Rex quietly walked over to the campfire, sitting on the opposite side from the duo, lightly smiling at them. He pulled out a water skin, taking a few sips from it, before whispering to the duo.

"Should be about time to switch yes?" He earned a light nod from Meru, who then spoke as well.

"Yes. some ten more minutes, if my estimation is correct." she then glanced at Ria, who pulled out a sand clock from her pocket, shoving that there was a bit more sand left before it would have to be fliped over to continue counting the time.

"Was correct." smiled Meru at her precise time sense.

"Dont mind me then, Feel free to wake Samanta before retiring for the night. Or dont. I am more than enough to take care of the shift." Rex replied.

"And have her rail us in the morning because of it?" with a raised eyebrow, questioned Ria. "No thank you. We will pass on the generous offer." she added just a moent later. Rex just shrugged at that, not caring too much one way or another, releasing a slightly more powerfull mana pulse to scout out their surroundings. Noticing nothing of importance, he decided to mull over a few of theoretical ideas he had come upon during the free time he had.

It was around ten minutes later that Samanta was stirred awoke by Ria, before retiring with Meru for the night. Samanta yawned a few times before taking a seat next to Rex, close enough to have a rather quiet conversation without disturbing the sleep of the other girls, or their coachmen for that matter.

"Can you do me a favour Rex?" she asked after a moment of silence.

"Depends on the favour."

"I dont know why, but Alurial has taken a liking to you. Something you no doubt have already noticed, judging by the lack of suprise or interest I can see from you."

"Yes, I have noticed. What of it?"

"Be gentle and kind with her, whatever you decide to do. I am sure as hell I cant take you in a fight, so there is no point in even entertaining the idea of a threat, so all I can do is ask, beg if neccessary."

"At the very least she has taken my previous words to heart. Gotta comend her for that, doubly so due to the short time it took for her to understand it. Still, I am in no rush to develop a harem at the given time. And while I am not particularily attracted to the body type that she happens to posess, its also obvious that she will grow into a trully beautifull woman with enough time. Enough for me to find it attractive."

"A harem you say?" Samantas voice suddenly developed a curious tone. "I know nobles have those aplenty, some of the top adventurers do too. Dont you think its a bit early? Especially with how recently you yourself started?"

"I am well aware. That is why I said that I dont plan on starting any time soon. That is why I changed the reward you promissed me for the joing party for the raid. By the time I will be fine with it, Ria will be smitten with me. But the most important factor is that she will not be tainted by some bastard lordling or smooth kazanova. I am possesive with my interests like that."

"Ha ha. Doesnt that make you a paragon of light and justice." chuckled Samanta, slightly less worried about the future of their party. "I think we will work as a party just fine." she added.

"So long as you remember that I am the last bastion. Only in case you see my dead body can you fall in despair, not a second sooner."

"Understood." she sighed and spread her arms to the sides, helpless in his confidence that seemed a bit strong, even for someone with the skill he had displayed so far. Something that Samanta considered monster tier.

The remaining shift was spent in a relative quiet, only the occasional birds chirp resounding here and there. A light breeze slipped through their camp every now and then, bringing over the chill that such nights provided. With such a reminder, Rex trew a few more pieces of wood into the fireplace, stoking it to burn brighter, at the same time using his mana pulse to ensure no ambushes formed. During their shif Rex did sense a few goblins moving on the perifery of his current range, not risking coming any closer and soon after dissapearing further in the forest. The question remained- were they a small group of strays, or a party of some larger colection of goblins. He still had in his mind the information he had recieved about the probability of a goblin raid party, or maybee even a horde existing in the relative vicinity of the city and since they were still relatively close, there was a chance to encounter either parts, or the main body of said force. Once their time was over, Samanta had the honors of waking up the last shifts girls and once Alurial and Veena were up and ready, Rex alongside Samanta could take a few more hours of rest in the tent, something Rex used once again to meditate and restore his mind.

The morning was also quite calm, as Rex was stirred awake by Alurial, since the coachmen had just woken up as well. There had been no issues during any of the shifts, as evident by the peacefull 'sleep' everyone had gotten. As Rex opened his eyes, readying himself for another boring day of travel, a thought did arise in his mind 'I should get my hands on something that could serve as an alarm during the night.' He was working on exactly that, but there were quite a few kinks to iron out still, so all he could do was work on the idea and implement it once it was ready.

After a simple breakfast, consisting of a light soup, made with some peas, dried meat and a few potatoes, as well as a small loaf of bread, they quickly disasembled their temporary camp, placed it all on the carriages, all the while the coachmen attached their horses, and set off to continiue on their path. Just as they set off, Rex used a rather strong mana pulse,finding something rather suspicious at a decent distance from them. A group of twenty riders, all keeping their distance, though staying on the same path as them. Only a couple of men were closer to them, every few minutes signaling to the group further behind. Clearly, they were keeping their eyes of Rex and the party. 'Bandits? Greedy adventurers? Henchmen of the arrogant lordling? Or maybee all combined?' Rex mused for a moment. Regardless, the group had nothing good on their mind, thus he informed the girls of the fact, earning a few rised eyebrows, but said questioning gazes were quickly replaced with solemn nods, as the girls prepeared for any possible agression from the unknown group.

The sun over their heads slowly moved along its path across the heaven as ,orning turned into day, then slowly evening, untill finally, the sune once again dissapeared behind the horizon, indicating the end of the second day Light's Oak has spent on the road. When asked about their stalkers, Rex truthfully answered. Said group had maintained their distance, raising their suspicions even higher. Unlike Rex's group, the peopel behind them had no carriages, allowing them to move faster. Since the riders behind them had not done so for an entire day, their purpose was quite clear. The only question now was whether said group wanted to just rob and kill them, or capture as many of the girls sa possible for their own nefarious goals.

"Should we not take the innitiative? We might be able to take their group by suprise then." Questioned Alurial, not in the least biut happy about their sutuation.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

"If the enemy did not have their eyes on us? Yes that would be a possibility, but since they are the ones tracking us, we cant aproach unseen. What we can do, however, is to pretend that we are unaware of their presence, creating a trap for them, when they foolishly asume we can be taken."

"What if they dont do anything, ordered to only track us?" Asked Veena.

"With those numbers? I highly doubt it." Rex replied, making the girls slightly more tense. Noticing the change in the atmosphere, he reassured the girls. "Whats there to worry about ladies? Just a few dozen foolish men, raceing towards their doom. And for what? A few gold coins? talk about stupid."

"Think they will try their luck tonight?" Samanta asked.

"The chances are high. I dont sense any large bags attached to the horses, indicating that wheatever it is that they plan they are on a small time limit. They need resources to get back in a timely manner as well."

"So, should we keep watches the same as we did yesterday, or should there be any changes?" Asked Ria.

"I dont mind switching with Samanta!" quickly exclaimed Alurial hiding her slightly blusing face as all eyes landed on her.

"Dont mind, do you?" smirked Samanta, clearly aware of the half elfs reasoning and desire, but not willing to just give it up so easily.

"We need you perfectly rested Alurial." Rex spoke up "So there will be no changes in our watch rotations, at least for now. Either Samanta or Veena ar fine to take the middle shift alongside me, since we can afford to have one slightly more cranky archer. Not so much the only mage. Besides, as far as I understand, Samanta has built up somewhat of a resistance to it, what with her taking said spot most of the time. Something we will change with time."

And while Aluriel was not entirely happy, he accepted his reasoning. A satiating meal was had for supper this time, the group prepearing for the possible incoming ambush during the night. Just like before, Rex took his side of the tent, sitting down and meditating. Of course, he did not forget to use mana pulses on irregular intertervals to ensure than noone could come up with a solution to hide themselves from his mana pulse and senses.

A few minutes before his own shift, Rex opened his eyes, both ready to switch the girls out, as well as aware that their uninvited guests seemed to have finnaly gathered their courage. They were aproaching. Slowly, but surely twenty pair of legs advanced on their position, their horses left a short distance away. Rex slowly reached out his hands, carefully shaking the two ladies sleeping besides him. A moment later, both started to come to, slight confusion on their faces as they noticed it was Rex waking them up, instead of amy of the two girls currebtly on watch.

"We have company." Rex whispered, and within moments, the two ladies were wide awake, adrenaline starting to pump through their weins. Rex was the first to exit the tent, Samanta and Alurial remained inside, not willing to alert their abmushers to be too early. Meru and Ria, noticing Rex, smiled to him.

"You still have some time before the change of shifts yoiu know." Ria spoke, her voice calm but friendly.

"Its okay." Rex replied "I dont mind starting a bit early, since I am up anyways. Do wake Veena up for me, will you?"

The two girls raised their eyebrows towars Rex slightly, all of them well aware that his shift is to be taken with Samanta. And since Rex would not make such a mistake, especially with the threat of a possible ambush on the way, there was only one explanation. It was happening. Their unwanted stalkers had finaly decided to grace them with their presence.

"Will do." nodded Meru, walking past Rex and entering the tent with their coachmen. Ria in the meantime entered the tent where Veena was resting, awakening the girl, who soone emerged from the tent and walked over, stiing next to Rex.

"Such a beautifull night." Veena sighed, as she looked to the sky, a clear and calm sky before her eyes, countless stars shining down on them alongside a large and bright white moon.

"i will show you something interesting a bit later." Rex smiled as he spoke, his blood thread slowly untying itself from his hand under his controll. Veena of course noticed the red and thin thread slowly emerging from his collar, causing her to raise a single eyebrow at the strange sight, an obvious question on her mind, though she was smarter than to ask Rex about his secrets. She saw as Rex's grip on his spear slowly strenghtened and his eyes turned sharper.

She too followed his example, taking her bow in hand and seemingly inspecting its condition, as if prepearing for a quick maintanace during their shift. Not like he would need it anytime soon, right.

xxxxx

We were slowly aproaching the camp of the Light's Oak. Derek had recieved a sizable payment for the job. Nothing we had not done time and time again. Track the carriages, capture as many of the girls as you can, ensuring that the half elf lives, deliver them to the henchmen of the little lordling and get paid the other half of the fee. Nothing complicated. Anything that we loot off is ours to keep. A simple job, especially when we were told about the target. An F ranked party, consisting of only girls. Could there be an easier job?

There had been slight changes though, since the party now had an extra member that we had little knowledge about. The young man riding with them was seen alongside their party during the raid, or so our moles said. No other concrete infor about theman, besides the fact that he seemed new. based on his age, likely a fresh adventurer who got lucky to tag along with a bunch of beauties. Lucky bastard. Its all good though, the guys will make sure he regrets his 'good luck' soon.

Our horses were left a decent distance away, lest their watch hears the sounds made by our advance. As we were getting closer and closer, our weapons were slowly drawn, their darkened edges perfectly camouflaged in the darkness. From the cover of trees we finally noticed the campfire itself, stil burning brightly. next to it, sat one of the archers, Veena if I remember correctly from the portraits we were given, her lithe frame and dark hair, alongside with the bow she was inspecting, being clear giveaways. Alongside her sat the new member of their team. The wildcard, though seeing his weapons, a spear he was holding, alongside a shield on his back and a sword by his side, a close quarters fighter, capable of either tanking or dishing out damage from a short range, courtesy of his spear.

Once aproximately fifty meters away from the camp, I imitated a cry of a night bird, in a rather unique tone, notably off from the natural tone of the bird I was immitating. My acomplices were well aware of the code, quietly spreading out and even more carefully aproaching the camp. Once within ten or so meters, we will have to spring forth, taking them by suprise, the two archers with poisoned arrows were already prepearing their shots, They were right besides me after all.

As they were raising their bows, something unexpected happen. A whooshing sound, followed by a sound I would recognize everywhere, as it too was quickly followed by a breathless gasp, as one of the two archers flew backwards, a spear embeded in his chest. I quickly returned my eyes to the duo, sitting by the campfire, my eyes widening in suprise. The male no longer had his spear in hand. whats worse, in a blink of an eye, he shot forward, clearly infusing his body with mana to elevate his speed with a burst discharge as he lept forward. I could barely react in time as I raised my weapon, intercepting the strike that came my way.

And yet, I was had, as the strike was nothing but a diversion, used to leverage his charge and slightly adjust the trajectory, shooting past me the next moment and impaling the other archer with the sword that I had just intercepted.

"ATTACK!" I roared as i turned around to attack the man. We had been detected and he was waiting on us to come cloe enough for a suprise attack. Fuck, this is gonna get bloody. No matter, as long as the half elf lives, we will at least break even. A moment later, I was alrady by the side of the man, my two handed sword in a downwards motion to split his back in two. And yet, with unnatural instinct, he lifted his shield in a weird angle. My eyes bulged in horror when my strike was diverted with a minimal effort, my body following the motion of the strike.

Behind me, I could hear an explosion, clearly the mage had used her fireballs. Shit, we are going to have some serious losses. The man is a danger as well. No F rank moves like that.

"Urgh." A painfull groan escaped my mouth as I felt a searing pain in my side, the man had used the short opening to puncture my side, though, thankfully, my men had already arrived besides, forcing him to get back, withdrawing his blade from my side and leaving me with my life still mostly intact.

"Ruben, Heal!" I exclaimed as I placed myleft hand on the stab wound, watching as three of my men surrounded the man.

"Huh?" A clear confusion muddied my mind, as I swayed. The trio that had surrounded him suddenly lost their heads, a spurt of blood shooting upwards as if they were fountains.

"What?" my vision blurred as all i could see was grass, as if I had laid on the ground, one of my ears pressed against the earth. And then, darkness.............................................