"What?"

"What did you say?"

Yuri and Sienna said respectively, dumbfounded.

The messenger repeated, sweat trickled down his face.

"The foreigner was seen heading south. Along with a village kid"

"And it happened not long just now?"

"Yes, my lord"

"And he didn't buy anything or took anyone with him?"

"No, we didn't see him buying anything nor bringing anyone else with him"

Yuri was dumbfounded. He had purposely sent the barbarian to the bandits' camp because he had plans, but that involved making arrangements first.

"Is he so confident in his strength that he didn't even bother bringing a weapon, only a village boy?" Sienna said, disbelief lacing her tone before she turned towards her friend.

"What did you plan sending him to clear that camp?"

Sienna knew more about the bandit camp than the common folk, it was led by an awakened mercenary, famous for his brutality.

She also knew that the Lord June has some sort of deal with him, the details however, she didn't know.

Lord Yuri scoffed..."The barbarian is a fool through and through, does he think his strength especial?" He grumbled.

"Hey, answer my question!"

Yuri sighed. "I plan to send people to watch him and send someone to negotiate with the bandit camp. The goal is to ensure they don't kill the barbarian, but make sure he learns his lesson. Whether they agree or not, however, is another matter." A cruel smile filled his face as he finished.

Sienna sighed at this. "Is the leader the only awakened one in their group?"

"No, I believe there are two of them now, along with more than three dozen subordinates." Yuri clicked his tongue. He wasn't that concerned about the fate of the barbarian; in fact, he figured this was better. At least he couldn't be blamed for the barbarian's stupidity.

"Even an Awakened will have trouble handling that camp, especially on their turf..." Seinna muttered anxiously.

"You've seen it already," Yuri said, his tone comforting but it was belied by the smirk he wore, "The barbarian doesn't think before he acts."

Sienna grumbled at this. "Hughie!" she called. A moment later, someone entered the room.

It was one of the warriors who escorted her.

"My lady," the warrior said.

"I want you to chase after that foreigner," Sienna said. "Keep your distance, if possible, but stop him from doing something stupid if necessary. Go now."

"Yes, My Lady," the warrior replied.

After that, Sienna turned towards Yuri. Yuri shook his head with a smirk. "Alright, I'll send someone to watch over him and I'll have someone delivere a message to the camp too. But since the barbarian headed there first, they might not catch up in time."

Yuri burst out in laughter seeing the expression on his friend's face.

----------------------------------------

"Riding, horse, banner..." Keagan repeated, as Russ erased the drawings on the ground and draw a new one.

Night had fallen, and they had settled just outside of a village.

Munching on the pheasant that "coincidentally" walked towards them, Keagan continued his lesson on learning the language. The fire comforted them and lit up the surrounding area.

Up some distance away, he could see some villagers casting curious eyes on them. They were no doubt an odd pair.

Russ had gathered as much information as he could about the bandits' camp location from. Some of the villagers even seemed interested in joining them when they heard their plan, but stopped upon seeing that there were only two of them.

If they get up early, they might be able to reach the camp before the sun sets the next day.

He wondered why such a camp existed, especially being so close to a lord's castle. But he was too lazy to care.

"Have you killed men before?" he asked the kid. The long years had made him accustomed to seeing barely fifteen-year-old youths taking lives. It hadn't made him fully accept it, though.

A shake of his head was Russ's answer.

Keagan wanted to have a deep talk about those kinds of things, but the language barrier made him unable to do so.

"Tomorrow, you pull that because you have to, not because you want to," he could only say. Russ nodded thoughtfully.

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"Sleep. Tomorrow, we early..."

As Russ slept on the ground, using a log as a pillow as they didn't exactly have camping gear. Maybe he should have gotten some before coming here. Then again, he didn't have any money, and neither did the kid.

Seeing the young kid, he couldn't help but sigh. The sight of him reminded him of his own youth, those years now hazy with the passage of time. Even hazier were the memories from his past life.

Fifty-one years since he was reincarnated in this world, and having lived a life most people wouldn't have, he was almost done with it...almost.

----------------------------------------

Before the sun even rose, they were on the move again. Keagan hadn't slept the night before, much to Russ's chagrin, as he'd wanted to rotate their sleep schedule.

This time, they trekked on an uncharted path that led deeper into the forest.

There was something about an untamed forest, so raw, with a hint of danger and the unknown, that captivated him.

"Good shot," Keagan said to Russ after he shot a hare.

From his observations, Keagan believed his shooting skills should be enough for him to contribute in the upcoming battle. Though of course, it wasn't a need for him to participate.

After taking care of the hare, they continued forward. Keagan's desire to learn the language spurred their conversation, breaking the tension caused by the forest and allowing Russ to relax.

Keagan's head snapped to the side. He heard a faint scream.

The birds circling above them, unbeknownst to Russ, suddenly surged towards the direction of the scream. But the distance was clearly too far for him to see anything through his shared senses.

Russ tilted his head in confusion at Keagan's sudden action.

"Come on," Keagan said urgently.

They trudged towards the source of the scream. It wasn't long before another scream pierced the air, this time loud enough for Russ to hear it clearly.

The trees blocked their view, but Keagan knew they were getting close.

"Keep your distance and shoot," Keagan said to Russ suddenly. His birds had seen them, his split perception allowed him to see five men seemingly trying to hold down a woman.

Russ nodded, his face tense. He took deep breaths to calm himself.

Keagan lunged towards an open clearing. His appearance drew the attention of the men. He ran towards them, intending to exchange a few words first. However, two of them charged at him with ferocious smiles, shouting what he could only assume were cruel words.

Seeing them charge with a mace and a dagger, Keagan countered with a charge of his own. Before the man with the mace could swing his weapon, Keagan surged forward at incredible speed, slamming into him. The man went flying like a ragdoll. The man's companion with the dagger lunged, but Keagan reacted swiftly, backhanding the man's face with enough force to send him sprawling to the ground, a tooth dislodged and flying through the air.

He continued forward. The remaining three men shouted, rage contorting their expressions. The woman, tied but still struggling, kicked the man holding her in the groin.

Keagan heard a whoosh, and an arrow flew past him, striking one of the men lunging at him. The man grunted in pain as Keagan followed up with a punch to the face, knocking him unconscious.

Only one remaining man was able to fight well.

"You...!" Even seeing his companions defeated, the man fearlessly lunged towards Keagan with his sword. Up close, Keagan could see why. The man swung his sword with the skill of a trained fighter. Keagan simply kicked him square in the chest. The force of the kick knocked the wind out of the man, likely cracked a few ribs, and sent him flying. He rolled once on the ground before lying still.

The battle was practically over. Only grunts of pain broke the silence, punctuated by the woman kicking the downed man in the face – the same one she'd kicked in the groin earlier – despite her hands still being tied.

The birds circled the area, searching for anyone else, even though it was unnecessary – the area was quite open. But Keagan found it quite fun.

'Oh, to get so close...' Keagan thought when his shared perception revealed a man hiding behind a tree.

He didn't mind the man, however.

"Here," he said, approaching the woman who was still kicking the man on the ground. His face was now bloodied.

The woman, panting, looked at him warily. Keagan gestured for her hands to be shown. Hesitantly, the woman turned around, and Keagan untied her.

"Thanks," she said, rubbing her wrist. Curiosity flickered in her eyes as she scanned him.

"Who are you?"

"Keagan, you?" Keagan simply answered as he saw Russ approaching, the battle evidently over.

The woman turned cautious at the newcomer, relaxing slightly when she saw them exchange nods. "Jane," she introduced herself.

She had rough black hair and wore what appeared to be a thick leather chest piece, no doubt for protection, as Keagan suspects.

Keagan glanced at Russ, then at Jane, silently communicating his intentions. Russ, still wary of the groaning men on the ground, nodded in understanding. Keagan approached the man he'd kicked.

The man lay still on the ground, motionless as he took shallow breaths. "Are you bandits?" Keagan asked. The man attempted to reply with a spit, but lacked the breath to do so.

Checking on the others, Keagan saw that the man with the arrow in his side had awakened. Blood gushed from the wound as he hazily attempted to pull the arrow out. The man Keagan had slapped tried to stand up but wobbled like a drunkard, unable to find his balance. Finally, the person Keagan had rammed remained unconscious.

He checked on them one by one. He wouldn't save them of course, especially what they had just tried to do, he had killed plenty but killing downed men still leave a bad taste though. So he will leave their judgement on their victim.

Grabbing whatever weapon he could find, away from them, he approached Russ and Jane, who seemed to have finished their conversation.

"Them, what do you want to do?" Keagan signaled with his chin to Jane towards the men now tied up.

"Kill them," Jane spat with hatred. She gripped what appeared to be half of pike, her arms trembling. She took deep breaths, seemingly steeling herself.

Seeing her resolve, Keagan stepped forward. He snatched the only sword lodged in the ground and swung it with a powerful arc. Though the blade was dull, his strength compensated. Heads rolled. In moments, all the bandits lay dead.

As usual he ignored the notification that appeared in front of him.

Silence descended as Keagan swung the sword rid it of blood. He turned to Russ, who looked like he wanted to puke before swallowing and going into an explanation, his gestures causing much confusion for Jane, who had just snapped out of her trance.

Keagan quickly grasped the situation. Bandits had taken Jane's sister from their village while Jane was in town. Now, Jane was alone since no one opted to help her, following the bandits' tracks. This led her to encounter the five bandits.

"Yup," Keagan said simply as he began digging a grave with the sword, intending to bury the bodies. Russ soon joined him to help.

"I'll come with you," Jane declared after a moment, her grip tightening on the pike shaft. "My sister needs me."

Keagan hesitated, wanting to dissuade her. He considered telling her not to blindly trust their strength, since she didn't know he could handle the bandit camp alone, this was just her being reckless, then again, reckless is what got her into the situation. However, he found it tedious because of the language barrier so he didn't.

"Sure, but you keep distance." he consented in the end. Thinking it wasn't so bad.

The woman nodded, grim determination on her face.

After some time, they buried all the bodies. Keagan grabbed the sword, dull as it was, it will have to do. He looked at his new companion at this quest and then to Russ.

"Come, the camp awaits"