Black thick smoke filled the air with the stinging smell of burned wood and flesh coming from the farmer houses further down the street.

"We need to hurry, or they'll all be dead by the time we arrive!" Bao panted while running.

"You say that, but aren't you the slowest out of the three of us?" Nathan looked back from the first position he was in. "How can you wear so little gear and yet gasp for air like a dog? I'm starting to think now that Morell was right, maybe you should head back?"

"I said it from the beginning that he is just a weakling," grumbled Morell. "It wouldn't surprise me if he would get taken hostage and needed to be rescued by us." The clattering sound of metal plates rubbing each other sounded with every step he took.

Bao only clicked with his tongue in response, he knew exactly that he looked like a weakling compared to the battle-hardened guys in front of him. But even if it bugged him being called a noob by NPCs, it didn't matter, because thanks to their help he would gain more XP and become stronger.

"Don't you find it strange that the Gate was not closed despite there being bandits and near the city?" Bao changed the subject. "And what about the guards? Where were they."

"So instead of muscle power, you prefer using your brainpower?" Nathan joked "I noticed it too. Also when we ran through the city the streets seemed pretty empty. Maybe..."

The ringing sound of a big bell vibrated through the air and interrupted his sentence. It came from the city.

"Great." Morell's ironic tone couldn't be overheard.

"What... pant... what does it mean?"

"That the city is under attack."

"Is it because of the bandits?"

"I don't know."

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Thirty meters until their arrival.

Screams and cries could be heard from their position, it came from the centre of a small cluster of houses.

Twenty meters.

Their footsteps became slower as they approached the first houses with Bao being the only one, of the three of them, who gasped for some fresh air. While still moving Nathan unfolded the compacted crossbow from his back and loaded it with a bolt that had an orange-glowing arrowhead.

"What is that?" He asked.

"You'll see it when the time comes." A big smirk showed on the rogues face.

Ten meters.

They had now a complete view over the extent of destruction sowed by the bandits right in front of their eyes. Burned and butchered corpses of villagers lied on the ground, some still embracing their children in a deadly grip while others were missing limbs or had their insides spilt over the area. He kept muttering to himself that it was only a game to control the rising liquids, coming up from his stomach. The stench of blood mixed with the odour from before creating an even worse smell. How could men do something like that to their own kind?

"It's just a game" He mumbled again.

They continued to walk down the street, drowned in the blood of the people that once walked on it until they reached a small round space between the farmer houses. The group had arrived.

Surrounded by, about, ten typical bandit-looking guys, the survivors kneeled on the small square, some of them severely wounded. With a hand sign, Morell commanded Bao and Nathan to hide behind a nearby house.

"What is it?" Bao asked, wondering why they stopped at the most crucial moment. "We need to save them now. They are gonna die otherwise, didn't you see that some of them need immediate treatment?" He whispered.

"Something doesn't look right," Morell peaked around the corner. "I don't think that anyone would be stupid enough to attack a village near a city with only ten men. Besides it still concerns me that there is not a single guard around here, not even under the dead. Just what the hell is going on here? Shouldn't a small detachment of the army already be on its way?"

"But we can't wait any longer! they are going to kill the remaining farmers!."

"That doesn't make any sense Beansprout. They don't gain anything from just murdering them. They'll either ask for ransom from the king and families or sell them as slaves somewhere else, well in that case many of them will probably die on their way to the auction." Nathan scratched his head.

"Even more the reason to act now." Bao was about to start but Morell held him back with his giant pawn of a hand.

"We need a plan boy, there are ten, presumably more, bandits that are only waiting to cleave you in twain, meaning that we are outnumbered one to three. Or do you perhaps want to say that you could take all of them head-on?"

"Then do we have a plan?" Bao looked into their faces.

Both of them had a wide grin on their face, reaching from one ear to the other.