The absolutely worst case scenario had occurred.

Weighing the pros and cons. Marvin had gone with a good reputation duo of Grade E. Doing so, would allow him to splurge on a Grade B, allowing for enough leeway to still make a hefty profit.

There was enough that so long they didn't run into a similarly skilled Grade D. The four could deal with it. In fact, the original plan was to have around five. When the duo introduced Saleh, his record had been recorded by the Adventurer's Guild.

While not having many missions. On the very first request, he defeated a Grade D. As impressive as it sounded. The fellow he beat was famous for bullying the weak while fearing the strong. If not for the fact, Saleh had just broken through. This achievement wouldn't have meant much.

For graded beings, they had four vague stages. Initial, middle, late, and finally peak. It was no secret that late and peak lower grade individuals had strength and talent to sometimes be on equal terms with someone less impressive, a grade above them.

Adding someone he said was slightly weaker than him. Now that added confidence to this lineup.

Marvin was an experienced merchant. Hiring Grade D, C, or even B... Well, it was inevitable. The issue was how useful they were. For personal security, that might work. For caravans, it was another story.

Yes, the convoy could have a large amount of goods. Expensive items even. Only an entire convoy often had more heavy loads, less expensive, singular easy transactional goods.

This limited who attacked them. For grades below C, you were just a henchman. Profits gained required connections. Human and goblins doing so were connected to large territories.

For a bandit group to make money. They had to have the means to sell the goods without being taken advantage of by a large organization.

That meant the strength of at least Grade B. Offending a stray Grade B that didn't need to worry about anyone else. That could get dangerous with large organizations with many low and non-graded subordinates.

A Grade C wasn’t a subordinate grade. To find a Grade C working for a Grade B, was unlikely. At least, in the confines of this specific situation. However, here stood both a Grade B and a Grade C smiling with devious faces.

This could mean they were from a larger organization, no matter how small the chances. Regardless, big or small. To leave anyone alive was not an option. Therefore, the silence currently hovering in the air was uncomfortable.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

At the moment, the stage wasn’t set for them. Those under the Grade B had arrogant and excited faces, but they didn’t dare talk either. Standing next to his boss with a devious smile, the Grade C was silently standing a step behind.

“So, who might you be?” Looking at the Grade B in front of him with a bit of interest. Only to receive no answer.

The smile soon left his face, “Fine, then fuck off. You know you can’t win this.”

Still, no reaction. No, there was a reaction. Mana was starting to cause ripples in the air. She since the beginning had started gathering her mana. At this point, the very air around her had started to warp as if being compressed and released as it became hard to make out a clear picture of her figure.

Giving his men a signal, the Grade B continued the stand-off. He was wary of this woman, she was by no means a pushover, even if he wasn’t exactly afraid. She probably knew that the second she started a fight, it would start a clock. The less time he had, the more ruthless he needed to be.

The Grade C laughed, taking a long route around the Grade B woman. They had a small group of twenty people. Outside of him and the boss, there were ten Grade F, seven Grade E, one Grade D. It was enough that they could deal with this group.

As the two groups met, he watched as they split off in a strange way. A man and woman with good chemistry kept the seven Grade E busy. A man in a hood was facing off against the Grade D. Finally, the ten Grade F were surrounding the last woman.

From seconds to minutes, things were not going well. Ideally, he wouldn’t need to do anything. While his mana wasn’t comparable to the boss or that woman. The caravan took a detour and caused them to miss them.

Right now, they were too close to the gray wolf territory. The second he started to fight seriously, would slowly draw attention. If things didn’t go well for their side, and the Grade B woman started fighting. He had to wipe out everyone without delay. Grab as much as he could before leaving without any hesitation.

That wasn’t a viable option. He could see that they weren’t simple. Everyone was losing, only to benefit. The amount of damage they took was not substantial. The man was losing insane amounts of mana, but almost barely injured against someone an entire grade above him.

The two against seven was going fairly well. They were the main force, they took a bit of damage but were making progress. The other woman was the problem. Even if she was against Grade F’s there were ten. Grade F to Grade E wasn’t an insurmountable gap. In the span of five minutes, four were dead.

He gritted his teeth, “Those trash…” The Grade F and the Grade D weren’t with them for a long time. They were gathered hands. Similar to the caravan, the main force was the Grade E’s. If not for intelligence his boss received, he only took a cut as he did the robbing with his men. Only, there was another Grade B in this convoy, therefore he came to stall while he did the rest.

He didn’t need to turn around, he could feel the bosses stare. “Fuck!”

Within only the span of ten minutes, everything went to shit. After killing the ten Grade F she went to help the solo man. With no choice he took a step forward, however, it was already too late. In only two clashes, they killed him…