Kieran observed how the people of Rothnia were running for their lives and at once, he saw red. He had already heard why the people were behaving this way and his fury only increased when he thought about it.

It was not his soldiers. They would never do anything without his orders and would never dare to hurt anyone innocent. Some people were pretending to be his soldiers to instill fear in his people, and he had no idea about it.

Seymour too did not budge from his place as he too wanted to see who was daring enough to use the King's name to terrify people. He wanted to find out why he never knew about this matter even though this had happened even in the past, according to the man's statement.

Barely a few moments had passed when a horde of soldiers came by their way on their horses. There were six men in the group, and Kieran observed them closely. His eyes narrowed dangerously and Seymour sensed the dangerous aura radiating from the man beside him.

But instead of fearing him this time, Seymour just took a step back, allowing his King to handle the situation. He more or less understood why his King was angry and what would happen to the six men who were killing the people under the King's name.

Kieran was a just King and never had he killed an innocent nor allowed others to do so. And the ones who did never saw the light of the next day. Seymour just watched the men stepping closer to their doom with a smile.

The six men on the horses kept moving towards Kieran as they swung their swords at the innocent people around them, frightening them until they fled. Kieran noticed how they kept laughing as they scared the people. Although they did not kill anyone, not yet, he could see the evil intentions in their eyes and he clenched his fists, ready to kill them in return for even threatening his people.

The six men stopped and got off their horses as they walked towards a stall selling jewelry and their eyes gleamed in delight. They immediately picked up all the ornaments and jewels they could find, securing them in the gunny bags they had with them.

"Our Lord would be delighted with our gain today. We did not even have to waste time this year. Nobody put up a fight with us. Pathetic humans." One of the men scoffed while the others chuckled in disdain.

"Who would even fight us? The humans do not have the courage and the strength to fight us and the King's men who guard this part of the place are already under our Lord's spell. So nobody will stop us." The man leading the group stated they moved to the next stall that sold pure and high-quality silk.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

"What if the King comes this way?"

Kieran's ears perked up as soon as he heard someone mention him and he turned towards the man only to find that he was just a boy who had barely reached adulthood. He seemed to be the youngest among the six and the most inexperienced. He appeared to be scared and from his expression alone, Kieran understood that the boy was forced to come here and loot the people against his will.

"Our King does not even know what is happening here. During the Mid Autumn Festival, he leaves the palace for a few days every year. So why would he care about what we are doing? Once we are done, our Lord will erase the people's memories. They will not remember anything about us until next year when we appear before them again."

Kieran now understood why he had never received complaints against the bandits. The people did not even have the memories to approach him to seek justice. It was only when they saw the people again the next year did they remember them and what they did the previous year.

Kieran's smile widened and Seymour perceived the meaning behind it immediately. His King was ready to strike and soon, the six people would be coughing out blood as he killed them slowly and painfully.

"I see that we have invaders." Kieran clapped his hand before walking toward the group of people who were startled by his voice. "It must have been nice to loot all the innocent people." He continued and gave an innocent look, his eyes focusing on the leader.

"Who are you?" The men looked at him with venom-filled eyes before they smiled evilly. The leader stepped forward and took a good look at Kieran before he started laughing like a maniac. The others too followed suit immediately.

"Looks like we have got our prey for this year." The man stated and looked at his group before he turned to face Kieran. "I wonder how his blood would taste. I was looking for a young maiden's blood today. But I will make do with you for now to quench my thirst."

The man licked his lips and moved closer to Kieran, only to have his neck snapped immediately. The next moment, he dropped to his feet with his mouth full of blood. He did not even get to speak a word before he stopped breathing.

The five men stared at their leader in shock as they watched him die before they looked at Kieran. They took a step back in fear.

"You...you...you.. who are you?" One of the courageous ones among them queried and this time, it was Kieran's turn to laugh.

"Is it not ironic that you speak ill of your King but do not even know who your King is?"

Kieran's words were enough to petrify the five men and they gaped at him for a few moments while all Kieran did was stare at them innocently. His eyes slowly turned blood red until they changed to black. This was enough evidence to support his claims and the men were no fools to not believe him. So, the next moment, they tried to flee away from the place.

But even before they could the first step, Kieran waved his hand as though he was slitting their throats and the four men fell to their knees as they started to cough out blood. They stared at him in horror before they took their last breaths.