Chapter 301: Notorious Bandits (1)
(Third Person POV)
The sun has just set, and the night has just fallen in the woods near the village. Outside the village's entrance, the bandits were using the darkness under the trees to shroud their presence.
"Boss, there are someone guarding the village's entrance." One of the bandits reported.
The boss of this notorious group was a big muscular guy. His skin was of a darker shade and on his left eye he was wearing an eye patch. He has lots of scars visible on his exposed skin as well.
"Guarding the entrance, you say?" The boss asked skeptically. "Maybe they are just some of the villages men. They won't pose a threat to us." He waved his hand to dismiss his subordinate.
"B-But boss, these men do not look like the scrawny men from the village." The subordinate said. "They are quite well built, and they are carrying weapons such as swords and bows."
The boss looked at his subordinate with doubting eyes, but he cannot just push away this news.
"I understand." The boss said. "I will go there and check."
The boss of the bandits walked towards the direction of the entrance to the village. When he was getting near, he became very cautious as to not make unnecessary noise.
Tonight, was a new moon, this is the best to conceal one's presence. The bandits were confident that this village was easy to raid, but the news that mercenaries have been rented to safeguard other villages, they were cautious. Because of this news, they were not able to raid the rich villages that surely have hired these mercenaries.
The boss crouched just along the trees near the village's entrance.
"Tsk, so it is true." The boss said with a hushed voice. "They are mercenaries."
"What are we going to do boss?" The subordinate replied in a hush tone.
The bandits had a hard time raiding village upon village because of the mercenary guards stationed. They took casualties after clashing with the group for countless times. That is why they picked this poor village, because they knew they did not have the money to hire mercenaries to protect them. The bandits thought that they can live by the few spoils they could find until they find some new recruits into their group.
'Who would have thought that these villagers could have the money to hire these mercenaries to protect them.' The boss thought with irritation.
"Let us go back to the others for now." The boss said. "You keep watch here. Lay low and do not let them notice you. Report to me anything you find suspicious." He ordered one of his subordinates.
"Yes." The subordinate replied.
The boss and the other subordinate got back to the group of bandits.
"What is it boss, any problem with the village?" One of the bandits asked.
"Yeah boss. We can just raid them right now." The other bandits said cockily.
The boss looked at his group of bandits. The numbers have dwindled, but still they are at least a few dozen strong. The guards he saw on the entrance were only two men.
'But what if there are still some more inside the village?' The boss thought.
But he shook his head. This village was known to be poor. They cannot hire more mercenaries to keep watch every single night.
"There are mercenaries keeping watch at the front entrance." The boss said. "I saw two of them, maybe there are more inside."
"This village was able to hire mercenaries?" A bandit was shocked.
