Two carriages were at the halfway point of the forest, slowly driving through it. A man in rags was sitting there on a chair, waiting. Behind him were 8 further men in rags, standing with their back straight. A light silvery shimmering peeked out of the rags. In each of their hands was a spear pointing against the sky.

Igor stepped out of a carriage, forward, "Gentlemen, would you please leave the path."

The leading man raised his hands, walking to them, "Yes, yes, no worries. We will do exactly that."

The eight men parted into two groups, four each. In wide strides, they stepped back, creating a wide free path, but not wide enough to accommodate the carriages.

"Now, that we have done it. Would you like please leave the carriages behind? We are just some hungry beggars, battered by wind and rain. Won't you do this for a poor pitiful beggar?"

The Mercenaries joined them with their weapon ready, "Don't you know whom these carriages belong to?"

The man laughed raucously, "Yeah, I know. No need to worry!."

Libertas stood behind the Mercenaries, the Teacher, Mallory, and the Guide, Petro, were beside him. A glance at the shiny armour behind the rags, the neat formation, and the clean implementation of the commands was enough to tell that they weren't beggars.

Libertas sighed, "Did His Majesty send you?"

"Oh no! How could a simple beggar like me met someone grand like His Majesty?"

"So, you want to rob me?"

"Your Highness, please, don't misunderstand. You are donating this to us, we didn't rob you!"

"Send His Majesty my regards."

Libertas turned to his companions, before throwing a glance that man, "Go, pack everything essentials, we will donate the rest. At least, we are allowed to do that, right?"

The man nodded, walked back to his chair, dragged it to the edge, and waited. The man smiled, as Libertas walked at him by. He whispered quietly in one breath, "Keep pretending that you are the Hero's descendant."

Then with a shout, "Thanks for the donation, and keep having fun on your long journey!"

A while later, a distance further. Mallory grumbled as his boots were covered in dirt, "Petro, aren't you a spy? Don't you have a trump card to protect us?"

"Oh, I do have one! But why should I use it?"

"Even if the next city isn't any far away now, won't it be exhausting to travel there on foot?"

"You need to travel on foot to the next city, but I don't!"

"Think about the beautiful ladies in the bro… What?! Why?"

Petro ignored Mallory, and walked to Libertas, patting on his shoulders, "Yo, I believe our way will finally part now!"

Libertas shrugged his shoulders, letting the hand on his shoulders fall off, "Where are you going?"

"To a better place, away from this shithole."

After saying that, Petro shoved a map, which had the planned route on it, into Libertas hands. Then he turned around, waving his hand raised high. Slowly, he walked to the woods. Suddenly, he took out his dagger.

Whizz.

An Arrow collided with Petro's dagger, deflecting it from killing him, but it pierced his leg. He kneeled, no, it was more like he crashed against the ground. A man walked out, in his hand was a bow which he shortly threw to his feet. He clapped, "Bravo! I really don't know if you are smart or stupid. You noticed us but decided to come straight to us. Tell me, are you brave Hero, or a plain Fool?"

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Petro smiled, "Isn't clear, I am the brave Hero!"

Petro gradually faded, dispersing into fine light particles, "The Hero who escaped from you!"

Another man walked out of the wood, approaching the man, who was likely the leader, "Should we search after him?"

"No need. If he escaped from us here, do you believe you can catch him alone?"

"Right, what should be done with them?"

"Just catch, and sell them later."

The second man turned to them, declaring, "Surrender, or be forced to surrender!"

Countless arrowheads peeked out of the woods. The leaves rustled, letting a weak sunlight shine on an arrowhead. Libertas bit his lip, "Do you know who I am?"

The second man smiled in contempt, "It doesn't matter who you are, or what you will be. Every one of you will be the same after today, a lowly slave!"

Mallory shouted furiously, an arrow was shot at him, "How dare you, a lowlyieeeaaaa~"

"The Mercenaries are allowed to go!"

All gazes were directed at the Mercenaries. They glanced at each other before the Archer stepped forward, "We will go."

The Swordsman was stunned, "What?! Why?"

The Tanker patted on his shoulders, and shook the head, "This isn't worth risking your life."

"They hired us to protect them! How can we let them die?"

"We know you like His Highness, but money isn't worth enough to risk your life!"

The Swordsman clenched his fist, "What about the honour and pride we have? Shall we just give it up?"

The Tanker sighed, "I am sorry. You aren't in the position to speak about them."

The Swordsman fell into the Tanker's arms. The Archer had secretly sneaked behind the Swordsman and hit him on the neck, letting him faint. The Archer bowed to Libertas, "I am sorry, we can't protect you from here on. Farewell."

When the Archer saw Libertas nod at him, he dragged the Swordsman with the Tanker away. The Leader and the minion walked to them. In both of their hand were thick ropes. The Leader spoke, "Thanks for the cooperation. Now, please let us bind you."

As Libertas and the others saw, what was behind the woods, they gaped. They were tricked, defeated by words and gimmicks. Behind the woods were only two further men. They smiled triumphantly, as they collected the arrows strapped on the trees.

One of the men reached them, plucked the arrow from Mallory's leg before he started going for the next strapped arrow. However, he stopped midway, walked back to Mallory, and dabbed his finger in the blood-filled wound. Then grinned mischievously to the other men, with the blood, he wrote on Mallory's clothes, "I am the biggest fool in the whole world!"

They laughed, Mallory seethed. The leader clapped in hands, "Enough with the jokes. Cover their eyes. We need to go!"

A piece of clothes was thrown atop their heads, covering their sight. Later was a hat placed on top of the clothes, pressing it against their heads. It was likely there to fix the piece of clothes to their place.

Then, the men pulled, forcing Libertas to walk. He didn't see anything, each step fearing to hit a wall, or for now a tree. Each step was timid, first probing the next step before doing it. The men grew irritated, yelled at Libertas to go faster, but Libertas didn't. Sometimes he even stepped back, as he suddenly hit an imaginary tree or wall.

"Take off his cover!"

"But why? Leader, won't he then he see our hideout?"

The leader glanced the dimming orange light, "Don't worry, he won't be able to pinpoint it. We need to hurry, or we will be too late."

They walked and walked, small blisters already formed on Libertas' feet. In the distance, a clearing near a river could be seen. Near the river was a cave. The Kidnappers relaxed at this sight and even smiled slightly, as they dreamed of how they would show off their loots.

As they neared the cave, the leader frowned. The smell in the air was different from usual. A bit sweet, a bit metallic. It was the smell of blood. In the surroundings outside of the cave no blood could be seen, this can only mean blood has flown inside of the cave.

The leader raised his hand, and the others stopped to move. He pointed at one of them, then at Libertas. After the chosen one nodded his head, he waved at the rest to follow him. They sneaked towards the cave, letting the chosen one behind to guard their loot. Swiftly they peeped inside, it was safe, at least for now. The leader glanced over his shoulder to see his juniors. They nodded at him, together, they slipped in.

The one left behind took out a sword, before waving it at them, "Don't anyone of you dare to do anything funny! But if you do, hehe, we will have a lot of fun!"

No one responded. After a while, he removed the covering and spoke again, "It is boring, come on speak to me! I have even done you all a favour."

Even then, nothing happened. He sighed, and moved around to poke them with his sword, "Aren't you all bored like me? Come on, speak to me! We will help each other to relieve the boredom."

Seeing that even nothing happened, he quickly turned to the one on whose clothes he has written, "Hey, you! Yes, you, the biggest Fool in the whole World! Hey, I am speaking with you!"

The biggest fool in the whole World held his nose high, looking down at the on left behind. Mallory smiled, as he saw the man near him. Then the world spun for Mallory, the man has hit him.

"Humph. Who dares to look down at me? You dare to mock me!? I dare you! Come on, do it again!"

In the next moment, his world spun to until stars whirred over his head. He fainted, as the stars dimmed out entirely. Igor stood behind him, flexing his muscular body. A red line run across his wrists.

"Why didn't you hit him before he could hit me?"

At this question, Igor just shrugged it off and walked to Libertas. He smiled warmly, as he brushed over Libertas' soft hair, "Your Highness, let me set you free from this."