Maybe half an hour later, the other bandit's bawdy tales ended and it became quiet for a while. Based on how long Nokozal had told these bandits to keep watch, most likely not even an hour was left before they began the raid. While it was probably an enjoyable time for the fatso and the other bandit - where they must be looking forward to how good a haul they would get tonight - Calubo was getting more and more worried as the time for the raid came closer.

He had closed his eyes a while ago while lying down to think if there was a way for him to do something to help the village. But even though thoughts about the impending raid on Tiranat were the only thing swirling in Calubo's mind, so far he hadn't found any way to warn the village. The bandits had camped far enough from the village that even if he started to shout as loud as he could to send a warning to Tiranat - knowing that it would lead to his immediate demise - they likely wouldn't even hear it. Even so, Calubo wished the fatso would go to sleep, so that he might get a chance to escape, although the other bandit who was wide awake wouldn't waste any time in cutting him down. He sighed again. He still couldn't see any way for him to remedy his mistake and help the village.

After it had been quiet for some time, he heard the sound of the fatso beginning to yawn again.

"Oh, man..." the fatso muttered while taking a big yawn again. "Why did... Why did the chief select me to keep watch, huh?"

The other bandit chuckled. "Are you getting sleepy again?"

"It's the middle of the night, for Goddess' sake..." the fatso drawled lazily. "Why wouldn't I be sleepy? And it doesn't help that I am starving now..."

The other bandit laughed quietly. "Only you would be hungry right before we are going on a raid!"

Right at that moment, Calubo heard the sound of clothes rustling from nearby. Being curious about it, he started to open his eyes, but stopped when he heard the other bandit mention him - as insulting as always.

"This idiot has also fallen asleep now..." the other bandit muttered with a yawn. "You know what, after seeing the both of you sleeping, now I am starting to get sleepy as well..."

However, Calubo was very much awake, even though his eyes had been closed for a while. It seemed like closing his eyes to think about the situation had somehow worked in his favor anyway. So for now, it would be better for him if he kept pretending that he was sleeping, and not eavesdropping on the bandits. So he decided not to open his eyes at all and tried to keep his breathing even, while listening to them carefully.

"I wasn't sleeping..." the fatso answered lazily.

"Of course you weren't..." the other bandit chuckled. "But anyway, I've been sitting for too long, so I gotta stretch my legs and take a leak. It'll wake up my mind as well. I don't wanna find out what would happen if the chief found both of us asleep on watch duty."

"Yeah, but who'll keep an eye on the idiot?" the fatso drawled in a sleepy voice.

"This idiot is already sleeping," the other bandit replied, "so you can easily keep an eye on him since you are still awake, aren't you?"

"Yup, I'm awake..." the fatso mumbled. "But don't take too long..."

"Yeah, yeah..." the other bandit grumbled. "Like the count's knights are coming to attack us right now!"

Both of the bandits laughed, probably while looking at Calubo, but he made sure not to make any sound at all, so they would keep thinking that he was still sleeping.

There were more sounds of clothes rustling, probably from the other bandit standing up, but Calubo made sure to keep his eyes firmly shut and his breathing even.

"Eh... don't worry, man, I'll be back soon enough," the bandit muttered, and Calubo heard the sound of him walking away.

For a while, Calubo stayed just like that, pretending to sleep while listening carefully. After some time, when he was sure that the sound of the other bandit's feet were not close anymore, Calubo dared to slowly open his eyes a little to take a glimpse of his surroundings. While the light from the moon hiding behind the clouds was barely enough to see much, closing his eyes for a while had worked in his favor, since his eyes had completely adjusted to the dark and he could see more clearly now. Opening his eyes wider, he looked around himself without moving his body even an inch, and he saw that while the fatso was wriggling around with closed eyes, probably trying to get more comfortable, the other bandit was nowhere in sight.

Before long, he saw from the corner of his eyes that the fatso had slouched further, with his back supported by a tree, and his eyes still closed. His sword was kept next to him, although half of his hand was still kept above the scabbard.

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

Calubo kept watching him carefully, and soon enough, sounds of snoring began coming from the fatso.

After giving it some more time for the other bandit to move away further - just to be on the safer side - and for the fatso to completely fall asleep, Calubo sat up slowly while making sure that he didn't make any sounds.

After sitting up, he carefully looked all around him to ensure that no other bandits were nearby, and thankfully, he saw no one else in sight anywhere. Looking back at the fatso, Calubo didn't know for certain whether he was really sleeping, or if he had just closed his eyes to rest a little and those snoring sounds were that of the fatso just breathing normally. But for Calubo, it was good enough. It had to be.

He took a deep breath to calm his mind. This was it. This was the opportunity he had been waiting for. He looked at the rope tying his hands to those of the fatso. If he could somehow free himself, he could escape from these bandits and warn the village. But he knew that it wasn't going to be easy.

He had no idea how long the other bandit would be gone, and even if he didn't return too soon, the fatso might still wake up and kill him right here. And if any of the other bandits had woken up by now, and they wandered here by chance and found out about what he was trying to do before he escaped, Calubo knew that he wouldn't see another day for certain. There were countless risks to his plan to escape.

Regardless, he knew that he wouldn't get a better opportunity than this. He still felt guilty about how he had let slip to Nokozal that the guards wouldn't come out of the manor, and he didn't want his mistake to be the cause of bandits killing the villagers, or looting their houses and kidnapping their children as slaves.

In the corner of his mind, there was a voice screaming at him to just stay put right here, and let the bandits do what they wanted - since that option had the biggest possibility of him staying alive and seeing Hyola again.

But... but, he couldn't do that, not really. Although he had been a slave for more than two months by now, he still saw himself as a guard of the manor, which meant that it was his duty to protect the villagers, whether he was currently employed as a guard or not. So he had to use this opportunity to warn the village, no matter what. And if he was successful in this... who knows, maybe the guards of the manor might very well be able to take care of these bandits completely! That would also mean freedom for him, and possibly... hopefully... for Hyola as well.

Taking another deep breath, he nodded to himself. He had to do this.

He stood up slowly, trying not to make any sound, and with careful steps, walked closer to the still sleeping fatso. Reaching on the other side of the bandit - since that's where his sword was kept - he paused for a moment, and carefully looked all around him again. There still wasn't anyone else in sight.

Kneeling down, he held the sword - which was still inside its scabbard - with both of his hands, and gently pulled it sideways, trying to get it away from under the hands of the fatso. It didn't budge at all. The fatso hands were much heavier than he had expected.

Taking a deep breath again, he put more force into pulling the sword away, and slowly, it began to move away from under the hands of the sleeping bandit.

Suddenly, the fatso lifted that hand up, and Calubo's heart nearly stopped beating, assuming he was already caught. At that moment, Calubo felt like a deer caught in front of a knight charging on a warhorse in plate armor. So he just held his breath and didn't dare to make any sound at all.

But the fatso hadn't lifted the sword with his hand. His eyes were still completely closed, and that hand had only gone up to scratch at his cheek. Calubo just thanked the Goddess that the fatso hadn't woken up.

After scratching his beard and cheek for a while, the fatso started to put his hand on the ground again. Thinking quickly, Calubo pulled the sword a few inches towards himself, and the fatso's hand fell on the ground this time, instead of above the sword.

And finally Calubo was able to breathe again. The scabbard with the sword inside it was free now, though his hands were still tied to the fatso. He lifted the scabbard, and after standing up carefully, he slowly moved a few steps away to the other side of the wide fedarus tree, so that the fatso wouldn't hear any sounds of him cutting his rope. Thankfully, the rope tying their hands together had more than enough slack for this.

Slowly and very carefully, he removed the scabbard from the sword, and put it gently on the ground, trying to make sure there wouldn't be any unnecessary noises which might wake up the sleeping bandit. Now he just had to cut the rope tying his hands together, but both of his hands were tied very close to each other, so it wasn't possible for him to hold the sword in one hand while cutting the rope in another. Thinking quickly, he sat down, and put the sword on the ground horizontally. With the sharp side of its blade upwards, he clamped the sword between his feet, and began moving both of his hands above the blade to cut the rope.

It was slow going, since the rope was quite strong, and before long, he began to get frustrated after not seeing enough progress in it. The fatso might realize at any moment that his sword was missing, or the other bandit might return back and see what was happening. With his hands still tied together with the rope, it would only take a moment for the bandits to separate his head from his body.

However, he had accepted the risk before he began doing this. He knew he might die any moment if he was found out, but he still had to try. This was exactly the time to be brave. Mr Duvas had depended on him to bring grain from Cinran with the last of their gold crowns, and he had already failed in that. But he won't fail now. Not when there was a new baron in Tiranat, who was doing his best to help the villagers. He had to do his best to help the village - just like a manor guard would do - and hope that the goddess would take care of him and Hyola.

Before long, he noticed that the rope was starting to become frayed where he was cutting it. Freedom was not far away now!

But suddenly, he heard a rustling sound from the direction that the other bandit had gone.