportation…” Umbrum’s spell changed the location of the arrow. This same arrow entered into the thigh of one bandit. Falling backwards, he held to his wound and restrained himself to scream as the blood kept gouging out of his injury. A slight smile appeared on the hunter’s face, he thought that the wound of the bandit will be infected then he will die. His fate was already sealed in his face.

“Aaah… I am still so bad at aiming though…” He was originally aiming the head, however, the arrow pierced the leg. His spell deviated the original trajectory, it might not have touched at all. Luckily, the bandits were dumb enough to have the idea to stay close to the barrier, so to stay close from the future transportation point. Reducing the distance between his target and weapon, so his mana consumption is lighter than what it could have been. On top of that, more he wanted to transport something far away, more it was susceptible to fail.

They should have ran like he said. However they did not.

A second arrow was launched, and another one bit the dust, after the second death, they all began to run away, realizing that they had no chance to stand against them, at last. Despite everything, they seemed to be quite good at running.

Nobody screamed when they ran, neither did they bump into each other. When people fell, someone took their hand and helped them get back to running. Some were even staying to see where Umbrum is aiming, using some language he did not understand. Seeing this, he only pulled one last arrow which did not eliminate anyone. Astonishing.

So brutish, crude and foolish when attacking however quite careful and organized when retreating. It seemed like they know only one strategy, hit and run. It is probably how their behavior during the fight could be explained.

Did they ever meet mages ? It seemed that they did not as they were not careful when struggling for a pointless cause. Physical attacks are almost worth nothing against magical barrier unless they are outrageously powerful like with Trolls or Cyclops.

At this moment, Drake finally began to talk on a sarcastic tone as a smirk was plastered on his face due to what he saw, a smile on his indifferent face. The pleasure of… hunting ? No, it was something else, the desire to clear his mind. That is it. It seemed that Umbrum took pleasure to simply do something.

“Well, I did say it would be nice that you smile ! But I did not expect you to smile in those kind of circumstances !”

Hearing this, Umbrum turned back and scratched his feeling, the moment he heard this, he felt his cheeks heat up and his spine turning slightly cold due to the sweat. Trying to reply and opening his mouth, he then looked nowhere as if there was something to think about. Some seconds later, he shook his head and finally responded to the chairman’s casual comment.

“Mm… then, can you just tell me when to smile..? Or am I asking something stupid ?”

Two of his fingers began to rub his forehead, Drake did not know what to say, it was indeed something stupid, to him that is. Smiling is supposed to be automatic and unconscious. His eyes rolled once, then, he clicked on his tongue and glared at Umbrum before smacking him. His white skin momentarily became red due to the sudden and surprising hit.

“That’s indeed… very stupid to ask. Well, I could explain to you but that is not the time yet. Just don’t think of smiling by forcing yourself or anything, okay ?”

The fool simply nodded and did not retort any word that Drake said, it made him sigh even louder, could he not have more personality ? Isn’t he supposed to be sixteen ? That age when children abruptly gain the ability to talk so garishly it hurts your ears and deafen you in a few minutes ?

How bothersome, instead, he was the complete contrary, a silent and obeying child. Perhaps Drake should not compare his younger self to Umbrum as both of them are oddballs. But he still did and found his youth to be much more foolish than he originally thought. What he meant was that he was naive and stupid. Like any children.

“Alright… uhm… so, well, someone is staying there and not moving a bit right now. Look… there…”

His finger pointed at the direction everyone was running away, there was one person in a common white shirt, a grey pant, a brown strap being used as a belt and some sandals. He was grey-haired and blue-eyed, possessing a bright and cheerful smile. His figure was neither frail or intimidating. Just your normal average peasant, perhaps what did not fit with this image was that he was clean and looked way too happy to be one.

“Comrades comrades ! I heard you were looking for me !”

Oh, no wonder. It was the information broker, obviously, he has some tricks in his sleeves. For example, they can not kill him as they need him.