Well, after the duels, the night went on calmly after.

I returned to the watchtower that's erected along the line, lightly dozing off at times to help pass the time.

"Well, a tranquil night indeed I guess."

Visualising my combat patterns in my mind according to the boar hunt just now, I slowly gain better insight of my new capabilities.

As for the corpses, the adults and elderly are in great condition, since their fur and meat have minimal damage, I've gathered them together in a barren spot to flag it. The hunters are definitely going to be astonished when I notified them tomorrow.

As for the hoglet, that's shredded meat held together by bones.. I fed it to the fishes in one of the huge potholes in the marshes. Nobody should see that, especially the frail ones with weak hearts, I bet their faces will twist in horror and surprise when they saw...

... Just like me right now.

WHAT THE FUCK?!

At the edge of my line of vision while overlooking the scenery below, light flashes.

The spot is too the edge of the marshes, where continues with dense woods, then expands into the dreaded forest as well.

Currently the entire place is shrouded in complete darkness, I am sensitive to even a speck of light, and that's what I saw.

Few tiny orbs of light, glimmering there, while slowly moving towards the marshes, it'll probably take an interest to the slope and ascend further.

I grabbed my gear, Estoc and Aegis. I also picked up a stock bow and quiver containing arrows, just in case. Then, I slid down the ladder and swiftly descended down the slope with my head down.

Concealing myself in dense shrubbery once again, I mantained vigilance while observing the light sources in front.

*

*

Ugh.. The light orbs are taking it slow traversing the marshes, it must be their first time being in such terrain.

Making myself comfy in dense shrubbery, I lay and wait anxiously. In the marshes, usually I'll be invaded by legions of mosquitos. Luckily, it's still early spring, weeks after the passing of winter, which means the mosquitos are still dead! Honhonhonhonhon~

Ahem, anyways.. They are coming closer, I can get a better glimpse of them now.

Oh, shit...

Humans.

6 men, each holding a lantern of their own.

They are walking in a disorganised line, showing that it's not an offensive march towards the enemy, but rather an exploration towards the unknown.

They wore various gears. 3 with ragtag armour with a shortsword and buckler kept behind their backs. 2 equipped with purely leather gear and bows and arrows. While the final 1 is clad in a cuirass with an underlying chainmail shirt, and keeping a bastard sword sheathed on his side. I'd assume he's the leader of this group.

Though the band of brothers are lacking in combat types, each and every one of them have contrasting gear. One footman wears a chestplate, while another wears banded armour. Everyone could be distinguished by their different armour, such as the width of the armour plating, colour and materials of the vambraces or the materials of their trousers.

All of it tells me that they are not royal rangers or soldiers, but mercenaries.

First thought that flashed my mind was obviously to fight them and remove the potential threat, but I do not feel particularly suicidal this night.

Against goblins maybe, a quick blitz will throw them off guard and gives me the capacity to slice each of them by the throat. If they caught wind, I could escape and conceal myself once again.

Humans though, I can maybe kill one of them by surprise, but once they react, I'll lose my life. In this situation, I am outnumbered, Once I started the fight, I could never back down. A well placed arrow through my face or a stab from my flank will end me when I'm busy parrying another guy's sword. No matter how skilled a fighter is, numbers will always overwhelm one's strength.

Unless I have a trebuchet, that's a different story.

Anyways, if I chose to engage them, I'll die instantly.

*

*

I'd rather go for option 2, to investigate thoroughly before attempting anything.

*

And so I waited, until they walked near my location while being completely oblivious of my presence

It seems they're having a converstation, which I can easily eavesdrop.

"Oi, look at that slope!" The leader spoke, pointing at the Line.

"Whut?" Footman 1 asked.

"Finally an open land, nothing wet or dangerous~ let's get there!" Ranger cheered by raising his arms.

"No! Look at that tower in the middle!"

"Whut?" Footman(Idiot) 1 asked again.

"Which means there's civilisation above there somewhere!"

Leader yelled in frustration, he's definitely a novice in exploration, announcing your presence in such a way.

"So?" Idiot 1 still confused, at this point I'm doubting his intelligence.

"Ugh." Leader walked up to Idiot 1 while raising his fist.

(Smack)

A loud smack resounded from his fist, as he punched Idiot 1 in the stomach, that had no armur plate coverage. The rest of the merc band was also stunned by this sight, each taking a few steps back from the leader, afraid that they could be the next victim.

*

Then, the band made no noises as the leader led the way, towards the gentle slope that leads up to my village.

Since the slope itself is almost a barren land, surface covered in very short vegetation, which will never obscure anything out of vision. I stayed waiting in a shrub close to the edge of the Line.

Meanwhile, the band had ascended 3/4 of the slope. The guys kept watch of all their corners, changing their point of view every so often. Those guys are at least experienced in navigating, I suppose...

Good news for them since that it'll keep them safe from surprises, but bad news for me, since I still haven't grasped their intentions.

*

Once they made their way fully up the slope, their images dissapeared from my vision. Then, I quickly ran my way up, trying to regain visual contact on those guys as soon as possible.

Since the area itself is habitable, many insects claimed this land and made various screechs nightly to captivate their audiences of their annoyance. Muffling footsteps like mine is nothing but trivial. The guys will never hear me creeping up when they're bombarded by insect moans.

*

*

Keeping considerable distance behind them, I managed to mantain visual contact with them, but could never sneak up close enough to listen what they're saying.

All I see is that the Leader goes handy-pointy on the village buildings, and the rest of the band just nodded.

Soon, they reached one of the closer buildings of the Line, the tavern.

They bypassed the farmplots and some farmer's huts along their way, which they did not lay a hand onto the property or sleeping villagers, which I'm immensly relieved for.

(bam bam bam)

The leader slammed the door of the slightly larger wooden hut, where the keeper serves food and drinks to its patrons.

"Open up!" He screamed.

Considering that its still in the middle of the night, no one was awake to serve him if he knocked corteously.

(bam bam bam bam bam)

Well, he's still outright rude no matter what his actions might indicate.

Still unsure of his intentions, I took cover in the neighbouring hut, watching them. I took out the bow, nocked the arrow and aimed it right towards the Leader's head, which is conviniently not covered by any helmets of sort.

Whatever happens later, I'd dispatch him off if he hurts my villagers...

Soon, light gushed out from the windows of the tavern, indicating that the keeper is awake and lit the candles in urgency.

(creaaaak)

The door opened.

"Wha... what do you want?!" The tavern keeper asked nervously.

The leader seems to be sizing up the keeper as he kept silent. He swayed his head up and down, inspecting the keeper in disheveled clothing and messy hairdo.

I pulled the bowstring to its limit, feeling the strain on my elbows. I aimed the arrow dead on towards the back of his head, anxiously observing every minor action of his body, preparing to lash out if he did something undesireable.

The leader, hugging his arm at ease, spoke.

"You have drinks for us? It's been a long journey." He requested for relinquishment in a casual yet intimidating tone.